Elizabeth Meyette (2 page)

“You need to release this, Emily. I am here with you now. If you allow this pall of guilt to envelope you, it will destroy us. I need you to help me heal, Em, and that requires your loving attention. Not distractions of the past.”

Emily saw the sense in what he said. She did not know if it were possible to forgive herself, but no longer would Jonathon be aware of the anguish she felt. She smiled and kissed him blinking back tears.

“I will do whatever you ask of me, Jonathon,” she said.

He kissed her forehead. “Then I will ask you this. Know that I am well and improving every day. Seeing you and knowing that you and our baby are well speeds my recovery, Em.”

There was a commotion outside and the sound of laughter. Randy returned accompanied by Andrew who carried three brace of rabbits. Emily looked fondly at her brother who, at seventeen, had not yet finished growing in height and was dwarfed by Randy’s six-foot, four-inch frame. His hair was chestnut, darker than her own, but his eyes shone as blue, more like a clear mountain lake than her blue-violet shade. His smile was quick, and his laugh infectious and it ushered them into the cabin.

Randy pumped Andrew on the back and exclaimed, “See, I told you they would be dressed by now!”

Andrew avoided his sister’s eyes, blushing furiously, and set the rabbits by the hearth. Emily rose from the bed and hugged her brother.

“Andrew, you have given me a most precious gift. Jonathon told me of how you saved his life in Williamsburg,” she said.

“He was near death the night he stole into my room at William and Mary College. Jonathon, you frightened me nearly to death when you collapsed beside my bed. Fortunately, Mrs. Beresford had plenty of household items that facilitated my clumsy attempts at medical treatment. Your body was ice cold, and you had lost so much blood that I did not know if any care I administered would succeed.”

“Whatever you did worked, Andrew, for here I am. And I am beholden to you for saving my life,” Jonathon replied.

“I would say we are even now, since you saved my life aboard the
Destiny
when we traveled here from England,” Andrew said, smiling.

“You will both be the cause of my prematurely gray hair!” Emily exclaimed. They all laughed. Then Andrew’s face turned serious.

“Em, we had best leave for Brentwood Manor in order to return before sunset,” Andrew said picking up two brace of rabbits and leaving one. “Jonathon, I shall leave these for your dinner, but I must show some reward for our long afternoon outing. We must avoid any suspicion of where and why we were gone the entire afternoon.”

“I agree,” Randy said pensively. “Your whereabouts must be kept secret lest the British find you, Jonathon. Thanks to Michael Dennings’s false lead, the troops are currently searching the coast to the southeast. But the fewer people who know you are here, the better. An innocent comment or a careless word could lead the redcoats right back here. In fact, I am convinced they will revisit Brentwood Manor believing that you, too, will eventually return there. Even those most loyal could slip and reveal your whereabouts. Let us keep this only among ourselves. Oh, and Gates knows, too. He should arrive in the next day or two to see to your wounds, Jonathon.”

Jonathon sighed in relief at that news.

Emily smiled thinking of Robert Gates, Jonathon’s first-mate aboard the
Destiny,
who was very knowledgeable about medicinal treatments. He had tended Jonathon and Andrew when both were seriously injured during a storm at sea, and both credited him with saving their lives. Mr. Gates had been commanding the ship during Jonathon’s recent imprisonment and, with her blessing, continued to support the patriot cause.

“I long for news of the
Destiny
as well as for news of the increasing conflict between colonial and British troops,” Jonathon said.

Emily sat beside him on the bed and took his hand. Their eyes met and she saw the unspoken longing and love there. She looked up at Randy who nodded his head and led Andrew toward the door and the two left the cabin.

“Jonathon, I do not want to leave you,” Emily said, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. “I shall return as soon as possible for each day without you, knowing you are nearby, is torture. I shall find any conceivable excuse to ride out here to be with you if only for a moment.”

“My love, my greatest wish is to have you here beside me, but we must be cautious. If you visit too often, it will arouse suspicion. And you must take care of yourself and our baby. I will send for you again when it is safe.”

“But, Jonathon, I have lived these past months believing you to be dead; I fear if I leave I will never see you again. I long to be here to help nurse you back to health, to comfort you, to hold you.”

“And I long for the same, Em. But I will heal faster if I know you are safe and in good health. Please understand how much I need this of you,” Jonathon said.

“I will do anything for you, my love. My deepest wish, my fondest dream has been answered today. I thought I had lost you forever, yet here I am beside you.” Emily leaned down and kissed his lips tenderly. “My love,” she whispered against them.

Jonathon reached up and ran his fingers through her tawny locks gently pulling her closer. She felt his tongue trace her lips and slip between them and she responded eagerly, kissing him deeply, moving against him. Desire rekindled, their kiss lingered until Andrew’s subtle cough brought them back to the moment.

“Em, we must leave now to ensure our arrival before dusk.”

Emily slowly rose, reluctantly releasing Jonathon’s hand, their eyes locked in the intensity of their love.

“Good-bye, Jonathon,” she whispered over the tightness in her throat.

“Not good-bye, Love, but until we meet again” he answered, attempting a half-smile.

Emily turned and left the cabin.

• • •

Lighted lanterns and candles greeted Emily and Andrew upon their arrival in the gathering dusk. Rich aromas from the cookhouse announced a hearty supper of stew and biscuits causing Emily to realize how very hungry she was since she had not eaten since morning.

“I have missed Dora’s cooking!” Andrew exclaimed causing Emily to laugh at his enthusiasm. “While Mrs. Beresford runs a comfortable establishment, her cooking leaves one wanting. Dora could boil old stockings and make it a feast!”

“Oh, Andrew, how you make me laugh!” Emily smiled. “How you cheer me.”

“Emily, I know how difficult it has been for you of late. I was beside myself not revealing Jonathon’s hiding place until today, but I honestly did not know if he would survive. I could not bring you to him until I was certain. To lose him once must have been dreadful, but to lose him twice, unbearable.”

Emily gazed at her brother once again struck by his maturity and good sense. Although two years younger than she, at seventeen Andrew was often her counselor and advisor.

They arrived at the carriage house and released the horse and carriage to a stable hand. Walking arm-in-arm into Brentwood Manor, they encountered Joanna Sutton, Jonathon’s sister, carrying William who would turn one-year-old the next month. Seeing Emily, William broke into a smile and reached out his arms to her.

“Will, are you pleased to see me? Come here, my fine fellow, for Aunt Emily has missed you today,” Emily laughed as she relieved Joanna of the child.

“You two had quite an outing today,” Joanna said.

“And a successful day it was,” said Andrew holding up his two brace of rabbits. “I shall take these out to Dora and see what magic she can conjure with them.” Emily heard a note of relief in his voice as he left her to attempt to explain their long absence, and he hurried toward the back of the manor.

“So you were hunting all day?” Joanna asked. “I did not know your penchant for the sport, Emily.” Emily noticed that Joanna’s brown eyes, so like her brother’s held a hint of amusement.

“Oh, I relaxed while Andrew hunted. It was a delightful day,” Emily replied burying her face in Will’s neck tickling him with her kisses. She could feel the color suffusing her face both as a result of her white lie and her memory of lying in Jonathon’s arms. Charming both of the women with his laughter, Will quickly became the focus of their attention.

“Emily, I believe he will take his first steps soon,” said Joanna, beaming. “He has discovered if he balances while holding onto the furniture, he can let go with one hand. Of course, he is so pleased with himself that he bounces with glee and then drops to the floor.”

Emily laughed with her sister-in-law and commenced another round of kisses against Will’s neck causing him to squeal with delight. Like his mother, Will had soft brown eyes and his golden curls were already darkening, hinting at the chestnut brown color his mother and uncle shared.

“Are you going to walk, little man, and make our lives even more hectic as we chase you?”

“The outing must have been very good for you, Emily, for you seem almost giddy,” Joanna remarked.

• • •

Andrew’s presence at supper was a delightful surprise for David, Joanna’s husband. With the exception of Will, he had been the lone male at the table, and while the conversation was always lively, it often centered on more domestic arts with which he was unfamiliar.

“Andrew!” David boomed as he entered the candlelit dining room. He was tall and solidly built with blond hair that tumbled over his brow beneath which blue eyes smiled a welcome. His long strides took him across the room in just a few steps and he shook Andrew’s hand heartily. “At last, an ally to join me in verbal jousting with the women of the household.”

Andrew laughed and patted David on the back. “It looks to me as though you have been holding your own quite well, David.”

“I am barely holding on, Drew. They wear me down day after day. Soon I will be taking up embroidery and joining them for the evening gossip!”

“How you exaggerate, my husband!” Joanna countered. “Andrew, he enjoys the attention a single male always elicits from a group of women. And our conversation has been far more interesting than neighborhood gossip with all that is going on with the House of Burgesses.”

“What news from Williamsburg, Andrew?” David asked.

“George Mason continues to work on the Virginia Declaration of Rights calling for individual freedom, power vested in and derived from the people, elimination of the slave trade, and rejection of cruel and unusual punishment — ideas foreign to the suppression of Parliament.”

“I have read Thomas Paine’s
Common Sense
calling for independence from Great Britain. These ideas are both exciting and dangerous. Is it true that the British have evacuated Boston?” David asked.

“Indeed, and the British navy has relocated in Halifax, Canada,” Andrew replied.

Emily listened as the men continued to discuss the rebellion rampant in the colonies. Initially, it was difficult for her to hear others speak with such hatred of Great Britain for it had been her home until two years ago. After her father’s death, Jonathon Brentwood had been appointed guardian to her and Andrew as provided for in George Wentworth’s will. She had attempted to foil Jonathon’s plan to relocate them to Virginia, but found all of her resistance fading as she fell in love with him. Until she saw for herself the financial ruin the pronouncements of Parliament were causing in the colonies, she had been a loyal Tory. As she gradually recognized the dire conditions of many friends and neighbors, as well as the toll Parliament’s pronouncements were taking on Brentwood Plantation, she came to understand the patriot cause for which Jonathon worked so passionately.

She looked across the table at Deidre Manning whose blond hair blazed in the candlelight, her hazel eyes moving from Andrew to David, enrapt in their conversation.
As well she should be,
thought Emily
, for she lost everything to the British
. Deidre’s family had been lifelong friends of the Brentwoods, and she had grown up with Jonathon and Randy. Two weeks earlier she had arrived at Brentwood Manor looking disheveled and thin. She had mortgaged all she owned to the British and could not repay the debt. Her slaves had flown, some because of the invitation of the British to join their side and earn their freedom, others because there was no food and they were starving, as was Deidre. Having nowhere else to turn, she arrived at Brentwood Manor despite the trouble she had caused Emily.

Remembering her shock at Deidre’s appearance that night, Emily noted that she looked far healthier since her arrival, for due to David’s careful stewardship, Brentwood Plantation was still viable and had ample foodstores. But Deidre had not yet regained the voluptuous sensuality that she displayed wantonly many times in attempts to draw Jonathon from Emily. Aware that at some point Jonathon and Deidre had been lovers, Emily had been quite threatened by Deidre’s obvious charms, which she exhibited in dresses with breathtakingly low décolletage. One such example was the scarlet dress she had worn to Emily and Jonathon’s wedding when she kissed Jonathon so passionately in front of the guests that people were frozen in shocked silence. Deidre had vowed to win him back, but she seemed to have none of this fire within her now. She seemed defeated and grateful to Emily for having invited her to stay at Brentwood Manor. Joanna had been stunned at Emily’s largesse, but as mistress of the manor, Emily’s say was final. She was brought back to the conversation at Andrew’s words.

“Mason has included freedom of the press as well,” Andrew said.

“The Virginia Convention of Delegates is convening to determine the structure of our government. Who would have believed it?” David remarked as if to himself.

“Well, I had best set off if I am to return to Williamsburg tonight,” Andrew said.

“Andrew, when will I … when will you … will you be coming for a visit again soon?” Emily stammered.

“With this beautiful spring weather, I have no doubt that I shall return soon to escort you on another outing, Em,” he replied, winking at her.

Emily saw Joanna look from brother to sister, but no one else seemed to notice anything unusual about the exchange. Andrew rose, and bidding all a farewell, took his leave.