seeming pleased, his cheeks pink.He washed all the parts of Henry that might conceivably need washingand then set his basin on the nightstand before crawling into Henrysarms.Doyou want to sleep a little, Henry? I could nap, unless theressomething you want to do.Letssleep.Henryslept and dreamed that he was fucking Martin again, and it feltwonderful, as it always did, and he was coming in blissful pulses,the pleasure drawn out...and looked up to meet the intent gaze of hislittle sister, peering out at them from behind the high headboard. Hewoke with a horrified shout, his heart pounding against his ribs. Hestartled Martin awake with his commotion and was unwilling to eventry to go back to sleep, staying alert and jumpy until Martin aroseto go down for his dinner.Henryhad heard complaints aplenty but no substantial news of James sinceChristmas, but now Louis informed him that James was indeed gettingmarried to his barmaid. It was going to be a quiet affair, justfamily, and Louis made Henry promise not to tell anyone at school.Thegirl James was marrying, a Janie Babcock, was very pretty now, thoughLouis felt she would easily go to fat if she wasnt careful. Shewas noticeably in the family way, which was part of the reason forthe secrecy around the wedding. Neither the bride nor the groom wasterribly enthusiastic about their pending union. While Miss Babcockhad clearly once found James very compelling, his machinations in theservice of remaining a bachelor had no doubt made him seem much lessattractive to her, and she was marrying him under duress at thebehest of her parents, who understandably preferred to see hermarried to a rich mans son instead of raising a child out ofwedlock on her own.MissBabcocks main appeal for James had been her pretty face andphysical attributes, including the virginity that he had summarilydespoiled. She had wanted him to marry her after the loss of hermaidenhead and he had refused, but they had still continued to seeeach other because they were handsome young animals and couldntseem to help themselves. James, who was averse to usingprophylactics, should not have been surprised when Janie got in thefamily way.AlthoughMiss Babcock was a tavern-keepers daughter, her family waswell-established in the town where James had been enrolled incollege, and her father was a childhood friend of the chancellor ofthe school. There was no chance that James would be allowed to shirkhis responsibility.Mr.Briggs had decided James should marry in hopes of settling him, andalso with the hope that a marriage would alleviate some of Jamesother troubles. It was thought that the college and the disgruntledslave owners hed left behind there might be more likely to settletheir differences out of court if they saw James being responsiblefor something.Besides, even if Miss Babcocks family had been willing to bebought off, there was always the danger that she or the child wouldcome back later to cause trouble, and it seemed wiser to control thesituation from the outset.Heshould have stuck to prostitutes, Louis said irritably. If aprostitute gets pregnant, she takes care of it herself. She doesntexpect the man to marryher.Thedate chosen was an innocuous Wednesday, conveniently slotted betweenLouis