by Jerri Hines
“I will fix it for you, Gillie,” Jo promised. “There is no reason to keep the two of you apart.”
Gillie grew pallid; her eyes drooped. “I fear there’s nothing you can do, Miss Jo.”
Never in her life had Jo felt so helpless, ashamed…and embarrassed that her reckless behavior had caused Gillie pain.
Jo straightened as a horse and rider emerged out of the wooded area. Wade had come. She had thought she would not have been affected by his presence. She had been wrong. One look and her heart stirred.
He was dressed formally in mustard-colored trousers and black coat. His squared jaw shadowed with bristles of his unshaven face. He thrust his hand through the thick blond hair; his pale blue eyes stared at her in a cool, distant way.
Suddenly she had doubts about the meeting. Had he come to torture her? Could he not leave her alone to reconcile her fate? She watched him dismount. As he stepped toward her, she rose and held her hand up in front of her to halt his progress.
“Why are you here? Have you not done enough damage to me?” The bluntness of her voice relayed her seriousness.
“I beg your indulgence. Heyward gave me the message from Miss Hazel. You cannot hold it against me if I profess I was concerned.”
His words poured out in a charming, well-bred Southern drawl. How handsome he looked. It tore at her heart.
“Then you would have also known that your cousin, Lieutenant Smythe, handled the situation.” She tried to sound calm. “He kept me from running, if that is your concern…which it should not be.”
“I came to soothe your fears.” He gave her a slow smile. “You must know how it pains me to see you treated in such fashion. I had no wish for you to have to endure this wrath.”
“Is that the reason you came? To ease your conscience? Have you convinced yourself that a few pretty words will relieve you of any culpability?”
“Dammit, Jo, I know it will not. I came because my cowardice has made matters worse. I should have come instead of Cullen—”
“You have never been a coward, Wade. So do not insult me telling me so,” she interrupted coolly. She glared at him suspiciously. “Perhaps, though, now I see the reason for your presence. You have come to save your cousin from me.”
“It should have been me to have come. Cullen should not have been involved.”
Jo sighed heavily. “Why? If it had been you, Harry Lee would have called you out. It would have only been made worse, for one of you would have been killed. At least…at least Cullen could offer what you promised.”
Wade was strangely silent for a moment. He pressed his lips together tightly as if in thought.
“Say what you have to say, Wade,” she insisted. “I do not need to listen that I’m the cause of this pain.”
“It is not the reason I sent Cullen,” he said in a hoarse, ragged voice. “If I came, I would not have walked away from you.”
He reached out and touched her hand, and then her face. She caught her breath. For a moment, time descended into a reservoir of memories. Her soul ached for what had been lost…one touch unlocked the forbidden passion. She had no will to stop him as his arms rounded her…something too strong to resist. His mouth found hers…the hurt and pain momentarily vanished in his embrace…until in the far reaches of her mind, she rebelled. He belonged to another; to be married on the morrow.
“Wade, no,” she choked out. “I can’t do this.”
“I need you, Jo,” he implored. “Come with me. I know of a deserted house not far from here where we can be alone. Let me love you as I desire…I know you desire it also.”
“To become what, Wade? A common doxie.” Shaking, she pushed against his chest. She whispered, “It’s over. Us. It should never have been. It was a mistake.”
“It was never a mistake.” He caught her hand and held it fast. “It is what gnaws at my soul for what we could have been.” His eyes beseeched her, but he released his hold. “I told you I am a weak creature, but you…you have my heart. I will always love you.”
“But it will not stop you from marrying another.”
“Duty and honor bounds me to another. This I know you understand, for you are as I.”
She wished she could have protested…to say family and honor meant nothing. But in truth, it meant everything.
Shaken more than she cared to admit, she lowered her gaze and took a step back.
“I have upset you further. It was not my intention, Jo. I want to ease your burden.” He paused. His voice altered. “I want to address the rumors of the marriage that is being arranged for you.”
She looked strangely at him. “It is not your concern.”
“Please, Jo, listen. I won’t allow you to marry that brute Miller.” He cleared his throat and scowled. “I have met with Taz Foster. He is willing to offer for you.”
She stood very still, unbelieving his gall at such an action. She said stiffly, “It is not yours…”
“It is,” he said forcibly. “I know that my cousin has acted on behalf of my family. He is an honorable man, but it is not his to shoulder. I don’t believe your family will have an objection to Taz. He comes from a good family. He will be at the ball tomorrow night.”
She fell silent, fearful she would show her emotions. He remembered that Taz was her friend, but for him to have made such an arrangement! He looked upon her with more compassion than she was willing to accept. How dare he pity her! Her temper rose at his arrogance.
She shook her head. “So you have set in mind for me a husband. Not you…not your cousin. Why ever, sir, I believe you find me beneath you!”
“It is not like that. Taz is a good man. I imagine you will find satisfaction in helping with his endeavors. He has plans for his school.”
“That is how you see me? A schoolteacher?”
“I see you content, surrounded by children,” he said. “Clarissa thought…”
Jo whirled and strode angrily away on his utterance. What a ninny she had been! He had talked of her to Clarissa! He was as Grace Ann warned. A manipulator! The scoundrel!
She wanted to scream! He had left her for a woman who had branded a scarlet letter on Jo’s forehead. It was this woman he talked to her about. The nerve!
Instead, she suppressed a sudden need to lash out at the man before her. His instinct to protect the woman who would soon be his wife weighed heavily on his heart. The realization cut her to the core…that damnable honor.
Then suddenly, comprehension sank deep within her. It was not her he had come to shield from scandal. He had come to contain the scandal. He had come to contain her!
“I’m not your concern, Wade. Go home and prepare for your day. Ease your mind. I will not make a scene. I refuse to disgrace my family further.”
She looked back at him, hoping he did not see her pain. She drew in a deep breath. “But the reason I came to meet with you was not about us, Wade. I came because of Gillie and Heyward.”
His eyes hardened. “What of Gillie and Heyward?”
“You know what I mean. Don’t pretend you do not.” She glanced back at her companion.
Gillie stood at the end of the bridge, loyally waited. Jo watched the wide-eyed mulatto girl cast down her eyes demurely. Beside Gillie, Heyward reached over and took her hand in his, gently touching her.
Jo looked back at Wade. “They are in love with each other. We promised them a life together…”
“There is little we can do about that now.”
Jo lifted her chin. “Surely there is something…Wade. I gave my word to Gillie. I refuse to go back on my word.”
“Tell me, what would you have me do? Do you want to rid yourself of Gillie? Have her become a member of my household?”
“You promised me that Heyward would be freed.” Her gaze pierced into Wade, unflinching in her desire to see to the happiness of the couple. “Gillie is already free.”
“Josephine, you are being childish. Have you not comprehended that Gillie is not free, but a slave as much as He
yward?”
“You lie,” she cried. “My father…”
“My dear, your father is a liar and a cheat. You have been misled.”
She crossed over in front of him and slapped him. “How dare you! Papa is a gentleman.”
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her to face him. “I dare…yet knowing everything I do, I still fell in love with you. Do you know what is wrong with you, Jo? You live in a fantasy world where everyone thinks and feels as you…it is not like that. I wish…I wish I could have given you the world as you see it.
“Now, though, you need to face reality. If we had married, Heyward and Gillie could have well married if they felt the need. It can’t happen now, for I know you will never let Gillie leave your side.”
“You won’t release Heyward?”
“You silly fool!” His frustration showed. “Heyward isn’t mine. As is everything around me, he is Grandfather’s.”
“Your words have flowed like honey this day, Wade Montgomery. I was foolish to ever have believed you. Now, you insult Papa, yet have not looked at yourself.” She jerked her hand back. “Leave. Do not return. I don’t want or need your help.”
He hesitated. Then reluctantly, he walked to his horse and mounted. “I am sorry, Josephine. I never meant to hurt you. Tomorrow I will wed another. I will honor my commitment, but not without cost. I will live with the regret it is not you.”
It was a declaration of his pain, but she refused to give to him the forgiveness he sought. She remained silent and watched him ride out of sight.
Chapter Six
The hour was late. Night had crept in with its stealthy cloak of darkness. Cullen sat alone on the veranda and smoked a cigar. Wade had not returned to Magnolia Bluff…where he had gone, Cullen hadn’t a clue.
Matter of fact, Cullen hadn’t seen his cousin since he had taken care of the incident regarding Josephine. He grew concerned. The façade Wade had created around himself that he had accepted his fate stood in question. Cullen worried that second thoughts about the lifelong commitment Wade had promised to a woman he did not love had emerged.
He had assured his grandfather and Andrew there was no cause to be alarmed. He only wished he was as confident as he sounded.
Ebony shadows bustled around him as they prepared for the activities on the morrow. Magnolia Bluff would be seen in its glory, hosting the ceremony. Neither Clayton nor Wragg had spared any expense in displaying the union between their families.
Despite their magnificent home in Charleston, the Wraggs owned no plantation. The affair had need of open spaces to celebrate to the fullest, giving that the whole of Charleston would attend the grand celebration.
Taking a puff of cigar, he released a circle of smoke over his head. Deep in his thoughts, he didn’t hear tiny footsteps walking toward him.
“Wade has left me, hasn’t he?”
Cullen glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the feminine voice. He shouldn’t have been surprised to see Clarissa in the open doorway into the parlor. The whole of her family had been at Magnolia Bluff for the last few days in preparation for the wedding.
The dark-haired beauty walked toward him in her night robe and wrapper. Her long hair twisted into one long braid. He studied her for a long moment. Even in the dimmed light, he saw her puffy, reddened eyes.
“Wade. Are you talking of Wade?” Cullen faced her, but made no attempt to stand. He spoke without formally addressing her presence. He hadn’t the energy to give false greetings. He was too tired.
“He hasn’t returned and neither has his man.”
She stared at him. At most times, she would have given him a dazzling smile, but she wasn’t smiling. Gone was the mask she hid behind; fear illuminated in her eyes. Her frustration made known.
“It seems strange a bride to be questioning her husband before they have exchanged vows.” Cullen shrugged casually. “I would have believed you would be sleeping, contemplating your day in the morning.”
“Will there be a day?” In dramatic fashion, she fell down on her knees beside him. She grasped his hands and pleaded. “Find him. Please. Lieutenant, I have already lost Percival. It would break my heart to lose Wade also. I love him so.”
“Love?” Cullen arched his eyebrow toward her. There were many words he would have used about his cousin’s association with this woman. Love had not been one of them. Obligation. Duty. But not love. He withdrew his hand and rose. “I do not know what I can do for you, Miss Wragg.”
“Clarissa, please, Lieutenant. We are to be family,” she said in a voice which Cullen was certain often gave her the results she desired. “You have to find him. Convince him it is—”
“You want me to tell him he needs to hold to honor and duty.” Suddenly, a perplexed frown crossed his face. “You are not considering threatening me. Tell me, what lengths would you go to get your way?”
She hurled a glare at him, immediately on the defensive. “How dare you! Have you forgotten that I am the injured party?”
“Please forgive me if I do not see it that way,” Cullen said tersely and wondered why he even bothered to reply.
“Oh, you cad!” she declared. She raised her eyebrows sharply and looked at him through narrowing eyes. “I suppose I should not expect more from a Yankee—”
“Now you have resorted to explain my actions by calling me a Yankee,” he cut her off abruptly. “May I remind you that I was born and raised here on this plantation. I am as much a Southerner as you. If, on the other hand, you call me a Yankee because I dare to question what is going on around us…then I wear the title with pride.”
“Oh, Good Lord! Don’t let Papa hear you! I swear you are deliberately provoking me!” She rose and stood defiantly before him.
Cullen came to the conclusion that the lady feigned the innocence of a simpleton, ready to defend her belief in the Southern way of life with only the standard boring answers repeated a million times over the last few years.
“You may find me confused at your assertion. I know it has been you to have gone after Miss Wright in your mistaken belief she has done you harm, when in essence it has been you to have caused her grave damage.” Cullen offered his perception freely. “It is what concerns you now…that Wade knows what you have done. That he may have gone off to find the happiness you fear you cannot give him.”
“I wanted only to save him from that woman. Nothing more. My Aunt Sissy told me that some men need to be saved from themselves. That is what I intended to do.”
“To save him from Josephine with vicious rumors? Do you understand the harm you have done to an innocent?” he chided her.
“Forgive me, Lieutenant, but it is my understanding that Miss Wright is far from innocent.”
For a moment, he almost forgot it was a lady before him. His temper raged. “Explain yourself quickly, for my patience has been worn thin. I know Miss Wright and she is a lady…much more than the one before me.”
Indignant, she sneered, “Then it is you who has been misled. I have it on good authority of her actions.”
“Please enlighten me,” he retorted. “For the way I see it, it could be no worse than you being alone with me at the moment…late at night…dressed…”
“Oh, Heavens!” She gasped in shock and clutched tight to the collar of her wrapper. “You could not think…believe…I would never! How dare you compare me to…to Miss Wright! Why, I was told she…she has...known a man!”
The declaration hung in the air. Good God! Someone had riled her to the point where the green-eyed monster surfaced within her and her claws emerged…riled her enough to have torn into Josephine’s reputation.
“I do not know who told you such a vicious lie, but I assure you the lady I know would never compromise herself in the manner you believe,” he snapped, exasperated. “You must know I have offered for the lady. I would not do so to one such as you suggest.”
She refused to comment but stared at him in mute surprise. Her face paled; her breathing quickened. He sa
w readily she had not contemplated the consequences of her actions. She had thought only of herself.
“Calm yourself,” he said finally. “I believe someone has purposefully given you false information.”
“Are you certain?” she asked in a voice lower than a whisper. “Aunt Sissy says that devil women cast a spell on men when they use their feminine wiles upon them.”
“Go to bed, Miss Clarissa.” Cullen shook his head. “You are needlessly worrying. Wade will not disappoint you. He has given his word and without question will hold to it.”
“It is only my nerves, I am certain,” Clarissa conceded. With her lips pressed together tightly, she had the look of one wanting to ask one more question. Instead, she turned and walked back into the house.
* * * *
A short time later, Cullen walked toward the river. Each step reminded him of another time and place, the times in his youth when the three of them would sneak out of the house in the dead of the night. Lord, the things Percival had them do.
Cullen found Wade at the river’s bank. He sat down along the roots of an old live oak and stared blankly in the darkness. The slow lapping of the water sent ripples along the Ashley River. The rain had stopped hours ago. Now, a bright waning moon hung high in the night’s sky. Strange. He sensed a calming… a peace here.
Wade made no effort to acknowledge his presence, though Cullen knew full well he had to have heard him. Not far from his side, his loyal man, Heyward.
Heyward stood and made his way to Cullen. “Ain’t doing nothin’ but sitting thar, Lieutenant.”
Cullen nodded. “Go back to the house and wait for him. I’ll bring him up shortly.”
“Yes, sir,” Heyward said dutifully.
Cullen walked over to Wade. He said nothing, but took in the view. How many times aboard ship had he dreamed of this spot? He could still see Percival, standing buck naked along the edge of the water, taunting them to come for a midnight swim.
“Percival. He would have wanted me to marry Clarissa.”
The silence broken, Cullen said, “Without a doubt, the family honor meant much to Percival. He did everything in his power to maintain it. That I know.”
