His Remarkable Bride (21 page)

Then he began to thrust in earnest, the friction and pull of her driving him past all rational thought. It wasn’t just the sheath of her tight around him, it was her legs wrapping around him, her arms embracing him, her soul-deep cries of longing and love, her whole being surrounding him and keeping him safe. He could be her champion for the rest of his days, but she would forever be the keeper of his heart.

The potent rush of orgasm sped through him, gathering heat and energy from his spine to his thighs and barreling through his groin with unbelievable pleasure. He cried out as his life itself burst through him and into her, uniting them beyond what any vows could accomplish. He wished that moment of perfect unity could last forever, that they could float together in heady abandon forever, but already the feeling was subsiding, leaving him with a sense that everything with the world was absolutely perfect.

“My beautiful wife,” he sighed, relaxing to the side so they could both catch their breath.

“My valiant husband,” she purred, resting her hand over his heart.

He fell asleep again, which was shameless, considering the importance of the day. When he awoke, Elspeth was gone. The sounds of breakfast being prepared downstairs and the scent of bacon reassured him that all was well. He took a moment to lay there with a broad grin on his face, wondering how he had gotten so remarkably lucky. Then it was time to get up, wash, shave, and dress, and get moving.

“Oh my, look at you,” Elspeth declared, eyes shining, when he walked into the kitchen.

“What?” He glanced down at his Sunday suit, hoping it wasn’t stained or he hadn’t put it on wrong.

Elspeth left the counter where she was buttering toast and came over to straighten his tie and brush her fingers through his carefully combed hair. He’d shaved and brushed his teeth to boot, even though he was about to eat. In fact, Elspeth stared at him as though she might like to gobble him up. He had to work not to scramble out of his clothes and do things on the kitchen table they would regret later.

“You, Mr. Athos Strong, musketeer, clean up very well,” she said at last, pressing her hands to her pink, pink cheeks.

“Do I?” He took another look at himself. He had put extra effort into things. That hardly mattered. “You look like a fine and noble lady yourself today, wife of mine.”

It was her turn to glance down at her dress—a pretty one made of blue material that contrasted perfectly with her porcelain complexion and dark hair. “Then we shall make the perfect picture of competent, responsible parents when we step into that courtroom today.”

He was certain beyond doubt that she was right. It was the first time he was certain of anything, without any reservation, in as long as he could remember. They ate their breakfast while discussing the strategies they had planned with Solomon in meetings over the last week. Solomon was a true friend to come to their aid so selflessly, in spite of having his own business to run.

After breakfast and clean-up, they headed out, up Prairie Avenue and across Elizabeth Street to the town hall arm-in-arm. Maybe it was smug of him to strut so confidently, considering the order of the day, but with Elspeth on his arm, approving of his appearance, and with the morning they’d spent, how could he help but crow.

The town hall was already crowded by the time they arrived. All of the major players were there waiting, including the children.

“Papa! Papa!” they shouted from the far corner.

Mrs. Lyon stood with them on one side, wearing her stuffy grey suit and a peevish expression. Her guards lounged between her and the children, looking exhausted and put-out. The Bonneville clan, complete with sisters, Rex, and Cousin Rance, and an embarrassed-looking Bonnie stood nearby as well. None of them was fast enough to stop the Strong children when they saw their father and bolted.

“Papa, you look so handsome,” Ivy declared breathlessly as the mass of children rushed across the room and into Athos and Elspeth’s arms.

“You do, you do!” Millicent agreed, jumping up and down.

“You’re almost too handsome to mess up with hugs,” Heather said.

“Never,” Athos declared, scooping as many of his children into his arms as he could for hugs and kisses.

“You look really pretty too, Lady Elspeth,” Vernon said, staring at her with a boyish blush.

“Dear heavens, don’t call me
Lady
anything.” Elspeth threw her arms around Vernon as if he were her own son.

“That’s what Miss Vivian and Miss Melinda say we have to call you,” Geneva informed her.

Elspeth let go of Vernon to hug her. “Well, I think we all know what we can do with the opinions of Misses Vivian and Melinda.”

Her simple comment was like opening the floodgates. “You’ll never guess what Miss Melinda did yesterday,” Lael began.

At the same time, Ivy blurted, “Miss Vivian smears her face with buttermilk and mashed cucumbers at night!”

“Miss Bebe doesn’t know how to tie her own shoes.”

“Miss Melinda sat on a pinecone.”

And on and on, all in a single rush of whispers and giggles.

Elspeth was roaring with laughter by the time Mrs. Lyon and her thugs marched over.

“Stop, stop, stop!” Mrs. Lyon scolded. “This is highly irregular and forbidden!”

It took all of Athos’s powers of restraint to hold his tongue and not tell the shrewish woman exactly what he thought of her. Instead, he drew from the immense calm and beauty of the morning as it had unfolded so far and bowed like any good musketeer would. “Good morning, Mrs. Lyon.”

“Wha—” Mrs. Lyon stared at him as though he had a frog on each shoulder, mouth hanging open. She shut it, shook her head, and huffed an impatient breath. “Good morning, Mr. Strong, Mrs. Strong. Get away from these children.”

“These are my children,” Athos said, surprised that he wasn’t throttling the woman. “They only came over here to say good morning to their papa and their new mama.”

“That’s right, you
are
our new mama,” Lael said.

“Wait, are we supposed to call you Mama or Lady Elspeth?” Millicent asked.

“Mama was Mama,” Hubert said, frowning as though he’d just been presented with a mathematical problem.

“We discussed this before. You can call me just Elspeth,” Elspeth laughed, ruffling Lael’s hair.

“But shouldn’t we—”

“Ugh, there he is.” Before anything else could be resolved, the Bonneville sisters left their spot at the side of the room and flounced over to join the Strongs. Or rather, Vivian, Melinda, and Bebe flounced, Honoria slunk.

“Lady Elspeth,” Melinda said. “You don’t have to stand by that odious man if you don’t want to.”

“Yes, we’ll shelter you. We will always shelter people of quality and breeding,” Vivian added.

“You’re too good for him,” Bebe finished. “We’re too good for him too.”

Elspeth’s mouth dropped. She snuck a look at Athos. He just stood there grinning, eager to see how she would talk her way through this spectacle.

“Elspeth is nice,” Thomas piped up. “I want to call her Mama. My other mama died before I could call her anything.”

“Mrs. Lyon, aren’t you supposed to be preventing these children from associating with their negligent father or bothering Lady Elspeth?” Vivian snapped.

Athos’s annoyance was only outmatched by the surprise of Vivian sneering so viciously at a woman he thought was her ally.

“Yeah, do your job,” Bebe added.

Evidently, the week hadn’t been a pleasant one out at the Bonneville ranch. One covert glimpse at the children’s knowing smirks and attempts not to laugh was proof of that.

“I would do my job if I had any sort of
support
,” Mrs. Lyon snapped. “But no, I’ve been stuck with a bunch of preening, uptight, snobbish harpies who wouldn’t know the meaning of discipline if it slapped them in the face,
which I would very much like to do
.”

The children burst into snorts and giggles. Athos had a hard time keeping his own reaction in check. Elspeth covered her mouth with one gloved hand and turned partially away. It only got worse from there.

“Well, if
someone
wasn’t such a sour old hypocrite, things would have gone much better,” Melinda bit out.

“Me, a hypocrite?” Mrs. Lyon pressed a hand to her chest and gawped.

“You, madam, are the biggest hypocrite that has ever walked this earth,” Vivian said, drawing herself up to her full height and staring down her nose at the woman. “You give yourself airs and pretend to be everyone’s friend, then the moment it works to your advantage, you go running to papa in an attempt to stab them in the back. Every fruitful idea we have had for dealing with these wretched children you have attempted to steal and pass off as your own, and every time the winds were blowing against you, you attempted to throw us to the wolves instead of facing responsibility yourself.”

“I never did any such thing,” Mrs. Lyon bellowed.

Athos exchanged a glance with Elspeth, who looked every bit as much like she wanted to step back and let the hens peck each other to death as he did.

“You are a terrible manager of people.” Melinda took up the cause as Vivian panted to catch her breath through her anger. “You can’t even manage your own team, instead letting them run amok on our ranch.” She threw out a hand to the four guards—who looked as though they would rather be anywhere else in the world.

“They all hate you, you know,” Bebe added.

“They do not.” Mrs. Lyon stomped her foot. “They respect me.”

“Ha!” Melinda snorted. “They think you’re a loud, shrill, incompetent, charlatan… charlataness?”

Mrs. Lyon yelped wordlessly in offense, looking from the Bonneville sisters to her toughs and back.

She was in the process of gathering her thoughts when Solomon strode up to join their group. “The judge is on his way over from the hotel,” he announced. When everyone around him failed to react, he blinked and twisted to study the variety of outraged and indignant expressions. “Did I miss something?”

Athos couldn’t hold his laughter in for another moment. “We’ll tell you later.” He slapped Solomon on the back, shaking his head. “Children, go with Mrs. Lyon for now and behave.”

“But Papa,” they all began to protest at once.

“No, no, it’s all right.” He recovered from his laughter and the ridiculousness of the situation. “Elspeth and I will be right there in the courtroom with you. This will be quick, and then we can all go home and have a picnic lunch in the backyard.”

“Yay!”

Led by Hubert, Ivy, and Heather, the children returned to their former spot on the other side of the room, the younger ones skipping and jumping as if nothing was wrong. Mrs. Lyon was red-faced and shaking as she walked back to stand with them. She didn’t look at either her guards or the Bonneville sisters. For their part, the Bonneville sisters didn’t seem to know whether to preen or pout. They sniffed and huffed and marched back across the room to their father.

All except for Honoria, who hung back.

“I think your plan to give my sisters reasons to get rid of the children as quickly as possible was a success, Mr. Templesmith,” she said, cheeks pink and eyes bright as though she had been laughing too. It was the first time in a long time that Athos didn’t think she looked sickly and defeated.

“Thank you, Miss Honoria.” Solomon reached for her hand to shake it, and Honoria went pinker.

Then she fell into a coughing fit. With a quick nod, she turned and ran to join her family.

“I knew Miss Honoria would come through for us.” Solomon smiled.

“The two of you seem to get along well,” Elspeth said, grinning, her eyes sparkling.

For a moment, Solomon looked confused. “My dealings with the Bonnevilles have never been pleasant, but Honoria doesn’t seem to take after her family.”

Elspeth continued to grin. The gears in Athos’s mind turned slowly, but if he wasn’t mistaken, his lovely wife was making a romantic suggestion about Honoria Bonneville to Solomon.

There wasn’t time to consider more. The town hall doors were flung open, and a grim, older man in an expensive suit walked into the room, Howard Haskell on one side, Theophilus Gunn on the other.

If Elspeth was taken aback by the sudden confrontation between Mrs. Lyon and the Bonneville sisters in the lobby of the town hall, it was nothing to the scene that unfolded in the courtroom. She couldn’t have witnessed a more astounding show if Athos had bought the entire family tickets to the circus.

“This should be over quickly,” Solomon advised them as they made their way into the main chamber of the town hall. It served as a courtroom sometimes and as a meeting place for the town council and other events the rest of the time. “All we need to do is present your side of the story, Athos, and I’m certain the judge will see things our way.”

They passed through the doorway in time to see the Bonneville sisters rushing down one of the side aisles. Rex and Bonnie Horner, along with Cousin Rance, followed several feet behind, Rex and Rance wearing irritated scowls. Howard had escorted Judge Andrew Moss up to the large desk that formed the focal point of the room, and the two men stood conferring. That didn’t stop Vivian and Melinda from clearing their throats and fanning themselves and generally doing everything it took to draw the judge’s attention. When the grim, older man finally did notice their antics, he narrowed his eyes and frowned at them. Melinda batted her eyelashes and waved, as if trying to catch the attention of an eligible bachelor at a summer dance. Judge Moss shook his head and turned back to Howard.

“I’m growing more confident in our case all the time,” Athos murmured to Elspeth, grinning from ear to ear.

“How can they possibly think behavior like that will help their case in any way?” Elspeth giggled in return.

“I’m not sure it’s the case that they’re trying to get his help with,” Athos replied.

“You know, I think you’re right.” Even though the thought was as repugnant as it was absurd.

Then again, Elspeth thought as Solomon led them to the first row of chairs on the opposite side from the Bonnevilles, Melinda Bonneville was exactly the sort who would marry a much older man for wealth or position.