The Marriage Contract

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “I don’t walk often. There’s no reason to. I already know what’s here.”

  “I never minded the same scenery. I just liked being outside.”

  They continued on in silence for a couple of minutes then they turned the last part of the maze.

  “We’re at the center,” he said then gestured to the object he thought she’d enjoy seeing.

  As he hoped, she gasped in excitement and ran over to the fountain. “I didn’t think this would be all the way here in the middle of the maze!”

  He walked over to the bench and sat down. “The previous owner had some good ideas. Putting a fountain in the middle of the maze was one of them.”

  The fountain featured a gentleman and lady huddled under a parasol. The water from the fountain shot up over the parasol, leaving the couple protected while it sprinkled into the large basin at the bottom. It had been elaborately crafted. Stephen had no idea who had created it, but the previous owner must have been a romantic in order to have the couple together.

  Patricia glanced over at him. “Do you know how fountains work?”

  Stephen shook his head. “The gardener maintains it.”

  “It’s a real thing of beauty, isn’t it?” she asked as she studied it. “I’ve never seen such a remarkable piece of art in my entire life.”

  “I haven’t, either.” Not that he’d made it a point of looking at works of art in the past, but he couldn’t recall anything quite so eloquent in London. “I thought you might like the fountain. That’s why it’s worth the journey through the maze.”

  “Oh, it’s lovely.” She removed one of her gloves and held her hand out so that some drops of water falling from the parasol hit her fingers. “I bet this is refreshing on a hot day.”

  “Probably.”

  “Have you ever put your hands in the water when it’s hot out?”

  “No. I take a look at it and head on back to the manor.”

  He wasn’t sure why she seemed disappointed about that. Maybe she had hoped he shared her excitement over the fountain. While he admired the craftsmanship that went into it, he wasn’t prone to staring at images of happy couples. And the gentleman and lady who’d been sculpted for the fountain were happy. They had faint smiles on their lips, and they were leaning toward one another.

  He’d thought the fountain would appeal to a lady, and judging by her enthusiasm over it, he knew he’d been right. Which made the trip out here worth it. It was nice seeing her smile. God knew it was long overdue that someone should be happy in this place.

  When she was done checking out the fountain, she went over to him and sat beside him. “This maze seems enchanted. It feels like it’s in its own world. Don’t you agree?”

  He considered her words and decided she was right. “Yes, I suppose it does.” Especially since he couldn’t see the manor or hills or anything but the sky above them.

  “If the weather’s nice tomorrow, would you like to join me for another walk?”

  “You want to come back to this maze?”

  “We don’t have to walk here. We could walk somewhere else. I don’t mind where we go. I enjoy walking anywhere.”

  “Are you sure you should take so many walks in your condition?” He gestured to her belly.

  She glanced down at it and rubbed it. “I sleep better when I walk. The last few nights, I’ve been restless. Walking makes me feel better.”

  Since he’d never carried a child and never would, he’d have to take her word for it. If she slept better when she walked, then it would be wise for her to walk up until the day she had the child.

  “In that case,” he began, “I’d be happy to walk with you.”

  Her smile widened, and he was glad his answer had made her happy.

  They sat in silence for a few moments before she said, “The baby’s kicking,” she told him. “Do you want to feel it?”

  He shook his head. His sister hadn’t asked him if he wanted to feel her children moving around in her womb when she was expecting them, and he hadn’t been any more interested in it back then than he was now. “I’ll wait until the baby is born to hold him.” Recalling the child might not be a boy, he hurried to add, “Or her.”

  “It’s one of the nicest things about carrying a baby,” she told him.

  While she thought so, he had no desire to experience it for himself. It was a good thing ladies were left to have babies. The whole prospect seemed scary to him, and he didn’t scare easily.

  After a while, he asked, “Are you ready to go back inside?”

  She nodded, and he helped her to her feet.

  “I have an idea,” she began as they started to leave the maze. “Why don’t we take a walk around the rear of the manor tomorrow? I’d like to see what it looks like from the back.”

  “I haven’t been there in over a year. It’d be nice to see it again.”

  “Good. Then tomorrow we’ll walk around it.”

  “Did you ever go outside and walk around Ichabod’s entire manor?”

  “I did. Several times. He didn’t keep his place up like you do. I don’t know if it was because he couldn’t afford a gardener or because he didn’t care because he never went outside.”

  “Did you lack anything while you were married to Ichabod?” Stephen asked her.

  “All of my physical needs were met,” she replied.

  Surprised she should word things that way, he studied her expression. Well, hadn’t she told him she never had taken any walks or had any conversations with Ichabod? When he considered all of that, her answer was to be expected.

  He glanced at her round belly. He still didn’t understand how she was with child. Ichabod would have had to be with her in order to make that happen. She’d assured him the child was Ichabod’s. He had no reason to doubt her. She didn’t have the same look about her that Eloise had had. He could never believe anything Eloise said. Thanks to her, he’d become an expert in knowing when someone was lying to him. And Patricia wasn’t lying. She might not be filling in the blanks for him, but she wasn’t lying.

  He didn’t know her well enough to ask for the details about her marriage to Ichabod. And even if he did, it wasn’t any of his business. Their marriage was one of convenience. Unlike his last marriage, he had agreed to this one. But it didn’t give him the right to pry into her past. He had asked her not to pry into his, and she was keeping her part of the bargain. The least he could do was give her the freedom to keep her own secrets.

  “I was thinking,” he said in an attempt to change the conversation, “the dinner party that we invited my sister and her family to is quickly coming up. I’d like to serve a couple of your favorite dishes, but I don’t know what those are.”

  “You would?” she asked, not hiding her pleasure.

  “It only seemed fitting since you’ll be there to eat the meal.”

  Her smile widened, and she began to tell him what meals she enjoyed most. She was so different from Eloise. Something as simple as the meals he would choose for the dinner party pleased her. Taking a walk and talking to her had pleased her, too.

  This was nice. This was how he thought marriages were supposed to be before his brother strapped him with Eloise. There was no going back and undoing the past, but, perhaps, there was something worth looking forward to in the future. Maybe, just maybe, he’d find some level of contentment in his life now that she was in it.

  Chapter Eight

  On the evening of the dinner party, Patricia chose one of her best gowns. It was a pretty pink one. She supposed she should be wearing black since she was a widow and this was a social engagement, but she hated the color black. It was symbolic of death and heartache. It meant despair and sorrow. She’d had enough of those things to last her a lifetime.

  Since coming here and spending time with Stephen, she felt a spark of something she hadn’t had in a very long time: hope. She wasn’t sure why he should make her feel that way, except that when she talked with him during their walks or while they ate,
she felt connected to the world. She was with someone who understood how lonely life could be when everything good was taken away.

  “You look happy this evening,” her lady’s maid said as she pinned Patricia’s hair up with decorative pins.

  “I’m excited about the dinner party,” Patricia told Marcy. “I haven’t been to one before. I’m not sure what to expect. Oh, I know everyone will have a meal, but I don’t know if there’s more to it than that.”

  “Usually, people talk and enjoy themselves. Sometimes they play a game.”

  Patricia studied the lady’s reflection in the mirror. Did servants ever have dinner parties? Ichabod had never had one, and until she married him, she’d never had servants. So she didn’t know what they did in their spare time.

  Marcy put the last pin in her hair. “You have a lovely heart-shaped face. I think when you wear your hair up like this, it really shows.”

  Patricia forced her attention back to her reflection. She had no idea what Marcy meant by “heart-shaped face”, but she thought Marcy did a marvelous job of making her attractive. For the first time in her life, she felt beautiful.

  “You did a wonderful job,” Patricia said as she got ready to leave her bedchamber. “Thank you.”

  Marcy smiled. “You’re very welcome, my lady.”

  Patricia returned her smile then left the room. Taking a deep breath, she headed down the hall. She paused as she passed Stephen’s bedchamber. He hadn’t visited her room since they married. There was nothing in the contract that let her know whether or not they would ever share a bed. She didn’t know if he ever planned to consummate their marriage or, like Ichabod had chosen to do, leave it unconsummated.

  Pushing the matter aside, she went down the steps. When she entered the drawing room, Stephen was at the desk. He was pouring tea into four cups, which she was sure was meant for the adults since there were two smaller cups of hot chocolate that were for children.

  “Your sister has three children, doesn’t she?” Patricia asked, wondering where the third cup of hot chocolate was.

  Stephen glanced over at her and paused, his gaze traveling the length of her in a way that made her skin warm. He cleared his throat and turned back to the tea he was pouring. “Edmund’s too young to have hot chocolate.”

  “Oh. That makes sense.” She chuckled and rubbed her stomach. “I don’t know anything about taking care of babies. Do you think your sister would mind if I ask her for advice on the subject?”

  “Loretta loves talking about children. You probably won’t be able to get her to stop.” He finished pouring the tea and carried the tray, and everything on it, to the table in the center of the room. “After dinner, her husband, Tad, and I will go to the den. You and Loretta will have plenty of time to discuss babies then.”

  So that was the sequence of events at dinner parties. She felt much better now that she knew what to expect.

  She followed him. “Do you mind the fact that I’m not wearing black?”

  “I have yet to see you in a black gown,” he replied. “Why do you think I’d mind if you weren’t wearing one this evening?”

  “Well,” she accepted the cup of tea he offered her, “people will be here. I should be wearing black because of them, shouldn’t I?”

  He shrugged. “I was never one for formality. If you were going into London, you might want to wear black, but out here, it doesn’t matter. The only people who’ll be here are my sister, her husband, and her children. If it makes you feel better, I could explain that you don’t have any formal mourning gowns.”

  He gestured for her to sit on the settee, so she did. He sat next to her. She didn’t know why that should surprise her. They had been taking walks together, and they often took a few minutes to sit on a bench or in the gazebo. But they hadn’t sat next to each other in the drawing room.

  She took a sip of the tea, hoping her excitement didn’t show. She hadn’t expected to experience the stirrings of butterflies in her stomach whenever he was near. On her wedding day, she had expected the marriage to be a lot like the kind she’d shared with Ichabod, with the exception of being able to see and talk to Stephen. She hadn’t felt anything remotely romantic since her ill-fated courtship with Barnaby.

  “I didn’t wear black after my first wife died,” Stephen said.

  Surprised, she looked at him. “You didn’t?”

  He shook his head. “We lived in separate residences. She stayed in London. I was here. It was a marriage we were forced into. Neither of us wanted it. We didn’t even consummate it.”

  Her eyes grew wide. For someone who didn’t want to discuss the past, he sure was giving her a lot of information. Why would he do such a thing? He wasn’t drunk. There was no alcohol in his body to make him say things he wouldn’t ordinarily say.

  He glanced at her and shrugged. “I was thinking about you and Ichabod. You mentioned it being lonely out there. You two never talked or walked or did anything together. Why would you want to wear black? You’re not sorry he’s gone. I just wanted you to know it’s all right. Not everyone has a marriage where they miss the person they’d been married to.”

  So that was why he’d said it. He had hoped to ease her nerves about wearing pink tonight. She cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “Ichabod and I never consummated our marriage, either.” When she saw his eyebrows furrow, she decided to answer the question before he could ask. “He emitted his seed into a cup, and the butler gave the cup to me. Then I was to put my fingers into the cup and then into me.” Face growing warm, she cleared her throat. “I didn’t expect the method to work, but it did.” She rubbed her stomach. “This is his child. No one’s ever taken me to his bed.”

  “I believe you,” he softly replied, as if he felt she needed the assurance.

  She couldn’t look at him anymore. She broke eye contact with him and focused on drinking her tea. She honestly hadn’t expected to ever tell Stephen the truth, but there was something about him that prompted her to tell him. She could be vulnerable with him.

  And, for some reason, she wanted Stephen to know. Maybe she needed to be close to someone. Maybe she sensed he needed to be close to someone, too. Maybe after years of feeling as if they had no one who was allowed to get through their walls, it was natural they would accept one another so easily.

  And she’d be lying if she didn’t admit it felt good to confide in someone. Her marriage to Ichabod had been so strange…so unusual…

  Lewis knew her marriage hadn’t been ideal, but he had no idea just how strange it’d really been. Coming out and admitting it to Stephen made it feel as if a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. She actually felt better than she had in a long time.

  “I want you to know that I’ll treat the child as if he were my own,” Stephen said, his voice still soft.

  She dared to make eye contact with him. “I’m glad the child will have a father who’ll hold him and spend time with him. I worried that Ichabod would probably never even see him. A child should see his father.” Aware of the movement in her womb, she rubbed her stomach. “Or her. This could be a girl.”

  “Either way, it’ll be nice to have a child around here. One thing I enjoy most about my sister’s visits is that I get to see my niece and nephews.” He smiled. “They brighten up the place. It’s one of the reasons I spoil them. I like watching their faces light up when they get a present.”

  She returned his smile. “They adore you. I’m sure they’d enjoy being with you even if you didn’t have any gifts.”

  “Probably. But why not offer gifts when I can afford them?”

  She glanced around the room. “I don’t see any gifts.”

  “I put them under the desk. I thought Rosamond might enjoy looking for them.”

  Her smile widened. “That’s very sweet of you. I’m sure she’ll love that game.”

  “I’m sure she will, too. Putting them under the desk might be too easy, though. She’s an intelligent little girl. I think she’ll find
them right away.”

  “If she does, you can make it more challenging for her in the future.”

  “If she gets as much enjoyment from the game as I think she will, then I’ll definitely do that.”

  The butler came into the room, and Rosamond and Janus ran right over to Stephen. Patricia almost spilled her tea as the children wrapped their arms around his neck and called out that they were glad to see him.

  Patricia set the cup on the tray and scooted the table further from the settee so the children wouldn’t accidentally knock into it.

  “Rosamond and Janus,” Loretta said as she unwrapped the cloak around her shoulders, “I told you both to walk in here.”

  From beside her, Tad held Edmund.

  The butler took Loretta’s cloak and then helped Tad out of his coat.

  Stephen laughed as he hugged Rosamond and Janus. “Don’t be upset with them,” he told his sister. “They’re happy to see me, and I’m happy to see them.” He turned his gaze to the children. “I missed you two. It’s nice having you here.”

  Patricia watched as the children fussed over him.

  Loretta carried Edmund to a chair and sat down. As Tad settled next to Loretta, she told Patricia, “I have a feeling Stephen will spoil your child, too.”

  Patricia chuckled at the teasing tone in Loretta’s voice. She was glad Stephen liked children. It’d been nice watching him with his niece and nephews the last time Loretta was here, and it was even more wonderful now since she knew him better.

  While Stephen asked the children what they had been up to, Patricia gave Loretta and Tad their tea. Shortly after that, the children found their presents and then had hot chocolate. From there, they went to the dining room and had a wonderful meal.