The Wedding Gift (19 page)

“Ma’am, everything all right?”

“Yes, Bessie. Thank you.”

As she was helping me undress, she touched the areas where he had hurt me. “The skin ain’t broke no place this time, ma’am. Can I get you something from Miss Emmeline?”

“No, Bessie. That’s not necessary. Just light more candles and lamps in here and you can sleep in the adjoining room.”

Bessie folded her cot and left, and I read and wrote in my journal. There was no thought of rest because I assumed that he was going to arrive at any moment.

CHAPTER TEN

SARAH CAMPBELL

AS A LADY’S MAID, I WAS EXPECTED TO IMMEDIATELY be at my mistress’s side when she called for me or rang a bell. She did not, however, expect me to listen to conversations or witness events to which I was not a party. When I was eight years old and became Clarissa’s maid, I asked Bessie why Mrs. Allen cried frequently, and she said that Mr. Allen ill-treated his wife. I told my mother what Bessie said.

“Why did she tell you that? Good God. Bessie know better. You’re too young to be hearing them things, and if Mr. Allen knew you been told, I don’t even want to think about what he’d do.”

“But Mrs. Allen was crying, Mama. I was sad for her.”

“I know, baby. It makes me feel sad too. Lord know she ain’t got no reason to be good to you, but she is. But Bessie and me, we try to help her. Sarah, you ain’t said nothing to Clarissa about this, right?” Then she looked at me as if reading what was on my mind. “Sarah, you did tell Clarissa, didn’t you?”

“Mama, we were in the nursery when Mrs. Allen started crying. Then Clarissa sat on her lap and wiped her tears with a handkerchief. She stopped crying after that and she read to us.”

I also heard everything that transpired that night when Mrs. Allen and Clarissa told Mr. Allen that the wedding needed to be held earlier. I wanted to go to my family to tell them that we did not have two more years together, as we expected, but I could not go to my family then. Mrs. Allen told me that I could not leave Clarissa alone. If she woke and I was not there, Mrs. Allen would know about my absence. I had to wait until morning to leave. I was asleep when I heard Bessie.

“Sarah, get up. Sarah, Master want you to wake up Miss Clarissa and get her ready for dinner.”

I rubbed my eyes and stretched. “Dinner? I can’t believe I slept so late.”

“Sarah, come on. You ain’t got time to act like you the missus. Master Allen himself told me to have you get Miss Clarissa up.”

I remembered the events of the previous night. “Is my mother in the kitchen?”

“I don’t know. I ain’t been over there. Mrs. Allen just woke up, and I got to get back to her. Get up.”

“Yes, yes. I’m up. But, Bessie, I need to speak to my mother.”

“Talk to her when you go get water for Miss Clarissa to wash. And tell Miss Emmeline to make tea for Mrs. Allen and Miss Clarissa.”

Clarissa was awake. The windows were open and she was staring outside.

“Miss Clarissa, your father wants to see you at dinner. There’s some water in the pitcher. Why don’t you begin washing? I’ll go downstairs and get you hot water and some tea. Let me look at you.”

She unbuttoned her nightdress. Her throat was now red and blue.

“I’ll bring you something with a high collar.”

She did not answer me. She rose and went to wash.

I found my mother and Belle in the kitchen. “Mama, I need some tea and hot water for Mrs. Allen and Miss Clarissa, and, Mama, I need to speak with you, now. Have you seen Isaac?”

“Calm down, girl. There’s plenty of hot water. Make the tea. Isaac is gone since about three in the morning. I fixed him food to take with him. Master Allen sent him to Talladega. Baby, I know everything. Now go on, take care of Miss Clarissa. We’re going to talk later.”

When the Allens were having dinner, my mother, Belle, and I went to my mother’s cabin. As soon as we were inside, I started crying.

“Why are you crying, Sarah? Mama, why is she crying?” asked Belle.

My mother put her arm around me. “Miss Clarissa is getting married next month,” she said.

“Why?”

“You don’t need to know that. It better if you don’t know,” my mother said.

“Oh, no…that means that Sarah and Isaac is leaving us.”

“Yes, and five more from the Hall, but not you and me. But they’re only going to Talladega. Sarah, look at me. You won’t be that far, and you know that Miss Clarissa is going to be coming back to visit all the time and you’ll come with her.”

“But I’ve never been away from you, Mama, and I don’t want to leave Belle and the children.”

Belle was crying now. “Mama, there ain’t no way out of it, is there? Sarah’s got to go with Miss Clarissa, right?”

“Yes, you know that’s why they picked Sarah to be her maid, so one day when Miss Clarissa got married she didn’t have to go to her husband’s house by herself. Sarah, Mr. Allen’s not going to break you and Isaac up. At least you’re going to be with your husband.”

My mother could not say anything to console me. I wanted to tell her and Belle that Clarissa claimed that Mr. Cromwell violated her. I thought about that day when we were in Talladega. I was sitting in the garden, out of view of the Cromwells and Clarissa, in the event that she needed something from her guestroom.

“What a perfect day for a ride. This is the type of day that Papa and I take our horses and go as far as the hills,” Clarissa said.

“It is indeed a lovely day, not too warm but not too cool. If my gout were not flaring, I would say that I would join you,” Mrs. Cromwell said.

“Well, Mr. Cromwell, shall you and I ride?”

“Yes, that is a splendid idea. You need not go far, Julius. Show Miss Allen the plantation.”

“Yes, Mother. I can do that.”

Clarissa called me and we went upstairs. “The blue riding costume and the matching hat, Sarah.”

When she returned from her ride that day, the sun had begun to set and she wanted to rest before supper. I went to the kitchen for hot water so she could wash and helped her out of her clothing when I returned. Her face was flushed. When I was brushing her hair, I had to remove a few leaves of dried grass.

“Miss Clarissa, why do you have grass in your hair?”

“Oh, can you believe it? I fell off the horse.”

“You? You’ve been riding since you were how old, five?”

“Well, this was not my Coty—this mare was spirited.”

“Are you all right?”

“Absolutely, I feel wonderful.”

Mrs. Allen summoned my mother, Belle, and me to Mrs. Allen’s rooms, where she, Clarissa, Bessie, and Dottie were waiting.

“Our dear bride-to-be has decided that she does not want to wait two years to be a married lady. She will be married early next month. The festivities, by necessity, will not be as elaborate as we initially planned. We will need everyone’s effort to ensure that the wedding is lovely, and Mr. Allen expects that we will all work hard. Dottie is going to alter my wedding dress to fit Clarissa, but she will need your assistance in that task.”

From that day until Clarissa was married, in addition to our normal responsibilities, we did nothing else but prepare for her wedding. Mr. Allen brought in ten field hands to assist, but as they knew nothing about housework, they were of more help to the gardeners and yard people.

My mother and I did our best not to burden Belle because she had recently given birth to my nephew, Edward. Belle’s life had changed in another momentous way because my mother had persuaded Mr. Allen to purchase Belle’s abroad man, Zeke, who was now living with Belle in her cabin. I was thrilled that my sister was happy. While she still drifted into her own dark world of the past sometimes, growing quiet, sullen even, she often laughed now as she used to before she was sold. Zeke was a good father to Emmie and Ruby, which was a relief to my mother.

When Isaac returned from Talladega, I spoke to him about the recent events. “Did anyone tell you the purpose of your travel to Talladega?”

“No, the overseer just told me to take Mr. Allen’s best horse and come back here as fast as I could, so I figure it’s something important.”

“Mr. Allen wants Clarissa to be married next month. Your letter was an invitation to the Cromwells to come here on Friday.”

“Why? Why do they want her to get married so soon? I thought she wasn’t getting married for two years or something.”

I lowered my voice, even though we were in our cabin and the door and shutters were closed. “You can’t tell anyone, Isaac, and I mean it. Mama doesn’t even want Belle to know. Clarissa is expecting.”

“I don’t believe it. Miss Clarissa? Sarah, who told you that?”

“I was in the room next to Clarissa’s bedroom when she and Mrs. Allen told Mr. Allen.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I know what I heard. That’s why they sent for the Cromwells. They’re going to offer them more money and slaves, including us, for her dowry, so he marries her next month now that she’s expecting his baby.”

“Miss Clarissa said the baby is Mr. Cromwell’s, after all the time she spent visiting Mr. Evans in Montgomery?”

“Yes, and they believed her. She told her parents that it was against her will, but when we were in Talladega, she asked Mr. Cromwell to take her riding. And when she came back, she was happy and said that she felt wonderful. Oh, and there were dried leaves in her hair.”

“You said that Mr. Allen is going to let me go to Talladega, that he’s not going to separate us?”

“No, that’s the only good thing about all of this.”

The next week my mother and I went into town for our weekly errands. Johnny, our usual driver, did not take us. When we had been to all the merchants who ordered goods from abroad for the Allens, my mother took a lantern and told the driver that we had something else to do. She asked him to wait for us by the square. She and I walked down an unlit path and arrived at a shop with a sign on the door that said “Adams’ Bespoke Tailors.” My mother knocked and a well-dressed man invited us in.

“Good evening, Miss Emmeline. Is this Sarah? Welcome.”

“Sarah, this is Mr. Adams.”

I must have appeared confused.

“Yes, Sarah, this is my business.”

He closed the shutters and locked the door and we went to an area in the rear of the shop, where he showed us a dress.