The Abolitionist’s Secret (13 page)

Our guests?
Those two little words told David all he needed to know. Blanche had already taken over for his mother, in her mind, at least.

“You mean, Heather’s and my guests, don’t you, Blanche?” David’s temper, which had been coiled since his return to Bellewood, finally unleashed. “Did you see her inside earlier, making everyone feel at home and watching to be certain they got enough to eat and drink? That’s more than either you or I did today. We’ve been thinking only of ourselves. I think Heather has comported herself as more of a true southern belle than you have today. At least she’s not trying to steal a man away from his intended. Please don’t show disrespect to her. Where’s that gracious southern charm you are known for?”

Blanche sputtered at his words, and stood up from his mother’s chair. “I should not be the one accused of stealing a man away from his intended, David. You know you were meant for me. She’s the one who is the thief.” She turned on her heel and rapidly walked away.

David sighed. He had a feeling that the conversation with Blanche was not over, but today was not the day to finish it. He stood and walked back into the house to thank his guests for coming, and then to be alone with his mother for the reading of his father’s will.

David took his place at the door beside Heather to thank people for coming to the service. Blanche made a beeline for Susan Whitman.

“You told me this was nothing serious,” she hissed at Susan as her light brown eyes blazed. “That the northern strumpet would be gone by now.”

Susan reached up and patted a wan, stray hair back into place on Blanche’s head. “There, there, my dear. All will be fine. She may have delayed her departure for a couple of days and I’ve let her get away with it, since I’ve been so taken up with making funeral arrangements, but I have a plan. Young Miss Fitzpatrick may think she’s in charge here, judging from the way she’s been acting this afternoon. But you and I both know that in the south, we honor tradition above all else. And tradition dictates that a son must wait one year after his father’s death to marry. I’m certain her parents won’t allow her to stay here in an unwed state for an entire year, so she’ll head back home soon. That’s when we can begin to convince David he’s made a horrible and foolish mistake.”

Blanche gave Susan an appraising look. “That is a very clever plan. I hadn’t thought of the issue of propriety following a death, but you are so right. A year’s observance of the death of his father will signal the end to that relationship. I can’t wait to see the look on Miss Fitzpatrick’s face when you announce that we must follow the rule and that she must return to New York to wait out the year. She’ll be on the next train home and our lives can get back to normal.” Blanche clapped her hands together in glee.

“You and I have been planning your future with one of my sons ever since you could talk. It’s a pity Jacob died, but David will do for you just as well. He threw his father and me for a while when he decided to enlist in the Army, but it was a small bump in the road we carved out for you and him. He’s sown his wild oats. It’s now time for him to settle down to life on the plantation. We will not let a mere northern woman get in the way of those plans. Your rightful place all along has been at the head of Bellewood manor, and you will live here with David and me for the rest of our days. If I can’t pull this off, I have no right to call myself a southerner.” Susan’s eyes gleamed.

“I’ll tell David this afternoon of the one-year delay in his plans to marry. Miss Fitzpatrick will return to New York tomorrow, and we’ll all get back to the proper running of this plantation. You’ll have a full year to commiserate with David on the loss of his first love, since I’m certain she won’t wait an entire year for him. And you can make yourself available to him, in every sense of the word.”

Susan glanced up at the plain woman. “I’m counting on you to make David fall in love with you. Don’t let me down. I can fix a lot of things that have gone wrong here, but I can’t make David love you. You’ll have to pull out every trick in your book to do that.” She patted Blanche on the shoulder. “I’m certain that underneath this proper exterior beats the heart of a true wanton. Now’s the time to bring her to the surface. I’m sure David can rectify all of the mistakes Henry made with the running of this plantation and that we can live here together forever.”

Blanche glanced at her mentor. “David will fall in love with me, once I give him a soft shoulder to cry on over the loss of his lady fair.”

Susan replied, “He told me that as soon as he takes possession of the combination to the wall safe after the will is read, he’s going to give Heather his grandmother’s ring. The ring that was always meant for you, my dear. I won’t let that happen. It will never find its way to her finger. The ring is too valuable, and too sentimental, to be given away frivolously. It will be a perfect time to explain about the proper protocol after a funeral.”

“I can’t wait to see how he responds when he hears of the year’s delay. And to see Miss Fitzpatrick packed off for home to wait out the time. This will be so much fun!” Blanche moistened her lips, which stretched over her slightly buck teeth, and rubbed her hands together.

• • •

“Isn’t that just typical?” Susan Whitman exclaimed with a huff after the will was read. “I give the man the best years of my life and he gives me nothing.” She got to her feet and began pacing around the room, her blonde ringlets bouncing with each step.

David turned to stare in surprise at his mother’s outburst. “He gave you the best years of his life, too, Mother, and a good quality of life here at Bellewood all those years. But, do these arrangements come as a surprise to you?” David asked. “Did you and Father not talk about what would happen upon his demise?”

“I paid attention to parts of his plan, surely.” Susan’s gaze ricocheted from her son to the attorney in the room. “Your father and I had no secrets from each other. But I found most of his conversation about what was to come tedious beyond belief. We discussed your taking over of the plantation prior to Henry’s death, and I was in full agreement that the acreage should be yours to deal with. However, your father knew how desperately I wanted to move to Charleston to be near my sister, but yet he did not see fit to include a monthly stipend for me so I could accomplish my desire. I can’t move to Charleston, or anywhere else, without money. Now, I’ll need to stay here at Bellewood with you and Blanche.”

David groaned internally before he said, “You mean, me and Heather, don’t you, Mother? I’ll have to take a closer look at Father’s accounting ledgers, but typically, haven’t we always been short on funds until the cotton is harvested in September? It’s hard to pay someone monthly if there’s no money to be had.”

“There is money aplenty. Your father was notoriously stingy, that’s all.”

“I’ll look into it, Mother. There’s no need to cause a scene right now.” He nodded for the attorney, Mr. Sizemore, to continue reading the will.

Mr. Sizemore cleared his throat before continuing. “Contrary to what you believe, Mrs. Whitman, this estate is heavily mortgaged, and your husband was quite low on funds. His wish was to hold on to the plantation long enough for the next generation to do with it what they wanted. But, David, even though it’s now under your control, you are walking into a mess, to put it succinctly. I’ll be happy to help you with the ledgers, but I can tell you now, it will not be easy to navigate your way out of this disaster, even with a bumper crop of cotton in the fall.” Mr. Sizemore completed the reading of the will, which included the dispensation of small tokens to some of the more favored slaves, and then began to gather up his papers and supplies.

David rose from his seat, shook hands with the elderly gentleman who had been a good friend to his father, and escorted the man from the room.

Susan was still in the study when David returned. He glanced at her briefly and then strode with purpose toward the safe his father had installed years ago in the wall of the room. He looked at the paper in his hand that included the lock’s combination and turned the dial. As the safe swung open, he riveted his gaze onto his mother.

“Come take a look, Mother. There is no big pile of money stashed away.” David rifled through the contents of the safe. “Just a few dollars, some of the notes Mr. Sizemore mentioned which are loans against the land and Grandmother’s ring.” He took the ring’s box from the safe and reverently opened it.

“What are you doing with the ring?”

David glanced over at his mother, and noticed her scowl. “You know exactly what I’m doing. I told you Father specifically said I was to use this ring to seal my engagement to Heather. I’m performing one of his last requests.”

Susan stood and moved to her son’s side. She put her hands around the ring box. “She cannot have this, or any other, family ring, David. That strumpet will never be a part of this family.”

David wrestled the ring box from his mother’s grasp as he fastened his gaze on her. “Heather is no strumpet, Mother, and I’ll not abide you disrespecting her any longer. Your distaste of her grows wearisome. She will have this ring, and she will be part of this family before the fall harvest, whether you like it or not. Accept that fact, Mother. Life will be so much easier if you do.”

Susan drew in a sharp breath. “Before the fall harvest? Are you mad? David, you know the proper time for mourning your father is one year. I will not allow you to break with tradition and marry before the designated time is up. I’ll not hear of a marriage until next spring, at the earliest.” She stamped her foot for emphasis.

David paused. Hesitant for the first time since he laid his father to rest, he allowed her words to sink into his brain. His mother brought up a good point. It would be exceedingly improper to marry before the year’s observance of his father’s death. But to wait for twelve months meant he would have to send Heather back to New York and stay here at Bellewood with just his mother and Blanche for company. His father’s words came back to haunt him. “Don’t make the same mistakes I did. Sell this land and follow your dream.” Now it seemed that his death was getting in the way of David being able to follow his father’s wise advice.

Hours later, bleary-eyed, David brought Heather into the study and closed the door. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and leaned in for a kiss. She sensed his pain and frustration as he rested his forehead against hers.

“It’s been a long, emotional day for you, hasn’t it?” She reached up to soothe the furrow in his brow.

“More than you know,” he replied. “I have something for you, but first I have some bad news and some worse news, I’m afraid, my love.”

Heather looked up into his tired eyes, and smoothed away a stray lock of hair from his brow. “I suggest we start with the gift, then and leave the bad news for last.” She smiled at him as they took a seat on the small couch in the room.

He pulled the ring box from his pocket and opened it to show her the heirloom. He smiled at her intake of breath. It was a gorgeous diamond ring, surrounded by sapphire stones and encircled by a band of gold. She reached out to touch it with one finger and looked up at him, her expression one of delight.

“This is yours, and I hope it was worth the wait.”

“It’s lovely, David. Of course, it was worth waiting for. I adore it. Will you place it on my finger?”

“I would love to, but first I must tell you my news. It may alter things.”

“Nothing will alter my love for you, David, you know that.”

“You have stood up to my mother quite well in this last week. You haven’t said anything to me, but I know she’s been brutal with you.”

Heather smiled. “She has said some very nasty things to me, but I have discovered I’m much stronger than I ever thought. She makes me so mad when she begins to demean you, I just can’t help myself. Every time she calls your character into question, my spine becomes like a ramrod. I never knew that side of myself before.”

David took her hand and turned it to kiss her wrist. He let out a sigh before he began. “Thank you for defending me against my mother. She always saw Jacob at the helm of this estate, not me. As did I. He was the one who lived and breathed Bellewood, and would have made this place into one of the finest plantations in the south. Fate got in Mother’s way by sending Jacob to an early death, and she’s not a happy woman. I would love nothing better than to give you this ring, get married right away, and take off out west to begin our lives together. Our place, in my head, at least, has never been here at Bellewood.”

Heather’s gaze took in his distraught look. She took a wild guess at the problem. “But that can’t happen anytime soon, can it?”

“I’m afraid not. Mother reminded me that it is accepted practice to mourn for a year after the passing of a parent, and I can’t marry during that time.”

Heather’s hands twisted in her lap. She caught her lower lip with her teeth as her brain scrambled for a way out of this maze. “So your mother will win this battle for now. It would be most improper for me to stay here for a year without being married to you. I’ll need to return to New York.”

“Yes, I’m well aware that we can’t reside under the same roof without marriage. But hear me out first before you board a train heading north. I have come up with a plan that may suffice.”

Heather put her arms around David again, and kissed his lips. “Oh, David, I don’t want to leave you with your mother and Blanche. They’ll turn you against me, for sure, given a year. I’m willing to listen to any plan you may have.”

David indulged himself for a moment in Heather’s nearness, kissing her with a passion he hadn’t yet shown. “I don’t want you to leave, either. I don’t know how I’ll survive here if you go. Father had to let our overseer go last year, as he had no money to pay the man. That has a lot to do with why he got so ill so quickly. He was working himself into the ground, trying to run the plantation, and oversee all the slaves at the same time.”

David’s eyes caught Heather’s and he wiped a tear from her face. She looked up at him. “Your father was such a good and gentle man. I miss him already, as I’m sure you do.”