Courting Miss Greene Ch. 06

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"Well, don't let your pride keep you," advised Abby, "or you'll risk losing your bride."

Lizzy would not have gone that far, but she was willing to let Robert think so if it meant he would share his thoughts with her.

"I believe something happens when we think about each other," said Robert, "but we'd have to be very focused and do it simultaneously."

Lizzy only blinked at Robert, at a loss of words.

"I think that's how I found you when you were hiding by the roadside," he continued, "and later in the forest when you got carried off."

"But why would it only work for you?" she asked at last. "I've never noticed anything unusual."

Robert sighed and shook his head. "I don't know, baby. It's just a theory after all."

"I know," said Thomas, "it only happens when Lizzy feels a certain level of distress, like a cry for help. In that case, Lizzy wouldn't notice anything unless Robert runs into some sort of trouble."

"Well, I hope you're not suggesting we put that theory to the test," said Abby.

"No?" The idea amused Thomas. "It would be simple, really. We could hide Robert somewhere and torture him to see how long it takes for Lizzy to find him."

"And why would I submit myself to that?" asked Robert.

"To prove the theory of course," answered Thomas. "Then you'll have a perfectly good explanation for your indiscretion so that Lizzy will forgive you and you can get married and have a dozen kids like you've always wanted, etcetera, etcetera."

Abby shook her head at Thomas. "What an elaborate excuse to torture your brother! As if you don't do enough of that already."

"I'm serious!" cried Thomas.

"Oh, stop!" cried Lizzy. "I don't want Robert to be tortured. It wouldn't matter either way. If this is the very worst he's ever done, he's still the man I love and wish to marry. That's all I need to know." Lizzy placed her hand back in Robert's. "I don't care if you're not a perfect-perfect gentleman," she told him. "You've accepted all of my flaws so graciously. What sort of person would I be if I didn't do the same for you?"

Robert gave her a puzzled look. "I'm grateful, but... what were your flaws?"

Lizzy blushed. "I'm not exactly a good girl, wouldn't you say? I mean, not like Ginny, who is a good girl through and through."

"Both of us are hussies next to Ginny," remarked Abby.

Thomas shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with hussies," he said, but the girls ignored him.

"At least you'd be a hussy among good girls," Lizzy told Abby, "which isn't half as bad as being just any hussy."

Abby cocked an eyebrow at her sister. "And what would you be?"

"A good girl among hussies," supposed Lizzy, "since I'm so naughty-naughty, but at least I try my best."

"Then you could call me a pervert among gentlemen," guessed Robert, "now that you've seen the worst of me."

"Ha! And I'd be a gentleman among perverts," concluded Thomas. "After all, I did win that challenge."

Abby narrowed her eyes when she thought about it. "That sounds about right," she agreed.

"And what about Ethan?" asked Lizzy.

"A gentleman through and through," answered Abby. "At least since he got with Ginny. Well, aside from the incessant teasing that is. But I think we all do that, don't we?"

Thomas groaned in protest when Abby ruffled up his hair. Robert and Lizzy shared an amused glance and kissed each other.

Abby grimaced. "They're making out in front of us," she complained to Thomas.

"Well, good," the young man replied with a smirk. "Then they won't mind if we do the same." He drew her into his arms.

Abby's eyes widened. "Thomas...!" She pushed against his shoulders, but he had clearly forgotten himself again. Abby gave in when she remembered his words. Tomorrow would be another day.

~*~

Thomas sat huddled over the table, tapping his chin while he frowned at the chessboard in front of him.

Abby's mouth curled into a triumphant, little smile. "Honestly, Thomas," she said. "I can't believe you fell into your own trap. Perhaps you would prefer to surrender now and start a new game?"

The young man leaned back in his chair and let out a deep sigh. "Mercy, my love. No more," he said. "I can't concentrate while those two are at it."

Sitting on the couch with Lizzy on his lap, Robert did not fail to notice the accusatory tone in his brother's voice. "You needn't look if it bothers you so," he said.

Thomas frowned. "I don't look, but one hears things." To illustrate his point, he grabbed a king in one hand and a queen in the other. "Oh, baby," he said, imitating his brother's bass. "I've waited for you for so long... now I can't stop kissing you!" He tapped the pieces against each other. "Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!"

Robert shook his head while Lizzy giggled at the display.

"Careful with those," said Abby. "Father will have your head if you damage them."

Unfazed by her warning, Thomas continued in falsetto. "Oh, Robert! Make me a woman! Oh, yes! Finally! Yes! Ah! Ah! Ah!"

Lizzy blushed over her ears. "I didn't mean to be that obvious."

King Robert and his queen returned to the table where the pawns gathered around them. "Mommy! Daddy! Yay!" the little ones cried while they hopped around.

"And which one are you, Thomas?" asked Lizzy, amused by the young man's antics.

"The Black Knight!" he announced in a deep voice, raising the corresponding piece.

"Ha!" cried Abby. "For a moment I thought you were going to call yourself 'the stud.'"

Robert chuckled. "So did I."

"And which one is Abby?" continued Lizzy.

Thomas pondered for a moment before he placed the rook next to the other pieces.

"What?" Abby folded her arms across the chest and scowled. "A cold, dark tower?"

"Well, no..." said Thomas.

"Then what?" demanded Abby.

In response, the Black Knight hopped randomly across the table until he came to a sudden halt. "Behold!" he said in a booming voice. "My days of wandering are over at last! For this impossibly fortified castle is the home of my fair lady whose virtue and wit know no equal in all the land!"

Abby cocked an eyebrow at Thomas. "Honestly...!" she said, but she could not prevent her lips from curling into a little grin.

"It's a true story though," insisted Thomas. He cleared his throat before he continued. "Lower the drawbridge, fair lady! Open the gate! Raise the portcullis! Unlock your door! So that I may entwine you in a sweet lover's embrace!"

"Oh, sir!" a strange falsetto replied. "I fear I cannot allow you to enter! For all I know you are nothing more than a murderer and a thief!"

"What's that?" the knight replied in shock. "Upon my honor, fair lady, I shall not rest until I've proven my worth to you! Give me a quest and it shall be fulfilled!"

The storyteller and his audience snapped back into reality when the door opened.

Ginny looked around the room. "Why, everyone's here already!"

"Did we interrupt anything?" asked Ethan, noting the startled faces.

"No," answered Thomas, "just my epic saga of true love and high adventure."

Lizzy bounced on Robert's lap. "Oh! Why don't you include Ethan and Ginny as well?"

"Let's see..."Thomas pursed his lips while he considered his options. "Ginny would make a good bishop," he said, "and Ethan would be... the other bishop!" He blushed a little, thinking that last bit lacked inspiration.

Ethan did not appear to mind. "And who are our opponents?" he asked, eying the remaining pieces.

"Oh, those are just a bunch of stinking Royalist snobs," answered Thomas with a disdainful snarl.

Robert coughed in his fist. "I'm glad our father didn't hear that."

Thomas shrugged. "A bunch of filthy Liberalist scumbags," he tried instead.

Ginny cringed and cast a quick glance at the door. "I hope our father didn't hear that."

"Ah!" Thomas covered his mouth and shrank in his seat when he remembered Mr. Greene's political affiliation.

Abby laughed. "Not to worry," she told him. "Father's awfully keen on you. He can't stop talking about your shared passion for gardening."

"And then he chuckles to himself until he's red in the face," added Lizzy, "although I can't imagine what could be so amusing."

"Oh, we were just joking around about fertilizers," explained Thomas, "but it wouldn't be funny to repeat without the proper context."

"I assume it wasn't something about you fertilizing Abby," said Robert.

Thomas cringed. "No, it wasn't," he confirmed.

"Indeed, that would have been redundant," remarked Lizzy. "Granny said girls our age get pregnant just from being looked at by a man... in a certain way, I assume."

"Did she also say what way?" asked Robert.

"Well, no," replied Lizzy, "but I guess it'd have to be intense."

"You mean like... this?" Robert turned his head a little sideways and narrowed his eyes.

Lizzy giggled. "Robert...!"

"Or... this?" He turned his head the other way, lifting one eyebrow while pouting his lips.

A shiver ran up Lizzy's spine when he flashed his eyes at her. "Oh, no!" she cried, shaking her head while her cheeks turned hot.

Ethan glanced at his wife when she stopped giggling at the playful banter in front of them. Her face had gone pale and she trembled a little. "Are you alright, honey?" he asked, squeezing her hand.

Ginny rose to her feet. "I think I need some fresh air." She cast a little smile at her husband to comfort him. Surely there was no cause for concern, nor any need to look so alarmed. But when Ethan called out her name, his voice sounded hollow in her ears. Ginny swayed on her feet when the strength drained from her limbs. Unable to steady herself, she caught a glimpse of the ceiling before all turned dark.

~*~

Thomas sighed when he looked at the others in the hallway. "Ginny hadn't been feeling all too well yesterday either," he told them.

"Ssshhh!" Lizzy waved a finger at him while she held an ear pressed against the door.

"Come away now, Lizzy," said Abby with a stern look. "It's so unbecoming to be seen eavesdropping in front of mature people."

Robert sat down on the stairs and patted his knees. "I have a seat for you here, baby."

Lizzy perked up at once. "Hm, I couldn't say 'no' to that!" She moved over to sit on Robert's lap. After a little kiss she turned to her sister. "Oh, Abby," she said with a sigh, "didn't you think it was romantic how Ethan caught Ginny when she fell down? How heroic he looked, so big and strong! And Ginny... so small and helpless!"

Abby took a deep breath. "Sure, Lizzy."

"I imagine Thomas must have looked much like that when you passed out in his arms," the younger girl continued, "even if he's not that manly and you're not that delicate."

Thomas and Abby shared a skeptical glance, but decided to let it pass. "You know, Robert," said Thomas, "you could take this opportunity to, ahem, go upstairs." He gestured with his eyebrows.

Lizzy jumped up before Robert could reply. "Good idea!" she cried.

"Erm, I don't know about that," said Robert, but he allowed Lizzy to pull him along anyway.

They all froze and turned around when the door to Mr. Greene's study opened. "What's going on here?" he demanded, suspiciously eying the couple on the stairs.

Robert and Lizzy glanced at each other, blushing from embarrassment.

"Ginny passed out," Abby quickly told her father. "In the parlor. Mother's with her now. And Ethan too."

"Ginny's worse than yesterday," added Thomas. "It's probably hay fever."

Mr. Greene cocked an eyebrow at him. "You think?"

Abby glared at Thomas. "Hay fever?" she echoed under her breath.

Robert and Lizzy discretely found their way down again. "Ginny doesn't get hay fever," said Lizzy. "Nor would anyone else this time of year."

Thomas shrugged. "Malnourishment?" he suggested instead.

Robert shook his head. "Not with that appetite."

Lizzy leaned towards her sister. "Abby," she said in a hushed voice, "do you know when Ginny last, erm..."

Abby's eyes widened. "You think...?"

Lizzy bit her lip and nodded.

Mr. Greene frowned when both girls bolted towards the parlor door and pressed an ear against it.

Robert drew in a sharp breath and promptly started coughing, drawing a questioning glance from Thomas. Robert recalled a similar situation had once occurred in their own home, even though it had been more than twenty years ago. He looked at his little brother and smiled for only a moment. Although Robert remembered there had been great happiness in the wake of that past event, he could not forget there had been even greater sorrow shortly afterward.

~*~

Mrs. Greene took several moments to process her daughter's answers. At last she sighed and said, "Well, it's too early to say for sure. Sometimes a woman wants it so badly, she'll start showing these sorts of signs."

Ginny glanced at her husband. "I do want it badly," she confirmed in a small voice.

"There's no rush, honey," said Ethan, holding his wife's hand. "We'll tell the rest when we're certain."

"I'll let the others back in," said Mrs. Greene, rising to her feet. She moved towards the door and opened it, causing Abby and Lizzy to jolt upright and throw distracted glances in various directions. "Why, the two of you weren't eavesdropping, were you?" asked Mrs. Greene.

"Oh, no," the sisters cried in concert, shaking their head. Behind them, the three men chuckled in their fist.

Mrs. Greene cast the girls a stern glance. "Well, at least one of my daughters is always truthful," she remarked.

Abby and Lizzy both cringed and hung their head in shame when they entered the parlor. Thomas and Robert wisely refrained from commenting while they followed them.

Mr. Greene came in last. "So, what do you think?" he asked with a wide grin. "A boy or a girl?"

Ethan and Ginny gaped at him in shock.

"George, really!" Mrs. Greene placed her hands on her hips and glared at her husband.

"I think it's a boy," continued Mr. Greene, ignoring his wife. "Boys run strongly in the Clark family." He looked around the parlor. "Evidently."

Mrs. Greene shook her head. "I hope it's a girl so you'll look like the fool you are."

Mr. Greene shrugged. "You can't blame me for hoping," he said, "since you never gave me son."

The young couples held their breath while they waited for Mrs. Greene to respond.

"Men plant the seeds. Women only grow them," she answered in a cool voice. "You should know as much, being a gardener and all."

"Ha!" Thomas wanted to laugh out loud, but Abby put her hand over his mouth.

Mr. Greene tried very hard to hide his own amusement. After a quarter of a century together, his wife still kept taking the bait. Now it would turn into a staring contest like it always did. Mr. Greene's eyes narrowed when his wife pursed her lips. It did not take long before her mouth started twitching.

But Mr. Greene never got his victory.

His son-in-law broke the silence by clearing his throat. "I'd like to ask everyone to keep it quiet for now," said Ethan. "We're just not sure yet and I wouldn't want my mother to get her hopes up. She'd be so disappointed if it turned out to be a false alarm."

"But of course," agreed Mr. Greene while the others nodded. He did not miss his wife's triumphant, little grin. The contest had ended in a draw. But no matter. He would think of a way to fight it out soon enough.

~*~

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4 Comments
AnonymousAnonymousover 4 years ago
Excellent writing in every way

A wonderful story, enjoyed every word.

AnonymousAnonymousover 5 years ago
The final part

There are many loose ends (sic) surely there must be a final part to tie them up !!

oldpackoldpackover 7 years ago
So sad

This is yet another unfinished story.

AnonymousAnonymousover 11 years ago
Keep Writing!

I have read and enjoyed this story, except..... the using modern phrases such as "oh baby" and "baby", which to me was the most distracting. They just don't fit the time period, nor does the infusion of political correctness where Ginny must accompany the men in defense against the villians. It is distracting when the dialog is out of charcter of the time period. Perhaps a bit of research into the time period would help you in future stories.

Other than that it is a wonderful story line. Keep Writing!

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