Chapter Four

Horatio and James bolted up the stairs, the younger man taking them two at a time. They found Emma with her hand over her chest and her back pressed against the closed door to her father's bedroom.

"Good God Emma, what is it?" Horatio asked. His eyes skimmed quickly over her form to look for any injury.

"There's.....they.....two...." Emma stammered breathlessly.

"Oh dear." James injected suddenly realizing what his daughter must have seen. Horatio gripped Emma's arms.

"Take a deep breath to calm yourself." he instructed She stared up at him and did as he asked, not missing how his eyes fell to her rising chest as it filled with air. She blushed, not from any discomfort at his gaze but at her own shamelessness over enjoying his eyes on her. She cleared her throat and forced herself to turn her attention away from his soft brown eyes.

"Father, why are there two dead bodies on your bed.?" she asked.

"What?" Horatio asked, his fingers jumping in shock on her skin. They both turned to James who grinned at them.

"They're for the police, you see? So they'll believe we're dead after the fire."

"Oh!" Emma said, proud of her father's quick thinking. She turned the knob and walked back into the bedroom with them, confident that she'd be fine now that the initial shock had passed. The two corpses, one male and one female were dressed in one of her gowns and one of her father's suits. At least it was the navy blue gown with green lace that Aunt Sylvia had given her. Emma was never overly fond of the dress. They were similar in build to Emma and James and coloring as well.

"Dare I ask where?......Never mind. I'd rather not know." Emma said shaking her head.

Standing before Father Ignatius, Emma was suddenly struck by the absurdity of her situation. Here she was, sixteen years old about to be wed to a complete stranger......well, could she really call Horatio a stranger now? She supposed not. They had spent much time talking and getting to know one another. He didn't laugh at her or try to dissuade her medical ambitions, in fact, he'd actually finally agreed to let her sail on with him and his mates as they carried on their service to King George. She supposed she was beginning to think of him as a friend. But still, a friend was a far cry from a husband.

Her father stood next to Horatio looking rather smug and pleased with himself and not at all like a man who was about to leave everything that he loved behind and go off to parts unknown. The whole situation was insane and Emma had to fight the most maddening urge to giggle through the ceremony. Horatio felt her tremble and must have taken her struggle for control for fear because his fingers tightened around hers in assurance which only made her want to laugh harder. When it came time to say the vows, Emma noticed that Horatio's voice wavered and she felt a surge of tenderness for him. How bizarre this must all be for him as well. She tightened her fingers around the palm of his hand in understanding. Perhaps he had a sweetheart and now here he was bound by honor to marry a stranger.

Emma supposed she could be generous and let him keep his sweetheart as a mistress. She'd heard of men who kept mistresses on the side. They were discreet about it and their wives were perfectly content with the arrangement so long as they were kept in jewels and high social position. Emma discarded the idea out of hand. While being a navy officers' wife must command a certain degree of respect, there wasn't much in the way of jewels or money in the bargain. Emma found herself not much bothered by the prospect. While James Stuart certainly lived well, he lived modestly and instilled in Emma the importance of things besides extravagance.

No, what bothered Emma was the idea of Horatio having a mistress while married to her. There seemed to be a lack of respect in that somehow. A wife should be the only one to attend to her husbands needs. She jolted suddenly with the full impact of what those needs entailed. Was this to be a marriage in name only? They'd never actually clarified that point. Emma's heart began to beat in a slightly quicker pace. Did Horatio actually expect her to?.....

She'd learned a bit about marital relations from the good Dr Hauser and from her own textbooks. The rest was alluded to in whispers among the ladies of polite society. The general consensus was that it was an unpleasant messy affair that a wife simply had to endure. She'd even heard the expression, "Lie back and think of England." While she grasped the mechanics of it, and it did seem rather uncomfortable to have a man lie on top of you like that, nothing was mentioned about how it actually felt. The first time was supposed to be painful due to the rupturing of the hymen. But after that? Was it still painful? Was that why women didn't like it? Was is painful for men as well?

Emma hoped that once they were married she could ask Horatio about these things. He seemed very open and understanding. Maybe he'd kindly answer her queries. Emma turned her head to the priest when she realized that he'd been talking to her. Shamed at the direction of her thoughts, she bit her lip and tried to focus back on more holy matters. Then she looked up at Horatio and the mental image of him lying over her made her blush so badly that she had to look away.

"Repeat after me, I, Emma." the priest began. Emma forced herself to look up at Horatio. He gave her a small smile and again she was grateful that he was handsome.

"Take you, Horatio, to be my husband. I promise to love....." Could she actually promise something like that? When you marry you're supposed to be in love already aren't you? She liked him well enough. She couldn't imagine any great difficulty in coming to love him. I will try, she amended in her mind and went on with her vows " honor and obey......" Now she may have been distracted but she distinctly remembered that Horatio had made no mention of obedience in his vows. When it came time to repeat, she amended the words to mirror Horatio's vows.

"to love, honor and cherish." Emma said with a smile. Horatio looked down at her chastisingly but she simply kept the smile on her face.

"Oh, no. The words were love, honor and obey, Miss." the priest corrected.

"You may continue, Father." Emma said, ignoring his words. Horatio pursed his lips and James coughed. to cover a burst of laughter. After a nod from Horatio, the priest continued on as Emma repeated.

"In sickness and in health. For better or worse. For richer and for poorer. Forsaking all others, until we are parted by death. Emma didn't like that last part at all but she thought that if she tried to change any more of her vows, Father Ignatius would smack her with his bible. So in her mind she amended with the words, forsaking all others, forever. She almost missed the next words but the uncomfortable look on Horatio's face caught her attention. The rings.