MY THEODOSIA (8 page)

When the party dispersed at one, the dancers were disappointed, but the card-players had had enough. The du Pont brothers had won nearly a hundred dollars at loo, and were well pleased.

Hamilton, under his wife's minatory eye, had filled in at a whist table, outwardly courteous and inwardly seething. His losses were insignificant, yet, even had he won as much as the du Ponts, he would not have enjoyed the evening. He might have wrested a twisted pleasure from playing against Burr; it would at least have kept him from boredom. But Burr never gambled. One of his maddening affectations, Hamilton considered it. A refusal to risk paltry sums of money when he delighted in risking other people's fortunes—more than their fortunes, their ideals.

Hamilton hurried his wife and daughter's departure, cutting short their polite farewells.

The others followed in a leisurely manner. There were
pretty speeches praising the food, the wine, the music, and felicitating Theodosia again upon her birthday.

She stood beside her father in the great hallway, and many of the guests were struck by the resemblance between them. The brilliance of their smiles that uncovered identical rows of perfect white teeth, a brilliance that, though it was not entirely spontaneous, yet had a heart-warming quality which sprang from an interest in people and a desire to please them.

'It has given us the greatest pleasure to have you with us,' said Aaron, kissing Mrs. Jay's hand.

'Indeed, ma'am, we have been much honored by your company,' said Theo, and her voice, with its caressing breathless quality, sounded as much like her father's as it is possible for the voice of a seventeen-year-old girl to resemble that of a man of forty-four.

Alexis opened and shut the front door a score of times, until Theo, thinking them all gone, at last turned with a tired and happy sigh to Aaron.

It was then that she saw with exasperation that Joseph Alston still remained, half-hidden by the shadow of the stairs.

Aaron also discovered their lingering guest and advanced to him. 'I trust you have enjoyed your evening, Mr. Alston. It was kind of you to come. Perhaps you will place me still further in your debt and join me in a nightcap?'

Alston shook his head. 'I—I must be going'. But he didn't go, he stared at Theodosia instead.

Aaron laughed. 'At any rate, sir, we shall see you tomorrow. We shall expect you in the forenoon. My dear'—he placed a warning hand on his daughter's arm—'Mr. Alston is not comfortable at the Phoenix Tavern, and he has most graciously consented to stay here with us during his sojourn in New York.'

Theo barely controlled a gasp of dismay, and Aaron's hand increased its pressure. 'That will be—be delightful,' she managed, after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

When the young man finally took his abrupt, ungraceful leave, she did not raise her eyes or respond to his words except by a vague smile.

Father and daughter walked past the disordered drawingroom to the library, as was their nightly custom. Natalie had long since retired. Aaron settled himself in his favorite high-backed chair, and Theo curled up on the footstool beside him.

'Well, puss—did you enjoy yourself? I found the evening most entertaining.'

She hesitated. 'Yes—it was fun. Especially the dancing. But——Oh, Papa, why do you show to Mr. Alston so much attention? I don't like him, I find him ill-bred and'—she frowned, idly tracing a whorl on the brocade pattern of her stool as she searched for the word—'and monstrous impulsive.'

Aaron raised quizzical eyebrows, reached for his snuffbox and inhaled delicately. 'Oh?' He waited for her to continue, but she sat silent, her small face troubled.

He leaned back and crossed his legs. 'Alston is one of the richest young men in the country, and would have great political power in the South if he knew how to use it. What did he do that was so monstrous impulsive?'

'I promised, in a way, not to tell you, because I knew you'd be very angry, and he was sorry afterward. But it is impossible to have him staying here. I never wish to see him again.'

He was seized by a rare burst of irritation at her. 'You are being excessively childish, Theodosia. Spare me these maidenly flutterings. You mean, I suppose, that he kissed you, or something like that.'

She flushed, sharply hurt by his tone and bewildered by annoyance directed at her when she had expected it to be all for Alston.

'Well, is a kiss anything to make such a pother about?' he Continued, more
gently.

Her mouth quivered. 'Oh, but it was horrid! He forced himself on me, he was like a—a beast.'

'Like a beast. I see. Men often are; it's most reprehensible. And what did you do?'

'I hit him as hard as I could until he let me go, and——'

She swallowed, stared unbelieving at her father's face. He was laughing, and it shocked her as much as though he had thrown the candelabra at her. Her hands flew to her throat, she crumpled into a small sobbing heap.

She felt a soft touch on her hair, heard Aaron's voice at its sweetest, infinitely tender. 'Poor baby, you're tired. You've lost your sense of proportion, my Theo. You must go to bed now. All shadows seem longer by candlelight. But first listen to me.'

He put his arm around her, wiped her tears with his own handkerchief. She rested her averted face against his knee.

He was silent for a moment, considering the best way of dealing with her.

He loved her. She was the only person that he did love, not even excepting himself. But she must do as he thought best. He was, now more than ever, convinced that an alliance with Alston would be of the greatest advantage. Ready money was imperative. Without something tangible with which to quiet his creditors, bankruptcy was inevitable. Public disgrace and the ruin of his ambitions. Disgrace for Theo, too, torn as he would be by the whole pack of envious ravening wolves. They suspected his financial desperation
now, but they had no certainty. There was fortunately a very wide gulf between suspicion and certainty.

Alston was a heaven-sent answer. Not heaven-sent in the conventional meaning—Aaron had scant interest in a hypothetical paradise—but one of those remarkable opportunities briefly dangled by Fate which may be snatched by the shrewd and converted into great profit.

Alston had money and political influence, he was manageable, and to cap it all had obviously become enamored of Theo with an even more convenient speed than Aaron had dared anticipate.

That the child had been shocked or revolted by whatever love-making had occurred was a trifle unfortunate. But on the whole it did not displease him. He did not quite admit it to himself, but he would have opposed any match with a man whom she passionately desired. He had no intention of transferring her devotion from himself to another. Her worship was the sweetest thing in life. Still, with Alston, there would be no danger of that.

Theodosia's prejudice must be overcome. He did not wish to force her. He considered utter frankness and discarded it. That would be a last resort. Propinquity would do it. The coming weeks with Alston under the same roof. Propinquity, and very subtle pressure.

Theo, understanding nothing of his thoughts, waited submissively for him to speak, thinking that he had not at first realized the enormity of Mr. Alston's offense and was now reconsidering.

She was, therefore, taken aback to hear Aaron say lightly: 'I think, my dear, we must forgive Mr. Alston his indiscretion. I am sure that he will not repeat it. You mustn't be a priggish little miss. Men are not angels. I find this young man admirable. You will respect my judgment as you always do.'

She raised her head, mutely questioning him. She could not read his smiling face, nor did she understand, but she felt a shadow between them, blotting out their closeness.

Aaron rose abruptly, 'Come, Theo. You look like Lady Macbeth. What is there so tragic in the visit of a pleasant young man? Most young ladies would consider it cause for joy. Anyway, remember that, whatever your inner megrims and vapors may be, I wish you to be extremely nice to him'. She, too, rose from her stool, lifting her round chin in a gesture that had unconscious dignity. 'I trust that I shall never be found wanting in hospitality to your guests.'

She gave him a quivering little smile and moved slowly up the stairs.

T
HE
following morning Joseph Alston swirled up to the front steps with an imposing equipage; his private cabriolet drawn by two perfectly matched bays, followed by a hired coachee crammed with luggage and three slaves: his bodyservant Cato, a cook, and a groom. These were Gullahs ; their skins had a bluish hue; they wore strips of scimitarshaped hair before their ears; and their unusually tall bodies looked picturesque in the Alston livery of red and green. They spoke a dialect unintelligible to the Richmond Hill negroes, who received these foreigners with suspicion and curiosity.

Aaron greeted Alston at the door, ushered him directly to the library, and rolled the traveling decanters over to him invitingly. The young planter relaxed under the influences of cognac and Aaron's concentrated charm. After the requisite interchange of amenities, Aaron brought the conversation deftly around to Theodosia.

'She admires you tremendously—thinks you vastly handsome, you know.'

Joseph's jaw dropped; he spilled some of his cognac. 'I fear you are mistaken, sir; she finds me intolerable. I—she—I'm afraid she has cause.'

Aaron effaced his smile. 'Cause, sir? What do you mean by cause?'

Joseph cleared his throat, while a painful red mounted to his close curls. He had not meant to say so much. He was deeply ashamed of his actions in the garden, all the more so as Theodosia now seemed to him a bright and dazzling spirit, infinitely desirable. He had, besides, only a hazy memory of what had actually occurred. He remembered the mood, but not the details.

Aaron saw that the young man needed a bit of direction and summoned a portentous frown. 'Surely Mr. Joseph Alston of South Carolina has made no overtures to my daughter of which he is ashamed.'

Joseph shifted uneasily in his seat. His easygoing father had early promulgated a philosophy for rearing boys. 'Let them make their own mistakes, and continually exercise their own judgment; they will learn by experience'. This system had worked very well to date as Joseph had never been thwarted or crossed. At Princeton, when he tired of the university's discipline, he had left at once, and studied law for a few months until he wearied of that, too, and amused himself by traveling. His father had not objected. Indeed, Joseph was totally unused to criticism, even implied, as Colonel Burr's remark had been. It worried and yet impressed him.

'Well, sir?' Aaron's eyes were fixed on his embarrassed face with an unswerving glitter.

'I have the greatest respect for Miss Burr, sir. She is the
most charming of her sex. I admire her profoundly'. He brought it out at last.

Aaron withdrew his hypnotic gaze, allowing his lips to part in a slow smile. 'I thought as much, my dear sir. Theodosia has had many suitors. She is very young, as you know, and I would be loath to part with her. Still, I will be frank with you as you have been with me. Your avowal does not displease me.'

Joseph was thunderstruck. He choked over his brandy, muttering, 'You do me great honor, Colonel'. For Burr's meaning was unmistakable, tantamount to approval of a suit for his daughter's hand. A momentary panic seized Joseph. Surely he had not implied anything as decisive as that. Or had he? It must be that Theodosia had, after all, given her father a full account of that miserable episode in the garden. That would explain it.

His slow-moving mind considered this startling development and his panic subsided. He found the idea not unpleas-mg. She attracted him strongly. She was delightfully pretty and well educated. A trifle free in her manners, perhaps—witness her peculiar complacence before the lewd pictures; still, that could be checked. Her father was famous and likely to achieve even greater political prominence. Moreover, her fortune was obviously ample. His family would be distressed at his marrying a Yankee, but could have no other objections to the match.

Aaron watched the other's heavy face clear and permitted himself an inward chuckle. Making up people's minds for them proved ever an amusing occupation. With different mentalities one used differing tactics. In this case he had been quite right to feel that finesse was unnecessary, a waste of time. The ground had been well, though unconsciously, prepared by Theodosia.

He refilled Joseph's brandy glass. 'A toast to my daughter!'

Both men rose and drank. Joseph frowned, reverting to a previous thought.

'But she doesn't like me, Colonel Burr. She avoids me.'

'Pish, my dear fellow! Women are like that. You must go slowly. Recite poetry to her; they love it. Sing duets with her, give her posies, gaze at her with your heart in your eyes—but respectfully. Don't frighten her.'

Joseph looked blank, and Aaron went on. 'Do exactly as I say, and you will see. Defer to her opinion. Forgive me for saying so, but you are a thought arrogant in your manner. Women like compliments and pretty speeches.'

Joseph considered each of these recommendations and finally nodded. 'I will endeavor to do as you suggest.'

Aaron clapped him on the shoulder.'Tis a pity he's so deadly serious, he thought. Theo must learn to liven him up a bit. Yet he felt for his intended son-in-law a certain contemptuous affection, for already Joseph was become a part of the Burrs.

After a few days Theo admitted to herself that Mr. Alston improved on acquaintance, and she relaxed her hostility. She began by treating him with frosty dignity which gradually thawed to tolerance. For Joseph in turn treated her as though she were one of Baron Stiegel's blown-glass figurines and might break at a touch. They never referred to the scene in the garden, and its memory dimmed.

Joseph, having had it pointed out to him, realized that he was very much in love with her, but his native indolence combined with nervousness to prevent him from making any specific overtures as yet.

The summer days passed agreeably and Theo grew used to his constant companionship. They rode much together over the sand hills and through the woods of Manhattan Island.
Joseph rode well, and felt at his best on a horse where his bulk and awkwardness were less noticeable.