by Kay, Joannie
Louisa’s dark eyes widened, and then she smiled. “No, it isn’t. Miss Darcy is in her room, having a bath. Come on inside and speak with Miss Eleanor.”
Will nodded and entered the parlor. “Miss Eleanor,” he greeted the elderly woman.
“Thank you for seeing me, Will. Louisa, would you mind giving me some privacy. Some things I want to tell him are very personal, and if I wasn’t so sure that he needed to know, I wouldn’t say a thing.”
“It’s fine, Miss Eleanor. You don’t need to explain.”
“But, dear, we consider you family. I don’t want you to think we care less for you because I am a foolish old woman!”
“You are far from foolish, Miss Eleanor, and everyone in this world is entitled to keep some things personal and private. I don’t feel less because you want to speak with Will alone.” Louisa leaned down and kissed her cheek. “You have more than expressed your feelings for me, and I am blessed.” She sniffled as she left the room.
“That poor child feels so sad about Doctor and Mrs. English, and she blames herself because it happened. I don’t think she realizes that he would have tortured her to death if she’d been there.”
“I agree, Miss Eleanor.”
“Please, Will, sit down. Don’t stand on formality when you are here. This is your home, too.”
“Thank you, Miss Eleanor. What is it you wish to discuss with me?”
“This!” she answered, taking a thin wooden paddle from beneath her lap robe and holding it up. “This, I am ashamed to admit, belonged to my dear husband. During our marriage, he used it quite frequently. I was every bit as headstrong and stubborn as my granddaughter is now! Jonathan had his hands full with me. When I did something that rivaled what Darshana did today, he used this paddle to see to it I regretted my actions. For ordinary things, he spanked with his hand. I am passing this on to you, Will, because I fear you need it, and it is serving no purpose in my drawer.”
“I don’t really know what to say, Miss Eleanor.” Will might not know what to say, but he damn well knew better than chuckle or laugh!
“This would be a good time to reassure me that you love my Darshana and you honestly intend to marry her.”
“I do love her, and I am going to marry her just as soon as a wedding can be arranged. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, Miss Eleanor.”
“I will be able to go on home with my Jonathan once I know our granddaughter is safely in your hands, Will. I hope the wedding is very soon so that I may attend. I don’t think my body is going to last much longer, and Darshana needs me to be with her on her wedding day.”
“I will try to convince her to marry me next week.”
“Thank you, Will. I know I can safely leave my precious grandchild in your care.”
“I promise I will always care for her,” Will said emotionally, trying his best to give Eleanor the reassurance she needed. He kissed her cheek, and said, “Thank you for entrusting this paddle to me. It will only be used in love, never in anger.”
“My Jonathan would be proud to shake your hand, Will. Thank you for easing my mind. Go on now before I decide I need to protect that child of mine.”
“Has anyone told you lately that you are a truly remarkable woman? I haven’t met one person in this town who doesn’t think the world of you, Miss Eleanor. I’ll take care of Darcy, I give you my solemn word. I love her.”
“I know you do.” Eleanor had tears in her eyes. “I loved like that for many years. Cherish whatever time you are given. It will end much too soon. I will soon be with my Jonathan again, and I do not want Darshana to weep for me. Going home is what I want now.”
Will gave her hand a squeeze and then went to see his errant fiancée, leaving Eleanor to her memories. He was truly humbled that she entrusted to him the paddle that obviously meant a lot to her.
He stopped in front of Darcy’s door and listened to her singing. He knew she had a beautiful voice because she often sang in church, but it was nice to hear her singing something besides a hymn. He gave a perfunctory knock on the door before turning the doorknob and walking into her room. He quickly realized his mistake. Darcy was wrapped in a bath towel, and she was sitting at her dressing table, combing the tangles out of her freshly shampooed hair.
“Will!” Darcy exclaimed. “You frightened me! Go back downstairs, and I will join you shortly, once I am dressed.”
“You will not need clothing for what I have planned, Darcy Hamilton. You are going to get a lesson in obedience.”
“I don’t need a lesson, Will. Most likely this will never happen again,” she said, smiling at him. “Please, Will, I am very uncomfortable to have you in the room when I am not dressed. Gram would have a fit.”
“No, she wouldn’t,” he argued. “She sent me up here, and she gave me this.”
“What? Where did she get that?” Darcy’s green eyes were wide in disbelief. The paddle had obviously been used a lot to get that worn look!
“Your Gram gave it to me and told me to make good use of it. She said that you are too much like she used to be, and her dear husband would want me to have it and put it to good use.”
“This was Gram’s?” Darcy was shocked, and then she was wary. “You can’t honestly mean to use that thing!”
“Yes, Darcy, I mean to use this paddle today, and every time you deserve it in the future.”
“That’s just not fair, Will! You didn’t warn me you would do that! It just isn’t fair that you are standing there holding a paddle when I had no clue it even existed.”
“I didn’t know it existed, either, but I am willing to make good use of it. And, I did warn you to obey me, didn’t I?”
“Will, I may have earned a spanking, I can accept that, but no paddle, please. I feel very vulnerable sitting here with just this towel. Please leave until I get dressed.”
“I told you that you don’t need clothing for what I have planned. My advice to you is to make it easier on yourself, little girl. You aren’t going to escape this paddling. You risked your life today, and I will not let that pass.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Yes, and you probably did save my life, but in order to do that, you risked your own life, Darcy, and I’m not going to let that pass. I love you, and when I give you an order to stay put inside this house, I expect you to obey me. What if I’d whirled and shot? I could sense someone behind me.”
“I was very careful, Will. I’m not a fool. I am the one who suspected they were shooting the sheriffs in the back, and I was right. The seventh man split off from the rest, came in, and circled around until he was close enough to have your back in his sights. I think it was how they took out all those other Sheriffs, and I was never in any danger, Will. He was so focused on you that he didn’t even see me,” Darcy insisted.
“And did you hear what they did to that last man’s wife?”
“Yes. They are disgusting. I wanted to shoot every last one of them. That poor woman. To lose her husband and then go through that! I feel so sorry for her.”
“They are behind bars, and you are about to be paddled. Easy or hard, Darcy?” he asked.
“Please let me at least put on my robe or my nightdress? I am afraid this towel will slip!”
“I can guarantee it will slip if you don’t hold completely still.” He took her arm and pulled her from the bench and she held onto the towel as if it were her lifeline.
“Please, honey, don’t do this!” Darcy couldn’t stop herself from begging. She didn’t intend for Will to see her before she was all dressed up and looking very feminine, and the fact that she wasn’t dressed at all was humiliating, even though Will was her fiancé. And, to top off everything, she was still tender from the spankings he gave her earlier! “I’m still very tender from before, Will!” She hoped that would make a difference.
“You should have obeyed me if you didn’t want another spanking.” He sat on the bench and then pulled her down over his lap. He smiled when the towel sl
ipped upwards to reveal her pretty bottom. He started the spanking with his hand, grinning when Darcy cried out in shock as his hand met bare flesh. “This is exactly the way nature intended this to happen. On the bare.”
“We aren’t married yet!” Darcy was scandalized and tears filled her eyes.
“We will be next week at this time,” he announced, enforcing the words with another hearty spank on her bare left cheek.
“Ow! What? Are you serious? Ow! There is so much to plan and to do!”
“We will discuss the wedding once this spanking is over, sweetheart. This whole business of running for Sheriff just to spite me is ridiculous, isn’t it?” he demanded.
“Yes. I regret it ever so much,” she admitted. “I am truly sorry, Will. I was so angry that I wasn’t able to think and reason sensibly. I was wrong, and worst of all, I was too eager to believe the worst of you. I am so sorry for that!”
“I believe you, Darcy. But, when you won that damned election, why didn’t you tell the Mayor you refused to pin on that badge?” He spanked her right cheek this time, and she yelped.
“He asked me not to disappoint the men who voted for me. I didn’t want to do it, but I also didn’t want to make the town angry with me. I couldn’t believe they wanted me over you!”
“Honey, it was the women who were behind you and pushing the men to vote for you, and most of them admitted they were going to be cut off from enjoying their beds at night if they didn’t vote for you. They each needed to pick up a hairbrush and use it instead of going ‘yes, dear.’ We will not have that sort of marriage, Darcy. Heed me well.” He spanked her in earnest. “In the future, I am the one you need to please, not the women of this town!”
“Yes, Will. I should have listened to you, but the Mayor seemed to want me to take the badge for a little while at least. I was in over my head, and too stubborn to admit it. Thank you for being so patient and for protecting me. I needed you so much, and I think the whole town saw that for themselves, women included.”
“You are making it very hard to spank you,” he complained.
“Good,” she smiled. “I am so embarrassed. I didn’t plan for you to see me like this, Will. I wanted to be pretty for you.”
“You are always pretty,” he replied. “Now the hard part. I’m going to paddle you for putting your life in danger. As long as I am wearing this badge, you are not to ever insert yourself into my fight. Every time you do, this is what will happen.” He picked up the paddle and brought it down on her bare backside with a firm smack.
It hurt! The smack itself hurt, but the burn afterwards continued to grow until that spot felt like it was on fire from just one spank! “Ouch! No more, Will, please!” The paddle landed again, and she wondered if it was coated with sandpaper! “Ouch! You are scraping off my skin!” she hollered, trying to free herself, but all she accomplished was loosening the towel even more and baring her entire backside to his gaze. She was mortally embarrassed and ashamed! “Let me go, Will! This is not decent!”
“You are dressed appropriately for this spanking,” he argued, and he continued spanking her with the paddle until she was lying limp over his lap and sobbing quietly. “Will you please keep your nose out of my business, Mrs. Davies-to-be?” Her poor bottom was a scalded red and the heat coming from her posterior was tremendous. He would have to tell Miss Eleanor that the paddle hadn’t lost its effectiveness.
“I will try to do as you ask,” she agreed. “I just love you so much, I couldn’t bear for you to be shot in the back! I love you the way you love me!”
“I do love you, pretty lady,” he admitted, pulling the ends of the towel up to cover her body. Then he stood her on her feet and he crossed the room to get her robe. He held it up to hide her from his view and she gratefully slid her arms into the sleeves. “Now, let me comfort you, Darcy. I thought I would die when you stepped out beside me today. It was very brave of you, but you frightened at least ten years off my life. I was terrified that Billy would shoot you!”
“I know. I felt the same way about you!” she admitted. “It is terrifying when the one you love is in danger.”
“I agree. Now we need to plan our wedding,” he reminded her.
“Why so quickly?” she asked. “It takes time to get everything lined up.”
“Sweetheart, your Gram asked if we would have the wedding soon. She wants to see us married before she goes to be with your grandfather.”
“What? Oh no! Is she saying what I think she is saying?” she tearfully asked.
“Yes, sweetheart, she is,” he answered as gently as possible, holding her in his arms to offer comfort as she cried at the thought of losing her precious Gram.
Chapter Ten
All that Pricilla accomplished by running home from town after the fight with the Simpson Gang was to postpone the inevitable spanking. Priscilla knew she was going to get a spanking, in fact, she had known it the moment she decided to go and make sure her loved ones were safe during the fight with the Simpson Gang, so that didn’t surprise her one little bit. What did surprise her was when her father permitted Brian to deal with her since he planned to marry her. She was sure it was a test of some sort. Her father wanted to see if Brian could and would discipline her, and how she would feel about him after he did. She already knew that she loved Brian, and while he might spank her, he would never be cruel and hurt her.
After obtaining Geoffrey’s permission to deal with the woman he loved, Brian marched her into the kitchen and picked up a wooden spoon to make a point on her bottom. He sat on one of the kitchen chairs and then put her over his lap, flipped up her skirts to reveal her drawers, and started spanking, stinging her bottom with the bowl of the spoon.
Her thin cotton drawers provided little if any protection from the evil spoon. Priscilla couldn’t help squirming and crying out, but Brian continued to spank her, determined to give her a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget. When he finally asked her if she was sorry, Priscilla answered truthfully. “No, Brian, I am not sorry. I wanted to protect you as much as you wanted to protect me!”
“That is not the answer I want!” he growled in shocked surprise.
“I am aware of that, and I assure you I am not being sassy. I am only being very honest and letting you know I love you enough to take chances with my life to keep you safe, too!”
Priscilla received five more hard swats with the wooden spoon, and then he stood her up. “How can I spank you for loving me?” he asked, tears in his eyes.
“Because you love me, too,” she answered as she leaned into his arms, seeking comfort. “I am sorry I worried you and Papa. That kind of worry I would not wish upon either of you, but I couldn’t stay here and worry myself sick. I just couldn’t… even if it meant a sound spanking.”
“That was not a sound spanking, Priscilla. It was a very mild one,” Brian told her, holding her in his arms.
Just out of sight, Geoffrey smiled. His daughter was loved by a man who knew how to be merciful and yet stern. She would be happy with a man who could hold his own.
* * * * *
Nearly everyone in town was crammed into the little white church to see the Sheriff married to the feisty Darcy Hamilton. The Mayor escorted Miss Eleanor down the aisle on one side, with Geoffrey Clemons on the other. She insisted upon walking the aisle on this special day, and her escorts ensured she would not fall. Miss Eleanor had a beautiful smile on her face, and the lavender dress she wore was not new, but she looked pretty as could be. Louisa and Greta sat in the pew with her, wearing their very best in honor of the special occasion.
The Sheriff’s family showed up, and sat in the front of the church on the other side. People were surprised to learn he had relatives since no one knew much about his past. His brother served as best man, and they looked so much alike it was whispered that they were twins. His parents were delighted to finally be invited to the town their youngest son loved so much, and they were equally delighted with his choice of a bride.
Of co
urse, Darcy was on her very best behavior in an attempt to earn their approval. She was surprised to learn that she very much liked the Davies Family, and she was a bit sad that they lived too far away for visits to happen often.
Darcy chose her best friend since childhood as her matron of honor, and Jenny Middleton did her best to organize everyone else. She ran around to make sure the pianist and soloist were in place before the guests were to arrive. Flowers decorated the church, and large bows made of a pretty pink ribbon decorated the pews where everyone would sit. She reminded the ushers of their duties, and answered any questions they had about where to seat the guests. Both Darcy and Will had given specific directions on seating, and Jenny wanted to be sure that those wishes were taken into consideration. The Reverend’s wife helped everyone put their gifts on the table in the large hall in the basement of the church, and she whispered that everyone was invited to the reception afterwards. Greta made the beautiful wedding cake, and much of the other food, but Darcy asked a few ladies to bring their specialties, and everyone was delighted to do so.
The ceremony itself was beautiful and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house by the time the Reverend told Will he could now kiss his bride. Will was gentle and kissed her, but made sure he did nothing to embarrass Miss Eleanor.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. William Davies.”
There was much applause and Will took Darcy’s arm to walk her out. But, instead of going down the aisle, they stopped beside Eleanor, and Darcy gave her grandmother a loving hug and whispered in her ear. Eleanor smiled, and then she kissed Will as well. It was a touching moment, and while Darcy never shared what she said to Miss Eleanor, it was obvious it was special to both of them.
The rest of the day was forever a blur of memories for Darcy. She remembered opening gifts, and thanking each and every person for giving them something special. And, she remembered thanking the women for bringing food. Darcy ate a little bit, but mostly she walked around with Will, thanking everyone for coming at such short notice, and doing her best to let everyone know she was happy they were able to share in their happiness. Will took a lot of joshing, and he accepted it good-naturedly.
