The Wedding Gift (21 page)

“Wake up, darling. Do you intend to sleep the entire day?” He smelled of shaving cream. The sun through the window indicated that I had slept quite late.

“Bessie, come help your mistress to rise.”

My maid entered and curtsied. “Afternoon, Mr. Allen. Afternoon, ma’am.”

“Bessie, wherever did you get that lovely frock?”

“Sir?”

“Run and tell Sarah to make her mistress rise and shine, and she is to tell her mistress to give God thanks for a beautiful day and that I expect to see her at dinner. Then return here to attend to my darling wife.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Theodora, my one and only love, I trust you slept well and that you forgive me for my conduct last night. You do know that you and Clarissa are my dearest possessions. Do not pout, sweetheart. It does not become you.

“I have written to Mr. Cromwell, the elder, and sent Isaac to deliver the letter. He should arrive in Talladega by tonight. I have invited them to be here this Friday, which will provide us an opportunity to ensure that our version of the incident is consistent. I have thought about what we will say to them. We will admit that she is expecting, and I will offer them, in addition to the previously agreed upon sum of money, Isaac and six house servants, including Sarah. In addition, I will give them twenty field hands, but only upon the birth of the child and Julius’s written acknowledgment to me that the child is his.”

His plot did not seem logical. “If he is so wealthy, why would he be so easily seduced by your offer?”

“Because, on the open market, he could get $2,000 for Isaac, $1,500 for Sarah, $1,000 each for the five house servants, and $800 for each of the twenty field hands, $24,500 is not a sum of money at which anyone would scoff. And would they want it to be known that Julius refused to marry Clarissa after ruining her?”

“I don’t know what we’ll do if you are not correct.”

“Then you have an incentive to ensure that you and Clarissa put on your best performances, do you not think so?”

Isaac returned from Talladega with a letter from the elder Mr. Cromwell stating that he, his wife, and son accepted Cornelius’s invitation and they would be at Allen Estates by Friday evening. My husband told me to speak to Emmeline and impress upon her that all domestic arrangements had to be flawless.

“And I want Sarah to be one of the servers at all the meals and teas.”

When I told Clarissa that the Cromwells were coming, she was not at all perturbed. “Puppet, I am glad that you are tranquil.”

“I’ll do what I have to do to ensure that my child is born in wedlock.”

“Your father wants to discuss with us tonight what we will say to Mrs. Cromwell.”

“But we already spoke about this.”

“I know, darling, but he wants to be certain that the three of us state one version of the plan. Clarissa, do you understand that this is probably the most important argument you will ever make in your life?”

“Yes, Mama, I do.”

After supper, during which my husband drank only one glass of wine, we went to the library.

“You will confess to the mother that you are expecting. You will cry and tell her you know that you and Julius acted imprudently, but that it was a foolish mistake by two young people in love. Theodora, you will say that you want your grandchild to be born in wedlock and that he should not be penalized by his parents’ error.

“Mrs. Cromwell will not likely become involved in the financial aspect of the marriage, but if she does ask you, tell her that I am prepared to be very generous, that I will give her son six house servants and a highly valued coachman. Additionally, upon the birth of my grandson, I will give to Julius twenty young field hands.” He paused when he saw the look on his daughter’s face. “Yes, Clarissa?”

“Papa, what if…they don’t agree?”

“The most difficult part was getting them here quickly. Mr. Cromwell, the elder, wants to expand his plantation, for which he needs more field hands, and his shipping concerns in Mobile, for which he needs more capital. I expect that he will ask for money and more than twenty field hands, and I am prepared to grant him both. You do not need to know the details, but he and I have been involved in negotiations whereby I will invest in his shipping enterprises. I know that he needs my capital because my agents have inspected his ledgers and concluded that the shipping company is not performing as well as he claims.”

The Cromwells arrived late Friday night. On Saturday afternoon, after dinner, the gentlemen went to my husband’s office and the ladies to the library.

“Mrs. Cromwell, this is extremely difficult for me, as a mother….”

“Yes, Mrs. Allen?”

“Sometimes our children do not conduct themselves in ways that are consistent with their upbringing. Clarissa and your son, they….”

“Mama, please, permit me to…Mrs. Cromwell, what Mama is trying to say is that….” Clarissa closed her eyes and dabbed them with her handkerchief.

“What is it, dear?”

“I’m so ashamed, Mrs. Cromwell. Julius…he…he took my honor.” Clarissa now cried and put her head down.

“Oh dear. Are you saying that you and my son…?”

“We were both at fault, Mrs. Cromwell. I should have insisted on not riding alone with him. But please, please do not punish your future grandson because of what Julius and I did. Please, Mrs. Cromwell.”

“Oh…you are expecting? So that is why we were invited here, to consent to a much earlier wedding date.”

“Yes, Mrs. Cromwell,” I said.

“Come here, you little angel. Of course I agree. I would never permit my grandson to be born out of wedlock.”

Mrs. Cromwell kissed Clarissa then and they embraced.

“I am so relieved, Mrs. Cromwell. Clarissa, it is a blessing that you will have Mrs. Cromwell as your mother-in-law.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Allen. You are gracious. Let us pray that the gentlemen will arrive at the same conclusion.”

We spoke at length about the wedding and agreed that there would be no honey-month, given that Clarissa was expecting. Mrs. Cromwell reminded us that the new home would not be completed until the following year and that Julius and Clarissa would initially have to live with his parents. Mr. Cromwell, Julius, and Cornelius, who were all smiling, joined us in the library. My husband embraced Clarissa and me.

“Ladies, all is well with us, and with you?”

“Yes, with us too,” I said.

“Then you may go forward with wedding arrangements, for early next month. Gentlemen, join me in the parlor for a well-deserved brandy.”

The wedding ceremony was held on a Saturday afternoon at our church. Early the next morning, the servants loaded two carriages with Clarissa’s possessions. I promised my darling that her father and I had already spoken with Mrs. Cromwell about visiting them in two months, and that we certainly planned to be there for the baby’s birth.

The month following Clarissa’s wedding, my sister-in-law wrote that her father was gravely ill and my husband and I traveled to Montgomery. I notified Clarissa and she wrote to me there:

“Mama, every night, before I fall asleep, I make a pact with myself that, in the morning, as Papa taught me, I will ‘rise and shine’ and ‘seize the day.’ But, after Sarah brings me breakfast and I eat, I cannot leave my bed. She warns me that it is not good for the baby if I do not stretch my limbs, but I do not go outside. Sarah wakes me to dress in the evening, and that is the first time of the day that I venture outside my bedroom. At supper, the gentlemen report on their activities and the women listen. Afterward, I go upstairs to the bedroom. My husband sometimes joins me later. Whether I am asleep or not when he arrives, he does to me what he wants. Sarah says that you should visit soon, as only you will be able to make me change my newly acquired slothful ways.”

I told my husband about Clarissa’s letter.

“Write her and tell her to stop behaving like a moronic child.”

“I would like to see her soon.”

“No. Stop coddling her. We will visit her when we are able.”

My father-in-law passed away, and we stayed in Montgomery after the funeral to dispose of estate issues and to comfort my mother-in-law. When we returned home after a month, I asked my husband if we could go to Talladega, but he said that we had been away from the plantation for too long and there was much to be done. Clarissa wrote again, briefly stating that she had lost her appetite and some days did not even rise for supper. I told her father what she said.

“Well, damn it, tell her to eat. Has she lost all common sense?”

I wrote Clarissa pleading with her to eat and to take care of herself, but she did not reply. Emmeline and Bessie came to me one afternoon when I did not rise from my own bed.

“Ma’am, we’re sorry if you was sleeping and we woke you, but we thought maybe you was sick and need something.”

“No, I am not ill, but thank you, Bessie.”

“Ma’am, I beg your pardon, but I need to ask you if you heard anything about Miss Clarissa and my Sarah,” Emmeline said.

I turned on my other side to look at them. “No, I have not received a letter from Clarissa in quite some time, and I don’t know what to do. I believe, based upon her last letter, that Sarah is well, but not Clarissa.”

“Ma’am, can’t you go to Talladega?”

“No, Mr. Allen says that now is not a good time to leave home.”

That night my husband came to my bedroom. “I understand that you want to go to Talladega to see your daughter.”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

“I don’t believe that it is necessary, but since you have taken to your bed, the servants are worried about you. The coachman will take you in my carriage tomorrow. Bessie and Emmeline may go with you.”

“Thank you. Thank you. I am truly concerned about Clarissa.”

“I am certain that she is well and simply wants you to rush to her side.”

When we arrived at the Cromwell home, a servant sent for Mrs. Cromwell.

“Mrs. Allen, what a surprise. We did not know you were coming.”

“Clarissa has not replied to my letters, and my husband and I decided that I should immediately come to see her. I apologize, but I was not able to write in advance. I pray that you understand that this is an unusual circumstance.”

“Mrs. Allen, you are welcome here at anytime.”

“Thank you. Please direct me to my daughter.”

“Please have some refreshments first and your servants may go to their quarters.”

“No, thank you. I need to see Clarissa straightaway and my servants will accompany me.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I will show you to her chambers. My husband and son are not here. They are traveling.”

My dear Clarissa was asleep in a dark room. I asked Bessie to open the draperies. Clarissa’s hair was dirty and her skin jaundiced. Her belly stuck out of her thin frame.

“Mrs. Cromwell, where is Sarah?”

“She is in the kitchen.”

“Why is she there? As Clarissa’s maid, her responsibility is to be with her mistress at all times to care for her.”

“That is a decision my husband has made. I will send someone for her.” She departed.

“Clarissa, dearest, your mother is here. Please, puppet, please open your eyes.”

Her eyelids fluttered. I touched her cheek and she awoke.

“Mama. Mama. Are you really here, Mama? I’ve called for you many times, but…how silly of me. You couldn’t hear me.”

“Puppet, Emmeline and Bessie are here too, and oh, here is Sarah.”

Sarah embraced her mother.

“Sarah, what has happened to Clarissa?”

“I asked Mrs. Cromwell to write you a letter saying that Miss Clarissa was sick, but she wouldn’t do it. I would have asked her again, but she told me that if I ever spoke to her again in that manner she would tell her son to put me in my place. And she said there was nothing wrong with Miss Clarissa.”

“Dear God, why are they mistreating my child? Sarah, did they call a physician for her?”

“Yes, ma’am. He comes two times a week.”

“Are you present when he examines her?”

“No, ma’am, not anymore, only in the beginning when he first started coming. Now, they don’t even let me see her much. They told me that I had to help in the kitchen and only look after Miss Clarissa in the morning and at night. And they said that I was going to get whipped if I didn’t stop asking to go to my mistress.”

“Did they hurt you, baby?” Emmeline asked.

“No, Mama. They didn’t.”

Emmeline asked Sarah what Clarissa had been eating. “Mama, I try to do the best I can to get her to eat porridge in the morning and meat at night, but I think she only eats when I feed her, ma’am.”

“Do you know if the doctor bled her?”

“Oh yes, Mama. I saw him do it, and, ma’am, look.”

Sarah lifted the sleeves of Clarissa’s nightdress. Clarissa’s forearms were blue and swollen. I wiped the tears from my eyes. “Emmeline….”

She nodded and approached Clarissa. “Miss Clarissa, please wake up. Miss Clarissa?”

“Is that Emmeline? Where is Mama?”