Overwhelmed with guilt, all color drained from Melissa's face, while Ian objected violently to that insulting question. His courage bolstered her own, and she felt no need to even hint at the truth. After all, she was only a week overdue now, and surely that wasn't time enough to confirm a pregnancy. "Ian is a gentleman, Father, and he has always behaved as such with me. In fact, our elopement was my idea, not his, so you mustn't blame him."
"I blame you both for not having more sense," John complained.
An uncomfortable silence ensued, and it was Rachel who finally broke it. "We can plan the wedding for a month from yesterday. Then if you should have a child eight months later, we'll say he's four weeks' premature. A month isn't really sufficient time to plan a wedding, but since Byron was born just nine months after your father and I were wed, I don't think we should gamble on having the luxury of more time. Perhaps we can say that you anticipate being transferred elsewhere, Lieutenant. That's certainly plausible, isn't it?"
"Yes, if the situation in the Ohio Valley worsens, I could easily be assigned elsewhere."
"I think we should discuss this in private, Ian," Melissa urged. "It's too important an issue to decide in haste."
"Unlike your wedding!" John reminded her.
Ian chose to ignore that ill-tempered outburst. "Will you excuse us, please?" he asked.
John rose and gestured toward the door. "Certainly, take all the time you need. We'll wait dinner for you. After all, we don't want to compound the problems of one hasty decision with another equally foolish choice."
Ian helped Melissa to her feet. She glanced toward Alanna, and knew by the hurt she saw in her cousin's expression just how upsetting their elopement had been for her. "I'm sorry," she whispered as they passed by her chair. "I would have told you our plans had there been time, but it was all very romantic and spontaneous."
Alanna nodded, then looked toward her uncle to see if he had heard Melissa's apology. When he looked away, she knew that he had, but it didn't appear as though he would offer her an apology of his own. She understood his preoccupation with Melissa could be blamed for his shocking lack of manners, but that didn't make her feel any better.
Because they had enjoyed previous walks down by the river, Ian led Melissa along the path that crossed the lawn. "At least your father didn't try and shoot me," he teased. "I'm taking that as a good sign."
"Let's not make light of our situation," Melissa begged. "It isn't in the least bit funny."
"I'm sorry if my attempt at humor was misplaced." By the time they'd reached the river's edge, Ian's mood was as serious as hers. "Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not sorry that we got married," he assured her, "but you know I wanted you to have a big wedding so all your family and friends could be there to celebrate. I think we should agree to your father's plan, and keep our elopement a secret. A month isn't an unreasonable amount of time for us to wait to live as man and wife."
While Melissa knew that a month might not seem like long to him, she dared not give him any reason to doubt the child she feared she was carrying was his. "I believed you to be a man of integrity, Ian."
"Only believed? You don't believe it still?"
"Not when you'd hand me back to my father, as though you regretted taking me for a wife."
"I'm doing no such thing."
Melissa knew she was pushing him, but she couldn't help herself; "If you'll deny we're wed, then that's precisely what you're doing."
Melissa wore such a heartbreaking look of rejection, Ian instantly pulled her into his arms. "No, all I'm doing is attempting to set everything right: to see you have a proper wedding, and to make a better impression on your parents. Please consider my side for a moment, Melissa. I don't want your parents to despise me for the rest of their lives. I don't want to be an outcast, who is ignored at every family gathering and treated as though I don't exist.
"If I can win your parents' approval by merely agreeing to marry you again in a month, then I'm willing to do it. We needn't be apart. In fact, I'll make it a condition for our consent to your parents' plan. I'll insist upon spending the nights here with you, but for propriety's sake, I'll return to town before dawn. Will that make you happy?"
His promise to spend the nights with her was all Melissa needed to be swayed to his point of view. She waited a long moment to make him believe she was silently debating the issue, however, and then looked up at him and smiled. "Yes, if I don't have to wait a month to actually be your wife, then I'll pretend we're only engaged, because that's the best choice for you. I do so want for my parents to love you, too."
"Did you really think I could stay away from you for a month?"
"Well, I'd certainly hoped not, but I'm glad that you don't intend to promise my father that you will."
"He'll never get that kind of promise out of me." Ian sealed his vow with a kiss, to
ok her hand, and started back toward the house. "Let's suggest we make our plans over dinner. I'm so hungry, I can barely stand."
Melissa felt queasy rather than eager for food, but she smiled, relieved that Ian had proved to be as thoughtful a husband as she had hoped, she actually began to look forward to planning a formal wedding. She was smiling as they returned to the parlor, but not for long.
"Because I want what's best for Melissa," Ian told the Barclays, "I'll agree to marry her again in a month's time, but I'll not forgo the privilege of being her husband until then. I want to spend the nights with her here as often as my duties permit, but I'll return to Williamsburg well before dawn, so our engagement will appear suitably chaste. If that's not agreeable to you, then Melissa will leave with me now, and there will be no second wedding."
John clenched his fists at his sides. "You claim to want what's best for my daughter with one breath, and then deny it in the next. This is my house, Lieutenant, and I'll not allow you to use it for trysts!"
Ian nodded slightly, and then offered Melissa his arm. "Shall we go then, dearest?"
Without a second's hesitation, Melissa slipped her arm through his. "I'm sorry, Mama. I know you would have given us a lovely wedding, but we're already married, and can't agree to live apart."