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A Ramshackle Start
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Robin had always been impressed by his mother's flare for performance, but her dramatically tearful farewell on the street outside his London home didn't fool him. She was happy his sister was married.
"There now - everything is perfect." His mother hitched up her skirts to climb the front steps with a vigor usually displayed by a much younger lady.
He shared a glance with his third cousin. Like him, the dark-haired woman knew better than to get in his mother's way when a mood like this struck. Expecting the worst, Robin snagged Emily's arm to follow his mother inside.
"Now, Bates, I want the trunks brought down immediately. Hurry man. Time is getting away." She smacked her hands together, scowling as if the butler didn't move fast enough.
Emily's warmth slipped from his arm as she swept up the staircase in the butler's wake. "Mother," Robin growled. "What are you about?"
She preened before the mirror. With her age just barely past forty, she still turned many a man's head. "Now that your sister's married it's high time I got out of this dreary city and had my own life. I'm going to my sisters' for a month apiece, and then I might see where the winds of chance blow me."
Good God, mother was having one of her fits. Robin hoped Emily could handle her on the holiday. Most of the time, Robin fled in lieu of dealing with his mother's changing whims. Had she been this flighty while his father lived?
The servants returned carrying two trunks between them. "Do not forget to hail a hack for Miss Emily, Bates," his mother said. "She meets the stage at precisely five o'clock."
"Why does Emily need a hack or the stage? Isn't she traveling with you?"
"Oh, no, no, no, dear boy, such a fuddle-head. Emily is bound for Bexley, and I to Brighton. She will need the hack unless you prefer her to walk to the coach house. Do you?"
Robin was shocked. "No, of course not, but why the devil is she going to Bexley? She cannot wish to rusticate with Grandmamma."
"Well, an unmarried woman cannot be unchaperoned. It was always understood that once your sister was off my hands I would travel. If you had but listened, instead of enjoying Town so much, you might have realized that today marks the beginning of my freedom."
Poor Emily. He didn't envy her sojourn to his grandmother's house. "When will you return?"
A sniff made him turn to watch Emily descend the stairs. Dressed for travel in her very best cloak, he felt a startling pain at her leaving. She'd grown so familiar, so dear that when she reached him, he recognized her barely masked misery.
"Well, I cannot imagine I shall be ready to return before Christmas. There is so much to catch up on with my sisters." His mother sang. "Perhaps I won't come back until next spring."
That sounded good to him - it would be nice to have a little peace from her theatrics. "And Emily?"
Emily said nothing, but concentrated on tying the ribbons on her bonnet. She turned and faced the mirror to settle the bow.
"Well?"
"Emily shan't be back at all, my boy. I simply cannot keep track of her travels back and forth across the country. She will go to Bexley today, and Grandmamma can watch over her."
That would have to be the biggest fib his mother had ever told. Grandmamma hated any interruption to her social circle. She would forget all about Emily.
"The hack has arrived, sir."
Emily started at the butler's words, but then she turned. Despite her serene expression, she clutched her reticule tight. "Thank you, Bates."
This wasn't right. Robin hadn't heard a word about a plan to send Emily half-way across the country, and all on her own, no less. Of all the ramshackle starts, this was by far his mother's biggest folly.
"No."
His mother scowled at him. "Really, Robin, this is hardly a matter that concerns you. Go back to whatever it is you usually do in Town and leave everything to me."
"Emily is not going to molder in grandmother's shadow. She is not leaving this house."
His mother gasped. "And how can she stay when there will only be scandal. Would you drag our name through the mud?"
"There will be no scandal."
Robin approached Emily. She didn't look up so he reached out and tugged the ribbon on her bonnet to remove it. Behind him, his mother gasped.
"Emily, turn around." Emily didn't move, so he laid his hands upon her arms to tug her closer. When she wouldn't look up, he slipped his knuckle under her chin to lift her watery gaze to his. "Emily will marry me. Won't you, Em dear?"
Emily's slow blossoming smile sent his mother into a frenzy of activity. "Bates, send away the hack and get these trunks upstairs. Then, I want you to find that nice rector. His uncle is an Archbishop and might help speed up a special license. He seemed very sympathetic with my need to see the world."
Robin ignored his mother as he steadily backed Emily into the drawing room. As he closed and locked the door behind them, Emily's sigh mirrored his.
"You didn't have to offer marriage to save me from Grandmamma."
"Nobody deserves Grandmamma, least of all you." Grinning, Robin lowered his lips and kissed Emily, wondering why he'd never thought of doing so before.
Behind his back, his mother tapped frantically on the door. "Robin. Emily. Don't you dare create a scandal."
Stifling a giggle, Emily led him toward the servant's stairs. The twinkle of mischief in her eyes hinted just how big a scandal she hoped he'd make. Impressed, and completely in agreement, Robin slipped an arm about her waist, led her to his bedchamber, determined to get a head start on their wedding night.
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