Sweet Forever

by Ramona K. Cecil

  “Oh, Rosaleen,” she said with an excited squeal, “I so have the hypo, I can scarcely contain myself!”

  Rosaleen knew from her time at the finishing school that “hypo” was a term young ladies used to express extreme excitement.

  “I’ve just become engaged to be married, and I want you to play for my engagement party as well as for my wedding.”

  Staring at Sophie’s face crinkling with excitement, Rosaleen felt the blood drain from her own. So Jacob had gone directly from kissing her to proposing marriage to Sophie.

  Twenty

  On the front porch, Sophie bobbed back and forth, her hoop skirt swaying like a tolling bell. “Could I speak with you in the parlor, please?”

  “Yes, of course. Please come in.” Reeling from the shock of Sophie’s announcement, Rosaleen tried to remember her manners. She stepped aside, allowing Sophie to swish past her into the front hallway. As she led the girl to the parlor, Rosaleen knew she must not forget that Sophie was an innocent in all this. “Would you like some tea, Miss Schuler?”

  “No, please don’t trouble yourself.” Sophie carefully arranged her skirts as she lowered herself to the settee. “I am most anxious to discuss the particulars with you.”

  “Well, Miss Schuler”—Rosaleen hesitated as she took a seat opposite Sophie—“I’m not at all sure my participation will be possible.” With sheer force of will, she battled the tempest raging inside her. It took all her strength to stay seated in the armchair, wearing what she hoped was a pleasant expression on her face. “Actually, I’m not planning to stay in Madison much longer.”

  In truth, Rosaleen longed to race to her room, grab her fifty dollars, and leave Madison with the clothes on her back by whatever means available.

  “Oh.” Sophie’s delicate features wilted. “Edwin will be so disappointed.”

  “Edwin?” Rosaleen blinked in confusion.

  “Yes, my fiancé, Edwin Applegate.”

  Astonishment, relief, and confusion swirled through Rosaleen. “You’re—you’re not marrying Jacob?”

  “Jacob? Good heavens, no!” Sophie cackled. “I must confess I considered it once or twice when I was a child. But now that I’m grown, I find my affection for Jacob more closely resembles that for my brother, Will.” As she exhaled a soulful sigh, a dreamy look came into her pale blue eyes, and she pressed her hand against her heart. “Only Edwin, my darling Edwin, causes my heart to take flight, then lighting, it indulges itself in hours of happy contemplation of our coming union.”

  Rosaleen couldn’t help smiling at Sophie’s poetic effusion, so representative of young ladies of the social elite.

  “My engagement ball is only two weeks away. Surely you can stay that long.” Her eyes hopeful, Sophie bit her bottom lip.

  “Yes, I suppose I could.” Still attempting to adjust to this new revelation, Rosaleen found the smile came much easier to her lips.

  “Oh, that is wonderful!” Clapping her gloved hands together, Sophie actually bounced on the settee. “Of course, you must have a new gown for the occasion. I will send Aunt Myrtle’s seamstress to take your measurements.”

  “I—I really can’t afford a gown. . .” Every precious dollar Rosaleen had gotten for her brooch would be needed for her trip to New York, not to mention accommodations.

  “Oh, fiddle-dee-dee!” With a flip of her hand, Sophie dismissed the concern. “Uncle Roscoe and Aunt Myrtle are paying for everything. The weather has stayed warm, so Swiss muslins and linen lawns would be permissible, but this being an evening affair, we simply must be in silks and taffetas. Don’t you agree?”

  “I—I suppose.”

  Sophie is not marrying Jacob. The thought drowned out the girl’s prattle about the newest fabrics that had just arrived at the dry goods store.

  Rosaleen mentally wrestled with the puzzling turn of events. If Jacob isn’t planning to marry Sophie, why hasn’t he asked me to stay in Madison? He’d once asked her to marry him—begged her to marry him. He confessed that he’d wrongly accused her of gambling at the Billiard Saloon, even asking her forgiveness for his hasty judgment. Had he since thought better of it and decided to leave well enough alone after she’d called off their engagement?

  “Rose. Yes, rose for Rosaleen,” Sophie said with a giggle.

  “What?”

  “Rosaleen, you must keep up!” Sophie gave an exasperated sigh. “I said, with your coloring, that rose silk I saw at Fitch & Williams would be just perfect for you, don’t you think?”

  Rosaleen smiled. “That sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to see it.” There would be plenty of time to assimilate the heart-jarring news. Just now, Sophie deserved her full attention.

  After a half hour of discussing quadrilles, ballads, and serenades, Sophie rose, smoothing wrinkles from her apricot lawn skirt. “Well, I have a million things to do and little time to accomplish them all.”

  Rosaleen hugged Sophie, realizing she hadn’t even offered the girl her best wishes. “Please allow me to extend my most sincere felicitations.”

  “Thank you, Rosaleen.” Sophie gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I can scarcely wait to tell Edwin you’ve agreed to play for our engagement ball.” Her eyes grew round while her little pink lips drew into a dainty pout, reminding Rosaleen of a child begging for a treat. “Won’t you please consider staying until after the wedding in October? It would mean so much to us if you were to play for our wedding.”

  “I will consider it,” Rosaleen said as she walked Sophie to the front door.

  Returning to the parlor, Rosaleen stood at the front window and watched Sophie’s carriage drive away. Her heart sagged with her shoulders. Jacob had said he wasn’t in love with Sophie. Now she must assume, despite the kiss they’d shared earlier, he must have decided he wasn’t in love with Rosaleen, either.

  ❧

  Jacob stood in the Madison Branch Bank beside Roscoe Stinnett. “I want to thank you for this loan, Roscoe,” he said dipping a pen into an inkwell and scratching his signature onto the document. “I reiterate the fact that it is a loan. You will be paid back with interest.”

  “I’m a businessman, Reverend. Loans are part of what I do.” Stinnett cleared his throat. “Besides, Myrtle and Sophie have their hearts set on that wedding taking place in your new church. If I don’t make that happen, there’ll be no living with them.”

  Their business concluded, they exited the bank together.

  Jacob couldn’t help a little grin. “Still, I thank you. The church will provide more room for a larger number of worshipers at services, and I pray many more souls won to Christ. You’ve done a good thing this day, Roscoe.”

  Roscoe only nodded, but Jacob noticed a softening of his hard-shelled, all-business facade. Never having had children of his own, the man seemed to have been blindsided by the wiles of his niece.

  As Sophie had predicted, soon after her uncle allowed Edwin Applegate to court her, Roscoe grudgingly agreed to the match. Jacob hoped the young couple’s relationship would help repair the rift between Roscoe and the elder Applegate.

  With a handshake, the two men parted company.

  Jacob touched his vest pocket where the copy of the loan crinkled beneath his fingers. He felt glad but not joyful. This was what he’d wanted for two years—plenty of money for material and labor to build the church. He was glad, too, that he’d be able to pay Andrew in a timely fashion for his masonry work on the church. With the arrival of baby Adam, Andrew and Patsey could well use the money. So why, Jacob wondered, wasn’t he shouting his thanksgiving to the heavens? What had dulled the joy in his heart?

  “Rosaleen.”

  Her name floated from his lips on a soft sigh of regret. He hadn’t realized how long he’d imagined standing before his congregation in the new church and seeing her lovely face beaming up at him from beside the piano. He swallowed hard, blinking quickly as Mulberry Street dimmed before him.

  Two days ago, when Alistair Ralston left Madison, Jacob had breathed a sigh of
relief to find that Rosaleen had indeed stayed behind at the boardinghouse. He’d thanked God when he learned that Sophie had managed to persuade Rosaleen to stay and play for her and Edwin’s engagement party. He prayed that Sophie might convince her to play for the couple’s wedding in October as well.

  Entering the boardinghouse, Jacob reminded himself of Christ’s promise: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

  Believing. That was the thing. Did he truly believe he could win her love again, convince her to stay and be his wife? The larger question remained: Do I even deserve her love?

  He felt a sardonic grin pull up his mouth at the absurd question. Of course he didn’t deserve her love. He’d made a grand mess of everything. He’d wrongly accused her of gambling and impropriety and even questioned her conversion and honesty.

  Jacob winced at the excruciating memory. How could she love him? How could she even think of marrying a man who’d accused her of such things?

  “Did you get the loan?” Rosaleen asked, stepping from the dining room into the hallway.

  “Yes.” Jacob touched his chest where his heart raced beneath the folded document in his vest pocket. Lately, he found himself studying Rosaleen with a sense of urgency. Every curve of her face. The way the afternoon sun revealed glints of copper in her wavy, auburn hair. It seemed imperative that he commit each detail to memory.

  “I’m glad.” Her gaze dropped to the carpet when his lingered on her face.

  “It’s a blessing that Sophie was so adamant about getting married in the new church,” he said in an attempt to prolong their conversation. The afternoon sun shafting down through the second-story window wreathed her in a golden glow. If he could keep her here at the foot of the stairs for a few moments longer, he might burn the image indelibly into his mind.

  “This time I’m taking no chances.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the insurance papers he’d had drawn up. “Roscoe insisted that the church be insured.” Rosaleen smiled and nodded, but the fact that she wouldn’t meet his gaze hurt.

  Jacob wished Mr. Blackmore down at the Delaware Mutual Insurance Company issued policies insuring against broken hearts.

  Maybe if he could convince her to stay in Madison a little longer. . . “Sophie mentioned to me last Sunday how happy she is that you’ve agreed to play for her engagement ball. She confessed that she hopes to entice you to remain for the wedding.” Jacob’s hope faded when Rosaleen glanced away.

  “I—I don’t know. Sophie’s wedding is set for mid-October, and I’d like to travel while the weather is still warm.”

  “On the whole, the weather should remain very clement through October.” She’d loved him once. If she allowed him time to show her he was completely repentant, perhaps she could love him again. “Please consider it, Rosaleen. It would mean so much—to Sophie.”

  His heart nearly stopped when she raised her face. Her beautiful blue-green eyes glistened as her gaze seemed to search his. “If it means that much—to Sophie—then I will consider it. I will give her a definite answer at her engagement ball.”

  As he watched her ascend the stairs, Jacob’s heart crawled to the mercy seat of his Lord. He, too, had been invited to Sophie and Edwin’s engagement ball next week. Something he’d seen in Rosaleen’s eyes rekindled within him a tiny spark of hope, and his heart refused to concede defeat.

  I know I don’t deserve her, Lord, but I may have one last chance—just one. Please guide me. Don’t let me mess this one up as well.

  Twenty-one

  Patsey tugged at the back of Rosaleen’s silk gown. “If you don’t stand still, I’ll never get this buttoned up!”

  Rosaleen stopped fidgeting and gazed out the second-story window down onto Mulberry Street. The view did little to calm her nerves. Through the deepening dusk, she could see the shiny black landau with its beaver-hatted driver waiting in front of the boardinghouse. The Stinnetts had sent the open carriage to transport her and Jacob to Sophie and Edwin’s engagement party. Rosaleen tried to forget that in a few minutes she’d be riding through the summer evening opposite Jacob. “Are you sure you should be doing this? I could get Opal to help me.”

  An impatience-laden puff of breath sounded. “It’s been two weeks since I had Adam, and if you and Mrs. Buchanan don’t quit babyin’ me, I’m gonna scream,” Patsey said. “Now turn around and let’s take a look at you.”

  Raising her face to the bureau mirror, Rosaleen had to admit she was pleased with the fabric Sophie had chosen for her. The rose silk gown showed off her hair and complexion to their greatest advantage.

  Patsey tucked tiny rambling rose blossoms above the ringlets she’d fashioned at Rosaleen’s temples. “Well, I don’t know what Miss Schuler’s gonna wear, but you’re the woman every man’ll be eyein’ tonight.”

  “No one is going to pay much attention to the piano player, Patsey.”

  “ ’Cept Rev’rend Hale.”

  “Patsey!” Rosaleen strove to keep her voice light but saw her smile fade in the mirror.

  Patsey slipped another pin into Rosaleen’s hair to secure the blossoms. “Don’t know what’s come between you two, and it ain’t none of my business, but I’m prayin’ God’ll use this evenin’ to help mend it. All right,” she said with a smile and a hug, “I’m done makin’ you nervous.”

  Rosaleen adjusted the lace shawl over her bare shoulders, her heart quickening. She ignored Patsey’s veiled attempt to garner information. As much as she’d love to unburden her heart to her friend, the wound still felt too raw to touch with words.

  “Thanks, Patsey, I can use all of your prayers.” Swallowing salty tears, Rosaleen gave Patsey a warm hug.

  A sense of bereavement gripped Rosaleen at the thought of leaving her best friend behind when she left Madison. The only way she could stay would be if Jacob asked her to. Her hope of that happening diminished with each passing day. He’d had every opportunity to ask her again to marry him, yet he hadn’t.

  Rosaleen believed with all her heart that Jesus had wiped away her sins. Yet deep down, she wondered if Jacob could ever see her as pure. He’d once questioned her sincerity.

  When he looks at me, does he still see a smudge on my soul? The thought pierced her when she met Jacob’s formal countenance and rather stiff smile at the bottom of the stairs.

  Other than his complimenting her appearance and their mutual agreement that it was, indeed, a fine evening, they accomplished the ride to the Stinnett home in virtual silence.

  He looked as ill at ease as she felt. She thought his attitude seemed extra quiet, pensive even. Seeming to avoid her gaze, he fixed his attention on the passing scenery beyond the carriage.

  Had he been disappointed that Sophie had chosen Edwin Applegate? Though curious about his thoughts at this moment, she wondered if God might have blessed her by sparing her the pain of that disclosure.

  Resting against the black velvet upholstery of the carriage, Rosaleen felt like a grand lady. Yet a sadness wrapped around her heart as the matched pair of dappled grays clopped along Mulberry Street, transporting them through the summer evening.

  Glancing at her handsome companion caused an ache deep within her. How painful to be given a glimpse of what her life might have been like here in Madison with Jacob, yet to know it would never be.

  They turned onto High Street, and she looked to her left. A block away, the red and gold August sunset spilled across the surface of the Ohio River, painting the water with its vivid hues.

  What a hauntingly beautiful place.

  Her heart clenched. She’d come to love the town almost as much as she loved the man sitting opposite her in the carriage. When she left, she’d be leaving a very large part of her heart in Madison, Indiana.

  When they reached the front of the Stinnett house, the driver let down the steps of the carriage with a rattle. Jacob climbed from the carriage first then helped her down.

  At the front door, a young housemaid with an Ir
ish accent took her shawl and Jacob’s white beaver hat. She ushered them into a large double parlor. There, a crystal chandelier tinkled above them with the movement of the milling guests. It cast a golden glow over the expanse of the bare wood floor, polished to a high gloss. The room had been emptied of all furniture except for some seating around the walls and the piano in the corner.

  Rosaleen searched the room for familiar faces. Besides the Stinnetts, she recognized the Applegates and Dr. and Mrs. Morgan. Jacob’s sister, clinging to the arm of her tall, handsome husband, looked stunning in a lilac taffeta gown.

  Sophie’s azure silk skirt whispered as she fairly skipped toward them, a tall, bespectacled young man in tow. “Oh Rosaleen,” she squealed, “you look lovely! I just knew that color would be perfect for you.”

  “Thank you again for the dress—”

  “Oh, fiddle-dee-dee!” Sophie swept aside her expression of gratitude with a giggle and a shake of her blond curls. “I don’t believe you’ve been formally introduced to my fiancé, Edwin Applegate.” She lifted an adoring smile to the shy visage of the young man beside her.

  “Mr. Applegate, I do remember seeing you with your sister at worship services,” Rosaleen said, offering him her hand.

  “Mrs. Archer,” Edwin murmured, dipping a quick nod of his reddish-blond head over her hand. He brushed his lips across the top of her fingers, and then his chocolate-brown gaze drifted back to his diminutive fiancée.

  Sophie grinned at Jacob. “Everything is perfect. Edith is prepared, just as planned.”

  Before Rosaleen could ponder the girl’s cryptic comment to Jacob, Sophie whisked her toward the piano with instructions concerning the order in which the tunes were to be played.

  “I hope this evening will be as wonderful for you as it is for me.” Sophie gave her a quick squeeze then skipped away to join Edwin and Jacob.

  Unable to guess what Sophie had meant by her statement, Rosaleen dismissed it as a manifestation of the girl simply being “hypo” about her engagement ball.