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arguing with him, but she knew that it was pointless. First off, he was determined to
do this so that meant more arguing and possibly resorting to kicking him in the shin,
which of course would lead to him throwing her over his shoulder, marching down to
the lake and throwing her in the lake. Then there was the fact that they both reeked
of skunk and that Mrs. Brown would probably throw them out of the house and ban
them from entering the house until the last lingering scent of skunk was long gone.
She really wished that they d never gone on this trip, she thought, biting back a sigh
that promised to start another argument and right now, she really didn t think that
she couldn t handle an argument. She was terrified that she would say something that
would make him hate her. She was also afraid that she would come off sounding like a
spoiled brat, something that most of the people in town thought she was simply
because her father was a member of the Peer. She loved their new home and even the
town, but she hated the fact that they thought so poorly of her simply because she
spoke with British accent and had been fortunate enough to have been born into a
wealthy family.
Not that she d told anyone about her family, because she hadn t. No, that information
had been shared thanks to James and his good intentions. A few weeks after she d
given birth to the boys, James had dragged Robert down to one of the local taverns
and had argued and begged Robert to return to England, because James had assumed
that she couldn t handle living in New England, dealing with the harsh weather and
running a household without a decent staff to help her.
She knew that he d only been concerned about her wellbeing, but that knowledge
hadn t saved him when she found out that he d had a little too much to drink and had
shared his concerns loud enough for half the men in town to hear, who of course felt it
was necessary to share this information with their wives, families and friends. She
knew that most of the people didn t care and hadn t let James rantings affect their
opinion of her, but the ones who had seemed to go out of their way to remind her that
she didn t belong did.
Stay here, Robert said, letting go of her hand, leaving her standing near the barn as
he quickly made his way inside.
Before she could ask him what he was doing, he was back with several blankets and a
lantern. He took her hand, continuing to lead her towards the woods that she had to
admit that she wasn t looking forward to taking a stroll through in the middle of the
night.
We need to get this scent off us before we go in the house, he said as he lead her
through the woods on the familiar path that they d taken so many times before.
I know, she said, not sounding too happy about it even to her own ears, which of
course made Robert s jaw clench.
At least, she was pretty sure that his jaw clenched, but it was a little hard to see with
only the light from the lantern casting shadows on his face. She considered asking him
if he was angry, but quickly dismissed the idea since she knew damn well that he was
angry.
He d worked hard to bring her on this trip and it had been a disaster from the start. It
was without question the worst trip that either one of them had ever been on, and it
wasn t over yet. As soon as she got to bed she was planning on staying there for a
week or two. She really couldn t remember ever being this exhausted before.
All too soon they d arrived at the lake. Without a word, Robert placed the blankets
and lantern carefully on the ground and removed his pants. He tossed them aside.
Before she could stop him, not that she really thought that she could stop him, he was
pulling off her coat and shirt, tossing them aside and leading her towards the water.
Too exhausted to argue and wanting to just get this over with, she went with him,
deciding that it was best to get this over with so that she could put this trip behind
her and finally get some sleep.
*-*-*-*
He was so fucking tired.
All he wanted to do was climb into bed and hold his wife, but unfortunately the dip in
the cold lake and the bar of soap that they d scrubbed their skin raw with hadn t
completely killed the odor. So, now they were stuck climbing up the ladder to the
hayloft above in the hopes that the scent of hay would help cover the disgusting odor
clinging to their skin.
He followed his wife up the ladder, careful not to drop the lantern or lose the blanket
wrapped around his waist. When she quietly unwrapped her blanket from around her
and placed it on the ground so that she could curl up on her side, he knew that he was
in deep shit. He d brought her on this horrible trip that didn t seem to want to end and
not once had she complained, yelled at him or even bitched about it.
She just simply took it in stride as it came, acting act like she was used to this kind of
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