The Planter's Daughter

by Michelle Shocklee

  She couldn’t help but smile. “I am well. And you?”

  He inclined his head. “Very well, indeed. In fact, I am so well that I had hoped to tour the entire property today. With it being Saturday, the workers won’t be in the fields, so I’d like to take the opportunity to get the lay o’ the land, so to speak. Learn where the creeks are, nooks and crannies. That sort of thing. I can’t think of a better guide than yourself since I imagine you covered the entirety of the plantation in your youthful curiosity.”

  Keenly aware that the servants in the room listened to the exchange, Adella held her answer in check. But inside she leaped at the chance to spend more time alone with Seth. “I am sure that can be arranged. Perhaps later this afternoon, after our midday meal.”

  “Do you ride? I think it would be best done on horseback rather than a carriage.”

  She didn’t have an opportunity to answer. Papa arrived in the kitchen at that moment with an uncomfortable-looking Marshall Brevard trailing behind. The surprise she felt seeing the men surely mirrored Aunt Lu’s open-mouthed expression. Papa rarely, if ever, came to the kitchen.

  “There you are, Adella Rose,” he said, a touch of annoyance in his voice. “We wondered where you’d disappeared to. You should be in the house entertaining our guests, not hiding out in the kitchen with the Negroes.”

  Astonished he would say such a thing in front of others, Adella felt the sting of embarrassment. “I am not hiding, Papa,” she said, although that wasn’t entirely true. “I had something to discuss with Aunt Lu.”

  Papa scowled and then looked at Seth. “Brantley, what are you doing here?”

  “I thought it best if I took my breakfast in the kitchen this morning rather than disturb you and your guests in the main house.”

  “Am I to understand you allow your overseer to dine with the family?” Marshall asked, clearly shocked. He looked at Seth as though he were a thief bent on stealing Rose Hill’s good silver.

  “You recall me saying Brantley is the son of a good friend. It is a bit different than having someone like Haley join us for a meal.” Turning to Adella, Papa held out his hand. “Come along.”

  With little choice, she set her mug on the counter and allowed her father to escort her from the kitchen like a wayward child. She dared not look back, but she knew Seth’s eyes followed her.

  Seth checked his timepiece again. Nearly two o’clock. Surely the midday meal had come and gone in the main house. Where was she?

  Frustrated, he yanked on the saddle cinch, causing Chester to nicker. Patting the gelding’s neck, he apologized. “Sorry, old boy. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

  A mare stood nearby, saddled and ready for Adella. He hoped she rode astride because he hadn’t been able to locate a sidesaddle.

  He looked at his pocket watch again and heaved a sigh. It might not matter if she rode astride or not. It appeared as though she wasn’t coming. No doubt her father and Marshall Brevard managed to occupy her time.

  Feeling defeated, Seth moved to the mare. No sense in letting the animal stand around all afternoon wearing a saddle. Just as he began loosening the straps, he heard hurried footsteps. A moment later, Adella appeared in the barn doorway, breathless.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, panting and laughing at the same time, her cheeks bright pink. “I had to sneak out the back. Papa and the men are holed up in his library, and the women are taking naps.”

  Seth grinned, his eyes drinking her in. She looked beautiful in an emerald green riding habit, her dark hair tied loosely with a black ribbon that matched the one tied around her hatband.

  “I wasn’t sure you were coming.” He led the mare toward her. “Are you certain you should go? I wouldn’t want to bring your father’s displeasure down on you.”

  A frown replaced her smile. “Papa needs to accept that I am a twenty-year-old woman and not a little girl. I can certainly make my own decisions about where to go and whom to go with.”

  This from a woman who’d snuck out of the house, he thought with a grin.

  With her determination in place, Seth tightened the saddle straps again and helped her up. “I didn’t find a sidesaddle, so I hope this one is all right.”

  High on her mount, Adella chuckled. “Much to Papa’s dismay, I’ve been riding astride ever since I learned to sit a horse.”

  In one swing, he was on Chester, and they headed out of the barn. After a short canter through the yard, Adella kicked her mount into a gallop, her long hair and the horse’s tail flying out behind them. Seth laughed and gave Chester the lead since the horse clearly wanted to catch up with the girls.

  They rode down paths Seth had never seen before, with Adella giving a grand tour as they went. She pointed out the places where she and Jeptha played hide-and-seek when they were children, where they fished, and where George broke his arm when he fell into a gully chasing her with a bull snake he’d found. They skirted the vast fields, finally arriving in a wooded area about two miles from the house. A creek tinkled nearby. Here they stopped and dismounted, letting the horses drink their fill of the cool, clear water.

  “This is one of my favorite places on the plantation,” she said. Her voice was soft, almost reverent. “It is so peaceful and serene. Mama would have had a fit to know I was so far from the house, but I used to come here often just to soak in the stillness.”

  “It reminds me of a place near our farm. With so many younger sisters nagging me and an older brother bossing me, I would sneak off with my pole the first chance I’d get.”

  She smiled. “I always wanted a sister. George thought I was a pest.”

  He shrugged. “I guess I thought my sisters were pests, too.”

  After a moment, she wandered over to the stream. “Jeptha came with me sometimes. We would sit for hours without saying a word. Just listening to the silence.”

  “It sounds like you spent a lot of time with Jeptha,” he said, remembering her father’s disapproving tone when he spoke of his daughter’s friendship with the slaves.

  “Jeptha was my best friend.” She bent to pluck a wild daisy and twirled it in her fingers. “In some ways, he still is, although we don’t go on adventures together anymore.” She gave a mock scowl. “It wouldn’t be proper, Adella Rose,” she said, making her voice low and stern like her father’s. With a slight shrug, she studied the dainty flower. “There weren’t any white children to play with, and George never wanted me around. I had no choice but to play with the slaves.”

  Seth agreed with her father, but he didn’t voice that opinion. He certainly wouldn’t want a daughter of his playing with a slave boy. “I would have thought you’d be happier playing with the little girls.”

  Tossing the flower into the stream, she watched it bob and swirl away. “By the time I was old enough to play outside without my mammy or Mama watching over me, the slave girls my age were already working in the kitchen or the weaving house or somewhere else on the plantation. Jeptha always seemed to be around, though. He helped in the barns, but Papa never made him go out to the fields unless it was harvest.”

  Luther’s confession that he’d saved Jeptha for something special resurfaced in Seth’s mind. Knowing how Adella felt about the slave convinced him she would be furious to learn what exactly her father had saved him for.

  “Does your family own slaves?”

  Seth met her curious gaze. “Yes, we have a dozen or so. Pa treats them well and has never had any problems.”

  She seemed to contemplate his statement. “Treating slaves well is certainly commendable, but wouldn’t you agree that simply claiming ownership of another human being is the opposite of fair and good treatment?”

  Surprised to hear the daughter of a large plantation owner say such a thing, Seth responded, “My father—and any slave owner, for that matter—are well within their rights according to the law. I realize many people disagree with slavery, but if the slaves are well taken care of, with plenty of food and shelter, then who’s to say they would
be better off free.”

  “I imagine they would!”

  Her indignant reply made his brow raise. “Are you telling me you are an abolitionist, Miss Ellis?”

  She bit her bottom lip and huffed out a sigh. “I honestly don’t know what I am. I know Papa needs the slaves to work the land and crops. He has often said he would go bankrupt if he ever had to pay the slaves a wage. But I simply can’t reconcile the ownership of another human being in my head. Or my heart.”

  Her vulnerability made Seth want to take her in his arms.

  “Slavery has been in existence through the ages,” he said, hoping to soothe her fretting. “Our families aren’t doing anything wrong by following the laws and traditions of our nation.”

  “Not everyone agrees with slavery,” she countered, her brow furrowed. “The northern states have banned it, as have other countries. And simply because something is lawful doesn’t mean it is something worthy of engaging in.”

  Seth grinned despite the gravity of the conversation.

  “What are you smiling about?” she asked.

  “I find it rather fascinating that a woman of your genteel breeding is so passionate on the subject of slavery. In my experience, most daughters of wealthy plantation owners take pleasure in the benefits of having someone answer to their beck and call. Are you so against slavery that you would willingly give that up in order for them to be free?”

  She sighed. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy having maids to help me dress and do my hair and cook my meals. Not one day of my entire life has passed without the assistance of many servants. But lately, I find that their lack of freedom to choose bothers me a great deal. Shouldn’t they be free to choose the life they wish to live rather than being told they must obey a master?”

  The answer to her question rang true somewhere in Seth’s mind, but he couldn’t bring himself to believe slavery should be abolished. “Some people believe that Negroes aren’t capable of living on their own. That they need to be governed by a master for their own survival.”

  She scoffed. “That is ridiculous. Negroes are every bit as intelligent as a white person. Why, I taught Jeptha how to speak correctly and—” Her eyes widened, and she clamped her mouth shut.

  “You taught Jeptha how to what?” He had a suspicion he knew the answer. It was illegal to teach a slave to read and write, but it wouldn’t surprise him to learn that was precisely what Adella had done.

  “Oh, nothing.” She moved away so he couldn’t see her face. “I simply believe a slave can learn anything they put their mind to, same as us.”

  Seth followed her. He didn’t care if she’d taught Jeptha his letters. In fact, it made him a little jealous to know she’d spent so much time with the slave. Jeptha probably knew Adella better than anyone.

  They walked along the creek in silence for a time before she stopped. “I’m glad we came here today,” she said, casting a shy smile at him. “With all the commotion in the house, preparing for Natalie to move in, I needed the peace and quiet of this place.”

  “I would be happy to escort you here anytime you’d like.”

  She closed her eyes; her face tilted upwards to catch the filtered sunrays, looking so beautiful she took his breath away. Drawn to her, he took an involuntary step closer, dry leaves rustling under his feet. When she opened her eyes, her steady gaze held his expectantly. Before he could stop himself, he took her face between his hands. When she didn’t protest, he lowered his mouth to hers. A small sigh escaped her, and she leaned into his chest. Heartened, he deepened the kiss.

  With reluctance, Seth pulled away, his body tense with desire. “Like I told you in the barn the other night, you pose a great temptation, Missy Ellis.”

  She smiled at his use of the name the servants called her, but her eyes continued to burn with passion, making him want to take her in his arms again. As much as he hated to, he turned away. “I think we had better get back to the house before someone misses you.”

  Touching her lips with her fingers, she nodded, although he sensed her reluctance. “I suppose you’re right. Papa has an evening of music and recitations planned for the guests. He’ll no doubt come looking for me soon.”

  They mounted and leisurely rode back to the house, saying little but exchanging happy smiles every so often. Once in the horse barn, Seth helped her dismount, keeping his hands on her small waist far longer than necessary, hoping to steal one more kiss. When a noise from the back of the barn sounded, they stepped away from one another.

  “Join us tonight,” she said as they walked toward the house, keeping a proper distance between them. “Dinner will be served at seven o’clock, followed by an evening of grand entertainment.”

  He chuckled at the exaggeration in her voice. But her invitation made him uneasy. “I don’t think your father would appreciate me barging in on his guests. You recall Mr. Brevard’s reaction to learning that I sometimes take meals with the family.”

  Adella turned a pretty scowl to him. “I don’t give one whit what Mr. Brevard or anyone else thinks. I am mistress of this plantation for five more days. I will invite whomever I choose to dine with us, and I choose to invite you, Mr. Brantley.”

  Desperate to kiss her pert mouth, but knowing this was not the time or place, he conceded. Perhaps attending the evening’s festivities would afford them some time alone. “Your wish is my command, Miss Ellis.” He gave a gallant bow, making her giggle.

  “That’s better.”

  He watched her enter the house, giving him one last secret wave before she disappeared. Seth made his way back to the barn to unsaddle the horses, wondering how in the world he’d allowed himself to fall in love with Adella Rose Ellis.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  “I don’t understand why you invited the overseer to join us this evening, Adella Rose.”

  Natalie stood behind Adella where she sat at her dressing table, putting the finishing touches to her hair. Hulda had expertly piled her curls on her head, leaving a few wavy strands loose to soften her face. A ribbon the same cobalt blue as her dress threaded through the mass, and she turned her head from side to side to make certain it hadn’t puckered. She wanted to look perfect for Seth.

  Seth.

  His very name sent a shiver pulsating through her. She put a finger to her lips, remembering their kiss. The passion it elicited should have shocked her, but it didn’t. Instead, it ignited something deep inside. Something that told her she’d never tire of kissing Seth Brantley even if she spent a lifetime doing so.

  “Well?” Natalie asked.

  With more than a little annoyance, Adella met Natalie’s frown in the mirror. “I invited him because he was a friend of the family long before he was our overseer. If Papa hadn’t hired him, he would have been here as a guest. His own father is invited to your wedding. I don’t see what difference it makes now that he works for us. Besides, I think it would be rude to leave him out, considering Papa has allowed him to take his meals with us since he came.”

  Lifting the wide hooped skirt of her lavender evening gown, Natalie settled on the edge of Adella’s bed. A long golden curl lay across her bare white shoulder, accentuating a pearl drop necklace at her throat that Adella instantly recognized as Mama’s. George must have given it to Natalie as a wedding present. Though she didn’t begrudge the young woman the jewels, since she herself had a sapphire and diamond necklace that once belonged to Mama, it served as yet another reminder of all the changes taking place.

  “I may have to address that once I’m mistress of Rose Hill.” Natalie ran her fingers across the smooth beads when she noticed Adella’s interest in the necklace. “It doesn’t seem proper to have an employee dining with the family.”

  Adella nearly growled. Natalie sounded just like Marshall Brevard. “Remember, Natalie. Even after you and George marry, this is still Papa’s plantation. You will abide by his rules in the same way I do.”

  Natalie cocked one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “I imagine I will abide
by them better than you, Adella, dear.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” She turned to face Natalie.

  With a humorless chuckle, Natalie stood and sashayed to the open window. The slaves’ cabins lay in the distance. “What would your father say if he knew you’d been in the quarter last night?”

  At Adella’s gasp, Natalie laughed. “Oh, yes, dear sister. I know all about it. How you took the leftover sweets from the gala and distributed them among the slave children. You can’t hide anything from me.”

  Heart pounding, Adella waited for Natalie to spill the rest of the story. About how she and Seth danced for hours unending, gazing into each other’s eyes until nothing else existed.

  But her brother’s fiancée simply looked at her, waiting for a response.

  Relief washed over Adella after a long minute, supposing Natalie’s informant left out that part of the story. Why, she didn’t know, but she was grateful. “Very well. You have caught me. But Mama would have done the same thing. She always treated our people with kindness and taught me to do the same. If you intend to wear her jewelry and live in her house, then I expect you to continue her legacy once you step into her role as mistress of Rose Hill Manor.”

  Natalie’s mouth dropped open, apparently taken aback by Adella’s little speech. The two stared at one another, facing off in what Adella hoped would not be an ongoing battle. But Mama’s memory and all she stood for were part of Rose Hill, and Adella would not have Natalie or anyone else destroy that with selfish, unkind motives.

  After several tense moments, a thoughtful expression erased Natalie’s outrage. “I … I hadn’t thought of it like that.” She appeared more contrite than Adella had ever seen her. “Your mother was always kind to me, and … and … I hope she would be pleased that George and I will marry.”

  Feeling a bit contrite herself, Adella moved to the young woman’s side. “Mama would be overjoyed that George chose you for his wife, Natalie. Your family has always been good friends to the Ellises.” She chuckled. “I am sure my parents’ greatest disappointment is you didn’t have a brother for me to marry.”