A Taste of Honey (33 page)

Garrett even took her to the small reading nook that Winnie had described and she could not wait for the wedding to be over so that she could wrap herself up in a blanket and read by the windows there.  The house and everything in it was more beautiful than she had ever imagined.

Most of their first day together, Winnie and Katherine spent in the family parlor sitting around in the large chairs and discussing the rest of the wedding plans.

To keep an air of modesty and decorum, it was decided that Garrett and Katherine would announce their engagement as soon as they reached their small estate.  But until they were married, Mrs. Brentley asked them to keep a polite distance as the gossip concerning that night had not yet reached their home town.  Winnie had been asked to enforce her mother's new rules and she relished the thought of being her friend's chaperone around her brother.

“No going to his room tonight.  As your chaperone I have been told to keep you inside of your room.” Winnie lectured but smiled as she added, “However nothing was said as to whether or not Garrett could be in there with you.”

Katherine laughed at Winnie's wicked thoughts.  “We're getting married in six days.  I think that Garrett and I can wait that long without sneaking into each other's rooms.”

Creeping up behind her, Garrett slid his arm around Katherine's waist.  He glanced around to make sure that no one could see them and then kissed the side of her ear and asked quietly, “What can we go without?”

Katherine's blush was enough proof of what they had been discussing and Garrett looked at her reprovingly.  “I don't want you talking about that with my younger sister.  Winnie is an innocent young girl and she knows nothing about such things.”  This time it was Winnie who blushed before she turned and rapidly exited the room. 

Katherine laughed as she realized that his sister was holding onto some secret that she refused to tell them.  “You shouldn't tease Winnie like that,” she chided even as she allowed Garrett to turn her around until she faced him.  He placed a gentle kiss across her lips in between each of things she said.  “She's less than a year younger than me.  She really isn't a child anymore.  Winnie is a grown woman who will likely be married by this time next year.”

Garrett winced at the idea of his sister being old enough to marry.  “It's different with Winnie.  She will always be my little sister no matter how old she is,” he protested before he rested the palm of his hand against Katherine's breast, smoothing the fabric with the tips of his fingers until her nipple budded against the surface.

Knowing that he did not intend on stopping soon, she tried to put an end to his teasing.  “Garrett, we can't do this here,” Katherine said as she gestured to the small family parlor and tried to gently push him away.

“Then where?”

“No where.
Not until the wedding.”

“Why not?  Our chaperone is gone and my mother went to town to post the banns for the wedding.  Who is here to interrupt us?” he asked.  Each flick of his fingers against her breasts, mixed with the swirl of his tongue along her neck, ears and into her mouth made Katherine's resolve drift away slowly until she could only think about the feel of him and she nodded her head sheepishly.  “Oh all right, but we can't do this tomorrow,” she insisted as he led her away and towards the guest bedroom that she would occupy until their wedding.

It all seemed to happen so quickly, but Katherine welcomed the rush of new people and responsibilities, hoping to then create an air of normalcy after the wedding was finished.  Winnie did her best to make Katherine feel at home and forget about her family's absence.  The lack of news from Robin was the most troubling thing on Katherine's mind.

When a letter could be posted in Dublin and received in London the next day it was hard to und
erstand why after three days
Katherine had no news from her family that lived only a couple counties away.

Garrett continued to avoid most of the discussions concerning wedding items; however he stopped by often to kiss Katherine and try to lure her away with suggestions about how they could better spend the time before their wedding.

Life wa
s comfortable with the Brentley
s who had been so quick to accept her.  She loved spending time with them and learning about them on a more personal basis.  While Mrs. Brentley had been a somewhat stern sponsor, she was a kind and welcoming mother in law who lavished praise and gifts on Katherine.

“I liked you as soon as you and your sister sat down,” she admitted one morning over breakfast.  “I watched the way that you tried to manage Robin's outbursts and your mother at the same time.”  She laughed warmly at the memory.  “I never expected that you would marry Garrett though.  To be honest I'd started to lose hope for him.  Now that he's about to be married I only have to worry about who Winnie will find.”

Katherine had seen how much more relaxed Mrs. Brentley could be when she was out of London's busy streets.  It was easy to see that like many of the women she had sponsored, Mrs. Brentley was ready for a quieter life in the country.  “Are you still planning to retire your help after Winnie is married?  Don't you think that you will miss attending events in London?”

“No,” Mrs. Brentley said a tad too quickly.  “I've helped enough women already.  If I knew someone who I could trust to chaperone Winnie, I wouldn't go back next year either.  It was an exciting time in my life, and I don't regret it.  But I'm older now.  I'd like to focus on my own family again and take time to spend with my grandchildren.”  The last was said with a little wink and a smile.

Two days before the wedding Katherine ran out to the front lawn as she heard a carriage and hooves pounding closer.  Winnie drew up beside her as well and they waited together to see who it would be.  “I'm sure it's a letter from Robin,” Winnie said, giving Katherine's hand a tight squeeze.

It was not a letter, but something infinitely better.  “Father!”  Katherine cried out as she saw his head pop out of the carriage window.  His grizzled white hair was possibly a bit thinner but other than that she could detect no illness as he leapt down and grasped her in a tight hug.  “You must be feeling better than mother worried.  But when did you recover?”

“I was never sick.”  Mr. Wellings admitted with a worried frown on his face.  He closed the door, signaling that there were no other occupants to step out.  “Since Robin's arrival there have been many discussions in our house between your mother and I.  I'm afraid that your mother has not been completely honest with you and your sister about some things.  She thought if you believed me to be sick you'd be more likely to listen to her.”

Leaning against her father Katherine closed her eyes against the pain of her mother's betrayal.  The length that her mother had taken to deceive her children and worry them was more than hurtful.  It showed to what depths their mother had wanted to influence Katherine's choice of husband.  “How angry was she when she found out?  Do you think that she'll forgive me for marrying Garrett?”

Mr. Wellings shook his head.  “I don't care about what she does.  I am very proud of you and that is all that matters right now.”   Katherine's week smile did not convince him that she was equally less worried.  "She needs some time," he explained.  "But she has always been proud of you in her own way.  One day she will accept that you are happy and she will be ready to be forgiven by you, if you are willing to let her apologize."

Nodding her head slowly, Katherine looked up at her father.  "I know that she was doing what she thought was best.  I'm just happy that I came to my senses before marrying someone that I could not love.  I hope that Robin has too."  Wiping at a bit of wetness that had formed under her eye, Katherine turned to introduce her father to Winnie, Garrett and Mrs. Brentley who had also gathered outside to greet him.  Taking the small package offered by Garret, Katherine held it out to her father as a present.

The solid weight betrayed the object inside and he smiled down at her.  “You bought us a new book?” he asked hopefully.

“No, it's one that you've already read,” Katherine admitted.

Her father ripped the paper off to examine it closer.  The worn cover seemed familiar to him and he turned it over in his hands.  “Rousseau?” he asked as he sifted through the pages.

Katherine nodded proudly, “It’s one of the earliest English printings, even before the revolution.”

“Where did you find such a thing?”  Mr. Wellings asked as he followed his daughter through the double doors and into the house.  Navigating the hallways she led him to her favorite part of the house, the library.

“You may want to stay with us longer than you had planned,” she told him before opening the doors to the library and showing him around the inside.  Katherine loved seeing that he was just as excited about the room of books as she had been.  Mr. Wellings walked into the room and looked around, stunned at all of the books surrounding him and unsure which shelves to examine first.

Garrett came up behind her as Mr. Wellings walked about, moving from shelf to shelf as he looked over each stack of books.  “That's where you get it from,” he told her as if seeing her father proved some point that he had already guessed at.

“Yes, he did teach me to love books,” Katherine admitted.

“Not the books; your ability to love.  After seeing Robin's darkest side and hearing about your mother I had wondered.  Now I see where you got it from.”

Katherine smiled as her father held up a rare edition of Herodotus and motioned her closer.

Garrett was not the only one to get along well with Katherine's father.  Winnie and Mrs. Brentley also took to him.  The thought of grandchildren in particular seemed to be a favorite subject between the two parents who discussed how many they felt was the proper number for the couple to have.

“I think they are hoping that I'm already pregnant,” Katherine complained to Garrett the night before the wedding as she listened in on yet another lively conversation between her father and future mother in law.

Touching his hand to her stomach, Garrett smiled down at her.  “They aren't the only ones,” he whispered before kissing her lips and cheeks. 

“Garrett, isn't it too soon to think that I could be pregnant?”

Shaking his head Garrett joked with her.  “I demand to have at least one child by the end of next year; twins if at all possible.  But not daughters,” he said sternly.  “Not yet anyway, I'm not ready to handle anything like that.”  He motioned to Winnie who sat on the floor humming to herself as she tied ribbons for the wedding, undoubtedly looking forward to her own wedding someday.

Katherine frowned as she remembered the stories of her own mother's ordeal with childbirth, how sick she had been and the pressure she had felt in not producing an heir.  “What if I'm unable to have children?” she asked, worried that now she would feel the same pressures.  “Or if I can't have a son, would you be disappointed?”

Understanding her fears Garrett hugged her in closer and she breathed in his scent, calming instantly at his touch.  “You aren't sick like you mother was,” he insisted.  “You'll be just fine.  Besides if you aren't pregnant yet, I wouldn't worry.  We'll just have to keep trying.  Which is something that I am very willing to do.  On a nightly basis. Tonight even,” he proposed, again trying to draw Katherine into his web of seduction.  More seriously he added, “I want to have children but I didn't marry you because of that.  I married you because I wanted to be with you.  If you were unable to have children then we would manage without them.  Our love has survived every other obstacle, so I wouldn't worry about any others that might come our way.”

Despite their very lax chaperone in Winnie, Katherine had decided to try and wait until after the wedding before being alone together again.  Garrett had not quite agreed to her terms and he sought out every moment possible to get his future wife alone with him for a least a few stolen kisses in one of the many unoccupied rooms of the house.  Once again that night, he succeeded.

Early on the morning of the wedding, Katherine sat in her room trying to calm her nerves for the day to come.  There would not be many people attending, but that didn't help reduce her nervous nature and her mother and Robin's absence was becoming unavoidable, no matter how hard Winnie tried to bring her spirits up.

Sitting on a small settee, Katherine waited for Winnie to arrive with the morning tea so that the two of them could talk before the wedding festivities began.  Katherine wondered what she would do next year when Winnie had to leave and search for her own husband.  She hated the idea of her new sister living far away.

At the sound of a light knock on the door, Katherine called out to let her visitor in.

Mrs. Wellings surprised her by entering the room with the same tea tray that Winnie used every day and as she set the tray beside Katherine, Robin entered behind her before shutting the door.

“You came!”  Katherine called out, jumping up to great both of them.  “It was getting so late, and father didn't know when you'd be coming that I started to think you might not get here in time.”

“I told you I'd come,” Robin reminded her with a hug.

Mrs. Wellings was slightly less welcoming as she sat down stiffly on one of the chairs in the room and looked all around them.  “Are all of the rooms this...small?”

Katherine shot Robin a worried glance before taking up the chair beside her.  “I'm staying in one of the guest bedrooms until the wedding.  After that I'll be moving into the master suite with Garrett.”