by Denney, Hope
“I’m married so I know I’m no spring chicken, but I don’t necessarily want to feel old,” Caroline continued. “Goodness, did I used to laugh so timidly? Did my husband ever make jokes so furtive?”
“I witnessed the courtship. The answer is yes,” Joseph said, appearing out of nowhere.
He must have walked off the side of the porch down the old gravel trail to the river and come up behind them. Somerset shivered that she never heard or saw him. Her stomach grew cold and taut for an instant, imagining how different the scenario would be in the woods at night during the war. She didn’t doubt his lethality for an instant. All he was missing was his Whitfield. She smiled at him in greeting, and his returned smile was so warm that she was drawn back into the moment.
“Bother, where did you come from?” Caroline turned as though wrenched, she was so startled.
“I took the gravel path to the river. No one heard me?”
Somerset shook her head no while Lorena laughed and told him he was like a phantom.
“Mrs. Russell put me in the house with the family because she was worried about me getting tired. I don’t think she realizes I’m almost well. It felt too intimate to be at the table with the family. I finished my meal, and I came out to see if Miss Garrett would like to go look over the dessert table with me.”
Ivy agreed. She couldn’t keep the joy off her face as she put aside her half-eaten plate and joined Joseph.
“There, Caroline, that wasn’t too furtive, was it?” asked Joseph over his shoulder as he led them back to the porch.
Lorena pursed her mouth, clearly in a pet.
“Is he going to see her now?” asked Caroline.
“No,” replied Somerset.
“She looks at him like he’s her whole world. So Fairlee called it off, eh?”
Kirk turned in interest to hear Somerset’s response.
“Yes, she broke the engagement.”
“Pity,” sighed Caroline.
“Why?” asked Kirk.
“The nerve of her,” said Lorena.
A tall figure strode toward them. Phillip rose up out of the dark corners of the lawn and into the ring of light surrounding their table. He cast a long broad shadow across their table.
“I cut my cake while everyone sang to me, and now I’ve come to see if you might let me make amends to you for the way I cornered you earlier.”
His mouth twisted in what Somerset could only describe as part humbled apology and part leer.
“I probably ought to make amends to you for taking over your game at your party,” said Somerset. “What are you proposing?”
“I was thinking of beginning by serving you dessert and a drink under the awning.”
Under the harsh direct light from the lanterns, Somerset could make out the lines around his eyes. He was a good deal older than the rest of them, but his handsomeness and self-possession made up for it. She beamed up at him, feeling as sparkling as the lights she sat under.
“Far be it from me to turn down a piece of fudge pie when it’s offered,” she said, coquetry spilling from her voice.
She rose from her seat and followed after him.
“It’s not switching place cards at a dinner,” muttered Kirk as they walked away.
“That display in the house? Pshew. That was a thousand times better,” retorted Caroline.
***
Somerset couldn’t stop scrutinizing him as they walked up to the house together. Her pulse jumped with every detail: the Roman nose, the expressive eyebrows that changed constantly with every word, and the long mouth that always seemed to be on the verge of saying something else. His stride was fast and heavy and put her in mind of days when she had to scurry to keep pace with someone else. She always joked that she could keep pace with Juno more easily than she could keep up with Eric. There were differences, though. He seemed a little shorter, his shoulders were broader, and his eyes were the same shape as all the Russells’ even if they were pale blue.
“What do you think of my party?” he asked as they ascended the steps.
“I was on the verge of not coming but I’m glad I made it.”
“It was worth every penny,” he said. “Mother has wanted me to come home for ages. She offered to throw me a birthday party. I couldn’t think of her spending what little she has on a party for me so I agreed to come home for a visit if she would allow me to foot the bill for the ball.”
“It’s chivalrous of you to look out for her. Riverside had a rough year.”
“It doesn’t feel chivalrous in hindsight. It seems more than a little self-serving. I think I gained a good deal by coming out here.”
“You’re very direct.”
“So are you.”
They came up behind Joseph and Ivy. He carried her plate, which he had served with ice cream and strawberry pie, along with his, which was weighed down in chocolate cake. He asked her if she wanted coffee or port and she looked at him in rapture out of her luminous dark gray eyes. Somerset wished there was a way to separate them. Joseph likely thought he was doing her a favor, but when he never looked her way again after the evening was over, Ivy would be anguished and heartsore. She took a cup of coffee from Phillip and together they went to sit at a table under the willows.
“That is your brother?” asked Phillip.
“Yes.”
“He inspires talk wherever he goes, I’ve noticed. He’s something of an icon though he’s young.”
“His looks are Forrest but he’s Marshall to the core. I’m sorry, that probably didn’t mean a thing to an outsider like you. Not that you’re an outsider exactly, but you aren’t familiar with all of us.”
“He enjoys himself.”
“To put it mildly. His work doesn’t suffer any, mind you, but a sixteen-hour day won’t deter him from doing what he likes at the end of the day. He is independent.”
Somerset wondered how she could have confessed so much to a complete stranger. Phillip didn’t seem rattled by her admission.
“Here is the pie you spoke of. Here, let me carry that plate for you. No, I won’t be having anything. The piece of cake I ate in the dining room was enough. Care to join me on the swing? We’ll be close to the music there.”
Somerset settled on the swing with her plate and Phillip leaned his back against the railing and faced the house as she tried to only peck at Mrs. Russell’s excellent pie.
“How long will you be staying on, Mr. Russell?”
“Only a few weeks.”
“And why has it taken you so long to return to these parts?”
“I own a mine and it requires supervision. It’s a volatile business with volatile workers. Mother would have me sell it and move home if she could have her own way, but I grew used to the distance long ago. I was already accustomed to life in South Carolina after school at the Citadel, and there’s age difference enough between my siblings and me that I don’t feel that I know them.”
Somerset gave up on politeness. She dug into the pie with her fork and contemplated asking him his age but thought better of it.
“It was always that way between me and my older siblings. We didn’t have to contend with that much of an age difference, I don’t guess, but Joseph and I always felt distant from our older siblings. I was Teddie’s pet when I was small, but as adults we drifted apart. The war affected them more so than us because they grew accustomed to an opulent life of leisure. Joseph, Victoria, and I are all conditioned to hard labor and having less than we’d like.”
Phillip gave her such an intense look that Somerset felt he was looking through her.
“It doesn’t surprise me to hear you say that although you’re sitting there arrayed like a princess. You’re descended from a family accustomed to creating, losing, and regaining dynasties. It’s in your blood to work hard whether you like to or not.”
“I like it. I made an excellent nurse until I was forced to come home. You seem well-versed on my family.”
“There aren’t many who d
on’t know about your family. I believe your grandfather’s loss of Marshall Steam, your uncle’s death, and Mr. Forrest’s subsequent proposal to your mother was a nursery tale when I was growing up.”
“You’re teasing me! And it’s a grisly story.”
“Children like grisly stories, and it has a happy ending. The wronged family reclaims a fortune when they return home like the prodigal son did, and the prince and the princess marry.”
“You make it sound so unlikely.”
“You’re dreadfully young. As you grow older you’ll find the most improbable things are likely and you’ll come to doubt nothing that happens.”
“I hope so,” said Somerset, laying down her empty plate. “I’m tired of being told to give up hope.”
He looked caught off guard.
“What are you hoping for?”
“I’ve spent most of my life thinking that I’ll wake up one morning and the past will be wiped clean like my old school slate.”
“That’s a terrible way to feel.”
“It is but I don’t feel that way anymore.”
“When you’re as old as I am the only moments that will matter will be the ones you’re living in right now. I wouldn’t trade all of my worst days for this one perfect birthday tonight.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“No. Entertaining a girl in purple who loves pie is everything in the world to me just now. The only thing that can improve the moment is the dance you promised me.”
Somerset couldn’t remember the last time she blushed or felt coy, but she felt the heat creeping into her face and lowered her lashes. She wished she had remembered to bring a fan. It would be so useful to hide her emotions behind it, but she’d never needed one. Since youth she had been in such total control of her visage. She felt about as experienced as Ivy Garrett being shepherded about the back yard by Joseph. She was an experienced huntress. She knew there was no need to feel this heady about one man.
He extended his hand.
“Ezra, a waltz.”
Franklin hurried to throw both doors wide. Ladies and gentleman, somnolent from the quantities of food they gorged on, stood and shook themselves to wakefulness. People began to shuffle in the general direction of the ballroom. Somerset passed Mrs. Russell as she entered the house and smiled at her, showing all of her teeth, as Mrs. Russell stared befuddled at them as they went by. It was not lost on her that it was Phillip’s first dance of the night.
The music changed tempo and the waltz began. Somerset’s skin tingled as if magnetized. She more or less felt that she was pulled into Phillip’s arms and then fell into the swaying motion of the dance with him. She could feel the heat of his hand through her dress and it was a good feeling. She tilted her head back under the heavy weight of her pinned curls and looked him in the face. He was a masterful dancer but lacked Eric’s easygoing natural grace. He was more powerful, more commanding as he guided her around the floor. She thought this was to throw off her balance and make her rely on him, hold tighter to him, and she was fine if that were the case. She began to relax and feel confident as other couples began to join them.
“Happy birthday,” she said as they turned.
“It has been most memorable. I don’t normally care for dancing, but Miss Forrest, you may have changed my mind.”
“Everyone in my family loves dancing. I’ve danced with so many gentlemen for the first time tonight. I used to dance my three dances with Eric and sit the rest out. Mother used to get so embarrassed.”
“Eric?”
“Eric Rutherford. He was my fiancé but he was presumed dead in the war.”
“Ah, my cousin. I met him on a holiday here and there. He always said we could be brothers, though I don’t see the resemblance. He was a good man, and I’m sorry for your loss. When did he pass?”
“He went missing in eighteen sixty-three. I went to Georgia and I nursed the wounded, sorted corpses, scavenged battlefields—did all the horrible things women do during wars to find their loved ones. Mother demanded I come home in the end.”
“Not having the body causes confusion. One doesn’t know whether to feel hopeful or reach acceptance,” he said.
“I’ve been indecisive about it,” she admitted, “but I’ve finally accepted it.”
“Is that why you moved your engagement ring over to your right hand?”
“What?”
She looked at her hand. Eric’s stone glittered under the chandeliers as brightly as if he had just placed the ring on her finger. She must have put it on her hand before she crawled into bed and forgot the two previous days.
“I haven’t worn it in years. I tried it on before the ball today and forgot to take it off.”
“I think it’s touching that you still honor him.”
“I was never closer to another person. Five years apart doesn’t do much to diminish the relationship we had. I find myself remembering him at the most inopportune times such as now when I’m waltzing with a near stranger. It must bore you to hear me go on and on about him.”
“I was actually thinking that I admire your loyalty. I don’t encounter the trait often and you can be sure I see it less and less often in the mining business. I’m afraid it’s a sordid world, very cutthroat and unapologetic. It’s wholesome to come home and see people like Sawyer making their way simply. It seems I could learn so much from my brother.”
“On the contrary, your world sounds very exciting. We’re too traditional here in Century Grove. I love it here but I am grateful that Tuscaloosa is such a short trip away.”
“So Century Grove is your Camelot?”
“It is.”
“Even with your king gone?”
“Was I supposed to take the veil then?” asked Somerset.
“Not at all. I only wondered how devoted you are to the area.”
Somerset made a wry face.
“It seems not very. Mother has decided to take me home at the end of next week.”
“To Virginia?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you want to go?”
“I think her motives extend far beyond family picnics and social calls.”
“Would it impose upon you if I were to call on you then before you depart? It seems a shame that we’re starting off so nicely only for you to go away and I to go to Charleston shortly thereafter.”
The waltz ended. He released her. Somerset felt regret and hoped he would ask her for another dance right away, but instead he led her to the refreshment table. She considered his request as he filled her cup and handed it to her.
“It would be no imposition at all,” she answered.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have guests I’ve yet to greet, but I’ll be seeing you.”
He nodded at her and disappeared into the crowd. Her disappointment was deeper than she would have liked.
“You met Phillip,” said Joseph.
He was fetching Ivy a glass of water.
“I did. He is interesting.”
“Is he? I don’t think I’ve seen him since I was in dresses. I would say he’s interesting and rich. His resemblance to the Rutherfords is striking, though. He could easily be Caroline’s brother.”
“He was taken with you,” added Ivy in her hushed voice. “I didn’t want to say so in front of Lorena, but the way he looked at you when he removed his blindfold was smitten.”
Her eyes were wide in earnest.
Somerset appreciated what was said but appeared nonchalant. She wasn’t about to appear like a fresh-faced girl unused to attention. She was going to steer Phillip into pursuit of her while she appeared to consider his worth.
“I didn’t notice, I guess because I was startled. I never did enjoy Blind Man’s Bluff,” she said in her best detached voice. “Do you hear that? A reel! I promised Kirk a reel over supper. Excuse me.”
She pivoted to find him but he was already reaching for her hand with a bemused expression.
Bless him, she thought. He is truly fluster
ed over what happened outside and he wants it remedied as soon as possible so he’s willing to do anything I say to return us to the sphere of old chums. What we need is a hug and maybe a good laugh with a peck thrown in but I can’t deal with any of that right now. Oh, there goes Holt with Victoria. It’s the first time she’s danced with a man and she’s starting with a reel at that! I hope she remembers all the dance steps Joseph and Mother and I did with her in the parlor on rainy days.
“I didn’t think you’d take me up on this,” she chattered to Kirk. “I thought you’d be peevish with me after I was so rude.”
“Cheeky maybe. But rude? No. It was insulting of me to presume I could ask anything of you when I haven’t been to see you once.”
“I blame it on the moonlight.”
“I blame it on you. I can accept friendship, however.”
She regarded his face as she bowed to him. He was usually impassive or sardonic but she discerned more than affection. There was a hint of self-loathing that he let his feelings slip but mostly she saw tenderness. He wouldn’t forget that she immediately rebuffed him, but in order to keep her respect he was willing to retreat to honorable ground. Somerset always liked Kirk but she found such new worth in him in that instant that she relaxed enough to enjoy him without worrying about repairing the situation. He responded in kind and they enjoyed several more dances until Mrs. Garrett was scandalized and caught Somerset’s eye to let her know it was quite enough.
She danced as she always dreamed of dancing: with friends, with would-be flames, and even with complete strangers. She rested her aching feet with Caroline, who detested dancing, and watched the folly of the evening come into full bloom. Established couples flirted and pushed the boundaries of acceptable but stifled courtship. The budding interest of fresher couples continued to tickle their senses of humor. The pursuit of a good time by the middle aged was wondrous to behold. It soon became apparent that the punch was laced with something heavier than fruit, and ladies began abstaining as the night grew louder and less formal. The chaperones were less watchful guardians and more sleepy obligatory figureheads as the night rolled on.
