Bonds of Matrimony

by A C J McKechnie

  Thoughts of her father had Ellie stopping in her tracks. She’d been so busy thinking about herself and everything that would happen with her that she had completely forgotten what this meant for her dad. She’d been providing for them for the past year, so what would happen to him now? How would he manage? He didn’t have a job. He didn’t have an income.

  Ellie had a little bit of money in her account but nothing that would sustain him. And judging by the fact that this whole situation had arisen because her dad had stupidly tried to blackmail Zachary, Ellie didn’t think that her new husband would support her father financially. What would her dad do now?

  Wearily sitting down on the edge of the comfortable and grand four poster bed, Ellie tried to think of how to address the problem at hand. How would she be able to help her dad when she was stuck here with no freedom? What could she do to help him? She couldn’t even visit him without an approved escort.

  Ellie didn’t even know if she was allowed to talk to him about her marriage and life here. She didn’t know what she could say to him. Hadn’t the documents mentioned the fact that she couldn’t talk to anybody about the true state of things? Would that include her father who knew the truth from the start? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t risk it.

  Besides which, the man didn’t need to be constantly reminded about what his actions had caused for his daughter. It wouldn’t do any good for him to bear the guilt and responsibility of her unhappiness, he had enough on his plate as it was.

  Sighing once more, Ellie rubbed her eyes and realized how incredibly tired she was. It had been a long, eventful, and stressful day, and she was suddenly incredibly tired. She’d think more clearly after having had some sleep. She’d be able to make better decisions. And she’d have a better perspective once she’d slept on it all.

  Chapter Six

  A gentle knocking intruded on Ellie’s sleep, and she blearily rubbed her eyes before looking at her bedroom door. When the persistent knocking continued, she pushed herself up on her elbows and called out a groggy ‘come in’.

  “Good morning, Mrs McCormack,” the cheerful woman greeted, and Ellie couldn’t help but smile in response. She’d met Pauline two days before, the day after her wedding, and had immediately taken to the woman.

  If someone had told Ellie to describe an elderly housekeeper, she’d have said graying, rounder, and stern. Pauline was almost the antithesis of that description. The only thing that was consistent was the gray hair, but instead of being pulled back into a severe bun, the svelte woman wore it closely cropped in a fashionable and flattering style.

  She was well over sixty, but you’d never guess so by the exuberance she radiated. She was friendly and personable, and so incredibly welcoming in such a cold environment that Ellie had immediately latched onto her.

  As soon as the sun had crested on the Sunday morning, Ellie had made her way down to the kitchen and had been greeted by a veritable bevy of staff. They’d all been pleasant, but distant. Except for Pauline. There had been a few minutes of tense analysis on either side, but they had somehow both come to the conclusion that the woman opposite them was one which they could trust and like. And for Ellie’s part she hadn’t been disappointed.

  Every free moment that wasn’t spent in either the garden or her room, Ellie would spend in the kitchen talking to and getting to know the woman, and it was an absolute pleasure. The other moments, the ones where she wasn’t free, were very much not a pleasure. Those moments were spent in the company of the great Zachary McCormack. The Beast who made it abundantly clear that Ellie was his to command and dictate to.

  Regardless of her employer’s nature though, Pauline was an absolute gem, and Ellie would welcome any time she got with the woman.

  Smiling as the woman entered the room with a tray in her hands, Ellie finally replied to the other woman’s greeting. “You really should just call me Ellie, Pauline,” Ellie said encouragingly.

  “My mother would spin in her grave. She was a housekeeper too, you know?” the woman replied before settling the tray on Ellie’s lap. “As much as I’m informal with you and Mr McCormack, I draw the line at not referring to you appropriately,” she said with a smile.

  “If you insist. I wouldn’t want to disturb your mother’s peace, after all,” Ellie said before sniffing at the food in front of her appreciatively. “This is all so decadent,” she said before tucking into her breakfast.

  “A different life than you’re used to,” Pauline agreed.

  “One I’m not entirely comfortable with,” Ellie confessed.

  “You’re not content? Is there anything I can do?” Pauline asked in concern.

  “No, no, nothing like that,” Ellie said with a wave of her hand. “I’m just so used to being on the other side of things. I have nothing to do, after all. It seems … wasteful, I suppose.”

  “Mr McCormack works long hours,” Pauline said with a sigh. “I had hoped that once he’d married he’d be around more, but apparently old habits die hard. I’d hate to see him make the same mistakes as his father.”

  “The man was obsessed with his work himself then?” Ellie asked in interest. As much as she didn’t want to spend time with Zachary, it didn’t stop her from being interested in the man she’d married. Whenever Pauline spoke of him she always did so with real attachment and regard. The fact made Ellie curious about what the other woman saw in such a cold and overbearing man.

  “Utterly,” Pauline confirmed. “The man never put anything before his work. Not even his family,” she added with a sigh. “Such a shame. He lost so much that he couldn’t ever get back.”

  “His wife?” Ellie asked and watched as Pauline nodded. “What happened? Where is she now?” Ellie prodded and noticed Pauline look at her in surprise.

  “The former Mrs McCormack?” Pauline asked, and Ellie nodded. “You met her the other day, didn’t you?”

  “Did I?” Ellie said in surprise.

  “Of course.”

  “When?”

  “Your wedding. She and Tessa were here.”

  “Tessa?” Ellie said in bemusement.

  “Didn’t your husband tell you anything about himself? Or was he too busy sweeping you off your feet to get around to doing so?” Pauline said with a slight chuckle and a shake of her head as she started to clear away Ellie’s breakfast things now that she’d finished with them.

  “The wedding did come up quite quickly,” Ellie mumbled self-consciously. She’d have to speak to her husband. It was ridiculous that a wife knew so little about the man she’d married. If Zachary was determined not to be embarrassed by her in public, he’d need to make sure that she had enough knowledge about him to ensure that people didn’t think that the only reason they were married was for her to be in his bed.

  “Well, Mrs Lawson, as she is now, was the older woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. Her husband Alan was the charming man who wouldn’t take his eyes off her,” Pauline added with a smile, and Ellie immediately placed the couple. She’d noticed the bond between the two herself.

  “She doesn’t look much like Zachary, does she?”

  “He’s the image of his father. Tessa on the other hand, she’s all her mother.”

  “Tessa?”

  “Mr McCormack’s sister,” Pauline supplied, and Ellie found her eyes widening.

  “He has a sister? I didn’t know that,” Ellie supplied in shock.

  “Nobody does,” Pauline confirmed. “Only those very close to Mr McCormack know about her existence. She’s his half-sister really. Works as a nurse and is happy living her life doing good for others. When Mr McCormack found out about her he tried to offer her plenty of things, but she refused them all, she just wanted to remain free of upper society and the money that comes with it.

  “So your husband promised to keep their relationship secret. If anyone found out that she was his sister they could use that information in any manner of damaging ways. Kidnapping and holding her for ransom being one of the worst of co
urse,” Pauline said, and Ellie started.

  “Kidnapping?!”

  “Of course, dear. With the amount of money your husband has, people would do many things to get their hands on it,” Pauline added nonchalantly, and Ellie froze. Many people would do anything to get their hands on his money. Including her father. No wonder Zachary had acted so maliciously, her father had behaved appallingly, trying to get a piece of something that wasn’t his.

  Not that that excused Zachary’s boorish behavior at it all, but Ellie found herself trying to imagine herself in his situation. She’d probably be angry as well. Of course how that anger would manifest itself wouldn’t be by taking revenge on somebody in the form of claiming their daughter, but she would be angry.

  “But you’ll be safe, don’t you worry,” Pauline hastened to add, and Ellie shook her thoughts away as she focused on the other woman with a soft smile.

  “I wasn’t worried,” Ellie said truthfully. She wasn’t worried at all about her own protection and safety, her husband had seen to the fact that nobody would be getting anywhere near her with all of the restrictions he’d placed on her.

  “Good. In that case you won’t be adverse to our plans for the day,” Pauline said as she wandered into Ellie’s bathroom and started running the water there.

  “Plans?” Ellie called out as she finally got out of bed and followed the woman into the other room.

  “I understand your situation, Mrs McCormack,” Pauline said tentatively, as though thinking through her wording before speaking. “You’ve told me a bit about your background, and of course Tessa was elaborating a bit more as well.”

  “Tessa?” she asked in surprise. She remembered talking to the woman at her wedding, but she hadn’t realized that Zachary’s sister knew anything about her.

  “Oh yes, she wanted to let me know that you’d probably be a bit unsure at the start,” Pauline clarified. “She told me about your background and how out of your element you’d feel here. She was right as well,” Pauline smiled comfortingly, and Ellie just frowned at the fact that a woman whose name she hadn’t even known, a woman who was apparently her new sister-in-law, knew her so well.

  “What has my background got to do with anything?” Ellie asked in an effort to center the conversation back on getting to the bottom of Pauline’s words.

  “Well, being the wife of such a prominent businessman has certain responsibilities,” Pauline added softly while she laid out towels before returning to the bedroom area and Ellie’s closet.

  “Such as?” Ellie prompted.

  “Your wardrobe, Mrs McCormack,” Pauline finally said with a quick look at Ellie. “And … well … and your jewelry.”

  “We’re going shopping, aren’t we?” Ellie said with a sigh.

  “Yes,” Pauline confirmed.

  “My husband insisted, didn’t he?” Ellie queried, trying to keep the bitterness out of her words.

  “Like I said, you’re in a very foreign environment now, and you’re so young,” Pauline said tenderly, and Ellie couldn’t stay mad at the woman. Her husband? Oh yeah, she could stay mad at him, but not the kind woman who was only doing what her job entailed.

  “I know what’s required,” Ellie confirmed. “Zachary mentioned to me that I’d need to attire myself more appropriately,” she said with distaste.

  “Now, dear, just because you have to dress in expensive clothing doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice your own identity and sense of style. We’re not turning you into something you’re not, we just need to make sure that you exude quality. Your jeans and t-shirts are fine for puttering around in the comfort of your own home and room, but when you’re out in public you need to present yourself to the best of your ability. We don’t want people to think that your husband doesn’t care about his wife, now do we?” she encouraged with a smile, and Ellie forced a smile in return.

  In other words, they didn’t need anyone finding out the truth. Withholding her sigh of frustration, Ellie just nodded and turned to head into the bathroom to get ready for what she was expecting to be a truly horrendous day.

  “Don’t look so glum, Mrs McCormack,” Pauline called out as she rummaged through Ellie’s things, obviously looking for something suitable to wear for their outing. “We’ll have fun. I’ll make sure of it.”

  “I’m relying on you, Pauline. I haven’t got a clue what we’ll need to get, or even where to start. Did Zachary give you a list?”

  “He mentioned a few necessary essentials, but I know what I’m doing. And it’s been a long time since I had the chance to do so. I’m going to enjoy this,” Pauline beamed, and Ellie couldn’t help but smile at the woman. Pauline was genuinely excited about this outing, and Ellie resolved that she’d do whatever she could to make sure that Pauline got as much enjoyment out of the day as she could. Even if she had to pretend that it was the best thing she’d ever done.

  After all, she was getting quite adept at pretending lately.

  * * *

  Looking up at his house, Zach sighed. He didn’t really want to enter his home. He didn’t enjoy the trapped feeling that it gave him with his new resident there as well. Marrying Ellie had completely disrupted his life, and Zach wasn’t happy about that. He also wasn’t happy that so many people were absolutely smitten with her.

  His mother and sister thought her a diamond, the staff all seemed to be enthralled by her, even Pauline wouldn’t stop telling him about what a wonderful choice in bride he’d made. In fact, Pauline was saying more than that, she was reprimanding him for not spending more time with his new wife.

  He’d finally managed to shut the woman up by instructing her to take his wife shopping for her appropriate wardrobe. Pauline had beamed her approval at him and told him what a wonderfully generous and considerate husband he was. Zach had waited until she’d left and rolled his eyes at that sentiment.

  Though he’d then indulged in a smile as he thought of Ellie’s reaction to the news that she was being forced to go shopping with his housekeeper. He didn’t imagine that the order had gone down well with the woman and he briefly wondered what sort of battle Pauline had had with her over it.

  With curiosity over that thought, Zach felt a lightness in his step and headed inside to see whether the older woman’s eyes had been opened to his manipulative wife’s ways yet. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, however, he knew that that hadn’t been the case. The foyer was loaded with bags, boxes, garment carriers, and men who were obviously carrying everything up the stairs, presumably to his wife’s room.

  Taking in the scene in front of him, Zach strained his eyes, trying to find a familiar figure, when he spotted the fiery curls of his wife as she bent over to pick up some bags, smiling and saying something to one of the men there. When the man smiled back at her, laughed, then shook his head, Zach found himself frowning. That was not the type of behavior that he would accept from his wife, no way.

  Before she got too far up the stairs, Zach made his presence known. “Ellie!” he called out and watched as she froze in place before slowly turning around to look at him.

  Catching the man next to his wife stopping and turning to look between the two, he sent the other man a fierce glare before focusing back on the woman there instead. From the corner of his eye he could see the younger man quickly move away and Zach moved towards the stairs himself.

  Leaning against the newel post at the bottom, he studied his stationary wife before speaking. “I take it that you had a productive day today?” he asked as he looked around at all the store names visible, trying to mentally tally up how much this little excursion would cost him.

  “Pauline said it was important,” Ellie defended, and Zach nodded in response to that. When he noticed more men moving up and down the stairs, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to deal with his wife like he’d like to at the moment.

  “It is. You needed the outfits. We discussed this the other night,” he said with a quirk of a smile at her and watched as her eyes flashed a
t him. “So how much did this set me back then?”

  “You’ll have to ask Pauline,” Ellie said stiffly, and Zach didn’t miss the glances being thrown their way by the passersby.

  “I will. But first, I need to talk to you,” he said and watched as a wary look entered her eyes.

  “We can talk over dinner,” she said but Zach shook his head.

  “It won’t wait. Let the rest of them deal with all of this, we can talk in my study,” he said as he neared her and removed the bags from her hands before passing them off to a nearby figure and tugging at her to get her to follow him.

  The scene might have looked romantic to some, at least he hoped it did, but he knew, and he knew that Ellie knew, that there was no finesse in his grip, no persuasion to lead his wife somewhere secluded. This was a demand that she come and speak to him. This was one of those orders that she hated so much.

  “Of course,” she said through a sickly sweet smile that she used so often around him, as though to hide her true feelings and thoughts.

  Tugging her along after him, Zach entered his personal office away from work and propped one hip on his desk while he waited for Ellie to sit in a chair nearby. Instead of sitting, his wife opted to stand halfway across the room from him. Now that the door was shut she obviously didn’t feel need to keep the farce up any longer, and Zach’s look turned cold as well.

  “What was so important?” she asked stiffly, and Zach took his time looking her over. Determined, rigid, and defensive. Those were the most prominent characteristics of her form right then, and Zach couldn’t help but admire it in her.

  “Remind me about that little document you signed,” he said and watched as she snorted.

  “Little?” she mocked.

  “What exactly was written in there, Ellie?” he asked and watched as she raised a brow.