Concealing Grace (The Grace Series Book 1) (3 page)

Trent’s smile instantly disappeared and he shrugged his left shoulder. It was a gesture he made frequently, but Jessica wasn’t sure whether he did it because of discomfort or out of habit. The last time she asked about it, years before, he’d become irritated. She hadn’t asked since.

During the war Trent had been an infantryman with the Army of Tennessee. He enlisted shortly after the war began, and was away fighting for more than three years. In November of 1864, he was wounded at Franklin, Tennessee. The bullet went through his bicep and shattered his bone. Shortly thereafter he came home. Through his mad ravings, Jessica was able to glean what happened to him.

Within hours of his arrival at the temporary field hospital, he was restrained on the operating table. Ignoring Trent’s protests, the doctor went to work, sawing his arm off just below the shoulder joint. No anesthesia was available, but by the time the doctor tossed Trent’s severed arm onto the large pile—Trent had referred to it as a
mountain
—of other limbs he cut from men that day, Trent was no longer conscious. At the time, he’d been two weeks shy of celebrating his twenty-second birthday.

Within days of Trent’s homecoming, his fiancée, Christine came to visit. There was only one person in the world Jessica could profess to not liking, and it was Christine. Instead of showering Trent with affection as she should have done, Christine coldly broke off their engagement.

The awful wound on Trent’s stump eventually scarred over and healed. The wound Christine left on his heart was still raw and bleeding. Trent had given up on the idea of ever getting married and having a family of his own. He didn’t believe any woman would be willing to overlook his deformity.

Seeing his guarded expression, Jessica knew exactly what was going through his mind. Gently she patted his empty, pinned up sleeve. She was the only person he allowed to touch him there.

“Here we are at last!” the boisterous voice of her father, Luther, rolled as he stepped down from the buggy. He was a barrel of a man, well known around town for his friendly smile and rumbling laugh. At one time he’d been as tall as Trent, but over the last few years he’d become an inch or so shorter. His hair, which Jessica could remember being the same burnished dark color as hers, was all grey now, and he kept a neatly trimmed beard. She smiled modestly as he patted her cheek and murmured, “I know who all the gentlemen will be staring at tonight.”

They might stare, Jessica thought, but that was all. By the end of the night her dance card would still be embarrassingly empty.

Within moments they were led by their hosts’ servants to the grand, chandelier-draped ballroom where most of the other guests were enjoying wine and hors d’oeuvres. Just inside the entrance was a landing with three steps down onto the main floor. From there, one could look out over the room and see almost everyone in it. The small, hired orchestra was playing a Bach prelude in preparation for the dancing that would soon begin.

The first thing Jessica did upon entering the ballroom was scan it for Harry Simpson. He was easy to spot, surrounded by a number of young men. As usual he was doing the talking. All of his companions were laughing.

On the opposite side of the room, two female hands were raised and waving to her. Emily and Stephanie had already arrived. After stuttering through what she hoped was a polite enough excuse to their hosts, Jessica made her way across the ballroom to join her closest friends.

It wasn’t long before their chatter turned to neighborhood gossip and a topic of even more interest—the single, eligible gentlemen in their community. Stephanie started them off by going on about the new minister at their church, the Reverend Sebastian Nash. This was no surprise to Jessica. Ever since the reverend moved to the area, about six weeks before, Stephanie hadn’t stopped singing his praises. Her attraction was understandable, too. The reverend was extremely tall and broad shouldered with short blond hair and bright blue eyes. Collectively the young ladies agreed he was an extremely handsome man. According to rumors he’d been married, but his wife died about a year before. The couple had no children. His acceptance of the ministerial position in Tennessee was precipitated by his need to put the unfortunate loss behind him and start over.

Jessica thought Reverend Nash was a much better minister than the recently retired, Reverend Martin. Reverend Nash was friendly and warm, a good listener, and he had a knack for remembering peoples’ names. He was also very charismatic during his sermons. He walked back and forth in front of the altar, his voice rose and fell dramatically, denoting his passion for his beliefs and his profession, and he often told amusing stories about everyday life to bring a new perspective to his lesson. For the first time she could remember, Jessica was able to sit through the entire service without daydreaming.

There was only one thing wrong with Sebastian Nash. He was from Boston and spoke with a pronounced Yankee accent. In a deeply rooted Southern town like Mount Joy, this did not go over well. Women tended to be more accepting, but many men from the neighborhood were wary of him. Some were openly hostile.

The reverend’s accent, however, wasn’t a deterrent for Stephanie. If anything, it probably fueled her infatuation, not so much because she liked the way he sounded, but because Stephanie’s father was one of the more outspoken members of the church, and he was very strict with Stephanie. Jessica believed Stephanie’s interest in Sebastian Nash came more out of spite toward her father than true attraction to the holy man, but she would never upset her friend by saying so.

Sometimes Jessica wondered whether Reverend Nash was happy. Not only did he have to deal with animosity from the community, but he had moved from a bustling, big city to a small, country town. She heard that in Boston his church was much larger in size and in membership. Here, the church and its adjoining parsonage were located about two miles from town and were fairly isolated, surrounded by woods both behind and across the street. She imagined Reverend Nash had to be terribly lonely, night after night, by himself, with no close neighbors to call upon, or to come calling.

Stephanie’s giggle brought Jessica back from her momentary woolgathering. So far, from Jessica and Emily’s perspectives, Sebastian Nash had given no indication that his attention to Stephanie was greater than the attention he paid to any other member of his congregation, but Stephanie insisted it was more. While she provided Emily and Jessica with explicit details about their conversation after last Sunday’s service, Jessica couldn’t help thinking Stephanie and Reverend Nash would make a fine couple. Stephanie was classically beautiful with her pale complexion, almost white hair and blue eyes. She was trim like Jessica, but stood several inches taller. If Stephanie and the reverend were to marry, all of their children would be blue-eyed and tow-headed. This was one thought Jessica could speak out loud, and she and Emily proceeded to tease their friend mercilessly.

Stephanie clasped her hands together and said dreamily, “I pray he asks me to dance. I pray God gives him a sign he should dance with me, and only me, for the entire night.”

“You can’t pray for that,” Emily scoffed. “God can’t answer that kind of prayer.”

“I’m praying for it anyway,” Stephanie said. “Sebastian must dance with me and only me!”

“Listen to you, calling him by his first name! He’s a
minister!”
Emily scolded.

As their laughter faded, Emily said, “Jessie, I saw
the reverend
speaking with Harry Simpson earlier. Harry is looking fine tonight, too.”

Jessica wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t notice.”

“We saw you look for him when you came in,” Stephanie cut in. “You can’t fool us.”

“I can’t help it,” Jessica murmured.

All three of them burst once more into giggles.

“Have you heard?” Emily said. “Bent Oak Manor was sold to a man by the name of Kinsley. Momma says he’s young and unwed and very handsome. He was a Confederate officer during the war.”

“Oh, the house at Bent Oak Manor is beautiful! I saw inside of it once,” Stephanie said. “But, dear me, it’s been empty for a long time. It certainly can’t be in good shape now.”

“Momma says he’s refurbishing it,” Emily piped in. “He’s had workers there for several weeks, painting and restoring. Apparently he moved in a week ago. I understand Mrs. Winston sent an invitation to him to come tonight. If we’re lucky we may get introduced.”

“I could care less about him,” Stephanie spouted. “The only man I’m interested in is Sebastian!”

Emily rolled her eyes and Jessica laughed.

Shortly thereafter the dancing began. Jessica was pleased to be approached, though she was well aware the gentlemen who asked did so solely to avoid being impolite. They couldn’t exclude her while she was standing with her friends. She also discovered Harry Simpson had made his requests of Emily and Stephanie before her arrival. Her friends apologized for not telling her, but they hadn’t wanted to hurt her feelings.

It would have been easy to become bereft watching Harry come to collect Stephanie, especially when he didn’t so much as spare her a glance, but Jessica forced a smile. So far, she was enjoying herself, and she was determined to keep doing so. Dancing with the older, married gentlemen—the friends and acquaintances of her father—helped. For some reason they didn’t intimidate her quite as badly as the younger, single men did. Perhaps this was because she knew she didn’t need to impress them, and perhaps this was because they didn’t seem to mind her silence.

William Hughes was one of the gentlemen her father was especially close to. Jessica had known him since she was a little girl. He had a quiet dignity about him that always put her at ease, and this dance was the first of the night she truly enjoyed. Even so, being in his company reminded her how much his family suffered during the war. Three of his four beloved sons had been killed. In recent years, due to lingering grief, his wife could no longer bring herself to venture from their home. On Sundays William Hughes sat in the church pew with Jessica’s family. He came to the ball tonight alone.

After the dance with Mr. Hughes, Jessica made her way back to Emily and Stephanie, who were infused with hushed whispers. Stephanie was waving her handkerchief toward the ballroom entrance.

“What is it?” Jessica asked.

“He’s here!” Emily squealed. “Look, Jessie! No, don’t look yet, or he’ll think we’re talking about him. He is just as dashing as Momma said. Stop pointing at him, Stephanie! Oh my!” Jessica thought Emily was going to faint, her cheeks grew so red.

Stephanie’s features crinkled in distaste. “He’s not nearly as handsome as Sebastian. He’s got a big nose.”

Emily threw an irritated glare at their friend and said, “Jessie, don’t look, but he’s looking right at you!”

Jessica managed to wait several seconds before turning to face the ballroom landing. The gentleman with their hosts was lean, with short, neatly trimmed dark hair brushed back from his forehead. He was cleanly shaven, with an angular jaw and high cheek bones. Perhaps his nose was a little prominent, but Jessica thought it fit well with the sharp plains of his face. She had to agree with Emily. He might not be as attractive as the auspicious Reverend Nash, but he was quite dashing. Although he was too far away for her to hear, it was fairly evident he and their hosts were exchanging introductions and pleasantries. As their dialogue ended, he bowed graciously, then turned to look out over the crowded ballroom.

Emily nudged Jessica with her elbow and spoke without moving her lips. “He’s looking your way again, Jessie.”

So he was. Their eyes met and held. Jessica couldn’t contain her smile. When he reciprocated in kind, she hastily spun around. Her heart was suddenly pounding.

The next thing she knew, Emily squeaked, “He’s coming this way!”

But he was stopped by several gentlemen near the stairs and he stayed there. Stephanie frowned and Emily looked positively surly.

“Hello, ladies,” a deep, accented voice interrupted from behind. All three of them turned to find the amicable Reverend Nash.

Emily took up the conversation while Stephanie batted her eyelashes. Remembering everything they’d said about him earlier, Jessica blushed. Much to Stephanie’s dismay, the reverend didn’t ask any of them to dance. Within a few minutes he politely excused himself and moved on.

“You didn’t let me get a word in,” Stephanie huffed to Emily once the reverend was out of earshot.

“It’s not my fault,” Emily retorted. “You scared him away. Why, it looked like you had a dozen gnats swarming around your face.” While she spoke, Emily began an exaggerated imitation of Stephanie by rapidly and repeatedly blinking. “He probably thought he better get away from us before they attacked him, too.”

“What are you talking about? There aren’t any gnats in here!” Stephanie chirped indignantly.

“Nincompoop!” Emily whispered under her breath.

Jessica had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing at them.

Stephanie’s pouting lip abruptly disappeared. “This is it! Come on, Jessie. That man is talking to your father.” Stephanie grabbed Jessica’s hand and started dragging her. Emily followed on their heels.

“This is our opportunity!” Stephanie hailed. “If we don’t hurry, he’ll move on to speak with someone else and our chance for an introduction will be lost!”

With Stephanie in the lead, nudging and shoving people out of the way, they made it across the room in record time. Jessica was certain they were making a terrible spectacle of themselves. As they drew near, she was thankful Stephanie reverted to a graceful walk. Once her hand was freed from Stephanie’s fierce grip, Jessica sidled up close to her brother.