by Jane Peart
Then she remembered the Scotch midwife announcing to her through her fogged state, “You have a boy, Mrs. Montrose, a brawny lad with hair as fair as goldenrod, but with a promise to be as red as your own!”
She smiled sleepily and looked out the window at the rolling green countryside. The house she had leased was in Kent. The cottage, of timber, stucco and stone, nesded in a lovely little walled garden at the end of a lane just off the winding cobblestone street that ran through the village.
The village itself was little more than a hamlet, with a few stores and houses, an inn, and a small stone church of Norman architecture. Dominating the town from the hillside was an imposing turreted structure, once a monastery. Since the days of Henry VIII, however, it had been the property of a noble family named Marsh, although it still retained the original name of Monksmoor Priory.
To Blythe, seeing it now, it looked like something out of one of the illustrations in Malcolm’s book The Idylls of the King. Every day as she had walked by on her daily “constitutional” as recommended by her English doctor, Blythe was drawn by a curious bond she could not explain. She must learn more about it.
As she heard her child cry out from the cradle in the adjoining room, then hush as the old nurse rocked him, Blythe’s thoughts turned to this new life she had brought into the world. What was to be his name? Malcolm? No, somehow Blythe did not want to give him his father’s name. Rather, he should have a name that would stand for all the ideals to which his father had aspired—strength, courage, honor. It should be a noble name, one their son would bear with pride.
And then it came to her.
During the long months of waiting, she had read and reread Malcolme favorite books, especially the various versions of the Arthurian legend and the Bible. Following the Aposde Paul’s admonition, she had meditated on only those things that were “true … honest … just … pure … lovely,” casting out of her mind the pain and anguish of her past. Arthur. Why not call the boy Arthur? She would think on that.
On an English summer morning, misted with rain and scented with flowers, Blythe, with the couple with whom she had become close friends in Bermuda, Lydia and Edward Ainsley, along with Nanny Bartlett, carried the baby to the village church to be baptized.
Blythe had been attending services here for several months and found them, while much more formal than any she was accustomed to, quiet and lovely and somehow very meaningful.
The church was of gray stone, a small Gothic structure, built six hundred years ago. Coming from the raw mining town where the buildings were hastily constructed of green wood, Blythe was awed by the patina of the years that cast everything here in a mellow glow.
Once, when Lydia and Edward had come down from London to see the baby, Blythe had discussed with them the matter of his name.
“Most English boys receive several names at their christening. Edward did, didn’t you, dear?” Lydia said, gazing at her husband fondly. “His full name is Edward Albert John. So you have quite a choice, you see. And, in the Church of England, babies have godparents, you know, to look after the spiritual welfare of the child should anything, heaven forbid, happen to the parents.”
This was a new idea to Blydie, but a pleasant one. Edward beamed happily and Lydia seemed delighted when Blythe asked them if they would do the honors.
Entering the church now, Blythe handed the baby to Lydia and entered the hushed atmosphere reverendy. The light, filtering in through stained-glass windows, bore the heraldic symbols of some of the families of the surrounding countryside, along with biblical characters. There was the scent of beeswax candles, of oiled oak, the mingled fragrance of flowers.
The ancient baptistry stood to the side of the center altar, underneath an arched window depicting John baptizing Christ in the River Jordan.
There were kneelers with red velvet cushions circling the raised dais where the vicar stood, in starched surplice. Blythe took her place there while Lydia Ainsley, carrying the baby, stepped up toward Reverend Thompson, with Nanny Bartlett close behind.
As the vicar began the service, Blythe could not help thinking how strange it was that she had come from California to this place, to bring this child conceived another three thousand miles away, to be christened here in this historic chapel.
Then her attention returned to the present moment, for the vicar was speaking of her.
“Lord, we give thee humble thanks that thou hast been graciously pleased to preserve through the great pain and peril of childbirth, this woman, thy servant, who desireth now to present this child to be received into the Christian community.
“Merciful Father, grant that this child may reject all sin and that all things belonging to thy Spirit may live and grow in him. Grant him the power and strength to have victory and triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
“So, then, dearly beloved, we have come hither to baptize this child.” The vicar turned to Edward Ainsley. “Dost thou, in the name of this child, renounce the devil and all his works, the pomp and vainglory of this world, the sinful desires of the flesh, and follow the Lord our God in the Person of Jesus Christ?”
“I do renounce them and promise to abide in the faith of the Lord Jesus,” replied Edward in a deep voice. “With God’s help.”
“What is to be the child’s name?”
“Arthur Geoffrey Paul.”
Blythe glowed. Malcolm would approve of her choice. Arthur, for his legendary hero, King Arthur. Geoffrey, for Geoffrey de Monmouth, who had first translated the legend into English, and Paul, for the “great lion of God.”
Of the three names, Blythe had decided to call him “Jeff,” the nickname for Geoffrey. It seemed right for a little boy born in England.
And one day Blythe would take Geoffrey Montrose back to Virginia to reclaim his inheritance, Montclair. Yes. Malcolm would have wanted it this way.
Family Tree
In Scotland
Brothers GAVIN and ROWAN MONTROSE, descendants of the chieftan of the Clan Graham, came to Virginia to build on an original King’s Grant of two thousand acres along the James River. They began to clear, plant, and build upon it.
In 1722, GAVIN’S son, KENNETH MONTROSE, brought his bride, CLAIR FRASER, from Scodand, and they settled in Williamsburg while their plantation house—“Montclair”—was being planned and built. They had three children: sons KENNETH and DUNCAN, and daughter JANET.
In England
The Barnwell Family.
GEORGE BARNWELL first married WINIFRED AINSELY, and they had two sons: GEORGE and WILLIAM. BARNWELL later married a widow, ALICE CARY, who had a daughter, ELEANORA.
ELEANORA married NORBERT MARSH (widower with son, SIMON), and they had a daughter, NORAMARY.
In Virginia
Since the oldest son inherits, GEORGE BARNWELL’S younger son, WILLIAM, came to Virginia, settled in Williamsburg, and started a shipping and importing business.
WILLIAM married ELIZABETH DEAN, and they had four daughters: WINNIE, LAURA, KATE, and SALLY. WILLIAM and ELIZABETH adopted NORAMARY when she was sent to Virginia at twelve years of age.
KENNETH MONTROSE married CLAIR FRASER. They had three children: KENNETH, JANET, and DUNCAN.
DUNCAN married NORAMARY MARSH, and they had three children: CAMERON, ROWAN, and ALAN.
CAMERON MONTROSE married LORABETH WHITAKER, and they had one son, GRAHAM. Later CAMERON married ARDEN SHERWOOD, and they remained childless.
After the death of his first wife, LUELLE HAYES, GRAHAM MONTROSE married AVRIL DUMONT. Although they had no children of their own, they adopted his nephew, CLAYBORN MONTROSE.
The Montrose Family
CLAYBORN MONTROSE married SARA LEIGHTON, and they had three sons: MALCOLM, who married ROSE MEREDITH; BRYSON (BRYCE), who married GARNET CAMERON; and LEIGHTON (LEE), who married DOVE ARUNDELL. BRYCE and LEE were killed in the War-Between-the-States. CLAYBORN and SARA’S daughters-in-law were ROSE MEREDITH (widow of MALCOLM, deceased), who left one son, JONATHAN; DOVE ARUNDEL (widowed, with one da
ughter, DRUSCILLA); and GARNET CAMERON (widow of BRYCE MONTROSE, who remarried (JEREMY DEVLIN).
The Cameron Family
DOUGLAS CAMERON married KATHERINE MATTLAND. They had twin sons, RODERICK and STEWART, and one daughter, GARNET. STEWART was killed in the war.
The Saga Continues!
Be sure to read all of the “Brides of Montclair” books, available from your local bookstore:
1. Valiant Bride
To prevent social embarrassment after their daughter’s elopement, a wealthy Virginia couple forces their ward, Noramary Marsh, to marry Duncan Montrose. Already in love with another, Noramary anguishes over submitting to an arranged marriage.
2. Ransomed Bride
After fleeing an arranged marriage in England, Lorabeth Whitaker met Cameron Montrose, a Virginia planter. His impending marriage to someone else is already taken for granted. A story of love, conscience, and conflict.
3. Fortune’s Bride
The story of Avril Dumont, a wealthy young heiress and orphan, who Gradually comes to terms with her lonely adolescence. Romance and eartbreak ensue from her seemingly unreturned but undiscourageable love for her widowed guardian, Graham Montrose.
4. Folly’s Bride
Spoiled and willful Sara Leighton, born with high expectations, encounters personal conflicts with those closest to her. Set in the decades before the War Between the States, the story follows Sara as she comes under the influence of Clayborn Montrose, scion of the Montrose family and Master of Montclair.
5. Yankee Bride/Rebel Bride: Montclair Divided
In this stunning epic Civil War novel, Rose Meredith and Garnet Cameron mirror the raging conflict of a hopelessly divided nation. Their lives become forever entwined in the challenges they face, characterized by the drama of the men they marry and the sides they choose.
6. Gallant Bride
In 1870, Blythe Dorman falls in love with a mysterious stranger, Malcolm Montrose, who has come to the California gold fields in the hope of recouping his family fortune. As part of a secret agreement with her dying father, Malcolm takes Blythe back to his ancestral Virginia home and to searing tests of her faith and loyalty.
More books in this series due soon! Look for Lost Bride and Destines Bride in 1991.
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