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

by Michelle Shocklee

  Lottie smoothed a hand over her big belly. “I ’spect it gettin’ close. Seem like it be ’bout Christmastime when I suspect I’s carryin’ this little one.”

  Natalie didn’t ask about the father. Such questions were better left unasked.

  “You go on to the porch and sit a spell, Miz Natalie,” Carolina said, tying on an apron to cover her red plaid skirt. She cast a quick glance toward the colonel. “I ’spect the colonel might enjoy sittin’ out yonder in the swing ’fore he has to ride back to Langford Manor.”

  The competition between Samuel and the colonel had ended— Samuel won, of course—and the man turned toward the women, obviously hearing Carolina’s enthusiastic suggestion. Heat filled her cheeks under his gaze.

  “Did I hear something about a swing?” he said, a teasing tone in his deep voice.

  “Yes!” Samuel jumped up and down, tugging on the colonel’s hand. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

  Merriment glittered in Levi’s brown eyes when he looked at Natalie. “Mrs. Ellis, won’t you join us?”

  With the others in the room pretending to be busy—of course, she knew they were all listening—she chose her words carefully. “A few minutes on the porch would be nice before I ready Samuel for bed.”

  As she went out the door, Samuel tugging the colonel along behind her, she heard sniggers that sounded very much like they came from Carolina. Frowning, Natalie decided she would have to teach the sassy young woman how to spell decorum and learn its meaning.

  The three walked around the porch to the front of the house. Samuel ran to the swing and crawled up, his dirty, bare feet sticking out with no hope of reaching the floor.

  “Come on, Co’nel. Swing with me.” He grinned as Colonel Maish settled next to him, the rusty chains groaning under his weight. He glanced up as if to make certain the swing wasn’t in danger of collapsing.

  From her place near the railing, Natalie watched as he gently pushed them into motion. Samuel giggled then snuggled up to the colonel’s side. Natalie wasn’t the only one surprised by the action. The colonel looked up at her, uncertainty in his eyes before he glanced back down at Samuel. The little boy yawned and snuggled deeper into the colonel’s arm.

  “Maybe I should take him on to bed now.” She didn’t want the big military man to feel uncomfortable. Playing with the little boy was a nice gesture, but having a child make himself at home on you was another matter entirely.

  “No,” both Samuel and the colonel said.

  When they grinned at each other, she knew she’d lost that battle.

  “Come swing with us, Mama. There’s room.” Samuel gathered his legs up, inadvertently squishing into the colonel.

  She sent him an apologetic look, but he didn’t seem to mind the closeness of the sweaty little boy.

  “Please, join us.” The warmth in his voice sent chills racing up her arms.

  Once she was settled on the other side of Samuel, the colonel put them into a soothing back and forth motion. With the sun setting the western horizon ablaze with color and the night creatures beginning their unique songs, she couldn’t think of a more perfect end to an extraordinary day.

  “Moses and I saw you teaching the women their letters,” he said, his voice gentle. When she turned to him, the tenderness in his eyes nearly took her breath away. “That is a remarkable gift you’re giving them.”

  Samuel yawned again. Curling into a ball, he lay his head on the colonel’s lap and closed his eyes. Embarrassed, she reached to remove him, but the colonel stopped her with a hand on her arm.

  “He’s fine. Let him sleep.”

  She leaned back against the swing, very aware of the warm place where his hand had touched her. They sat in silence for a while before she responded to his comment.

  “I see now how selfish it was of us to forbid the slaves to learn to read and write,” she said quietly. “I’m ashamed I never thought of it before.” She looked up and found him watching her, the details of his face shadowed in the waning light. “I’m also ashamed to admit it wasn’t my idea to teach them. Carolina asked to learn to read. When Harriet heard what we were doing, she and Lottie asked to join us.”

  “Moses said some of the freed people are fearful the government is going to change their minds and reinstitute slavery.”

  Her eyes rounded. “That isn’t possible, is it?”

  He shook his head, looking down at a sleeping Samuel. “No. Neither our children nor our children’s children will ever have to fight a war because of slavery.”

  While his assurances brought a measure of peace, they conjured an image of a wife and children waiting for him in Pennsylvania.

  “I’m sure you must be eager to return home to your family.” If he did indeed have a wife, she was certain Mrs. Maish would not appreciate him sitting on the porch with Natalie. Best to remind him of his responsibilities and have it out in the open.

  “I am,” he said, a smile lifting the corner of his mouth. “I miss Ma’s cooking and Pa’s corny jokes.”

  Natalie smiled, but his answer did nothing to relieve her anxiety over whether or not a wife waited for him.

  “And your children?”

  He glanced at her, confusion tugging his brow. “I don’t have children.” He looked down to Samuel. “I always thought I’d be a soldier and wouldn’t have time for a family. But now, after four years of war, I’m done with the military. As soon as I’m finished in Texas, I plan to go back to Pennsylvania and open a carpentry shop.” His eyes met hers. “And hopefully, one day I’ll fall in love with a beautiful woman, and we’ll have a dozen children.”

  Relief burst from her lips in the form of a laugh. “A dozen children! My, I hope your future wife doesn’t plan on getting any sleep for two decades.”

  His hearty laugh made her laugh all the more. Samuel stirred, and they shushed each other, shoulders still shaking.

  “Will you ever remarry?”

  The quiet question caught her off guard. “I … I don’t know.” Señor Lopez came to mind. If he and her cousin had their way, the Tejano would come courting soon. But marriage to him? She simply couldn’t imagine it.

  “Samuel will need a man in his life, to teach him those things a father teaches a son.”

  She knew he was right. Samuel didn’t like Alexander, though, which didn’t bode well for a father-son relationship.

  Her eyes drifted from her sleeping son to the handsome face of the colonel, a man Samuel clearly adored. From what she’d seen of the way he interacted with the boy, he would make a wonderful father someday. Warmth swirled in her belly with the thought.

  “Do you mind if I ask when your husband was killed?”

  The question doused her romantic musings like a bucket of water to an errant flame. She was a Confederate soldier’s widow, and her son’s father had been killed by a Union soldier very much like the one sitting on the swing. It would do well to remember such truths before she allowed her heart to do something foolish.

  “George rode away from Rose Hill believing the war would only last a few weeks. He joined the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia because he’d been born there and wanted to defend his birthplace against the Yankees.” She looked down at Samuel to be certain the boy was asleep. She didn’t want him to hear the sad end his father had met. “He died in the battle at Manassas Junction,” she said softly. “Luther wrote to everyone he knew in Virginia, desperate in his grief to learn the details of what happened. We eventually received a letter from one of the soldiers George served with. He said a Union officer on horseback shot George, but when he didn’t die right away, the officer dismounted and ran him through with his saber.”

  She closed her eyes, a slight shudder coursing through her. Though she hadn’t loved George, nor had they been happy in their marriage, she wouldn’t have wished such a horrible death for him. Luther had gone insane after reading the letter and had passed away a few months later. Those dark days were not ones she desired to revisit.

  The
colonel departed a short time later, acting almost as though he could not get away quickly enough. Had he been offended? With no way to answer the question, she carried Samuel up to bed, his arms wrapped around her neck and his legs around her waist. She’d been quite candid in her description of George’s death, but it wasn’t the colonel’s fault George fell in his first battle. The colonel had most likely been far from Manassas Junction when her husband’s end came. Perhaps he simply didn’t like being reminded of the atrocities that took place under the guise of war.

  It would do well, she decided, to avoid such talk with Colonel Maish from now on.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Levi exited General Granger’s office in Austin, stepping into the Texas sunshine after too many hours of sitting through meetings and discussions with the general and a dozen of his top officers. They’d accomplished a great deal, including plans to institute the Freedmen’s Bureau, the organization Congress had established in March to help the former slaves acclimate themselves to their newfound freedom. Once in place, the bureau would open branches in all the inhabited areas of the state, bringing relief to the thousands of refugees, both black and white, who were homeless and jobless. The bureau would provide rations and protection and would even administer land abandoned by Confederates. The key to promoting peace and goodwill throughout the state, General Granger and others believed, depended upon the creation of a new labor system followed by the education of the Negro. Both would take time.

  Levi headed toward his tent, sobered by how much work still remained. Reconstruction, the government called it. In reality, it was simply helping people live out their daily lives. Stories of free Negroes being beaten, robbed, and murdered continued to come in. There was also the real problem of too few jobs across the state to support the influx of wage-earning workers. White men, especially those who’d owned slaves, didn’t take kindly to having to compete with them for jobs now.

  But amid the ongoing difficulties and adjustments were also stories of hope. Schools for the children of former slaves were already popping up. Levi thought of Natalie teaching her servants their letters. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride, knowing how difficult her life had become because of the slaves’ freedom, yet she was making a valiant effort to change, not only her way of doing things but her way of thinking as well.

  Recalling their time on the porch swing two nights ago, he now recognized the hope he’d allowed to build up in his heart unawares. With Samuel’s head resting on his lap, the lad’s beautiful mother inches away, the homey scene had convinced him to explore his attraction to the widow. Though their differences were many, was it so far-fetched to imagine a life with Natalie and Samuel? He’d tested the waters when he’d asked if she would consider remarriage. Her uncertainty was expected but not off-putting.

  Then she’d told him of her late husband’s death at Manassas. The grief on her face over his loss, the knowledge of all that little Samuel had lost, too … Levi knew then a future with the widow would be impossible.

  “Maish, a moment of your time.”

  First Lieutenant Ridley exited the general’s office and strode toward him. The man saluted Levi before offering his hand.

  “It’s good to see you again, Lieutenant.” Levi nodded toward the building behind them. “Congratulations on your appointment to the Freedmen’s Bureau. I believe much good will come of it.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’m eager to begin work.” A frown tugged the tall man’s brow. “However, until we have it organized, the general wants me to continue investigating the cattle thefts. We’ve received more complaints, mainly from landowners near the Mexican border. Apparently, the disappearances are fairly recent.”

  “It isn’t hard to imagine someone stealing cattle for their own use or to sell locally, but none of the evidence seems to indicate that is what we’re dealing with.” Levi looked toward the south, wondering just how big this cattle rustling ring was and, more importantly, who was responsible. “The mystery lies in where someone could keep hundreds of stolen head of cattle and not draw suspicion.”

  “If you can spare the men, I’d like to establish patrols in your area. We’re doing the same throughout the region.”

  “Of course,” Levi said.

  A glint of humor flashed in the lieutenant’s eyes. “Rumor has it you’ve taken up cotton farming.”

  Levi chuckled. “The Union Army requires much of its men.”

  “The Widow Ellis is said to be a beauty.” Ridley lifted his eyebrows. “I don’t suppose it is too much of a hardship to assist the lady.”

  Gossip through the ranks was not new, but Levi didn’t appreciate having his or Natalie’s names attached to it. “Mrs. Ellis has a business agreement with the Union Army, Lieutenant,” he said, his tone terse, causing the other man to jerk his relaxed posture upright. “An officer should never stoop to passing rumors, especially when another officer—a higher-ranking officer—is involved.”

  Ridley’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Yes, Colonel.”

  After dismissing the lieutenant, Levi strode toward his tent among a sea of canvas on the outskirts of Austin. A river lined with towering cypress trees flowed nearby. He had some time to himself before his next meeting. The thought of spending it on his bunk in a stuffy canvas cave did not appeal, but his conversation with Ridley had soured his mood. Avoiding others was probably for the best. Eyeing the grassy bank of the river and seeing no one about, he changed his course and headed there instead.

  Settling against the thick trunk of a very old tree, Levi set his hat on the ground next to him. Why Ridley’s offhand comment about Natalie rankled so, he couldn’t say. She was beautiful, and it wasn’t a hardship to help her. So why had he nearly taken off Ridley’s head for the harmless banter?

  Recalling his time with her from two nights past, he shook his head in disgust. He’d been a fool to toy with the idea of a future with her. Not only was she a former slave owner, but she was a Confederate widow. A widow whose husband he may have killed.

  Images from the battle along the Bull Run hovered on the edges of his memory. As a captain, he’d been in charge of a company of men under General McDowell’s command. They’d advanced from Washington, thirty thousand troops strong, with more confidence than anyone should possess in war. The Confederates were encamped at Manassas Junction, twenty-five miles to the southwest, and President Lincoln wanted them removed from that important rail-crossing point.

  But most of Levi’s men and the majority of the others were green, three-month volunteers and militia who possessed little drill and marching skills. Their slowness and inexperience gave the Confederates time to call in reinforcements, a miscalculation the Union general would later regret.

  The battle, Levi recalled, quickly turned into a free-for-all. He lost most of his men in the first hour, and McDowell’s strategy— feint to the left, attack on the right—soon fell apart. Riding his horse amid the chaos, firing his gun and swinging his saber, Levi remembered the eerie, shrill wail that came from the Confederate side. The Rebel yell, he would later hear it called, did nothing but ignite a fire in his belly to drive the Southerners into the ground. He lost count of the number of men in gray uniforms he cut down, their faces and screams blurring together. By the end of the struggle, hundreds of dead bodies littered the ground, and he was covered from head to toe in blood. Though the Union lost the battle and had to march back to Washington in defeat, Levi’s boldness had not gone unnoticed. He was promoted to colonel two days later.

  But what of George Ellis? Was he one of the soldiers Levi killed? The same saber he’d worn in battle still hung at his side. Looking at it, a sick feeling in his gut, he wondered if it had been plunged into the heart of Natalie’s husband, Samuel’s father. How could either of them forgive him for things done in battle that may have altered their lives in the most profound way?

  The answer was simple.

  They couldn’t.

  Alexander Lopez arrived at
Rose Hill shortly after noon with his magnificent horse hitched to a carriage. Natalie stood while Cousin Eunice gushed over the man when he came to a stop in front of the manor.

  “Señor, how good of you to come for a visit,” she said, giving Natalie a satisfied look as they waited in the shade of the porch to greet their visitor. That Ebenezer had not announced the arrival of the man more than likely meant the dog had found some sort of mischief to keep him occupied. Thankfully, she knew her son and Isaac were in the kitchen with Harriet baking sugar cookies. One of the privates assigned to help supervise the new field workers had bartered a bag of sugar for a batch of the sweet treats. Harriet was all too pleased to make the trade.

  “The judge had a horse very much like that one,” Eunice continued as Alexander approached the steps, looking perfectly groomed considering the long and dusty drive from town. “He had it brought all the way to Texas from a farm in Tennessee. ‘Best horse I ever owned,’ says he, more than once.”

  Alexander bowed politely. “Ma’am.” His dark gaze found Natalie, and the corners of his eyes crinkled with his smile. “Señora Ellis. You look lovely, as usual.”

  Eunice cackled with pleasure. “My, my, you certainly are a charmer. Well, don’t just stand there. Come. I’ll have Lottie bring us some refreshments.”

  Natalie nearly groaned. Her cousin’s meddling knew no end. Not an hour ago, Natalie had been forced to intervene when Eunice had Carolina cornered in the dining room, berating the servant for washing her white underskirt in the same tub of water as Samuel’s indigo trousers. While Carolina certainly should have anticipated the results, Natalie reminded her disgruntled cousin that everyone was learning new skills, and mistakes were bound to happen. Eunice was not appeased, but she hadn’t followed when Carolina dashed from the room.