To Picture The Past (5 page)

"Robert! Stop!" Nellie rushed forward to grab his hand and stop him. "Poor Gillian has been through so much already!"

"Help her find something suitable to wear to be married in, Nellie. I'm not about to have those two fortune hunters come back here and cart Gillian away."

"I can't permit you to marry me!" I couldn't stop crying.

"You cannot stop me, and if you try, I will paddle you in front of the Judge. Now go along with Nellie, and Nellie, see if you can repair her face so she doesn't appear she has been forced to speak her vows. The Judge knows me well, but I don't want to put him in a tight spot."

"Come with me, Gillian. There is no reasoning with Robert when he sets his mind on something."

"Nellie, I don't need any of your sass, either."

"You are not always right, Robert, and it is high time you realize that. If Gillian does not agree to marry you I will not stand by and see her forced into it."

Robert moved in her direction and I quickly slipped in the middle, preventing him from reaching for her. "Stop this at once! If you are so set on marriage to me, then I will marry you, Robert. Just realize that this whole thing is your idea and if it doesn't end well, you have no one to blame but yourself." I gave Nellie a little push and followed her from the parlor. Robert was right about one thing… I would rather find myself married to him than to that weasel who came here looking for any woman that he could pretend was his. Robert was right; the man was the type to force himself on me over and over until he had money in his hands, and then he would see me dead, or left behind to fend for myself. It wasn't a good option, and at least I knew I would be safe here with Robert. However, I didn't want a loveless marriage. Why would God send me all the way back in time to be miserable? It didn't seem fair.

"My brother doesn't realize just how bossy he is," Nellie exclaimed, her temper showing. "No matter what he says, he won't force you, Gillian."

"I know that, Nellie," I reassured her the best I could. "Robert is afraid for me because he knows that man and woman will be back and bring the law with them. I have no proof of who I say I am, and since I had that horrible head injury, they can claim that I don't know who I am. We both know that isn't so, but if the law made me go with those two… Well, it doesn't bear thinking about. I'd rather marry Robert, even though I don't think this is a bit fair to him."

"Robert wouldn't offer if he wasn't sure of himself," she shocked me by stating. "I think he is fascinated by you, Gillian. You do not wish to marry him simply because he is very wealthy, like most of the other girls around here. In fact, he is probably quite stung because you told him 'no' when he asked the first time."

"I would think that marrying for money a good way to be bored and unhappy for the rest of your life," I commented. 

Nellie giggled. "Tell that to Connie Eastwood and to Wilma Nixon! Why, they will hate you on sight… mostly because you are so beautiful, but also because my brother wouldn't give either of them a second glance in spite of their attempts to land him for their own ."

"Your brother is a good man, and he really does wish to help me, but I worry that he will meet someone else someday and then wish he was free to offer marriage."

"I don't think that will happen. Robert has been all over this country and all over Europe. He looks at you with a certain light in his eyes that is missing when he looks at others. He will be a good husband to you, Gillian, I promise."

"I do not doubt you, but…"

"… You would rather have the romantic proposal in the moonlit garden with Robert on bent knee offering his undying love…?"

"Is it so wrong to desire love?"

* * *

When I glanced in the mirror some time later I was most surprised by my appearance. I looked truly happy… and pretty! Still, I did not want Robert to have second thoughts; that would hurt me, too. But, when he sent for us and stated that Judge Hendricks was waiting, I went down to the parlor, repeated the words that would make me Robert's legal wife, and I signed the document that was our wedding certificate. Robert placed a pretty ring on my finger during the ceremony and I recognized it from my sister's photo.

Judge Hendricks stayed and celebrated with us and since David had returned from his trip to Chicago, it was a rather festive gathering. I enjoyed David's company and could see that he was as enamored of Nellie as she was of him. We were settling in the parlor with our coffee when there was a loud pounding on the front door. Ursula answered, and it was exactly the people we were expecting.

"I hope this matter is important, Sheriff?" Judge Hendricks asked. "We are celebrating Robert and Gillian's wedding."

"What?" Miss Griffin screeched, looking at me angrily.

"Give it a rest, lady. You know that you are not related to me, and neither is he. We proved that earlier when you didn't even know who I was when I was in the same room with you."

"Judge, these people claim that Mr. Stanhope is keeping their relative from them." The Sheriff didn't appear to have much of a sense of humor.

"Are you related to them in any way, Mrs. Stanhope?" the good Judge asked. "No, your honor."

"That is a lie! You are my wife, Shirley! We've been married for three years now." 

The man's gray eyes were full of rage. It was the same look I'd seen in the eyes of the man who attacked me years before, and in the eyes of my student… the one that Jason warned me about. I gathered my courage and looked at him. "I am married to Robert, and you, sir, are a liar."

"It is that head injury that is making you talk all crazy!" he accused, his hands balled into fists at his side.

Another knock at the door, and Ursula announced the Doctor. "I didn't know you would have guests, Robert. I was out this way and thought I should check on Miss Gillian."

"I am doing well, Doctor," I announced. "You are just in time. This man claims I was married to him, and that my injury keeps me from knowing who he is. Have I, even once, acted one bit confused about who I am?" I demanded.

"No, you have not, Miss Gillian," he said, his eyes full of good humor. "You introduced yourself as Gill Mason, and I told you that you were far too pretty to use a man's name." "You are a sweet man, Doctor. Thank you," I smiled at him, thinking he could have played the part of Doc on Gunsmoke. "And, you are in time to celebrate with us. Robert and I were married a short while ago," I announced.

"You can't marry him when you are already my wife!" "I am not, nor have I ever been, your wife." I wanted to smack the man.

Doctor Strand looked at the man, his stare hard and assessing. "You say that you were married to this young woman?"

"Yes!" the aggravating man answered immediately. "For over three years! This here is Shirley's sister, and she can swear to it!" He gave Robert a gloating look and I was shocked by the look of anger in Robert's dark eyes.

"I see. Well, excuse me, ladies, for the indelicacy of this question, but do you have an injury, young man?"

"An injury?"

"Yes; to your manhood?" Doctor Strand was blunt and my sister-in-law gasped in shocked embarrassment.

"Well, of course not!" The cocky little man wasn't about to admit to any such thing, and I knew where Doc was going with the conversation, and I was smiling… in spite of my own embarrassment.

"Then you weren't married to this girl, mister. She's a virgin. When Robert and Nellie called on me to treat her injury I had to make sure she wasn't assaulted, and she is as innocent as can be. There is no way this girl was married before today."

"You fool!" Miss Griffin declared angrily. She picked up her skirts and headed for the door.

"Just a minute. If this lady ain't Shirley Smith, then suppose you tell me just where she is?" the sheriff demanded.

"My guess is that these two talked her into moving west and then disposed of her on the way here. If you check with the wagon train they're registered with I'm sure you'll discover that these two are signed on as Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The only reason they are looking for someone to play the part of Shirley is to claim an inheritance that was left to her by her father."

"Shirley always did ruin everything. Conner was interested in me until he saw her!" the bitter woman remarked. "Her Pa was supposed to be dead, and now that she's gone, he turns up, wealthy as can be. It just ain't fair."

"Neither is trying to use another human being to commit fraud," I stated. 

"Sheriff, please get them out of this house. We are celebrating our wedding," Robert said, draping his arm around my shoulders and giving me a squeeze.

"Congratulations, Mr. Standhope. There sure are gonna be a lot of sad ladies around these parts," he teased on his way out the doors.

"I think I am ready for some wedding cake," I said with a smile, more thankful than Robert would ever know for his protection. Now, if only he could learn to love me some day.

Chapter Five

I continued to use the guest room for the next several months. Robert and I did not argue often, and when we did, he had a sure-fire way of settling things in a way that left me reluctant to sit down to eat my meals. I hated the fact that Robert felt he had the right to spank me, but it was better than fighting and being angry with each other for days on end like the wives of some of my husband's friends. Helene Lambert caught me rubbing my posterior one day, and teased me about the cause. I found her crying a few minutes later and she told me she was jealous of me. She said the only reason a man spanked his wife was because he loved her, and she wished that her Matthew would take his hand to her… at least once. I gave her a hug, but her words stayed with me.

It was approaching my birthday, and while I'd mentioned the date to Nellie right after I married Robert, I saw no reason to bring it up again. I missed Gail, Jason, and the two kids so much, and I knew that Robert couldn't give me what I wanted most, some way to let them know I was fine. The desk in the picture that Gail took was nowhere to be found in the beautiful home, and I knew of no way to communicate.

My birthday arrived, and I knew I wasn't fit company for anyone. I went to the barn and was pleased that it was so early that none of the hands were around. I quickly saddled my horse, mounted by myself and took off, completely ignoring Robert's rule about riding alone. Being alone was exactly what I wanted. It wasn't what I got, however. My mind was on my family, and I was feeling sorry for myself. I wasn't paying a bit of attention to what was happening around me, and the next thing I knew three men surrounded me, asking me what I was doing out there all alone.

* * *

"Have you seen Gillian this morning?" Robert asked of his sister when she hurried into the dining room for breakfast. "No. I was going to ask her to go riding with me, but she isn't upstairs. I waited around for her for a while, and then decided I was starving!" Nellie grinned. "Maybe she asked one of the men to go riding?"

"Perhaps. I'll go and check with them. I want to make today special for Gillian," he said, smiling.

"If you intend to do that, then best you tell her you love her."

"Well, of course I love her!" Robert stated, giving his little sister an exasperated look.

"She doesn't know that you do," Nellie informed him.

"How could she not know?"

"Maybe because you haven't told her yet!" She sighed. "Robert, a woman needs the words. I've seen the way Gillian looks at you. She thinks the sun rises and sets in you, and she keeps waiting and hoping for some kind of acknowledgement."

"I married her. I gave her Mother's wedding ring."

"She doesn't know that it was Mother's wedding ring. You haven't told her that, either."

Robert got to his feet and headed for the doorway before turning to face his giggling sister, "I hope that David sets your bottom on fire every day and twice on Sundays, brat!"

"He won't have to; he has already told me that he loves me. He is just waiting for you to decide I am old enough to get married."

"Not one day before you are twenty," he stated firmly. "That is almost two more years!" she wailed, and this time it was his turn to smile.

He headed for the barn, and talked to two of the hands, asking if they'd seen Mrs. Gillian. One of the men looked at the other, shifted from foot to foot, and then blurted, "I saw Mrs. Stanhope ride out real early, Boss."

"Who was she with?" Robert asked.

"She wasn't with no one, Boss. I thought it was strange, but then I thought maybe you rode on ahead and was waiting for her up yonder."

"Which way did she go?" Robert asked, mounting in one graceful, fluid movement. When he found his errant little redhead, he was going to give her a birthday spanking to remember for the rest of her life. Shorty pointed him in the right direction and Robert took off at a fast pace, anxious to find Gillian before something happened to her.

* * *

"I am minding my own business, and I suggest you do the same," I told the oldest of the men. He was obviously the leader.

"Miss, please don't take that tone," the man beseeched me. "We need help, and real fast."

"What is wrong?" I asked.

"My sister is havin' a babe, and she's got no one to help her," the youngest of the three answered. "Can you help?" he practically begged me.

"I will try, but you must go for the Doctor," I told him.

"I sure will if you can' tell me where to find him."

I quickly gave directions and then rode along with the other two men to find their wagon camped a couple of miles away. I could hear a woman's moans, and I climbed inside the wagon to see if there was anything I could do. An even younger boy was with her, his freckles standing out clear as could be on his white face. "Are you gonna help us, ma'am?" he asked me.

"I'll try. Now I know you aren't this woman's husband…?" I asked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood, but it had just the opposite effect when the young woman started crying.