Daring Bride

by Jane Peart

  Evalee soon tired of the talk, the endless gatherings to discuss rumors that came out from behind the iron curtain the Soviets had imposed, meetings in which strategy for overthrowing the Communists and taking power again was repeatedly revised and reviewed. All the speculation was completely false and groundless. Afterward all the former counts, princes, and generals went off to their jobs as doormen of fancy hotels or maître d’s of fine restaurants—in which none of them could afford to stay or eat—or waiters in bistros or chauffeurs.

  Much as she loved Andre’s family, their living in the past, dreaming of an impossible future, had come to seem pitiful to Evalee. In the end, she knew she had to make a change. That’s when she decided to take Natasha and travel back to Virginia, start again, make a new life for herself and her daughter.

  Evalee touched the pearls she wore around her neck, remembering with tenderness the woman who had given them to her—Marushka, Andre’s mother, whom she would probably never see again. Before Evalee left for America, the countess had given the pearls to her. Evalee knew how precious they were to her mother-in-law, so the gift was even more valuable to her. The pearls were to be kept by Evalee and then given one day to the countess’ granddaughter, Natasha.

  “Pearls must be worn to retain their lustrous beauty,” the countess had instructed her. “Pearls get sick if you shut them away for years in the box. Any jeweler will tell you the same. They need to be lovingly cared for. They need the warmth of soft skin, or they lose their color, become dull and lifeless. They need fresh air, sunlight, and every so often to be steeped in sea-water.”

  She had bidden Marushka good-bye with a sad heart. So much of her life with Andre had been bound up in his mother. But the past was over—the present was reality. Evalee had to face the fact that life was not a fairy tale. There was no money, and she had to support herself and her daughter.

  Starting over in the States after her years abroad would not be easy. But she would make it. She was determined. Besides, she had to. She refused to be an object of pity, a poor relation dependent on others.

  Evalee twisted the pearls thoughtfully. All that she had to show for her brief marriage were these pearls—and Natasha, of course. She glanced down again at the little girl, who stirred, making small murmuring sounds in her sleep. Something warm, tender, formed in Evalee’s heart as she gazed at her. She would find something worthwhile to do in Mayfield, give her child a good life, make a home for the two of them.

  The train slowed, and ahead she saw the small yellow station house,, The conductor was making his way down the aisle. “Mayfield. Next stop, Mayfield.”

  “Come on, darling.” Evalee gently nudged Natasha. The little girl screwed up her tiny face, reluctant to be awakened. She dug chubby fists into her still-shut eyes. “Wake up,” Evalee urged her, pushing the girl’s reluctant arms into the sleeves of her coat and starting to button it. “We must hurry. Grandmama Dru will be here to meet us.” Evalee slipped on the jacket of her black bouclé suit and adjusted the silver fox ruff that had belonged to Aunt Irina and had been given to Evalee as a farewell gift. Of all Andre’s many relatives, Evalee had felt closest to Irina. She now thought of their affectionate parting that cold, chilly night in the train station when Irina had brought her the fur scarf.

  “Darlink, wear it with joy!” Irina had told her. “You look like a queen, and you will be treated like one!” Kissing Evalee on both cheeks, her faded eyes bright with tears, she said, “Go, and God go with you!”

  Irina had been the only one to support Evalee’s decision to leave Paris. “Of course you must go! If I could go home to Russia, I would go like that!” She had snapped her long, graceful fingers. “Ve live in the past here—you and Natasha belong to the future.”

  Saying good-bye to all of Andre’s relatives had been hard. However, Irina’s words strengthened her. She could not let the thought that she might never see any of them again distract her from her goal. Irina was right—it was the future she had to think about now, hers and Natasha’s.

  Evalee peered out the window and saw the tall woman in a gray squirrel coat and a plum-colored velvet cloche walking along the platform. “Look, Natasha, see Grandmama! There she is, darling. Wave to her!” Evalee tapped with her gloved knuckles on the glass to attract her mother’s attention.

  Dru Bondurant turned and, seeing the two faces she had been searching for, smiled and waved.

  Evalee felt her throat tighten with love and longing. So much had happened since she had last seen her mother. She hardly seemed changed. A rush of tender memories flooded through Evalee, memories of being sheltered, indulged, comforted. At the same time, she felt an irrational yearning to be embraced again by that love and to be told that everything was going to be all right.

  chapter

  12

  Mayfield

  Dovecote

  THE NEXT MORNING, Evalee woke up in the slant-ceilinged bedroom of the small, yellow, eighteenth-century clapboard house that had once belonged to Dru’s mother, Dove Montrose, and in which Dru now lived. For a minute she could not remember where she was. Slowly the long journey she had made with her little girl came back to her. She snuggled further down under the downy quilt and let the almost childlike feeling of security flow through her. From downstairs she could hear the murmur of voices, her mother’s and Natasha’s. The little girl must have awakened earlier and Dru had taken care of her.

  After a while Evalee put on her robe and went down the short flight of stairs. In the sunny breakfast nook, Natasha was eating biscuits and honey while her tall, slender grandmother told her some story in her low, sweet voice. Evalee stood there for a minute, observing the scene tenderly.

  “Mama!” Natasha exclaimed when she saw her. “Nana is telling me ‘bout when you were a little girl!”

  “Good morning, darling,” Dru greeted her. “Come sit down and I’ll pour you a nice hot cup of coffee.”

  Evalee took a seat beside Natasha, and her mother set a steaming cup of coffee before her. “Jill called earlier,” Dru told her. “We’re invited to Cameron Hall for dinner tonight. Everyone is so anxious to see you.”

  Evalee looked directly at her mother, wondering, Were theyy actually?'What did they know of her or remember? That she had been a spoiled child, a petulant teenager? Certainly they knew nothing of what she’d since been through, of the woman she’d become. Would she be as much a misfit now in this closed southern society as she had been as a young girl? Only time would tell.

  “And of course, this little sweetheart, whom no one has met!” Dru gazed at her small granddaughter fondly before going on. “I’m not sure Cara and Kip will be there this evening, and Kitty is in New York or on one of her book tours, I’m not sure. But I do know Jill is really looking forward to seeing you.”

  Evalee remembered Jill affectionately. She was the lovely English girl cousin Scott had married. She had always been kind and considerate to Evalee. Perhaps because she too sometimes felt like an outsider?

  It was early evening when they took the country road out to Cameron Hall. It was situated well off the main road and was approached through blue iron gates leading up to the house.

  Scott Cameron came out onto the brick terrace as Dru’s Chevrolet coupe came to a stop in front of the stately brick house. “Welcome, Aunt Dru,” he said, assisting her out of the small car. Then he turned to Evalee, smiling. “All grown up, I see.”

  “That happens,” she replied, thinking that the tall cousin she had idolized as a young girl before the war had changed into a mature man. However, he was still handsome, with strong features and a touch of gray at his temples.

  “And this is the little Russian countess,” he said, bending slightly to Natasha, who stood clinging to her mother’s hand.

  “Oh, please! She gets enough of that from her Russian relatives,” Evalee protested, shifting the fox scarf uneasily, then glancing past Scott. “Where’s Jill and the twins?”

  “Jill will be along in a minute. She was o
verseeing the twins’ baths,” Scott explained. “They were out riding and lost track of the time. They’d been told to be home in plenty of time to welcome their new cousin. They’ll all be along in a while. Both Stewart and Scotty are avid horseback riders. Cara’s been coaching them, getting ready for the Mayfield County horse show.”

  “Of course. I should have remembered. We’re back in Virginia, horse country.” Evalee hoped that she didn’t sound sarcastic and that Scott didn’t remember the fuss she used to put up about riding. After all, the Cameron stables were famous, and it would only be natural for his children to ride. She glanced at her daughter. If they were going to live here, it would probably be a good thing for Natasha to learn as well.

  “Come along inside,” Scott invited, offering his arm to his Aunt Druscilla. “How long has it been, anyway?”

  Before they reached the top of the steps, a woman in a rose-colored cardigan and a tweed skirt appeared at the front door. Seeing her, Evalee had to conceal her shock. It had been five years, she reminded herself. She remembered Jill as a slender English beauty who had first come to Cameron Hall as a companion to Bryanne Montrose and had stayed to become mistress of this lovely estate. It was the gray hair that had thrown her temporarily. But Jill’s smile was radiant, and so was her rose complexion. She held out both hands, welcoming Evalee.

  “Evalee, how wonderful to see you again! And what a dear little girl.” She leaned down toward Natasha and spoke very softly. “Hello, Natasha. I’m your Auntie Jill. We’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” To Evalee she said, “What a doll!” Then she straightened. “Aunt Dru, I know you’re happy to have these two with you. Do come in, all of you. We’ll have tea.”

  Evalee felt a mixture of emotions as she went inside. Cameron Hall had always seemed like a storybook house to her. It seemed even more so to her today. It was a high-ceilinged, magnificent place filled with paintings, antiques, and priceless rugs. And moving about within it were these handsome, well-fed, well-dressed people, expecting to be waited on, being served meals that appeared magically at the appropriate time, accepting the privilege and position, as was their right. Maybe it all struck her anew after years of living in impoverished circumstances.

  Evalee was thrust back to the last time she had been a visitor here. It had been at Christmas, and the house had been bright with holiday decorations. She remembered the scent of the six-foot cedar that stood in the curve of the winding stairway. The tang of bayberry candles, of evergreens, mingled with the spicy smells of baking coming from the kitchen. That day had started out as a happy family holiday but had become a time of tension and turmoil and conflict. Cara, of course, had been the cause. Mercurial, high-spirited Cara had a tendency to be reckless and indiscreet and had caused a mild sensation at the annual party. Later she had upset the household with a secret plan to elope, then just as unexpectedly had returned for an impromptu wedding. To a ministerial student, no less! Cara, the family “wild card,” as Scott had named her. Her twin sister Kitty was just the opposite.

  Jill’s voice, which still retained its delightful upper-class English accent, brought Evalee back to the present. “You must be tired, coming all the way from New York as you did. Your mother said you didn’t even take a day or two to rest after the ocean voyage.”

  Evalee bit her tongue to keep from blurting out the truth. It would never occur to any of these affluent people that her reason was that she couldn’t afford to stay even one night in a hotel.

  “Let’s go into the library,” Scott suggested, leading the way.

  Evalee followed her cousin into the splendid room, which had walls of built-in bookcases. It was furnished in a blend of cushioned sofas and deep chairs. In the fireplace a fire glowed cheerily, and in front of it was a small tea table, on which a silver tea service was placed.

  Dru took over her little granddaughter, settling her on one of the tufted hassocks beside her own chair. Jill poured tea and handed Evalee a cup.

  Evalee listened to the conversation between her mother and Scott. At first the cadence of their southern accent sounded strange to her ears, which had become accustomed to French and Russian. The talk was mostly of family and mutual friends. It seemed Scott had a recent letter from Garnet, with instructions for him to carry out while she was away from the scene herself. This brought amused recollections of some of Aunt Garnet’s visits, when in a period of weeks she attempted to arrange everyone’s lives. It was a family joke that Garnet always created minor whirlwinds in her wake.

  Their discussion was interrupted by the arrival of the twins, scrubbed, shiny-faced, and not the least bit shy. They were handsome and well mannered but very much at ease, comfortable with their parents and the visitors.

  Stewart immediately marched up to Natasha. “Are you really a countess? Why aren’t you wearing a crown?”

  Scotty, a pretty little girl, a feminine version of her brother, brushed by him and took Natasha’s hand. “Come on, I want to show you my dollhouse.”

  Over their heads, Jill said to Evalee, “I thought the children would enjoy eating at their own table in the breakfast room.” She rose and led the children out of the library. At the door, Natasha turned and looked over her shoulder at Evalee, who smiled encouragingly. Scotty tugged her hand gently, saying, “Come on, Natasha.” To Evalee she said, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of her.” Then the two little girls followed Stewart out of the room.

  “They’ll be fine. Scotty is a sweet child,” Dru assured Evalee.

  Dinner was delicious and beautifully served. All the dishes were typical southern cuisine, reminding Evalee of the mealtimes of her childhood. Baked ham, sweet potato casserole, green beans, spiced peaches, and lemon meringue pie for dessert.

  Afterward the adults took their coffee back into the library. It was then that the opportunity came for Evalee to speak about the plan she had been formulating.

  Scott asked, “So, Evalee, will you settle here in Mayfield?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Oh, darling, I do so hope so!” Dru exclaimed, giving Evalee an anxious look. “We haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet.”

  Evalee hesitated a moment. Then she decided it was best to just be blunt. “I have to find a job, some way to make a living.”

  Maybe being that outspoken was not quite proper, but she had learned that it was pointless to be evasive when one was better served by the truth.

  Scott gave her an appraising look. “What kind of job? What can you do? What experience have you had?”

  She was grateful that he was getting right to the heart of the matter. With his connections, Scott might be able to help. “I’ve held several kinds of jobs—selling perfume, hats, working in an art gallery…The last one I had was as a concierge in the apartment house where we lived.”

  She saw Dru’s shocked expression. Evalee had still not told her mother about the dire financial circumstances into which they had plunged.

  “Well, that’s wide-ranging enough, I guess,” Scott said then. “But what would you like to do?”

  “If I had my choice?” Evalee gave a derisive laugh, as though his question amused her. What if she answered that she’d like to sleep till noon, read novels, eat bonbons, have a maid bring tea? But she knew that was not the ideal life. She had proved something to herself in Paris. She was smarter, more capable, more resilient, than she had ever imagined. She was proud of how she’d scrimped and saved to earn enough to buy their tickets to America, working extra hours and weekends. Here she hoped to put some of her newfound abilities to advantage.

  She took a deep breath and told Scott, “I’d like to have a shop, a French-type boutique with frivolous, unique, romantic things, the kind of things people buy as gifts for someone special, someone they love…”

  Jill was immediately enthusiastic. “What a great idea! That would be something really different for Mayfield.”

  Encouraged by her reaction and Scott’s interest, Evalee began to mention a few of the idea
s she had. By the end of the hour, she had been given dozens of suggestions as to how such a venture could be started, where the boutique could be located, how it could be advertised.

  “By word of mouth or by elegant cards inviting a special few to come! A hundred or so special few!” Jill laughed. “We could all compile a list of names. With all the organizations and clubs the members of this family belong to, the business would be a success immediately.”

  “Now, Jill, don’t get carried away,” Scott cautioned. “A lot of planning has to go into an enterprise like this.”

  Jill ignored Scott and looked directly at Evalee. “I know, but it doesn’t hurt to think ahead.”

  Evalee smiled gratefully at Jill. “Thank you. I think I needed that.” It was wonderful to have someone respond so favorably to something that had only been a vague thought floating on the periphery of her mind. She felt Jill would be her ally in her future plans. She hoped she would also be a friend. Suddenly Evalee felt exhausted. She hadn’t realized how tense she had been as she was telling them about her plans. She had taken an important step by verbalizing them.

  Dru, sensitive to her daughter’s fatigue, made the move to leave. “We should be going. I don’t like to drive after dark,” she said, standing up. “Thank you both for a lovely evening.”

  “I hope you’ll let Natasha come often to play with Scotty. She gets tired of being with boys all the time,” Jill said as she walked them to the hall.

  There Scott asked Evalee, “So you will be staying at Dovecote with your mother?”

  “For the present, yes. Of course, eventually Natasha and I shall want a place of our own.”