Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem

With Tarquin out of the picture, the crowd grew bold and brash. They traded barbs like kids trading baseball cards, each comment sharper and less polite than the last.

Elysia, frowning deeply, watched them with a quiet disdain, choosing to rise above the noise.

Her heart ached for Tarquin!

The Bradford clan was notorious for their sharp tongues and sharper claws. She couldn't even begin to imagine the kind of torment Tarquin must have endured as a child at their hands!

Once the hubbub died down, Elysia finally spoke up, her voice cutting through the silence. She pointedly asked each of them, "And what's your name? You, you, and you..... and you over there. Let's have it. I'll be remembering.”

The instigators of the harsh words frowned, suspicious and wary, "And why exactly do you want to know our names?"

"To make sure I don't mix up the names when it's time to cut out some tongues," Elysia replied, her tone icy.

remembered all too well Tarquin's warning about losing their tongues if they

comes to my son, I don't need your judgments or your gossip. Mind

Elysia, acting all high and mighty just because you snagged a powerful man! Without him,

Elysia retorted, "Why don't you go ahead and try marrying someone powerful yourself? No?

"You..."

She scratched at her face, her neck, her arms,

scratching furiously, a chorus of

you done to us?!" one of them managed to gasp

that I don't need a man to stand tall. I can make you itch, I can make you cry, and I can make you bedridden. So, I'd watch my mouth if I were you. No badmouthing my son, myself, or

by the itching, forgot all about their quarrel with Elysia and scrambled

who'd been watching the entire spectacle unfold, looked from the retreating figures of the Bradford women back to

Elysia turned to her, noticing

not itching?" Verity

been standing by my side; you weren't exposed to the