“Pshaw.” His mother fluttered a hand, as if the news was of no significance. “Victoria’s just a silly child. She has no idea what she wants. And you, Colin. Do you think that generations from now, your grandchildren will be gratified to know that our land was parceled off for the sake of your sister’s puppy love? Or worse, that you would give up everything for some nameless, penniless pretty face—though I seriously doubt she’d marry you if you were the penniless one.”
“Now that’s quite enough!” Fists balled with fury, Colin turned away before he did something he would regret. “For all I care, you can take my inheritance and—”
His father caught his arm. “Stop! Both of you. Stop makin’ ultimatums you may later regret.” Having bellowed the order without bothering to conceal the light Virginia drawl he knew his wife detested, he lowered his voice and continued. “Son, you and your mother both need time to consider the ramifications of what you’re saying.” He wrapped one arm around Colin and the other around Mother. “I have a better idea. Let me tell you about it.”
Both solemn faces swung their gazes to him in silence, neither ready to give an inch.
He spoke calmly and precisely, gazing from one of them to the other. “The meeting with Harold Lawrence didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped. The offer he made for Queen’s Lace was less than fair, so I didn’t accept it. We all know that filly’s worth considerably more than he was willing to pay. So I’ve formulated a plan that might rectify the situation.”
Regarding the confidence in his father’s face, Colin held his breath, waiting to hear what the patriarch was about to say.
“Here’s my thought. I propose that you, Colin, take Queenie and Paladin on a packet north to Philadelphia and New York, then on to Boston. Set up races in those cities to show both of them off. They’re the best in our stables. See if you can garner better offers for our Thoroughbreds.”
That sounded feasible…
“Then, after they’re sold, I want you to take that money and sail to England.”
Colin’s heart slammed to a stop. He can’t be serious!
“Go to a few of the best horse farms in Britain and purchase a good stud. We’ll need to introduce some new blood in our line to stay ahead of the competition here.”
“But—that’ll take months.” Having finally found his voice, Colin tucked his chin. How could he consider going away, being parted from Mariah for some indefinite period—especially now that they had grown beyond mere attraction and wanted to share a future together?
His father nodded, gravely serious. “That’s the point, son. I suspect you believe you have feelings for Miss Harwood. One would have to be blind not to see the sparks that fly whenever you two are in close proximity to each other. If those feelings truly are serious, the time apart will make that clear.”
So speechless he could hardly think straight, Colin mulled his pa’s idea over in his mind. It wasn’t anything like he’d hoped or expected to hear. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that perhaps his father was right. The plan would calm the waters for now. It would also guarantee Mariah’s safe harbor until he returned—and to ensure that safety, he would take her papers along with him. Unwelcome or not, Pa’s suggestion just might turn out to be the best for all of them right now. He glanced over at his mother.
“If I actually agree to this and sail to England, I’ll travel to Bath while I’m in the country and bring proof that Mariah is who she says she is. You’ll see she’s been telling the truth.” He then turned to his father. “And while I’m gone, I expect Mariah to be treated with Christian charity.”
“You have my word.” Pa gave a nod.
“And yours, Mother?”
She didn’t respond for several seconds. Finally she inhaled a deep breath and slowly released the air. “She shall be treated with Christian charity.”
Her reluctant promise put Colin only partially at ease. He could only hope that “Christian charity” meant the same thing to her as it did to him.
Chapter 15
Colin shook his head in amazement at the unbelievable agreement he’d just made with his father. Leave here, leave Mariah, for who knew how many months? Yet, all things considered, he couldn’t get past the logic that it really was the best course to take. And the sooner he left, the sooner he’d return.
Still in the widow’s shabby parlor, he darted a thoughtful look at his father. “Well, if I’m going to do this, I suppose there’s no time like the present. Since both horses are already in town, I see no reason to take them all the way back to the plantation. The day is only partially spent. I’ll go down to the quay and book passage on the next northbound packet.” He kept his tone even and businesslike to prevent Mother from interfering or interrupting.
His father nodded. “There should be at least two packets at the docks as we speak. They brought people in for the race. I believe at least one of them is set to embark tomorrow at first light.”
“Good. Then if Mother would be kind enough to pack some of my things,” he went on without looking at her, “you can have them sent to me this evening, along with whatever traveling funds you expect I’ll need. I’ll secure a room at the inn and handle the boarding of the horses for the night.” He paused, hating to delve into the next subject. “I do have one personal request, though, Pa.” He leveled a serious gaze at him. “I’d like you to send Mariah’s papers to me along with my luggage. I put them inside last year’s ledger for safekeeping.”
“Of course. I’ll take care of everything.”
A small sound came from his mother, one Colin surmised heralded her disapproval. But neither she nor her granite expression said a word. She did, however, glance toward the door, indicating her wish to leave this place.
Since he could say or do nothing at this point to win her approval, he sought his father once more. “I’d like a few moments alone with Mariah before y’all leave town. I need to assure her she’ll continue on as tutoress for the girls and that she’ll be treated with the respect and kindness due her position while I’m away.” Turning on his heel, he headed for the entry before his mother could issue a protest.
At the door he stopped and turned back. “Perhaps while I’m speaking with Mariah, the two of you could go and see about having Mistress Doolittle’s furniture re-covered.”
Mother merely stared in her steady, aloof way, but Pa nodded in assent. “Of course. Otherwise we might forget.”
“Also, I promised to make certain she’s kept in vegetables. Since I won’t be around to see to that, I’d appreciate it if you would make those arrangements also.” That said, he opened the door and stepped out.
“There, Cora, my dear,” he overheard his father say in a soothing voice. “You see? He’s still the same thoughtful son he always was.”
Colin paused, listening for his mother’s response.
“Hmph. He was until that hussy stole his senses,” she snapped, her stubborn anger as strong as ever.
Disappointed, he closed the door quietly after himself and crossed the small porch to the steps, wondering if the decision to leave immediately—or at all—really was for the best.
Waiting in the shade of the sprawling oak tree with Colin’s three sisters, Mariah did her best not to appear anxious, though she would have given anything to know what was going on inside the little clapboard house. Tuck and Edward had come to join her and the girls now that Mistress Barclay was no longer in sight, and sitting on either side of Victoria in the shade, they kept Tori enthralled with their tales of derring-do. Amy had climbed onto a low-hanging branch and perched there with her legs dangling as she kept vigil on the widow’s cottage, watching for the rest of her family to emerge.
Heather gravitated to Mariah’s side. “Is this flute not the grandest thing ever?” She held out the shiny silver instrument her father had picked up in town and presented to her a short while before Colin met up with her parents.
“Yes, dear. It’s lovely. But you’d better keep i
t in its case so it won’t get dusty from the breeze, don’t you think?” She gave the girl an encouraging smile.
“I want to try it first. Then I’ll put it away.” Holding it to her lips, she blew into the tiny hole, trying unsuccessfully to make a pure sound—or any sound at all. She scrunched up her face. “How do you make it work, Miss Harwood? Please show me.”
At the moment, with her fate being warred over by the girl’s family, giving a flute lesson was the last thing on Mariah’s mind. Nevertheless, she took the long, thin tube from Heather and did her best to look happy to do so. “This is how you hold it.” Showing her the proper angle, she placed her fingers along the keys. “ ’Tis important to hold the flute parallel to your lips so you can blow into the headjoint, like this.” She demonstrated the process, raising her fingers up and down on the keys to make a trilling sound.
“Oh, that is so pretty, like the sound of a robin’s song.” Heather’s blue eyes glowed with anticipation. “I cannot wait until I can make pretty music.”
“You will, in no time at all, if you practice faithfully. I promise. Now, come here.” Gesturing for the twelve-year-old to come and try again, she placed the flute in the girl’s hands and positioned her fingers just so on the proper stops and her left thumb on the lever. Then, lifting Heather’s elbows, she helped her to hold the flute snugly against her mouth. “Now flatten your lips and blow.”
As the girl followed her instructions, Mariah turned the flute slightly to catch the air just right, and a pure tone emerged.
“I did it! I actually did it!” A grin spread from ear to ear, making Heather’s eyes sparkle. She thrust the instrument to Mariah. “Please play something for us, Miss Harwood. I want to hear how it should sound.”
Mariah gaped at her. “Here? Now?” She glanced around, her gaze landing on the widow’s cottage. Whatever would Mistress Barclay think of my playing a flute in public?
“Yes, miss. Please do.” Tuck came up from behind them, followed by the others, who all nodded in agreement.
“Mercy me. I hardly think it would be ladylike to make a spectacle of myself.”
“We’ll all crowd around you then.” Heather motioned to the small group for them to form a ring around Mariah. “No one will be able to see who’s playing.”
“Oh, very well.” Mariah sighed as the young people circled around her. Being careful to stand where she could peek past Tori’s two suitors and keep the gate of the widow’s house in sight, she hesitantly accepted the flute from Heather. If Mistress Barclay appeared, she’d stop playing immediately.
Lifting the instrument to her lips, she played a familiar lilting tune.
Tuck grinned with recognition and started singing the lyrics to “Greensleeves,” and one by one, the others joined in. Except for Amy. The child kept craning her neck to look up the street. Suddenly her mouth popped open and her eyes grew wide. “It’s Colin.”
Glancing beyond Victoria’s beaus, Mariah saw the child’s brother striding swiftly toward them.
He was not smiling.
A sickening feeling churned her insides. She lowered the flute and handed it to Heather. “Please excuse me.” Breathless, she shoved past the young men and headed, heart pounding, toward Colin.
They met in the middle of the street. Mariah searched his face, trying to discern what might have taken place, but he took her arm without speaking and turned her toward the racecourse, where the family’s landau remained parked in the shade of a tree.
Had his parents convinced him to retract his proposal? “What is it, Colin?”
He hurried her along. “We need a little more privacy.”
Footsteps sounded from behind as little Amy caught up with them, her face pale with panic. “Am I in big trouble, Colin? What are they gonna do to me?”
He stopped and knelt before his sister and took her by the shoulders. “Everything’s fine, squirt. Nobody’s mad at you. Just go back to your sisters, will you? I need to speak to Miss Harwood alone.” A light nudge sent her on her way.
Mariah’s blood seemed to drain away, and a chill ran through her. It must be worse than she thought. They must be going to sell her off. What would become of her then?
Once she and Colin reached the tree sheltering the carriage, he stopped. With a tight smile, he took her hands in his.
Seeing no real hope in his expression, she could wait no longer to hear her fate. “What is it? Do tell me.”
He cocked his head. “Nothing has changed between us, my love. You and I will marry, with or without my family’s blessing.”
Sensing a but coming, Mariah held her breath.
“But I’m afraid it won’t be for a while. Something has changed, and that centers around where I’m going to be for the next few months.”
Colin was to be sent away? Frowning in confusion, Mariah waited for him to explain.
“To appease my mother and to further our Thoroughbred enterprise, my father has requested that I travel to several cities here in the colonies. Afterward, I must take a quick trip…to England.”
She nearly choked. “Quick trip, you say! When it takes six weeks to sail to England and six back? You’ll be gone for ages!”
Catching her hands again in his, Colin smiled gently. “I meant that I don’t plan to spend more than a few days in Britain at most. I’m going solely to purchase a new stud for breeding purposes.”
“But…England.” An unexpected bout of homesickness swamped her. To think that Colin would be sailing to her homeland, and she would remain behind made unbidden tears sting her eyes. Still, the thought came to her that there might be a personal benefit to his crossing the ocean. “Perhaps you could visit my family, see how they’re faring—should you travel anywhere near Bath, of course.”
“I intend to do just that, sweetheart. I plan to book passage on the ship heading for the Bristol port. I hear there’s a fine horse farm between there and Bath. It will be my honor to call on your father while I’m in the area.”
“Oh, I’m sure Papa will be glad to meet you, to have news of my sisters and me and know that we arrived here safe and well. I should have already posted a letter to him. And to my sisters, really. I’ve been so busy I just haven’t…” Realizing she was babbling, her vision of him blurred behind a sheen of moisture. “Oh, Colin, whatever will I do without you?” Only sheer determination and unwillingness to make the situation harder for him kept her from bursting into tears.
He lifted her hands to his mouth and brushed his lips across her fingers. “You’ll concentrate on the fact that I’m coming back as soon as I possibly can. I was able to extract a solemn promise from my mother that you will be treated properly in my absence.”
A lump formed in Mariah’s throat. “She knows we’re betrothed?”
He offered a sheepish smile. “I didn’t exactly say the words. I reckoned it would make living here harder for you if I wasn’t around. But I know she suspects we have feelings for each other. So I’ve decided to take your bond papers with me. She can’t do anything without them. You’ll be all right until I come back. I promise.”
Despite her own sadness, he looked so concerned that Mariah mustered a smile and reached up to brush aside a lock of dark hair that had fallen across his furrowed brow. “Well, we’ll have to make the most of it, somehow. I don’t want you to worry about me in the least. As long as I know I have your love, I vow I shall do all that is in my power to gain your mother’s goodwill.”
He grinned, crinkling the corners of his eyes. “My sweet Mariah, you are far more than a man could ever dream of. I feel incredibly fortunate that you came into my life. But alas, it is my sad duty to bid you farewell now. I must hasten down to the quay to book passage for the morrow. I shan’t be returning home with you this eve.”
Her mouth dropped open in dismay. “You won’t? Not even for a night?” Gripped by panic, she clutched at his vest, as if by holding on to him she could make him stay.
With a look of intense longing, he gave a somber sh
ake of the head. “It’s for the best, my love. I can’t bear the thought of a long good-bye. It would only cause both of us more pain.” Gently he removed her hands and kissed them. Then he looked deep into her eyes and pressed the softest of kisses to her trembling lips. “I must go now.” Releasing his hold, he turned on his heel. “Don’t forget: I love you, Mariah. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
Mariah was utterly devastated as she watched her handsome betrothed walk away, leaving her behind to an uncertain fate. He’d made so many promises this day, even declared his love. But now he was leaving her for a raft of exciting cities—cities filled with beautiful women. He’d fallen so quickly for her beauty. Might he be as easily captivated by someone else? A woman with wealth and breeding who’d be acceptable to his family? Or even worse, would he be tempted by a whole flock of young, unattached maidens and forget her entirely? A small cloud drifted across the sun just then, dimming its bright light. Mariah felt as if it had drifted across her heart, blocking the only security she’d known since her arrival at the Barclay plantation.
Then a truly frightening thought twisted her insides. What of Mistress Barclay? The woman was so adamantly opposed to a union between her son and a bond servant. What clever form would her retribution take?
Chapter 16
On the ride home from Alexandria, Mariah studiously avoided looking at Colin’s parents. The couple sat in pregnant silence on the opposite seat of the carriage, and both wore churlish expressions. Next to them, Victoria kept turning around to cast longing glances back toward town, obviously disappointed that she’d had to leave her two beaus so soon. Her dream-filled eyes gave no clue as to which young man she actually preferred. Mariah suspected that the sudden attention being showered upon her by both Dennis and Edward was too heady an experience for Tori not to take full advantage of it. She was, after all, barely on the brink of womanhood.
Daughters of Harwood House Trilogy : Three Romances Tell the Saga of Sisters Sold into Indentured Service (9781630586140) Page 44
