Against Her Will

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

It took a full day for the paperwork to be finalized, the money to be transferred and the marriage license to be signed. Temperance had wanted to refuse but when one had a knife against their ribs they tended to do what they were told.

She, and her new husband Trevor Montgomery, then took a train for two days to his southern Georgia plantation. Temperance had never ridden on a train and while she was terrified the entire time that Trevor would hurt her, she couldn't help but enjoy the scenery as she sat in the compartment he had allowed her to ride in by herself.

Trevor didn't touch the entire trip. She had thought he would take advantage of those lessons that Yancy and his friends had taught to her but he didn't. He had made it clear that death would come for her should she attempt to escape him while on this train and that she was to stay in her compartment and never leave. He had her meals brought to her and she found herself growing very bored.

It had been a long time since she'd pulled out Robert's journal and read the words but she found herself doing so once again to pass the lonely hours. She found that given the life she'd been living the last six months, the horrors in his journal no longer sounded so terrifying. As a matter of fact, they sounded quite tame.

She found that she could no longer summon the childish infatuation she had had with the man. She could scarcely recall what he looked like. With a sigh, Temperance opened the small window and tossed the journal and Robert's coat out of it followed by the doll and the hair clip that had once belonged to her sisters.

It was better to forget about the past. She could never go back there anyway.

Temperance had known that Trevor was a wealthy man given the vast amount of money he had paid for her but never in her wildest dreams could she have pictured a home as vast and grand as the one that she saw before her after a three hour cart ride from the train station.

She was sitting beside Trevor in a cart as he held the reins and he noticed the way her jaw dropped when they passed through the gates. "This is my home. Montgomery Plantation has been in my family for generations. We have thirty slaves on the premises...I mean servants of course. They are paid a salary now in full compliance with the law."

There was a sarcasm and coldness in his voice that had Temperance shivering. Several of the servants were working in the fields they past and they appeared tired and run down. Temperance moved her gaze back to the large white home. With three stories and massive balconies and pillars, it was truly something to behold. The barns were nicer than any home Temperance had ever seen. There were stone walkways, fountains and flowers. Everything here seemed to ooze money.

It looked like a paradise....oh how deceiving looks could be.

Temperance saw men, like the ones that had met her and Trevor at the train station and accompanied them here, lounging on the porch of the large manor. These men wore low slung gun belts and wide brimmed hats. They looked dangerous with their squinting eyes and stern expressions.

Temperance suspected they were guards of sorts, though why Trevor needed guards, she didn't know. He was an imposing, intimidating man who demanded obedience without the help of armed thugs. There was something about the man and his presence that commanded fear and obedience without him having to say a word or become heavy handed.

No one spoke to her as they rode closer to the house and Temperance kept her head down as Trevor led her into the grand home. Polished, gleaming floors, papered walls, crystal chandeliers and heavy dark furniture all caught her attention as she followed along behind him.