The Valentine Legacy (Legacy 3)

“I daresay we’ll all survive,” the Duchess said as she settled Charles in the middle of a blanket in the corner of the room, a sugar tit from Old Bess in his mouth. The moment she laid eyes on him, Old Bess adored Charles, cooing over him, telling him he was the sweetest little bite she’d ever seen and that his mama was the prettiest little sweetie she’d ever seen as well, not as pretty as the new mistress, but very fine nonetheless. “Loyalty,” the Duchess had remarked to her husband, “is an excellent thing.”

“The room’s a nice size,” Jessie said. “The windows are large, the prospect pleasing.”

“Just fancy,” Thomas said from the doorway, “the house is filled again. We’re all so pleased that you’re the mistress now, Miss Jessie.”

“Thank you, Thomas.

Oh dear, may I have a piece of that bread, please, Badger?”

“Of course, Jessie,” Badger said. “Mr. Thackery, would you please give the bread to Mrs. James?”

After breakfast, James took Marcus off to inspect the stables. Thankfully, Anthony, filled with more energy than the rest of them combined, went with them. During breakfast he’d exclaimed that he couldn’t wait to leave to find Blackbeard’s treasure. The Duchess had said in her calm way, “That’s fine, Anthony. You can go with your father to search us out a ship.”

“Another ship, Mama?”

“Certainly. We can’t very well go overland. We’ll get to be on board a ship again, just fancy that.”

Anthony hadn’t said another word. All of them wanted a bit of a rest, but not a long one. That treasure was there waiting for them, they all knew it.

Jessie, her stomach settled down, went with the Duchess into the parlor, as she’d told the Duchess it was called here in the Colonies.

“Now, Jessie, before you and I begin to make plans, I imagine that you will want to visit your parents and your sisters.”

Not really, Jessie thought, flinching from the idea of Glenda staring at James’s crotch. Surely she wouldn’t do that now that he was married, would she?

“I have missed my father.”

“Thomas suggested that you write a note to your parents and tell them that you and James will be visiting them for luncheon. Do you feel well enough to do that?”

“It comes and goes,” Jessie said. “I feel marvelous right now, but in five minutes, I could be tossing up Badger’s wonderful bread and Old Bess’s strawberry jam I ate for breakfast.”

The Duchess eyed her closely. “Your clothes are hanging on you, too. You want to be the mistress of Marathon, Jessie, the independent, married relative, when you see them. You don’t ever want them to think of you as their daughter again, thus someone they can bully and order around. Let’s speak to Maggie. Among the three of us, we can dress you up properly.”

“Unfortunately it won’t matter,” Jessie said, staring down at her shoes. “My mother and James’s mother grew up together.”

“Oh dear.”

“At least my mother will be pleasant to you, Duchess.”

It was two o’clock that afternoon when James and Jessie rode in his old carriage to the Warfield Farm. All the trees and flowers were still in late-summer bloom. The air was rich with warmth and the scent of the land. “It’s good to be home,” James said as he lightly flicked Bellini’s reins.

“James, is Glenda going to stare at your crotch again?”

He started, jerking on Bellini’s reins, and laughed when the horse snorted. “I hope not, but with Glenda I’ve learned over the years never to try to outguess her. If she does, well, just ignore it. Are you certain you’re ready for this, sweetheart?”

Sweetheart. It sounded wonderful coming from James Wyndham to her, Jessie Warfield, the girl he’d considered an obnoxious brat for six years. Maybe he still did.

“Are you going to keep visiting Connie Maxwell?”

He didn’t look at her, rather just kept looking through Bellini’s ears. “I will see her, naturally, to tell her of my marriage.”

“Oh.”

“What does that mean? You think I’d still make love to her? Well, say something. Damn you, Jessie, we’re married. I happen to believe in marriage vows. I won’t betray you. You will never betray me either, because I won’t allow it.”

“All right,” she said, feeling tears well in her eyes. She didn’t understand herself. One minute she wanted to laugh, the next she was sobbing like a broken woman. It was unnerving. Maggie had just patted her hand and told her it was the babe making her behave in such an unpredictable manner. But Maggie didn’t have any children. How did she know?

“Good. Now, here we are. Are you ready for this?”