Bonds of Matrimony (12 page)

           
He
didn’t even turn back to acknowledge her.
 
“Good.
 
If for whatever
reason he isn’t there to greet you, perhaps you could say you are with me.
 
Then they will let you disembark.
 
I hear that the dormitories get crowded
with hundreds of people who cannot pass the health inspection or are waiting
for the inspection.
 
It could prove
to be a nightmare.”

           
“That’s
very generous of you, Mr. Webb.
 
Hopefully, Marcus will be there on time, and we won’t need to burden you
any further,” her grandmother replied.
 
“But should he be late in arriving, we would appreciate your services as
a chaperone.”

           
Chase
decided then that the man who had designed these slim skirts surely did so as a
defense mechanism for men.
 
If her
skirts had allowed, she probably would have been sorely tempted to kick Mr.
Webb square in his arrogant ass.

           
When
he left the girls at their room, the inspector was already waiting.
 
He was a small, wiry man who seemed to
be nervous to be surrounded by three women.
 
The actual inspection and physical was brief.
 
He reminded them of the procedure to
disembark, and then left them to pack their belongings and prepare to greet their
new nation.

***

           
As
they descended the ramp from the Mauretania to New York, Chase scoured the
swarm of people beneath her, looking for Marcus.
 
She was disappointed, but not surprised, when she was unable
to find him.
 
There were far too
many people to tell one man from another.
 

           
Walking
two steps behind her were Reese and her grandmother, escorted by Webb.
 
He had dutifully shown up at her
grandmother’s cabin and escorted the women to the main deck as they pulled into
port.
 
Although Chase had assured
him five or six times that they would not be needing his assistance, he
insisted.
 

           
And
walking two steps behind them was Elisabeth Davies.
 
Chase felt a bit sorry for her when she first saw her
trailing behind Webb.
 
The young
sap clearly was infatuated with the Texan pig.
 
She hurried to keep up with the rest of them, in spite of
his lack of acknowledgment.
 

           
And
when they reached the bottom of the ramp, Chase was shocked to see him turn and
take her elbow, as though he had known all along that she was behind him.
 
He met her puzzled stare as he hurried
Elisabeth to catch up with the rest of the women.

           
“She
is my cousin,” he explained shortly.
 

           
“Your
cousin?” Chase asked loudly.
 
But she
was only talking to his back.
 
He
had continued walking past her, gesturing to Lady Colchester and Reese to keep
up.
 

           
After
what seemed like hours of squeezing through the sea of people, registering as
future residents of Texas, and being reminded every ten seconds to “stick
close” to Webb and her grandmother, they finally heard a most welcome sound.

           
“Chastity!
 
Rosalie!
 
Oh, Grandmother!”
 

           
His
strong arms enveloped Chase and lifted her into the air.
 
She looked down into his bearded face
and hardly recognized him.
 
But the
smile was the same as she remembered.
 
He had always had the most generous smile she’d ever seen.
 

           
He
gave Reese and his grandmother equally welcome hugs, still holding Chase’s hand
and pulling her along behind him.
 

           
“Thank
God!
 
I’ve been so worried about
you.
 
How was your trip?
 
Did everything go as planned?”
 
He fired one question after another,
hardly waiting for a response.

           
“I’d
say it went as planned.
 
Until
Reese slipped about being related to you, nobody on board knew they were the
beautiful Fairfax women,” Webb greeted boastfully.
 
He grinned at Marcus’s evident surprise, but did not offer
his hand.

           
“Webb?”
our brother greeted with confusion.
 
“You know my sisters?”

           
“I
met Chase in Liverpool before we boarded,” he answered with a shrug.

           
Chastity
scowled at him and confirmed his explanation, adding, “I cleaned him out at the
poker table in a local tavern.”

           
It
was Colton’s turn to scowl, while she grinned in response to her brother’s
hearty laughter.
 
“Good for you,
Chase.
 
Good for you.”

           
The
reunion was brief, as Marcus was in a hurry to get away from the crowds and
settled in for the evening at a hotel further inland.
 
“Hanging out at port is not safe for anyone, much less a man
with three beautiful women in tow.
 
I’ve got rooms reserved at a modest hotel on the other side of the
city.
 
We’ve already got tickets
for the train home.
 
We’ll depart
at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning.
 
We
can talk more once we get settled in there.
 
Besides,” he added, rubbing a hand over his rough beard, “I
could use a shave.
 
I just got into
town myself, and I haven’t had a chance to shave since I left Texas.”

           
“I
thought that perhaps you were trying something new,” his sister laughed,
reaching up to touch his beard.

           
“Beards
are for cheats,” her brother answered, brushing her hand away with a smile.

           
“That’s
what I told him when he first came to Texas,” Colton Webb interrupted.
 
“You should have seen how hairy he was
when he first got off the train.”

           
Marcus
only shrugged and began leading them all through the crowd.
 

           
“Mind
if I tag along, Fairfax?
 
I’m sure
you could use another hand looking after these three.
 
And Elisabeth would probably enjoy the female companions,”
he suggested.

           
“Oh
please do,” Lady Colchester invited, before anyone could refuse him.
 
She reached out warmly and took
Elisabeth’s hand.
 
“When Rosalie
told me you were on board, Elisabeth, I could hardly believe it.
 
I kept waiting to run into your family,
but I didn’t see them on the ship.”

           
“No,
they’re still in England,” she answered quietly.
 
If Chase hadn’t been standing so close, she probably
wouldn’t have heard her response.
 
The
quiet woman ducked her head sheepishly, but there was no avoiding the flush
that rose in her cheeks.
 

           
Lady
Colchester apparently recognized the young woman’s reluctance to discuss the
matter, and she let it drop.
 
But
Elisabeth Davies had piqued Chase’s curiosity once again.

           
She
remembered that first ball of the season.
 
She had been so utterly bored and disgusted with the gossip that her
mother had spewed about every person they had met.
 
She had little faith in the accuracy of such stories.
 
But when she had told them about
Elisabeth’s betrothal to a man who was supposedly her mother’s lover, Chastity
had looked at the beautiful young woman and felt sympathetic.
 
And when she had studied her expression
and mannerisms, she had sensed that she was an exceptional young woman.
 
So what role did her cousin play in
this scene?

           
Nevertheless,
Chase followed her grandmother’s lead and walked in silence.
 
She focused her attention instead on
the different people they passed wearing different clothes and speaking odd
languages.
 
She had never
experienced anything like it.

           
She
wondered what her father and mother would think if they could see their
daughters now.
 
Would they be
shocked and appalled that they were being jiggled through a crowd of such
diversity?
 
Were they even aware
that such a place existed?
 
Both of
them had been so sheltered living the life of high English society all their
lives.
 
If Chase hadn’t been there
to see it herself, she probably never would have imagined such a scene.

           
Marcus
suggested that they hire a driver to take them to the hotel, but Chase pleaded
with him to let them walk.
 
“It’s
just so new.
 
I don’t want to be
rushed.
 
I just want to walk and
take it all in.”

           
“But
Grandmother—” he began to protest.

           
She
cut him off sharply.
 
“I am doing
just fine.
 
And I, too, would love
to enjoy this first walk through an American street.”

           
He
agreed reluctantly, and the six of them walked the twenty-three blocks through
the city to their hotel.
 
Chase
knew it was twenty-three because Webb made a point of muttering a curse in her
general direction when he held the door open for her at the hotel.
 

           
Reese
and Chastity were sitting on a bench in the lobby, admiring the beautiful
woodwork and deep red rugs, when Webb abruptly approached Marcus.
 
He seemed riled up about something, and
she could only imagine what had him so animated now.

           
Elisabeth
hurried over to the sisters and enlightened them.

           
“They
don’t have enough rooms available,” she announced.
 
She fell onto the bench that Chase shared with her sister,
evidently as exhausted as they were.

           
“Then
we’ll share rooms,” Lady Colchester assured her.
 
And with little more discussion, the matter was settled.
 
Reese would share a room with her grandmother,
Elisabeth and Chastity would room together, and the men could share the third
room Marcus had reserved.
 
Neither
Colton nor Marcus seemed particularly thrilled about the arrangement, but they
got over it quickly when Lady Colchester mentioned food.

           
Although
their dinner was extremely satisfying, Chase could not wait another moment to
take a bath.
 
For six days aboard
the Mauretania, her washing had been limited to soap, water, and a
washcloth.
 
The idea of immersing herself
in a tub of hot scented water sounded like Heaven.

           
So
after they finished dinner, they found a department store down the street and
purchased some new clothes for Reese and Chastity and some scented bath
oil.
 
The men had opted to stay at
the hotel after dinner, and Elisabeth also stayed, claiming that she could be
bathed and have fresh water drawn for Chase upon her return.
 

           
After
her bath, she was dressed in her robe and brushing her hair when Elisabeth
decided to put her book aside and strike up a conversation.

           
“Would
you mind terribly if I ask you something, Lady Chastity?” she asked softly.

           
“Grandmother
says that we don’t use titles in America,” she answered.
 
“And I’ve always hated the name
Chastity.
 
Perhaps you could simply
call me Chase.”

           
She
smiled warmly and nodded.
 
“How
many of the rumors are true about you?”

           
The
shy woman’s sudden boldness caught Chase off guard.
 

           
She
laughed and blushed.
 
“I
apologize.
 
I simply have heard so
many outrageous stories about you.
 
Naturally, I know that hardly half of those rumors can be believed,
which was why I was shocked when Colton asked if I knew you and told me you had
been pretending to be a young man on the ship.”