Twenty Three Part Three

Violet charmed the ladies into showing him the fancy cake creation that had been made especially for him and Elizabeth. He begged to be able to taste the confection, and they were under way.

Together he and Betsy cut the wedding cake. After exchanging small bites of the spiced apple cake with buttercream topping, Violet and Betsy then gave the cake table back over to the local ladies. They were more than happy to distribute pieces of the sweet dessert to the revelers.

It just happened that a few young girls had come along to the wedding with their parents, they had been struck by the romantic feel in the air, and all had declared themselves hopelessly in love with Brutus.

Being that the girls were in their mid teens, Brutus tried to maintain his patience, as the girls took turns asking him to dance, and then proceeded to practice their womanly wiles upon him.

Violet had caught on to the tittering, glance slanting group of young ladies, and he encouraged them all he dared.

Walking around behind the girls, his wife on his arm, Violet stopped under the same tree, yet on the other side of the trunk from the giggling girls.

They were all tittering, watching the eldest of their group as she tried to charm the handsome first mate.

"I am sure Brutus enjoys having so many pretty girls to choose from, was it not just the other day, my dear, he said he was ready to take a wife?" Violet spoke conspiratorially to Betsy, yet loud enough for the girls to hear. He was rewarded with much giggling and sighing, as Betsy opened her mouth to admonish him for encouraging them.

He swooped down upon her and kissed her open mouth.

Betsy struggled to be unhanded after such a dirty trick, but she found that she could not breath as well as she needed to. She accepted his kiss, so she could take in air through her nose, as she glared at Vi at the same time.

His eyes were full of merriment and she knew her glare was helping none at all.

Violet quirked a brow, and Betsy began laughing at him ending the kiss, as he drew her away from the girls to dance one more time, before he stole her away.

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All in attendance waved the carriage off. Lady Eleanor and Katherine wore full smiles upon their faces.

They looked at each other and nodded. A task well done, they both agreed. They walked together to thank the reverend and collect the flowers from the church. They would then return to the ship to spend the evening with Marcus and the crew.

The ladies were quite pleased with the ceremony, it had not been your usual serious, stoic wedding, not with all the kissing and gazing lovingly into one another's eyes Violet and Betsy had done.

Both Ellie and Katy found themselves reliving the sweet wedding, then sighing wistfully on occasion throughout the rest of the day. A love match always made for the best weddings.

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Paulie took his bouquet and lay it on his bunk. He sat down and rested his forearms on his knees. He thought of the Lady Eleanor and how sweet she had smelled when he sat next to her.

All of the love and romance Paulie had seen in the last few hours, had made him a bit sad.

He was happy for Violet and Elizabeth, yet, he was sad for himself. He missed having a woman to love.

Helping with the children had aided his loneliness, but there was something about a woman's love that Paulie knew was special.

The wedding today had brought back memories of his own wife. He had one somewhere, he thought. Unless she had died or she may have remarried while still being married to him, he could not be sure if she was still out there somewhere.

Paulie honestly did not know how he would feel if he ever found her. She had left him so suddenly, and by all accounts, it seemed she had left willingly.

He only knew she had broken his heart, and in doing so, she had convinced him he was a failure.

What kind of woman would want a man such as he? He was rough around the edges, he tended to curse upon occasion, though the good Lord was working on that, and to top it all off, he was the failure his wife had branded him. He had not been able to give her children.

Paulie stood and removed his jacket, folding it neatly, he put it in his sea chest and closed the lid. He then picked up the flowers and quit the room.

He wandered down the hall, his goal to find Timothy and Jonah to see if the wee one needed a nap, but first he would take the flowers to the ladies. He had overheard that they were planning to use all the flower arrangements in the captain's quarters.

Paulie approached the open door and he could hear Katy and Eleanor inside discussing where to put what.

"I have the hand flowers." Paulie offered the bouquet to Katy as she was closest to him.

"Why, thank you Paulie, how do you think we have done so far?" Katherine swept her arm outward, indicating the arrangements dispersed throughout the cabin.

There were flowers on every flat surface he could see. It looked like a flower shop if he were to be honest. A bit much for his taste, but you never knew what other people might like.

"They be right pretty flowers." Paulie nodded, as the ladies smiled and thanked him for his opinion.

Eleanor then moved next to Paulie to see their work from a different angle. "You did wonderfully today Paulie, giving Elizabeth away, it was a very nice wedding." She smiled at Paulie, as he blushed a mite, before blustering his way out of the cabin.

"I gots ta find me the wee one and git him down fer his nap." Paulie made his escape quickly, he went to find the boys above deck, as Katy and Ellie chuckled at Paulie and how cute he was.

Eleanor's eyes sparkled as she watched him grumble his way away from them.

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Betsy leaned forward out the window to wave as the carriage rolled away. She smiled at the pretty picture her Papa's church made on the rise, the reverend waved from the landing and their many beloveds waved also, standing in front.

Her gaze swept the edge of the cemetery, before she drew back inside the coach to settle at Violet's side.

His arm came around her and they smiled into one another's eyes.

"Finally Kitten, I have you all to myself." Violet slowly ran his fingertips down her cheek to hold her chin gently and kiss her sweetly.

Betsy sighed and snuggled in closer to him, as his arms came around to hold her securely in his embrace. This was was she had wanted as she stood at the door of the church right before they wed. Just she and her husband, she safe and warm in his arms.

He had given her his jacket, as she had felt the chill in the air after the warmth of dancing had faded away.

She now snuggled in Violet's strong arms as he kissed her temple and rubbed his hands up and down on her arms.

"It was a lovely wedding, Violet. We are blessed that all could be there today." She rubbed a hand on his chest as she thought aloud. "Poor Paulie, he saw all those people and froze solid." She smiled against Violet's chest. "He came right to however, and he did very well after that." She giggled a little bit, "His face was priceless, I shall remember it always."

"I did not even see him, I must admit. I had myself a very hard time trying to stay alive. I do not want to ever have to spend another night without you." Violet squeezed her as she smiled at his admission.

"I also did not care for that part, and I am glad 'tis done and we can be on our way to London now."

Violet lifted her and sat her upon his lap, "Not quite yet, Kitten, we still have tonight." He nuzzled her neck, placing kisses upon her shoulder, as she sighed happily in his arms.

"Yes, we do have tonight, do we not?"

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They had been given a suite of rooms in the guest quarters. Elizabeth had not been in this part of the estate very often. This room was usually set aside for the Duke, it was also available, should any other titled guest stay any amount of time at the residence.

The grand bedroom boasted it's own sitting room and separate bathing chamber.

A table set to the side of the massive hearth in the sitting area was set elegantly for dinner a deux.

All of the furniture was dark, polished wood. The tapestries that hung upon the walls, and graced the furniture, were all deep, rich colors. Golds and burgundies, deep greens and blues were interwoven into beautiful pieces of art.

In the bedchamber stood an oversized, thick columned, heavily draped bed. Dressers, bed stands, armoires and vanity were all in the same dark mahogany wood.

Violet stood in the doorway between the two rooms, staring at the raised bed for a moment, before making his way to the silent butler.

The low fire in the hearth had been burning brightly when they entered, warming the room pleasantly. Violet had taken his jacket from Betsy's shoulders and been looking for somewhere to hang it.

Once done, he glanced towards the bed again. It had been a long time since he had slept in any bed save his own aboard ship. He saw the crisp white sheets and thick, downy comforters.

Soon enough, this, or something like it would be his life. No rocking upon the ocean as he slept at night. It would be different, that he knew, yet having Elizabeth beside him would make it all worth it. He could get used to sleeping on land again, he had done it before and would adapt again.

He then noticed that the hearth came through the wall and the fire burned cheerily on this side also. He smiled at that, he had never made love before a fire with Elizabeth. He liked the idea of her skin reflecting the firelight as he gazed upon her.

He rubbed his hands together and returned to the object of his musings.

Betsy was standing in front of the hearth warming her backside against the fire's heat.

"Should we ring for some tea and coffee?" Violet asked, as he made his way to the bell pull that would signal a maid.

"That would be lovely, Violet, thank you." Betsy was warm and content to be alone with her husband. She had missed him last night. His warmth, his words, she had longed for both. Now that she had him all to herself, she was content to relax and let the emotions from the day wind down.

He, however, needed to be close to her.

He joined her at the hearth and took her hands, "We still have an hour until dinner, would you like to play cards?" Violet wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively, as a light knock sounded on the door.

"Come in." Betsy called out, laughing, as she whirled away from Violet and met Tess at the door.

"Ye needed something, Ma'am?" Tess was all smiles and sunshine, as she was the lucky one who got to wait on the newlyweds.

All below stairs were waiting for her to come back down and report on what she saw.

"Some coffee and tea, please, Tess, and a deck of cards if you would not mind." Betsy shot Violet a glance that told him he had a run for his clothing in his near future.

He grinned unabashedly as he looked forward to the challenge.

Tess curtsied and did a neat about face marching off to do her duty. She had promised Lady Eleanor to supply them with anything they asked for, to serve dinner, and then to leave them alone unless summoned. Tess could easily accomplish all of the above.

All of the staff had been happy with Eleanor's future plans for the house, as all knew how dire one's circumstances could become. Knowing how blessed they all were to have good employment, they all looked forward to aiding others, and wanted to prove their worth.

Tess hit the kitchens running, "Tea and coffee if you please." Was called out as she made a skidding turn through the formal dining room, straight across and through the doors to the hall. She skidded around that corner also and swooped left into to the parlor.

She got the cards from the desk towards the back of the room, then walked sedately back to the kitchens, there to await her tray and calm her breathing.

"Well, we did not get to see him, what did he look like?" The buxom cook stood in front of Tess, arms akimbo, awaiting an answer.

Tess had no words that she could think of to describe Violet. "Perfect?" She said timidly.

"Perfect? Perfectly what?" Cook demanded to know.

"Perfect!" Tess said again, nodding her head this time.

"Eeesh lass, I be wondering just what yer idea of perfect is, have ye seen many men in yer life?" Cook laughed, as her helpers giggled, mostly out of consideration for her attempt at a joke.

"Ah, I will be forgiving ye, Cooky, as ye have not seen him yet yourself." Tess sighed as she watched Cook put a tray together.

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Violet rearranged a few pieces of furniture. He moved a small table front of the hearth, then he moved the upholstered chairs in closer to the fire, one on each side of the small table.

Tess returned with their tray, which Violet took from her hands, setting it on the stone hearth that was bench height beside them. He turned to thank Tess as she backed out of the room, blushing, bowing and blathering on about how t'was no problem a tall.

Betsy chuckled at the maid's unsettled behavior, remembering herself running into a few trees after the first time she had laid eyes on Violet.

He raised a brow at Betsy as she waved him off, he did not need to know about the tree episode, she sat in her seat to pour tea and coffee.

Violet took his seat across from her and picked the cards off the tray. He shuffled twice, then downed his coffee, to resume mixing the cards while Betsy toed off her slippers and tucked her legs underneath her. She then lifted her cup and sipped her tea.

Violet dealt the cards and his wife won the first hand.

He stood and awaited his punishment.

"Boots." Betsy deemed, as she took her turn to shuffle.

Violet removed his boots, then wiggled his toes, damned that felt good.

Betsy dealt and Violet won the next round. "I shall give you a pass as your shoes are already shed." Violet nodded at Betsy's feet which were stockinged and peeking out from under her.

She returned his nod.

It was Violet's deal and at the end of play he lost to her superior shark abilities.

Betsy's gaze raked him up and down, and though she longed to strip him to his skivvies, she decided to enjoy the view a bit longer. "Shirt."

She grinned as Violet stood and made a small show of stripping his shirt from his body. He swung it around a couple of times before he hung it on the back of his chair and sat back down.

Betsy shuffled and laughed at him as he wiggled his eyebrows and made his pecks dance for her.

"Oh, please stop." Betsy giggled, as he stopped being silly, and sat back eyeing her as he might a sweetmeat. "Deal lovey, I will beat you yet. You have worn that dress long enough.

Betsy had just dealt the hand when a tap came upon the door once more. It was Tess with their dinner.

Betsy hopped up and answered the door, helping Tess place the covered dishes on the table, she jumped when Tess dropped a wine glass and it's stem broke away from the bowl.

It was then Betsy remembered Violet was half dressed. Tess had turned a bright red, she was trying unsuccessfully to keep her eyes adverted from the most perfect specimen of manhood she had ever seen.

"Thank you, Tess. We will be fine, we can share a glass, so there is no need to bring another." Betsy shooed Tess from the room, as Violet tossed the broken glass into the hearth and searched for any slivers.

"I believe it broke cleanly." He lifted the dish covers to find beef steaks, potatoes, and greens, a basket was found to hold rolls, and a bowl of creamy butter accompanied them.

Violet moved to a chair to seat Betsy, then he walked around and seated himself. He poured the wine and set the glass in the middle.

Betsy smiled at him and bowed her head.

Violet took his cue, "Father God, I thank You for this, our wedding day. We have been very blessed by You and we ask You to be with us always, giving us wisdom and more knowledge of You."

Violet smelled the wonderful aroma wafting up from the table, the yeasty bread and the grilled beefsteaks making his mouth water. "Bless this food, Lord, and the Lady Eleanor for seeing to our needs so nicely. In your Son's name I pray," Violet looked up at his Kitten and they said "Amen" together.

Dinner was just as lovely as it smelled. Everything was so delicious they both ate more than they should have, making them both feel a bit full and lazy afterwards.

The small amount of wine had relaxed them and they decided to finish the card game abed.

Violet poured the rest of the wine into the glass and Betsy picked up the cards. He took her hand and led her into the bedroom, setting his glass on the table bedside.

Betsy lifted her dress above her knees and settled into the cushy comforters, Violet lay on his side across the bottom of the bed as she fluffed up pillows behind her back.

Violet picked up the cards that sat between them as Betsy continued adjusting herself until comfortable.

Violet dealt and it was not long before Betsy had to remove an article of clothing.

She rose straight up and grabbed the bar across the top of the bed, using it to aid her descent. When she stood on the floor, Violet rose and joined her in front of the fire, beside the oversized bed.

Violet stood behind her and moved her hair to the side so he could kiss her neck. "The dress." He whispered, as she shivered from the inside, out.

He retreated a step to loosen the laces that held her dress together from the back, she kept her arms crossed against her front, to keep the beautiful lace from falling on the floor.

Violet saw the satin chemise, trimmed in lace, that she wore under the gown. "Shall I lift it over your head?" He asked of her.

She nodded and smiled at his insight and assistance, as he lifted the gown over her head and turned to hang it over his jacket on the other side of the room.

When he turned back to her, she took his breath away again.

She stood in a white satin chemise, the neck scooped, same as the gown had been, yet this revealed her curves through the lace vee insert in the front. A band of lace trimmed the hem edge, which only reached down to the top of her thighs. Her white sheer stockings came up mid thigh and the sight was so sweetly sexy that Violet almost cried again.

He did not need veils and dancing, he did not need a gown, corset and lacy underthings, all he needed was standing right in front of him.

"Violet?" She waited, warming herself in front of the fire until he joined her once more.

"I would like to forfeit and declare you winner this eve." Violet walked straight up to her and lifted her into his arms. He kissed her until he felt everything leave her body except desire for him.

He reached back and swept the bed clear of cards, then he pulled back sheets and comforters, to lay her upon the bottom sheet that their bodies, and now the fire had kept warmed. Violet stood next to the bed, looking down upon all he desired, as she held a hand up to him, beckoning him to join her.

He loosened his breeches and stripped them off, still wearing his shorts, he lay down next to her and took her into his arms.

The chemise and the shorts were dispensed with in due time and her stockings came off at his leisure. Kissing her legs and feet, rubbing them and relaxing her, he took his time and loved her slowly, as she was used to. She tried to give him pleasure in return, but he knew he could only take so much, he took both her hands in his and raised them above her head. "Trust me." He said to her as she nodded and accepted his kiss.

And Violet made her his wife in truth. Gently, lovingly, and slowly.

He thought her tears had been caused by pain, yet when she looked up at him with her big, brown eyes awash with joy, she told him it was only that she had finally found that which had been missing. To be with him, truly as one.

Violet held her and loved her through the night well into the early morning, when they finally slept, wrapped in one another's arms for a few sweet hours.

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Finally, Violet got his wedding night ;)