Regency Romance: A Duchess in Disguise (Historical 19th Century Victorian Romance) (Duke Fantasy Billionaire Romance) (11 page)

“He would, wouldn’t he?”

“Yes, he certainly would! And our baby! His grandchild. He would be very, very angry.”

“But we need a substantial sum.”

“It won’t matter. The only thing that will matter is that when we have paid what we owe and begin paying my father his money back, you don’t gamble it away. Do you think you can break your habit?”

She rubbed his arm and looked up into his eyes. He was blinking and refusing to look at her.

“Mark, please. Please tell me you love me enough…and love our baby enough to do this for us.”

“I want to, Margie. I do love you and our baby.”

“We will keep praying about it. My papa will help us through this and then we will start again. From the beginning if we have to. But at least we will have our horses and our home.”

“And our baby.”

“Yes.” She smiled wide and he matched it.

“It’s so wonderful to think that we will have a little boy or girl here next year. I hope it looks like you.”

She giggled. “If it’s a boy, I don’t think he will like that.”

He shook his head. “I hope that he or she is healthy. I hope that you are okay through it all and that everything works out good in the end.”

“Ellie is going to help me. She will know what’s going on before I do.”

They both laughed at that.

“I’m glad she is wanting to help you.” Mark’s demeanor had lightened significantly from only moments before. She could see that he felt relief and renewed strength. She wondered if he would really be able to kick the habit. He was so good with money otherwise.

“Do you want me to start helping manage the finances of the track and stables, Mark?” She asked a little nervously. It had always been his job. She didn’t want him to feel that she was stepping on his toes.

He paused and looked at her thoughtfully. “I think it would be wise, yes.” He agreed. He put one of his hands on her tummy and the other on the small of her back. “You won’t be up for all that physical work taking care of yourself for the next year anyway.”

“Silly man, it doesn’t take that long to have a baby!”

“I know.” He laughed. “But you won’t be going back to grooming and cleaning out stables for a long time, honey. You’re going to have my baby to take care of!”

The thought of a happy family in her future lifted Margaret’s spirits back up into the clouds. She threw her arms around her husband and hugged him close. “I love you, Mark!”

“And I love you, my sweet little Margaret!” He replied, kissing her soft lips with a passion she would never be able to resist.

****

THE END

Chapter One

The noise from the train pulling out of the station was almost deafening. Catherine Carvey was sitting next to a young woman about her age and across from another. They were all going to the same destination, she knew, because the man who had sent for her from the West had told her so in the letter he’d sent.

Cathy had responded two months ago to an ad for a bride in her local newspaper. Her heart was thumping
hard,
and she folded her hands in her lap nervously, rubbing her fingers together.

The woman next to her looked much more secure and a lot less nervous. She smiled at her.

“Hello,
” she said.

The woman looked at Cathy, scanning her face
closely
.
“Hello,
” she responded, finally holding out one hand for Cathy to take. “I’m Robin. Robin Foreman. And you are?”

“Cathy
Carvey,
” she responded.

“You are also going to Nevada?”

“Yes, I am.”

“You’re going to marry a man from there?” Robin asked. Cathy nodded. Robin sounded even more secure than she looked.

“Yes. You are, too?”

“I am. My suitor sent me a letter saying that I would be sitting with two other ladies who were going there to marry his brothers. You are one?”

“I am.”

At the same time, both ladies looked at the third sitting across from them. She gave them a weak smile, one hand pulling on a long strand of blond hair that had strayed from her braid. “I’m Joy. Joy Kelly.”

Cathy and Robin nodded at her.

“You look
scared,
” Robin said, bluntly.

Joy pulled in a deep breath and looked out the window to her left. “I am a little scared.”

“Why?”

Joy rubbed her hands together and looked down at them, her face flushed. “I…I have never been out of Virginia in my life. I come from a close family and…I’m…afraid of the change. I don’t…know what to expect.”

“I understand how you feel.” Cathy nodded and looked at Joy sympathetically. “I don’t come from a close family but I am very unsure about what is going to
happen,
and it scares me, too.” 

“If you have a close family, why are you going so far away from them?” Robin asked.

Joy looked sad. “My father said it would be a good change for me. He says I need to experience the world. He says I’m too shy.”

“Well, I’m worried about the men we are going to
meet,
” Robin said. Her voice was firm and determined. “I hope they are gentlemen. I hope their mothers raised them right. I don’t want a brute or
a callous
man. I want someone who is going to treat me with respect. It’s not easy to find men that will do that. They want you to be dolled up and
pretty
and quiet all the time. I’m not like that.”

“Why did
you
decide to go?” Joy asked, her voice exactly the opposite of Robin’s. She was the quiet,
pretty
type. She was small, with an oval face,
pretty
green eyes and a head full of beautiful blond hair. She looked like the type that could be hurt
easily
, physically and mentally. Robin was tall, slender but larger than Joy, with bright red hair and flashing green eyes.

“I am an orphan with no prospects of my own. I am interested in what can
be seen
on the other side of the country. I hope to learn a skill so that if this doesn’t work out, I can work and survive on my own, like cooking.”

“You sound like you would prefer that.”

Robin nodded. “Yes, but I
need
a man to help me and did not find one here. My aunt says if you want to be successful in life, you have to take steps to get there, even women. So I will concentrate on learning while I am there. Unfortunately, the man I am going to has a baby. His wife died in
childbirth,
so the
baby
is very young. I’m not sure I will be a good mother to
a baby
I didn’t have. I don’t have brothers or sisters and no experience with
babies
.”

“Are we all living together in one home?” Cathy asked her. “Do you know?”

Robin shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Cathy hoped so. She had spent several years helping her sister raise the two children she had with her husband, Mark. She had enjoyed every moment with the babies and thought how exciting it would be to have another one to raise. “I have experience with
babies
.” She said. “If we are all together, I will help you. Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”

“It’s a girl. Minnie. She’s seven months old.”

Cathy smiled. “That’s
a wonderful
age. They are adorable when they are that little.”

Robin snorted. “I suppose we will see.”

“I do hope that you
are able to
get used to it.” Cathy was a little afraid for the child, seeing Robin’s reaction to just the knowledge of the baby. It wouldn’t do to have a resentful woman raising another woman’s child. Children could sense that. “Perhaps I can help you even if we aren’t living together. I will be glad to come and help.”

Robin nodded, her face softening a little bit. When she spoke, her tone was a bit less harsh. “I would appreciate that, Cathy. I must admit, I’m intimidated right now. I don’t know what’s going to happen and don’t like
to not have
control of my life.”

“Why did you accept the proposal if you knew you would not
really
want a child?” Cathy asked.

“It was the only ad I saw. And I needed to get out of this town. I don’t like it here.”

“I’m sorry.”

The train jerked to a
start,
and all three women looked out the window to watch as the train station disappeared and the scenery began to pass at a rapid rate.

“Don’t be. I will adjust. I always do.”

“I am
very afraid
I will not like the man I’m going to be with.” Joy spoke
up,
and the women looked at her. “I am only doing this because my father wanted me to. I don’t
really
want to be so far away from them and be with a man who might not be
nice
to me.”

“Well, you’re on your way
already,
” Robin said. “You better get used to it.”

Cathy gave Robin a frown and leaned forward to pat Joy’s knee. “Don’t you worry too much, Joy. We’ll be here for you. Won’t we, Robin?” She gave the woman
a direct
hard
look,
and Robin blinked, seeming to ease up a bit.

“
Of course,
we will, Joy. We will take care of you.”

Joy smiled
again,
and her face brightened just a little. “Thank you, Cathy. Robin.
I don’t like being so weak.”

“You aren’t
weak,
” Cathy said. “You’ve just not reached your full potential yet. You’ve got time. It will be okay.”

“I hope so.”

“You know, we could take care of each other whether or not the men are who we want them to
be,
” Robin said. “We should make a vow right now that if the men are not who we would like, we will leave them.”

“
Oh,
that sounds very harsh and scary.” Joy said. “What if I’m the only one who doesn’t like my husband? If the two of you are happy, I will be left all alone.”

“
No,
because we will get you away from him.”

“How?”

“I don’t know!” Robin looked frustrated but quickly wiped the look off her face and smiled again. “I mean, we will do everything we can to protect you. We will protect each other. You see?”

Joy looked down at her hands. “I do.”

“We won’t let you be hurt.” Robin held out one hand to her and one to Cathy. When they took her hands, she squeezed them and said in a determined voice, “I vow to protect my two new sisters with everything I have to keep them safe from harm. Now you say it.”

“I vow to protect my two new sisters from everything I have to keep them safe from
harm,
” Cathy said immediately, squeezing the ladies’ hands. She and Robin looked at Joy.

“I won’t be able to do much to keep you safe.” They could see a trace of amusement in Joy’s face as she spoke. “But I will try. I vow to protect my two new sisters from anything that would harm them.”

Robin nodded. “Close enough.”

“I think you will be the one who will protect us, Robin.” Joy smiled at her.

Robin chuckled. “You may be
right,
but it will be nice to have you both there with me.” She looked at Cathy. “What’s your story, Cathy? Why are you here?”

It was Cathy’s turn to look shy. She lowered her eyes and touched her left leg. “I have a…deformity. My sister’s husband said it would be good for me to leave home and go to a man who had not yet seen me.”

“What?” Robin looked outraged and angry. “Your brother-in-law told you that you needed to be bought and sold like a slave because you have a physical problem? What’s wrong with you,
anyway
? You’re beautiful!”

Cathy didn’t feel
beautiful,
and she knew that Robin was only being kind. She was not as
pretty
as either her or Joy. She was a bigger woman, with a full figure and a plump face. Her hair was straight and dark brown. She kept it neatly pinned back with barrettes and clips. It reached only down to her shoulders because her father had not wanted her to have long hair. She was anxious to let it grow. She had always wanted very long hair like Robin and Joy’s, even if it was the color of a rat, which was what her father had told her.

“Thank you for saying so, Robin. My…my left leg is a little shorter than my right. I…do
n’t
walk like everyone else.”

Robin sniffed. “I am appalled that your
own
family would say such things to you! Makes me glad I don’t have
family
like that!”

Joy looked out the window. Her
own
father had always been kind and decent to her and her brothers and mother. He worked hard constructing new houses for people who moved into the city and had sometimes taken her out with him to one of the sites, just to get her out of the house. She was miserable at the
schoolhouse,
so he pulled her out and educated her at home.

Cathy shook her head. “He’s otherwise decent, Robin.”

“And not all families are like hers.” Joy murmured.

“Do you get along well with your father, Joy? Even though he sent you away?”

Joy nodded. “He was only doing what he thought was right. And I trust him.”

“If you were miserable, would he send a ticket to bring you home?”

The young woman nodded again. “I do think he would, Robin, yes.”

Robin nodded. “All right then, if you are unhappy in Nevada, I will write to him for you and you can go home.”

Joy smiled softly. “Thank you.” Her voice was almost a whisper.

“In fact,” Robin looked from Cathy to Joy and back again. “If any of us are
miserable,
and we would rather be with one of the other men, we should make it known. Not to them, but to each other. That way, we can work on switching or getting out of there. I don’t know about you, but I’m not signing my life away here. I want to be happy. If I’m not happy, no one else is going to be either.”

Cathy couldn’t help but giggle. Robin was like a raging fire. She was glad the woman was coming
with
them.

“I’ll agree to
that,
” she said, nodding. They both looked at Joy, whose eyes opened wide. She looked frightened but nodded
anyway
.

“All right.”