Chapter Ten
The crossing had passed by uneventfully. The paddle steamer had struggled across the choppy waves of the Solent, but had made port in good time and, when they stepped off, the hustle and bustle of the day was already in full swing. The Southampton docks were busy even at that early hour, workers criss-crossing here and there, and cabs with their horses waiting in lines to one side.
Tiredness had caught up with both William and Elizabeth now that the adrenaline rush of the night before had settled. William spoke through a yawn so wide, his jaw clicked. “We’re both too exhausted to go much further today. Let’s find a room somewhere and we can continue on to London later tonight or tomorrow.”
Elizabeth nodded warily. William knew she was worried about her family and Ethan catching up with them—Southampton was, after all, where the man lived—but the lure of sleep was too strong, and she went with him willingly to the nearest carriage. They found out that there was an inn not too far away, and so William paid the driver and they were on their way.
He kept Elizabeth’s hand gripped tightly, squeezing when she stared behind them at the sea, though the island was no longer visible. “We must pretend to already be married,” he whispered when the carriage came to a stop, a frown on his face.
“All right.” She smiled. “You look at me like that’s such a hardship, William. I’m happy to pretend. In a few days’ time I really will be your wife, so it hardly matters.”
“I didn’t like to presume—”
“Presume away.” She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “Now come, Mr. Pratt. Your wife is sorely in need of sleep.”
Heart lurching to hear her call herself his wife, he followed her out of the carriage and to the entrance of the inn, hoping there were some rooms available.
***
“It’s not going to bite,” Elizabeth said drily from her position on the bed, looking at him with one part amusement, two parts annoyance. “Get in.”
“It’s just… I hadn’t thought of the practicalities…”
“You make it sound like such a chore.” She crossed her arms over her chest, and William gulped. Her thin nightgown was unbuttoned at the neck, and her movements gave him a very pleasant view. Why had he not thought of that? Pretending to be husband and wife was all well and good in theory, but he’d forgotten all it would entail. He stared at her helplessly.
She sighed. “Am I really so scary? Repulsive perhaps?”
“No!” He hurried to the side of the bed and knelt on the mattress, making it dip inwards, in his haste to reassure her. “You know that’s not the reason.”
“Well what, then?”
“I fear…” William began. “That I would be unable to resist you if I were to share your bed.” He blushed a furious shade of red. “Just kissing you last night was enough to—” He broke off, clenching the sheets in his fist, his head bent.
He soon felt Elizabeth’s warm palm on his chin as she turned his head. “You’re silly,” she declared. “We’re to be husband and wife. There’s nothing wrong in it. Besides, I’m too tired to even think about anything other than a goodnight kiss. Now get into bed, for goodness sake. You’re shivering.”
He shuffled under the covers, holding himself rigid when he finally lay down. He exhaled shakily when Elizabeth curled into his side, her body warm and pliant against his.
“Relax,” she whispered and kissed his neck. He shuddered. “Sleep now. Tomorrow’s the start of the rest of our lives.”
William let her words wash over him, the truth in them finally allowing him to calm down. He turned onto his side and slid his arm around Elizabeth’s waist. “Goodnight,” he said, though he didn’t know if she heard, because she already had her eyes closed.
Moments later, however, he heard her murmur, “Goodnight.” Then, a few seconds after, in a voice so quiet he barely heard it: “I love you.”
The words still thrilled him. “I love you, too.”
He drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.
***
William must have been more tired than he’d thought; when he awoke it was starting to get dark outside. He sat up straight in the bed as soon as he realised that Elizabeth was no longer beside him, but let out a breath of relief when he saw her standing at the wash basin.
“I asked a maid to bring us some hot water,” she said, gesturing to the jug. “You should wash while it’s still warm.”
William nodded and climbed out of bed, struck by a sudden shiver when the cool air of the room hit him. They washed together silently, William lost in the complete domesticity of the scene until he felt a spatter of water droplets land on his face. Shocked, he looked up to Elizabeth.
She bit her lip and let out a loud and sudden giggle. “Oh, I’m sorry William,” she said between laughs. “But you just looked so serious. She grinned mischievously and lowered her hand to the basin once more, and flicked water at him again. This time, it landed across his chest.
He felt a burst of laughter building within and turned away, not wanting to let her see. Adopting a stern expression, he looked back at her. “That was very bad of you, Miss Summers.” He gripped the side of the bowl innocently. “Very bad indeed.”
Holding her gaze, he dipped his cupped hand into the water before bringing it out with a splash and dumping the contents onto Elizabeth’s head. Her surprised face was a sight to behold, and he let out a very ungentlemanly laugh.
Elizabeth pouted, then swiftly returned her hand to the bowl. She flicked her fingers upwards, sending a fountain of water onto William. He grinned and raised an eyebrow when she shrieked and turned away from him. She tried to run, but William caught her around the waist and spun her in his arms. “Got you,” he said, smile wide as her giggles subsided.
“Looks like it. Now, whatever shall you do with me?”
“Oh I rather thought perhaps I’d start with this,” William said, leaning down to kiss a trickle of water from her cheek, before bringing his lips to hers. He kissed her softly, tangling his fingers in her hair.
“Mmm,” Elizabeth said when they pulled apart. “I like doing that more and more each time.”
“In that case,” William said with a wink. “We should do it as often as possible.”
“I like the sound of that.” She was about to say more when a loud growl emanated from her stomach. She clapped a hand over her mouth in horror, turning bright red and sinking to sit on the end of the bed.
William paid her embarrassment no mind, instead focusing on his negligence in not realising that Elizabeth would be hungry. He pressed a hand to his own stomach and realised that he too was in need of food. “Let’s go downstairs,” he said. “They’ll be serving meals I’m sure.”
They dressed quickly and hurried down to the main room of the inn. Sure enough, a hearty stew was on the menu, and William ordered two portions. It was a good thing they would be back in London soon; he was running out of money and he knew Elizabeth didn’t have much either.
After he’d finished his meal, William asked the barkeep if he knew the times of the trains to London, and if they did in fact run into the evening. It would be better to be underway as soon as possible.
“Last one leaves at seven,” the barkeep said. “Other than that, your next one’s not till morning.”
“Thank you,” William said, glancing at the clock above the bar. It was half-past five. They would have plenty of time to make it to the railway station.
Packing up their things took barely any time at all—they’d hardly unpacked. William noticed a curious thing when looking through his bag, however: one of his poetry journals was missing.
“Perhaps you left it at the hospital,” Elizabeth said, “and if that’s the case Aunt Tara will look after it for you I’m sure.”
“I hope that if she finds it she doesn’t read it,” William said. “I… wrote some poems of a rather delicate nature in it.”
“Delicate nature?” Elizabeth asked, then her eyes widened when she understood what he really meant. “Oh! About… um. About me?”
“Of course,” William said. “You were my only and constant muse, Elizabeth.”
“Well I hope she finds the journal and keeps it safe. I’d rather like to read these ‘delicate’ poems of yours. Or you could write me some more.”
“We’ll see,” William said, running his hands over her hips. “I’ll not be short of inspiration; that’s for sure.”
“Charmer. Come on, if we’re going to get that train we should pay up and leave.”
Nodding, William lifted the bag and left the hotel room with Elizabeth at his side.
Another coach-ride later—and William was rather tiring of all the to-ing and fro-ing by carriage at this point—they arrived at the railway station with plenty of time to spare.
Elizabeth stared wide-eyed around her, at the engine idling on the platform, ready to receive its passengers and at the broad variety of people wandering around the station. She turned a smile to William. “I’ve never had cause to ride on a train, before,” she said. “There was never any point on the island; it was always easier to take a horse and carriage.”
“It’s not the most comfortable experience,” William replied. “We’ll be jostled and jolted every which way during the journey.”
“Perhaps I should have brought a pillow,” Elizabeth said, tucking her arm in William’s after they had purchased tickets. They walked onto the platform ready to board the train. “Or I could just lean on you.”
“Yes, do that.” He chuckled.
There were a fair number of people gathered on the platform waiting to be given the go-ahead to board the train, but it wasn’t busy by any means. William was rather glad; he had experienced crowded trains before and it wasn’t pleasant.
“At this point, I just want to be there.” Elizabeth sighed when they still hadn’t boarded the train fifteen minutes later. “I’m tired of all this waiting. I want to get to London and then on to Scotland and be married to you as soon as possible.”
“Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just click my fingers,” William said and paused to demonstrate, snapping his fingers together, “and we could be there, dressed in our finery and ready to be wed?”
“It’d be wonderful,” Elizabeth said wistfully. “You’ll come to find that I’m a very impatient person, William.” She frowned. “Isn’t it strange to think that it’s only been twenty-four hours since we decided to leave the island? And only a few short months since we met. It feels like I’ve known you lifetimes.”
“In a good way, I hope?”
“Yes.” She leaned against his arm, smiling against the wool of his coat. “A very good way.”
“You’re right though. To think that yesterday morning I thought it was just going to be another day at the hospital.” He bent to tuck a strand of Elizabeth’s hair away from her face. “Has it happened too fast, do you think?”
“Others might say so. Someone on the outside looking in would say we were mad to be doing this. But if it feels right to us…” She shrugged. “Then that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely.”
The train bellowed suddenly, a cloud of steam rushing from the chimney. There was a shout from the other end of the platform: “All aboard!”
With a glance at one another, William and Elizabeth picked up their things and boarded the train. Every mile the engine ate up and the further it took them away from the coast, William felt things becoming more and more real. The journey so far had passed hazily, like they had been in a very pleasant dream.
Now, heading towards his home and the life he had left behind, he found himself hoping that reality wouldn’t intrude too much, and that they could make it up to Scotland in the next few days without any mishaps.
***
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Posting again delayed by my new Hunger Games obsession. Oops? Anyway here's the chapter! I hope you enjoy. :) Thank you to my readers, reviewers and of course to Sotia for beta reading.
Chapter End Notes:
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