Unexpectedly Wed to the Officer--A Historical Romance Award Winning Author

by Jenni Fletcher

  ‘I’m not saying I can afford a house immediately.’ He looked faintly sheepish. ‘In fact, I’m not even sure where we’ll live, but I’ll work something out. I have some savings and I’ll earn the rest. I was thinking about your idea of serving tea at Belles. Maybe we could expand the premises? Or better still, find somewhere new and call it Henrietta’s. What do you think?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ She closed her eyes and then opened them again, trying to stop the room from spinning around her. ‘I’m speechless.’

  ‘Then just nod your head. Or shake it, but I’d prefer a nod.’

  ‘Sebastian...’

  ‘Wait.’ He reached for her hands, clasping them firmly between his. ‘If you’re going to say no, then let me say one more thing first. I know this is a bad time to ask. In fact, it’s a terrible time, probably the worst I could possibly have chosen, but I want you to know that you don’t have to face the future alone. I want to be there for you—all of you.’

  ‘But you don’t have to.’ She shook her head. ‘You don’t have to marry me just to be useful and make amends for the past.’

  ‘It’s not just that. Yes, I still feel guilty about Anna, but not enough to propose, I promise you.’ He lifted one of her hands and kissed the pulse at the base of her wrist. ‘It’s not just a question of feeling guilty. It’s you, too.’

  Her breath stalled. ‘What about your freedom?’

  ‘I’ll still be free. So will you. We’ll make our own decisions together and with our own crew. Me, you and the boys.’ He grinned. ‘I’m happy. Right here and now, I’m happy and a large part of that is due to you. I think we could be happy building a life together.’

  ‘Oh.’ She felt her lips part, though for the life of her she had no idea how to close them again. Or how to form words for that matter.

  ‘We’re friends, aren’t we? Maybe even a little more than that? You kissed me once.’ His dark eyes glinted. ‘It wasn’t such a painful experience, was it?’

  ‘No.’ She let out something between a laugh and a hiccup, the joke unlocking her tongue. ‘No, it wasn’t painful.’

  ‘Damning with faint praise...’ The top half of his body swayed forward. ‘In that case, maybe you’d let me try to persuade you again?’

  He brought his face slowly to hers and she moved to greet him until they met somewhere in the middle. It wasn’t that she’d intended to move, she thought with a vague sense of surprise, just that she couldn’t help it, as if there were an invisible rope tied around them, drawing her closer and binding them together. It was a perfect moment, tender and serene and somehow just right, lasting for several heart-stopping seconds before something seemed to catch fire between them and she found herself moving again, trying to press even closer towards him.

  Sebastian gave a low, surprised-sounding murmur before curling his arms around her waist, his lips clinging to hers as if he felt the same fire, too. She reached her own arms around his neck, absorbing the heat of his chest with her breasts in a way that made her stomach clench and contract with tingles of pleasure. She felt as though she had one of his knots inside her, being pulled tighter and tighter, although surely it had to stop at some point? If you pulled on a knot hard enough, then eventually, surely eventually it had to unravel. Or the string would snap. Or...well, something would happen! Only she had no idea what.

  ‘I must be mad, too.’ She panted as they came apart finally, foreheads pressed together as they each struggled to regain their breath.

  ‘Does that mean you’re considering my proposal?’ He laughed huskily, one of his hands sliding across the small of her back and up to her shoulder blades.

  ‘No.’ She shook her head, smiling back. ‘I’ve already considered. Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you. I still think it’s madness, but I—’

  She didn’t get any further as his lips seized upon hers again, kissing her so deeply that she felt a wave of heat rush all the way from the top of her head to the tips of her toes in a cascade of sensation. If this was madness, she decided in the split second before coherent thought abandoned her, then sanity was vastly overrated.

  * * *

  Sebastian had always thought of kissing with ambivalence. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy it, just that there were other, similar and yet slightly more energetic activities that he preferred. Kissing Henrietta, however, was different. Words like ‘new’ and ‘exciting’ were far too mild to describe what they were doing. It was an utterly engrossing, nerve-tinglingly heady sensation, unlike any kiss he’d ever experienced before. It was, quite simply, bliss. He could have happily done it all day. Two days. A whole week if he could have gone that long without food and water. Her lips were the smoothest he’d ever felt, the sweetest he’d ever tasted, the most exquisitely shaped...

  ‘Wait!’ She pulled back abruptly. ‘The boys! They’re next door.’

  ‘No, they’re not.’ He trailed his mouth over her cheek, across her jaw and down the delicate column of her throat. ‘I sent them to the kitchens.’

  ‘They might come back.’

  ‘We’ll hear them coming, believe me.’

  ‘But I might not have time to straighten up.’ She lifted her hands to his chest. ‘You’ve unfastened my hair.’

  ‘Have I?’ He lifted his head, surprised to find that she was right. Somehow he’d managed to unpin and unravel her hair without even noticing. Now it was lying over her shoulders in a pale golden torrent. And if she thought that drawing attention to it was the way to convince him to let her go then she was extremely deluded... He gave a low moan and buried his face in the tresses.

  ‘Mmm.’

  ‘What are you doing?’

  ‘Breathing you in.’ He inhaled deeply as her body sagged against him. ‘It smells different from usual.’

  ‘It does?’ Her voice sounded breathless.

  ‘Just a little. Usually it smells of sugar and baking. Now it smells of...’ He drew in another deep breath. ‘Apricots?’

  ‘The maids gave me a soap.’

  ‘I like it. I like both. Have you ever considered making an apricot-flavoured Belle?’

  ‘I think we have enough to deal with at the moment.’ She laughed huskily. ‘But we really should stop.’

  ‘All right.’ He pressed one last kiss to the tip of her nose before moving away. Truth be told, it would look somewhat incriminating if they were disturbed now and not just by the boys. Both his uncle and grandmother had paid visits to the nursery over the past couple of days and if they discovered him and Henrietta together like this...well, it wasn’t just her loose hair that would give them away. He was going to need a few minutes to recover himself.

  Henrietta pressed her lips together, watching him through her lashes as she coiled her hair up and then looked around for the pins.

  ‘Here.’ He reached down, picking a handful off the floor.

  ‘Thank you.’ She fixed the roll into place and folded her hands in her lap. ‘Just so you know, it wasn’t that I didn’t like it. Kissing you, I mean.’

  ‘Glad to hear it.’ He grinned. Her pose reminded him of the first time they’d met, when she’d clasped her hands so primly in front of her. ‘Because if you didn’t, then I’m afraid you’ll find marriage to me somewhat tedious.’

  ‘Really?’ Her eyelashes fluttered. ‘Do you intend to kiss me a lot, then?’

  ‘If you mean do I intend to wake you up with kisses every morning then, yes, yes, I do. For the record, I also intend to lull you to sleep the same way.’

  ‘I don’t think that will work.’ The corners of her lips tugged upwards, her dimple more pronounced than ever. ‘It doesn’t seem to have made me very sleepy.’

  ‘Wait and see.’ He winked, barely resisting the urge to pull her into his lap. ‘In the meantime, let’s go and share the good news.’

  ‘Right now?’ She looked startled.

  ‘No t
ime like the present. Then we’d better start packing.’

  ‘You mean you want to go back to Bath?’

  ‘No. The other direction, actually.’

  ‘What? Sebastian, what are you talking about?’ She shook her head at him. ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘Gretna Green. Today. I’m not giving you a chance to change your mind.’

  Chapter Nineteen

  ‘Are you sure you’ve got enough blankets?’

  ‘Yes, as well two hot bricks and five layers of clothing. If we take any more, the horses won’t be able to pull us.’ Sebastian chuckled as his mother peered anxiously inside the carriage. ‘We’ll be fine.’

  ‘I still think it’s a ridiculous time of year to be heading to Scotland. What if it snows when you’re up on the hills?’

  ‘If it looks like bad weather, then we’ll stop somewhere, I promise. It’s not as though we’re in the middle of the ocean.’

  ‘Don’t even joke about that.’ His mother gave him a stern look before surrendering to the inevitable. ‘Oh, very well. In that case, travel safely and don’t worry about the boys. They’ll be perfectly safe here.’

  ‘Are you sure you don’t mind me going away for a few days?’ Henrietta crouched down in front of her nephews.

  ‘We don’t mind,’ Peter answered. ‘Lord Tobias says he’ll carry on our cadet training. He’s going to teach us about ich...icthy...’

  ‘Ichthyology?’

  ‘That’s it!’

  ‘And we’ll have our play ready for when you get back,’ Michael added.

  ‘Will you still be our aunt when you’re Mrs Sebastian?’ Oliver sounded anxious.

  ‘Of course. I’ll always be your aunt. I’ll just be Mrs Fortini, too.’

  ‘Good. In that case you can go.’ He grinned as she kissed him on the cheek.

  ‘Now take care of each other and be good.’

  ‘I’m sure they will be.’ Elizabeth smiled warmly. ‘We’re going to have fun, aren’t we, boys?’

  ‘And we’d better be going.’ Sebastian gestured towards the carriage door. ‘The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get back again.’

  ‘Try to be a little more romantic, dear.’ His mother rolled her eyes. ‘It is your wedding, after all.’

  ‘You’re right.’ He winked and then bowed to Henrietta. ‘Your carriage awaits, my lady.’

  ‘Thank you, my lord.’

  She gave the boys one last hug each and then climbed inside, burying herself beneath a pile of his mother’s blankets.

  ‘Off we go.’ He took a seat beside her and banged on the roof. ‘No second thoughts?’

  ‘None, but how long will it take to get there?’

  ‘A couple of days, I should think. We’ll be back with the boys by the end of the week, don’t worry.’

  She nodded and then looked anxious again. ‘What do your family really think?’

  ‘They’re happy for us. They said so.’

  ‘It’s just so hard to believe, considering everything.’

  ‘Considering nothing.’ He gave her a sharp look. ‘You know my mother said something earlier about life being too short to carry ill will. I think my uncle and grandmother know it’s too short to judge a person by where they come from, too. At the very least, they know it’s foolish to stand between two people who care about each other.’ He paused briefly. ‘As we do.’

  ‘As we do.’ She met his gaze with a smile. ‘I wonder what Anna will say?’

  ‘That you’re too good for me, I expect.’ He slid across the bench, nudging his shoulder against hers. ‘Now, are you warm enough?’

  ‘You sound like your mother.’

  ‘I know, but she made some good points. It is colder than it was last week. I don’t want a frozen bride.’ He twisted his head as she laughed. ‘What?’

  ‘Some people do call me an ice queen.’

  ‘There’s no need to live up to it.’

  ‘Then you’ll be glad to hear that I’m feeling quite toasty. Almost too warm, actually.’

  ‘You do look a bit flushed, now that you mention it. Are you feeling all right?’

  ‘Perfectly. It’s probably just the hot brick. I’m only worried about the poor coachman.’

  ‘For a start, there are two poor coachmen and I’ve said they can take turns travelling inside if they want to. For another thing, they’re both being paid a small fortune.’

  ‘Good.’

  ‘Then we’re all set.’ He slid his hand into hers, lacing their fingers together and tipping his head back with a sigh. Maybe his mother was right and it was foolish, racing off to Scotland in the middle of December, but now that they were on their way, he couldn’t wait to be married.

  * * *

  ‘We’re here.’

  ‘Not yet...’ Henrietta shook her head as she felt Sebastian’s hand on her shoulder. ‘I’m sleeping.’

  ‘I know, but we have an anvil to get married over.’

  ‘Oh!’ She prised her eyelids open and looked out. After two days, most of which time she’d spent asleep, both in the carriage and the inn where they’d stayed for the night, it seemed they were finally over the Scottish border and in Gretna. Which was a relief in more ways than one. She’d gone from feeling slightly warm to quite ill the morning after they’d left Feversham. Not very ill, just aware of a tightness in her throat and behind her eyes, not to mention an overwhelming sense of exhaustion, all of which suggested she was on the verge of a bad cold.

  Naturally, she hadn’t shared any of this information with Sebastian. She had a feeling that he would have turned the carriage around if he’d known the truth and now that she’d agreed to marry him, she wanted to do it as quickly as possible. As it was, she could tell that he’d been watching her more closely than usual.

  He’d tried not to be too obvious about it when she was awake, but the tilt of his head, facing straight ahead but with his chin turned slightly sideways, gave him away. Every time she’d sniffed, which had started to happen more and more frequently, his fingers had twitched beneath hers. There had been moments when she would have given a large proportion of her meagre savings just to be able to blow her nose without him noticing. Instead, she’d tried to angle her face away from his scrutiny and towards the window, but after a while it had made her neck stiff.

  ‘Are you sure you’re not feeling unwell?’ He asked, climbing out of the carriage.

  ‘I’m fine.’ She stifled the urge to sneeze. ‘So what do we do now?’

  ‘Now I’ll go and speak to the blacksmith and see if he can marry us.’ He paused. ‘Are you sure—?’

  ‘I’m fine.’

  ‘Hmm.’ He sounded unconvinced. ‘Come into the inn so you can wait in the warm.’

  ‘Good idea.’ She looked around and shivered. The village of Gretna was covered in a thin layer of white. ‘Snow!’

  ‘Just a little. It won’t stop us from leaving again tomorrow.’ He spoke briefly to the coachman and then reached for her hand, leading her into an old and cosy-looking inn.

  ‘Wait here.’ He found her a vacant armchair by the fireplace, his expression still full of concern. ‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’

  Henrietta fumbled in her purse for a handkerchief and sank into the armchair with a sense of relief. It was old and tattered and stained in places, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was to bury herself in its warmth and close her eyes again. Her nose was running, she was finding it increasingly difficult to swallow and, overall, she was starting to suspect that she was a great deal sicker than she’d initially thought—certainly more than she’d let on. Feverish didn’t seem like a strong enough word for the hot tremors now coursing through her body. Even so, if she were going to collapse, she was determined to do it as a married woman. If anything happened to her, then what would become of her nephews? Sebastian would take
care of them, but it would be much easier if he was already legally their uncle.

  ‘You are not all right.’

  She opened her eyes with a jolt to find him leaning over her, looking as though there was a lot more he wanted to say.

  ‘No, I’m not.’ She lifted her head with an effort. ‘What did the blacksmith say?’

  ‘That he won’t marry women who are sick.’

  ‘He did not!’

  ‘He’ll probably say something about you needing to be in your right mind.’ He placed a hand on her forehead. ‘You’re burning up.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean I’m not in my right mind.’

  ‘You have a fever.’

  ‘I’m just a bit hot.’

  ‘It’s more than—’

  ‘No, it’s not, not yet.’ She pushed his hand away. ‘It probably will be, but I can still say I do without sneezing. After that, I admit I might require some kind of medicine, but right now I’d like to get on with it.’

  It was a good argument, she thought—authoritative, firm and determined—although it would have been a lot more effective if she hadn’t decided to add gravitas to the words by standing up and then immediately veering off to one side.

  ‘That’s it.’ He caught her elbow, stopping her from tumbling over. ‘You’re going to bed.’

  ‘I’m not. We didn’t come all this way to give up now.’

  ‘We’re not giving up. We’re postponing.’

  ‘No!’ She grabbed his shoulder, trying not to lean too heavily against him. ‘Did the blacksmith say he’d marry us now?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then we’re getting married now or I’ll change my mind.’

  ‘Is that so?’ He lifted an eyebrow. ‘You wouldn’t be trying to blackmail me by any chance, would you?’

  ‘Yes,’ she lied. ‘It’s now or never and right now I’m perfectly capable of making my own decisions. You said we were equals, remember?’

  ‘We would be if we could both stand upright.’

  ‘Please, Sebastian.’

  His jaw set, as if he were still going to refuse, before he muttered something she wasn’t sure she wanted to understand. ‘All right.’ He tightened his grip on her arm as if he were afraid she might topple over again at any moment, which she had to admit was a distinct possibility. ‘But I’m summoning a doctor now. Hopefully he’ll be here by the time we get back.’