Tangled Betrayals (19 page)

Chapter
Forty-Two

Mary was amazed at the turn of events that had changed her life. Nettie had given her more than she’d ever given a thought to owning in her wildest dreams. Mary knew she needed to talk to Bitty about taking over the shop. Since Nettie had been so gracious to her, Mary was delighted she could do a good deed for Bitty, someone who like her, had no expectations of having more than just enough to live on.

“Bitty, please come to the back room. I wish to speak to you for a moment.”

“Miss Mary, is everything alright?” Bitty asked cautiously.

“Everything is wonderful, Bitty. Please have a seat. I have a business proposition for you.”

“A business proposition? I know very little about business, Miss Mary.”

“Truly, you under-estimate yourself, you
’ve been with me from the beginning. You have handled the books when I’ve been busy with alterations and customers and you’ve done a wonderful job doing so. I need to share with you that I’ve been blessed with receiving an inheritance from Nettie that entitles me to a home and some money. Since I’ve been blessed in such a wonderful way, I wish to pass my good fortune onto you.”

“To me? Wh
at do you mean? I’ve done nothing to earn special favors.”

“Aye, but you have. You
’ve worked hard and are in a difficult time in your life. I was once like you, employed in a dress shop with a very uncertain future. But Bitty, I’m willing to sell you this shop, over a ten year period. I’ll make the amount of the payment due each month to be reasonable enough that you can live very comfortably and still be able to pay for two hired workers to help you. In fact, you and the children can live upstairs, once I move out in the next few days.

“If you do as well as I think you will, I believe you can expand the store
, if you should wish and also accumulate a nice savings. That way, when your husband is able to return home from his confinement, he’ll have some time to chose where he wishes to find employment.”

“Oh, Miss Mary, words are not coming to mind
to express the feelings of gratitude I have for such a wonderful offer.”

“You don’t need words for me except
to say yes, you’ll accept.”

“I
’ve always dreamed of having a shop, yet, I was accepting of the fact it would take a miracle for that to happen. Now, you’ve given me this miracle. Thank you, Miss Mary, I won’t let you down.”

“I know that, Bitty. I
’ll be one of your very best customers! I’ve already made arrangements at the bank to have your name placed on a note to complete the deal. All you have to do is sign the agreement, which I feel you’ll find acceptable, and we’re in business, rather, you’re in business.”

Chapter Forty-
Three

Later in the day Mary went to the plantation to begin preparing a bedroom for her meager belongings. Clothes were one thing she had plenty of, furnishings were another story. However, she knew there’d be plenty of furnishings to choose from. Now, all she had to decide was what to keep and what to do with the furniture she didn’t plan to use.

Agnes greeted her at the door with a big hug. Mary could see she
’d been doing some cleaning due to the dirt on her apron, sleeves and even on her nose!

“Agnes, you should have waited for me before you started doing the heavy cleaning. You know I
’m more than capable of helping. You might want to wipe that smudge off your nose, too,” Mary suggested with a laugh.

“Miss Mary, your helping wouldn’t seem right. You
‘re now the owner of the plantation; you needn’t be bothered by household chores.”

“Oh dear, Agnes, we
’re not going to act any differently now than before, are we? The correct answer is, no we’re not, is that understood?” Mary didn’t give Agnes time to reply before she continued. “I’ve brought a few of the things I own and I’ll send Taylor back for the remainder of my things tomorrow. Now, what have you done so far and what’s left to do?”

“I
’ve finished the downstairs cleaning and placed Nettie’s personal items in a box for you to go through. I assumed you’d have me stay in the same bedroom downstairs I’d shared with Nettie. I also have some sandwiches prepared for lunch when you’re ready to eat.

“
I thought you might be coming here, today. Then, if you wish, I thought I’d go to work on the upstairs.”

“
We could go to work on the upstairs! My thoughts exactly! That is, lunch first and then we can see what’s in the upstairs bedrooms that Nettie has kept from everyone. Although, I hate to think of how many spiders and critters made their homes upstairs undisturbed. Agnes, you might hear me let out a good scream or two if I should see something moving.”

Agnes chuckled. “
Aye and we best cover our heads while we clean! I’d often offered to dust and sweep upstairs but Nettie wouldn’t allow me. She said someday the dust will get taken care of. I guess she was waiting for you to come along, Mary!”

After eating their lunch Mary changed into one of her older and very plain dresses. She borrowed an apron from Agnes
and wrapped her head in a bandana. She and Agnes were now ready to enter the first bedroom at the top of the stairs. Mary knew by the location of the door in the hallway, that the bedroom went back towards the front of the house similar to the library below. She assumed there’d be a fireplace above the one in the library and she wasn’t disappointed. The fireplace was an exact replica of the one downstairs. She’d have to have Taylor make sure the fireplace was still in working order before she chanced lighting a fire.

“I think this shall be my bedroom,” Mary said
, satisfied with the size of the room and the lovely fireplace. However, she saw the mattress was covered in dust, as was the furniture and the trunks and chests that dotted the room. Mary was certain no one had ever bothered to open the trunks and chests by the amount of dust coating them. They appeared to have been placed in the middle of the room and left there. Why would Nettie have left this room in this condition?

“Agnes, do you think Nettie ever wondered what these
trunks and chests held? And why are they just sitting in the middle of the room?”

“This is what I know, Miss Mary. When Nettie got word her husband had been lost at sea
, she had what was left of his belongings from his storage building he had in Baltimore, brought here. When they delivered them, she had them placed in the various rooms upstairs. She told me she never opened any of the trunks or chests. In fact, I believe, she never entered into their bedroom after the first night she learned of his passing. She chose to sleep in the smaller guest room just across the hall.

“After she closed his office in Baltimore, along with disbursing his things from the storage building, she closed the other rooms upstairs except for
her bedroom. Only after her accident, was I allowed to get some of her things from her room. Once I completed that task, only Taylor has been allowed upstairs to verify there were no leaks in the roof.”

Mary just shook her head in wonder.
“Strange, isn’t it? Well, first off, let’s remove this mattress and take it outdoors where we can beat the dust off before we tackle the remainder of the room.”

She
had Agnes bring them a bucket of warm water to dip their cleaning cloths in, as they took off the first layer of dust. They then took another damp cloth and gathered up the rest. After a couple of hours they had completed their cleaning of the tops of the dressers, trunks and chests. Then they swept the dust off the floor and mopped it clean. Finally the room was ready to be used!

“Are you as interested as I am as to
see what these trunks and chests hold?” Mary asked.

“Aye, I
’ve always held a curiosity of what Jackson had in the trunks and chests, I can hardly wait to see what we might find!”

Mary
decided to open the trunks first. She chose the most ornate trunk to see what it held. She was delighted to find materials of satin, velvet, and a mixture of wonderful calicos. Another ornate trunk held nothing but ladies nightgowns with matching robes. Nettie would have loved these, Mary thought. What a shame she never knew what they held.

“My
, my, Miss Mary, what lovely things!”

“Nettie should have enjoyed what Jackson had brought her instead of closing these rooms off. Jackson would have wanted her to have these things he collected
.” Mary said. “I guess we’ll never know the reason for Nettie choosing to leave things as they were, Agnes.”

Then Mary went over to the two plain
chests. These had been the most difficult to move. She was shocked to the core when she opened the first chest and saw nothing but diamond necklaces, bracelets, jewelry with rubies and emeralds adorning them and diamond tiaras.

“Miss Mary, is what I
’m seeing real?”

“I suspect it is, Agnes. I
’m almost afraid to open the second chest.” Without touching anything in the first chest, Mary opened the second chest and found it loaded with gold coins, the likes Mary or Agnes had never seen.

Mary quickly put the
chest lids down and felt the sweat upon her forehead. “My, I’m at a loss of words. Do you think Nettie had any idea what these chests held, Agnes?”

“I
’ve no clue. But this makes me wonder what kind of activity Jackson was involved in. Doesn’t it you? I mean, where did all those jewels and coins come from? In my way of thinking, only a pirate could have taken such bounty.”

“Maybe that
’s the reason he wanted Nettie to open the trunks and chests with him. The reason he kept them in the storage building. Yet, why would he put the valuable items in such plain chests? Of course, I guess that answer is obvious, if anyone had broken into his building, maybe they wouldn’t bother with something so plain. Do you agree with my thinking, Agnes?”

“
Aye, that’s the only thing that seems to make any sense.”

“We must clean out the closet and place these two
chests there for the time being, out of sight. Promise me you’ll not speak of what we have found to anyone.”

“You have my word, Mary. I fear to think what might happen if word got out we were in the possession of such items.”

Mary could only nod. She walked over to the window to clear her mind. What other secrets might they find as they continue to clean the rooms upstairs? What does the attic hold, if anything?
Oh, Nettie, what secrets did you keep?

Mary and Agnes
spent what was left of the afternoon cleaning out the closet which held nothing but a few dresses and some old blankets and linens. Mary knew they had no need of these items so she set them aside to be given to charity.

They
had to push the chests into the closet because they were too heavy for them to lift. Mary barely could close the closet door due to their size. At least they were out of sight. Once they brought the mattress back in, she and Agnes made up the bed with nice clean sheets and a comforter. They worked hard to erase the scratches in the wood floor where they had slid     the chests across. They were now barely noticeable.

The next day
, which great anticipation, Agnes and Mary tackled the next bedroom. This room held two twin beds, two dressers and two nightstands. The closet held several blankets and extra pillows and dust was everywhere. Again, the mattress had to be taken outside and beat with a broom. The dressers held fine table clothes and napkins. Agnes told Mary this was the bedroom Nettie used after Jackson died. But there was no more jewelry or coin found this day.

All the furniture
Mary had come across so far had been made out of walnut and was quite heavy. Beautiful lace runners were atop each dresser. Mary hoped they could be brought back to life, for they’d faded considerably due to age and neglect.

There were some old photos of
probable family members on top the dressers. What a shame that Agnes had no idea who those people were.

Mary asked Agnes to wash all the table linens and runners and place them downstairs. Mary placed the old pictures in a dresser drawer for now
, until she could bring herself to let them go.

In the next room Mary found where Nettie had created her nursery. A baby bed and cradle were set apart by a small dresser. In the dresser Mary found several knitted baby outfits
, booties, and blankets. This bedroom closet was empty. They thoroughly cleaned the room and left the baby things in the dresser drawer for the time being. Mary figured this dresser could be cleaned another day. She again regretted she’d never have any need for the beautiful baby items.

Two other bedrooms were completely empty.
They needed to wash the walls and the floors needed mopped. The last bedroom held a large bed and three plain trunks. Once they cleaned the mattress and floor, Mary opened the trunks. The first trunk held ivory carvings and small trinkets from Africa. The second trunk held beautiful china. Mary thought the china was possibly an eight piece setting but she couldn’t tell if anything was broke and she didn’t recognize the pattern. She decided she’d have Taylor take this trunk to the kitchen so it could be unpacked, cleaned and then determined what to do with the dishes. The third trunk held maps and ledgers from the ship.

Thank goodness the upstairs cleaning was finished except for the hallway. Mary and Agnes found themselves exhausted after each day of cleaning.
Now, the attic was the only part of the house left to be done.

Mary and Agnes
were relieved but disappointed to find the attic held only old furniture and a few trunks that held little value. The attic floor was made of oak planks and there was a nice, wide stairway to the widow’s walk. Mary found it odd that Jackson would put a window’s walk on a home that was unable to view the ocean. Mary carefully went up the old steps and walked around the top of the house. Mary found some loose boards and railings that she’d have Taylor fix as soon as he had some free time.

The view was spectacular
and Mary felt a sense of awe looking out to the land she now owned. She took a deep breath and for the first time allowed herself to realize how wealthy she truly was. “Oh Nettie, I owe you so much. I hope I do not disappoint you. I’ll try my best to make you proud,” Mary whispered out loud knowing no one could hear.

Mary felt a pull in her heart thinking about
England and Minnie. She prayed Minnie was doing well and her health was good. Maybe, someday, she’d go back to London and visit her dear friend. But for now, she must learn to run a plantation and fulfill her promise to Nettie.

Mary asked Agnes to see that all the bedrooms were
furnished and to have Taylor make any beds or dressers needed to complete the rooms. Mary and Agnes could pick up new sheets in town and Mary decided she and Agnes could make the quilts and comforters needed once they sorted through what they found.