“Andrew, wait.”
But his horse was galloping down the magnolia-lined drive. Eleanor dropped her face in her hands. After a few moments had passed, she took Tiche’s reins and walked slowly back to the house. Mary stood on the porch, waving with a friendly smile, as though all were forgotten between them.
“Ellie, why, you’re as cold as ice. Where have you been?” Mary took her hands. “Miss Jenkins is truly in pain, Ellie. She must lie on her stomach, propped up on her elbows. I’m afraid there’s not much Doc Hayes can do for her.”
“How is her cousin? The one who was traveling with her? Has he suffered much?”
Mary shook her head. “It doesn’t appear so. He received a welt on his forehead, a great strawberry-colored thing, but he seems more concerned about Miss Jenkins than anything else.”
“I shall visit her and welcome her. I have something of hers left at the accident site.”
“She’s been asking for you. It seems she feels terrible about troubling a young bride on the eve of her wedding. I’m sure you can set her mind at rest.”
“The wedding should be postponed. How callous of us to celebrate while she lies in agony. She’ll need her rest, and the music and merriment will only disturb her. I shall talk with Father presently.”
“He has no intention of canceling the wedding, Ellie.” Mary’s green eyes darkened in a challenge. “He has already spoken of it to my mother. He is worried for your reputation.”
“Why is it you wish for me to be married, Mary?”
“Because I wish for Andrew to be happy. That shall make him so.”
“Only God can truly make him peaceful and happy, Mary.”
Mary rolled her eyes. “You’ve been listening to Nathaniel and Hattie far too long. Save the sermons for Sundays, my dear cousin. You have hospitality to see to.” Mary stepped away, allowing Eleanor to enter the great home.
Eleanor’s father spoke in the study with Aunt Till. Their conversation seemed of the utmost importance, and Eleanor nodded in recognition while heading up the stairs, but her father called out to her. She entered the once-lavish sitting room and sat on an opulent, red velvet chair that now wore the knife wounds of a Yankee bayonet.
“Mary has updated me on Miss Jenkins’s convalescence. I shall see if the young woman has further needs that only an equal might understand.” Eleanor referred to the garter, knowing that if she had lost such a personal item, it would alarm her more than any pain until it was returned safely to her care.
Aunt Till cleared her throat. “The wedding shall be a quiet affair out of respect for Miss Jenkins. We shall hold the events outside on the front lawn so as not to disturb her any more than possible.”
The wedding would be quieter than they imagined. For the bride would turn up missing as dawn broke.
Chapter 18
The sunny yellow curtains were drawn, and a somber ambiance filled the usually cheerful guest room. Miss Sarah Jenkins moaned in agony, and Eleanor nearly turned back for fear of upsetting the young invalid. A creaky floorboard gave the visitor away, and slowly Sarah turned around. The rumors were true, for she emanated beauty, even in ill health. Her cheeks were a fresh petal pink, and her luxurious blond hair fell about the floor, surrounding her like a halo.
“Good morning, Miss Jenkins. I am Eleanor Senton.”
The young woman stretched out a hand. “Miss Senton. I am so dreadfully sorry to have interrupted your wedding festivities. Forgive me, please.”
“Think nothing of such nonsense, Miss Jenkins. Your health is far more important. Is there anything I can get for you? Would you like tea?”
“No, thank you. My mother is being sent for, and they shall decide if I may be taken by ambulance to our home in Vicksburg.”
“You mustn’t trouble yourself. You shall stay as long as necessary to recuperate.” Eleanor found herself staring, for she had never seen such loveliness. “Where were you heading, Miss Jenkins?”
“My cousin was seeing me to Baton Rouge. My sister has settled there with her husband.”
Eleanor reached into her pocket and brought out the pink silk ribbon she had found at the scene. She tucked it under the woman’s hands without a word.
“Thank you,” she said, letting out a deep sigh.
“If it is of any consequence, I heard the men speaking, and they said your fall was quite graceful. You did not show so much as a foot.”
Miss Jenkins smiled, while closing her eyes in obvious relief. “It is of enormous consequence. Thank you, Miss Senton. Please do not waste more of your day here with me. You have a wedding to prepare for. But before you go, would you tell me about your fiancé? Is he handsome? What do you love most about him?”
Eleanor thought only of Nathaniel. “He is strikingly handsome. He is tall with dark, wavy hair and green-gold eyes. They are the warmest of eyes and seem to dance with amusement without his uttering a word. He is impossible not to love.”
“Did he fight in the War between the States? Was he a hero?”
Eleanor’s countenance fell. “No. No, he didn’t.”
“I’m sorry. My mind must be swimming. I thought I was told he was a captain.”
“Yes, yes, of course he is. Forgive me—my head is not clear from the preparations.”
“I should love to meet him when I’m feeling better.”
“What about you, Miss Jenkins? Are you engaged, or do you have a beau?” Eleanor could simply imagine the throng of men who followed at the young woman’s heels. Eleanor was thought quite attractive, but she felt like a toad beside this woman even in such a fragile state.
“I was engaged to be married before the war, but my fiancé died at Paducah in Forest’s Calvary Department. He died a hero. It was a Confederate victory. It was a small battle, but it will have enormous consequences for me throughout my lifetime.”
“You will marry another though. Someday—”
“As far as the government is concerned, I was already married, and I am a widow. It seems Franklin took out a marriage license, and although we never had any type of ceremony, I shall be known as a widow.”
Eleanor blinked. “What? What did you say about the marriage license?”
“It is a man’s business. I am sure your fiancé has taken care of it, but it legally binds you before the wedding. The records clearly state you are married whether or not an actual ceremony took place. So I am a widow.”
Eleanor searched the floor, breathing with difficulty.
“I’m sure your captain has acquired one, Miss Senton. Is that what rattles you so?”
“What would happen if your fiancé was found alive, Miss Jenkins? And you had married another after the license was drawn?”
Miss Jenkins twisted her face at the absurd question. “Why, I’d be guilty of bigamy, I would guess. Either that or I would not be considered married at all and living in—well, I shan’t discuss such scandal, as we are ladies.”
Eleanor clutched her chest, trying to gain control of her breathing. “Excuse me, Miss Jenkins. I shall return to check on you later.”
Flying down the steps, Eleanor ran past her father’s and aunt’s concerned calls and out to the lawn. She had to find Nathaniel. Surely he would straighten this out. To her unparalleled relief, Nathaniel waited for her on the lawn, dressed for dinner. She struggled toward him with dread, as though her legs were caught in a quagmire. They buckled underneath her, and she battled to stay upright before she reached her destination.
“Nathaniel,” she said breathlessly. “The marriage license. Has Andrew obtained a license?”
“That is what I came to tell you.” Nathaniel’s brow lowered. “I did not think my brother would obtain it before tomorrow, but it seems he has. He has shown it to me and threatened that if you were to leave now, you would be his wife forever.”
“No,” Eleanor shook her head. “No, Nathaniel. Tell me this is a nightmare, that we shall still run this very evening.”
“I cannot take another man’s wife, Ellie.”
> “You would take his fiancée! I fail to see the difference.”
Nathaniel flinched. “The difference is our ability to be married legally. I’ll have to find another way, Ellie. We cannot start our life in sin. I would rather see you married honorably to my brother than living with a scandalous title attached to your name. I love you far too much to let such a thing happen.”
“But you will let him win, Nathaniel! How can you give me up so easily? He will ruin Rosamond, and me. Will you go on and preach without thinking of me again? You may escape a life of ruin, but I shall live it either way. I would rather live it with you.”
“All is not lost, Ellie. I will find a way for us. If there is such a path, I will take it by the reins and steal you away as my bride. But I must do it honorably. I have brought far too much shame on my father to do this to him, or you.”
“All is lost, Nathaniel. He shall have me tomorrow, just as he always planned. Why, oh, why did you stay gone so long?” Eleanor heard her father call from the veranda and lowered her voice. “Please do not forget me.” Despair clutched at her breast. To be so close to her heart’s desire only to have it ripped away was worse than cruel. The thought of Andrew’s harsh kisses made her shudder.
“I’ll do whatever I can.”
Nathaniel’s brown eyes spoke to her. His deep, jutted jaw left her breathless. She could not imagine life without him, and she wouldn’t. Hattie said her father couldn’t force her to say “I do,” and suddenly she knew she would cut out her own tongue rather than mouth the words to a man who had threatened her beloved. Andrew possessed not an ounce of love or chivalry in his wretched heart, and Eleanor would not believe God willed her to be married to such a man.
“Eleanor!” Her father’s terse use of her name broke Nathaniel’s warm look.
“Do not give up hope, Ellie. Pray without ceasing.” He threw a leg over his horse. “Yah!”
Eleanor turned and made her way toward where her father stood on the veranda. “You cannot make me accept Andrew! You cannot!” She sprinted up the stairs and retreated to her bedroom.
Hattie waited for her with freshly baked cake and a warm pot of tea. “Eat something, dear. You’ve lost all your coloring.”
“I’m not hungry, Hattie. I shall starve myself.”
“I’ve left your Bible open again, Miss Ellie. You call Hattie if you need anything.”
“How do you stand it, Hattie? The feeling of being owned?”
Hattie laughed. “I guess I just think about my future. If we wallow in the pain, that’s all there is.”
After the older woman had left the room, Eleanor pushed away the tea cart and once again closed her Bible.
Nathaniel rode to Natchez Under-the-Hill with a pounding urgency. Riding up to the county clerk’s office, he pulled his horse to a rough stop. “Whoa! Whoa!” Haphazardly, he tied up the horse, uttering a prayer Ellie would be there when he returned. In the cramped office a single clerk huddled over paperwork at a desk.
He stood immediately. “May I help you, good sir?”
“I need to see your records on Captain Andrew Pemberton. Apparently he’s taken out a marriage license.”
The clerk nodded. “I remember him. Missing an arm, right?”
“That’s him. Do you have a copy of the record?”
“Who wants to know?”
“I am his brother and will be standing beside him for his wedding. He stands to inherit a great deal of money upon this marriage.”
The little man squeezed his eyes shut and then studied Nathaniel for a sense of honesty. “It’s been filed already. I’m sorry.”
“So it is legal.” Nathaniel felt the life drain from him.
“As legal as it can be. I do my job with honor, dear sir.”
“Of course you do.” Nathaniel slammed his hand on the counter. “Thank you for your time.”
“Enjoy the wedding,” the man called after Nathaniel.
Oh Lord, how will Ellie and I be together now? What is it You wish for me to learn? You tore apart a sea to save Your people from slavery, and I cannot believe You want Rosamond to hold Your people in bondage. And I hope You don’t mean it for Ellie. Speak to me, Lord.
Nathaniel snaked his way down to the riverfront and noticed Jeremiah’s boat docked at the central pier. He paid a stable master to take his horse and jogged down the craggy bluff toward the water’s edge.
The air over the Mississippi was breezy and filled with the stench of steamers and their cargo. Nathaniel could see Jeremiah heaving great bales of hay onto his boat, and his stomach lurched at his predicament. He had planned to hide on that boat this very evening, sheltering Ellie, who would have been his bride, from her captors. They would sail away at the first sign of light. He had imagined it many times. Now nothing in his life was certain.
As he drew nearer, Jeremiah threw one last bundle onto his boat and stood up straight. His lumbering form was drenched from the physical labor, causing him to lift his shirttail to wipe away the beads of sweat. “Nathaniel. What brings you here, brother?”
“Can we talk on the boat?” Nathaniel looked about him, and although he recognized no one, he trusted no one either. Information at the docks paid good money.
“Come aboard.” Stepping back, Jeremiah moved toward the bow and entered a small, private room used for steering the boat. Shutting the door behind them, he grabbed a tin pot from the stove. “You want some coffee?”
Nathaniel shook his head. “I came here because I need your help, Jeremiah. Again.”
“Are ya still plannin’ on bein’ here tonight? I can marry legally. You assure the future Mrs. Pemberton of that. I don’t want her frettin’ about that.”
“There’s going to be no wedding, Jeremiah. At least not my own. Andrew has already secured a marriage license.”
Jeremiah slammed the coffeepot down. “I knew your brother was no good.”
“He’s only doing what I should have done. He’s thinking ahead, ensuring Ellie will belong to him. If I had been more forthright and forceful with her father, I would have thought to do the same thing. As it is, I’m paying for my lack of action. I moved slower than the sludge in a Mississippi puddle.”
“So you just goin’ to give up? Let ’im marry her?” Jeremiah scratched his head. “She seemed pretty desperate to avoid such a weddin’, offerin’ me her bracelet and all.”
“I know, Jeremiah. She is desperate, and I need to take care of her before she does something rash.”
“What’s more rash than running off with her groom’s brother?”
“I’m not sure, but I know Ellie, and she’ll do what feels right if she’s trapped.”
Jeremiah laughed. “You sure God ain’t doing you a favor by takin’ that little spitfire off your hands?”
Thinking of her fiery spirit only brought joy to his heart and a smile to his face. “I’m quite sure.”
“All right then. I’ll help you. What is it you have in mind?”
Chapter 19
Hattie had come into the room and opened Eleanor’s Bible again. Hebrews. Eleanor scanned it before closing it again. She didn’t need a sermon. She needed God to act—and quickly. She still held hope that her hero would return for her and that he would overlook the troublesome marriage license. After all, Andrew would be as stuck as she was if he didn’t cancel the license. Did Andrew hate Nathaniel enough to spend his life alone? To make them pay for her sins of leaving him at the altar? Eleanor couldn’t answer such questions, and she supposed Nathaniel couldn’t either.
Through her walls, she could hear the gentle moans of pain from Miss Jenkins, and Eleanor quickly entered the shared door to see if she could be of any assistance.
“Miss Jenkins?”
Quiet sobs emanated from the stricken woman, and when she peered at her visitor, her eyes were round and full from crying. “Did I disturb you, Miss Senton? I’m so very sorry.”
“Hush, I’m just concerned about you. Is there anything I can do to ease your pain?�
� Eleanor took a cloth and dipped it in the washbasin, wringing it and placing it on the woman’s blistering hot forehead. “You are so warm. You must have a fever.”
“Call me Sarah, Miss Senton. I do feel dreadfully hot. I do hope I cool down so they don’t cup and bleed me again with that butchering apparatus.”
Eleanor winced at the notion. “You’ve had such a trying day. I wish I could give you something for the pain. I understand that tomorrow they will have an expert and a homeopathic physician visit. Is that right?”
“You shouldn’t even be thinking of me. You will marry your prince tomorrow. I hope the ambulance will come and take me away before the nuptials, and I shall not further trouble you.”
“No, I won’t marry my prince.” Eleanor wanted to add that she would marry the toad, but she kept her animosity to herself. Her attitude was less than Christian. She chastised herself but still allowed the truth to come rolling out. “I shall marry the brother of my prince.”
Sarah perched herself higher on her elbows and smiled, showing the first sign of light Eleanor had seen from her. “This is just the type of story to take my mind off the pain. Will you share with me? It sounds terribly exciting. Your words shall not leave my lips, if I should live to tell anyone.”
Eleanor willingly told her long and detailed story, and Sarah listened with vigor. How nice it was to share the story with someone who wasn’t tainted by the past. Sarah finally lowered herself back to bed. “I am exhausted by your life, Ellie, but Nathaniel sounds romantic beyond measure. I should be surprised if he does not rescue you. He does not sound like the type of man to leave you with your troubles, not anymore anyway.”
“If he does not rescue me, I shall introduce you, Sarah. There is no sense for both of us to be unhappy, and I think Nathaniel would make the finest husband this side of the Mason-Dixon line.”
Sarah laughed. “Ellie, he shall come for you, and I daresay any man would not be thrilled with the prospect of an injured wife. I shall perhaps remain a spinster forever.” Sarah’s eyelids appeared heavy, and it was obvious sleep was overcoming her. “Will you read to me from the Bible? I should like to listen to scriptures as I fall asleep. My Bible is there on the nightstand.”
The Prodigal's Welcome Page 13