The Bride of Blackbeard by Brynn Chapman

reverberated
through the empty schoolhouse.
    “Step away from her, Teache. I prefer not to
shoot a man in the back, but I will if I have to.”
    “Ahh...Lucian Blackwell. Well, let me
guess...are you my rival?” He glared at Constanza. “You
chose a farmer over what I could provide for you? And I thought you
were the most clever woman I had ever met.” He released her, but
not before he had wound a handful of her long, dark hair into his
fingers. “This is not over.”
    Lucian kept the pistol cocked and pointed at
Teache’s head. He followed him out the door, watching him walk
away. Pausing at Constanza’s side, he said without looking at her,
“This all could have been avoided if you'd been forthright with me
from the beginning.”
    ~ * ~
    Staring out into the starry sky Stanzy
couldn’t sleep despite the late hour. The rocking chair in
Katrina's room had beckoned her, where she sat wondering how her
sister fared with the master and mistress of Hawthorne House. She’d
been gone for nearly a month and Stanzy missed her terribly,
despite their frequent bickering.
    Will's loud snoring filtered in from the
adjoining bedroom. Tiptoeing to the doorway, she permitted the
comforting picture to soothe her anxious soul. Jack lay snoring in
unison with his master at the bottom of the bed, and the new pup
curled directly under Will's outstretched arm. Well, at least one
of us is happy, she pouted. And she hated pouting and people who
pouted!
    Although she didn’t want to admit it, she
was still shaken by the encounter with Teache.
    The door to the servants' back stairwell
flung open, smacking the wall with its force. In charged Lucian
with a small frightened man in tow.
    “Stanzy, this is Pastor Brooke. He agreed to
come and perform our marriage vows.”
    Well, so much for being quiet. “What,
Lucian, have you gone mad? When the Hopkinses return, they are
going to be livid.”
    “No one saw us arrive, but please, we have
to make haste!”
    “Yes, Lucian has been a friend for years,
and when he made me aware of the situation...” The pastor’s eyes
dropped uncomfortably to her middle.
    “Lucian, you told him I was pregnant?”
    “I had to! To get him to come tonight, and
besides, perhaps by tomorrow morning you will be...”
    She stared incredulously at him, but the
impulsive fool was smiling from ear to ear, the previous irritation
completely forgotten. “I will say it again,” she reiterated,
shaking her head. “You are like no one I have met before...”
    ~ * ~
    Later, when he laid her onto the bed, she
saw his eyes fill with apprehension, or perhaps regret. “You
deserve so much better than this, but I am afraid Teache will
return. I felt if we were already wed, it would dissuade Hopkins
from just turning you over to him, like the coward he is. When
everyone knows we are wed, we will have a gathering, with food and
music.”
    Stanzy lay back on the bed and tugged his
waist close to her with both feet. “I do not need parties and
games. I just need you,” she whispered sincerely.
    The next morning, she felt him slide over to
her again for the third time since last night. He raised onto one
elbow. “You are so beautiful.”
    The door to her room opened. Bess stopped
mid-walk and dropped the sheets she carried to the floor. Worse
yet, behind her in the hall, Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins stood, mouths
agape, staring at the spectacle of the two of them entwined in the
sheets...and one another.
     
     
     
     
    ~ Chapter Five ~
     
     
    Lucian sat in front of Hopkins’ desk, his
fingers fumbling as he tried in vain to lace his shirt. “I already
explained this...we are wed!” Raising his hand, he showed Hopkins
the ring—for the fourth time. “I know Teache will return and we
both know bloody well he does not take no for an answer with
anything!”
    “Yes, I fear for all on this plantation for
what you have done.” Hopkins slammed his fist on the desktop. “You
should have just let him have her Lucian. This town