Ashes in the Wind (52 page)

“Thank you for your suggestion, madam.” He met her gaze directly. “Though I daresay my lustful side has had little opportunity to assert itself, I shall try to restrain it better in the future.” He considered the silver hound that formed the handle of his cane and pondered aloud as if to himself, “I had no idea that marriage bore such a resemblance to the monkish style of life.”

A dozen or more chiding comments were ready on her tongue, but she had no mind to further erode the pleasantry of the morning, and thus held her silence for the sake of peace. There would no
doubt come a time in their somewhat unsteady relationship when she could remind him that he was getting just what he had asked for.

The next morning Alaina came down at her usual time and found Annie dancing about in a fair fit of distress in front of the dining room fireplace. An odor of burned chocolate filled the room, and when the cook moved aside, Alaina saw the reason. The banked coals of the fireplace were covered with a sticky black scum. The tin box lay bent and twisted on the fire grate, the bright paint now scorched and brown.

With a cry of dismay, Alaina flew to the hearth and reached to pull the container out. Just as quickly, she withdrew her fingers and shook them to ease the pain, for the tin had proven quite hot. More wisely she lifted the box free with the poker.

“ ‘Tis a heathenish thing, mistress,” Annie sobbed. “I cannot say who would do such a thing, but ‘tis a devil, whatever name he be called.”

The tin had obviously lain on the fire for most of the night to have been seared so badly by the low, ashcovered coals. Whoever had conceived the notion, had deliberately emptied the candy on the fire, then had mutilated the box. Not an act of momentary anger to be sure, but one of cold, calculated hatred. Someone in the house apparently bore a deep enmity for her.

“What’s happened here?” Cole demanded sharply from the doorway.

Both women whirled, Alaina blinking back tears and Annie with her mouth aslack. As he
glanced from the mangled box to the two women, the cook rushed to explain.

“The tin was there, sir, when I come in to set the table. Some villainous creature is at work hereabouts, and I have naught a ken as to what his name might be.”

“Perhaps the other servants might shed some light on this matter,” Cole replied. “I will speak to them immediately.”

“ ‘Twas no accident, sir,” Annie stated emphatically. “This was pure meanness at its blackest.”

“So it would seem,” he responded brusquely. “But one way or another, such happenings will cease, even if I must dismiss the entire staff.”

The cook wrung her hands fretfully. She would be sorely distressed to have to leave. After working for the Latimers for so long, she felt as if she were part of the family and the master himself more like her own son. Yet she could understand that his commitment to his young wife came first.

Alaina’s own spirit was much humbled by Cole’s threat. Struggling to control an urge to tremble, she murmured an excuse and left the room. Concerned, Cole followed her to stand in the hall, and watched as she slowly mounted the stairs. He could think of no comforting words that might soothe her. She moved on past the balustrade out of his sight, leaving him to stare in troubled silence at the shadows she had just left. He was about to turn away when she appeared again, this time ramrod stiff and pale of face.

“Doctor Latimer?” Her voice trembled with emotion. “Will you come up here a moment please?”

He hurried up the stairs at the best gait he could manage with the aid of his cane, wondering what damage had been done now. Mentally he began sorting out the dire proceedings he had threatened should his fears prove correct. But when he stepped into his wife’s bedroom and saw what had aroused her, he laughed aloud in relief.

“I see nothing amusing in this!” Alaina snapped, white lipped. “Something is always being moved in here while I’m gone! And now this! What kind of fool jest is this, anyway?”

She lifted the small, painted tin box that had been left in the middle of her bed and handed it resentfully to Cole. It was less than half the size her own box had been, but bore the same rich bonbons inside.

“It’s Mindy’s,” Cole answered. “I think you have gained a friend.”

“Mindy!” Her voice cracked with ire brought forth by his jovial grin. “Who is this Mindy? Is she some paramour you have kept in this house beneath my very nose?”

“Paramour?” He chuckled in amazement. “I would guess she has need of love, at that, but not the sort you mean. Perhaps it’s time you meet Mindy. Come along, my pet.”

Giving her no choice in the matter, he caught her hand and led her down the hall to a bedroom on the far side of Roberta’s suite. He pushed the door wide and drew her in with him. The room had a strange, untouched look about it. Indeed, no sign of habitation existed. Cole grunted, then pulled Alaina back through the hall to the stairs and descended them.

“Cole!” she hissed, trying to pry his long, thin fingers loose from her wrist. “Let me go! What will the servants think?”

“This is my house, madam, and I don’t give a damn what anybody thinks!”

She was still in tow when they passed Miles and Mrs. Garth in the dining room. The servants paused to stare in surprise, and Alaina attempted to appear quite composed and dignified as Cole pulled her unceremoniously through the swinging door that led into the kitchen, leaving the two servants gaping in astonishment. Having had to match the limping pace of her husband’s long legs, Alaina was slightly breathless when Annie turned from the wood stove with a ladle in her hand.

“Now this be a rare day, to be sure! Both the mistress and his lordship coming to visit me at the same time.” She looked at them suspiciously. “Gives me to wonder what’s brewing in the mill.”

Cole shushed her with a wave of his hand, further rousing the cook’s curiosity. She maintained an obedient silence, but contemplated him narrowly as he glanced about the kitchen. He checked beside the wood box and in the pantry, then stepped out the back door onto the small, enclosed porch.

“There you are,” he said to someone whom Alaina could not see. He held out the tin. “Did you give this to the lady after her box was burned?” Though no sound came that Alaina could hear, he apparently received an affirmative reply, for he smiled. “She would like to thank you, and I think it’s time you stop hiding and come out and meet the lady. Come on. You needn’t be afraid of this one,” he
coaxed, reaching behind the door. “Her name is Alaina, and she’s a very nice lady.”

Alaina gasped as he brought into view a child, a girl no more than six or seven years of age, clutching a tattered cloth doll close against her. She was wearing a long ankle-length, faded calico dress beneath a woolen coat that was at least a size or so too small, and though the kitchen was warm, she was shivering like a frightened rabbit. Large, dark eyes cast a quick, furtive glance around at Alaina, but after that, she refused to lift her gaze again and held it fastened on the worn toes of her black, high-topped shoes. The thin, tiny face was smudged and blackened with soot and grime, while the long, badly snarled braids indicated much neglect.

“She doesn’t say much,” Cole informed his young wife. “But this is Mindy.”

“Good heavens, Cole! What on earth have you been doing with that child?” Alaina demanded, horrified at the girl’s bedraggled state. “She’s filthy!”

“I bought her clothes”—he shrugged—“but she won’t wear them. There is a bedroom for her upstairs, but she refuses to sleep in it. She seems to prefer it here in the kitchen. In a quiet way, she is very independent, much like another one I came to know quite well in New Orleans.”

Glancing away from his pointed stare, Alaina realized that Annie was closely following their exchange and watching them attentively over the tiny wire-rimmed spectacles that perched on the end of her nose. Cole turned, following his wife’s gaze, and Annie hastily busied herself with scraping a carrot for the soup. Yet it was not in her character to withhold comment.

“Mindy don’t take ter people as a rule, and I guess I can’t blame the poor tyke. The old mistress used to rant and rave ’bout havin’ ter share her house wit’ every ragamuffin brat the mister be finding. Even took a razor strap to Mindy, one time she did, but the mister showed up afore any real harm was done.”

“Annie, your tongue rattles far too much too often,” Cole observed gruffly.

The woman appeared undismayed. “I’ll be speaking me mind with no adornments, to be sure. But the child seems to have taken right well with the new mistress. Mindy’s been watching her for days now.” Annie sniffed loudly as she continued. “In fact, she was so worried ’bout the mistress, she give up her own tin what the mister gifted her with. Ye cannot be disputing the gentle heart she has, poor wee orphan.”

“Doesn’t she have any kin?” Alaina asked.

“She had an uncle,” Cole stated. “He worked as our gardener for a while after I came home from New Orleans, but no one seems to know what happened to him. Mindy’s been here ever since he disappeared.”

“But where are her parents?”

“The massacre three years back,” he whispered softly and shook his head to warn her away from the topic.

Alaina took the tin from beneath Cole’s arm and held it out to the girl. “I’ll need help eating all these. Would you mind keeping the tin for me and helping me along with them?”

Mindy blinked her large eyes and looked inquiringly at Cole as if seeking his guidance. He nodded his approval, and hesitantly her gaze came
back to the lady. Accepting the box, she immediately clutched it to her breast, then sidled nearer the door, anxious to escape.

Alaina had known firsthand the fear, the hunger, the displaced feeling of not having a home, and could well understand the young child’s anxieties and fears. Her ragged appearance alone could wrench the heart of anyone capable of having compassion for another being, and Alaina was most susceptible. Tenderly she bade the girl to come near, assuring her, “I won’t hurt you.”

Mindy crouched in sudden trepidation, not willing to trust her, and started through the door, but Cole caught her arm, forbidding her escape. “Here now! Where are you going? Didn’t you hear the lady?”

Dark eyes grew enormous with panic as he drew her back. In nervous apprehension Mindy clasped her possessions to her and balked at being dragged past his leg, which she clung to desperately.

Alaina’s mother had raised her children with a firm but gentle hand. She had never been harsh, but she had not been overly lenient with them either. It was this kind of upbringing that Alaina fell back on now.

“I would like a closer look at you, Mindy. Come here.” Her voice, though soft, brooked no disobedience. Reluctantly Mindy moved nearer, and Alaina made a slow tour around her, lifting a braid to peer at a well-crusted ear, scanning a dirt-caked neck, and turning small, thin hands to stare with disapproval at the soiled palms and begrimed knuckles. Finally Alaina raised her gaze to Cole who watched her in wry amusement. “You’ve let this child live in your house like this? You? Of all people?”

Cole chafed beneath her tone of reproof almost as much as Mindy had under her inspection. “Madam, you may ascribe to me a great deal of experience where woman are concerned, but I assure you, this one falls outside of that realm. If you can enlighten me as to the best way to deal with her, I would be most grateful.”

“What every child needs, sir, is a good guiding hand and to be told when to bathe and how to keep clean. And that, Doctor Latimer, will be the next step here. Now come along, Mindy,” she said, taking the child’s arm. “We’ll deal with a few of your most obvious problems first.”

A bit of rebellion showing in her dark eyes, Mindy pulled herself away. She had been perfectly satisfied to lead her life the way it was and could do without the likes of a bath! Her uncle hadn’t cared one whit about seeing her tidy, and though Doctor Latimer had insisted, she had hidden from the servants until they were too busy with other chores to take time for her. Thus, she had maintained her present state of comfort, and was not anxious to see it end.

Calmly Alaina faced the show of obstinance and nodded, folding her arms sedately. “Well, I suppose I could call Peter, Miles, and Mrs. Garth to help hold you while I give you a bath. It makes no difference to me whether it’s by force or consent, but either way, you’re going to have a bath.”

The girl glanced quickly to Cole in hopes he might save her from this woman who was making such threats against her. After all, he had rescued her often enough from the first mistress. But now he seemed most disinterested in her plight as he drew out
his pocket watch and casually noted the time. With that last appeal spent, Mindy had no other option open but to yield. Glumly she hung her head in submission.

“Come along then,” Alaina urged and took the girl’s narrow fine-boned hand. “Doctor Latimer?” The gray eyes came back to him. “I may need your able assistance should I meet resistance along the way. Will you join us?”

“I’ll have Peter fetch some hot water for you, mistress,” Annie offered enthusiastically. She was much impressed with the common sense displayed by this young woman and agreed with a goodly measure of gentle force. It was the unnecessary violence of the first mistress that she had abhorred.

Cole was also impressed. “Madam, if you can perform such miracles as leading her calmly to a bath, then perhaps you can get her to sleep upstairs in a bed.”

Mindy passionately shook her head.

“But why not?” Alaina asked, pausing at the swinging door.

Annie coughed loudly to gain their attention and interjected, “Pardon me interruption, mistress, but as I said afore, the first Mrs. Latimer was real spiteful to the girl whenever the master weren’t about, and little Mindy was given the bedroom right next to the red room. I would be thinking the dearie is afraid that Miss Roberta will come back. It’s a fact that she fears being up there by her lonesome.”

“We’ll see what can be done about that,” Alaina replied.

Upstairs in his wife’s bedroom, Cole laid more wood on the fire as she brushed the tangles from the
child’s hair. Mindy obediently put aside the tin box, but refused to give up her doll even while her coat and gown were being removed. Alaina wrinkled her nose at the grubbiness of the garments, and was struck with the memory of the garb she had worn as “Al.” At least she had been clean beneath the clothes, while Mindy was not.