Chapter Forty-Three
Elias had never heard of a “Monreal marriage” until Morwena mentioned it.
“Weddings in Sicily are a big family affair and sometimes there are many feuds or the daughter is not permitted to marry by her parents. Perhaps she is young, perhaps her papa does not approve. So sometimes our lovers run away to the country where the priests are not so particular about the rules. We call that a Monreal marriage,” she said.
Laura laughed, clearly delighted. “It sounds like running away to Gretna Green.”
“It would certainly help secure the return of Benjamin if you went together as husband and wife,” Sophia remarked.
“And I have a priest who is ready to marry you this afternoon,” added Morwena. “Jonathan and I, Kit and Sophia will be your witnesses.”
Elias looked at her and then to Jonathan who smothered a laugh. Kit showed no such restraint. He burst out in gales of laughter.
“You’ve already made arrangements?” Elias asked.
“Of course!” said Morwena. “The priest at Villagrazia likes you. He wants you to rebuild your villa and invite him to dinner to continue your theological discussions.”
“Morwena, my love,” Jonathan said, twining her arm though his. “You’re supposed to ask before arranging other people’s lives.”
The dark-haired woman looked up at her husband adoringly before fixing her attention back onto Elias. “And what would be the fun in that? Besides, I didn’t see the point of waiting once I learned Laura had asked you to marry her. After all, you did say yes, did you not?”
Elias offered an exaggerated sigh. “Jonathan, how do you stand your life being so well organized?”
“I’m used to it now,” he grinned. “And trust me, it’s better to go along.”
Elias straightened in his chair and pressed his feet to the floor. The skin on the soles of his feet had knitted together well. In another week, he would remove the last of the bandages. He turned to Laura who sat beside him and picked up her hand.
“Is this what you want? We could have a lavish wedding, a feast to go on for days if you wish. We could even return to England and be married in an Anglican church if that’s what you want.”
Laura squeezed his hand. Those blue eyes which had captivated him from their first meeting held him in thrall still. A beautiful face, which had seen so much fear and suffering over the past few years, showed no signs of it now. She was a woman who found the inner courage to slay the demons that tormented her soul. Elias didn’t know it was possible to love her even more, but he did.
“I just want you,” she said. “I want our family. Let’s get married today. We’ll celebrate tomorrow when we have our son.”
Our son.
The words spread warmth through his chest.
“Then let’s get married today.”
*
Elias kissed their joined hands.
“I’ve dreamed of this day for the longest time.”
“Our wedding day?”
“The day I make love for the first time to the only woman I’ve ever wanted to make love to.”
Laura blushed.
Matteo and his father had been kind enough to give up their own home for a few days to give them some privacy.
Laura turned down the linen sheets made soft over time. She was nervous but she was not afraid. This was Elias, a man she had come to love. Not a silly, childish infatuation or a desire borne of lust, but a deep and abiding passion.
Still waters run deep.
There was so much to admire in Elias – his thoughtfulness, his bravery, his integrity. For the longest time, she thought that was the limit of her regard. But now, as he stripped off his clothes, baring himself as he had bared his soul, Laura felt her body respond.
His was a body honed by hard work on land and at sea and when he put his arms around her, she felt safe and protected. The urgent press of his hardness against her belly did not reduce her to quivering panic. It was evidence of his love for her, not simply desire.
Their first kiss was sweet, a tender exploration of mouth and lips. Laura broke the kiss and removed her simple nightgown. She stood before him naked. The longing in his eyes as he lingered over every part of her, made her heart beat faster.
She had learned her lesson about giving and taking that night all those months ago. She had used him as she herself had been used. Now she waited.
“You look nervous,” she said.
Elias smiled slowly. Anticipation thrummed between her legs. Her nipples puckered and she was tempted to stroke herself to bring relief.
“I’m not at all nervous,” he said. “I intend to take my time. A very long time.”
He raised her hand to his lips and kissed the back of her hand in a courtly gesture that made her fall in love with him once more, then escorted her to the bed and lay on his side toward her.
“I’m going to learn every inch of you,” he whispered, his fingers skimming over her shoulders, down her arms, across her breasts. “I’ll know you so well, my darling. Every hitch of your breath, every sigh that tells me that I bring you pleasure. I’ll need no other experience than the one we share together.”
*
Elias had fought battles – against the weather at sea and the Barbary Coast pirates. He had been armed with knives, pistols and cutlasses. Never before had he been armed with two simple pieces of paper.
One proclaimed he and Laura were man and wife and, just as importantly, the recognized parents of Benjamin Edward Nash.
The other was a letter from the Florio family, asking the church to overlook the unusual circumstances of the child’s abandonment, and endorsing Senor and Senora Nash as valued members of the Palermo community.
Laura stared at the gold band on her finger and the larger one on the finger of her husband before their fingers entwined to hold each other’s hand tight.
They waited in one of the vestibules for nearly an hour for the deacon to return with the family who had taken in their son.
“Elias, do you think Benjamin will remember I left him?” Laura whispered. “Will he hate me for it?”
He put his arm around his wife. “He’s too young to remember. He will see your face and will love you as he has always done.”
“Do you hate me for abandoning our son?”
“I’ve never hated you, and when I read the diary you left for Benjamin, I understood.”
“I’m sorry it got destroyed in the fire.”
“You’re back and that’s the only thing that matters. You can tell Benjamin this story yourself one day.”
They both fell silent at the sound of footsteps echoing down the hall.
Elias rose to his feet. Laura did so as well. He found himself holding his breath as an elderly couple entered. The woman, short and stocky, with a simple scarf covering her hair, carried Benjamin who slept soundly in her arms.
The man, who would have been tall in his youth, was now stooped by his advancing years.
The official who accompanied them spoke. “We’re here today to establish if this foundling is the child abandoned by these two people and, if so, whether they are fit parents to take back the child.”
Elias pulled out Laura’s broken locket on its chain. “Nearly two months ago, I brought my child here for sanctuary. Attempts had been made on his life and mine. It was always my intent, God willing, to return or, in my absence, for my wife to claim our son.”
He saw the deacon’s eyes fall to Laura and Elias continued.
“To prove Benjamin’s identity and ours, I broke this locket and pinned the back of it, with a portrait in miniature of my wife’s mother to Benjamin’s clothes. As you see, her daughter shares her coloring, down to their blue eyes. And here is the front of that locket to compare.”
The hunched man produced the back portion. He fitted the two pieces together, perfectly mated save for where the hinge was twisted and broken. He showed it to his wife. The old woman burst into tears.
“You will have to forgive my wife,” said the old man. “We were never blessed with our own children and it has left a large emptiness in our hearts, so when she found the child here in the church, we thought it was a sign from God.”
The woman’s sobbing woke Benjamin, he yawned but kept his head on the woman’s shoulder. Then his eyes seemed to focus properly. He raised his head, saw Elias, and shoved out his arms.
“Pa-pa-pa! Papa! Papa!”
Elias reached out for the child who immediately latched on to his shirt.
Tears streamed down Laura’s face as she placed a hand on Benjamin’s back. Nearly ten months old, how he had grown!
She clutched the hand of the tearful woman. “Thank you, thank you so much for taking care of my son.”
The older woman was inconsolable at the moment, however, and she turned to her husband for comfort.
Laura wiped her own eyes with a kerchief and, for the first time, Benjamin looked at her with the blue eyes they shared.
“Ma-ma!”
“That’s right,” Elias said softly. “It’s your mama, and it’s time we all went home together.”