by Marie Silk
“I would too.”
“Do you still feel guilty about what happened today?” he asked.
“I don’t know what I feel. I’m confused—and terribly lonely.”
Phillip stepped closer to Abigail and slid his hands around her waist. “You don’t have to be. I would do anything to make you happy.”
“I believe you would,” she said, relaxing into his arms.
“Will you let me?”
“I—I—” she stammered. “I need to speak with my brother first. I need to know that he will understand.”
Phillip kissed her hair. “I hope he does, Abigail. It would make me very happy.”
“Oh dear, we really must get to town before the jeweler closes up shop,” Abigail told him. “We can talk more on the way there.”
When Abigail returned to the house after visiting the jeweler, she gave Clara the cash from the sale of the necklace. Clara was grateful to receive it and hid the money in a safe place. Abigail went to the stable apartment to see her brother before dinner.
“Sam, there is something I must speak to you about,” she told him.
“Would it have anything to do with you and the Valenti fellow kissing in the stable?”
Abigail gasped. “You saw that?”
Sam laughed. “I just shook my head and left before I lost my lunch.”
Abigail covered her face with her hands. “Oh come on, Sam. I’m already embarrassed. And yes, I do wish to speak to you about Phillip. I think I would like to be with him, only I wanted to hear what you had to say about it.”
Sam shrugged his shoulders. “He isn’t Irish.”
“Neither was Ethan,” she said.
“Do what makes you happy, Abby. None of us knows how much time we have left,” he said, pausing in sorrow. “I wish I wouldn’t have waited so long to be with Jenny. Now it’s too late for us.”
“How are you managing with it?”
He shrugged again. “Just trying to get through each day.”
“I understand,” she told him. “Then, you would be alright if I married Phillip? You would gain a darling niece and nephew.”
“I don’t mind as long as he is good to you. Abby, if you’re sure that you want to be with him, take my advice and don’t wait.”
Abigail hugged her brother gratefully. “Thank you, Sam.” She returned to the house and saw Mary on the upstairs landing. “Mary, you’re home. How was it?”
“Perhaps I should have taken you with me after all,” Mary answered. “It started out difficult, but we managed in the end. Mother and baby are both well.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Would you come talk to me in my room while I dress for dinner?”
“Yes, but we should hurry,” Mary laughed. “I’m starving.”
Abigail changed her clothes behind the room divider while Mary sat on the bed. “Did you find out what was bothering Clara?”
“She is having trouble with Lawrence. We should do everything we can to help her,” Abigail replied.
“Oh, what a shame she is having trouble with him. I know I miss William desperately. It is hard to not see him for months like this. He said that he may come home in a week to have a rest.”
“I hope he does, Mary. I know you miss him dearly.” Abigail stepped out from behind the room divider. “There is more I want to say to you before we go down for dinner. Bridget telephoned today and asked if the manor house could be used as an emergency hospital for the Red Cross. They are overfull at the hospital in Philadelphia and need to move the camps indoors.”
“I see. We are not living there anyway. It seems a good use of the house,” Mary said. “What do you think?”
“I’d be glad to answer that they can use the manor house, with your permission.”
“Yes,” smiled Mary. “Let us answer them right away. Is that all you wished to speak about?”
Abigail took a deep breath. “There is something else. I think that after dinner tonight...I would like to move into the farmhouse...with Phillip...as his wife.” Mary stared with wide eyes and Abigail regretted that she had said anything. “After what you said the other night, I thought you understood.”
“I’m only surprised. I did not realize it could be so soon.”
“Is it too soon?” Abigail’s countenance fell. “I’m sorry, Mary.”
“Do you love him?” Mary questioned.
“I feel like I do. When he embraced me today, I felt safe and cared for. I had forgotten what that was like.”
“I’m sorry for my reaction. I was not expecting you to marry again just now, but if it makes you feel cared for and safe…then I believe it is what you should do.”
“Thank you, Mary,” Abigail sighed in relief. “I have no idea how Clara might react to this news. Especially when I tell her we do not wish to have a big wedding.”
“How will you be married?”
“On the drive back from town today, we agreed that we would be married in the way of the common law, as I was with Ethan.”
Mary smiled and hugged Abigail. “I will miss you, dear sister, but I do wish for you to be happy more than anything. Let us go down to dinner now and tell Clara. Not only that, I must finally get something to eat before I starve!” When they arrived at the dining table, Abigail shyly told Clara the news.
Clara seemed more than receptive to the idea. “Good for you, dear,” she answered. “Now go and have lots of babies so it may feel as if the world has life in it again.”
“Thank you, Clara. It is my hope to have more children as well.” Abigail left with her traveling case just after dinner. When she approached the front door of the farmhouse, she could hear that the children were still awake. She knocked quietly on the door.
Phillip was glad to see Abigail with her traveling case. He welcomed her inside and the children looked at her quizzically. “Are you going to stay with us again, Miss Abigail? Is Papa going back to France?”
Phillip whispered to Abigail. “What should I tell them?”
“Say that we will live together as a family,” she answered.
Phillip beamed. “Miss Abigail is part of our family now.”
Gabriella jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “Is she our new mother?”
Abigail felt her face turning pink. “You may call me Mother, if you’d like.”
Gabriella and Donnie rushed to hug her. “I love you, Mother,” Donnie cooed.
Abigail was beginning to get emotional. She steadied herself on a chair in the sitting room while the children tried to sit in her lap.
“Now that you have heard our happy news, it is time for bed,” Phillip announced to the children.
“Can our mother to put us to bed?” Gabriella asked.
Abigail smiled and gladly obliged, and the children soon drifted to sleep in their room after the long day. When Abigail returned to the kitchen area, Phillip was frantically tidying the room. “Sorry it’s a mess,” he apologized. “I didn’t think anyone was coming tonight.”
“I hope it’s alright that I did.”
Phillip stopped his cleaning and held Abigail close. “I am nervous and happy, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Why don’t we sit and talk?”
They sat together on the sofa. “What would you like to talk about?” asked Phillip, raising her hand to his lips.
“I wanted to tell you that I am half-owner a grand house in Philadelphia. Mary owns it with me. Because the house is vacant at this time, we will allow the Red Cross to use it for a temporary hospital.”
“That’s very good of you,” Phillip replied.
“After the outbreak is over, perhaps you might like to see the manor house. If you like it, we could stay there. Or if you wish to stay here at the farmhouse, we could rent the manor house as before and have an income.”
“I see,” he answered. “I suppose we have plenty of time to decide.”
Abigail giggled nervously. “I suppose we do.” In the silence that followed, Abigail laid her head on
his shoulder and felt her eyelids growing heavy.
“Are you ready for sleep?” he asked her.
Abigail sat up straight. “Phillip, I wonder if I might stay in the children’s room tonight. It may help me to feel more settled in the house.”
“If it is what you wish,” he replied. “I will be sleeping just down the hall.”
Abigail nodded. She opened the door to the children’s room and smiled when she observed them sound asleep on the bed. She then went to the washroom to change into her nightclothes. Phillip was standing in the hallway when she came out. She smiled shyly at him. “Goodnight,” Abigail said.
“May I kiss you goodnight?” he asked quietly.
Abigail stepped closer to Phillip and put her arms around him. When he leaned in to kiss her goodnight, Abigail forgot whatever plans she had to be apart from him.
In the days that followed, Abigail took the children on walks through the Davenport gardens and to the stable every day to see her brother. It seemed to cheer Sam that the children would come to look at the horses and ask many questions. Abigail delighted in seeing him look well after the sorrowful news he had about Jenny.
One afternoon, Abigail and Gabriella were sitting in the grass by the apple trees behind the farmhouse. Phillip showed Donnie the blossoms on the trees while Abigail styled Gabriella’s hair with flowers from the garden. She looked up to see Phillip bowing in front of her with a flower. “Mi amore,” he said dramatically. The girls laughed, which encouraged Donnie to copy his father and also present a flower to Abigail.
“Mi amore,” Donnie said. Abigail took him into her lap and hugged him tight.
“Phillip,” she finally said. “I must go to Davenport House to see if that paper from the Red Cross has arrived. I would also like to say good afternoon to Mary and Clara.”
“As you wish, my dear. We’ll have lunch when you return.”
When Abigail approached the house, she was delighted to see William’s car in the driveway. She hurried to the drawing room where he and Mary were having tea. “William!” she cried when she entered the room. “How lovely to see you again!”
William stood up to greet her. Abigail noticed that he looked aged and had dark circles under his eyes, but William was cheerful just the same. “I understand that congratulations are in order, Mrs. Valenti.”
Abigail giggled. “We decided just last week. How did you ever get away from the clinic?”
“I told them that if I didn’t get home to see my wife, I would go mad, and it would be me who needed a doctor. I guess that convinced them.”
“Abigail, you and Phillip must come to dinner tonight,” Mary said. “It will be wonderful for us to be together again.”
“Of course we will come for dinner. I can’t stay long just now because we are about to have lunch at the farmhouse. I will see you this evening, Mary. I’m glad you could finally come home, William.”
Abigail went into the Hall and greeted Fiona. “Has anything arrived for me in the post?”
“It has just come, Miss Abigail.” Fiona gave her the envelope.
William and Mary were walking out of the drawing room when they heard a crash in the Hall. “Dr. Hamilton!” called Fiona.
They rushed to find Abigail on the floor with blood dripping from her forehead. Fiona was kneeled beside her helplessly. “What happened!” cried Mary.
“She fell suddenly and hit her head on the arm of the settee,” Fiona explained.
“She’s unconscious,” William said. He lifted Abigail off the floor and carried her to a fainting couch while Mary held a handkerchief against the wound on Abigail’s forehead.
“She does not have a fever,” William muttered. “We should quarantine her just in case.”
“Perhaps she tripped in the Hall?” Mary offered.
“She didn’t trip, Mrs. Hamilton,” Fiona stated. “She fainted while reading the post.”
Mary followed Fiona back into the Hall and picked up the letter from the floor. “Dear God!” she shouted so loudly that it echoed off the walls.
William came out to see her. Mary’s face was pale as she sat on the cold marble floor, her trembling hands still holding the letter. “It is from Ethan—” she sputtered. “He writes that he is coming home—and it is dated two weeks ago!”
Chapter 10
Abigail slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room, feeling disoriented. “Have I fallen asleep?” she asked.
Mary, Clara, and William were in the room with her, their expressions grave. Clara finally answered her. “You’ve had a shock, dear. We all have.”
“What do you mean?” she questioned, wincing in pain as she tried to sit up.
“Don’t try to get up just now,” William told her. He checked her eyes with a flashlight.
“I told Phillip I would be right back for lunch,” she said.
“It is past dinnertime now,” Mary explained.
“Oh! I can’t believe I slept for so long,” replied Abigail.
“Do you remember receiving a letter in the post today?” William asked carefully.
Abigail sighed. “Not today. I suppose I dreamed that I had a letter from Ethan, but it is the same dream I’ve had for months.”
“Today…it wasn’t a dream dear,” Clara said gently. “Ethan was wrongly declared dead by the war office. He is coming home in a few days.”
“That was real?” Abigail buried her face in her hands. “What have I done? Oh no, what have I done?”
William stood up to leave the room. He whispered to Mary, “I am going to bed. Come get me if you need anything.” Mary nodded solemnly.
“I must see the letter again,” Abigail cried. Mary gave it to her.
Abigail,
I am writing from the hospital camp in France, but I don’t want you to worry for me because I am nearly recovered. I’ll be home in three weeks. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms again, only this time, I won’t let you go.
Ethan
Fiona appeared in the doorway of the room. “Mr. Valenti is here.”
“I can’t see him,” Abigail whimpered. “Clara, will you tell him? I can’t go back to the farmhouse tonight.”
“I will tell him,” Clara promised. She went downstairs to Phillip who waited in the Hall.
“Is Abigail alright?” he asked worriedly. “She said she was coming back a while ago.”
“Come sit with me in the drawing room,” Clara said, reasoning that it would be better to tell him if he were sitting down.
“Abigail had a letter today—from Ethan. It was written just weeks ago.”
Phillip’s eyes grew wide. “How is that possible?”
“The army was wrong. Ethan writes that he is coming home this week. Abigail is going to stay here at the house.”
Phillip was speechless for several moments. “She wants to stay here?”
“She is in shock,” Clara replied gently. “I’m sorry.”
Phillip bowed his head in sorrow and left the house before Clara could see him cry.
Mary stayed with Abigail in the bedroom. “How can this be happening, Mary? It is the very news that I longed to hear all of these months, and now that it has come, I feel like I will die. Why could it not have come a week ago? Ethan will never forgive me.”
“None of us saw this coming,” Mary told her. “I feel that I need to see him with my own eyes before I can believe any of it. How could the army not have told us all this while? I am angry and happy and confused all at once.”
“I wish I could be happy, but I am frightened to tell him that I did not wait for him. Reading his words is breaking my heart. He has loved me all along…and even though I loved him…I did not wait like I should have. Oh Mary, this feeling is worse than the grief I felt for him. What will I do?”
“Perhaps we can explain to him once he settles in. If he has spent time at the hospital camp, he may still have injuries to recover from once he arrives. When Ethan sees how much has changed at the house since he left, i
t may be the best time to explain.”
“Am I still married to him?”
“The law will see it that way,” Mary answered. “Ethan will have to be told that you moved on.”
“But I haven’t moved on, Mary!” she cried. “I never would have dreamed of marriage if I thought there was any hope of him returning! He is the man that I loved all this while, and he cannot possibly want me now.”
“It is too much to figure out in one night,” Mary replied wearily. “The only way we can know anything is when Ethan returns and we can see him for ourselves.”
Later that week, Sam drove Mary to the train station to meet Ethan. She did not recognize him at first. His clothes hung off of his body and his hair was beginning to gray. When he saw Mary, he ran to hug and kiss her. “You look well, Mary,” he said joyfully. “I know I look like an old man. Hopefully Abigail won’t mind too much. Where is she?”
“She’s at the house,” Mary answered as they made their way to the car. “She worried that she might faint if she came to meet you here.” They climbed into the car, and Sam drove them away from the train station.
“Did Valenti ever make it home?” asked Ethan.
“He has been home with his children for months,” Mary told him. She was hesitant to say more.
“What’s wrong, Mary? I thought you would be happy to see me.”
Mary smiled at him and held his hand. “Of course I am overjoyed to see you, dear brother. You must realize that we have all had a shock to find out that you would be coming home. I did not even believe it until I saw you at the station just now.”
“Why not? Haven’t you been waiting for me all this while?”
“You don’t know? The war office informed us that you were killed in the War last September.”
Ethan was bewildered. “They did? That’s awful. Abigail must have been horrified to hear such a thing. But she discovered it was a mistake as soon as she received the letters from me.”
“Ethan,” Mary said solemnly. “All of us thought you were dead until just days ago.”
“Oh,” he mumbled, trying to let the news sink in. “Is Abigail alright?”
“You must be careful with her, brother. She has been fragile since she discovered that you were alive and coming home.”
