Spoils of Eden

by Linda Lee Chaikin

  Father, enable us as Your children in Christ to live wise lives with eternity in view. And for those who don’t know Your forgiveness and adoption, may their blind eyes be opened and their deaf ears hear what You are saying in Your Word.

  She climbed to the upper hallway. There was no need to knock on Celestine’s bedroom door, for experience told Eden that the older lady would not wish to lay her dignified head on a shoulder to cry out her woes. Her crying would be done alone, with God.

  Voices were drifting to her from the nursery. She recognized Noelani’s voice speaking rapidly to someone, certainly not to baby Kip. Eden straightened her shoulders. It was time she told Noelani about her mission here at Hawaiiana to bring the baby to Kalihi. It would break her heart, but if anyone would understand Eden’s dilemma, it would be Noelani, the loving, faithful woman who had become a mother to her after Rebecca was sent to Molokai.

  I need a miracle, Eden thought. But the miracle was to be found in the inspired Word of God. She must depend upon eternal truths. Historical changes and fickle fads of modern culture did not change the Truth. Truth would be the final judge of all. What a comfort for those of us who love truth and fear the deceptions of darkness.

  Yes, the times were uncertain, and trouble grew like thorns in the loveliest of gardens, but she could walk steadily forward knowing she was not alone, knowing that the future was known by God and that the path of faith grounded in His Word would ultimately lead her to His purpose.

  She would pray that Silas and Townsend—and all of them, really—would, like John Bunyan’s Pilgrim, lay down their burdens in exchange for eternal peace.

  Chapter Nine

  Noelani’s Warning

  The sound of annoyed voices speaking Hawaiian drew Eden toward the lighted nursery. She walked through the doorway and stopped upon seeing a young man in a white cotton shirt standing with his back toward her. Keno, tall and muscled, was talking to Noelani. Despite Eden’s earlier concern for Candace, it wasn’t unusual to see him around the plantation house since Noelani was his aunt.

  Did Keno know about Kip? Had Rafe explained the dilemma? Perhaps there was no need on her part to tell Noelani.

  Noelani glanced over and saw her. “Aloha, Eden dear.”

  “Am I interrupting?”

  Keno turned at Eden’s question. His quick smile greeted her. “Never, Miss Eden. I was just leaving.” He moved toward the open back door of the nursery, where the stairway led down to the pineapple fields. “Ambrose sent me to ask if Noelani will have dinner here tonight as usual. Rafe says Noelani should attend the fancy dinner with Ambrose to welcome your father home from the wilds. She says no.” He looked at Noelani.

  Eden caught the scowl Noelani threw at her nephew. Keno kept smiling.

  “Of course she’ll come,” Eden said amiably. “You must take your usual chair beside Ambrose. Rafe is correct. You are family—the only one I ever knew, until recently.” She walked over and put her arms around the statuesque woman in the muumuu.

  Noelani patted her arm affectionately, but shook her gray head. “No, I cannot come. Go tell Rafe.” She waved a hand of dismissal toward Keno, picked up her basket weaving, and sat down on a cushion. She concentrated on her work, still frowning.

  “Such a stubborn mood,” Keno said with a smile as he nodded good-bye to Eden. They could hear his feet pounding down the outside steps as he departed.

  Eden walked to the open door and looked down after him, but he’d already disappeared into the warm night. She could see small lamps burning in huts along the coast, and she watched the waves in the moonlight, foaming and curling a lacy edge along the sand.

  The unpleasant task remained undone. She turned back to where Noelani was sitting, involved in her weaving. A door into the small bedroom where Kip slept was open a crack. Eden sadly looked in and saw the baby boy asleep in his crib, with a small lamp burning above casting a pinkish glow on the side of his face. I promise I’ll protect him, she told herself again.

  Announcing the painful news to Noelani would be almost as difficult as explaining the Board’s decision to Rafe. She walked back to where Noelani sat, head bent, weaving the green palm leaf in her lap as Eden had often done as a child. Noelani had taught her to weave baskets, small rugs, and the leafy head crown that the Hawaiian also wore during their hula. Noelani’s strong arms had often embraced her, consoling her after the loss of Rebecca, whispering comforting words in Hawaiian. On Eden’s fourteenth birthday, Noelani even translated an English hymn into Hawaiian from the Foundling Hospital Collection of 1796 and had taught it to her on the ukulele:

  Praise the Lord! You heavens adore Him;

  Praise Him, angels, in the height;

  Sun and moon, rejoice before Him;

  Praise Him, all you stars of light.

  Praise the Lord! For He has spoken;

  Worlds His mighty voice obeyed;

  Law which never shall be broken;

  For their guidance has He made.

  Praise the Lord! For He is glorious;

  Never shall His promise fail;

  God has made His saints victorious;

  Sin and death shall not prevail.

  Praise the God of our salvation!

  Hosts on high, His power proclaim;

  Heaven and earth and all creation;

  Laud and magnify His name. Amen.

  Noelani and her relatives worked long hours mending their nets, cracking oysters from the pearl lagoon, or drying ocean fish, seaweed, and coconuts to sell in Rat Alley, the Chinese district in Honolulu. She must remember to warn them to avoid the district for the present. Sometimes Noelani traveled miles inland with the younger Hawaiian women and boys to gather mountain taro roots to store and sell for poi, the staple food of the Hawaiians.

  Eden sighed and sat down in a chair near the cushions where Noelani was at work. There were a few moments of silence, nothing unusual between them, but she was unprepared for Noelani’s next words.

  “Keno and Candace Derrington. What a tragic love affair.” She shook her gray head. “Much worse than when I fell in love with Ambrose Easton. At least Ambrose was free to do as he wished. Makua Matt, his younger brother, did not interfere. He had his own troubles with love not meant to be.”

  Now what did she mean by that? Eden had never heard of any failed engagement before the marriage between Rafe’s father and Celestine. “It would be a blessing if Keno and Candace were free to make their own decision before God,” Eden agreed.

  “Yes, but they are not. Keno tells me Makua Hunnewell is in Honolulu. Now, it’s too late for Keno. And so I told him, he must wake up and accept the painful fact that he will never marry the haole granddaughter.”

  “Candace is determined not to marry Oliver Hunnewell,” Eden said. “There’s still a chance, Noelani. Love may yet triumph.”

  She shook her head. “No, child, there is no chance. I wish you would tell Miss Candace to leave my Keno alone. She can do nothing but hurt him. She should never have let him think there was a possibility.”

  “But she loves Keno.”

  “Maybe so. And Keno loves her. As you say, left alone they would do well. But the Derringtons will not leave them alone. She will not marry Keno. Therefore it was wrong of her to let him fall in love with her. She should have known better. She’s a wise girl. Out of her love for him, she should have gone away to San Francisco and left him to recover. Now he speaks again of going to sea with Rafe.”

  Eden looked up. Rafe is going to sea? But he couldn’t go. Not when he had Hawaiiana to manage and Hanalei in his sights!

  “Keno could have become a lay pastor to follow Ambrose, but he will never stay close at hand now, with Candace here and soon to be married to Makua Hunnewell. She will be driving around in fancy buggies and wearing big hats.”

  “Noelani! I’ve never heard you speak like this before. Why, you sound bitter and angry with us.”

  “No, child, not with you. You will always be my daughter. I am not even angry with M
iss Candace. She is a fine Christian woman. I’m only disappointed with events. Because she should have seen how it would turn out for Keno and moved earlier to keep both of them from getting badly hurt. Now that Makua Ainsworth is home, and the rich man Hunnewell, Keno as he says, might as well go to sea again. That means he will never be the lay pastor of the mission church. That was my dream, and Ambrose’s since he was a little boy. Now? Gone. Ruined because of the haole woman, Miss Candace.”

  Eden was silenced. This is dreadful, she thought. “I had no idea you felt this strongly, Noelani. I’m sorry you are so hurt.”

  She shrugged and kept on with her weaving. “I shall heal. The Lord will see to my soul. Keno, too, in time. A shame, though, that so much time needs to be wasted on getting healed of hurts and disappointments.”

  Eden sighed deeply within. How can I possibly tell her now about taking Kip?

  She could not. Not now.

  “Nothing is wasted in the lives of believers. God will use the hurts, pains, and disappointments to burn the dross away from our hearts.”

  “Yes, He is faithful. But we must let Him, Eden. He will not force the growth in grace and knowledge of His Word. We grow when yielded, when obeying His Word. Too many times we refuse. Then we end up suffering eternal loss of rewards.” She sighed and shrugged her strong shoulders.

  Yes, we must yield. We must stay in the Word and act on what is written. “What is Candace to do?” Eden asked suddenly, allowing herself to become as frustrated with events as Noelani. “Is she to obey Grandfather Ainsworth? Or is she to go with her heart?”

  “Neither, in my opinion. Candace needs to obey God. What does God say?”

  “She’s not to marry an unbeliever.”

  “She is twenty-three. She is fully mature. Has she not inherited Makua Douglas’s inheritance?”

  That was true. Silence overtook them. The tropical wind blew in through the door and stirred the cane blinds.

  Eden stood slowly. “Dinner will be served soon. Are you certain you won’t come down with me?”

  Noelani looked at her for a solemn moment. “You, too, will go away. I sense it in my heart. The two that I love the most, like my own children, are being taken from me.”

  “Noelani, don’t say that.” She knelt on the cushion and put her arms around her. “I’m never going away from you and Ambrose. Not permanently. I’m not even sure I’ll go for a short time.”

  “You will go. He will see to that, Makua Jerome. You, too, like Keno and Miss Candace, are making a mistake. They should separate, but you and Rafe should not. You must be careful. I fear you will lose Rafe if you play this game. You cannot keep him on a fishing line forever. If you try, one day he will become angry, break free, and never let himself be entangled with you again. Who wants to live with pain? You should marry him now. Forget Makua Jerome and leper island. That is all past. Rebecca will die in peace one day. She is a strong Christian. She would want you to live and marry, not risk your body and your life on Molokai.”

  The firmness of her words and the seriousness in her eyes convinced Eden that Noelani was baring her heart. Eden remained silent, unable to respond. Somehow, she knew it was true. And yet she could not break free of the tie that bound her to a cause. A cause she believed she must see through to its end. But what was the end?

  Eden slowly stood. Noelani resumed her weaving, and Eden, after a long moment of silence, turned and quietly left the nursery.

  Chapter Ten

  A Ring for Three Days

  It was nearing the dinner hour. Diamond Head sat tinted with gold, and a brilliant tropic dusk silhouetted the tall coconut palms. Sweeping rollers from the coral reef brought a soothing ambience to the occasion.

  Colorful lanterns decorated widespreading tree branches, casting greens and blues through tinted glass along the front yard and entranceway. Inside the plantation house, stalks of bird-of-paradise and wild orchids decorated the tables. The dinner table was laid with good fare: platters of smoked meats, fruits, cheeses, and a variety of juices served from crystal bowls.

  Eden, dressed in an apple-green watered-silk gown, left Noelani and went downstairs in search of her father. As she entered the columned hallway and walked to the balustrade she saw Keno below, moving toward the kitchen and the back of the house. Then he had not yet gone to the bungalow to see Ambrose. Why had he gone around the house?

  She walked toward the landing just as a familiar form dressed in handsome evening clothes was coming up the staircase. Rafe appeared to have more sobering matters on his mind than dinner. He took the last steps two at a time, then stopped as she approached.

  Eden wondered if her expression revealed her feelings after her serious meeting with Noelani, for he studied her carefully, then looked into the hall as if expecting to see someone behind her.

  Eden was curious if he had any suspicion about Noelani’s feelings on their broken engagement, and the idea brought a tint to her cheeks. She turned away from him and walked back to the balustrade, her gaze focused below in the hall, where one of the staff was coming across the floor with a tray, headed for the dining room.

  “Hiding from the Derrington patriarch?” Rafe asked.

  Eden smiled in spite of herself. “I understand you have a private meeting with him tonight. Are you on your way to see him now?”

  She hoped Rafe would reveal the purpose of his meeting with Grandfather Ainsworth, but she received no illumination beyond a flicker of his energetic dark eyes and a light smile.

  “Zachary tell you that?”

  “No. Candace. She thinks you might be won over to the Reform Party. Great-aunt Nora is in a tizzy trying to figure out a way to get you back writing for the Gazette.”

  “Writing demands hours. More than I can give at the moment. But someday, perhaps. I’ve even thought about owning my own newspaper.”

  “It looks as if Zachary will need to share the Gazette with Silas. Nora hired him tonight to unearth some story about the American Minister Stevens secretly helping the Reform Party overthrow Liliuokalani.” She arched a brow and scanned him as though he were hand in glove with the movement.

  “No wonder Zach looks as though he’s wired to a powder keg. Silas appears adept at elbowing his way into things. To change the subject … have you told Ainsworth our engagement is off? And has your father been told? Then again, did your father even know of our engagement since he’s always away?”

  Eden grew uncomfortable under Rafe’s penetrating gaze. The remark about her father’s absence brought a rekindling of tension with Rafe. Did he think Ainsworth wished to discuss the broken engagement? Perhaps Candace was wrong. The meeting might have nothing at all to do with annexation.

  She became aware that she was rubbing her ring finger, a recent and uncomely habit. She placed her hands behind her back and straightened her shoulders, showing strength of purpose. His mouth turned with wry amusement. He folded his arms and leaned against the pillar.

  “Why—I’m sure Ainsworth would have informed Dr. Jerome that we had become engaged,” she said formally, “either in a past letter or on the steamer from San Francisco.”

  “But you have not told him, in any of your letters?”

  She was surprised that the idea of her father not being aware of their engagement hadn’t crossed her mind until now. It was Ainsworth’s response that worried her, and Rafe knew it. Until this moment she’d been oblivious to what Dr. Jerome might think, either of a marriage or of a broken engagement. Everything was centered on Ainsworth. What he would think, what he would say, what he would do when he discovered the truth. That she hadn’t worried what her father would say painfully revealed how uninvolved he was in her life. It was a sad reminder that sparked her anger. Rafe became the bully for bringing it up and making her see what she didn’t want to see. He’d brought it up deliberately so she would focus on what Rafe called her devotion to a father image.

  “Obviously we both understand it isn’t my father, but Ainsworth who rules over the Derr
ingtons. Dr. Jerome is master of one subject, his medical research, just as he, and I, would have it.”

  “So it seems. If Ainsworth informed Dr. Jerome on the steamer that he’d approved of his daughter’s marriage to an Easton, then it’s interesting your father’s not commented to me about it.”

  “He only just arrived,” she protested, though she had no wish for her father to speak to Rafe. It could be the means for Ainsworth to learn the engagement was broken.

  “I beg to differ. They arrived this morning. There’s been ample time. And it’s natural for your father to seek me out at once and interrogate me on why I deserve—” he stopped, bowed, and continued, “deserved his only daughter.”

  Her heart beat faster with annoyance. Rafe said pointedly, “I spoke alone with Dr. Jerome while you and Candace were getting dressed for dinner. He is unaware of most things that don’t coincide with his hopes for a clinic on Molokai.”

  “If you’re hoping to cast my father in an unflattering light, it will do you no good. Of course his main thoughts are for his work. It’s quite understandable. He’s traveled the globe searching for a cure to save Rebecca. He’s not in strong health. Anyone can see that. He’s gaunt—and while he won’t admit it, I’m sure he’s plagued with malaria.”

  “I would agree that it’s malaria. I’ve seen many cases in the tropics. Look, Eden, let’s not fight about Jerome. It’s Ainsworth that poses the chief problem. He believes we’re still engaged. That means trouble for you.”

  “I know that,” she confessed. “I’ve been concerned all day and keeping my ring hand out of view.”

  “So I noticed.” The corner of his mouth tipped. “On several occasions I was about to suggest a glove.”

  “It’s not amusing.”

  “It’s exasperating. The entire charade could end now if you’d keep the vow you made to me that night on Waikiki and marry me.”

  “Rafe, please.” She turned her head away, holding on to the banister. His hand closed about her arm.

  “You’re the most frustrating of womankind, do you know that?” he gritted.