by Danni Roan
Although the youngest James girl had been in Boston for most of the year, she’d had little interaction with society on a large scale. Over the past few months she’d been to small, intimate suppers and had been allowed to stay with Mel and her family, but otherwise her experience had been confined to her aunt’s house and tutors. In the fall she would begin classes at the university.
A light repast had been provided for the guests, and people stood or sat throughout the room with plates or drinks in hand. Jemma had explained that it would be a casual party, but to Mae it seemed anything but.
Every lamp and chandelier glowed softly with a warm gas flame, and the array of gowns in every possible color was dazzling.
Reese handed Mae a small plate, pulling her out of her musings. “Aside from Miss Smith and her companions, it seems that most of the people here are of the older generation,” the young man commented.
“Oh, you’re right,” Mae replied, looking around her. “I believe they are mostly friends of my aunt.” She gazed around the room looking for Aunt Jemma, and found her standing in a corner having a heated discussion with the gentleman with the receding hairline.
As she spotted her aunt the man turned toward her and their eyes met for a moment. Mae shivered at the look in his eyes.
“Are you cold?” Reese asked, reaching for the buttons on his long tailed gray coat.
“No, I’m fine,” Mae said laying her small hand on his sleeve.
“Just jitters,” Melissa said, winking from around Reese’s shoulder.
“Yes, just jitters,” Mae parroted, the smile returning to her lips.
The trio had barely had time to sample the food on their plates when music began to emanate from the adjoining room.
Mae’s heart fluttered in her chest. This was it, this was what she’d been practicing for over the past weeks.
“Come on you two,” Melissa said, tugging on Reese’s arm. “The dancing is starting. Reese you must take Mae out right away so she’ll get over her nervousness. You’ve always been a wonderful dancer.”
“If you insist, dear sister,” Reese said, his eyes glowing with anticipation. For months now he’d trailed along in the wake of his sister and her friend, and tonight, finally, he would be able to dance with the enchanting Mae in his arms.
The first dance was a waltz and Reese couldn’t help but smile as he placed his hands on Mae’s tiny waist. She was such a slip of girl, yet seemed somehow larger than life to him.
He could feel her quiver of excitement, or perhaps nerves, as he led them into the first steps.
Mae looked up at her best friend’s brother. He was tall with broad shoulders, and looked dashing in his dove gray tails and cream waistcoat. His dark charcoal cravat seemed to accentuate the green of his eyes.
Mel is so lucky to have a brother. Mae thought as she carefully placed her feet in the patterns she’d been taught. She was surprised at how easy it was to dance with Reese, his confident and practiced steps leading her across the floor.
The music ended and their movements stopped. Mae settled back on her heels, not realizing she’d been almost dancing on tippy-toe, but felt Reese’s hands still on hers. She glanced to where her small, gloved hand rested in his; he dropped his hand as if it had been a viper.
Mae smiled. She liked Reese; if not for him, she and Mel could never have had such a wonderful time getting to know each other.
“Shall I get you some punch?” Reese asked, tipping his head toward her. She laughed as a gold tipped curl fell over his forehead.
“Yes, that would be lovely.”
Reese stepped away from Mae, turning toward the refreshment table, just as the music began again. Turning, he noticed Mr. Wilms had stepped up and taken Mae’s hand, guiding her back on to the dance floor. A moment later his blood seemed to boil as it pounded in his ears.
The man was holding the young woman in far too familiar a manner. His large paunch pushed against her even as she tried to lean away, his meaty hands wrapped possessively around her small waist.
“I don’t like that man dancing with Mae.” His sister’s voice broke through his haze. “I don’t like him at all. Look at the way he’s holding her.” She made a disgusted sound in her throat. “Cut in, Reese,” she finally demanded.
Reese looked down on the golden head of his little sister and smirked. “As you wish, dear sister,” he said, handing her both cups of punch with a wicked grin, and stepped across the floor.
Jackson Wilms pulled the delightful bit of fluff closer. She will make the perfect wife he thought, a smirk spreading across his flabby lips.
“You’re a wonderful dancer, my dear,” he lied as she trod on his toes yet again. “I do hope I’ll have the pleasure often this evening.”
A brisk tap on his shoulder interrupted the pattern and he paused, causing the girl to once more accost his sore toes. At least she’s light, he though irritably.
“May I?” the voice of the arrogant pup who’d escorted Miss James and that blonde woman earlier stood at his shoulder.
“No, you most certainly may not,” he grumbled, and turned to step back into the dance rotation.
“I’m afraid my sister insisted,” Reese said, his eyes meeting Mae’s with a sly wink. “You see her right there. I’m afraid she doesn’t take no for an answer,” he added, pointing at Melissa, who stood near the punch table tapping her foot and glaring.
Mr. Wilms glared at the young man, then at the woman who glared back at him from across the room. “Very well,” he finally acquiesced. “I’ll see you later my dear,” he said to Mae, leaning down and kissing her hand with a smack.
Reese took Mae into his arms once more, taking pains to leave a respectable distance between them, even while wanting to pull her close. He’d tuck her safely in his pocket if he could.
“Thanks you,” Mae said, flowing easily in step with him. “I’m afraid I was making a real mess of dancing with that man.”
“You did nothing wrong,” Reese assured her.
“I’m afraid I stepped on his toes more times than I could count.”
Reese Middleton laughed. “He got no more than he deserved,” he chided. “He was an appalling dancer.”
Mae relaxed again, finding dancing with Reese fun and comfortable. She hoped Mel had been able to find a partner as skilled.
“You look lovely tonight, you know,” Reese said, guiding her around the floor effortlessly.
“Thank you, I believe you mentioned that earlier,” she quipped.
He was just about to say something more when he felt her tense in his arms, her small hand squeezing his with a great deal more strength than he would have expected.
“Are you tired?” he asked, concern filling his fine voice.
“Huh?” Mae stammered, her eyes focused on a dark window on the other side of the room.
Reese turned his head slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of what had grabbed her attention.
“Oh yes. Tired,” she replied. “Yes, I’m afraid I’m a bit tired.”
Reese twirled them off the dance floor, delivering her to his sister who had taken a chair along the wall.
“Mae says she’s tired,” he said, a questioning look pulling at his brows. “I’ll fetch us that punch now,” he offered, and stepped away from the two ladies. If something were wrong, he had not doubt Mae would tell Melissa. They’d become virtually inseparable over the past months.
“Are you alright, Mae?” Mel asked, taking her friend’s gloved hand in hers.
“I’m fine,” Mae said, still staring at the bank of windows on the far side of the room. “I think I must need a little air,” she finally said. “I’m sure that’s all.”
“I’ll go with you.” Mel offered.
“No!” Mae exclaimed, darting a look at her friend, then back to the windows.
“Mae?”
“Just give me a minute, Mel. Please.” Mae’s pleading eyes told Melissa something was up, but she’d let her go, for now.
&nbs
p; “Alright,” she said, releasing Mae’s hand.
Lifting her skirt carefully, Mae slipped past the dancers and out the double-paned doors on the other side of the room.
“Where’s Mae?” Reese asked, returning with three cups of punch suspended awkwardly in his hands.
“She said she needed some air,” Melissa replied, taking a cup from his hand.
“Something’s wrong Mel.” He looked at his sister, noting the agreement in her eyes.
“Why don’t you take her punch out to her?” she said encouragingly.
Chapter 4
Reese Middleton tapped the doors open with his toe and stepped out into the cooling night. It was early April and the evenings tended to be crisp, but after the stuffy confines of the small dance floor and parlor, the cool air was refreshing.
Scanning the garden, he looked for Mae but couldn’t see her anywhere. Where could she have disappeared to? He knew the stables were to the far left of the garden and that if he were to go right, it would bring him around the side of the house and back to the driveway.
Squinting into the dimness of night, he caught a glimpse of ghostly white near the tall hedgerow that walled the back of the garden.
Placing the fine crystal cups on the window sill, he stepped silently onto the grass. Curiosity boiled in his gut as he watched Mae lean further into the hedge. What was she doing?
A moment later, her soft, quiet voice reached his ears. “What’s happened?” Fear echoed in her words.
“Nothing’s happened, Mae,” a man’s voice replied.
“Is everyone alright? Ye-ye, Pa?”
“Yes, they’re fine.”
Reese’s disbelief that Mae had snuck away from the party to meet a man caused him to lose concentration, and a twig snapped under his foot.
Mae’s gasp made him quicken his step. A flash of silver glinted in the pale starlight, and his heart leapt into his throat.
“Mae!” a strangled cry rasped from his throat. “Watch out!” he called, pushing her away from the man with the knife, his hands grappling with the assailant’s weapon arm.
A harsh, silent struggle rustled the bushes as he tried to strike the knife from the other man’s steely grasp.
“No!” Mae hissed, “don’t, don’t hurt him.” Her small, strong hand slapped down on Reese’s forearm.
“What?” he yelped.
“Don’t hurt him. He’s my cousin.”
“What?” Reese stood frozen to the spot.
“He’s not very bright is he Mae, Mae.” The young man sheathed his knife and slipped through the thick hedge, wraith like.
“What in thunder is going on here?” Reese finally demanded.
“Shh,” Mae shot back. “You’ll get us all in trouble.”
“Do you think?” he stated sarcastically. “Just being out here in the garden alone could do that.”
“Be quiet,” Mae hissed again, looking about the garden to be sure no one could overhear them. “You keep watch, while I speak to Sean,” she added, turning him about so he faced the house.
A shiver raced down Reese’s spine when her hands touched his back, but he stood still, hoping that if he let them talk he’d understand what was going on.
“Sean?” Mae said again, her voice was full of worry, and it clenched Reese’s heart.
“The last I heard from home everyone is fine,” the young man’s voice was reassuring. “That’s not why I’m here.”
“Then what?” Mae scolded. “I’ve barely seen you at all and now you show up when Jemma’s having a big to-do?”
“Humph!” the young man snorted. “You barely see me because some people don’t think I’m the type you should associate with.”
“Aunt Jemma is only trying to look out for my best interest,” Mae said.
Reese listened intently; although she spoke the words there was no true conviction in them. Perhaps the dower old woman was looking out for Mae, but keeping her from her cousin surely couldn’t be the right thing.
“I was sent here to help keep an eye on you Mae, you know that. Mother would have my ears if she knew I haven’t seen you even once in two months.”
“I try, Sean, but if Jemma catches us she might throw me out and that would shame Pa, I’m sure of it.”
“I know,” Sean’s voice gentled. “I’ll try harder to get to see you, but I never know where you’ll be and there is no one who will carry a message for me.”
Reese Middleton looked back over his shoulder at the two people deep in conversation. He saw Mae’s hand resting softly on the other man’s dark sleeve and something rumbled inside him. Then he saw the tear in her eye and the rumble was replaced by something softer.
“If you didn’t come here to tell me something about the family, then why did you come?” Mae finally asked.
“For this,” Sean said. Reese caught the glimmer of white teeth in a tan face as the young man reached into his coat.
Curiosity getting the best of him, Reese turned and stepped up to the others, watching in amazement as the young man pulled a small silver and gray bundle of fur out of his coat, offering it to Mae.
“What is that?” he whispered.
“Oh, Sean,” Mae gushed, taking the bundle in her outstretched hands. “Where did you ever get it?”
“He’d washed into a storm drain near the dormitory,” Sean replied. Even in the dark, his eyes twinkled.
Reese leaned closer, looking down at the small form in Mae’s hands that began to unfurl itself, stretching a long pink tail and black tipped ears as it pointed its nose toward the petite young woman.
“Ugh!” Reese said, stepping back from the tiny creature whose beady black eyes glinted up at him. “What is it?”
Sean looked at Mae. “I told you he wasn’t very bright,” he scoffed.
“Hush, Sean, he’s my best friend’s brother.”
“Well, you’d think he’d know an opossum when he sees one.”
Mae’s giggle made Reese glare. “Why would you bring her that filthy creature?” he snapped.
“It’s not filthy,” Mae rose to defend the animal. “It’s lost and alone and needs help.”
To his horror, she cuddled the animal close to her.
“I knew you’d take it in, Mae. I can’t keep it in the dorm and with all of my classes and study, I don’t have the time to care for it.”
“Thank you, Sean,” Mae’s words were rife with emotion. “He’ll be a lovely companion.”
For a long moment the cousins stood there grinning at each other as if it were Christmas. And he has the nerve to say I’m not bright. What kind of man brings a rodent to a young woman? Reese’s internal thoughts were interrupted by a soft tread in the grass.
Mae started, then sighed as she recognized Melissa.
“There you are,” Mel chided. “I was getting worried about you.” She paused. “Oh, hello,” she offered a greeting for Sean.
“Mel, this is my cousin Sean, I’m sure you remember me telling you about him.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Mel replied, “but what on earth are you all doing out here? People are going to wonder what happened to you.”
“Look!” Mae said, stretching the little ‘possum out toward Mel. “Sean brought him to me to care for,” she added excitedly.
Melissa Middleton shrunk away from the strange looking little animal and leaned toward her brother. “Oh, it’s hideous,” she gasped.
“No, it’s not,” Mae said. “It’s one of God’s creatures, so it’s beautiful.”
Melissa looked at her brother. “Really, we shouldn’t be surprised,” she said, “but what are you going to do with it?”
“I’ll take it to my room and make it a nest. Ginny and I’ll make sure it’s fed and…”
“You cannot simply walk that thing into the house with a party going on,” Mel cut in, placing her hands on her hips.
“She’s right,” Mae said, her eyes growing sad, “and Jemma will never let me keep it.”
Melissa
looked at her brother and smiled her most devious smile. “What Jemma Johnson doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” she stated and winked at Reese. “Mae, where is your room from here?”
“There,” Mae pointed at a large window on the far end of the house.
Mel looked both ways, then lifting her skirts, stepped briskly toward the house. “Do you think you could get it to climb up and through the window?” she asked, studying the house.
“It’s not a trained monkey,” Mae chided. .
“I can take it up to the window,” Sean offered from the rear of the group.
“Are you telling me you could climb up the side of the house without anyone knowing?” Reese scoffed.
Mae turned to Sean and laughed. “Trust me, Sean can do it with his eyes closed,” she tittered.
“Alright then,” Melissa laid her hand on her brother’s sleeve to calm him. “Sean, you’ll climb up to Mae’s window with the… the creature. Mae, you and I’ll find some excuse to go to your room to fetch it, and Reese, you make a nuisance of yourself in the party so no one notices anything.”
“What?” Reese bridled. “Why do I have to make a scene? You’re far better at that than I am.”
To Mae’s surprise Mel grinned and winked. “True, but today it’s your turn.”
For a moment Mae thought Reese would refuse, but then he nodded, his eyes widening as Sean stripped off his shoes and socks, threw his coat over a bush and began scrambling up the side of the building, the little ‘possum tucked inside his shirt.
He seemed to find handholds from nothing and Reese found himself sweating just watching the man.
“Reese, come on,” Melissa called, and he hurried to her side.
“Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Johnson,” Reese’s voice echoed across the dance floor. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I’ve not had a single dance with you yet.” He swaggered toward the hostess, all eyes turning toward him in wonder.
“Young man, I do not think you need to be quite so forward. A simple invitation would have sufficed.”
“Yes, yes. How true, but for someone so lovely as you…”
