by Jocelyn Kirk
Elena blushed, for her first thought was that she would strip off her frock and jump in. When she hesitated and tried to stammer out a more proper answer, Dr. Soames held up a hand.
“My dear, your response will mean nothing unless if comes straight from the heart.”
Elena took a breath. “Well, then, I must confess that I would divest myself of my garments and leap into the water!”
Everyone laughed.
“How very interesting!” declared Soames. “I must tell you a secret. I have never before asked that question of a lady. One expects a man to answer as you did, but a woman—one is not certain.”
“Oh dear,” said Megan. “I’m not sure I want to know the interpretation of Elena’s response.”
“Yes,” agreed Elena, “if I blush any more than I’m already blushing, I will need to apply powder to my face!”
“I will couch the interpretation in careful terms,” said Dr. Soames. “The pool of water is symbolic of love, of love that consumes the emotions and…the love of persons married to each other.”
Elena was too embarrassed to say a word, but Rosalie was not frightened of the topic of marital love. “Dr. Soames, what does Elena’s answer mean then?”
“It means that the lovely Miss Bellwood desires love, and that she does not fear it in any of its forms.”
“Perhaps,” said Ben, “it might be wise to move on to the last question, Soames, and allow Miss Bellwood to recover her complexion. For as it happens, I’m fresh out of face powder!”
All the company laughed, and the tension was broken. But no one, even Elena, could be satisfied without hearing the last question. Dr. Soames gave in to the demands. “Are you ready, Miss Bellwood?”
She nodded.
“Well, then, if you were walking about town and came upon a kitten—”
“A kitten?”
“Yes, a small kitten that was obviously lost and hungry. What would you do?”
Elena could not suppress a smile. “Dr. Soames, you should pose this question to my aunt, for a few years ago she came upon a little wolf puppy and rescued it from starvation.”
“A wolf puppy!” The usually staid scientist was all amazement.
“Indeed so. His name is Bramble, and he’s devoted to my aunt. When I first met him, I was quite frightened, but now he’s my best friend and follows me about when his mistress is not at home.”
“Miss Murdoch,” cried Dr. Garson, “we must be allowed to call on you and see this creature for ourselves!”
“I would welcome a visit from you,” Rosalie replied. “We’ll be at the farm next to Ben’s for two weeks. Bramble is of course with us.”
Ben spoke up. “I’ll take you there tomorrow, gentlemen, if Miss Murdoch has no objection. But now, I must hear Miss Bellwood’s answer to the kitten question, for I’m all curiosity.”
“Can you have any doubt?” said Elena with a laugh. “I’m related to my aunt, after all. I would wrap the kitten in my shawl and take it home with me, where it would grow fat and lazy and spoiled.”
“Well, Soames,” demanded Edward, “what say you to Miss Bellwood’s reply?”
“It is quite a simple correlation, my friend. In general, people treat their children as harshly or as kindly as they treat animals. Miss Bellwood will be a devoted and careful guardian of her children, and will spoil them outrageously!”
Chapter Nine
Noble Blood
For Elena, the two weeks at the farm flew by, enhanced by their interaction with the Garricks, Edward, and the two English scientists. The latter seemed in no hurry to return to Oxford, despite Ben’s oft-repeated declaration that he would not accompany them. When Elena and Rosalie returned to town, the two men continued at the farm and called at the shop frequently. They grew as accustomed to Bramble as any of the others, and the gray wolf found them worth a few wags of the tail, although his most enthusiastic greeting was always for Ben.
Willa had taken admirable care of the house and shop, but her employment as a reader had been terminated by the ill health of her employer. She was anxious to find a new position, but Rosalie had found her so useful in the shop and had enjoyed her own comparative freedom so much that, in a private talk with Elena, she urged the possibility of employing Willa herself.
“But Aunt Rosalie, can you afford such a step?” was Elena’s first question.
“Perhaps. The shop is much more lucrative now than it was a few years ago. The village is growing, and more people mean more sales. And your efforts at making displays more attractive have paid dividends, my dear.”
“Aunt Rosalie, I strongly suspect that these are but excuses for doing what the kindness of your heart is dictating!”
Rosalie leaned back in her chair and sipped her tea. They were in the parlor, and Bramble was with them, curled into a large furry ball in the center of the room.
Rosalie thought a moment before speaking. “My dear, you and Megan Garrick have—how can I phrase it?—raised Willa’s expectations of her role in life. I support your efforts for I believe Willa to be a fine, honest girl with an instinct for refinement—”
“I understand you,” Elena interrupted. “You feel we now have a responsibility to ensure her well doing, and perhaps you’re right. But the responsibility falls on Megan and me, not you.”
“You did not allow me to finish my thought,” replied Rosalie with a smile. “My dear, my situation in life has never been one of ease and wealth. I have always worked and earned my own way. My half of the farm and this house and shop are my only landed property. My savings are small. I was thirty-nine years old on my last birthday, and I find…I’m wishing for a bit of freedom.”
“My dear aunt! Of course you are! I must take more of the burden from you! Tell me what I can do to help and I will do it.”
“No,” Rosalie replied with a shake of the head. “You will not take my burdens upon your young shoulders. You do a great deal to help already. But employing Willa would enable me…and perhaps you, if you wished it…to spend the entire summer at the farm. Perhaps the fall also, when it is so very beautiful there.”
“That would be charming indeed! I long to immerse myself in the flower gardens. And to take up Ben’s offer to teach me to fish and sail!”
Rosalie smiled. Her secret thought was that the Elena of the present was so very different from the Elena of the past!
“We would need to spend some time in town minding the shop, for Willa would require the refreshment of the farm for a few weeks also.”
“Certainly…but Aunt Rosalie, would we not need a horse and cart with which to travel back and forth? That would add a great deal to our expenses.”
“Yes. Old Pinto Pony is no longer strong enough to pull a cart. We’ll need a horse that’s fit to pull and ride. And a small carriage—a gig would do very well.”
“I’m afraid I have no idea of the cost of such things, but I have a little money left over from my travel expenses, and I would be glad to contribute it. How delightful it would be to ride along the shore on a summer morning!”
Rosalie smiled at Elena’s enthusiasm. “Have you ever ridden?”
“No. Mama said it was a dirty business and would not allow me to learn. But now I’m usually covered in dust and wolf hair, so what would it matter?”
They both laughed, and Bramble looked up and thumped his tail.
“Yes, Mr. Bramble, I’m speaking of you!” Elena called, reaching down to scratch his ears. He gazed up at her, and she noticed that in the soft morning light his eyes looked the color of moss. The greenish glow of his eyes caused a memory to jump suddenly into her mind.
“Aunt Rosalie, I just recalled that when I was preparing to leave New York, Willa and I went through my mother’s bedchamber and found a few items to take that were not on the list of things to be claimed by the creditors. Among them was a set of rather unique jewelry—a necklace of green stones and a matching pin. Perhaps they have some value and can be used—”
Elena stop
ped speaking when Rosalie turned to her with a shocked expression. “A necklace and pin of green stones! Are you certain?”
“Yes, I’ll fetch them.”
“Please do. Good God, my sister couldn’t have—”
“Aunt Rosalie, what is it?”
“I’ll explain, but first show me the set. It may not be the one I remember.”
Full of curiosity, Elena pulled a box from the top shelf of her closet and rummaged through the contents until she found the leather bag containing the jewelry. Running back to the parlor, she pressed it into her aunt’s hands without a word.
For a moment, Rosalie hesitated. She turned the leather bag slowly in her hands, but her eyes gazed into the distance. A tear slid down her cheek.
Rosalie opened the pouch and pulled forth the jewelry. They both stared at it, as if it were something alive that might bite them.
“Aunt Rosalie, is it the jewelry you remember?”
Rosalie gulped and swallowed. She pulled forth a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed her eyes. “Yes. This set…was mine—”
“Yours! But how did my mother come to have it?”
Rosalie slid the necklace and pin back into the leather bag. She turned to Elena and attempted to compose herself.
“I must start at the beginning.”
“Yes, please do, but let me get you a glass of sherry. You are very discomposed.”
Rosalie nodded and Elena quickly poured her a small glass. “Take a sip, dear, and let your nerves settle.”
Rosalie sipped. She placed the glass on the table next to the leather bag. For a moment, she regarded it lying harmlessly on the table and then turned to her niece.
Rosalie took a breath and began. “My sister Miriam was five years my elder. When she was twenty-three years old, she fell in love with a young ship’s captain who was forced by a particularly cold winter to remain in harbor for a time. He formed a friendship with my father and visited the farm frequently. It was clear my parents hoped he would return Miriam’s affection…but he did not. He…loved another.”
Unbidden, an idea darted into Elena’s quick mind. “You! He fell in love with you!”
“He did, and I with him. He was the best, the kindest, the most upright man I have ever known.”
“And he gave you this jewelry as a gift?”
“Yes, he had brought it from the Far East, and he gave it to me as a token of love.”
“Then how—?”
“Captain Reed—that was his name, Andrew Reed—set sail for Europe when the weather cleared. From there, he intended to journey onward to the Far East again, for a good living could be made on the import of silks, china, gems, and the like.”
“Was there an engagement between you?”
“Oh yes. He expected to be gone a year, and then we intended to wed. We were both distressed at my sister’s feelings being hurt so badly, and we felt that a year’s separation would cool her emotions and enable us to marry without causing family strife.”
Elena shivered. This story would have a sad ending, and she felt for her aunt and her mother, both so disappointed in love. “But he did not return…” she said in a voice so low as to be nearly a whisper.
“No,” replied Rosalie with a shivering sigh. “I received a letter from his first mate about six months after they sailed. Andrew caught a fever in a foreign port and died.”
“Aunt Rosalie, how terrible!”
“Terrible indeed, Elena.”
“And the necklace? How came my mother to have it?”
“I don’t know. My parents had employed a new farm worker around that time, and he proved to be a liar and a thief. When my jewelry disappeared, we all assumed he had somehow managed to steal it. I never dreamed—you can well imagine—I would never have accused my sister.”
Elena was too shocked to say a word. Her mother, a thief! Her mother, so angry at losing the man she loved to her younger sister that she stole the symbol of their love. It was unimaginable!
“My dear,” said Rosalie quietly, “this revelation is difficult for you, I’m sure.”
Elena sighed. “It’s difficult for both of us. But of one thing I’m certain: this jewelry belongs to you, and I’m very glad I took it from my mother’s house.”
“I’m very glad you did, also, but it belongs to both of us.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because…because we are a family. Whatever of value I have is yours as well, and I hope you feel the same.”
“The necklace and pin have value, then?”
“Oh yes. These green stones are emeralds, and the intricately worked settings are of the purest gold. Andrew had the set appraised by a jeweler in London, and it’s very valuable indeed.”
“You of course could never sell it.”
“No, I could not. But still it is part of our estate. One can use such items as collateral for loans in the event one needs money for some important purpose.”
“Aunt Rosalie, I’m curious. How much does Ben Garrick know about your past…about you and Captain Reed and my mother?”
“He knows the story. When Ben settled here about five years ago, I—this is going to sound very vain—I was being courted by the pastor of the Congregational Church, Edward’s predecessor. I confided in Ben that I had no intention of marrying him, and when Ben asked me why, I told him that I had met only one man I would have wed—and he had perished. Ben would not rest until he knew the whole story. He has an extremely curious nature, as all men of science do.”
“Indeed, but he’s also trustworthy. You knew he would not tell tales about town.”
Rosalie nodded. At that moment, Willa’s rapid tread was heard on the stairs leading up from the shop. Elena suddenly remembered the original purpose of her conversation with her aunt and said, “I will go down, Aunt Rosalie, if you wish to speak to Willa about her employment. Do you feel up to the discussion now, or will you defer it?”
“Thank you, my dear. I feel quite up to it.”
Willa was out of breath as she entered the parlor. “Miss Bellwood,” she gasped, “I mean, Elena, a fancy gentleman is in the shop asking for you!”
Elena smiled. “Willa, dear, remember your lessons on decorum. Do not allow yourself to show such agitation.”
“Yes, Miss—Elena, but I believe this gentleman—that is, he looks to be the man who came to call on you in New York. The man whose hat you threw across the room!”
“The Duke of Simsbury? Are you certain?”
“No, not quite certain, but he asked for you by name.”
Rosalie’s face expressed her curiosity. “It seems you have been keeping secrets from me, Elena.”
“Only one,” Elena replied.
“Shall I go downstairs with you?”
“No, he’s quite harmless. No doubt he’s here on business and wishes to…well, I don’t know what he wishes, but I’ll go down and get rid of him as soon as possible.”
When Elena entered the shop, she immediately spied the duke standing casually next to a display of candle holders and examining a particularly fine specimen in wrought silver. Elena made no attempt at warmth but merely said, “Good morning. You asked to see me?”
The duke took his time raising his eyes to hers. She regarded him silently, noting that as always he was impeccably attired and had an air of dignity and power not often seen. She quickly reminded herself that he had treated her very badly and deserved no courtesy.
“Miss Bellwood, we meet again. I would bow and kiss your hand, but you would no doubt slap my face.”
“No doubt,” she replied but could not help smiling.
“You are perhaps wondering why I’m here.”
“No. I assume you have come to apologize for your execrable behavior when last we met.”
“As a matter of fact, I am. Railroad business brought me to Mystic, and I spent the last two days screwing up my courage to confront you.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“After our
last meeting, I made it my business to learn your destination. I felt honor bound to ensure that you were safe and well looked after.”
“I see. Your use of the word ‘honor’ surprises me, for if you possessed any, you would have behaved differently and had nothing to apologize for.”
“I deserve your censure. My attempt to make you my mistress was inexcusably wretched. I was blinded by my desire for you and—I must confess—I saw you as a light, careless being with no serious concerns except a desire to associate herself with a gentleman of wealth. But I’m very aware such an excuse is hardly acceptable.”
Heat rose to Elena’s face, but she did not lower her head or turn away from him. “I accept your apology, such as it is, and…I also accept my share of the blame. I had no business attempting to marry you for your money and title. I’m quite ashamed.”
He bowed.
“But tell me,” she continued, speaking in a lighter tone, “what happened to your engagement? Did the heiress reject you for a lord or a prince?”
He smiled. “I am a fool, according to my father. I found that my feelings for Miss Julia Howarth were too feeble to enable me to spend my life with her.”
Elena began to reply with a witty remark about marrying for wealth, but she stopped herself and stared at him. “Good heavens,” she said finally, “you want to fall in love!”
He laughed. “I do indeed.” He took a few steps toward her. “Perhaps I will fall in love with you. I was nearly there when you left New York.”
Elena felt her face turning red. “N-no…” she stammered. “That would not do, not at all.”
He looked surprised. “I see. Someone has supplanted me, I conjecture.”
“No, but…” She curtsied hurriedly. “Thank you for coming, and now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.”
The duke began to speak, but at that moment a bevy of chattering ladies entered the shop. He bowed and said only, “I hope to see you again while I am here.”
Elena dropped another curtsey and he departed.
Chapter Ten
Quandaries
Such a day of events and revelations must be talked over at length, and dinner was the background for a great deal of discussion. The matter of the jewelry Rosalie and Elena kept to themselves, but the duke’s visit was the subject of many explanations and much laughter. In addition, Willa’s new position as shopkeeper was such a delight to her, it must be the subject most on her mind. The other two gave it their full attention.