The Widow of Rose Hill (The Women of Rose Hill Book 2)

by Michelle Shocklee

  Ignoring the slight, Levi looked about the space. “Is there anything worth noting in this room, or shall we move on?”

  Walking around the large bed, Natalie pointed out a few pieces of art, an ornate lamp, and a chair said to have come from King George II’s summer palace.

  Levi made a mental note of the items, enjoying her narration of her family’s history. For the next hour, the group went from room to room while Natalie pointed to portraits, porcelain vases, small tables, and one very old, very large, and very ugly embroidered face screen near the main parlor’s fireplace that she seemed to think was quite valuable. Levi thought it would make good kindling.

  When they arrived in the kitchen wing, the last room on their tour, she rattled off the name of the fine china dishes and noted a silver tea service and silver utensils, all in desperate need of polishing. That people spent vast amounts of money on everyday items like plates and cups left him dumbfounded. Give him a tin of beans and a mug of hot coffee, and he was happy.

  In the middle of her speech, Natalie gasped, her eyes wide.

  Drawn out of his woolgathering, Levi feared she had discovered a crystal goblet or brass candlestick missing. “Is something wrong?” He followed her gaze to a long table in the middle of the room. His men had stacked crates of food supplies there. Was she upset that he was making use of the kitchen?

  “You have an entire crate of … oranges.” The last word was spoken with near reverence.

  It took only a moment for him to understand. “I gather you haven’t seen a fresh orange in some time.”

  She looked at him as though he were daft. “Colonel, it has been over three years since any shipments made it into the ports. Lemons, oranges, grapefruit. It has been an age since we had any.”

  Levi walked to the crate, picked up an orange, and handed it to her. “For you.” He smiled as her gaze went from him to the fruit then back. “Please, take it. A shipment arrived from Florida before we set sail for Galveston. My men have had their fill.”

  The tip of her pink tongue moistened her lips before she accepted the fruit. “Thank you.”

  But she didn’t remove the peel. Instead, she tucked it into a hidden pocket in her gown, the bulge making one of the large ruffles stand out.

  “You are welcome to enjoy it now, Mrs. Ellis. As you said, it’s been some time since you’ve tasted one.” For some reason, he wanted to see her reaction when the sweet juices first touched her lips. To know that something he had given her brought her pleasure was suddenly important.

  “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll take it home and share it with Samuel and Isaac.”

  Her son. How could he have forgotten the little flaxen-haired boy and his companion?

  “Of course.” Without another thought, he reached for two more pieces of fruit. “Here, take one to each of them.” His glance captured the servants watching the exchange, and an idea sprang to life. “In fact,” he said, picking up the crate, “take them all.” He handed the load to Moses, whose hands were free after leaving the rifles near the front door during their tour. That man looked startled now to find a box of sweet fruit in his arms.

  Every occupant in the room, including Corporal Banks, stared at Levi.

  “While that is very generous of you, we can’t take all your oranges.” Natalie cast a longing look at the fruit then back to Levi. It was obvious she wanted them.

  His mind made up, Levi gave a slight bow. “Consider it a small token of the Union Army’s appreciation for allowing us use of your home.”

  Natalie seemed to struggle with the offer. When her questioning gaze met Moses’, he simply lifted his brow. Finally, she faced Levi again.

  “I appreciate your generosity.”

  Satisfaction swelled his chest as he looked into eyes the color of the sky. “You are welcome.”

  The group made their way to the front porch. While Moses carefully descended the steps to the wagon with the crate of oranges balanced on one broad shoulder, Carolina and Corporal Banks carried the remaining items that had been stacked near the door. Levi noticed Banks sneak surreptitious glances at the young servant. Carolina, in turn, giggled and ducked her head when he came near.

  “I will be waiting anxiously to hear news from your commander, Colonel.”

  Levi turned to find Natalie focused on him from a few steps away. Standing on the porch in all her finery, Negro servants doing her bidding, she was very much a Southern lady. It would do well for him to remember she had been a slave owner just one day ago. And would be still had Union troops not forced her to set them free. He could not allow a beautiful face to detract him from the truth.

  “As soon as I receive word from him, I will bring it myself. You may rest assured that we will not occupy your land even one day longer than necessary.” When she made to speak, he held up his hand. “But knowing General Granger as I do, it would be prudent for you to simply accept that you will have to deal with me and my men indefinitely.”

  A pretty glower creased her forehead. “We shall see, won’t we?” With that, she flounced down the steps, green skirts swishing. Moses helped her onto the high wagon seat.

  Once she was settled, Levi thought she might turn to send him one last glare, but much to his disappointment, her gaze focused ahead. The wagon lurched forward, and only Carolina sent a shy wave goodbye from her seat in the crowded bed. Levi looked away in time to see Banks return the gesture, a wide grin on his face.

  Levi cleared his throat. The young man jerked to attention, though his smile remained in place.

  “See to it that the house is closed up. I want all the doors locked except the one leading to my rooms.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Levi glanced at the retreating wagon, then back to the soldier. “We won’t have time to fraternize with the locals, Banks. We have a mission to accomplish.”

  “Yes, sir.” The young man opened his mouth, then closed it. He’d been Levi’s right-hand man for over a year now, and Levi always knew when Banks had more to say.

  “What?”

  Banks gave a slight shrug. “I’m just thinking that I’m not the one who gave a pretty lady a crateful of oranges, sir.”

  Levi dismissed the soldier with a wave of his hand. Banks was too smart for his own good.

  “Tell me the story again, Mama.”

  Samuel sat on Natalie’s lap on the porch swing, his hands and face covered with sticky orange juice as he leaned back against her chest to watch the dusky western sky fade to twilight. She would need to scrub her son well before tucking him into bed this night.

  “Samuel, you’ve heard it three times already.” She ran her fingers through his thick, sweaty hair. “It’s nearly time for bed.”

  “Please.” He moved his head so he could look up at her with pleading eyes the same color as her own.

  She bent to kiss his nose. “One last time.”

  He nestled against her again. “You went to Grandfather Langford’s big house ’cuz you forgot to get somethin’.”

  “Yes.” She smiled. He often asked to hear a story then proceeded to tell it himself.

  “But when you and Moses and Carolina got there, the so’diers was there already.”

  “They were indeed.”

  “But they aren’t mean, and that nice so’dier that carried you when you fell down was there too.”

  Natalie nodded, her mind inadvertently conjuring the image of Colonel Maish standing on Langford Manor’s porch. How had she not noticed how handsome he was when he was here at Rose Hill? Surely the shocking news he brought prevented her from noticing the deep brown of his eyes and the fullness of his lips. When those lips curled in smile—

  “Mama?”

  She looked down to find Samuel studying her.

  “What comes next in the story?” she asked, shaking loose the image of the Yankee. She certainly didn’t need to entertain thoughts of a man who’d been her enemy only the day before and who refused to vacate her property.

  “The
nice so’dier gave you the or’nges ’cuz he wanted to say thank you for letting his men sleep in tents in the fields.”

  Natalie smiled and clapped her hands. “Very good. Now, young man, it is off to bed.”

  “Aw, can’t I have ’nother or’nge?”

  She laughed, scooped him up in her arms, and headed for the door. “You’ve already eaten three. You only have a few left, and you’ll want to save them for a special treat on a hot afternoon.”

  Earlier, when they’d returned to Rose Hill, Natalie gave Moses and Carolina several oranges and then instructed Moses to give one to each of the remaining workers. She would have gone to the quarter and passed them out herself, but she didn’t want the freed slaves to be suspicious of her motives. The truth was, it felt good sharing the sweet fruit with them. Wasn’t that what Adella Rose had tried to tell her years ago? Natalie’s mother-in-law, Martha Ellis, had apparently been generous with the slaves over the years, and Adella had tried to follow in her mother’s footsteps, as much as her father would allow. She’d advised Natalie to do the same once she became mistress of Rose Hill, yet Natalie hadn’t taken the advice to heart. Had she shown more of an interest in the slaves’ well-being, perhaps the majority of them would not have left.

  With Samuel tucked into bed, she went to her room. Carolina would be in soon to help her out of her dress and corset. She stood at the open window. A soft evening breeze stirred the curtains. Night sounds filled the air, and stars twinkled in the darkening sky.

  She glanced to the east, in the direction of Langford Manor. Was Colonel Maish settling into the guest room after a long day? Perhaps removing his high black boots and coat and stretching out on the quilt-covered bed? Heat rose to her cheeks at her scandalous line of thought, but she couldn’t prevent the image of his thick brows and long dark hair from stirring something deep inside her.

  Shaking her head, she turned from the window. Had she been alone so long that an infuriating man like the Yankee colonel could now appropriate her mind? Although she’d been a wife for two years before George went off to war, their marriage had left much to be desired. George had shown himself more like his father with each passing day, especially when she was not with child soon after the wedding. In his impatience to produce an heir, his approach to her in the bedroom grew callous. She shuddered, remembering one terrible night in particular. He’d had too much to drink and demanded to know why she wasn’t pregnant, bragging that he’d fathered several children in the quarter, the latest being the infant girl his sister Adella stole the night she and the overseer ran off. The child’s mother had been killed during the escape, yet George laughed, declaring his sister had done him a favor when she took the brat with her. While Natalie reeled with the knowledge that her sister-in-law was raising George’s illegitimate child, he’d grabbed her and pinned her to the bed, ordering her to give him a legitimate heir.

  Samuel was conceived soon after.

  Annoyed with herself for allowing her thoughts to stray to such unpleasantness, she didn’t wait for Carolina and began unbuttoning her gown with impatient fingers. The fact that the handsome Union colonel had her mind dredging up memories she had no desire to visit made one truth very clear as she tugged off the dress she’d purposefully worn today.

  The sooner the Yankee left her land, the better.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The message arrived shortly before noon the following day. Levi read the brief note twice, making sure he understood General Granger’s orders. His frown deepened with each word.

  “Bad news?”

  Levi glanced up to find Corporal Banks standing in the doorway to the sitting room. “General Granger has ordered us to remain here, but he wants us to find a way to compensate Mrs. Ellis for use of her plantation. Preferably using the least amount of Union funds as possible.”

  “I’m guessing a box of oranges isn’t enough?”

  Levi sent the young man a look of warning. “He has left it up to Mrs. Ellis’ discretion, of all things. I can’t imagine what that woman might demand.”

  Corporal Banks remained silent, which was probably for the best.

  “We’ll ride over to deliver the news in an hour. Please have the horses ready.”

  After Banks exited, Levi heaved a sigh. He wasn’t sure why the general’s vague orders left him so surly. Natalie Ellis deserved compensation while the Union Army occupied her property. He could understand her unhappiness with the arrangement, but he also couldn’t let go of the fact that she was in the position of plantation owner because slaves had worked the land up until two days ago. Why should she receive payment when it was the slaves who deserved reimbursement for all their years of labor?

  He leaned back in the chair, surveying the small room. It wasn’t decorated as grandly as the front parlor, but the furnishings were comfortable and well made. Since the war began, Levi had seen plenty of southern plantation owners lose everything, often at the hands of angry Union soldiers ready to set fire to homes and outbuildings for the fun of it. Although Levi didn’t participate in the unruly behavior, nor did he allow his men to, he couldn’t blame those soldiers for wanting to inflict hardship on the people whose unyielding ownership of Negroes forced a nation into war. Justice, the soldiers had called it, and he agreed.

  Now the Union Army would compensate a plantation owner for use of her property, leaving it to said owner to determine how it should be handled. After all the years slaves had lived in bondage on Langford land, it seemed a slap in their faces to reward their former owner. Granted, Natalie only came into ownership a few years ago when her parents passed, but she had benefited from slave labor all her life. A little hardship, it seemed to Levi, would do her some good.

  A knock at the door drew his attention. First Lieutenant Ridley stood in the entry. He’d ridden in with the private who’d delivered the general’s message earlier.

  “Colonel. The general asked me to brief you regarding some trouble that has come to his attention.”

  “Trouble?” Levi stood, glad for a diversion. He hoped there hadn’t been more freedmen murdered. When Union troops first landed in Galveston and began spreading the message of freedom, some white slave owners hadn’t received it well and took matters into their own hands.

  “Yes, sir. It appears someone has been stealing cattle and horses throughout the region.”

  Levi’s brow rose. “The general is concerned about a horse thief?” After four years of devastating war where thousands of men died, and with thousands of slaves still in bondage in Texas, surely a horse thief was the least of their worries.

  “The numbers are significant, sir.”

  “How significant?”

  “At least five thousand head of cattle. Maybe more. The number of horses is also considerable, although many of them were unbranded Mustangs.”

  Five thousand missing cows? Levi couldn’t imagine a cattle-stealing ring big enough to take that many animals without being caught. He waved toward the sofa, which Lieutenant Ridley settled on. Levi returned to his seat. “When did the general learn of this?”

  “Reports of missing cattle and horses have been coming in steadily since we set up the Austin command post.” The lanky officer shrugged. “At first, we thought people were simply trying to take advantage of the Army, hoping for some sort of reimbursement for their missing animals.”

  “Could the freed slaves be responsible?” Levi had been witness to hundreds of free men and women walking away from plantations and farms. It would not be a stretch to imagine them stealing in retaliation as well as for survival.

  Lieutenant Ridley shook his head again. “We don’t think so. The owners of the missing animals, mostly women left in charge of property, state this has been going on for well over a year. But without the manpower to investigate, there was little anyone could do.”

  A picture of the crime began to form in Levi’s mind. Women, like Natalie Ellis, were left to run farms and plantations while their men went off to fight the war, leaving t
hem vulnerable.

  “Are the numbers accurate?” Levi asked, wondering where the thief could keep so many animals without someone becoming suspicious.

  “They appear to be. Some farms and ranches were hit multiple times over the course of the year.”

  “What does the general expect us to do about it?”

  “Keep your eyes open for anything unusual. Large herds of cattle where they shouldn’t be. That sort of thing.”

  “I’ll report any findings.”

  After the lieutenant left, Levi went to his quarters to retrieve his hat and gloves, mulling over the information. A passing glance in the mirror atop the bureau revealed his hair and beard were in desperate need of a trim. Rubbing a hand over his bristly whiskers, he couldn’t recall the last time he’d visited a barber let alone cared about such things. The past four years had been full of death and survival with little time for anything else. Yet now, with news to deliver to a lovely widow, Levi couldn’t suppress the desire to clean himself up a bit.

  A half hour later, he strode across the porch toward the steps where Corporal Banks waited with two saddled horses. If the corporal noticed anything different about him, he wisely kept it to himself. Besides, Levi noticed the younger man’s uniform had been brushed, his boots shined.

  It seemed Levi wasn’t the only one looking forward to their trip to Rose Hill.

  Natalie grimaced at the sight in front of her.

  “Them plants shore look sorry,” Carolina said, shaking her head. She wore an old baggy homespun to work in the garden rather than risk dirtying one of Natalie’s castoff gowns. A red kerchief covered the young woman’s hair, a change from the knitted hairnet she’d taken to wearing when she’d become Natalie’s personal attendant. Natalie couldn’t help but think Carolina looked more like a slave today than she had before the soldiers arrived with their freedom proclamation.

  The large garden behind the main house spread out before them. In the two days since Federal soldiers had ridden into the yard and the majority of her slaves had walked off the plantation, the rows of tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and other vegetables had been sorely neglected. Without daily watering, the plants had quickly wilted under the relentless Texas sun, although the weeds didn’t seem affected in the least.