No Ordinary Love

Historical Romance. Rated: Mature/NC-17

Go directly to chapters 11- 20

Lord Jason Quartermaine, Earl of Morgan did not want to see another Lady!

He’d had his fill of women traipsing before him in silks, chiffon's, and taffeta’s; showing him their wears.

Cattle, the lot of them.

Not a single one of the dozen plucked,  painted, and perfumed women presented before him did he want bearing what would be his only child. What would they have to offer his son to be? Lessons on how to apply rouge? No son of his would be a fop!

With a flick of his wrist he waved the women and their worrisome mothers away. His valet, Damian, ushered the heard from the room. Damian turned back to Jason, gave a quick bow and left, closing the door behind him.

Jason shot up from the ornately decorated chair, a family heirloom, and with a ungentlemanly grunt he made his way to the large window that overlooked his land.

He had long ago accepted that he was mad. He could live with knowing that he had little less than a year left to live. What he could not live with was knowing that his estate would be turned over to his brother, Alan, at his death. Jason had worked hard to preserve the legacy of the Quartermains of Morgan and it would be damnation before he let it fall into the useless hands of his brother.

That was precisely why after Dr. Tony Jones informed him that he was going insane and had little time left to live, Jason sent word out that he was looking for a wife.

Flyers were sent into town and also to neighboring towns and cities, done with the purpose of finding a woman to give him a child, a son preferably, but a daughter would do just fine. All he needed was an heir to secure that the future of the Quartermain’s was safe.

His head dropped on a deep sigh. The future for his family’s name was looking bleaker by the moment. For days he had housed every level of woman at his house. Eyeing them, and having them eye him from behind the safety of their pastel colored fans. To them, he was just as much a prized stud as he felt they were cattle. They were, after all, in want of his proposal and his seed. And he was, after all, in need of a womb.

There was no use wasting another second of time where his child could be beginning the first stages of life. Time was dwindling, a decision had to be made, and quickly.

Jason was just about to turn from the window when a flutter of gray off in the distance caught his eye. He strained, the act making his head swim. He could almost make out the figure walking hurriedly towards his home. A woman; of that- he was certain. They gray-blue dress and long dark hair gave that away. But she was common, her dress was plain, like those worn by country girls. Her hair wasn’t styled with pins and hair bobs, instead it was worn loose, blowing free in the wind.

His eyes narrowed. What brought her from where ever she was from to his doorstep?

He walked over to ring for his valet, each step reaping havoc on his head. After ringing, he waited.

A few seconds later the door to his study flew open and Damian entered. The boy’s attire was rumpled, like he had come straight from bed. Jason had no time to take the young man to task over it though. He wanted to know who his latest visitor was.

“There is a woman approaching. Go fetch her and bring her to me.”

“Yes, my lord, right away,” Damian said with a bow before rushing out of the study.

Jason crossed back over to the expansive window. There was no sign of the woman he had just seen walking up the stretch of land to his home. Either she had already reached the door or he had all together imagined her. The latter was not an uncommon occurrence for him.

He waited for Damian to return, not all together sure of what to expect. Either there had been a woman and Damian would be bringing her to him at any moment, or there was not, and all Damian would return with would be a look of pity.

“Damnation! Let her be real,” he cursed, turning toward the study door.

Curious eyes met him at his turn. Damian stood in the entrance with a girl not much older than Damian himself. She had not been a figment of his overwrought mind. She was very real, though she was not a woman like he had thought her to be either.

Seeing her up close she looked to be about seven and ten. Her gray dress was slightly worn and her boots were heavily scuffed. Her face had a pink flush to it which made her look younger than she probably was. He would have all together dismissed her had it not been for her inquisitive blue eyes.

“Why are you here?” he growled.

“I am here about this.” Her voice was oddly even, as if the outburst she witnessed had no impact on her at all. She took a step forward. Reaching into her small tattered bag, she came back out with a battered sheet of paper.

Jason motioned for Damian to retrieve it. The valet took the proffering from the girls steady fingers and brought it to him. Jason's eyes widened as he read the words. It was one of his flyers. He raised one eye above the crinkled paper at the girl, her emboldened sapphire gaze did not shy away from his.

“Damian, please see Miss...”

“Webber, Elizabeth Webber,” she offered.

“Very well, Miss Webber,” Jason supplied her with a curt nod then focused his attention back on the task at hand. “Please see Miss Webber out.”

“Out?” she squawked. “Do I not get a chance to apply for the position as mother of your child?”

Her bold statement made Jason bring the flyer away from his face and sit it on the large maple desk. He leaned his hip against the desk and studied her.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“I am eight and ten,” she replied swiftly. “I am no child, lord Morgan, if that is what you are thinking. I have worked since I was just a girl on my parents farm. I have seen a lot, and done more. Being the oldest of eight I have practically raised children all my life. I also have much experience with babies being that my youngest sibling is just a babe of a few months. And I have no doubt that I could be a good mother.”

Jason raised a brow at her, “What type of farm does your family run?”

“A small sheep and cattle farm,” she answered taking a step closer to him. “We get most of our income from milk and cheese. It is a modest and sometimes meager living, but we make out fine.”

“I see.” He pretended not to notice that she was not shying away from him, but rather closing in.

“Is it true? Are you a mad man?” she asked, full of curiosity.

Jason looked at her directly, the curiosity in her eyes held no pity. “It is true. I am also dying and I need an heir to carry on my family’s name.” That wasn’t the lot of it but he did not see a reason to explain any more to her.

It wasn’t as though he was going to marry the little chit.

“I see.”

“You do not find my being a mad man scary, Miss Webber?” He studied her answer delicately.

“Not at all, my lord. My own mama is a crazy as a bee. You do not seem half as mad as her.”

He was unable to stop the smile that came to his mouth. “Why are you here, Miss Webber?”

“My lord, I have already told you why.”

“I mean... What do you want with my money. Do you intend on giving it all to your crazy mother and her seven crazy babies upon my death?”

The girl gasped, her face blanching to a colorless white. “How dare you insult me-my family- in such a way? You are the one in need of help, my lord, and if I am not mistaken, that flyer stated that the mother of your child would not have immediate access to your accounts.”

Jason tskd. “There are ways around the trickiest of things.”

“And I look more like a woman who knows those tricks compared to the flock waiting right outside that door?”

Jason looked her over again. He wasn’t concerned about his money, he had iron clad documents that would ensure that his wife got her just due, but not a shilling more upon his death.

He still had to wonder why a girl as young as herself would want to tie herself down with a mad man for the rest of his days, and his child there after. She was spirited and somehow he couldn’t picture her being content living as a widowed mother for the rest of her life.

Even if he wanted to take her up on the offer he could not- in good conscience- willingly lead her into a life of widow weeds. “I am sorry, Miss Webber, but I will not be in need of your services.”

“Then have you already found a woman who does not care about your illness? Who has experience with children and babies, and can promise you that no harm will come to your estate at your death?”

“That is none of your business, now is it, Miss Webber?”

Her mouth snapped shut and she blushed ridiculously at his retort. “I am sorry, my lord. I should have never...” she stopped, curtsying deeply. “I will leave at once.”

Damian, who had pretended not to watch the exchange, hurried to the door to open it before Miss Webber reached it.

As the door opened all of the painted women who had been standing outside flew into the room. Questions came at him from every direction. Ladies wanting to know who the girl was, and mothers ready to murder him for shaming their daughters by frolicking privately with a common girl.

A few of the accusations were directed at Miss Webber herself.

Jason watched with interested amusement as the girl jutted her chin out and lifted her head up a notch, proudly daring any of the women to say one more distasteful word about her. They all quieted, looking away under her penetrating stare as she passed them.

“Why I have never...,” one mother said, grabbing at her chest in a dramatic display as Miss Webber left.

Then the clash of high-pitched voices started up again.

“Silence!” Jason shouted.

Pinks, blues, greens and every other pastel he could imagine fluttered out of the room, screeching in horror at his command.

He rubbed his aching temples, Miss Webber had a point. None of those frail-spirited women would be able to handle his madness. And what of his child? What if he took on his fathers plight? How could he be sure that the faithless woman he picked would not throw his son into an asylum?

Damian came back into the study, his shaggy hair a disheveled mess. “I think I calmed them enough, and the maid is leading Miss Webber out. Is there anything more you need?” the boy asked.

Jason looked to the ceiling as if asking it for guidance, he found none. “Yes, Damian. Go retrieve Miss Webber and bring her back to me. Dismiss the women. Let them know they can leave.”

“What should I tell them if they ask the reason for their sudden departure?”

Jason studied his fingers, pleased to see them un shaking. “Tell them I have found my bride.”

After the maid had neatly deposited her outside, Elizabeth wanted to scream. She had traveled for miles on the back of a rickety wagon-carriage, through dust, heat and rain for nothing!

The lord of the house had done nothing more than humor her, staring down at her with laughter in those mocking blue eyes.

She had known that it wouldn’t be easy to convince him that she was the right woman for the job, she was a commoner and he was an earl. But she did think that if he would take the time to hear her out that he would see that she was a woman that he would want to bear his only child.

But he hadn’t listened. What he did do was insult her and her family. She was not after his fortune, nor was her family. They didn’t even know that she was here. She told them that she was going into to town to buy some wares and had spent that money on hitching a ride to Morgan in hopes of getting married.

Elizabeth had it all worked out in her head. She would convince Lord Morgan that she would make a fine wife and mother, birth the child, and see the earl through his last days. Then she would take what little was allotted to her and buy all of the supplies she needed to paint.

Her dream, that’s all she wanted, to live out her dream. How could she do that being an extra hand on her parents farm, how could she ever buy anything other than water colors with the little money she earned?

She couldn’t even afford decent canvases.

The ones her father had given her from linen were dear, but she had to continually paint over them because they could not afford to buy more. Marrying the earl would have solved all of her problems, but he shooed her away without even giving her a chance.

But could she blame him? In comparison to the train of women that were already there vying for his attention, she was nothing.

Elizabeth looked down at her scuffed boots and kicked the dirt in front of her. A could of dust flew up around her face. She waved it away before grabbing her small bag and starting for the main road.

Her attention was quickly drawn back to the house as a cacophony of shrieks flooded the world around her. Women rushed from the manor with bags in hand. They were all beet red in the face with obvious anger. Elizabeth turned away, it was not her business.

“Miss Webber! Miss Webber!”

She looked back over her shoulder. The boy who let her in to the house-then back out- was racing down the greenery in her direction. He was waving his hands emphatically, imploring her to stop. She did, and turned slowly around. What was going on?

The boy caught up to her, out of breath. “Miss... Webber,” he managed as he sucked in air. “Lord Morgan wishes for you to come back.”

“He what?” Elizabeth scoffed, dropping her bag and placing her hands on her hips. “Why?”

The boy took in a large gulp of air, then said, “Well, I believe he wants to marry you.”

Of all the ways Elizabeth had imagined her wedding day, this was not one of them.

Earl Morgan had not given her time to change. He told her that they were marrying at once and led her from his study.

When she suggested that maybe they wait a day or two so that she could contact her family, he reminded her that he might not have a day or two. With that, they made their way to the sitting room where they were met by a marriage officiator.

Looking around the expansive room at all of the ornate statues and plush seating, Elizabeth felt miserably out of place. In her drab grey gown and beat up boots she looked more like she should be milking a cow rather than marrying an Earl.

Her eyes were appreciative of the beautiful paintings hanging from the walls. There was one of a seascape that kept her attention. It was lovely, the colors alive with vibrance. The blue of the sea with it’s white peaked waves, against the opaque of the sand made her feel as though she could step right into the painting and run into the rushing ocean.

Her attention was brought back to the man beside her when he cleared his throat.

“You are supposed to say ‘I do’,” the earl reminded her through a half closed mouth.

“Oh...” Elizabeth turned back to the court official. “I do,” she said, more than a little embarrassed by her lack of attention at her own wedding.

“Very well.” The stodgy old man turned to the lord of the house. “You may kiss your bride.” The officiator began to gather his papers and leave.

Elizabeth looked up at the man who was now her husband in anticipation. He was handsome, in a rakish sort of way. His wheat colored hair was worn loosely, stopping at his stubborn chin. His straight nose was very aristocratic, his lips were sensually curved and his eyes were intensely blue.

He dropped his gaze to her mouth and lifted her chin. “I am going to kiss you,” he told her, his words sounding strangely like a warning.

Elizabeth nodded once and his mouth crashed upon hers, causing her eyes to snap shut.

His kiss was hot and hard and Elizabeth was not prepared. She almost stepped back but he wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her flush against his chest. His tongue parted her lips, sweeping into her virgin mouth.

She had no idea how to respond so she let him lead the way. He tilted her head up a notch and delved deeper, his tongue flicking over her teeth. He tasted of wine and smelled of clove. It was all together intoxicating.

The searing kiss slowed in tempo but the he kept their mouths pressed softly together. After a long minute of his lips lingering against hers he moved away.

Elizabeth stood there stunned. Her first kiss was nothing at all what she expected it to be. It was more, so much more.

She finally opened her eyes, allowing them to skitter over the room in search of her husband. He was at the entrance of the sitting room, standing with his back to her. His hand rested on the threshold wall as if trying to keep himself upright.

She wondered if he felt as weak in the knees as she did, or was it his illness? Forgetting her wobbly knees, she rushed to his side. “My lord, is everything-”

“Jason,” He said, cutting her off.

“What?”

“I am your husband now, please call me Jason.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Jason... are you feeling all right?”

“I’m fine,” he said, pressing a hand to his lips. His eyes lowered to her mouth.

He dropped his hand and swept his thumb over her lips. “We will be making a child tonight, and the night after, then again, until you are carrying my heir. You do understand that?” he asked, his tone gentle.

Elizabeth felt her cheeks flush at his words. “I do understand.”

He moved his thumb away from her mouth. “You will find dresses and all other wears in your suite. Your maid will help you dress for dinner, which will be served in the hour.”

Unable to manage a word, Elizabeth blinked in acknowledgment.

“Very well,” he said leaving the room. “I will be taking my horse out for a ride.”

After he was gone she looked down at her clenched hands and noted that her wedding ring glinted in the sunlight streaming into the room. A touch of meloncholy tugged at her heart as she looked away from her hand and around the expansive room.

She sighed.

There was nothing more for her to do than try to figure her way through the huge manor to her suite.

She felt so very out of place.

Her personal maid was Sarah, a flighty girl with a habit of talking about everyone and anyone. No one person was off limits from Sarah’s gossip, not even her employer. Sarah spoke of Jason candidly as she styled Elizabeth’s hair into a horribly tight up-sweep.

She told Elizabeth of the women that she had seen come and go throughout the years. She informed Elizabeth that The Earl was bit of a rake, and that he had a special liking for theater dancers; something about them being able to move their legs in a myriad of ways.

Elizabeth blushed hard hearing that. She had no doubt that her husband was experienced but learning about his bed sports from her maid was disconcerting.

She began to wonder if Jason would keep a mistress but quickly dismissed the thought. If he did, she would not care. She had no false assumptions about her marriage, it was not based on love and if Jason wanted to spend the nights he had after she was with child with a mistress then he should. She was fine with it.

“You are done, my lady,” Sarah announced.

Elizabeth turned to the mirror, immediately suppressing a gasp. She looked like a harlot! Her face was powdered, her cheeks rouged, her lashes sooted, her lips painted deep red. Her hair looked as if a bird of paradise sat upon it, and her dress... She frowned at it in disgust.

“I will not go to dinner like this.” Elizabeth balked at her reflection.

“This is how the earl sees his women.”

“He does?” she scoffed. Elizabeth tried to no avail to contain her anger. “I wish to see the earl,” Elizabeth growled through clenched teeth.

She turned her back on the horrid woman staring at her- her reflection- and stalked into her sitting room, slamming the door behind her.

There, she waited, arms crossed, for minutes before her husband hulked his way into her room. He raked over her appearance, his eyes seeming to smile mirthfully at her.

“Do I amuse you, my lord?” she asked, annoyed.

“You are painted.”

“At your request,” she retorted.

His wheat colored brows rose. “I did not request this.”

Elizabeth’s attention snapped to him. “But Sarah said you did.”

“Did she?”

“Yes,” Elizabeth nodded adamantly. “She told me that this is the way you see your women.”

Anger flashed icy blue in his eyes. He pivoted to open the door. Sarah nearly fell into the room. She was, Elizabeth realized, spying on them.

“Sarah,” Jason began, “I did not ask you to fashion my bride a spectacle. You were to help her dress and do with her as she asked. The lady of the house is not happy about the paint, please remove it.” He turned to leave. “And untie her hair,” he said over his shoulder, “I prefer it loose.” With that, he left.

Sarah hurried about gathering cloths and water to wash Elizabeth’s face. Elizabeth did not fail to notice that Sarah lacked the chattiness that had consumed her just minutes before.

Jason was sprawled in his fathers old sitting chair when Damian entered the room. It took a great deal of struggle for him to open his eyes and focus on the boy.

“Did you bring it?” he asked through a painfully tight jaw.

“I did.” Damian pulled a small brown bag from his pocket.

Damian crossed the room to the table holding the decanter of water. He meticulously poured a portion of the white powder from the bag into the glass then added three fingers of water. It took him a minute to whisk the powder evenly into the water before handing it to Jason.

Jason took the glass and downed the bitter concoction in two swallows then handed it back to his valet.

Damian took the glass from his hand, placing it back on the table.  “Anything else, my lord?”

“No,” Jason shook his head and dismissed the boy.

He hoped that the tonic would begin to work before dinner with his new bride. The last thing he needed was to experience a fit while in her presence.

There was no doubt that she was spirited and strong; she had proved that many times over in the short course of the day. Still, he did not want to subject her to seeing him in mad man form.

He rubbed intently at his temples, willing the pounding pain to go away. All he needed was the tonic to last through dinner and the consummating of his marriage. Once he was done deflowering his bride he would leave her suite and not see her again until morning and his pains were always more managable after a good nights sleep.

Deflowering his bride. Jason groaned at the thought.

He knew that this night was coming, he just hadn’t anticipated how hard it might be. Part of him hoped that his bride was no longer a virgin. It was a known fact that common girls, especially those from the country lost their virginity-more often than not-before marriage.

Elizabeth had not. He could tell that by the way she kissed him with her innocent and inexperienced mouth.

The pain in his head was slipping away- thankfully- but traveling to his groin. He was able to stop the rush of blood to his cock by thinking of Elizabeth painted like a common whore.

What had Sarah been thinking? He wanted his wife to look as she had when he married her; the woman who approached him in her threadbare wares. Not like the women he sent screaming from his house earlier.

Christ, even Elizabeth was upset by it. He had tried to stay calm at the sight of her, in order to keep her calm but by god he had been seconds from banishing Sarah from his home. He shouldn’t have had her as Elizabeth’s personal maid, anyway. That was his own fault. There was no telling what the gossiping chit was filling his wife’s ears with.

Jason made a mental note to begin looking for a new maid for Elizabeth.

Managing to sit up without suffering dizziness, Jason got to his feet. He rang for Damian. A minute later the boy came running in to help him out of his riding clothes and into his dinner ones.

After a quick brush of his hair and a splash of clove water about his neck he left to meet his wife for their first dinner together.

Elizabeth entered the dining room barely managing not to gawk. It was even more elaborate than the rest of the manor. A large oak table, long enough to seat twenty comfortably, was decorated heavily with flowers and gold rimmed serving China.

There were two candle-lit chandeliers hanging low above the table, the flickering of the fire light cast a red glow around the room. And a large centerpiece of roses sat pompously in the middle of the table. Elizabeth felt the urge to smell them but refrained.

As she made her way further into the dining room she saw her husband, her breath caught in her chest as he stood. He held his hand out to her and she walked on shaky legs to the end of the table so that she could take it. Her hand in his, he stared at her appraisingly.

She was thankful that her face was fresh, clean of all of that heavy paint. And that her hair was free, the pins had only been in for a short time but her head was still sore in the spots they had been placed. She'd even changed her dress from the silky green expensive one, to a more plain cotton blue, much to Sarah's dismay.

Jason smiled at her and she remembered to breathe. Returning his smile, Elizabeth went to take her seat. She heard one of the servants gasp as she did so. She looked up, confused, but Jason was unaffected. He simply pulled the chair out for her.

Elizabeth inwardly chastised herself as she took it. She would need to remember that she was not just a commoner any longer, she was now lady of the house.

Once they were seated, a dinner of succulent roast and tender vegetables was served. It was a lovely, delicious meal but the butterflies in Elizabeth’s stomach prevented her from enjoying it. She was tied up in knots with anticipation of what was to happen after dinner.

She would make love to a mad man.

Her eyes drifted up from her plate to her husband, he did not look so mad. His hair was once again loose, which gave him the look of a rake, but aside from that he appeared to be sane. She noticed that he also had a healthy appetite, where her plate was still full of roast his was nearly clean. He had even used his bread to sop up the gravy. She quickly moved her eyes from him when he lifted his from the plate.

“Will you be writing your family to tell them of our marriage?”

“Yes. I will need paper and ink and-”

“I will have everything you need for the post sent to you.”

“Of course,” Elizabeth said stabbing a carrot with her fork.

“They should be half expecting your correspondence. After being gone for so long I’m sure that they have determined that I have accepted you as my bride.”

Elizabeth forced a mouth full of roast into her mouth, wishing to end the current topic.

“Won’t they, Elizabeth?”

She chewed methodically, swallowing hard before answering, “They do not know of my travels to Morgan.”

His blue eyes narrowed dangerously. “You did not inform them.” Jason’s voice rose an inflection.

Elizabeth shook her head, “They believe I traveled into town to purchase wool and wares.”

He dropped his fork against the fine China plate. “ How long does it normally take to do such a task?”

“A day... or two,” Elizabeth answered, sheepishly.

Jason pushed his plate away. “How long have you been gone?”

“Six or seven.”

He shot up from the table, sending his chair toppling backward. “They probably think you have been abducted, or worse!”

Elizabeth started, dropping her fork to the table. She hadn’t thought about what her family must be thinking. She had been so wrapped up in her own silly desires and dreams that she had not taken the time to think of her poor mother or father. How selfish of her.

“Damian!” He shouted. “Damian!”

The boy from earlier rushed into the dining room. He was- as usual- in complete disarray. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was a mess.

“Yes, my lord?”

Elizabeth watched the muscle in Jason’s cheek jump. “You will be taking a trip to...” he looked to Elizabeth.

“Havensboro,” she said at his prompt.

Jason looked back to the boy-Damian.“Havensboro. Find the Webber’s and let them know that their daughter is alive and well and..,” he eyed Elizabeth, “married”

“Would you like to write it down?” Damian asked. His voice was unexpectedly calm in the face of his angry employer.

Jason seemed to think it over. “Yes.”

Damian disappeared out of the room as a servant came rushing over to right the fallen chair. Jason took a seat once the servant retreated. His gaze was leveled hard on her.

Elizabeth felt the prickling of tears behind her eyes. She had been so stupid not to inform someone of her plans. She could have at least told her younger sister, Georgie, just in case. She tore her eyes away from Jason’s angry ones.

Damian rushed back into the room with paper, an inkwell and quill. Jason scratched some words across the paper. Elizabeth was sure that it was official confirmation of the events that brought her to marry him. When he was done he signed it and handed the note to Damian.

“Leave at once,” he told the boy, not taking his eyes from Elizabeth.

Damian left and her husband looked away. Good, she thought. The last thing she needed was to be plagued by his unrelenting stare.

A maid came in to clear their dinner plates while another replaced them with desert. It was a decadent fare of small cakes and sweets candies.

Elizabeth pretended not to see the chocolate on the plate before her. She had only experienced the taste of chocolate once, and that had been a small piece shared between she and her younger siblings. Her father had brought it home as a surprise for his wife, but Mrs. Webber decided that it would better serve her children.

This chocolate was dark and expensive looking, her mouth watered at the sight of it. She waited until her husband took his coffee before she picked the skinny square up between her fingers. She brought it to her lips, breathing the bitter crispness of it before she took a bite. It was heaven, not too sweet, not too tart. It melted in her mouth.

“You like chocolate?”

Elizabeth realized that she was licking her fingers. She wiped them on her napkin before answering, “This is only my second chance at it,” she spoke quietly. “It was quite good.”

His stare softened before he bellowed to the servants to bring more chocolate for his bride. A servant hurried out of the back with a plate full of dark, light and medium chocolate. She set it before Elizabeth then turned to leave.

“Wine,” Jason said to the lady servant. “For us both.”

A few minutes later Elizabeth was presented with a glass of red wine. She looked to Jason who lifted his glass, she followed suit, lifting hers. They clinked rims and Jason took a sip. Elizabeth, warily, did the same. There was an explosion of overripe grape in her mouth, it was warm going down and immediately relaxed her.

She ended up having two glasses and a few pieces of chocolate to Jason’s one glass. When the servant came back with more Jason declined for both him and her. When Elizabeth scoffed at him he informed her that she had more than enough. She didn’t dispute that, but she also did not feel like she'd had too much. She felt good.

“I think it is time for us to retire,” Jason said staring at her from above the rim of his glass.

Butterflies returned to her stomach. She managed a stiff nod.

Jason stood and Elizabeth had to remind herself to sit still until he helped her from her chair. He took her hand, bringing her up to her feet. She felt the wine then, it made her feel lightheaded and light-footed.

He pulled her into his arms. “Are you scared?” he asked huskily in her ear.

“Nervous,” she said shakily.

“Don’t be.”

His voice was smooth and ensuring above her head. She could only hope that their night together would go as smoothly as thus.

Jason was surprised that he had been unable to stay angry at Elizabeth. Normally once he was in a mood it was set, there was no coming back. At least, for a considerable amount of time.

He had already resigned himself to going to his marital bed upset when he looked upon Elizabeth savoring that piece of chocolate.

He had watched her from the moment she picked it up: The way she breathed it in before taking it into her mouth, the way she chewed it slowly then licked her fingers clean; it was all very fascinating and disturbingly erotic. After which, he could not help but to melt for her the way the chocolate had in her mouth.

His intentions had been to take a wife to give his seed, not to fall for the woman. But he was learning that falling for Elizabeth was something beyond his control.

Strangely enough, Jason found himself welcoming the idea of falling in love with his wife. At least he would die knowing what it felt like to love a woman. Too bad he would never know what it was like to be loved by one.

He knocked on the door that separated him from Elizabeth. She had gone into her suite to undress minutes before, surely she was ready for him. He had already undressed down to his pants, his chest was bare and his shoes had been deposited to his room, leaving his feet bare as well.

When there was no answer he knocked again. “Elizabeth.”

The door opened for him, he peeked around it to see Elizabeth standing shyly to the side of the door. Her sheer white shift fell loosely over her curves, her small bare feet peeked out from the hem of the shift. He ravished her with his eyes before coming back to himself and closing the door.

He swallowed hard and crossed the room to her. “Come with me to the bed.”

Elizabeth placed her hand in his. He closed his fingers over hers and felt a slight tremor run through them. She was more than nervous. He would have to be sure to take things slow, no matter how badly his body was telling him to take her fast and hard.

Jason led her to the bed, he sat down, positioning her between his legs. He took each of her hands and kissed the inside of her palms. “I will be gentle,” he whispered against her wrist.

She freed one of her hands, taking it to touch his head. She stroked her fingers through his hair, the motion oddly calming. He lifted his hands to her waist, thinking of how tiny it was and that could circle her waist with his hands. In a month or two it would be expanding with a child, his child.

He brought her down to the bed, she obligingly went. His hands went to the hem of her shift, he eased it up then off of her, revealing smooth alabaster skin. Perfectly rounded breasts sat pertly on her chest, their pale pink nipples smooth and kissable.

Jason’s breath caught in his throat. She was magnificent. Her arms flew up to cover herself but he caught them, gently moving them back to her sides.

“Will you have mistresses?” she asked.

Damn that Sarah for filling her head with nonsense. “No. There will only be you.”

She lay back-seemingly assured- by his words. He stood, freeing himself of his pants and undergarments. Jason heard Elizabeth’s sharp intake of breath at the sight of him. Her eyes were on his erection, full of scared curiosity.

At least she didn’t scream and run away like he'd heard so many of his aquaintances tell of  their virginal wives on their wedding nights.

He lowered himself to the bed shifting between her legs. He had never made love to a virgin so the task at hand was daunting. Jason shook off any doubts and went on to try and pleasure her. He slipped a hand between her legs and she stiffened. He stroked her softly until she opened for him and became wet around his fingers.

He bent, catching a smooth nipple in his mouth. Her breath hitched again and she became still. He skillfully found the spot between her legs where all her pleasure lie-waiting to be unleashed. He pressed, rubbing with his thumb over it until she loosened. Her nipple hardened budding into a rigid peak in his mouth as he sucked and nibbled at it.

Elizabeth’s hands went tentatively to his shoulders, he could not hold back his groan at her touch. She smoothed them up and down his back until he was on the brink of spending before he even entered her.

Shifting up he placed himself at her entrance. He pushed, immediately meeting the thin barrier that marked her chastity. Elizabeth lifted her legs on either side of him, resting her feet on the bed at his thighs. That movement opened her wider and he pushed again, the barrier slowly gave way. He pulled out, taking a deep calming breath, reminding himself to go easy, to go slow.

Once he felt more in control he pushed again, this time he was able to get further inside of her.

He didn’t move, afraid of hurting her. “Are you alright?” he asked searching her eyes for the truth.

“Yes,” she answered a bit shakily. She ran her hands up his back in a reassuring manner.

Jason dropped his head to the crook of her neck and thrust himself fully into her. Elizabeth’s back arched and she let out a small cry of pain. He was going to pull out when she whispered that she was fine in his ear.

Slowly, he moved within her, her tight virginal walls gripping his cock like a vice. She was heaven to him and in that moment he hoped that he went there when he died.

“God, Elizabeth,” he moaned as his pace picked up. All of his reminders to go slow had left his deteriorating brain. He pushed, teased, nipped and kissed until he could go no further. His body took on a life of it’s own and he released his seed into her waiting body.

He drooped over her before turning onto his side. Breathing hard, he chanced a look at his wife. She was laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling, her bottom lip pulled roughly between her teeth. A single tear slipped from the corner of her eye and rolled toward her cheek.

His heart clenched. He was a horrible, horrible, mad man.

“Elizabeth,” his voice was ragged, foreign to his own ears.

She turned her head to him, a watery smile playing on her lips. “Jason,” she whispered back.

He hadn’t expected to see a smile on her beautiful face, she looked happy but for the tears. “Tell me what you are thinking?” he asked, swiping a fresh tear as it rolled down her silken face.

She turned on her side. “That I could be pregnant, right now.”

“That makes you sad?” Jason asked, close to tears himself. The last thing he wanted was for his wife to be upset about carrying his child.

“No,” Elizabeth wiped her face with the back of her hand. “It makes me feel full. Happy.”

Jason smiled at her, pulling her close to him. He buried his head in the sweet rose water scent of her hair and for the very first time, in the stressful months of him finding a bride, he was content.

The next morning Elizabeth found herself in a jovial mood. She even caught herself whistling as Sarah helped her into a plain dress.

There were many lovely, expensive dresses packed into her two armoires but none of them seemed appropriate. She may be married to an Earl but she was still a common girl from the country.

Elizabeth made sure that Sarah did not fuss over her hair. She didn’t want pins of hair bobs, she only wanted a simple braid.

Sarah snorted in distaste as she plaited Elizabeth’s curly hair into a heavy braid. “All this hair and you want nothing more than a simple braid?” she complained.

Elizabeth ignored her, her mind drifting off to Jason and the slight soreness between her thighs. There had been blood but not enough for concern Jason told her.

Elizabeth had known what to expect in that respect. She’d heard the older girls of the country talk about losing their chastity, and her older cousin, Carly, told her all of the naughty details of her own wedding night.

Once Sarah was done with the braid, she excused herself from the room. Elizabeth went to check herself in the mirror. She turned sideways studying her profile. Pressing her hands against her tight stomach, she hoped that there was a child inside of her. Jason’s child.

Leaving her dressing room, Elizabeth made her way into the hallway. She had been meaning to do a walk of the manor since she arrived but had been otherwise preoccupied. Now, Jason was off riding his horse and all of the service staff was busy about completing chores. It was the perfect time to learn the ins and outs of her new home.

She started out on the second floor, stopping at each room and exploring.

She found the room that would be her child’s. The nursery. It was painted the most delicate of yellows and there was a mural of jungle animals on the widest wall.  Zebra’s, giraffes, elephants... It was beautiful.

She felt a slight touch of jealousy looking upon the painting. She wished she had the supplies to create something so vividly darling for her own child.

It was reminded to her that she would. With the money she received after Jason’s death she could paint until her hearts content. She would maybe be able to sell her paintings or-Dear God, she was already planning her life after her husbands death.

She looked away from the lively mural, forcing back the sting of tears. Why were there tears? Why should she feel guilty for thinking about her future? Jason was using her just as much as she was using him.

She left the nursery and forged her way upstairs. It was darker here than on the first and second floors. The first room she came to opened into a large space. She coughed upon entering, there was dust everywhere. She crossed the room to the window and pulled the heavy curtains back. Light poured into the room, giving way to the portraits on the walls.

There were men and women and family’s. Elizabeth studied each one. The features of the men were very similar to her husbands; strong chins, and aristocratic noses. She walked by each one swiping the name plates with her fingers to remove the dust. They all bore the Morgan name. His forefathers.

She continued, studying each portrait before moving to the next. Finally, she reached the last two. The first one she knew to be a slightly younger rendition of Jason. She smiled wistfully at him in his youth, then moved on to the last one. Swiping her finger over the name plate she read: Alan Quartermaine Morgan the second.

He was older than Jason, by two years. Elizabeth wondered if his brother had died. There was no death year on his name plaque like the rest of the family’s. He must be dead, Elizabeth thought. Or else Jason would not be in need of an heir.

Taking one last look at the wall of Morgan’s, Elizabeth turned to close the curtains.

She stopped just short of pulling them shut when she saw Jason riding over the grounds to meet another man on horseback. The man had dark hair, neatly tied at the nape of his neck.

Jason and the man warmly shook hands, like old friends. The man reached into the a side bag and pulled out a small brown package, handing it to Jason.

Jason took it and wet his finger with his tongue, opened the bag and put his finger in, when he brought it back out Elizabeth saw that it was powered with a white substance. Her mouth dropped as he brought his finger to his mouth and sucked it off.

Opium. She hadn’t just married a mad man, she had married an opium taker.

Elizabeth pulled the curtain closed and rushed from the room, her good mood successfully spoiled. She bounded down the stairs so fast that she almost tripped over the hem of her dress more than once. When she reached the landing she met Sarah, who looked at Elizabeth as though she had gone as mad as her husband.

Elizabeth looked away and ran for the door. It flew open and she walked briskly out onto the green lawn. Jason spotted her and tucked the brown package away. He turned his horse in her direction and started for her.

“I saw you!” Elizabeth yelled at him as he came to a stop.

Jason swung himself off the horse, landing gracefully in front of her. Elizabeth stepped back to look up at him.

“I saw you,” she repeated.

“Saw me what?” he asked, looking rather confused.

“I saw you stick your finger in the opium and put it in you mouth. You tasted it!” Elizabeth shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at him. Was that a smile he was trying to hide?

“Elizabeth, that is not what I have.”

Elizabeth huffed, placing her hands on her hips. She tossed her head looking away from him and his lie. What she saw was the whole service staff staring at the scene in front of them. She didn’t care. She would do this with them watching if she had to.

Jason turned his glare on them and they all rushed back into the house. He waved the man on the horse over. “Patrick this is my new bride, Elizabeth.”

The man, Patrick, grinned at Jason, then at her, dimples flashing. “Spirited lass, I see.” Elizabeth picked up on Patrick’s slight Irish brogue. “Remind me to bring my Robin by, they would make a pair.”

Jason grinned. “Elizabeth, Patrick is not just my friend, he is a doctor as well. He was kind enough to bring my medicine to me. That is what you saw. The medicine helps to keep away the pain associated with my madness.”

“Oh,” Elizabeth said, red faced with embarrassment. She dropped her hands from her hips, curtsying to Patrick. Her eyes met Jason’s before she spun on her heel back towards the manor.

She felt every bit as foolish as she knew she looked.

Suffering another splitting headache, Jason retired early to his room. He sent a message, by way of Sarah, to let Elizabeth know that he wouldn’t be joining her for dinner, but that she could meet him in his room afterward.

He had attempted to mix the tonic on his own but had no success. His hands were too shaky, his eyes too blurry. A cold sweat had broken out over his body, forcing him to strip himself of his wears. Somehow he had found his way into the bed, and he hoped that Elizabeth would be too daunted by her earlier mistake to come to him tonight.

She had thought that the powder for his tonic was opium. Maybe she had enough doubt in him to stay away.

Jason, cold, pulled the covers closer around himself. He was shaking, grappling for his blurry vision to clear when he heard her enter.

“Jason.” Her voice was light and wary.

“Go away, Elizabeth,” he moaned. He tried to lift his head but the pain pushed it back down. Excruciating  tremors passed through his body, until the point that it became to much to bear and he blacked out.

Not listening to him, Elizabeth moved  closer, “Jason, what is wrong?”

Elizabeth noticed him shaking as she hurried to his side. Part of her screamed that she should leave but the other part, the part that had some inkling of affection towards Jason, kept her in the room.

Reaching his side she pressed a hand to his face, “You’re burning up!” She exclaimed at the heat coming like waves off of him. “Did you take the medicine your friend brought you?”

He slurred an answer that she couldn’t make out. “Jason,” She caught his face in both her hands. “Where is the medicine, Jason?”

His head thrashed back and forth, he wasn’t responding.

Elizabeth hesitantly left his side. She ran to the door, flinging it open, she called for help. Running back to his dresser she searched his drawers for the little brown bag. Panic set in when she was unable to find it. Her eyes locked on her husband’s feverish body and a new determination set in.

She would help him. She would.

Calming herself, she looked around her. His clothes lay in a heap at her feet. His pants. Remembering seeing Jason slip the bag into his riding pants she grabbed them from the floor. Shaky hands found the little bag, a sigh of relief trembled from her lips.

She poured some of the powdery substance in her hand and made her way back to her husbands side. After licking her own finger-- the way she’d seen Jason do earlier-- she dipped it in her palm, then forced her finger into Jason’s mouth. She repeated the action until he would take no more.

A maid by the name of Matilda-or Matty as she was commonly referred to- ran into the room. Her round, cherub-like cheeks were flushed red from her expedient pace. “What can I do for you, my lady? She asked out of breath.

“I need cool water and cloths... now!” Elizabeth added when the rotund woman was slow to move.

When Matty sped from the room, Elizabeth turned back to Jason. She was worried. What if he did not make it? What if the fever got the best of him? What if she had given him too much medicine and poisoned him?

Matty returned with two male servants on her heels.

She hurried to Elizabeth and handed her two wet cloths, they were cool to the touch. Elizabeth carefully folded one and applied it to his brow, the other, she kept flat, placing it on his bare chest.

“It’s only a fit of pain, my lady.” One of the men said.

Elizabeth’s gaze snapped up, settling on the three people hoovered around her. Just a fit of pain? Jason looked to be near death.

“It’s a part of his madness,” the other man said with a low brow nod.

“They come upon him frequently,” the robust Matty added.

“And what do you people do to help your lord, when they come upon him?” There was a bitterness in her tone but she didn’t care.

All three looked away. Elizabeth had her answer. “Leave us!” she shouted, meaning for them to feel her anger.

They became wide eyed but heeded her command. After they shuffled out Elizabeth turned back to Jason. She touched his cheek, his skin was clammy and cold now. She removed the cloths, placing them on the stand next to her.

She bent to untie her boots, after slipping them off she made quick work of the buttons on the back of her dress. The dark blue cotton fell to her feet leaving her in her shift, she climbed into the large bed. Jason’s body was lifeless but he was breathing as she sidled up to him.

Elizabeth wrapped herself -as best she could- around him, hoping that her small body would help level out his body heat. She stayed awake listening to the steady rhythm of his heart until her lids became heavy and she had no choice but to fall asleep.

Jason woke with a start. There was someone with him. He shifted turning his head to the side, his eyes fell on Elizabeth. There was a frown worrying her sleeping features. He looked around the room, trying to get his bearings.

When had Elizabeth come to him and had they made love? He lifted the sheets, found himself completely nude, but Elizabeth was dressed in her shift.

He closed his eyes, trying to remember the events of the night before. It came back to him as a flood of unwanted memories.

He had suffered a fit. Elizabeth had come to him, he told her to leave and then the pain became to much for him to bear. He then passed out and probably scared her out of her wits.

Jason shamefully glanced down on her. If she was scared of him then why had she climbed into his bed? Too many questions he had no answer to.

Shaking off the lethargic remnants of sleep, Jason swung his legs from the bed. Stepping over Elizabeth’s dress and boots, he went to his armoire and retrieved his riding clothes. He was just pulling up the pants when Elizabeth stirred.

He watched as she reached out for the area he had been, when her hand met nothing but sheets her eyes snapped open. She looked wild eyed as she searched around the room. When her eyes finally landed on him she scowled.

“What are you doing?” she asked sternly.

His brows lowered into his own scowl. “About to go riding, of course.”

She shook her head. “No you are not, my lord.”

His scowl turned into amusement. “Why ever am I not?”

Her frown deepened. “Last night you were near death. I had to force that white powder of yours down your throat!”

“And?” he asked, a little embarrassed by her confession. The last thing he wanted to be was an nuisance to his own wife.

“And now you are about to go for a ride as though last night never happened.”

“What would you have me do? Stay in and twiddle my thumbs?” Before she could answer he pressed on, “Let us not beat around the bush, Elizabeth. You know as well as I that I am a dying man; therein lies our agreement. I will not live my last days inside of this house like a prisoner. If I wanted to do that I would commit myself to the asylum and be done with it.”

She stared at him in utter shock. Then without warning she flung the covers from her body and hopped out of the bed. Scooping her boots and dress up in her arms, she gave him one last bone chilling scowl and fled the room.

 
The nerve of that mad man! After all she had done for him, all the worrying- he acted as if none of it mattered. Like his fit of pain was nothing more than a hangnail that he could cut away and move on from.

Elizabeth fingered her curtains to the side and peaked beyond the space allowed. She saw Jason riding his gelding out in the distance. The large black beast looked fierce as it galloped the land, powerful muscles shifting under it's shiny coat.

What would you have me do? Stay in and twiddle my thumbs?

Well if he wasn’t going to be twiddling neither was she. The gardens lay just west of the house. She could walk to them and maybe get some inspiration. If she found something that her fingers twitched to paint she could ask Jason for the supplies, surely he would not deny her, would he?

There was only one way to find out.

Jason pulled back on the reigns, as Elizabeth approached. The horse slowed, easing into a single turn before coming to a stop.

The early morning air was brisk for a late summer month. The wind blew in gusts lifting the curls that had broken free of her thick braid. The hair whipped around her face as she made her way to him. Her dress was another consequence of the wind, the blue and white cotton fluttered around her ankles, giving a good view of the smooth alabaster skin just above her boots.

He smiled to himself. His wife was not one for propriety. Where any other woman would blush in shame if a gust of wind caught her dress, Elizabeth was without a care. She chose not to wear any of the silks, chiffons or laces that lined her armoires. Instead she picked through the designer dresses to find the plainest of dress to adorn her youthful body.

No matter the dress, Elizabeth was beautiful. She didn’t need fancy wears or a painted face to make her look pretty. She was gorgeous with a simple braid and country dress.

Jason swung down from the horse and walked toward Elizabeth. As he neared he noticed that she was not wearing the scowl she had been earlier. Though, there was a spark of determination in her stormy eyes that told him that while she might not be angry with him, she was definitely up to something.

“I would like paint supplies,” she said before he could greet her.

“Paint supplies? For what?”

“To paint, of course,” she said in response to his obvious question.

He leveled a disparaging gaze on her, she did not falter.

“I will not sit around here twiddling my thumbs while you go off and ride your horse like a bullheaded male.”

She used his own words against him, he could appreciate that. “Very well. Let your maid know of all the supplies you will need. I will have Matty get them when she goes into town today.”

Her lips twitched before him. She was attempting to hide a smile. His wife was pleased and she didn’t want him to know.

He pulled the leather riding glove from one of his hands and touched her cheek with his bare finger tips. He forced her gaze up to his. “Did I scare you last night?”

Her lids dropped. “Half to death,” she told him.

His heart slammed against his chest. “I am sorry. I should have warned you about how bad the fits could be.”

She nodded. “You should have. I would like to know how to prepare your medicine for future occurrences.”

Jason dropped his hand and looked over her head. He wanted her to have as little to do with his illness as was possible. He didn’t want his madness to touch her, but it was too late for that, it already had. “I’ll show you tonight,” he said tightly while pulling his glove back on.

Seemingly satisfied, Elizabeth turned on her heel and started back for the house.

Jason headed back to his horse.

“Jason!”

He looked back at her over his shoulder. Elizabeth was shielding her eyes from the sun with a hand, her dress raising almost to her knees with the blowing wind.

“What is the horses name?”

“Thunder,” he called out, answering her.

Her lips pursed as she stared past him to the menacing beast behind him. “Fitting,” she said, before making her way back to the manor.

True to his word, Elizabeth had all of the paint supplies she had asked for and some extra ones she had not. They were delivered to her in a white woven basket with a note attached:

No thumb twiddling for you.

The letters were scrawled in a script Elizabeth knew to be Jason’s.

After tucking the note into a pocket of her dress, Elizabeth hauled the filled basket out to the garden. She didn’t see Jason on her way there and figured that he had ridden further out on the land or into town.

Picking a spot on a soft patch of green lawn, Elizabeth settled down. Finding a topic for her still life in a rose bush, she pulled out small cans of yellow, blue and red paint then set to mixing them.

An hour later she was still in the garden. Her fingers were smudged with the charcoal that she had used for the outline of her topic. Her dress was dotted with a pale pink paint that she’d mixed as the main color for the delicate rose petals. She was in heaven. So completely involved with her painting that she failed to notice Jason entering the garden.

It wasn’t until he was right in front of her that she gasped. “Jason, you scared me half to death,” she scolded, putting her painting aside so that he could not see it.

When his eyes followed her movement, Elizabeth snatched the painting up placing it in her lap, facing her. He smiled at her actions which only served to spike her resentment of him sneaking up on her.

“I thought you were riding.”

“I was. I went to see you in your room and was told that you left for the garden.”

“You went to see me?” Elizabeth felt her cheeks flush. She had a good idea of why Jason had come looking for her. They were, after all, supposed to be trying to create a child.

He dropped down beside her, his long legs bent at the knee so that his boots rested against the ground. “Will you let me see your painting?”

“It’s not ready,” Elizabeth answered, sparing him a glance. His hair was tousled and wind blown, it settled rakishly at his chin and- as usual- his eyes were full of amusement. “Why must you continually laugh at me?”

His tawny brows lowered. “I’m not laughing at you.”

Elizabeth shrugged, “Maybe not out loud.” She placed the painting at her side then pulled her legs up so that they were folded at the knee and crossed. “But I can see the laughter in your eyes,” she finished, straightening her paint spotted dress over her knees.

“Really...” He seemed to ponder her words. “It is not that I’m amused by you in a humorous way. It is more that you are different from any other woman I have known. It is refreshing.”

It was Elizabeth’s turn to ponder. “You find me refreshing?”

“Yes, I do. Do you find fault in that?”

“Elizabeth shook her head. “No.”

“Good,” He said, getting to his feet.

Elizabeth’s eyes traveled up his tall lean frame. Starting at his boots and making her way up to his strong thighs. He walked over to the rose bush she had been painting, his muscles flexing beneath his tan riding pants. Elizabeth felt herself become hot. Beads of sweat broke out above her brow as heat pooled between her thighs.

She had never taken the time to appreciate his body, even when he was bare from head to toe before her. She had been too busy staring at his erection that rose from a nest of light colored curls.

It was not the first time she had seen the parts of a male, she had younger brothers who ran around with no pants on until they began to smell themselves and became self conscious. But it was the first time she saw what one looked like on a fully aroused grown man.

She looked away from Jason, scared that he might be able to read her thoughts.

“Would you like to go inside?” Jason asked her.

Elizabeth knew what he was asking of her and she had no problem agreeing to it.

She packed her basket up with help from Jason. Then delicately wrapped her painting in cloth. Jason took the basket in one hand, and her hand in the other and led them back to the house.

Hours later her limbs were intertwined with Jason’s. She crawled her fingers from his navel up his chest stopping just above his left pectoral. She flattened her hand against his warm smooth skin and took in the feel of his heart beating beneath her palm.

He placed his hand over hers. She looked up at his sleepy eyes, the cool blue of them dim with satiated lust.

“I have to leave. I have an appointment.” His voice held a deep treble.

“I understand,” Elizabeth said lifting herself from the bed. She reached for her shift and slipped it over her body. Grabbing her dress from the floor she went to pull it on when her eyes caught Jason’s.

“Is something wrong, Elizabeth?” he asked sitting up in the bed.

Yes. “No. Why would something be wrong?” She stepped into her dress, pulling it up over her shift.

“Your mood has changed.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I am sorry, my lord. I will try to be more agreeable.” She pushed her arms into the dress sleeves and fumbled with the buttons.

Was she not good enough for him? Was that why he decided to leave her to go to some appointment right after they made love?

Jason left the bed, crossing to her. He put his hands over her trembling fingers, stopping her attempt at buttoning her dress. He moved her hands aside and completed the task himself. After she was fitted into her dress he pulled his clothes back on.

“The sun will be out for a few more hours,”  he informed her as he buttoned his shirt. “You might like to continue your painting in the gardens.”

Anger roiled in Elizabeth’s gut. “I think I will do just that,” she said in a voice that defied the current storm brewing inside of her. She gathered her basket as Jason pulled on his boots. When he was done he crossed the room to her.

His kiss was warm and slow. He teased her mouth with his tongue and left her wanting more when he pulled away. She resented him for that.

“I will see you at dinner.” He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead then left the room.

How dare he rush out of their marital bed to go to some appointment? Elizabeth was convinced that he had someone else who would satisfy him when she failed to, and that was the appointment he was on his way to.

Elizabeth waited at the window until she saw Jason riding out of the estate before she huffed off to the garden, wondering the whole way why she was so upset that a husband that she did not care about, did not love, had a mistress?

Jason looked over the top of the document in his hand at the graying, balding man sitting across from him. “You forgot to add that she gets full run of the estate until my heir becomes ten and eight.”

Bernie, his personal lawyer, grumbled something under his breath that had Jason raising his brows.

“Is there a problem, Bernie?”

The old man looked flustered. “Yes there is a problem, my lord. You have no clue about the girl and you plan on leaving her complete rule of your estate!”

Jason dropped the papers to the table. “I know enough about my wife to know that she is capable of running my estate at my death.”

Matty had  given him a complete recount of how Elizabeth had taken charge the night before. She hadn’t been afraid of his insanity, and if she had she faced it and helped him through it. She would make an excellent lady of his estate after he died.

“This wasn’t a part of the original plan you had me draw up,” the lawyer sputtered. “You specifically asked me to make sure that your wife received a settlement and [i]no[/i] run of your estate.”

“I have changed my mind,” Jason growled. “Now draw up the new plans,” he ordered.

Bernie gathered the papers and scripted the new agreement, when he was done Jason looked them over, making sure that all was to his liking. After seeing that it was, he signed and handed the documents back to Bernie.

“Are you sure about this?” Bernie asked as Jason rose from the table.

“Very,” Jason answered, pulling his riding gloves over his fingers.

He left, hoping that he could make it back to the manor before sunset. Maybe he would be able to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth painting roses in the garden.

His wife was upset with him, Jason surmised. For what, he had no clue.

When he went to her room to escort her to dinner she refused to take his hand. When he pulled out her chair for her to sit she huffed and plopped down with flair. And now she was glaring at him from the rim of her water glass.

Jason swallowed hard, not sure of what had brought on her low mood. Running a finger under his collar he plucked the top button open in hopes of making himself more comfortable. It did not help.

Elizabeth’s glare turned to indifference and she looked away from him, focusing on her uneaten roasted chicken. He picked at his own chicken, his usual hearty appetite strangely absent. How could he eat when his wife was upset with him and not eating herself?

Matty entered the dining room with wine and two glasses. She poured them both a glass then left. When Elizabeth reached for hers he grunted.

“What?” she asked giving him a frosty glance.

Suddenly he felt cold. “You might be carrying my child.”

“What is the point you are trying to make, Jason?”

“Women in that condition should not drink alcohol.”

Elizabeth’s cheeks colored. “You are right,” she said, putting the glass back on the table and replacing it with water.

“Would you like cider?” he asked, looking to make some form of peace.

“That would be nice.”

He called for Matty to bring cider and Elizabeth enjoyed two glasses with her dinner. When she finally began to eat Jason found himself back with an appetite. It was strange that her mood would affect his own in such a way, but it did.

He realized that if Elizabeth was not happy then he was not happy either.

That realization brought his attention back to the current problem. “Why are you cross with me?” he asked her.

Elizabeth paused her full fork at her lips. “How was your appointment?” she asked him before pushing the fork into her mouth.

His eyes narrowed considerably. “My appointment was fine but that is not what I asked you. I asked...” It dawned on him that it was the appointment that had her upset. “Why does my appointment upset you?”

Her sapphire eyes shot to his, flashing blue flame. There was a storm brewing inside of his tiny wife. He gulped down the last of his wine, preparing himself for the thunder and lightning.

“Do I not satisfy you?” she asked quietly.

His eyes shot fire at her implication. “Is that what you think, Elizabeth? That you do not satisfy me.”

“Her eyes watered, luminous under the flickering candlelight. “You left me directly after we made love to go to some appointment.”

“I had to see my lawyer about an important matter involving my estate, Elizabeth. Did you think that I went to a mistress?”

At her silence he threw down his napkin. “I told you that there will be only you. I meant it. I will never take a mistress.”

“You could have lied!” She declared.

“I do not lie!”

Elizabeth dropped her fork to her plate and pushed away from the table. Rising, she curtsied to him and rushed from the room.

Damnation! His wife would surely kill him sooner than his madness did. 

Sarah was unbuttoning the back of her dress when Jason slammed into the room. Elizabeth’s personal maid yelped at his appearance, Elizabeth merely cast him a glance. She would not be moved by his crazy displays.

“Continue please, Sarah,” Elizabeth told her maid.

“Sarah, you may leave now,” Jason countered.

Sarah looked on the verge of tears. She clearly did not know who to choose between; Lord or Lady?

Elizabeth made it easy on the woman. “Thank you, Sarah, but I will be able to get out of my dress on my own tonight.” Goodness knew that she had been able to every other night before she traveled to this manor.

Sarah sprinted out and Jason slammed the door behind her.

“Come to me, Elizabeth,” he growled.

His low voice sent an unwanted heat through her body and Elizabeth found herself walking over to him.

He reached out and grabbed her by the waist when she was near enough. He turned her so that her back was to him and she felt his elegantly capable fingers slip each button free with ease. Her dress fell from her body crumpling in a heap at her feet.

Heat flooded her as his warm lips pressed to the crook of her neck. “I will never take a mistress,” he said against her skin. His heated breath sweet with the scent of wine.

His tongue made lazy circles over her shoulder as he moved the thin shift away to reveal her skin. Elizabeth dropped her head against her own will. She wanted to remain mad with him but she could not. Not while he was peppering kisses along her neck.

She felt a tug on her hair as his fingers found the end of the braid. He loosened the ribbon that held it in place and skillfully ran his fingers through the plait until her hair was a wild mass of freely springing curls.

Jason nudged her toward the bed, she went without protest. She wondered why he hadn’t undressed himself but before she could ask he lowered her to the bed and kissed her lips until she couldn’t form a coherent thought.

He pushed the shift up around her hips and pulled her undergarments down her legs. After he tossed them to the side he spread her legs and lowered his head towards her- Oh, God.

Elizabeth could not believe what he was intending on doing. She tried to move her legs but he had hooked a hand around each thigh, making it impossible for her to squirm away.

She lifted her head to look at him, a devilish glint danced in his mirthful eyes. “You have pleased me immensely,” he whispered against her wet core. “Let me please you.”

Elizabeth’s head fell back to the pillow on its own volition. She tensed waiting for his mouth to touch her and when it did the searing pleasure of it all was enough to send her to the skies in flight.

Jason did things to her, made her feel things that she never thought possible. Her body began to shake and an explosion of heat forced its way through her, rocking her to her innermost core. She was vaguely aware of how wet she had become between her legs as the spasms slowed to a jerky stop.

Too boneless to move, Elizabeth lay exhausted as Jason continued to pleasure the sensitive nub between her legs. Slowly he stopped, his tawny head lifting from her juncture. His lips were moist with her wetness and Elizabeth thought she might die of embarrassment.

Jason, on the other hand, seemed pleased. He pulled off his shoes and lay fully clothed beside her. Easing her hand away from her eyes he stared at her. “You don’t need to be embarrassed with me,” he told her in a whisper.

She nestled her body as close to Jason’s as she could as he wrapped his strong arms around her. Cradled against his chest, she was no longer embarrassed.

Jason was in high spirits as he made his way from the stables. The sun was setting over the manor, the sky tinged with orange and reds.

He made a quick stop by the gardens, recalling how Elizabeth liked to spend late evenings there. For the past two weeks he would seek her out at sunset and find her quietly humming as she painted- what she referred to as- still life’s.

She still hadn’t let him see any of her paintings but from time to time he would sneak a peek before she knew he had arrived. His wife was talented. Very much so. Her paintings were skilled perfection and he wanted to tell her that on many occasions but kept himself from doing so. He wasn’t supposed to have seen them, after all.

After a week of sleeping in separate bedrooms, he had asked Elizabeth to join him in his room permanently. He thought she would be reluctant but she jumped at the idea and had Sarah moving her things into his room that very day. He loved sleeping next to her at night, her small soft body curled fittingly into his.

A boyish grin tugged his mouth at the thought, as he made his way into the garden.

Not finding Elizabeth in her usual spot, Jason figured that she had left for the house. He was about to start for it himself when a rustling from behind a far thatch of trees caught his attention. He looked and saw nothing, then turned to leave. He heard it again and rounded back quickly. A flutter white material passed from beyond the trees.

“Elizabeth,” he called, fully knowing it was not her. Elizabeth never wore white when she painted and she never traveled beyond the gardens.

A soft laughter rose from the brush and he shivered. His mother. It was happening to him again. After two weeks with nothing more than fits of pain, he was now seeing apparitions again. He took a cautious step forward.

The woman, his mother, his dead mother, emerged from the trees. Her straight black hair flowing behind her like a silken train. The white dress she had worn in her last days of life was loose against her frail frame.

“Susan,” he whispered. Jason felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. He wiped the sweat away and reached out. His mother laughed and turned away from him, the tattered ends of her dress flowing with ghastly appeal.

He went to follow, but she turned around; pale faced and wide eyed. She brought a finger to her lips and blew out a “Shh...”

“Susan!” He called after her, forcing himself to follow her into trees.

Elizabeth was making her way back to the house when she heard Jason’s bellowing voice coming from the west of the estate. He was screaming something she couldn’t quite make out but it was enough to alarm her. She dropped her basket and raced back to the gardens. Her dress blew around her, hindering her speed. She slipped on a wet patch of grass, twisting her ankle, but she kept on running.

When she made it to the gardens she was out of breath. Night was falling upon the lawn and it was hard to make out anything but she knew that Jason was just up ahead of her. He was further out than she had ever traveled or she’d ever seen him go. But it was Jason, his broad shoulders and trim waist were familiar to her and she easily made them out in the growing dusk.

Quick on her feet, she raced toward him, only slowing when she realized that he had his back to her and was talking to something, someone- that she could not see.

Elizabeth stopped. “Jason,” she called out to him. Her breath hitched when he turned to her.

His hair was tangled, his clothes disheveled, his mouth was set in an frown, and his eyes... Their usual lighthearted mirthful hue had been replaced with a dark wildness. He looked right through her, chilling her to the bone. It was the first time that she had seen her husband as the mad man he truly was.

Forcing down the lump of fear that rose at the sight of him, she forged forward. “Who were you talking to?” she asked, lightly. “Was someone out here with you.”

She hoped that someone had been and they would pop out from the trees at any moment and save her from the horrible thoughts she was having about her husband. She did not want to think of him as insane, and for two weeks she was sure that he was not. That it was all a figment of his mind. But what she was seeing now...

“Come to me, Jason,” she pleaded, holding out her arms to him.

He turned away, walking deeper into the darkening woods.

Elizabeth forgot her fear and followed him. “Jason,” she hissed through tight lips. He kept on walking.

The hem of her dress became caught on a brier and as she pulled it away she heard it rip. Not caring, she continued to follow him, making sure to keep a distance of a few feet between them.

He trekked through the woods with ease as Elizabeth slipped and toppled over every leaf and rock. She knew that she would have scratches to go along with her twisted ankle but she didn’t care. At the moment all of her focus was on Jason.

He stopped suddenly, and when Elizabeth caught up she saw why.

They had come to a small house. It was weather battered but she could tell that it was once well kept. There was a short walkway that led to a front door that was painted blue, like a robins egg. The windows were framed with the same color blue shutters.

It was a quaint little home, one that reminded her of country houses; small and warm. She half expected to see a full woman wearing a worn apron emerge from the door and shoo her children in, then go and place a candle in the window to light her husbands way home from work. But there was no woman, no kids, no light.

“Jason,” Elizabeth said his name again. This time when he looked down at her his eyes were not wild, they were cool with emotion.

“I scared you,” he said, appearing to come back to himself. He held out his hand for her to take.

Elizabeth didn’t take his hand. “I wont lie and say you did not,” she hooked her arm around his, needing to be close to him.

He stared down at her. “But you did not leave me.”

“I could never...” Elizabeth shook her head at him. Her eyes left his, drifting off to the house sitting before them. “Who lived here.”

The muscle in his cheek twitched as he gazed at the house. “My mother.”

“You mean that she did not live in the manor?”

“She did, until my brother and I were old enough to not call upon her regularly.”

It sounded strange to her ears but Elizabeth let him continue.

“My father had many mistresses, none of them discreet. He would leave for days, sometimes weeks to go off and play with one of his whores. The servants would whisper about my parents when they thought we were not listening.”

“You and your brother?”

He nodded, “And my mother. Over time the whispers turned into snickers and at one point one of the maids my father was having an affair with became pregnant.”

Elizabeth’s heart dropped to her gut. His poor mother.

“She lost the baby, but not before my mother found out. After that Susan became withdrawn. She would not look at me or my brother, I guess we reminded her of our father.” A ghost of a smile hinted at his lips.

“Where did the house come from?” Elizabeth asked, completely shocked by his confession.

“With time my mother became quite mad. She would have fits of pain where she would have to be confined to her bed at weeks at a time. Sometimes she would be just fine for a week or two, but then the pain would come back and she would go screaming through the house. After a while my father tired of her rantings and had this house built for her. Once it was complete he moved her and her belongings here.”

Elizabeth looked at the house in a new light. It was not the quaint country home she thought it to be. It was a prison. Tears slipped from her eyes and she looked away. “Who were you talking to, Jason? Was it your mother?”

“I see her; as a part of my insanity.”

Goose flesh prickled on the back of Elizabeth’s neck. “You saw her in the garden, then?”

“Yes. I saw her in her favorite white gown. She was running through the trees... laughing. Then she disappeared.”

Elizabeth took in a shaky breath. “Do you think she came here?”

His broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. He brought a hand up to his head and rubbed. He only did that when he was about to experience a fit.

“Let us go back, Jason,” she coaxed him away from the tiny cottage, Elizabeth now thought was more of a prison.

Their trip back to the manor was quiet, both of them lost in thought. She was certain that Jason was thinking of his mother. Her thoughts were solely on him.

Elizabeth could not discredit the fact that something had happened in that garden before she had arrived. Jason told her that he’d seen his mother, that seeing her was a result of his maddening mind. A part of her couldn’t help but wonder if Jason was really as mad as he thought he was. That was the part of her that didn’t want to face the truth that her husband was a dying man. The part of her that was falling in love with him.

Jason’s grip on her hand tightened, she took comfort in his reassuring touch. Looking up at her husband, and seeing the haunted expression etched on his handsome features, Elizabeth made a decision: She would find a way to cure Jason of his madness. Even if she had to call upon doctors from the continent, she would somehow find a way to help him.

Elizabeth was not ready to lose her husband, though she was certain that something or someone was ready to take him from her. Weather it be his ailing mind or his apparition mother, or something else; she would fight them all.

Glancing back at the garden that led to the cottage, an eerie chill raced down her spine and she stifled a shiver. It was clear to her that her first fight would be with that tiny house and what secrets lay within.

Elizabeth groggily pulled herself from her husbands sleep heavy arms. After she and Jason made it back to the manor Elizabeth mixed his tonic the way Jason had taught her and they took a quiet dinner in their room. He hadn’t suffered a headache and for that she was glad.

He had taken the time to wrap her swollen ankle and cursed himself several times while doing it. He blamed himself for her injury, even though Elizabeth did not. She blamed her fear for his well being and her stubborn love for him. It was what set her to running the way she had when he had been having an attack of the mind.

Even though Elizabeth wasn’t fully convinced that her husband was truly mad, she did not let on that she had her doubts. Let him think she was as sure as he and everyone else was about his madness. That would only serve in aiding her as she began to dig for answers. If they all thought she was undoubting, her questions would not raise suspicion.

Making her way to the wash basin she splashed some cold rose water over her face and neck. As she toweled off Jason stirred.

“Good morning,” she greeted him crossing the room to his side. She kissed his lips then started when she heard a woman’s scream coming from outside.

Jason flung the sheets away from his body and followed her to the window.

“It is my carriage,” Jason said. “Damian must be back from delivering the note to your family.”

“Does Damian scream like a lady?” Elizabeth asked with a raised brow.

They both set to staring out the window. Damian was stanging just outside of the carriage door, he opened it and a worn boot emerged, followed by a body. A shock of red hair caught Elizabeth’s eye. “Mama,” she whispered.

“Who?” Jason said, his face curled in a scowl.

“It’s my mama!” Elizabeth hopped on her toes giddily as her cousin, Carly, was helped out and then screamed with excitement as her younger sister, Georgie, followed.

She rushed over to the armoire, and pulled out a plain green dress. Stepping into it, she motioned excitedly for Jason to help her. He stalked over and quickly buttoned her up. Once done Elizabeth raced to the door. “Don’t just stand there,” she told him. “Get dressed!”

Elizabeth was out the door and down the stairs before she could hear Jason’s reply. She sped past the service staff and yanked the door open.

“Elizabeth!” Her mother shrieked as she ran down the lawn to them. Skye Webber opened her arms and Elizabeth flung herself into them.

Her mother hugged her hard before stepping back to give her a quick once over. “You look healthy, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth tucked an errant curl behind her ear and nodded. Her cousin, Carly, pushed past her mother and tucked Elizabeth into a hug. Carly stepped back and gave her a once over as well. “She looks like a woman.”

“Oh, Caroline,” Skye cried out. Pulling a worn handkerchief from her pocket, she dabbed at her moist eyes. “She is still my baby.” Her mother hugged her again before Georgie pushed her way in.

Elizabeth looked at her sister and tears sprang to her eyes. She opened her arms and felt at home when Georgie huddled into her them. Elizabeth, being only a year older than her sister by days, was very close to Georgie.

When they finally broke from the hug they stared at each other. Georgie’s hazel eyes meeting Elizabeth’s blue-grey ones. After a moment they broke into a fit of giggles.

Skye Webber brought the kerchief back to her eyes again. “You girls will be the death of me,” she said, falling into the giggles herself.

 
Jason watched the scene unfold before him like a carriage wreck. He knew something terrible was playing out before his eyes, but he was unable to look away as Elizabeth hugged, cried and laughed with each of the women on his lawn.

There was a feeling of despair deep in his gut. He had no doubt that they had come to take Elizabeth away from him.

Elizabeth ushered her mother, sister and cousin into the manor. They were unable to keep their mouths from dropping agape at the sight of the expansive foyer and expensive furnishings.

“You live in a castle,” Georgie said, staring up at the arching ceiling.

Carly nodded in agreement and Elizabeth’s mother mopped her tear stained face with her handkerchief.

“It is not a castle,” Elizabeth said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. “It is just a very big house.”

“Call it whatever you please, Elizabeth. That will not change the fact that you have moved up and beyond your humble beginnings,” Carly told her with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Elizabeth knew to ignore her cousin when she fell in to one of her moods, and she was in quite the mood now.

“How long will you be staying?” Elizabeth asked. She noticed that Damian and another footman were struggling with her family's bags and wondered where Jason was.

“Only a week,” her mother answered, tucking the kerchief inside of her dress pocket. “The farm does not keep itself.”

Elizabeth’s eyes watered. Just thinking of the farm she grew up on made her teary eyed. “I am so sorry mama,” she cried.

Her mother opened her arms to her and Elizabeth made her way into them.

“Shush now, child.” Skye cooed, smoothing Elizabeth’s wild curls with her hand. “Are you happy with your husband?” she asked.

Elizabeth nodded against her mothers neck, “Very.”

“Then that is all that matters,” her mother said, patting Elizabeth on her back.

Elizabeth collected herself as Matty came in to view.

“Will you be taking breakfast?” The maid asked.

“Yes, we will,” Elizabeth answered quickly. She was starving.

Matty hurried off to the kitchen.

Elizabeth led her family to the sitting room as the service staff took all of their belongings to guest suites.

When they reached the sitting room her mother and sister sat and took the tea that Matty offered. Carly turned the offering down in favor of casing out the room.

“Where is the earl?” Carly asked after completing a walk around.

“Right here.”

All eyes turned to Jason. He was dressed in black riding breeches and a crisp white shirt. His knee-high riding boots were polished and gleamed in the morning light pouring in through the windows. His hair was brushed loose and it fell absently beyond his chin. In short; he was as handsome and as rakish as ever.

He walked over to Elizabeth’s mother and bent over her hand. Kissing the back of it, he introduced himself. Elizabeth saw a blush rush to her mothers pale cheeks and bit back a giggle. He did the same with Georgie, who had the same reaction as her mother, and then with Carly, who had no reaction at all.

After the introductions were over, Jason made his way over to her. Elizabeth stood and Jason kissed her lips, rather possessively. When he pulled away, Elizabeth was a little wobbly on her feet.

“Will you be joining us for breakfast?” Elizabeth asked, taking a step back from him. She was a little embarrassed by his display in front of her family.

He eyed her warily, as if he was searching for something. “No.” he answered. “I have to go into town to meet Patrick. I will be back this afternoon, we can all have lunch.”

Elizabeth knew that Jason was going for his medicine so she did not try to talk him in to staying. He kissed her cheek before he left, bidding all of them a goodbye.

Elizabeth had been a little confused by Jason’s strange demeanor but before she could dwell on it Matty came in and told them breakfast was ready.

Breakfast was going well, that was, until Carly brought up Jason’s reputation as a mad man.

Elizabeth frostily explained to her cousin that her husband did suffer an mental illness but he would not be referred to as a mad man in his own house.

That was not a rule of thumb, it was a rule of hers.

Hearing Carly speak so candidly about Jason’s condition had boiled her blood. She had imagined herself flying over the table and ripping her cousin’s hair out strand, by blonde strand.

Carly’s next inquiry; about Elizabeth’s wrapped ankle, had Elizabeth uncomfortably twitching in her seat.

“I twisted it last night while making my way from the gardens.”

Carly gave her an disbelieving stare. “You, Elizabeth? You are the least clumsy person I know.”

“Well I suppose I am not as talented on my feet as you seem to think,” Elizabeth snapped. She did not like what her cousin was implying. Jason would never hurt her.

Elizabeth was thankful when Georgie changed the subject asking about the horses and if Elizabeth had ridden one yet. Elizabeth told her no, she hadn’t. She did not think that it was a good idea to do so, being that she was trying to get pregnant.

Carly sucked her teeth at that comment and Elizabeth leveled her iciest stare on her cousin.

“Are you with child yet?” Georgie asked.

Skye batted a hand at her daughter, scolding her for being so inquisitive. She then turned her eyes on Elizabeth and asked, “Well, are you?”

Elizabeth felt herself flush as she told them all that she did not think herself with child.

Carly’s sigh of relief was audible and Elizabeth found herself gripping her napkin in agitation.

Her mother asked her if she was enjoying her time with the Earl and before Elizabeth could answer Carly commented that it did not matter since he would be dead within the year and Elizabeth would be back in the country where she belonged.

At that, Elizabeth pushed away from the table and stormed off to her room, her mother and Georgie on her heels. When she reached she and Jason's room she plopped down on the bed and tried to suppress her tears.

Georgie sat down next to her and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. You know how Carly is,” Georgie said. “She speaks her mind, even when she is better off keeping her mouth shut.”

“I know,” Elizabeth said, wiping her face with the back of her hand. I just could not take her speaking of Jason that way. I- I...”

“You love him,” her mother offered.

Elizabeth did not deny it. “Is it too soon?” she asked.

“Well I loved your father, as crazy as he was, from the moment I saw him.”

“We know the story mama,” Georgie said in a bored drone.

It was true. They both knew the story of the way their parents met at a farmers sale. Her father had been selling fruits and her mother’s father had been buying. Her mother told them that she took one look at her father, displaying a ripe red apple in his hand, and fell in love. She knew that he would be the man she married. Eight children later they were still very much in love.

“Life leads us to our loves in the strangest of ways. It just so happened that a flyer led to yours.” Her mother patted her cheek, giving Elizabeth a watery smile.

Georgie, who had slipped away, was gawking at all of the fancy dresses that Elizabeth would never wear. “You should take a few,” she told her sister and was pleased to see Georgie’s face light up at the suggestion.

As her mother fluttered about the room, taking everything in with curious appreciation, Elizabeth touched a hand to her stomach. Her monthly was late, which was not a regular occurrence for her. Her breasts had become heavy and sore to the touch and her emotions, like her appetite were increasingly temperamental. 

She had no doubt that she was pregnant, and she was eager to share the news with her mother and sister but she wanted to tell Jason first. It was his child she was carrying, his heir. She smiled at the thought.

When they joined each other in bed tonight she would tell him the good news.

“They will try to talk her into going back to the country,” Jason said, taking the proffered bag of medicine from his friends hand.

“They won’t be able to take her, she’s your wife. A husband has rights,” Patrick reminded him.

“I know all of that.” Jason said. “That does not mean that they won’t try.”

“Let em’ try. They will end up disappointed.” Patrick’s Irish brogue was thick this morning.

“You suppose?”

“I know. I saw the way the lass looked up at you when she thought you were hiding a bag of opium,” the dark haired man gave a robust laugh. “She was ready to skin you. That is a look of a woman in love. Trust me, I know.”

Jason had no trouble trusting Patrick’s word. He knew how in love Robin was with Patrick and even though he had witnessed her snap his head off many times, Jason understood that it was done in the name of love.

But he never thought that Elizabeth might feel the same way about him.

He knew that she was giving, that she fussed over him and made sure that he was well before she thought of herself. She never denied him any pleasure. Even if he woke in the early hours of the morning-before the sun crested the sky- Elizabeth was wanton for him. She had even initiated sex with him a time or two.

He smiled, thinking of how lusty she could be.

“I take it you are thinking of your wife?” Patrick asked. He was wearing a knowing smile.

Jason sighed, rubbing a hand over his brow. “What should I do?”

“About your wife or her family?”

“Both.”

“I have no advice for you there, friend,” Patrick said with a frown. “You know your wife better than I do. Do you really think she will leave you?”

Jason thought it over. It wasn’t that he thought she would leave him, Elizabeth had done nothing to make him think that. But he did wonder if someone might try to talk her in to it. That certain someone being Elizabeth’s cousin.

Carly had been a frosty chit. And she had the look of a woman who was good at getting her way, and knew all of the ways to succeed in doing so. He could only hope that Elizabeth was able to resist her cousins attempts, because he had no doubt that Carly would try to talk Elizabeth out of their marriage.

“Are you sure about him, Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth looked up from her current painting to her cousin. Carly was sitting next to her, her face turned up in a scowl. “Of course I am,” Elizabeth answered.

“He seemed quite mad to me,” Carly leaned in and whispered.

“When?” Elizabeth asked, hoping that Carly had not witnessed anything unusual from Jason.

It had been four days since her family’s arrival. Her mother and sister were enjoying their time at the manor. They took long strolls on the land, and Georgie had even rode one of the smaller mares at Jason’s insistence. Her mother was pleased to do nothing more than sit in the garden or go into town with Matty to shop.

But Carly had been unusually quiet. She did not seem to take pleasure in anything. She refused to ride when Jason offered. She hardly ate; complaining that the food was too rich for her stomach. She would not sleep by herself because the room was too big and she heard things.

Since Georgie and her mother were sharing a room, Elizabeth had to step up and calm her cousins frazzled nerves by sleeping in the room with her.

It had gotten to the point that Elizabeth couldn’t walk out to the garden without Carly nipping at her heels. Carly also made sure to remind Elizabeth at every opportunity that the country was a far better place than the stuffy old manor.

Elizabeth had not had a free moment alone with Jason since her family’s arrival and now she was itching for them to depart.

She ached to tell Jason about the baby and feared that her queasy stomach would give it away before she could surprise him. It probably would have if Elizabeth had been able to spend any time with him.

“Well?” she asked Carly. “When did my husband seem quite mad to you?”

Carly looked away. “It is in his eyes, Elizabeth. He has the stare of a crazy man.”

It was apparent that Carly was grasping at anything to get Elizabeth to turn her back on Jason. What would it take to get her to see that Elizabeth was very happy? Happier than she ever thought she could be. “I love Jason, Carly. I will not be leaving him.”

Carly gasped. “What has he done to you, Elizabeth? You were once free spirited- like a little bird, now you act as though your wings are clipped.”

Elizabeth’s eyes flecked blue fire at her cousin. “I told you how I feel,” she said, trying to keep her voice from wobbling. “Now leave it be.” Elizabeth began packing  her brushes and cloths. She was no longer in the mood to paint.

Once the basket was packed she started out of the garden.

“He is poisoning your mind against us, Elizabeth,” Carly snarled, getting to her feet. She was behind Elizabeth in a flash.

“No he is not!” Elizabeth snapped over her shoulder.

“Is he not?” Carly asked. “You have only been married to The Earl a few weeks and you fancy yourself in love with him. It is too soon for love.”

Elizabeth spun on her heel to face her cousin. The action made Carly stop in her tracks. “If I recall you were head over heels in love with Jasper Jacks before he even took a notice to you.”

“That was different,” Carly retorted. “Jasper is... he is...”

“What?” Elizabeth demanded, exasperated.

“He is not crazy like your demented husband.”

The slap that Elizabeth delivered to her cousins face split the air around them. Carly yelped then pressed her hand to her red marked face and glared at Elizabeth.

A sting of tears pricked behind Elizabeth’s eyes and she dropped her basket. Turning away, she ran off towards the manor.

“She has lost her mind!”

The shrill scream came out of nowhere, making Jason jump, and his inked quill scratch across the note he was preparing. Another screech, from another one of Elizabeth’s family members followed.

Jason closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his aching head. He was beyond ready for his wife’s family to leave. Actually, he had no problem with Elizabeth’s younger sister or her mother, it was her cousin that bothered him. Just as he had suspected; she was doing everything in her power to keep Elizabeth away from him.

Carly had even succeeded in getting Elizabeth to leave his bed to room with her.

The nights he spent without his wife were restless. He missed her softness and her sweet rose water scent. Often times he found himself cuddled up to her pillow, just because it smelled of her.

Upon first meeting Elizabeth, she had told him that her mother was crazy. Jason figured that she must have mistaken Mrs. Webber for Mrs. Jacks because besides her mothers knack for tearing up at the littlest of things, she seemed quite sane.

Jason dropped his hand from his head and looked down at the ruined note in front of him. He balled it up and tossed it aside, reaching for a new sheet of paper.

Just as he set the quill to the new note another shriek flooded into his study. He dropped the quill immediately. That shriek belonged to his wife.

Rushing from his study he bounded down the stairs, coming to a stop just before the landing. He saw Elizabeth, hands on hips, squared off with her cousin. The sight was quite comical being that Carly stood a full head taller than Elizabeth. But his wife had that determined jut of her chin on display and Jason knew that Carly had met her match.

He started to break them up but he heard himself mentioned and stopped.

“You have become as crazy as the earl,” Carly spat at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth took a daring step forward and proclaimed, “If you ever insult my husband again I will slap your other cheek!”

Carly gasped and looked to Georgie and Mrs. Webber. “I told you she has gone mad!”

Mrs. Webber reached for her handkerchief while Georgie looked rather bored. “Oh stop it, Caroline,” Mrs. Webber cried. “Elizabeth is happy and that is all that matters.”

“Elizabeth is losing her mind here, and she needs to be taken back to the country!” Carly exclaimed.

“I will not be going back to the country,” Elizabeth shouted back. “My home is here, with Jason.”

“But you are not carrying his child yet, Elizabeth. It is not too late to get out of this arrangement. No one would deny you an annulment to a crazy man.” Carly’s eyes were pleading.

Elizabeth turned away. Jason’s heart dropped. Elizabeth had given no quick retort, that must mean that she was thinking over her cousins words. Jason swallowed back the bitter taste of anger. There was no way he would let Elizabeth go. Not on his short life. He took the final steps to the landing and was about to make his presence known when Elizabeth turned back to Carly.

“You are wrong, cousin,” she said, her blue eyes watering wistfully. “I am not mad like you insist on thinking. I have given you no reason to think me so either. And if I seem somewhat different to you it is not because my husband has clipped my wings, it is because I am soaring higher than I ever thought possible.”

Jason’s heart leaped from the pit of his stomach to his throat.

“I love my husband,” Elizabeth continued. “There is nothing you can do to change that fact. And even if I wanted to get an annulment-which I do not- I would not be able to because I am indeed carrying Jason’s heir.”

Her mother gasped, and dabbed the kerchief at her puffy red eyes. Her sister squealed and ran over to Elizabeth pulling her into a hug. Carly blanched ghost white, and Jason... he nearly fainted.

Elizabeth, his wife, his heart. She was carrying his child.

Georgie finally let Elizabeth go and she turned to her mother but her eyes caught his and she gasped.

“Come here, Elizabeth,” he said, unable to keep the emotion out of his voice.

Tears slipped freely down her face as she walked slowly to him. When she made it within arms reach he pulled her to him. She stared up at him, her sapphire eyes full of watery emotion. She was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth and he swept his thumb over her mouth to get her to stop.

“How much did you hear?” she asked.

“All of it,” he answered, tightening his grip on her waist.

“I wanted to tell you, Jason, I really did. It was just that I was unable to find a good time to do so. With my family being here and us not being able to spend much time toge...” she trailed off, taking in the smile he was sporting, warily.

She looked absolutely adorable and he could not resist picking her up. She squealed as he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around once.

“Jason,” she exhaled breathlessly as he put her feet back to the floor.

He kissed her before she could say another word.

“I take it you are happy,” Elizabeth beamed a smile at him when he ended the kiss.

“I am. Very much so.” Her smile broadened at his words and Jason thought it the most perfect smile he had ever seen.

“Let us leave them,” Mrs. Webber said, shooing Georgie and a steaming Carly from the room.

Neither Elizabeth nor Jason took the time to look up at the retreating women.

“Take me to bed, my lord,” Elizabeth purred.

Jason swooped her up, cradling his arms under her knees and arms. “As you wish, my lady.”

The Webber women were all gathered outside of the manor along with a very sullen Jacks woman.

Georgie was the first to hug and kiss Elizabeth and then climb into the carriage. Mrs. Webber was next, Elizabeth tried not to tear up as her mother kissed her cheeks and congratulated her on her marriage and the baby. But the tears came anyway when her mother handed Elizabeth a note from her father.

She unfolded the crinkled station and read the words.

Elizabeth,

No longer my baby girl, you are a woman now.
I will not say that I am happy about your decision to run off and become married.
I always wanted to walk you down the isle of a church to a deserving man.
But I do trust your sharp mind and if you know in your heart
that you married a man deserving of you then what more can I say other than

congratulations...

Love always, your Papa.

After folding the note at the creases, she tucked it into her dress pocket and took the kerchief her mother handed her. She wiped her face and tucked that, too, into her pocket.

“Send papa my love,” Elizabeth said with a sniffle.

“I will.” Mrs. Webber hugged Elizabeth one last time and then hurried off into the covered carriage with a tear stained face.

Carly was the last one to bid her goodbye, and she did so in a rather reluctant manner. She huffed, and pouted, then her face turned up in a teary cry as she finally brought Elizabeth in to her arms.

“You are all grown up now. I guess it is time for me to let you go,” Carly told her, sounding more like a mother hen than a cousin. “You have your own family now,” she sobbed.

Elizabeth sighed pulling herself from the hug. “You are still my family, Carly. You know that.”

Carly nodded her blonde head, “Yes, you are right.” She looked over her shoulder at Jason who was standing a safe distance away then turned quickly back to Elizabeth. She dipped her head and whispered,  “If you should need anything...”

“I will not. But I know that if I ever did you would be there.” Elizabeth squeezed her cousins fingers for emphasis.

“Well,” Carly said on a sigh. “I guess it is time for us to leave you.” She started for the carriage and Elizabeth followed to see her in.

The Carriage jerked to a start and Elizabeth waved it, and her family goodbye until they were a tiny dot in the distance.

Her hands dropped to her-still flat-stomach, and her eyes traveled to Jason’s. He smiled at her and she started for him. She had seen one family off, and now it was time to begin another.

“Do you think we should get dressed?”

Jason’s brows dropped and his sensual mouth pressed into a tight line. “Maybe in another hour.” He pressed one large hand against her naked lower belly as he nuzzled her neck. “Or two,” he growled.

Suppressing a laugh when his warm breath tickled her ear, Elizabeth covered his hand with her own. “Boy or girl?”

“Hmm,” he answered. Apparently he was paying her little attention.

Elizabeth shifted to her side, the movement putting her face to face with Jason. “Do you hope for a boy or girl?”

His look became thoughtful. “Either, as long as the baby is healthy. But I think I would like to have a little girl with your dark curly hair, adorable face, and stunning blue-grey eyes.”

Elizabeth could not contain her blush. “But a boy would guarantee that the Morgan line continued.”

“True,” Jason nodded. “But boy or girl the estate will remain in the hands of Morgan’s and only Morgan’s. That is all I ask for.” He took one of her hands in his and lifted it to his lips. Placing a kiss on the inside of her palm and then her wrist, he said, “I want you to know that you will be taken care of upon my death.”

And like that, Elizabeth’s cheery mood had become dismal. It made her heart heavy to think about losing Jason any time in the near future, losing him ever.

She pulled her hand away, “Can we not speak about this now?”

“Why not, Elizabeth? It is a truth you must face.”

“I know that,” she said looking away from him. The tale tell sting of tears watered in her eyes. She did not want to tell Jason that she was never going to face that truth. “I think I should go gather my paint supplies and-”

“Later,” Jason said, cutting her off. “I want to do something for you first.”

Elizabeth began to ask him what it was he wanted to do, but he cut her off by covering her mouth with a kiss. After she was successfully silenced, he left the bed. She watched him with appreciation as he pulled clothes over his muscular frame and then as he ran a tanned hand through his tawny chin length hair.

“Should I dress?” Elizabeth asked, curiously.

“No, you should stay right there.” His eyes raked over her face and then down to were the sheet covered her tender breasts.

There was a devilish glint in his stare. One she had seen many times in the throes of their passion, and it made her breathless.

“I will be right back,” he told her, then slipped from the room.

Alone, Elizabeth thought of ways to find out more about Jason’s illness. She needed a doctor, but knew of none. There was Jason’s friend, Patrick, but from what she knew of him, he was not a doctor of the mind but one of medicines and herbs. Maybe she could ask Sarah a discreet question or two about the doctors in town.

She also needed to find out more about her husbands mother.

After she saw her family off, Jason had to go into his study to get the towns immediate financial affairs taken care of. Elizabeth used that time to make her way back to the room that housed the family portraits. Her intent was to find one of Susan Morgan, but she had no luck.

There were no Susan’s on the wall or any other woman that fit into the time frame that Jason’s mother had lived. And oddly enough, there was not one family portrait of Jason with his mother, brother and father. Every other previous Morgan family had at least three- sometimes four- family renditions. But Jason’s family had none.

Elizabeth knew that she needed to go back to that little house with the pretty blue door and matching shutters. There were secrets there, she could feel it deep inside.

The door swung open, bringing Elizabeth’s attention from her thoughts to her husband.

Jason stopped at an armoire and pulled out a loose dressing gown for his wife.

Elizabeth sat up in the bed and narrowed her eyes at him. “Jason, what are you up to?”

He could not help the grin that flashed on his lips as he crossed the room to her. “Let us get you in this,” he said, pulling the loose fitting gown over her head.

Once it was on, he took her hand and led her from the bed. They traveled out of their room and down the hall to Elizabeth’s old suite. He could feel the anxiousness inside of her in the way of her bare feet as she hurriedly shuffled behind him.

They entered the suite and the smell of lavender wafted up to greet them. The bath was drawn just the way he had asked for it to be: By the window so that the sun could spill golden rays in upon her, and with lavender petals. They floated on top of the water like tiny purple lily pads. 

“Jason!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she stepped from his side and rushed over to the bath.

He closed the door behind them while Elizabeth neared the bath. She dipped a finger in the water.

“Is it warm enough?” he asked, walking up behind her.

She nodded, swishing her hand fully in. “Are you getting in with me?” she asked over her shoulder.

“No. This is for you.”

“You will be leaving, then?” There was a hint of disappointment in her tone.

“Who will wash your back if I leave?” At that, she turned and gave him a smile.

Jason helped her out of the gown and into the bath. He found a great deal of pleasure in seeing her sink into the heated water. A soft moan escaped her full lips as she closed her eyes and rested her head against the porcelain.

After pulling up a chair, Jason gathered Elizabeth’s long dark braid from her shoulder. The end was wet from being in the water, so the tiny blue ribbon that held the thick braid in place easily slipped off.

He set to slowly undoing the braid with his fingers, and reveled in the way her silky chocolate colored locks fell over his hand and arm. When it was free and flowing over the back of the bath, he ran his fingers through her hair from scalp to ends.

“You spoil me,” she whispered.

Jason smiled, feeling quite the opposite. He was the one who was spoiled; by her love. Anything he could do to make her as happy as she made him, he would.

He moved from the back of the bath to the side. Dipping his hand in the water, he found her leg and began massaging from her soft thigh and down. Elizabeth hissed as his fingers met her ankle and he cursed himself for being so careless. Carefully, he took and rotated her small foot as he lightly massaged her bruised ankle.

There was a light rap on the door, which Jason chose to ignore.

“It might be important,” Elizabeth drowsily said.

“Not more important than this,” Jason said, focusing on her ankle.

The light rap turned to a bang. Elizabeth looked at him through heavy lids. “Jason...”

He grunted and leveled her leg back into the water before making his way to the door. Opening it just a crack he met the brown eyes of his valet, Damian. “What is it?”

Damian tried in vain to straighten his rumpled clothes. “A note just came from Bernie. There is a problem with some documents. He wrote that he needed you right away.”

Jason wanted to say to hell with it, but the documents were important, not only to his future heir, but to his wife as well. “Go saddle Thunder. I will be there shortly.”

Damian bowed and rushed away.

Jason closed the door with a wary sigh.

“You have to go.”

He looked over at his wife in the bath with the sun streaming over her, and cursed Bernie and the documents. “Yes. There is an important matter that needs my attention.”

Her face turned down in a frown. “How long will you be gone?”

“Not long. An hour at the most.” That seemed to brighten her spirit. “I will have Sarah come and help you finish.” He crossed the floor to her and dropped a kiss on her soft pink lips.

“See you in an hour,” she spoke against his mouth.

“An hour,” he murmured back, then turned and left the room.

Elizabeth inquired about the doctors in town while Sarah braided her freshly washed hair.

“Well, there is the Earl’s doctor, Mr. Jones. And then there is Dr. Hampton.”

“Is that all?” Elizabeth asked, hoping that there would be more.

“Why do you want to know?” Sarah retorted, eyeing Elizabeth through the mirror.

“Because I do,” Elizabeth replied, not looking away.

Sarah heaved an dramatic sigh. “Yes, that is all.”

Elizabeth pulled her bottom lip through her teeth, and became lost in thought. Since Jason was already seeing Dr. Jones she had no other choice but to contact Dr. Hampton. Just how would she go about doing so?

After Sarah finished, Elizabeth excused the maid. She pulled on her worn boots and made her way out of the room. At first she thought she might paint but she quickly decided to take her alone time and make the trip to the tiny house just outside of the gardens.

The walk during the daytime was not nearly as troubling as it had been the night she had followed Jason through. Elizabeth easily made her way through the trees and under brush. When she reached the clearing that led to the house she stopped as shiver passed down her spine.

She chastised herself for stalling. It was broad daylight and there was nothing to be afraid of. Pressing forward, Elizabeth started down the walkway. As she approached the house fear nipped at her again. She fought past it and continued on until she was in front of the blue door.

Reaching a shaky hand out to the handle she released the trigger, the door did not budge. She stooped down and studied the door handle, there was no key hole, which meant that the door was not locked- at least not from the outside. Elizabeth tried the door again, this time pushing her shoulder against the dusty wood as she released. The door gave way under the force, swinging open with a creak.

Taking a steadying breath, Elizabeth forged her way into the house. It was spacious and surprisingly pristine, as though someone kept the inside in excellent condition while neglecting the outside. There was the faint smell of lemon, the same lemon that scented the manor after a fresh cleaning. The flooring was hardwood and it gleamed amber under the sunlight spilling in from the open door.

Elizabeth could not resist swiping her finger over the floor, when it came back dust free her suspicions were confirmed; someone did keep the inside very clean. Furnishings were covered in white cloth, she supposed, to preserve the material and wall hangings were covered as well.

After circling the house and going through all of the rooms, Elizabeth’s heart sank. There would be no secrets to uncover here, if there ever were. The house was not neglected and harboring secrets as she had thought. It was well kept and any secrets it once held were long gone.

She turned to leave but her eye caught a large wall hanging covered in white cloth. Her fingers began to twitch and she walked over to it. Stepping up on the tips of her toes, she was able to pull the cloth away. A light dust from the covering floated around her face. She fanned it away, coughing a little. The dust cleared, giving way to a portrait of a family... Jason’s family.

There was a beautiful woman with long black hair, sitting casually in an ornate chair. Susan, Elizabeth thought. Jason’s mother was stunning, with pale skin and arctic blue eyes, a fine upturned nose. Those features, combined with her straight black hair, led Elizabeth to believe that she was Norman.

The man standing behind her, Jason’s father, was familiar; Elizabeth had seen his portrait in the room with all of the others.

Then there was Jason. He looked to be about ten, a very handsome ten with playful blue eyes. Elizabeth smiled as her eyes moved to his brother, Alan. The resemblance between he and Jason was uncanny, but there was a stark contrast in the brothers eyes. While Jason’s seemed to smile at her through the painting, Alan’s were dark and mischievous. There was no laughter there.

A chill covered her body and she looked away. Picking up the cloth from the floor, Elizabeth stretched to return it over the painting. After that was done she turned to leave. She was shaking the dust from her dress when her eyes met a set of black riding boots on the hardwood. Knowing she was caught by Jason, she blushed and slowly rose her eyes to his.

A shocked gasp flushed from her mouth upon meeting the man's face. He was not Jason.

“It can not be,” Elizabeth whispered. She took a step back and rubbed a hand over her eyes. when she dropped it back to her side the man was still there, his blue eyes staring down on her darkly.

A sardonic smile spread over the apparitions lips and Elizabeth felt her legs go numb beneath her.

“Alan,” she whispered, right before she fell limp.

Jason’s mood was beyond wretched when Bernie finally arrived. He had been waiting over an hour before the old man decided to show.

Jason scowled as Bernie stepped from his carriage. “I do not like being kept waiting,” Jason snapped, heatedly when Bernie was within speaking distance.

The lawyer looked up at Jason in confusion. “Well, neither do I, my lord.”

Jason ignored the mans odd retort. “You wrote me an urgent note two hours ago, and only now do you decide to show up?”

Bernie’s face turned an angry red, “It was you who sent word for me to meet you at the brewery.”

“I did not...,” he stopped. Something was off. “Who sent word to you?” Jason asked, becoming increasingly suspicious.

“It was your brother, of course. Alan stopped by on his way from the brewery. Told me that he had just made it to town, and had a few drinks with you there. He went on to let me know that you needed me urgently. I have been waiting at the brewery for...”

Jason did not wait around to clear up the confusion. He raced to his horse, mounted swiftly, and rounded Thunder in the direction of the manor. The horse took off like a shot.

Jason’s heart pounded in his chest as the horse raced through town. Alan had gone through much trouble to ensure that he was gone from the manor for hours. Jason knew that his brother never did anything without a nefarious purpose. And there was no doubt in his mind that Alan’s current purpose had everything to do with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s head was fuzzy as she slowly returned to consciousness. Struggling to open her eyes against the brightness of the sun, her lids fluttered up, then back down. She brought a hand to her face to rub her eyes and found even that to be a struggle, her limbs were heavy with lethargy.

What had happened to her?

She moved her head to the side and rubbed against a warm body. Her first instinct was to curl into the protective arms of her husband, but there was a feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her something was not quite right. The body she was nestled against did not smell of Jason, there was no clove or earthy scent that her husband carried. Instead, this body was rich with the smoky scent of cigars.

“Stay still.” The heavy voice was not her husbands, and she immediately forced her eyes to open.

She was unable to suppress the shocked hiss that whistled from her dry lips at the sight of him. Her eyes widened. He was most definitely Jason’s brother, Alan. But he was very much alive, not dead as she had once suspected.

He smiled down at her, and suddenly the closeness in which he held her came into focus. She was cradled in his arms as one would hold a baby or a lover. The leftover fogginess that blanketed her mind lifted and she pushed away from him.

Shakily getting to her feet, she scurried across the hardwood floor to a far wall.

With her back pressed firmly to the wall she stared at the man before her. She had thought Alan to be an apparition when she first saw him, but it was clear to her now that he was no figment of her mind. He was almost the mirror image of her husband, but for the eyes and the subtle difference in features and expression. Even though he was sitting on the floor she could tell that he was tall, his long legs extended out a ways in front of him.

Elizabeth ran her tongue over her chapped lips. “I thought you were dead,” her voice came out a cracked whisper.

Alan smiled roguishly, “You thought wrong, my dear, for I am very much alive.”

“So I see,” Elizabeth said. Pleased that her voice held no tremor this time.

Alan tilted his head to the side while his eyes raked over her appearance. Elizabeth crossed her arms around her middle as he did so. His smile deepened at her protective measure and she frowned at him in distaste.

Finally his gaze lifted back to her eyes. “You are very common,” he commented, as if informing her of something she did not already know. “I’m surprised my brother even looked twice at you,” he continued. “Jason normally prefers his women dazzling and painted. But I suppose that he keeps a mistress for that.”

Elizabeth’s mouth dropped at his crass words. “My husband has no mistress,” she snapped at him.

Alan chuckled, staring at her through those dark blue eyes as he got to his feet. “Tell me, dear, did my brother tell you that?” When she did not respond he added, “And you believed him? Alan was closing the space separating them step by step. “My dear, you are unworldly, aren’t you... and very, very naive. ”

Elizabeth dropped her arms to her sides, her hands balling into tiny fists. “Stay away from me,” she demanded.

He did not listen, stopping only when he was a breath away and towering menacingly above her. His smoky scent surrounded her and her throat tightened in response.

“I am only making sure that the lady of the house is fine, you did take a nasty fall. No need to be cross.”

Elizabeth raised her head, scowling up at him. His eyes reminded her of something that she could not pin-point, but it set her teeth on edge just the same. “I would not have taken that nasty fall had you not snuck up on me.”

His hand lifted as if to touch her face. Elizabeth turned away but was shocked when he, instead, reached for the braid that dangled over her shoulder. He held it in his hand before she could protest or move further away.

She tugged on her braid but his hold was unrelenting. “Let go of my hair. ”

Alan’s eyes swept over her face, dark and mockingly. “No,” he said, simply. He twirled the curled end of her braid around his finger.

“What is it that you want?” Elizabeth asked, trying not to focus on the prickly goose flesh rising over her body at his closeness. She did not want to appear scared but her insides were churning with fear.

“What do I want?” he asked, his eyes never leaving the braid in his hand. “The question is; what do you want?”

Elizabeth did not miss the bitter connotation of his words. He thought her to be after his family’s money. “What I want is for you to release my hair and step away from me.” She made her words hard and final.

Alan did not seem to care. “You are a feisty one. I presume that is what attracted you to my brother. Because aside from that...” His eyes surveyed her body again.

He looked as though he was about to finish his comment but something stopped him. He looked over his shoulder at the open door then dropped her hair and backed away.

Elizabeth took the reprieve as her chance to get away. She moved from the wall, hurriedly passing him and started for the door. Just as she reached it she saw Jason swinging down from Thunder.

Relief raced through her body and she ran to him, not stopping until she was safely in his arms.

Jason tightened his arms around his wife’s tiny waist as he pulled her deeper in to his arms. The alleviation that eased his tense body at her exit from the house had him sighing deeply as he breathed the fresh rose scent of her hair.

He would have all together picked her up and carried her back to the house had it not been for the way she clung to him. He knew that someone had her running scared, sheet white, out of the house and in his heart he knew that someone was Alan.

Jason rested his chin atop her head and stared off toward the cottage's open door. His brother was inside biding his time, waiting-like a snake- for the perfect moment to slither from the house. As if on cue Alan’s broad shoulders and frame appeared in the doorway.

Thoughts of what his brother may have said or done to Elizabeth raced through Jason's mind. Blood hot outrage bubbled under his skin, threatening to burst from it’s thinly covered veil at any moment. The only thing keeping Jason grounded was Elizabeth. She needed him and he could not let anger dictate his reaction.

Jason’s jaw tightened as Alan sauntered from the house and down the short, narrow walkway. As his brother approached Jason’s hold on Elizabeth increased.

“Why are you here?” Jason’s voice was foreign to his own ears. It was a low growl that rumbled in his chest.

Alan was unmoved my the threatening undertone of the question. “I came to congratulate you on your nuptials, of course.” He grinned and extended his hand toward Jason.

“And you do that by use of tricks and deceit?” Jason asked, outraged. He could feel Elizabeth attempting to turn around inside of his hold, but he stopped the action by gripping her closer.

His brother saw the protective action and grinned. Dropping his hand, he shrugged. “I only wanted a moment alone with your wife. To introduce myself and welcome her to the family.”

Jason narrowed his eyes to dangerous slits. The grin that his brother had been sporting slipped away.

“I did not harm her, if that is what you are thinking,” Alan said. “In fact, I helped her when she fainted. Caught her little body in my arms.”

Jason’s teeth ground until the point of pain. He did not want to think of Elizabeth in his brother’s arms for any reason. He was shamed to admit to himself that he would have rather her fallen to the floor than to be caught by Alan.

He shifted himself so that he was able to look down at Elizabeth’s face. Some color had come back into her cheeks, of that he was relieved. And she was no longer shaking like a leaf, the way she had been when she flung herself into his outstretched arms.

She looked up at him with big blue eyes. “Are you alright?” he asked, just low enough for her to hear.

She shook her head, that she was. He studied her face for a moment longer then dropped his arms from her waist.

“Go back to the manor, Elizabeth.”

She looked up at him, confused. “Jas-”

“Go back to the manor,” he barked, cutting her off before she could protest.

Her eyes flashed indignance as she pushed away from him. She opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off before she could.

“Now!”

Her mouth snapped shut, her stormy eyes alight with anger. She took a jerky step back then turned away. Her steps were quick and hard as she stormed off toward the house, her long braid whipping behind her.

He turned back to his brother. “I want you gone.”

Alan scoffed. “I will leave when I am ready. Not a second before.”

“Why are you back?”

“I told you before that I came back to congratulate you and to meet your new bride.” Alan tskd, “That was a good stunt you pulled rushing off and getting married, all in the name of keeping me from getting control of the estate.”

Jason smiled darkly. “Did you think that I would ever let your hands come in contact with the deeds, titles, and money hedged with this estate?”

“No bother,” Alan waved a dismissive hand. “You will be dead and buried soon enough, and your pretty little wife will need a warm body to hold her through the loss. I have no qualms about stepping up and being that body.”

Jason took an aggressive step forward. His head pounded as though a stampede of elephants were pummeling through it. “Leave,” Jason growled through clenched teeth.

Alan looked unaffected, though he did take a cautious step back. “I am sure you have taught her well in bed. Those skill should come in handy when I have my turn at-”

His brothers last words were lost in the blow that spliced through the air and landed with precision on his jaw. Jason pulled his fist back in waiting. It took Alan a few seconds to recover from the splintering assault but when he did he came at Jason full force.

A flurry of fists; delivering, hits and punches commenced and within seconds both brothers were on the ground, kicking up dirt in their wake.

Alan was able to land a punch to Jason’s right eye and the impact had his head swimming in pain. Through the tussle Jason was able to throw a few more punches, one connecting fully with his brothers nose. The sound of breaking bone and cartilage ended the fight.

Jason dizzily stumbled to his feet. He was bent over, chest heaving, gasping for air when Alan pulled himself from the ground. He watched through one good eye as his brother cupped his bleeding nose, the bright red blood spilling through his shaky fingers.

“You would fight me over some common whore!” Alan sputtered through the blood that had run into his mouth. “You would turn over our family’s estate to her? Mark my words, little brother, I will die before I ever see that happen.”

Jason spit out the blood that had welled in his mouth. “You come near her again and-”

“And you will what? Kill me?” Alan dropped his hand from his face, revealing a swollen, crooked, bloodied nose. He laughed miserably as he turned away and hobbled off down the path toward where his horse was tied.

Jason waited until he saw his brother ride off of the premises before he turned to his own horse. Thunder was grazing on a patch of hay a short distance away. As he took the horse by the reigns he glanced in the direction of the manor. He saw a figure, dressed in white, staring down at him from a third floor window.

He strained to make out the person through his uninjured eye. Long black hair flowed over the white material of a dress. It was his mother. Jason dropped the reign from his hand and started for the manor.

The nerve of that man!

Elizabeth paced the floor of she and Jason’s room. Her bare feet padding over the thick plushness of a white Persian rug.

How dare he dismiss her like she was nothing more than a child? The insolent man! To think that she felt relief at his arrival. She should have just toppled over him and kept on running to the manor. At least that way she wouldn’t have had to suffer the humiliation of being told to do just that. And he did it in front of his brother, of all people.

Elizabeth roared her upset as she wore the carpet thin.

Tiring of her pace, she went to the bed and plopped down. She would sleep in her old suite tonight. No. She would move back into her suite. That would teach Jason not to treat her like a child. But before she did that she would tell him a thing or two about himself.

Pounding on her bedroom door broke her train of rant. She hopped from the bed and rushed to the door. Upon swinging it open she met Damian. His dark brown eyes were troubled, so much so that Elizabeth did not even bother to take in his disheveled appearance.

Her heart dipped. “What has happened?” she asked and braced herself for the boys words.

“It is the earl,” Damian started. “He is.. he has.. he...”

“Say it!” She impatiently yelled at him.

“He is on the third floor, and it seems he has completely lost his mind.”

Elizabeth had not even thought to put on her boots or slippers when she ran from the room. She was too worried about Jason to think of herself. But as she walked the long hallway to the room where she heard the breaking of glass and tumbling of furniture she wished that she had taken the time to put something on her feet. They would surely suffer damage upon stepping foot into the room.

Damian, Matty and a few footmen were all quietly following her down the hall. She would have asked them not to come, but she was not completely sure that she would be able to deal with her husband on her own.

When she finally made it to the room where the noise had been coming from she stilled outside of the door.

Turning to the worried faces standing behind her she said, “Stay here. Do not come in, no matter what, unless I say so.”

When they nodded their understanding she turned back to the door. Opening it, she carefully slipped inside. What she was greeted with was a mess beyond comprehension. She shut the door firmly behind her then she attentively stepped and toed her way over broken glass, shattered vases, strewn artwork.... the damage went on and on.

After making her way through the destroyed main room without sight of her husband, she turned into a side room, and that is when she saw him.

Jason was sitting, casually relaxed in a winged-back chair. He was as calm as could be, with a fragile glass vase dangling between his thumb and forefinger. The precious vase hung carelessly, tinkering on the brink of ruin, much like her husband.

Jason stared at her from half lidded eyes, one of which, she noticed, was bruised. The hint of a smile played on his lips.

Elizabeth gathered her courage and stepped further into the room. “Do you think this is funny, Jason?” she asked, her temper spiking at the curl of his mouth. How could he act so collected after what he had done?

He shrugged his shoulders in indifference.

“Why did you destroy this room?”

“Because I am a mad man.”

“Do you know how childish that sounds?”

“It is not childish, Elizabeth. It is true.” The vase he held between his fingers seemed to slip down a notch.

“Did you have another fit?”

He laughed un mirthfully. “Do you hear yourself, Elizabeth? You are speaking to me as if I am a child. “‘Did you have another fit,’” he repeated back to her in a mocking tone.

“Maybe if you did not act like a child I would not have to speak to you like one,” she snapped.

“Acting like a child? Like the way you waited until I left to sneak off to that house? That is a very childish thing to do, don’t you think?”

“I wanted to see it,” Elizabeth whispered.

“You could have asked, I would have taken you. But instead you snuck,” he arraigned.

The accusation came from him harshly and the truth of his words stung. But she would not back down. “Is that why you overturned this room?”

He studied her under the frown of his brows. “I need to be alone.”

“I am not leaving.”

“Go,” he demanded.

“No!”

He shot up from the chair but Elizabeth stood her ground. She would not be cowered by his dramatic acts of madness. He took heavy steps to her until they stood chest to chest. She chanced a look up at him and was shocked to see just how bruised the side of his face was.

His eye was swollen, the skin below it was leathery blue, and his cheekbone was purplish in tone with the fine markings of knuckles outlined as the center of the bruise.

Her breath caught in a hiss and she lifted her hand to touch the bruising. Jason caught her wrist, mid-air. She thought that he would move her hand away but his hold was gentle and he did not stop her from lightly touching the skin beneath his eye.

“What happened, Jason?”

She saw him swallow hard before he spoke, “Alan and I were not seeing eye to eye on a few issues.”

“So you cleared them up with a fisticuff?”

He grunted in response.

“Is that why you tossed the room, because he beat you?”

Jason frowned. “His face will require a doctors assistance to right it. Mine will only require a pound of beef.”

She hid the fact that she took pleasure in Alan ending up worse off than her husband. It was not the appropriate way to react, given the situation, but inside she was delighted. Alan had been a pompous cad to her, and if he ended up needing a doctor to assist in the repair of his face after a tussle with Jason then he very well deserved it.

Elizabeth sighed, dropping her fingers from his face. “So then why?” She waved her hand in show of the room.

“I saw her.”

A knowing chill ran down Elizabeth’s spine. “Your mother?”

He nodded. “I spotted her from outside. She had been watching me-watching Alan and I- from this very room.”

Elizabeth hid a shiver. “She is not real, Jason,” she reasoned.

“To me she is,” he countered.

Elizabeth did not argue. She was not the one who suffered from seeing phantoms and she knew that no amount of her saying that the apparitions were not real would change a thing. She ran her hand down his arm until she reached the vase. He let go when she had it safely in her hand.

“Did he hurt you?” Jason asked, as he searched her face with his eyes.

“No,” she answered, cradling the vase close to her chest.

“I’m sorry,”

“You have no reason to apologize. I was the one who snuck off to that house. Had I not, none of this would have happened.”

“It would have... eventually,” Jason corrected. “My brother and I have a very temperamental relationship.”

“Your brother is very headstrong. You two are quite similar in that respect.”

“Did he touch you?”

“No, not really,” Elizabeth said waving the question away. She turned to take the vase to a table.

Jason stopped her by stepping in way of her path, “Not really?”

Elizabeth averted her eyes. “He did not touch me, so to speak. He did touch my hair, but it came back in one piece.” She quickly moved around him to the table. After the vase was safely deposited she turned back to Jason.

There was a look in his eyes that spoke of horrible things. Elizabeth could not stop herself from taking a step back.

“I will kill him, Elizabeth.”

“Jason,” she gasped at his words, “he is your brother.”

“He had no right!” His enraged voice bounced off of the walls around them.

“He was only attempting to intimidate me, Jason. Nothing more.”

“You do not know Alan. Every move he makes is done with a specific purpose. He went through the trouble of forging a note from my lawyer to get me off of the estate today.”

Her eyes widened. “You mean he wanted you gone so that he could...” Her heart began to beat wildly. Alan had gone to great lengths to corner her alone. What if Jason had not come back when he did?

Suddenly light headed, she turned back to the table. Her breathing was ragged and her body loose. She placed her hands on the table top to keep herself steady. Jason was at her back an instant later. He dropped his hands beside hers, his chest pressing against her back. She leaned back into him.

“Have you eaten?” he asked after a minute had passed.

Elizabeth searched her mind. “Not since this morning, before my family left.”

“That was hours ago, Elizabeth.”

She turned and met his eyes. “I know, I...” She had been so intent on traveling to the house that she had forgotten to eat. What of the child she was carrying? “I should eat.”

“I will take you,” he said. Turning, he took in the mess around him and murmured something under his breath.

Elizabeth gripped his hand in hers. “It will be alright, Jason.” She hoped that her words did not sound as hollow as they felt.

Looking at the mess herself, she was no longer sure that things would be alright. 

He would have to send her away. It was the only possible way that he could keep her safe. Jason looked over the posts in front of him, only half reading them. It was perplexing to think that Elizabeth’s cousin, Carly, may have been right in her quest to take Elizabeth back to the country. Maybe she had seen in him something that Elizabeth had failed to.

Jason glanced up from his notes to Elizabeth, who was forking into a plate of colorful mixed fruit. Her expression was drawn in one of sullenness and the knowledge that he was responsible for that look being there shamed him.

He had been nothing more than a nuisance to Elizabeth since the moment she arrived. First by insulting her, then by burdening her with his fits of pain, not to mention the way he had scared her half to death the night he saw his mother in the garden.

And then today; he turned a room over in search of the woman he saw looking down on him from the window, and when he found no trace of her he destroyed what little was left of the room while lost in his anger. What if Elizabeth had entered before he had calmed down? He could have hurt her.

The thought made him uneasy.

It was clear to him that his mind was rapidly deteriorating and soon, like Dr. Jones had warned him, he would fall into the madness and never come out. There was no way he would allow Elizabeth to be around to witness that, or fall victim to it.

Decided, he turned to his wife and cleared his throat. Elizabeth looked up from her plate and gave him a small smile. The tenderness in her eyes nearly ripped his heart from his chest. He did not want to send her away, he would be lost with out her but there was no way that he would subject her to another day of his madness.

“I am sending you back to Havensboro,” he informed her, sternly.

Her blue eyes widened in shock. “You are what?”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “It will be safer for you if you leave. At least until I am gone.”

“Gone?” She pushed her plate away. “You mean dead.” Elizabeth glared at him.

“Yes, I mean dead.”

She blanched, and looked as though she might loose her lunch. He started to move to her side but she quickly recovered. Huffing, she crossed her arms over her chest, “I will not go,” she told him with finality.

“You are going, Elizabeth, and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”

Her eyes sparked with fire. “How dare you, not once or twice, but three times today demand that I do as you wish? You are ordering me around like a child. I am not a child, Jason, I am your wife!”

“And I am your husband and it is my job to protect you!” Jason shot up from his chair and paced the floor. “Do you not see how bad things are getting? Today I wrecked a room, who knows what I might do tomorrow.” He leveled his gaze to meet hers, “You are not safe with me.”

Elizabeth got to her feet. He thought that she would come to him, but instead she walked to the door.

“Believe what you want, Jason,” she tossed over her shoulder, “but I refuse to leave. Therefore, unless you plan on forcing me out of this manor kicking and screaming then it appears that we have come to an impasse.”

The door opened and she left in a flash of a burgundy dress.

Dinner was quiet that night. Besides the common courtesies, Elizabeth barely said a word to him. She picked at her food, eating only a little, then left for bed early. Jason finished eating his meal alone before following.

When he entered their bedroom it was dark. There were no candles lit for light, and after lighting one he saw that Elizabeth was already in bed. She was on her side, the covers pulled up to her chin. Her eyes were closed, though he could not determine if she was really sleep or pretending to be.

Heaving a sigh, Jason pulled off his clothes.

After snuffing the candle out he got into bed. Instinctually, he reached for Elizabeth and was taken aback when she moved herself further to the edge of the bed. She was on the brim of falling out, just so that she could get away from him.

Successfully snubbed, he turned away from her. Jason was at a complete loss. He refused to apologize, for he did not regret his impulse to send Elizabeth back to her family. Of course, now he would not go through with that. How could he? Elizabeth was refusing, and he would not make her go against her will.

He closed his eyes, hoping that an answer to his current dilemma would come to him whilst sleep.

Elizabeth had rose from bed early. After washing, dressing and having Sarah braid her hair, she went off in search of Matty.

She found the hearty woman in the kitchen, elbow deep in bread dough.

“Will you be going to town?” Elizabeth asked the woman as she looked around the kitchen for something sweet to snack on.

“You need an apple or a croissant... some juice,” Matty said, without looking up from her dough kneading. “but there is chocolate in the cabinet behind you.”

Elizabeth smiled and turned to open the cabinet. She dug her hand into a jar of chocolate squares, coming back out with two pieces. She bit into one as she made her way over to where Matty stood.

“What do you want from town?” Matty asked, looking past a silver streaked curl of brown hair that had fallen over her eye from her tight bun.

“Actually, I want to go in to town with you.”

Matty’s face rose in question. “Whatever for, child?”

Elizabeth looked away. “I need a new pair of boots and some other wears. She put the rest of the chocolate into her mouth and waited.

Matty shrugged, “We will leave after I get this bread in the oven.”

Elizabeth smiled and left the kitchen. She made her way to Jason’s study and found him writing out a note. She thought it best not to disturb him. She had discouraged his affections last night and he might not be up for her company now.

She turned to leave but his voice stopped her.

“Will you not come in?” Jason asked.

Elizabeth turned back around. He was not upset like she thought he would be. He did look tired, like he hadn’t slept well- that would make two of them. But aside from that, and the dark bruise under his eye he was still her Jason.

“I did not want to disturb you,” she told him upon entering the room.

“You could never disturb me, Elizabeth. Come here.” He pushed his chair away from the desk and turned his arms out to her.

Elizabeth went into his lap easily. She curled into his embrace and thought of how much she had missed his arms around her the night before. “I hate for us to fight,” she said against his chest.

“As do I.” His voice rumbled against the ear she had resting on his chest. “I will not apologize for wishing you to be safe Elizabeth, but I am very sorry for the way I went about asking for it. I should have never demanded that of you.”

Elizabeth nodded in response. She did not want to dwell on their fight. After the fiasco's of the previous day the only thing she wished to do was get her husband the help he needed. That was why she wanted to travel into town. While Matty was off buying food and goods, Elizabeth planned to stop by Dr. Hampton’s office. At this point he was her only hope.

“I am going to town with Matty today.”

“Really?” Jason asked her as he ran a hand along her braid.

“Yes. I need to get a pair of new boots and a few other things.”

“Sounds good,” he whispered over her head. “You need to get out.”

Elizabeth lifted her head as Jason dipped his. Their lips met and Elizabeth melted into his kiss.

“I want to take you to bed,” he said after pulling away.

Elizabeth was unable to keep her eyes from dropping to his sensually curved mouth.

“How much time do we have,” he asked. Then leaned down to kiss her neck. His hand lifted to cup a breast through her dress.

Elizabeth’s heart raced in her chest as he licked along her collar bone. “Not enough,” she sighed. “When I get back,” she whispered.

Jason moaned in protest but let her go.

Elizabeth got to her feet and straightened her dress, feeling hot and bothered under the heavy material. Jason watched her through hooded eyes as she smoothed her hands over her hair. His stare was heavy and he looked as though he meant to tell her something.

“What is it?” she asked dropping her hands from her hair.

“I love you,” he answered easily.

The genuine rumble of his tone washed over her and Elizabeth realized that it was the first time that Jason had said those words. Though she always felt his love for her, hearing him say it made her feel complete inside.

“I love you, Jason,” her voice was shaky with affection and tears sprang from her eyes. She wiped them away cursing her fickle pregnancy emotions as she did.  

Jason, who had come to her side, smiled down at her. “Are you turning into your mother, Elizabeth Morgan?”

She laughed at him and accepted the kiss he placed on her cheek before leaving the study.

Making her way down to the carriage, Elizabeth made a silent promise. She would find a way to rid Jason of his madness. There was no way that she would let the man she loved go without a fight.

Elizabeth nervously smoothed her dark blue dress over her knees as she took the seat offered to her by Dr. Hampton’s secretary. She thought to remove the bonnet that Matty had talked her into wearing but decided not to, her hair was most likely a mess underneath. Not to mention how scandalous it would be to do so while out in town.

She gripped the small reticule that held what money she had tightly between her shaky, gloved fingers.

She was doing the right thing, she tried to remind herself. The reminder did not help the guilt tensing her insides. Guilt that she was going behind Jason’s back. Sneaking, as he called it. She hated lying to him, but she could not have, very well, come out and told him that she was seeking out a different medical opinion.

No. Jason was convinced that his madness would kill him, stubbornly so. He was also convinced that he was seeing his dead mother. He would never believe even for a second that he was not as crazy as other doctors had told him he was.

The door to the tiny office opened and a tall, silver haired, bespectacled man entered.

Elizabeth stood to greet him with a curtsy but he bowed to her before she could. It still often slipped her mind that her husband was Earl of the town and by marital extension she was Lady.

“Lady Morgan, I am pleased to meet your acquaintance,” he greeted her, lifting from his bow.

“A pleasure to meet you as well, Dr. Hampton.” Elizabeth nodded to the doctor in recognition and then sat, folding her hands neatly in her lap.

Dr. Hampton dropped down in the chair at his desk and shifted through a heavy leather bound book that sat atop it. Elizabeth glanced at the pages as he flipped through. There were images of the human body, with lines and names and descriptions. A medical book, Elizabeth concluded.

Seeming to find what he had been looking for, Dr. Hampton stopped turning the pages and tapped a finger on a description.

“My secretary tells me that you are looking for a second opinion on your husbands illness,” he stated, not looking up from his medical page.

“I am,” Elizabeth answered, leaning forward to catch a glimpse of the page he stopped on. There was an illustration with a line pointing to it. The Human Brain, it read.

Elizabeth did not realize that her head had tilted to the side while trying to get a better look until the doctor cleared his throat. “The pictures are very interesting,” Elizabeth explained.

The doctor smiled genuinely at her from across the desk, his murky brown eyes lifting over his round spectacles. “To better help me understand what I might be diagnosing, I will need for you to tell me a little about his condition.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to give the doctor a few occurrences of Jason’s madness but snapped it shut. Suddenly she felt as though she was not only betraying her husbands trust but her marriage vows as well. She could not tell Jason’s private happenings to a man she did not know, doctor or not. She could not do it.

“I am sorry, Dr. Hampton, for intruding on your time. But I will not be needing any further assistance.” Elizabeth stood.

Dr. Hampton stood as well. “But I have yet to assist you,” he told her, his face drawn in bewilderment. “Did I do something wrong? If so, I apologize profusely, I never intended to do so.”

“You did nothing wrong,” Elizabeth assured him, trying to calm his disconcerted state. “It is just that I do not feel good about meeting privately about my husband. I thought I would get a second opinion, but I no longer feel the need for one.”

Dr. Hampton nodded his grey head. “I understand completely, Lady Morgan.”

Elizabeth turned to the door, but a nagging question would not let her go any further. She pivoted back to Dr. Hampton. “Will you promise me that this visit will remain between the two of us?”

“Oh, of course. I will not tell a soul.”

Elizabeth searched his face as he answered. She found him to be sincere. “Thank you for your time, Dr. Hampton.”

The doctor bowed and Elizabeth left.

On her way out, Elizabeth kept her eyes, averted and her head low as though she were searching for an item in her recticlue. She did not want to be recognized by any person that might be in her husband's employ. Servants often traveled into town from the manor and she knew a few acquaintances of his that had businesses in town. It would not be wise of her to spotted leaving Dr. Hampton’s office.

After putting some distance between herself and the building Elizabeth straightened and gazed into the shop windows. She caught her reflection and sighed. She could not wait to get back to the manor and get out of the confining tight-sleeved dress and silly bonnet. Her gloved fingers itched to pull the silly thing from her head. Elizabeth forced herself to look away and press on. She still needed to purchase a new pair of boots.

When she came to a women’s shoe shop she entered. Searching the shelves for a sturdy pair of boots, she found a pair in brown and black. Not being able to decide between the two colors she decided to get both. It was the first time that she had ever bought two pairs of shoes at once and the feeling of being able to do so was strange, at best.

With her mind on the shoes she wanted, Elizabeth waited for some form of service. There were two women in run of the shop. One tall older woman with blonde hair and slanted eyes, and a younger woman, who appeared to be a few years older than Elizabeth herself, she had the same slanted lids as the older woman. Elizabeth assumed them to be mother and daughter, neither of which were paying her any attention.

“Excuse me,” Elizabeth called out.

The younger woman lifted her head from some reading material and frowned when she looked at Elizabeth. “Someone will be with you,” she said, then looked back down to her book.

Someone would be with her when? When the silly girl decided that her reading material was less important than a paying customer?

Dejected, Elizabeth grabbed one black boot and one brown one from the shelf. With them in hand she crossed to the counter and plopped them down on top. “I need a pair of both boots in a size six... please,” Elizabeth added the last word reluctantly.

The older woman turned around at Elizabeth’s request, she eyed the boots first and then her eyes rose to Elizabeth, her slanted gaze widened as she did so. “Right away, my lady,” she replied eagerly, before rushing to the back of the store.

The younger woman looked up from her book again with a newfound reason. “You are the common girl that married the earl?” she asked, suddenly interested.

What is it to you, you ninny of a toad? Elizabeth had to bite back that snippy remark. “I am,” she said, instead.

The woman gave her a broad smile. “What is it like? Being married to a crazy man?”

Heat bubbled inside of Elizabeth and it took all of her will power to keep from snapping at the woman in front of her.

Jason was the man who people of the town went to when they needed extra money for a bill, or a loan to buy their children’s school clothes. And what of the long hours he worked in his study going through stacks of posts from townspeople? He is the one giving each letter his time and proper attention. How dare she refer to him as crazy? If not for him the town would fall to pieces.

“It is quite lovely,” Elizabeth answered, more politely than she thought necessary.

The woman’s smile dropped. “Really?”

“Really,” Elizabeth answered through clenched teeth.

The older woman bustled from the back with a bag in hand. “Here you are, Lady Morgan.”

Elizabeth took the bag and reached into her reticule to pay.

“No, payment is necessary. The earl takes care of all of his bills at the end of the month.”

Like a tab, Elizabeth thought.  “Thank you,” she said, turning to leave.

Upon exiting the store Elizabeth went in search of Matty. She made her way through the hustling of bodies until she was prohibited from doing so. Someone had taken a grip to her arm. She spun to face that person and to her dismay she found Alan staring down at her. She cringed at his battered face.

It was frightful. The undersides of both eyes were blue and his eyes themselves were ringed red, but his nose was the worst of all. Swollen beyond anything she thought possible; bruised almost black and blue and crooked, with a large bump in the middle where it was once straight. There was a crusting of blood around his off centered nostrils...

When Jason told her that Alan would require the assistance of a doctor he had not been exaggerating.

Elizabeth stared up at him in horror. “Let go of me,” she said low enough for only him to hear.

“I will not,” he answered, staring his unfortunate nose down on her. “Do you see what my brother did to my face?”

“I do,” Elizabeth said calmly, defying her rattled insides. “I also saw what you did to his face.” She tried to yank her arm away but he gripped it tighter.

“He treated me this way because of you. Jason thinks that you are a better choice for running the estate.” Alan let out a short humorless laugh. “You- a commoner- over me, his own brother.”

Elizabeth looked to the people around her, a few of which had taken cautious notice to what was taking place between her and Alan. She thought to scream but she would wait to see if she could fend him off herself before she went to such extremes.

“Alan, I-”

“The title of earl was rightfully mine!” He spat, cutting her off. “By birthright. But my little brother took it upon himself to overrule my authority and step into my place at my fathers death.”

“That is not possible,” Elizabeth countered.

“Oh, but it is,” Alan droned miserably. “Ask him yourself.”

“Let my arm loose, Alan,” Elizabeth demanded.

A snarl curled his merciless lips and Elizabeth opened her mouth to scream but before she could get the sound out, a separate scream rang out.

“Let go of her!” A woman cried out from behind her. Elizabeth turned to see Matty, arms full of goods, rushing towards them. “You let go of her I said!”

Alan’s grip eased but he did not let her go completely. Matty caught up to them and her eyes widened at Alan’s wretched face.

Elizabeth tried again to remove her arm from his hold but he was unrelenting. Elizabeth had to wonder if the madness that plagued her husband also plagued his brother.

Matty stepped closer. Elizabeth watched as the woman put a small hand on Alan’s arm. “Alan, let the lady free,” she pleaded with him. “She is with child, not to mention the scene you are causing. This is turning into a spectacle.”

Alan appeared to snap out of wherever he had gone. “With child?” He looked over her appearance. Something murderous flashed in his dark eyes and he snatched his hand away.

“Let us go, my lady.” Matty shuffled Elizabeth away to the carriage.

Elizabeth peeked over her shoulder before she stepped into the carriage. Alan had already moved away and was making his way into a building. Elizabeth immediately recognized the building as the office of Dr. Hampton. She knew that Alan must be going to the doctor to get his nose fixed. Still, she could not help but wonder if the promise that Dr. Hampton had given her about confidentiality would be kept.

Chapters 11- 20

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