“Gimme it,” little Jamie ordered, as if he were the captain over all.
“Oh, dear.” Dinah felt tears spring to her eyes. Taking sides was out of the question with all of these children so precious to her.
“Excuse me, my dear.”
Thomas broke away from her and towered over the melee, receiving a sharp kick to one shin for his efforts. Only mildly deterred, he grabbed Jamie’s shirt just as Frederick appeared and seized Davy. Each man had to subdue his prisoner by wrapping strong arms around a small body and giving sharp commands to “stop this instant.” Both boys obeyed without protest. Davy nestled into his father’s neck and wailed. Jamie stuck a thumb in his mouth and leaned away from Thomas, glaring at him.
“Now, see here.” Frederick spoke in a stern voice to both miscreants. “What’s all this about?”
“He took my gun.” Jamie pointed to the carved wooden weapon on the ground.
“My gun,” Davy cried.
“Well, neither of you shall have it.” Frederick eyed Thomas and tilted his head toward the back steps. “We shall have no more of this.” He set Davy on the bottom step, and Thomas placed little Jamie beside his cousin.
The two men loomed over the little boys, who stared up at them, wide-eyed. Jamie continued to suck his thumb, and Davy pulled at a lock of his own blond hair.
“Now,” Frederick said, “you will sit here until you decide to share your toys and play nicely together.” He wagged a finger at each one. “You are kinsmen, practically brothers. These fights will not continue. Do you understand me?”
Two pairs of eyes, one blue, one brown, blinked back tears. Two little blond heads nodded in unison. Dinah thought her heart would melt, but she dared not interfere. Indeed, Frederick did have the wisdom of Solomon.
“Very well.” Frederick motioned to Caddy.
She hurried to him, with Kezia in her wake. “Mister Frederick, I’m so sorry.”
Frederick ran a hand through his hair, loosening many strands from his queue. Now he and Thomas almost looked like twins, except that Thomas wore the darker frown. Dinah wondered if he disapproved of Frederick’s discipline.
“Caddy,” Frederick said, “you are to watch over the boys and make certain they do not move. You have my permission to use whatever means necessary to keep them here.”
“Yes, Mister Frederick.” Caddy put her hands on her hips and glowered at the children. They turned their wide-eyed attention to her.
Frederick pointed to the door above the boys. “Kezia, go to your mother.”
As always, four-year-old Kezia pouted. “But, Papá—”
“Do as I say.” The authority resonating through his voice also carried a certain tenderness.
“I’ll take her.” Dinah stepped forward. “Come along, Kezia.”
Kezia brightened, as if nothing was amiss. “Aunt Dinah, I made a doll.” She clasped Dinah’s hand…and her heart at the same time.
“Oh, my. You must show me.” Before entering the doorway, Dinah sent Thomas a rueful smile. His responding nod communicated his understanding. They would have to wait to share their good news. She wondered if his frown meant he felt as disappointed as she did.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Once again, Thomas scrambled to sort out the chaos in his mind over the happenings in his brother’s household. On his ship, he would have ordered the brawlers flogged. Of course children could not be flogged, but surely a swat or two to their posteriors would have taught a more lasting lesson than sitting on a step with an indulgent servant overseeing them.
But as he stepped away from the scene, he suddenly felt bereft. His son would have been just a little older than wee Jamie, and holding this nephew—no matter the circumstances—had filled an empty spot that had long pained him.
Still, there was a bright moment in the middle of it all. Dinah had proven her pluck by stepping in and carting off their pretty little niece. And while that child could also use a bit of discipline, Thomas knew he would never have the heart to swat a daughter. As for his betrothed, he could well imagine her as a wise and gentle mother. The thought of her giving him a son brought him less trepidation than he’d felt before Marianne’s safe delivery.
“Well.” Freddy clapped him on the shoulder. “How did it go?”
Thomas stared at his grinning brother, wondering for a moment what he referred to. “Ah, you mean my walk with Dinah.”
Freddy laughed. “Given that she is now Dinah rather than Miss Templeton, you have answered my question.”
Thomas permitted contentment to sweep away his crossness over the situation with the children. “Indeed, she has made me the happiest of men.”
“I understand.” Freddy waved his cane toward the stable. “Shall we walk? I want to inspect one of my mares.”
“Lead on.” Thomas welcomed this chance to talk more with his brother. Although he no longer felt annoyed about the situation with the children, he felt compelled to offer a word of advice on managing them. “Do the boys fight often?”
Freddy’s eyebrows rose as if he was surprised by the question. “Oh, that.” He chuckled. “Yes, several times a day.” He sent Thomas a sidelong glance. “They are very much like brothers.” His lips formed a thin line, but whether from displeasure over the incident or pain from walking, Thomas could not tell.
Now he wondered which topic to bring up first. He decided on the most immediate one. “We did have a brawl or two, didn’t we?” He tried to conjure up some amusement over the situation, but none came. Instead, a bitter memory surfaced. “And since I was usually the victor, I’ve long suspected that Father sent me away to protect you.” As the words came out, they sounded petty, foolish, an unfortunate childhood memory any grown man should have dealt with years ago.
Freddy stopped and leaned on his cane. “Is that what you think?”
Honesty forced his response. “Yes.”
Freddy stood there staring at him, but behind those gray eyes, he seemed to be deep in thought. After a moment, he resumed walking, and Thomas fell in beside him.
“I wish,” Freddy said, “that I could laugh over that last fight we had, but in truth, I barely survived it.”
Now Thomas grasped Freddy’s arm and stopped him. “What? What are you saying?”
Freddy blinked and moved back a bit, as if he thought Thomas might attack him. “You gave me a concussion, broke my arm and nearly broke my back. I was in bed for six months.” He shook his head, clearly and rightfully troubled by the memory. “Do you mean to say you don’t know this?”
For a moment, Thomas could not breathe, could not think. Nor could he recall the rage he’d felt, as though he might justify such actions. But those feelings had long ago been eradicated from his character as he learned military discipline. At that moment, like the sun bursting through storm clouds, the reason for his banishment became clear. No matter the cause for his uncontrolled temper, Father had been right to send him away before he murdered his own brother.
“No, I did not know.” Why had no one told him how much damage his temper had inflicted? He set a hand on Freddy’s shoulder. “W-will you forgive me?” Emotion closed off any further words, but the horror of what his brother had just disclosed weighed heavy on his soul.
Freddy’s troubled countenance softened, and he clasped Thomas’s shoulder in return. “I forgave you long ago, Tommy.” He grunted. “More for myself than for you. As my father-in-law says, holding on to bitterness can destroy a man. Best to forgive the person who has offended him.”
“I must meet this man.” Thomas had served under a captain like that, but for far too brief a time to absorb all the wisdom the man might have imparted to him.
Freddy nodded, but his smile was less than agreeable. “Perhaps one day.” He broke away and started off toward the stables again.
The heavy smells of horseflesh and hay, intensified by the summer heat, greeted them at the long, low building. But it was no worse than the bilge water and unwashed men on his ship.
They inspected the horses together, and Thomas noted with satisfaction that the grooms had given great care to his mount, as though he were a part of this stable. And the mare in question was pronounced docile enough for Kezia’s first riding lessons. Then they began their journey back to the house.
In this day of much drama, Thomas hesitated to approach another serious subject. But his brother’s marked and clearly aching limp pained him, too. As they passed beyond the stable fencing, he noticed the Rangers in a field practicing their maneuvers.
“Fine lads, those Rangers.” He waved a hand in that direction. “Taking time from their plantations and businesses to keep the rebels out of this colony.”
“Governor Tonyn requires every citizen to serve in that capacity.”
“Even a magistrate?” Thomas noticed a slight grimace in Freddy’s profile.
“No. But then, I suppose it’s been Father’s influence that caused the governor to exempt me.”
Thomas once again stopped his brother. “Stubble it, Freddy. Dinah told me how you were wounded. Why won’t you admit you were serving the king’s interests in fighting against the rebels in their last incursion over the Georgia border?”
Freddy swiped a hand over his eyes. “Dear Dinah. She’s determined to get it wrong. I was delivering arms and ammunition to the battlefield.” He shook his head and began walking again. “Not terribly heroic. Just didn’t realize I was supposed to duck when the enemy began firing.”
Thomas swallowed back another surge of emotions. Very well, he would let his brother manage his own feelings about the event. But in his estimation, Freddy’s actions equaled any soldier’s or sailor’s for heroism. Why, His Majesty’s Navy depended upon naval transport vessels for ammunition and other stores. Not every man could fight. Some must work behind the lines to ensure victory. But he would not press the issue with his brother.
Of all the offenses he had held against Freddy, only one remained. Why had he not brought Dinah to live here, safely away from that Hussey fellow? At the least, either he or that much-praised uncle might have managed her inheritance so that Hussey could pose no threat to her security. But all that was of no consequence now. He would marry Dinah soon and make certain her every need was met. Thus he could overlook his brother’s failing in the matter.
They walked around to the back of the house and to Thomas’s shock, his nephews were chasing their puppies and each other around in circles, giggling with childish abandon. He could not restrained a chuckle, which Freddy echoed.
“There,” his brother said. “It works every time. They always decide it’s better to share a toy than to fight over it…or have it taken away.”
Thomas could only shake his head. When the time came, he knew where he would come for advice in how to raise his children.
Dinah sat cross-legged on the nursery floor and rocked Kezia’s doll. It was nothing more than a small stuffed linen pillow held together with wide childish stitches. But Rachel had sewn on a smiling face and made a blue cotton gown, and Kezia clearly loved the thing. Dinah felt privileged to be entrusted with its care. In the meantime, Kezia fussed with the tiny sheets in the doll’s cradle, a miniature of the one where the new baby, Maria, slept.
At last Dinah felt useful. When she’d brought her niece upstairs, they’d tiptoed to Marianne’s room and spent several enchanted moments gazing upon the newborn infant and watching Joanna change her. Then they came to the nursery and reenacted the scene. Kezia treated her doll with a tenderness that foreshadowed good mothering skills, and Dinah felt her own arms ache to hold a new life made with Thomas. Until then, oh, how she longed to stay here, never to go back to St. Augustine. She would miss Anne, but she would not miss Artemis’s constant badgering to give him control of her money. Of course, that problem would soon be solved. And no longer could he try to force her into an unwanted marriage.
Joy upon joy filled her heart and mind. Maybe after she and Thomas were married, she could stay here more often, for instance, during his longer voyages. As a wife, she would have more in common with her cousin and sister-in-law. Then maybe they wouldn’t stop talking when she entered the room. Or send her off to be with the children, although that part did not entirely displease her. Still, she longed for the company of women who loved her and whose loyalties to their husbands would not be compromised by confiding in her, as Anne’s were.
“Miss Dinah.” Caddy entered the room carrying a tray of food and followed by little Jamie and Davy. “Miss Rachel says you should come down and eat a bite.”
“Thank you, Caddy.” She gave the doll back to Kezia and kissed her playmate. “Thank you for playing with me. And tomorrow, I shall sketch your pictures, all of you.”
The child threw her arms around Dinah’s neck and squeezed hard. “I love you, Aunt Dinah.” The boys added their hugs and “luff you” and “wub oo.”
With that sweet affirmation, Dinah’s heart swelled with love. The children filled an empty spot within her that their parents knew nothing about. She made her way down the hallway to freshen up in her room, then descended the front stairs in time to hear a duet of male voices laughing in the drawing room. In the brief instant between reaching the door and being noticed by the men, her heart once again soared with happiness. Thomas looked so at ease, so at peace. All the reserve he’d exhibited toward Frederick seemed to have vanished. In its place, she saw genuine affection for his brother.
“My darling.” Thomas crossed the room, took her hand and kissed her cheek. His warm breath fanned down her neck and gave her a pleasant shiver. “Come join us. We’re waiting to be called for the midday meal. Are you hungry?”
Only for your company. “A little, I suppose.” She saw Frederick’s knowing smile and looked up at Thomas. “Have you told everyone?”
“Not Marianne. I’d hoped to see her and the baby, but no doubt I will have to camp outside her door until she wakes the next time.” His blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight streaming in through the tall drawing room windows.
“It will be worth the wait. She’s so beautiful, Thomas. A baby is truly a miracle. So tiny and perfect.” She wondered what color their children’s eyes would be, what color their hair. Brown and blond like hers, or blue and black like his? His warm gaze made her wonder if he was thinking the same thing.
“Dinah!” Rachel rushed into the room and pulled her into a fierce embrace. “I’m so happy for you, cousin.”
Dinah returned her hug. “Thank you.” She wanted to ask if she could stay here, but could not find the words.
“And now,” Rachel said, “you can buy or rent your own home in St. Augustine so you’ll be there when Thomas returns from his voyages.”
“Oh. Yes. Of course.” Dinah glanced at Thomas, whose benign smile gave no indication he knew of her struggle. But Rachel was right. After they married, she would want to make a home for him in his ship’s temporary port. And after the war, they would go to England, an exciting prospect they had discussed this morning on the way back from the arbor. Yes, she would willingly sail across the wide ocean or wherever Thomas took her, as long as she could be with him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“Tell me more about your house in Portsmouth.” Dinah walked with her arm looped around Thomas’s, treasuring the security his presence provided on this walk through the plantation woodlands. “Will I have a garden and a kitchen house?”
He patted her hand, as he did when about to correct her. She did
not mind, for she had freely confessed to him that she had much to learn.
“Yes, you shall have your garden, for both flowers and vegetables, if it gives you pleasure. But the kitchen is inside the house.”
“I see.” She thought of her Boston cousin, whose kitchen was indoors, and was satisfied with the picture. “And how many rooms?” Once there, she would have to set up a cleaning schedule and hoped that sweeping and dusting once a day would be sufficient.
“Eighteen.”
Dinah gasped. “Oh, my. Why, how shall I ever—?” She clamped her mouth shut. Somehow she would manage. Perhaps some of the rooms could be shut off and the furniture covered when not in use.
He peered beneath her hat brim, and his pursed lips seemed an attempt not to laugh. “My darling, you will have servants to help you. Our home is actually quite modest, but will be sufficient for our needs.”
“I see.” Eighteen rooms made a modest home? Frederick and Rachel’s house had twelve rooms, yet Dinah found the plantation dwelling quite commodious. She could not imagine what could fill more rooms.
Thomas had already told her the house came into his possession upon his marriage to Ariel, the only child of a baron. At times, she felt a pang of sorrow for Thomas’s first wife. But he spoke of her with mild detachment, and Dinah could see he had managed his grief, as every person must do in his or her own way. She had little knowledge of English laws regarding inheritance but would gladly hand over her own small fortune to his control upon their marriage. But the words “our home” had sent a wave of happiness through her. Whatever was his would now be hers. Whatever was hers would now be his.
In the shade of a spreading magnolia tree, he pulled her around in front of him and gently pushed her hat off so that it hung by its ribbons down her back. He traced her cheek with one finger, then lifted her chin and gave her a quick kiss.
“Dinah, my love, these five days have been the happiest of my life. Our visits to St. Johns Towne and our picnics on the river have done much to relax me and prepare me to return to duty.” He gave her another quick kiss. “I like your Reverend Johnson and found his sermon yesterday to be thought-provoking. If you wish for him to perform our marriage, I will be pleased with that arrangement.”
At the Captain's Command Page 17