by Emily Woods
Once Ellen had been tied into the hoop-skirt, Hilda told her to hold her breath. “It’s time to put the corset on,” Hilda said.
Ellen’s dark eyes widened. “It’s been a long time since I’ve worn a corset,” she admitted. “During the war, it was impractical to dress up, and I gave away my corsets and nice underthings. I don’t know if my waist will fit into one, now. I don’t have quite the shape I used to have, and that corset looks small…”
Hilda shook her head. “Just trust me, Miss Ellen,” she ordered. “And hold your breath.”
Hilda managed to comfortably secure the corset around Ellen’s torso, and Ellen admired herself in the mirror. “It’s been nearly three years since I’ve worn such nice underthings,” she shared with Hilda. “But it appears my waist is not angry with me!”
Hilda smiled. “Yes, Miss Ellen! And now that we’ve put you in your underthings, it is time for the most exciting part of helping you to prepare. Miss Ellen, it is time to put on your dress!”
Ellen’s cheeks turned red as she stared at the magnificent dress hanging on the outside door of the wardrobe. Mrs. Davenport had had it designed especially with Ellen in mind, and it was the most beautiful piece of clothing Ellen had ever seen.
“Please don’t ever repeat this,” Ellen whispered to Hilda as Hilda brought the wedding dress to Ellen. “But this is the most stunning dress I have ever seen! It makes the dress from my first wedding appear so plain, and that dress was very nice!”
Hilda gestured at the gown. “This material had to be washed and pressed over fifty times before Missus Davenport deemed it ready for you,” Hilda informed Ellen. “It will be the most lovely thing you have ever worn!”
Hilda was correct. The dress fit Ellen’s slim body perfectly, and all of Ellen’s features were perfectly accentuated. The milky-white color of the gown made Ellen’s skin glow, and the small waist of the dress, contrasted by the wide skirts enhanced by the whalebone hoop-skirt, made Ellen look young and vibrant. Sparkling diamonds were sewn along the square neckline that was low enough to almost be immodest, but high enough to make Ellen feel comfortable.
“Let me get the buttons,” Hilda demanded as she reached for the back of Ellen’s dress. A trail of tiny white pearl buttons led down Ellen’s back, making her figure look small, but womanly.
“There,” Hilda said as she stepped back to look at Ellen. “With those puff sleeves and those layers of wide skirts, you are a true Southern princess. You look like a Davenport, Miss Ellen!”
Ellen smiled at her reflection as Hilda left the room to fetch the girls. Upon entering Ellen’s room, they began to squeal.
“Mama!” Bella cried out. “You look so wonderful, Mama! Like a princess!”
“Princess! Mama is a princess!” Melly giggled as Ellen twirled around in her wedding gown.
“Girls,” Hilda said. “Your Mama is nearly all ready to be wed, but do the pair of you want to help with the final touch?”
Bella nodded earnestly. “Yes, ma’am!”
Hilda slowly opened a silver box and removed a floor-length lace veil. “Girls,” Hilda whispered. “This veil has been worn by the Davenport women for years on their wedding days. Today, I will help you fasten it to your own Mama’s head, and someday, the both of you will wear this very veil on your wedding days!”
Melly screeched in delight, and Bella’s eyes grew wide. “This will be ours?”
Hilda nodded, looking around the opulent bedroom and winking at Ellen. “This will all be yours someday, girls,” she said. “But for right now, your mama is yours, and she needs your help! Bella, Melly, give me your hands.”
Hilda helped the two small girls guide the veil onto Ellen’s white woven snood. “Very well done, girls,” Hilda cooed. “I will take care of the rest!”
Hilda finished weaving the loose strands of the snood into the free stitches of the veil, and once she was finished, she gathered the girls in her arms. “Bella, Melly,” Hilda whispered. “Look at your mama! She is a true Southern princess today, and soon, the both of you will be Southern princesses as well!”
Bella smiled brightly. “Princesses?”
Hilda nodded. “Becoming a Davenport is like becoming royalty, my girls,” Hilda murmured. “You will all be like Southern royalty before you know it!”
7
“May I have this dance?” Henry asked as Ellen’s dark eyes glimmered. Ellen nodded as couples twirled around them in the ballroom, and she happily took Henry’s hands.
“You look absolutely radiant,” Henry whispered into Ellen’s ear as he spun her in a slow circle, watching as his bride blushed from his compliment. “You look like an angel, my bride! I don’t know how I got this lucky, but I feel like the most fortunate man alive!”
The wedding had been a magical affair for both Henry and Ellen. Mrs. Davenport had turned Davenport Plantation into a living fairytale, and all two hundred guests agreed that it was the finest wedding the county had ever seen.
“It is as if the war had never happened,” one guest remarked as they surveyed the decorations and platters of food. “It is truly like stepping back in time to the days before the war! How did Missus Davenport manage to find such fine foods, or restore the plantation to its former glory in such a way?”
“It is quite a show,” another guest murmured. “The Davenport family knows how to throw a party!”
While the reception was grandiose, the wedding ceremony had felt intimate and sacred. Henry’s jaw had dropped as Ellen floated toward him down the aisle as his favorite hymn was played by a string quartet, and while he previously had been apprehensive about marrying a woman he had only known for a day, now, Henry was overcome with peace.
“Thank you, Lord,” Henry whispered as Ellen shyly looked up at him from beneath her long, lace veil.
“Please, Henry Davenport, take your bride’s hand,” the minister had ordered Henry at the beginning of the ceremony.
Henry obeyed, and as soon as Ellen’s gloved hand was tucked into his, he felt a jolt of electricity run down his back. “I’ve never felt like this before,” Henry thought as he slowly traced the underside of Ellen’s hand with his thumb. He watched as she shivered and blushed, and he gently pulled her closer to him.
After their vows were exchanged, the minister gave Henry a final order. “Henry Davenport,” boomed the minister. “You may kiss your bride!”
Henry dropped Ellen’s hands and wrapped his arms around her narrow waist. He heard a gasp from the crowd at his forwardness, but he did not care. Ellen was his wife now, and he wanted her in ways that he had never before wanted a woman. Ellen looked up at him with her large, brown eyes, and Henry lifted her veil. He brushed a stray dark ringlet from her forehead and took her face in his hands.
“My bride,” Henry whispered as he slowly leaned down to kiss his new wife. “My bride!”
Henry’s stomach fluttered as he kissed Ellen. The kiss began delicately, with Henry lightly pecking her lips and stroking her cheeks. He heard Ellen utter the faintest moan, and a warmth filled Henry’s belly. He placed one arm around her waist, drawing her even closer than before. Henry felt Ellen melt into his embrace, and he could not stifle the satisfied moan that escaped his own lips before he heard the minister clear his throat.
“Congratulations,” the minister wished the couple in his long, lazy accent. “Introducing the bride and groom!”
Henry did not tear his gaze from his new wife. His eyes were fixated on Ellen’s, and he felt the strong, undeniable tug of desire as she licked her lips and fluttered her eyelashes at him. Henry bent down to kiss her on the tip of her small, pale nose, and he smiled wolfishly as he imagined all that was to come later in the night. He had been looking forward to the wedding reception. Henry knew his mother had invested significant time, energy, and money into planning a fine party to celebrate his marriage, and he could hardly wait to show off his new wife to his family and friends.
As Ellen gazed up at him, however, Henry’s head was swi
mming. His heart and body were brimming with desire for the beautiful, elegant, Godly woman standing in front of him, and as his wife stared into his face, her own eyes dancing with joy, Henry imagined the end of the night.
“I cannot wait to get to know you later tonight, my bride,” he whispered into Ellen’s ear as they turned to greet the cheering crowd. “This is our special day, Missus Ellen Davenport, but it will also be our special night.”
8
The Davenports easily settled into married life. Ellen flourished under Henry’s mother’s tutelage, effortlessly learning everything about managing a fine household. Henry’s mother adored her new daughter-in-law and granddaughters, and Henry enjoyed his new role as a father to Bella and Melly.
“It’s like this was all meant to be,” Ellen happily breathed to Henry one night as they were tangled together beneath the sheets of their four-poster bed. “It’s as though everything that happened was meant to be, Henry!”
Despite the darkness of the night, Ellen could feel her husband beaming, and she snuggled closer to him, laying her head atop his muscled chest. She ran a hand through his hair, her belly warming with affection as Henry let out a sigh of contentment. “I love you, Henry Davenport.”
Henry shifted over to look into Ellen’s eyes. She brought her nose to touch his, giggling as he pulled away and then drew closer, covering her cheeks with kisses.
“Is it supposed to be like this?” Henry asked facetiously as Ellen shook her head. “Are we supposed to be this happy? Am I supposed to be this attracted to my stunningly beautiful, sweet, wonderful wife?”
Ellen playfully batted Henry’s arm. “I don’t think it is,” she teased as she leaned in to give her husband a long, passionate kiss. “But I am not complaining. You have made me the happiest woman, Henry. After the girls’ father died, I never believed I could love again, let alone find a love that leaves me breathless! You have made me the happiest wife, and you have made the girls the happiest daughters!”
Henry raised an eyebrow. “You’re the happiest wife, Ellen? Is that so? Well, I think that is a good thing, because I am the happiest husband in all of Alabama…”
A few months after Ellen and the girls’ arrival to the Davenport Plantation, Henry was shocked to receive a letter from Katie May.
“It came yesterday,” Mrs. Davenport informed Henry as she discreetly pressed it into his hands. “I should have told the servants to throw it out, but I thought you might want to read it…”
Henry shook his head. “Mother,” he began. “Mother, I am a happily married man now. My heart has changed. The man who traveled to Indiana to win back his married childhood sweetheart is gone. He is dead, and I am a new man through Christ. I prayed that the Lord would change my heart, and He did! I am a faithful, loyal husband, and I do not feel the need to read what Katie May sent to me.”
Henry’s mother smiled at her son. “That’s what I prayed you would say.” Mrs. Davenport sighed as she stoked her son’s cheek. “You are truly in love with your wife, aren’t you?”
Henry closed his eyes and imagined Ellen wrapped up in his arms in their four-poster bed. He sighed as he pictured Ellen gazing up at him with her enormous brown eyes, and he felt a familiar warmth spread through his body as he thought of the first tender night with his wife, struggling to unbutton the intricate buttons down the back of her wedding gown, but feeling triumphant when she was finally lying before him.
“I do,” Henry affirmed, hoping his mother would not detect his blushing cheeks underneath the scruff of his thick beard. “I do love Ellen. Katie May was part of my past, and I will never forget how she helped me learn to love. Ellen, though, is my present and my future. I want to live in the present and the future with her, and if any further letters arrive from Katie May, just have the servants burn them.”
Mrs. Davenport’s face glowed as she kissed her son on the forehead. “You are a good man,” she murmured as she smoothed Henry’s hair. “This is the kind of love every mother prays for her son to find. I am elated that the Lord has blessed you with Ellen and the girls, Henry. I will take this letter from Katie May away, and I will instruct the servants to dispose of any future correspondences from Indiana.”
That night, as Henry opened the door to his bedchamber, he found Ellen sitting on the bed, her head in her hands. “Ellen?” Henry inquired as he rushed to his wife’s side. “What is the matter?”
Ellen’s thin shoulders were shaking as she looked up at Henry with tears in her eyes. “I can hardly stand to look at you right now, Henry,” she muttered as she shoved something in his hands.
Henry looked down to find Katie May’s letter. The envelope had been opened, and he saw ink stains on Ellen’s hands. “Did you read this?”
Ellen nodded. “I did,” she said. “I knew that you had a sweetheart as a child, and that does not unsettle me. You know that I loved my late husband, and you’ve never made me feel guilty about that.”
Henry shook his head. “Of course not,” he murmured as he tried to take Ellen into his arms. “You loved your husband as I loved Katie May, but those times are in the past!”
Ellen’s eyes brimmed with tears as she shoved Henry away. “I knew that you loved her,” she said slowly. “But I didn’t know that your love for her blinded you in such an ungodly way, Henry!”
“What are you talking about?” Henry asked, raising his eyebrows. “Ellen, what did the letter say? I didn’t even look at it!”
Ellen tossed the letter at Henry and stormed out of the room. Henry squinted and began to read.
Dear Henry,
I hope this letter finds you well. I received word that you had married, and I wanted to extend my best wishes and congratulations to you from myself and my husband. Marriage is a beautiful blessing from God, and I do hope and pray that you are content in this new chapter of your life.
Henry, when you arrived in Connersville and encouraged me to leave my husband, I felt conflicted and confused. You know I had deep feelings for you when I was a child, but after marrying my dear Lawrence, those feelings dissipated; I only have romantic feelings for my husband, and I hope that I made that abundantly clear to you when you came to Indiana.
Admittedly, it was difficult to see your face after believing you to be dead; I never thought I would see your smile again, and while my heart broke at the thought of how much you endured to make it home again, my heart now smiles as I imagine you happy and an in love with your new wife.
As I said, marriage is such a gift and a blessing, and I hope that your life is filled with happiness, many children to carry on the legacy of your family, and most importantly, the Lord. Henry, I pray for you daily, and I pray that you realized the error of your ways when you asked me to leave my husband and return to Alabama with you.
Please know that I wish you well. Lawrence sends his best regards.
Sincerely,
Katie May
Henry’s eyes widened as he reread Katie May’s words. He thought of himself last year, desolate and desperate as he traveled to Indiana. The man he was when he begged Katie May to steal away with him was so different than the man he was now, and his heart sank as he imagined Ellen learning of his terrible, ungodly behavior.
“Ellen,” Henry muttered as he crumbled Katie May’s letter. “Ellen! Ellen, please come back here. Let me explain myself!”
Ellen listened to Henry’s explanation, but her eyes remained fierce as Henry begged her for forgiveness. “I forgive you, Henry,” Ellen admitted as he took her hands in his. “You were heartbroken and lost. We all lose our way, and we are so blessed that the Lord is always home to welcome us back to Him.”
Henry’s eyes filled with happy tears. “Thank you, my angel,” he whispered as he attempted to gather Ellen into his arms.
“No,” Ellen admonished. “No. Please don’t touch me. I forgive you for your past transgressions, Henry, but my heart aches when I think of what you did. I know who you are now, and I know the Godly husband and father who
leads our family with love and conviction. But the Henry from Katie May’s letter is a stranger to me, and it’s hard for me to be in the same room with you right now.”
Henry shook his head. “Please, Ellen,” he begged. “You said you forgive me! Please, let me hold you. I am not the man I was back then, and I want to be with you.”
Ellen bit her bottom lip. “I forgive you, Henry, just as the Lord has,” she said slowly. “But I haven’t yet forgotten what I read in that letter. I humbly ask for some time, Henry. I need time to process and pray about the letter I read. I am going to the girls’ room to sleep tonight. Please don’t come after me.”
9
Despite lavishing her with love and attention, Ellen’s treatment of Henry remained cold. She could not shake the deep, aching feeling of dread she had felt in the pit of her stomach as she read the words from Henry’s former sweetheart, and she could hardly look at her husband.
“It’s like I see him as a different man,” Ellen admitted to Hilda as Hilda washed her hair one evening. “I know in my heart that he is a changed man, but I cannot let go of what I learned about him, Hilda. He asked a married woman to leave her husband! What kind of ungodly, horrible man does that?”
Hilda bit the inside of her cheek but said nothing, continuing to scrub Ellen’s curly hair. Ellen turned to look at her maid. “What? Hilda, I know you have something to say. You always have something to say! Just say it.”
Hilda took a long breath. “I don’t want to anger you, Miss Ellen,” Hilda explained. “But I think that you have not truly forgiven him. You say that you have, but with what you’ve told me, it seems that you have not.”
