anything at all. Perhaps I would have liked to open my mouth a bit.'
'I never wish to begin something that I would be unable to finish.'
'I suppose you're talking about lovemaking.' He didn't smile at her, just untied the bow beneath her jaw and pulled off her stylish bonnet. He laid it carefully on the opposite seat. 'You have lovely hair, Meggie.'
'Thank you. So do you, Thomas, all dark as ancient sins, nearly as black as your eyes. At least they look black in this dim light. You and I are very different, Thomas, and I like it very much. I will thank God every day for fashioning you just as you are. Now, will you please tell me where we are going on our wedding trip?'
'No, not yet. You will see. All right, a small bit of a hint. I am taking you to one of my homes.'
She was nearly speechless with excitement. 'We are sailing to Italy?'
'No. Not this time. You will see. Don't fret. It will be dark soon. We will spend the night in Exeter.'
'We are traveling west.'
'Yes.'
She poked him very gently in his belly. He obligingly grunted for her. 'I am your wife, sir. It isn't healthy for you to keep secrets from me.'
He said nothing to that, and she leaned back as he pulled up the window against the chill evening air. 'Are we going to Cornwall?'
'Yes, but it is not our final destination.'
'I saw you speaking to Uncle Ryder. Do you approve of him now?'
'I believe him an estimable man. I have also determined that it is wrong to listen to gossip, to lap it up as fast as a racing kitten with a bowl of milk.'
'That was well said.' Meggie took one of his hands between hers. 'You are my husband now, Thomas. Isn't that amazing?'
'I wanted you,' he said simply. 'And now you are mine.'
'You make that sound like I was a prize that you somehow managed to win.'
'Yes. I would say that a wife is a prize.'
'Bosh. You also make it sound like I'm now some sort of possession. I don't know if I like the sound of that.'
'You are chattel, though the word doesn't bring particularly pleasant things to mind. Chattel is owned and so is a wife.'
She laughed, full rich, that laugh of hers, and he felt the tug of it. 'That sounds just a bit like something Jeremy-the Jeremy who was the obnoxious superior one-would say. I pray you, Thomas, never treat me like I have a hollow room between my ears.'
He gave her a look that, she thought, was far too serious and said slowly, 'I've never believed that.'
'Good. I'm sorry that William was unable to come. I promised myself that I would try to be polite to him even though I would have probably smacked him in the head.'
'I asked him not to come. It would have been awkward, particularly with the Winters family there. I did not wish to have today marred.'
'I am glad my father told them the truth.'
'I suppose it had to be done, else Mr. Winters might have shot me during our wedding.'
'Mr. Winters is a very fine shot.'
'Then your father saved my life.'
Meggie laughed. 'Will I meet William soon? You know, since your mother and father didn't live together, how was William conceived? He is five years younger than you?'
'Just four years. He is twenty-one. When he was born his father sent him and his mother away as well.'
'It is a dreadful thing, Thomas. I am so very sorry.'
He shrugged, said nothing.
'Will William be coming to the one of your houses where we're going?'
'We will see,' Thomas said, folded his arms over his chest, and smiled at her. 'You look quite beautiful, Meggie. I remarked upon it when you walked down the aisle toward me, when I was not remarking upon Rory, that is.'
She laughed. 'As for Rory, isn't he a little scamp?'
'Yes, he is. I'm very glad he survived that fever.'
'I cannot imagine what it would have been like if he had not. But enough of that. Rory is well and speaking Latin again. Now, you are the beautiful one, Thomas. I am ordinary compared to you.'
That made him laugh. He lightly ran his fingertip along her jaw. 'A man is nothing more than a solid creature, Meggie, whose size allows him both to build and to bash heads together.'
'And to laugh and to eat peeled grapes like the Romans did.'
'At least to laugh. I haven't seen many grapes where we're going.'
'That reminds me. I'm very hungry. Mrs. Priddle packed us a basket. Should you like a bit of champagne? Some of our wedding cake? Or scones that she made for my uncle Colin? He's the Scottish earl, you remember.'
'Yes, some champagne would be just the thing.' He raised a dark brow. 'Should I drink some out of your slipper now?'
'No,' she said, looking at him straight in his eyes. 'I would like you to sip it out of my mouth.'
Thomas refused to open the champagne.
Thomas had booked them the very best room in The Tipsy Nun's Inn, a corner room with a lovely view of the English Channel. It was long dark when they finally arrived, but there was a full moon, and it shone down on the Channel water, making it glisten like the brilliant sapphire on Meggie's third finger. The town was spread out behind them, silent and still.
'So beautiful,' Meggie said over her shoulder as she pulled back the lace curtain to peer out over the still water. Gentle waves curled onto the sand, then sprawled out like a coquette's fan.
'Yes,' Thomas said.
She turned then, for he was still standing by the closed door, his arms crossed over his chest, just looking at her.
'Mary Rose asked me if I had any questions about marital sorts of things.'
If he felt any surprise, he didn't show it, merely remarked, 'Did she tell you what you wished to know?'
'Oh no. I told her that since you kissed very well, I imagined that you would do the rest of it quite adequately. I did ask her about this tongue business. After much skidding around the question, she finally admitted that it was the done thing.'
'Since she is your mother, I can well imagine that speaking of such intimate things would make her uncomfortable.'
'Do you know that she and my father are always touching and kissing, particularly when they don't think any of
'It is much too soon to think about those sorts of things, Meggie.' He paused a moment, then said, his voice very deliberate, 'You are mine now. No matter what happens, you are completely and irrevocably mine.'
She cocked her head at him. 'You have said that several times now, Thomas.' Perhaps she shouldn't have, but Meggie was never one to falter. She took one of his big hands between hers. 'Listen to me. I am your wife. I am not like your father. I will not leave you. Since I am not a rug to be tread upon, I'm sure we will have fights and enough shouting to bring the roof down. If you haven't noticed, we are both stubborn and have our own ideas about things, but no matter how much we yell at each other, or how loudly, I won't go haring off in a snit, ever. Goodness, even my papa the vicar and Mary Rose occasionally yell at each other, but that's nothing, Thomas, nothing at all. We will be together and hopefully life will dish us up more laughter than tears.'
He said, his voice cold, withdrawn, 'That was very eloquent.'
She said slowly, 'Was it?'
'And naive.'
'It is true in my family.'
He merely shrugged, and kept his back against the door, his arms crossed over his chest. He said, 'My father and mother-they are none of your concern. I do not need assurances from you to calm my disordered brain. You
