After the festivities, Robbie and Gavin greeted local guests; the cook and Mrs. Murray made sure there was plenty to eat and drink.
Later, when everyone had gone, Gavin walked her to her room. “I’m sorry we won’t be able to get away right now, but…well, you understand.”
“Had you planned a trip with Birdie?” Robbie was surprised she could even bring up her sister’s name on her wedding day.
Gavin shook his head. “I’m not much good at this, as you can see, so perhaps we can plan something a bit later on.” He bowed low over her hand, kissed it, and turned.
“Are you coming back?” she said to his retreating form.
On a half turn, he answered, “I’m sure you must be tired, Robbie. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Robbie flounced into her room and closed the door. Some wedding night. She removed her gown as quickly as she could and carefully hung it back in the wardrobe. She got into her old nightgown and robe. No point in wearing one of the new ones Mrs. Ferguson had insisted she order. But, wedding or not, Robbie had work to do. If she hadn’t already been paid for these last few pieces, she would quit writing them all together. And do what? Pine away and moon over a husband who had married her out of obligation? That wasn’t her style. She abhorred pity parties. No, he liked her; he wanted her here. That was enough for her—for now.
As she sat at her desk, she was beginning to think this whole situation was unacceptable. But she had work to do.
Pulling out her writing material, she began:
“Oh, please, Elijah,” Sallie begged, loving someone else to touch her besides herself. “Quickly, to the back of the stable.”
He was close on her heels as they darted further into a darkened corner. When they reached an empty stall, Sallie pulled her dress and petticoat up and threw herself on the hay. Elijah, perhaps more clever than she’d given him credit for, lit a lantern and placed it on the ledge. He then removed his trousers and lay down beside her.
Without having to ask him, she found his big, rough hands on her again, rubbing and moving a finger in and out. Miss Sallie shuddered at the sensations that raced through her blood. She spread her legs wider, allowing him more room, and suddenly he was between her legs, licking her. Miss Sallie Wiggins nearly screamed, the pleasure was so delightful! She grabbed his hair and pulled him closer, pressing his face against her, grinding and grinding until she felt herself coming apart, writhing and bucking against his mouth. When Miss Sallie came back to earth, her ears were ringing and her heart beating solidly against her ribcage.
“Your turn now, Miss Sallie, your turn.”
It took no time for Miss Sallie Wiggins to know what Elijah wanted. She was on her knees beside him in a quick moment, finding him thick, hard, and waiting for her mouth.
Robbie’s own feelings always caught fire when she wrote this drivel, but she usually just pushed them away. It would be different now; with a man to satisfy her within shouting distance, she wondered how long, if ever, it would be before satisfaction would come. Obviously not this night. An ugly thought poked her. Was Gavin with Faith Baker? She could just envision their meeting.
So ’tis done then?
It’s done. Poor wren, all alone in her bed and lucky me, here with you.
Robbie could write a scene with the dialogue, but putting Gavin in bed with another woman was the last thing she wanted to do, even if it was merely on paper.
She lay awake for what seemed like hours, wondering how she was going to fulfill her own desires, not wanting to succumb to the method used by Miss Sallie Wiggins before Elijah took her virginity.
• • •
The next morning she lay in bed and took a moment to see if she felt any different than she had the day before. She didn’t.
With a weary sigh, she slid from the bed, washed her face, and put on one of her new frocks. She combed out her hair, returning it to the simple chignon she had always worn in the past. She studied herself in the mirror. Same freckles across her nose, more prominent now that she’d been outside, same heart-shaped face, same blue eyes. And, thanks to Jeremy’s description, same bundle of hair the color of Swiss chocolate. Except for the lovely gown, nothing had changed. She was still a plain, unadorned virgin.
And she didn’t know what in the bloody hell (sorry, Papa) she was supposed to do in this colossal house. She was not the type to sit about and do nothing. She never had been.
• • •
Colin found Gavin in his library, studying a map of ancient Egypt. Gavin glanced up briefly, then returned to his task.
“Well, how are you this morning?” Colin asked.
Gavin gave him a brief nod. “Well. And you?”
Colin frowned. “That’s all you have to say?”
“What else do you want me to say?”
“Christ, man,” Colin replied, “you’re married. You have a bride who adores you. How was last night?”
Gavin looked up, his expression pained.
Colin huffed. “My God. Don’t tell me you didn’t spend the night with your new bride.”
At this, Gavin lowered his gaze. “How could I? She knows I don’t love her, how can I ask to bed her?”
Colin sank into a chair and rubbed his hands over his face. “You don’t ever plan to, is that it? You expect her to live like a nun for the rest of her life? And what of you? Will you be celibate as well, or will you seek your pleasure elsewhere? You won’t have far to go; Faith Baker will always be hovering about.”
“You keep shoving her at me. She and I are friends, nothing more.”
“Again, I don’t think so. She’d bed you in a heartbeat.”
“I don’t want to bed Faith. And what am I supposed to do with Robbie, walk in there and demand my rights as a husband?”
“Have you ever slept with a woman you didn’t love?”
“Yes,” Gavin answered, “of course I have. But this is different.”
“How, may I ask?” Colin’s frustration with his friend was deepening.
“I respect her too much.”
Again, Colin shook his head and sighed. “She looked beautiful yesterday, didn’t she?”
“Yes. She looked beautiful. In my whole life I had not realized that she could be so beautiful, because I was always blinded by her sister’s magnificence.”
Colin swore. “I’d sure like to get a look at this splendid creature. No woman can be that spectacular.”
“At one time I thought she was. Maybe if I saw her again, I’d change my mind, but old thoughts still bugger me, and I can’t seem to get them out of my head. I was an innocent lad, and when a creature like Birdie Fleming came into my life, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.”
Colin felt a stab of disgust. “Wake up, man. Get over this obsession you have for your wife’s sister.” He walked to the window and saw Robbie throwing a ball for one of the dogs, a long, low-slung Corgi with big ears. When the dog retrieved the prize, he ran back to her and dropped it at her feet once more. Colin had worked hard to rid himself of his fear of dogs after his accident. For weeks he had gone out of his way to avoid any route where he knew there were dogs, either pets or strays. He realized it was foolish; he didn’t love them, but he no longer feared them.
Robbie bent over and scratched the animal behind the ears, her face wreathed in a smile. Ben, the stable boy, approached her and said something, and Robbie nodded with enthusiasm, and then threw her head back and laughed.
“Come here,” Colin said.
Gavin joined him at the window.
“What do you see?”
Gavin studied the scene. “She’s comfortable with everyone. One day she asked me why there weren’t any dogs in the house. I couldn’t answer her. It had not dawned on me to have a dog in the house even though there were always dogs at home.”
“You poor, miserable sap. I’ve known you for a long time and thought I knew you well, but the depths of your separation from the real world is frightening.”
“What do you mean?” Gavin was truly puzzled.
“When I asked you to tell me what you saw, I expected you to say something about Robbie herself, not about the damned dogs.”
Gavin retreated back to his desk. “I did. I said she was comfortable with everyone.”
“If I were you, looking at my new bride, I’d say something like, ‘Just look at her. Look at the way her tresses shimmer in the sunshine, catching rays of red and gold in that mass of beautiful sable hair. I want to see that hair fanned across my pillow again tonight.’”
Gavin gave him a serious look and then went back to his map. “Is that truly what you see when you look at her?”
“What if it is? I’m at least capable of admiring a woman whether she’s a friend, a stranger, or another man’s wife.”
“I can’t bed her, Colin.” His voice was firm.
“What will you tell your family when they arrive?”
“I’ll tell them nothing.”
“You don’t suppose they’re intuitive enough to notice that something is wrong with your relationship?” Colin was getting more frustrated by the moment.
“Things will all work out in the end,” Gavin said with conviction.
Colin simply shook his head and walked to the door. “You live in your own little world, don’t you?”
As he walked through the door, he heard Gavin say, “I always have.”
He retreated to the side lawn, where Robbie was now sitting on the grass, her lap full of wiggly Corgi pups.
“Aren’t these the most adorable little things?” She picked one up and rubbed its soft face against her own. “Do you suppose Gavin would mind if I took one for myself? I’ve never had a pet of my own; Father always said that cats belonged in the barn and dogs in the fields, herding sheep.”
Suddenly she gasped and looked up at him. “Oh, Colin. Do you fear dogs now?”
He hunkered down and touched one of the pups. “I did at first; a normal reaction, I suppose. Truthfully, I will probably never have a dog of my own, but I don’t have any fear when I’m around them.
“These little ones are herders as well. If you take one, be prepared to be nudged around by its cold nose.” How could Gavin not see this woman for what she truly was? He wondered if his friend expected everything to go on as it did, nothing changing. In Gavin’s world, that made perfect sense, but Colin didn’t think it would make any sense at all to Robbie.
“Gavin is so engrossed in his maps of Egypt I don’t think he’d notice if you brought them all in with you.”
She gave him a quick glance. “He’s a scholar; that’s who he is. I’ve always admired his intelligence.”
“Oh, he’s intelligent, all right. It’s his ability to deal with people that I worry about.”
She lowered her gaze and stroked the pups, who wiggled and burrowed into the fabric of her gown. When Robbie looked up at him, she wore an unreadable expression. “Don’t give up on him, Colin. He needs your friendship.”
At that, Colin actually laughed and started to walk away. “I’d have given up on him a long time ago if he wasn’t my best friend, Robbie.”
She watched him go, noting that he, too, was tall and well built. She imagined that before his accident Colin had been quite a catch for some girl. Too bad so many women were turned off by his ravaged features; he was a fine gentleman.
Ben returned with the empty box he had brought the pups in. She noticed the cut on his arm was freshly bandaged; she was pleased that he took care of it himself.
“Have the pups been weaned?”
“Aye, mistress. They be weaned.”
“Do you have homes for all of them?” she asked, crossing her fingers in the folds of her skirt.
“All but two females; the males go to some of the gentry in the region.”
She looked up at the young lad, her expression hopeful. “Do you suppose I might have one to call my own?”
The boy grinned, showing a gap between his front teeth. “Aye, mistress.” He bent down and pulled out two pups from the pile in her lap. “These two be females. Take yer pick.”
Robbie studied them. “It’s so hard to decide. All I really want is a companion.”
The stable boy pointed to the one burrowing its way back to her skirts. “I’m thinkin’ that one wants to be yours, mistress.”
Robbie lifted it into her arms. “Then this is the one I’ll have as mine. Thank you.”
He put the rest of the pups in the box, nodded, and returned to the barn.
Robbie studied the little face with its white mask and perky ears. “Well, girl, what should I call you?” The pup tried to lick her face and then nuzzled her neck. “Ah, yes. Very affectionate, aren’t you? Miss Sallie or Lady Perlina?” The pup cocked her head to one side and appeared to lift an eyebrow. “Ah, yes. Lady Perlina it is.”
She returned to the house and Colin was lounging on the steps, smoking a cigar. “So you found one, have you?”
“I have indeed.” She frowned. “What do they eat, do you know?”
“I think we could find some dog cakes in town at the livery. That would probably be best when the little thing gets older, but for now, probably biscuits softened in milk.”
Robbie brought the pup to her nose, and the pup licked her. “I hope no one minds that I want her in the house with me. Do you think Mrs. Murray will have a conniption?”
“You could bring all the pups into the house and Mrs. Murray would praise you for being so soft-hearted. As long as she didn’t have to clean up after them.”
Robbie looked up at Colin. “I just want a companion.” She gazed up at the immense house, toward the room that was Gavin’s office. “I could get lonely living out here,” she added.