Bonds of Matrimony (2 page)

           
James
must have noticed his cousin’s attention to Webb, because he grinned at the
cards before him when he commented, “Really?
 
My cousin here is sailing in the morning, too.”

           
She
hated to draw any more attention to herself, and James had just stirred up a
bucket of worms with this announcement.
 
Chastity scowled at him momentarily, but then noticed that Webb had said
something to her again.
 
“What was
that?” she asked.

           
“Are
you on the Mauretania, too?” he asked, lighting up a cigar.
 
He offered them around the table, and
everyone declined.

           
Chastity
looked directly at James as she accepted the offered cigar.
 
“I am,” she answered.

           
She
watched Webb light his own cigar before he tossed the matches across the
table.
 
Trying to appear casual, she
imitated his short quick puffs until the cigar lit.
 
She braced herself for the stale taste that she was certain
would accompany these particular smelly items, but instead, it tasted
sweet.
 
She took another short puff
and grinned at James.
 
He met her
eyes for a moment before clearing his throat and looking down at his cards.

           
Meanwhile,
the men discussed the extravagance of the ship that both Colton and Chastity
would board in the morning.
 
The
ship was the fastest steamer to ever sail.
 
It was also designed to appeal to the upper class passengers.
 
Neither fare had been inexpensive, but
her grandmother had assured her that anything less would be unbearable.

           
She
emptied her first pint and began the second, the one that Webb had ordered from
the attractive waitress.

           
“First
time to America?” he asked.

           
“Is
it obvious?” she laughed casually.

           
“Not
at all.
 
Just a guess.
 
Vacation?” he asked as he dealt her the
two cards she asked for.

           
“My
brother owns a ranch out there.
 
He
needs some help.
 
There’s nothing
keeping me here.”
 
She puffed on her
cigar another time and followed it with a drink.
 
She was beginning to feel quite comfortable in this manly
role.

           
“A
cattle ranch?”

           
“Yes.
 
Down in Texas,” she volunteered,
enjoying the sound of the word on her tongue.

           
“I’ll
be damned.
 
I live in Texas,
too.
 
Flush,” he announced,
dropping his cards on the table in front of him.
 
He grinned at her in victory when she dropped
her
two pair.

           
Chastity
smiled into her pint.
 
With most
men, the more they talked, the less she liked them.
 
But as she conversed with Colton Webb, she was finding him
more and more appealing.
 
He was
the singularly most masculine man she’d ever met in her life.

           
And
the sight of him made her understand what the whore meant about her body
humming.
 
She continued tapping her
feet under the table.

           
The
big-bellied man beside her dealt the next hand, and again, Chastity collected her
winnings.
 

           
“Damn,
Cochrane.
 
Remind me not to play at
your table again,” Webb joked.

           
“Aah.
 
It’s just my lucky night,” she replied
casually.
 
“That’s all.”
 
And she was beginning to feel that it
truly was my lucky night.

           
“Hey,
sweetheart!” he suddenly called.

           
She
started, initially thinking he was talking to her.
 
Instead, a waitress with beautiful blond curls strutted over
to the table.

           
“Evening,
Colton,” she cooed suggestively.
 
“What can I get for you tonight?
 
Another whiskey?
 
Or do you
need something a bit stronger tonight, too?”
 
She smiled demurely at him, although it was evident that she
knew him intimately.

           
“Just
a whiskey, sweetheart.”
 
He grinned
at her pout before adding, “for now.
 
We’ll see how the evenin’ goes.”
 
He nodded in Chase’s direction.
 
“If Cochrane here keeps taking my money, I won’t have enough to make it
back to Texas.”

           
She
trailed a bright red fingernail down his cheek and smiled.
 
“That wouldn’t be so bad.”

           
He
laughed and swatted her abundant rear end as she walked away.
 
Whether it was the ale, cigars, or the
cards, Chastity couldn’t be sure.
 
But Webb’s arrogance was suddenly as infuriating as it was
attractive.
 
For that reason, after
her three queens won the next hand, she decided to call it a night and excused herself
from the table.
 
James followed her
out.

           
On
the walk back to the hotel, he reached out more than once to steady his cousin.
 
Apparently, the drinks had been
stronger than she thought.
 

           
“Two
pieces of advice for you,” he commented.
 
“Consider it a farewell gift.”

           
“What’s
that?” she mumbled.

           
“One,
don’t ever drink more than one drink.
 
You seem to have a hard time handling your drink.”

           
“I’m
fine.”
 
She held her hand out to
keep from running into the store window beside her.
 

           
“Clearly.”

           
“What’s
the second piece of ad-ad-advice?” she struggled.
 
She yawned loudly before he could respond.

           
“Stay
clear of that Webb character that has you so captivated.”

           
“I’m
not captivated,” she protested a bit too loudly.

           
“Ssh,”
he replied as he led her through the hotel lobby and up to her room.
 

           
In
her room, she slipped out of her man’s suit and into her nightgown before
falling into bed beside her sister.
 
She was almost unconscious before her head touched the pillow.
 
But that night, she dreamt that it was her
who Colton Webb had against the wall of a building.

CHAPTER 2

           
Her
sister was kind enough to wake her the next morning by opening the heavy drapes
wide and allowing the spectacularly blinding morning sunlight into their hotel
room.
 
Feeling the lingering
effects of her drinks from the evening before, she shrank away and buried her
face in a pillow.

           
“Just
think!” Rosalie exclaimed as she flopped onto the bed beside her sister.
 
“Six days from now, we will be hugging
our brother again!
 
I could
positively squeal in delight and excitement!”

           
“Please
don’t,” Chastity mumbled groggily, wondering when this shift in her sister’s attitude
had taken place.
 
She had been
dreading this trip from the beginning.
 
When the girls had learned of their parents’ betrayal, Reese had been as
desperate to escape as Chase was.
 
But without male chaperones, their journey overseas could prove
perilous.
 
For this reason, they
had agreed to pass themselves off as young brothers travelling with their
grandmother.
 
For a boldly
outspoken young woman who was born envying the freedom of the men in her life,
it was an ideal plan in Chastity’s opinion.
 
For her sister, it was a terrifying prospect, and frankly, a
role she wasn’t terribly adept at performing.

           
In spite of the black trousers, jacket, and
bowler hat, Reese still looked purely feminine.
 
And certainly, her twirling in front of the mirror did not
help matters.

           
“You
look fine,” Chase lied.

           
“I
look ridiculous,” she pouted.

           
“Perhaps
you could conveniently become seasick once we board the ship.
 
Then you can lock yourself in our cabin
on the ship,” her sister suggested, only partly joking.

           
“For
six days?” Reese asked, clearly displeased with the suggestion.
 
Tears welled up in her blue-black eyes,
making her look even more feminine.

           
A
knock sounded on the door of their room, and Chastity rushed to answer it,
eager to avoid Reese’s frustration.
 
James tipped his hat at her as he entered and then stopped short when he
spotted her sister.

           
“This
is never going to work,” he mumbled.

           
“Come,
Chase!
 
It’s time to make our final
preparations.
 
We are to board the
Mauretania in a mere two hours!”

           
She
remembered the men talking about this ship they were to board.
 
It had already made a reputation for itself
for being the fastest and most luxurious boat to sail the Atlantic.
 
The passengers could expect to dock in
New York in fewer than six days.
 
The men at the saloon had bragged about its strength and power, not to
mention its size.
 
Their grandmother
had raved about the ship’s elegance.

           
And
yet, no one had adequately prepared her for the sight that met her at the docks
in Liverpool that morning.
 
No one
had warned her about the crowds of people that painted a picture of true
diversity.
 
Women dressed in
elaborate gowns were escorted by equally well-dressed men, while porters
struggled with their vast amounts of luggage.
 
Young men and women dressed in barely more than rags huddled
together closely carrying little more than the sparse clothing on their
backs.
 
Around her, people called
out in a variety of foreign tongues, no doubt speaking words of excitement for
the journey they were preparing to embark upon and words of sorrow for the homes
and family they were leaving behind.

           
The
four of them wove through the waves of faces and languages, fighting not to
lose each other.
 
Chastity followed
James’s back closely, not daring to grab his hand now that she was dressed as
young Mr. Chase Cochrane.
 
Behind her,
her grandmother clung to her youngest “grandson’s” elbow.
 
Chase stole a glance at Reese and her grandmother,
noting the look of discomfort and fear on her sister’s face.
 
She looked positively awkward in her
trousers and shirt.

           
A
loud deep belching horn sounded suddenly, bringing her attention back to the
example of enormity and extravagance that loomed before her.
 
It was time to board.
 
Already, passengers stood around the
railing of the main deck, waving to family members and strangers alike.
 
James pushed the three women through
the crowd until they stood at the foot of the ramp leading to the ship.

           
Her
grandmother, never one to abide strictly to the laws of their rigid society,
took James in a firm embrace and planted a dry kiss on his cheek.
 
“You take care of yourself, James.
 
And try to be of some comfort to my son
and your aunt.
 
I expect they won’t
understand why we are abandoning them.
 
And the girls’ mother is going to certainly fall ill worrying about the
gossip of the ton.
 
They will
undoubtedly and conveniently forget that they have brought this upon
themselves.
 
I imagine their
efforts to disguise their embarrassment as grief in the public eye is going to
get rather tiresome and annoying.
 
But he is still my son, and she is still his wife.
 
So try to be of some comfort to them,
James.”