The Bride Price

Chapter Thirteen

Emily awoke late, after the fire had burned out and the morning sun was slanting through the leaves that covered the sitting room windows. She had no memory of William waking and leaving her there to continue dreaming. It had been the second night since their wedding that she had shared a bed with him, and it was also the second night since she could remember that she had slept deeply, without fear of being disturbed by nightmares or troubled memories.

She glanced down at the pillow beside her, the one that still bore the imprint of William's head. Had he held her during the night? Had his arms found their way around her waist, his hips nestled against hers while their legs tangled beneath the warmth of the sheets?

She pushed a few tendrils of hair from her eyes and struggled up to her feet. A cursory glance around the downstairs rooms, combined with the silence of her surroundings was enough to assure her some privacy as she dressed and pinned her hair.

She found William outside, already dressed for their excursion into Crowford, his waistcoat brushed and his neckcloth white and carefully tied.

"You should not have let me sleep so late," Emily said as she placed her bonnet on her head.

"You were exhausted," he said, his own hat dangling from his right hand. "I would have allowed you to sleep through all of today and into tomorrow if it would have done you well." He put on his hat and held out his arm to her. "Are you ready?"

"As much as I believe I'll ever be," she said, and laid her hand in the crook of his elbow.

The sun shone brightly on their heads, the additional hours Emily spent asleep having given it time to dispel most of the morning chill. She blinked the last of the tiredness from her eyes, and as her mind awakened, she began to feel the faint pangs of hunger stir to life inside her stomach. An afternoon and evening of physical labor, followed by a long night of sleep capped off by a walk into town had left Emily ready to strip the leaves off the neighboring trees for sustenance if she didn't obtain something to eat soon.

Their walk was not a long one. Emily soon spotted the rooftops of several buildings, and William pointed out the steeple of a church as they crossed a stone bridge that spanned a shallow stream. They merged into the slow morning traffic that decorated the wide streets and alleyways, young mothers with their children, older ladies clutching baskets and parcels, and a handful of carts and wagons weaving carefully through their midst.

"Let's stop in here first, shall we?" William directed her into what appeared to be a shop of some sort, and before the bell on the door could cease its jingling, Emily's nose picked up the scent of freshly baked rolls and bread along with the heavier, spicier aroma of teas and coffee.

They had barely been seated before a larger woman, dressed from head to toe in every frill and strip of lace that would have marked her as fashionable some two decades before, came bustling out from the back room, the strings of her cap dancing about the grey curls that framed her face.

Her eyes brightened considerably when she saw them, and Emily wondered if their arrival the day before had already become a topic of gossip among the wives and general busybodies of the town.

"Good morning, good morning!" Their hostess stood by the side of their table, her hands smoothing down the front of her prim apron as she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. "So lovely to see fresh faces on such a beautiful day!" She bobbed again, her apron receiving a final swipe before she clasped her hands in front of her. "And so nice of you to pay a visit to my humble tea room, run by Mister Langley," she added with a slight lift of her eyebrow. "And myself."

Emily glanced over at William, whose mouth quirked once before his expression returned to its previously impassive state. With every show of amiability and good manners, he ordered coffee for the both of them, and as many cheese rolls as Mrs. Langley had for sale.