To Marry a Marquess (34 page)

Drake rose and gave William a stern glare. "I shot the earl in self-defense, not because I wanted to. And love is very important for pirates."

"Oh, yuck!"

William scowled.  The crowd applauded as Drake carried Victoria to another carriage owned by the proprietor of the inn.

"We will be married today, my love." His voice was soft and gentle, caressing her heart.

Victoria frowned. He did not know about her marriage to Nightham. She had to tell him. "But I cannot marry you. At least not—"

Her mouth was smothered by his kiss. "Sweetheart, I have a special license and the vicar is waiting in the next village. I have obtained fresh clothing for you and William. And I know how important a wedding gown is for a woman on this special day.  So, believe it or not, I have taken care of that matter as well.” He held up his hand, stopping her from speaking. “Do not ask me how I managed. Suffice to say, we will be married tonight."

Before she could answer, Drake captured her mouth again. She felt in heaven as she succumbed to the hunger of his kiss. All thoughts of Nightham and Wendover dissolved.

"Hey," William interrupted. "What about me?"

Drake let Victoria slip from his hold as he turned, lifting the boy into the carriage. "Inside, me pirate."

"What about Wendover?" Victoria whispered as she entered the carriage.

Drake hopped in and closed the door. "The magistrate happened to be in the inn when Wendover drew his pistol. There will be no investigation. We can leave free and clear."

The wedding took only a few minutes. Victoria had tried to tell Drake of her former marriage, or at least the question of its finality, but he refused to listen about Nightham. It mattered not. He would not hear another word about the man. He asked her to trust him, and she finally agreed. What had she been thinking?

When Drake bent down to kiss her, William protested. The witnesses took their leave and the vicar moved from the room to grab some papers to be signed. Victoria insisted she change back into her carriage clothes and pack her wedding gown. It had been quite thoughtful of Drake to obtain the gorgeous dress. She had no idea how he planned any of this.

But that didn’t matter now. She had to tell him the truth. Yet her mind was still spinning from everything that had happened, including her marriage! Her marriage!  She had to tell Drake the complete truth. She should have fought to tell him before the wedding, but the laudanum Wendover had given her had muddled her brain.

When she finally approached Drake, she felt more in control.

"You don't understand, Drake. I do trust you. But you must listen to me."

His gray eyes devoured her. "Everything is fine. We are married. William will not come between us with his sword. The boy has seen us kiss before this." He turned to the small boy and winked. "Am I not correct, William?"

"Aye me pirate," William said, frowning as he stomped his foot. "I have seen it all before, and I don't like it."

Drake turned back to his wife. "I believe it is time you call me Jonathan?"

"No, I—"

Drake set her away from him. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean no, Jonathan. I cannot marry you."

Drake laughed. "Too late."

"But what about Nightham? I married him at that inn. I tried to tell you before but you would not listen."

"No, you did not."

"Maybe you did not hear me the first time since your kisses stopped whatever explanation I was going to say. But please, you must believe me that I married Nightham, or at least I believe I did, but I have no papers to prove it."

"I heard you the first time, sweetheart. And I said, no, you did not."

"I did."

"Did not."

She was simply beside herself. "Oh, why do you tease me?"

"I have information that you were never married to Nightham. The man who was supposed to have performed the ceremony was not a vicar at all, but an
imposter,
and he was found dead the very next day.  I don't have proof, but I believe Wendover may have had something to do with the man's death. The
imposter
threw in a few words that sounded like a wedding ceremony, and it seems Nightham was duped as well. You have no certificate stating you were married. Nothing was found on Nightham to contradict my findings. The old man, a painter by trade, had done this before. Whether Wendover had something to do with the fraudulent ceremony or the man's death, we will never know. The two witnesses are missing, too. But my sweet, you were never married. Ever. Until now."

"I was never married?" Her eyes grew wide.

Suddenly his jaw went taut. "You were not with Nightham later, were you? I mean, as man and wife?"

She felt the blood surge through her veins at the implications of his words. "I most certainly was not." She lifted her chin. "As you said before, I was not married."

He let out a light-hearted chuckle. "Sweetheart, then I am your one and only husband." He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her toward him. "And you are my wife." His hungry kiss was a command with promises of things to come.

"Drake, please. William is but only a few feet away."

"Almost ten feet," William cried out. "But this pirate can hear everything loud and clear, matie!"

Drake's chest rumbled with mirth. "Hop in the carriage, William. We will be with you momentarily."

"Very well, me pirate." But William stayed where he was, watching the two of them with wide, curious eyes.

Drake turned his most fearsome glare upon the boy. "Now!"

"Very well!" William groaned and scurried out the door.

Drake pressed a light kiss on Victoria's open wrist. "I love you,
wife.
Margueretta loves you, too. She told me so."

"And I love you and your daughter,
me pirate."

"And I will always love you," his gray eyes twinkled, "even though you are a pauper."

She pushed him away. "What do you mean, a pauper?"

"Your trust was not a trust at all. Your great aunt's money was invested in a shipping company that went under. I retrieved that information only recently. The trust seemed solid enough at the time it was made, but evidently there was nothing to it as of two months ago. The credit at the bank is worth nothing. They were as deceived as you were."

"What about the countess?"

He laughed. "Nightham's mother will have to hand over everything she bought, including that wee little cottage."

"The poor lady."

"Oh, she is not as poor as you believe, sweetheart."

Victoria smiled, trying to ignore the foreign aching in her limbs. "But I thought you married me for my inheritance."

"Inheritance be gone. I love you."

His lips slowly descended to meet hers as his hands moved down her back. She never dreamed it would feel like this.

"What kind of pirate are you?" William bellowed, peeking through the church doors. "The carriage is waiting to take us to that inn up the road. Are you coming or not? I heard someone say there is only one room left. Hurry up or that will be gone, too."

After speaking to the vicar and signing some papers, Victoria hurried toward the carriage. Drake followed, his eyes widening in horror as William's comment finally registered in his brain. "One bedchamber? Confound it, Victoria! There must be some mistake. I cannot bear to be with that... boy ... on my wedding night!" He flipped open his pocket watch and scowled.

"Oh, Jonathan," Victoria said with a twinkle in her eye as she glanced over her shoulder. "It's only one night."

"One night too many if you ask me."

"Who was asking?" William screamed from the carriage.

Victoria bit back a laugh, and before there would be another shooting, she had to kiss her husband long and hard before he would enter the carriage.

Chapter Twenty-Three

V
ictoria
and Drake followed William as the boy burst through the door of Phoebe's townhouse, his feet sounding like a stampede of wild elephants.

"Anybody home?" he yelled, climbing the stairs.

George, James, Phoebe, and Sarah appeared at the drawing room doors.

Phoebe grabbed her little boy, crushing him in her arms. "William. Oh, William!"

The boy hugged her just as hard. Then he looked up and twisted his lips into a frown, embarrassed by her show of affection. "Mama, I feel like a lemon you squeezed for tea."

"Victoria." Phoebe sobbed again, hugging her niece. "Are you all right, my dear?" She pulled Victoria back and held her by the shoulders. "Did that madman hurt you?"

"I'm fine. Truly."

Drake threw his arm around Victoria's waist. "She will be fine as soon as we have her home." He swallowed his words when Victoria's elbow caught him in the ribs. Blast. It was the same place William had been jabbing him all night. The boy had refused to sleep in the extra bed.

"Home?" the duke asked, narrowing his brow.

But before the duke could ask any more questions, Phoebe grabbed Drake by the neck and kissed him on the cheek. "I don't know how to thank you for all you have done for me."

Drake squeezed Victoria's waist a little tighter. "I take it you received the missive that we were quite fine. But I hate to tell you, I had some rather selfish reasons for finding these two rapscallions myself."

"But Drake," James broke in, "the story is that you shot Wendover."

"Wait!" William's hands waved wildly in the air. "I want to tell the story. Me, me, me!"

All eyes turned his way.

Victoria laughed. "You may tell everyone the story as soon as we all take a seat. I feel as if I have not slept for days."

"This way, maties," William said, marching into the drawing room, staring back at Drake and Victoria. "I am waiting for you two to sit down. Or do you want to leave and start kissing again?"

All heads snapped to Drake and Victoria.

"Indeed, now that you mention it," Drake drawled, but stopped abruptly when he felt another sharp poke to his back this time—his wife's finger to be precise. "Now that you mention it, I think that maybe I should be the one to begin."

"No!" William began jumping up and down. "I will! First, I was kidnapped!"

Victoria tugged Drake toward the sofa.

The boy drew in a heavy breath as his arm shot toward Victoria. "Then, Vicki was kidnapped! Then the villain gave me a sleeping potion!"

"Oh, my poor boy," Phoebe wailed.

George patted her hand. "Go on, William."

"Then, the villain brought us to a wicked old castle."

"You mean the coaching inn, William," Victoria said.

"A castle!" William's jaw jutted forward in defense as he pointed to Drake. "Then our pirate saved us."

"How did he do that?" James asked, grinning.