Regency Romance: The Rake's Fake Marriage (Historical Arranged Marriage Romance) (19th Century Victorian Romance) (6 page)

“They live close
by,
” Tyler said. “But she keeps some of her clothes here for when she comes to help out. She knows she’s going to get dirty, so she likes to have something here to change into.”

“That is wonderful!” Elizabeth was excited to get out of her fancy gown. “Where are her clothes?”

“I’ll show you.” He began to run up the
steps,
and she followed quickly behind him, lifting her long skirt so that she could keep up.

Chapter Three

The first week of her new life was the hardest she thought she had ever spent. She had arrived on a Saturday, spent Sunday with Tyler at the small church in town and had met her sister-in-law, Barbara, Barbara’s husband, Jerry and their infant son, Kyle. Tyler had taken her shopping at the general store and purchased her several dresses and underclothing, as well as two pairs of pants. The thought of wearing pants scared Elizabeth. They represented hard work that she was not
used to
.

And a style she
definitely
was not used to
.

The Monday that followed the Sunday’s rest began what she considered her week of torture. Her muscles hurt so much that first night and all through the next day, she wanted
to just cry
all the time. Tyler had gotten her up at the break of day and made her breakfast. She knew that he would be expecting her to do that from now on and was only being nice. Then he’d taken her out to the garden, where Elizabeth thought she would be tending to the produce he had planted. But instead, he had her help him repair the garden gate.

She’d discovered she wasn’t nearly as strong as
she
thought
she
was, she had zero coordination, moved much slower than
he
did and was
generally
annoyed by the whole “work” thing. Splinters went into her fingers, she broke out in
a sweat
from the effort (the
first time ever
for her) and ruined the new clothes he had bought for her right away, slipping in a muddy spot near the gate.

She complained throughout the day and threw herself into bed that Monday night in complete misery.

Tyler hadn’t said one negative word to her. She had noticed that by the time Barbara came by on Wednesday with the baby to see how the two of them were getting along. She bounced 6-month-old Kyle in her arms as she talked to Elizabeth, who was taking a break at mid-day to eat and drink some cold water.

“You look exhausted already, Elizabeth. I know it’s hard work. Before I had Kyle to care for, I was out here helping him all the time. I assume you
aren’t used
to working on a farm?”

Elizabeth shook her head, setting a cloth soaked in water on her head. “No. I came from a wealthy family. We…did
n’t
work like this.”

“Oh you had someone else doing that for you, did you?” Barbara asked. When Elizabeth looked at her through narrowed eyes, she raised her eyebrows. “I mean no offense, Elizabeth. I just know that wealthy people often have gardeners and housekeepers and such.”

Elizabeth closed her eyes and laid her head back to rest her neck. “Yes. We had a gardener and
a housekeeper
. We had a buggy driver and a groundskeeper. We lived in a large house.”

Barbara nodded. “It is a shame you weren’t able to keep that lifestyle.”

“I was very used to it.”

“I know that Tyler is anxious for you to be comfortable here. I think he likes you very much.”

“He is very nice.”

Barbara smiled at her. “Do you like him?”

Elizabeth paused before answering, thinking about Tyler. She did like him. He was
very strong
and handsome. He was never cross with her and always tried to help her with everything they had to do. He had made dinner for her both Monday and Tuesday. She had made his breakfast Tuesday and that morning. They ate sandwiches for lunch, preparing each their own.

“He compliments you?” Barbara asked. Elizabeth looked at her.

“What do you mean?”

“Does he tell you that you’re pretty?”

Elizabeth blushed. “He has said that, yes.”

“And what do you say?”

“I say thank you.”

“Do you compliment him back?”

Elizabeth’s blush deepened. She shook her head slightly.

“Oh, Elizabeth. You are going to stay and marry him, aren’t you? I know he wants you to. You should compliment him. There must be things you like about him.”

“There is. I do.”

“Then
tell
him. You are planning to stay?”

Elizabeth sighed. She had nowhere to go. She
wasn’t prepared
for the kind of work Tyler expected her to do. “I have to stay. I don’t have anywhere to go.” She said bluntly. When Barbara didn’t respond, she looked up at her. The woman had lost her smile and looked sad.

“You are only staying because you have nowhere to go?”

“That’s not the
only
reason.” Elizabeth was quick to say, ashamed that she had been rude. “I
do
like Tyler. I will tell him…compliment him. I will.”

Barbara sighed and smiled at her. “That’s wonderful, Elizabeth. You are a beautiful and
nice
person. I’m glad you came to be with Tyler. He was very lonely.”

Elizabeth knew the feeling. She felt alone most of the time,
at least,
she had until just this week.

“He’s a good man, isn’t he?” She said in a soft voice, watching as he approached on his horse.

Barbara smiled, pleased with the look she saw on Elizabeth’s face when she looked at Tyler. “Yes, honey, he certainly is.”

The next week, Elizabeth woke to the sound of knocking and movement outside her door. She wondered what time it was. The moon was still shining in the sky, casting some light into her room through the window. She was immediately awake and sitting up in her bed, fumbling on the nightstand for matches to light the candle so she could see. Once it
was lit
, she slid out of bed and moved quickly to the door. She could hear Tyler’s voice. He was
upset,
but his voice was
low
and anxious. She pulled open the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Tyler and Jake were moving about in the den. The door was
ajar,
and she pushed it open to see what they were doing. Tyler looked up at her as he pulled on one of his boots.

“I’m sorry to wake you up, Elizabeth. Something’s happened to Barbara and Jerry. I have to
go see
what’s going on.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

He didn’t respond right away. He did want her to go with him, just because he wanted her company. But he didn’t
want
to put undue pressure on her, either. He thought quickly and said, “I would love to have you there for support, Beth, but if you don’t…”

“Give me a minute to get dressed.” She interrupted him and turned to move quickly back to her room. She pulled on a pair of the pants he had bought her. She wore a thin fabric shirt under a large, warm shirt so that when it heated up outside, she would be able to take the top one off. She was surprised by how much she enjoyed wearing
a completely different style
of clothing. Last year, she would never have even considered putting on a pair of men’s pants (though hers
were made
for women) and such a casual shirt.

She was back out of the room in a short five minutes. Tyler was waiting for her in the hallway and held out his hand to her.

“Jake went to saddle the horses.”

“Do you know what’s happened? Any details?”

Tyler’s face was pinched with emotion, his jaw set. “Jake said it looked like they
were ambushed
on their way back from dinner.”

Elizabeth
was covered
in chills. “Ambushed? By bandits? Robbers? Are they all right?”

Tyler shook his head and pulled her gently as they went out the door. “No. I don’t think they are
all right
.”

Elizabeth swallowed instant tears. She could see Barbara’s face in her mind and hear her voice from just
the day
before.

“What about the baby?”

Tyler shook his head again. “I don’t know, Beth. We can only pray for the best.”

Elizabeth did just that as she rode quickly behind Tyler and Jake. It was a clear
night; she
was thankful for that. She had dozens of questions rolling through her mind. How had this happened? When had it happened? Why had it happened?

They reached the scene surprisingly quickly. It had happened just a few miles from the Creek farm. There were a dozen men there, trampling all over the grounds. Elizabeth wondered what they were doing. They reached the
crowd,
and both slid from the saddles, taking off at a run as soon as their feet hit the ground. Several of the men saw Tyler coming and intercepted him halfway. They were holding their hands up as if to prevent him from being able to see what was behind them.

“Tyler! Tyler, hold on! Hold on!” They called his
name,
and he slid to a stop in front of the nearest one.

“What’s happening, Ben?” He said in a frantic tone.

“It is Barbara and Jerry, Tyler. They are over there. It’s not pretty, so brace yourself. They’ve
been murdered
, Ty. Both of them.”

“Where’s Kyle?”

“We can’t find him.”

Elizabeth felt a jolt of panic and her hands flew to her mouth. She ran to Tyler and grabbed his arm as if to draw strength from him. “
Oh,
Ty!” She buried her face in his arm, squeezing him. He lifted his other hand and hugged her with it, without taking his eyes from the man in front of him.

“Show me what happened here, Ben.”

Tyler broke away from Elizabeth gently and followed Ben and the other men to where most of the mess
was
. There were broken pieces
from
the carriage all
around,
and two bodies could be seen lying on the ground near the turned-over vehicle.

Elizabeth stood behind and
watching
him crouch next to the body of his sister and brother in law, lowering his head to his hands. He made the sign of the cross over his chest and closed his eyes. She went to him and knelt next to him, doing the same. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pushed her face into his neck.

“I’m so sorry, Ty.”
She murmured, tears forming in her eyes. Barbara and Jerry had suffered a lot of trauma before their
deaths,
and she couldn’t bear to let herself look at them. Her heart panicked for the baby.

As if he heard her thoughts, Tyler patted her hand and said in a low voice, “We have to find Kyle. Surely the bandits wouldn’t take a baby. He must be around here somewhere.”

“There’s nothing to suggest he’s around here, Ty.” Said one of the men in the crowd. “We’ve been
searching,
and we haven’t seen him.”

Tyler was quiet for a moment. He stood up and pulled Elizabeth up with him. He looked at her. “I think we should search some more. What do you
think
, Beth?”

She was surprised that he was asking her. She opened her eyes wide and after a moment, replied, “There can be no harm in at least looking more.”

He nodded, a look of satisfaction on his face. “Yes. She’s right. Let’s keep looking.”

“It’s dark out here, Tyler. We don’t have enough lamps to do this right.”

“We have to use what we’ve got. I’ve got extra
lamps
out at the farm. Jake, Teddy, you two fellows ride back to the farm and get them from the barn, would you?” The two men nodded and left without hesitating. “We’ll stay here and use what we’ve got to look. Beth, come with me.”

Tyler and Elizabeth shared a lantern and moved further down the road and off into the woods slightly, walking slowly and crouching to see closer to the ground. They moved bushes out of the way and gazed into possibly dangerous holes in the ground.

“He can’t walk.” Elizabeth murmured. “If we find him out here, it was because he was left to die.”

“I know.” Tyler sounded angry. He held his hand out to
Elizabeth,
and she took it. “Do you think we’ll find him?”

Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. She hoped and prayed they would. But she thought the chances were slim.

Chapter Four

They crept along slowly, keeping their ears open for any sound. The only thing Elizabeth could think about was some
kind of
animal getting to the baby before they
did
if he was even out there. She peered into the darkness, trying to get a sense of where he might be.

Finally, they heard a
call,
and both took off running toward the man. He was on the other side of the carriage, down the road just a bit. He waved his arms in the air, one hand holding the swinging lantern, so they would see where he was.

When the crowd gathered around
him,
and Tyler pushed through, they could see that he was standing next to a bundled up blanket on the ground. He held the lantern close to it so that Tyler and Elizabeth could see the baby. His eyes were closed, prompting Elizabeth to run to him and kneel down, putting her hands
around
his tiny face. “He’s still warm!” She said. “He’s breathing!”

She picked him up and turned around to give him to Tyler but her fiancé had his hands up and was shaking his head. “You hold on to
him,
” he said. “He needs a woman, a mother to hold him, not these hard, dirty hands.”

Elizabeth looked down at the tiny boy. His eyes were slightly open
now,
but he was quiet and making small sucking motions with his lips. Fear slid through her. What if his care fell to her now? She knew of no one else who would be able to do
it,
unless Tyler’s parents were alive and well enough to take him in. She thought about all the farm work she did, how
she
was up from the crack of dawn until the sun slid behind the distant mountains and how tired she was all the time.

She was dismayed by her selfish
thoughts,
but it didn’t stop her from thinking them. A baby was
a huge
responsibility and one that you took on for life. She was only months away from
being
the baby. And now she might have one to take
care of
. It was unthinkable.

She
tried
to hide her feelings from her face so that Tyler wouldn’t see them. She didn’t know if he would understand what he
was seeing
anyway
.
She
nodded at him and moved
through the men
to get to the wrecked carriage. She pulled in a deep breath and said, “All right, let’s see how much of the baby’s things we can find. He has to have bottles around here and more blankets and maybe some clothes and diaper
cloths
. Help me find them.”

The men scattered all around, picking through the mess. After a short time, two men with
separate
wagons pulled off near them and enlisted help to take Barbara and Jerry to the morgue. Elizabeth was still holding Kyle in her arms and watched as the men gathered together a small pile of baby items. She looked
for
Tyler and saw him talking to three of the men who had met them
on
the scene.

She watched them for a moment, wondering what was
being said
. The look on Tyler’s face was
thoughtful,
and he seemed to be staring out in front of him, listening
closely
. One of the other men was gesturing harshly. His face indicated that he was
angry,
and his words were
being spoken
in a blunt and forceful manner. He was looking directly at
Tyler,
though Tyler wasn’t looking at him. The other men in the small group were nodding vigorously.

Tyler placed his hands on his hips and for the first time, Elizabeth noticed he was wearing a sidearm. Her eyes darted back up to his
face,
and she realized what they were
talking about
. He was making plans to go after the hijackers and get revenge for the murder of his sister. They were forming a posse.

Chills spread
over
her like a wildfire. She understood why he wanted to go after them. His sister had not deserved such a brutal and torturous ending. But he had more than just his
own
life to think about now. What would she do if something happened to him? She would be alone. They would probably take Kyle and put him in an orphanage. She wasn’t married to Tyler yet, so she would be without a home once again, out in the dust alone completely.

She fought back tears. Did she dare to go over to them and listen to their conversation? Should she get involved, let her feelings
be known
to him?

She hadn’t shied off before. She couldn’t see herself doing it now. She crossed
over the grass
to reach
them,
but before she got there, she saw the man who had been speaking look at her and stop talking. He stood up straight and took his hat from his head as she approached.

“Miss Elizabeth.” He greeted her. Tyler glanced up at her. He had one arm
over
his chest and the other
hand
cupping his chin and rubbing his mustache as he thought. He looked down at the baby in her arms and turned to her.

“Do you have enough of Kyle’s things to get you through the night, Beth?” He asked.

She was caught off guard by the
question, her
only thoughts focused on what he was about to do. “I…Probably yes. But Ty…”

“Good.” He interrupted her. She closed her mouth and pulled back a little, blinking. He wasn’t going to listen to her. “Take him home. I’ll be there
in
a little while.”

“Tyler…”

“Please, Beth.” The men he’d been talking to turned and walked away from them. Tyler lifted his hands and placed them on her shoulders, where they weighed down like a heavy burden. She looked into his eyes and knew she didn’t want
to ever be
away from him. “Please, I know you are smart enough to know what is going to happen now.”

“Yes, I…”

He shook his head and placed one finger over her lips, silencing her. “I’m going to get these monsters, Beth. I hope you will understand.”

“I do but I…”

Again, he cut her off by placing a firm kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, she had lost her breath and could only stare at him. “I’ll be
back,
” he whispered. “Take Kyle home now.”

He turned away from her and jogged to the wagon where his sister’s body had
been laid
. He pulled himself up into the back with her and said something to the driver, who pulled the horses out onto the road. Tyler waved at her as he left. She lifted one hand and waved back.

She’d only wanted to tell him she loved him. He hadn’t
given her the chance
.

Jake had accompanied her and Kyle back to the house. Teddy had taken Tyler’s horse and followed the wagons into town. When she got to the house safely, Jake left her there and went
to town
himself.

She watched his horse fading into the darkness and didn’t know what to do. She slid from the saddle and grabbed the folded up cloth she had tied to her saddle horn. It contained all of the baby’s things that they could find. In all the time she had been with him, Kyle had never made a sound.

She looked down at his face, half covered by the makeshift sling she had made out of a soft blanket. He was resting comfortably, his eyes closed and his hands folded under his tiny chin.

“Let’s hope your uncle comes home soon and in one piece.” She murmured. “I don’t know what I will do if I don’t get to marry that man and spend my life with him.”

Her feelings were mixed up inside her. Life was going to be so hard. How would she have happiness and comfort living on a farm that needed a great deal of repairs and a
baby
that wasn’t hers and a husband who didn’t care if he lived or died? Her muscles had grown
strong
in the short time she had been on the farm. She had stopped complaining after the first few days, after her conversation with Barbara, in fact. Once she started to put in the effort, she’d realized
she
really
did want to be on the
farm; she
really
did want a
family,
and she
definitely
wanted to marry Tyler.

Instead of going inside, she sat
on
a wicker rocking chair Tyler had placed on the front porch specifically for her, so she could enjoy the sunrises and sunsets from a comfortable vantage point. She untied the sling and held the little boy in her arms.
She
rested him on her knees after a few moments, swinging her legs back and forth and
cooing
at him.

She was still sitting there when the sun rose up the next
morning,
and she marveled at the beautiful colors. Surprised she wasn’t tired, she pondered going inside to make coffee. The baby had slept through but was now making sounds like he was hungry. She would have to make him something to eat. She dug through the bag until she found a baby bottle and a small jar of food with a baby’s face displayed on the front.

She stood up and was about to go inside when she saw a cloud of dust in the distance. She stopped and stared.
The dust cloud grew larger, and she turned back to watch the men approaching.
She gripped the baby to her tightly as she saw that there were three
horses,
but Tyler’s was empty. He was doubled up with Jake. Tyler was behind Jake with one arm over his shoulders and his head rested against his back.

Elizabeth heard a small squeak and realized it was coming from her. Instant tears rose to her eyes. She covered her mouth with one hand.

“Tyler. Tyler, you
man
, how could you go and get yourself
killed
,
oh, oh
!” Elizabeth moaned. She turned and went inside the house, the porch door slamming behind her as she ran to the den. They had a bassinet there for visits. She carefully laid the baby down, turned and ran back out to the porch to meet the men. She realized there
was
a horse and buggy also following the men on horseback. It was the doctor from town.

Exhilarated that Tyler wasn’t dead, Elizabeth ran to Jake’s horse and helped Tyler get down from it. She held on to him, avoiding the large blood spot that had soaked his shirt below his right shoulder. He was holding his right arm to his side and looked at her
through
pained eyes.

“It’s…okay, Beth. I’m
gonna
…live. You…might regret that someday.”

She
giggled
though tears were streaming down her face. “That’s so silly, Ty. I will never feel that way. I am so glad you’re going to be okay. I was so worried about you.”

“I’m sorry I worried
you,
” He said. She helped him hobble toward the porch steps, Jake on his other side. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“It’s okay, Ty. Don’t worry about it. I
’m fine
. You’re…going to be fine.”

“Where’s Kyle?”

“He’s in the bassinet.”

“Good. He’s okay?”

“Yes.
He’s fine
.”

They had crossed the threshold and moved into the den, where a long couch provided a needed bed for Tyler. They lowered him to it. Elizabeth knelt next to him, propping his head up with several cushions. Tyler took her hand in his.

“Beth, I won’t scare you like that again. I hope that you will stay with me and marry me.”

Beth kissed his hand. “I don’t want to let you go, Ty. I’m not going anywhere. I love you, you see. And I want to be your wife.”

Tyler’s face lit
up,
and he smiled. He tried to give her a hug but grimaced and fell back against the cushions. She shushed him.

“Don’t try to get up, Ty. The doctor’s going to take care of you.”

“I love you, too, Beth. I need you to know that.” He said.

She leaned over to whisper in his ear, “I know it.”

She gave him a soft kiss on his lips before moving away so the doctor could tend to his wound.

*****

THE END