Wellington Cross (Wellington Cross Series) (27 page)

Once we were all done inside, Jonas posted his notice outside
about needing help at Magnolia Grove, and we headed back up the road.

Since the Court House jaunt only took up the morning, once we
got close to Wellington, I asked Ethan if I could take Lillie to my house for
the afternoon.  He agreed, and so we went to Wellington, and Clarissa
brought Lillie out to me along with her favorite noise maker, and a bag of
essentials.  Ethan asked if he could come later to get Lillie.

“No, please don’t,” I said, not looking at him.  It had
been nice to spend time with him that morning, but I didn’t think my heart
could take much more.  I knew I couldn’t take looking at him every day
without my heart breaking again and again.  “Have your mother come.” 
I looked up to his pained expression, but he nodded in agreement.

Jonas and I took Lillie to Magnolia Grove, and I sat in the
rocker with her on the porch overlooking the river for a while.  The
afternoon was warming up quickly, so when beads of sweat soaked Lillie’s little
dress, I took her over to the kitchen house and got some leftover ham,
strawberries and bread.  I then found a blanket to take outside under the
cool tall 200-year-old willow oak tree to have a picnic with Lillie using a
flat-topped boulder as a table.  I’d had many picnics here when I was
younger, even with Ethan.  It was located close to the water, so there was
an occasional nice breeze.

After our picnic, I carried Lillie around the plantation, over
behind the laundry house to find the grape arbor.  The arbor was almost
non-existent, fallen down, and there were only a few grape vines growing across
the weeds on the ground.  There were weeds everywhere, including
honeysuckle.  Its heady scent was intoxicating, but I would have to cut
that down or else plant it somewhere else to enjoy the scent.  It would
take a lot of time to get the grapes back in order.  That was something I
had a lot of…time.

I put the blanket on top of the grass and let Lillie crawl
around on that while I began planning how to restore the arbor as well as where
to plant flowers and herbs.  Lillie was very curious about the grass,
bugs, and acorns she saw.  I had to watch that she didn’t stick any of it
into her mouth.  A bunny scurried across our path, and Lillie squealed in
delight, unfortunately scaring the fuzzy animal off.  She tried to follow
it, but I distracted her with a grasshopper instead.  Ethan and I used to
pick up grasshoppers and put them in a jar to watch them rub their legs
together and make noises.  We would always let them go.  Fireflies
were another fun thing to catch at dusk, and we’d have a jar full of glowing
lights before we released them.  It was a beautiful site to see, letting
all those lights fly up into the night together. 

There I went, thinking about Ethan again.  I guessed it
would be hard to put him out of my mind for quite some time, since we grew up
together and had so much history together.

As the temperature rose further, we went inside, and I carried
her upstairs, wondering where she could take naps while she stayed with me in
the afternoons.  I needed a baby bed for her in one corner of my room, and
then I could watch her while I sewed or knitted.  I would have to search
the house for baby beds; I couldn’t remember mother keeping any, but I could
always check the cellar.  I knew there was none in the attic, since I’d
been up there already to get my birth record.

Lillie was getting sleepy, and I raised all the windows up in my
bedchamber and opened the balcony door, feeling a warm breeze
circulating.  With no baby bed to lay her in, I took her to my bed and lay
on it with her, making sure to stay awake and watch that she did not fall off
the bed.  I really needed a baby bed.  I gathered pillows and
blankets all around her.  She nestled up next to me and slept while I read
Wuthering Heights, another book I had saved from the war that didn’t get burned
up for firewood.

After her nap, I took her downstairs to the cellar to look for a
baby bed.  I was unsuccessful, but I did find some old toys, including a
baby doll that Lillie liked.  I would have to clean that up a bit before
she stuck her mouth on it.

We played and had “afternoon tea” in the back parlor until
Clarissa came to get her.  It was sad to see her go; she had been great
company to me and successful in keeping my mind off of Ethan, for the most
part.  I asked Clarissa if they had an extra baby bed, and she promised to
look.  I didn’t have too much hope, though, since we had to burn so many
things during the war, and we’d had just the one baby bed when Lillie was
born.  Pretty soon, they would be looking for another bed over there anyway,
for Elizabeth’s newest addition.

Jonas had spent the afternoon working on repairing the stables
and grooming the horses after the morning jaunt.  He was still out there
as I began preparing the evening meal in the kitchen house.  The day had
warmed up, and the kitchen house was hot from the ongoing fire for cooking, so
I opened all the windows and doors.  While washing vegetables in a bowl of
water by one of the windows, I looked out and saw a man off in the distance
walking by the corn plants towards the manor.  Who would be coming from
that direction?  My first thought was of Ethan, though I knew it wouldn’t
be him. 

My next thought was of Jefferson, and I felt a sudden
dread.  I hadn’t seen him since the day he tried to shoot me.  He did
come here with Ethan the night we escaped the Yankees and went to Edgewood, so
he knew where I lived.  That was very disturbing.  I did not want to
see him again.  I was still very angry at him for all the lies he
told.  Of course, he did still have my wedding ring, which I would love to
have back.  I’d have to think of something I could give him in exchange
for the ring, but what?  I began drying the vegetables and trying to think
of how I could get that ring back, when I saw the man walk past the kitchen
house and approach the carriage-front door of the manor.  Moments later, I
heard a series of knocks on the front kitchen door.

I slowly walked to the door, braced myself, and looked outside
the open door.  There stood a tall handsome man with brown hair, long
sideburns, and a long scruffy beard.  It was not Jefferson, for which I
was relieved.  He quickly took his hat off and bowed politely to me,
revealing deep blue eyes.  I was embarrassed to be wearing an old dirty
work dress and no crinoline.  I tried to dust off my dress a bit.

“Begging your pardon, miss.  I was looking for work and
stumbled upon this manor.  Would the master of the house be
available?”  He looked a little disheveled but was fully dressed like a
gentleman, wearing a frock coat and trousers that looked old and worn, as well
as boots.  He was carrying a beat-up haversack, so he must’ve been in the
war.

“Of course,” I answered him.  “My brother is in the stable
over yonder,” I said pointing to my left, on the other side of the store house
and smoke house.  I walked him over there.

“Jonas, this gentleman is looking for work.” 

The men shook hands, and the gentleman introduced himself as
William Brown. 

“Come on in the house, and we will discuss things,” Jonas said,
laying his hammer down and wiping his brow of perspiration.  I followed
them to the manor, where Jonas led Mr. Brown into his study.  I lingered
outside the room, remembering how Ethan had allowed me to sit in the interview
with Cyrus.  Before I could wonder what Jonas wanted me to do, he walked
over to the sideboard where he began to pour two glasses of Madeira, and then
addressed me.  “Could you bring us some sustenance, please,
Madeline?” 

I nodded and left the manor to find something for them to eat
from the kitchen.  I was a little perturbed, feeling that he was treating
me like a scullery maid, but being the lady of the manor now, I supposed it was
my duty to be hospitable and serve guests with a little nourishment, especially
for one who had been traveling on foot for possibly a great distance.  So
many souls wandered here and there after the war, looking for a new lot in
life. 

I placed some hard cheese and bread on a platter, and carried
them back over to the manor.  As I reentered the room, the two men were
seated facing each other, a large round table between them, talking
quietly.  I placed the platter in the middle of the table, as Mr. Brown
looked up at me and smiled.

“Thank you,” he said.  I returned his smile and then looked
at Jonas for further instructions.

“Yes, thank you,” he said absently; then he continued addressing
Mr. Brown, ignoring me altogether.  I was once again perturbed and left
the room, marching back out in the hot sun to the kitchen to finish my
preparations for dinner.

Jonas came by the kitchen an hour later and asked me to clean a
room in the bachelor’s quarters for the gentleman.  “I’m going to hire him
as a tenant farmer instead of just helping out around harvest.  He’ll be
started on a trial basis, see how it works out.  Eventually, I will let
him live on a small piece of land, but until he can build himself a cabin, he
needs a place to sleep away from the manor.”

I agreed to clean a room, but I addressed him concerning the way
he treated me earlier.  “I don’t appreciate being treated as a housemaid,
and next time I would like to be properly introduced.”

“You’re right,” Jonas said, scratching his head.  “I’m
sorry, Madeline.  I certainly didn’t mean to make you feel that way.
 I’m new to all this.  I’ve been on my own for so long and thought I
was doing fine, but it seems I have forgotten how to have manners in dealing
with other people.”

“You’re forgiven.  And by the way, you were not doing fine
on your own.  You are skin and bones.  You need some fattening
up.  I’ll have to make sure you eat properly.”

He laughed.  “Thank you, Madeline.  I do appreciate
all your help.  I can introduce you to him now, if you’d like.  He
seems to be a nice gentleman.  He’s starting to repair the door on the
bachelor’s quarters as we speak.”

He walked with me over to the bachelor’s quarters where Mr.
Brown was outside, hammering some nails to fix the doorframe.  He had
taken off his waist coat, necktie, and frock coat and was already perspiring in
his shirt.  Jonas introduced us and then walked back over to the stables.
 Mr. Brown bowed slightly, and I curtsied to him and shimmied past him in
my wide dress in order to fit through the narrow door of the bachelor’s
quarters. 

“Did you say your last name was Wellington?” he called inside
the open door between hammerings.

“Yes,” I said hesitantly, looking back at him. 

He put a nail between his lips, which he took back out of his
mouth and hammered in the doorframe before speaking again.  “I’ve heard of
you.  Your husband wouldn’t be Ethan Wellington, would it?”

He knew Ethan?  This was going to be difficult.  I had
no desire to talk to a stranger about my broken marriage.  So I shrugged
my shoulders and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Brown.  If you’ll excuse me, I have
some cleaning to do.”  I turned around and headed for the staircase. 
He started hammering away more forcefully, I noticed, seemingly confused or
irritated with me for not speaking with him longer.

I spent quite a while cleaning up a room on the second floor
with a view of the river for Mr. Brown.  I planned to look around the
manor to see if we could spare a sofa for him to have a sitting area down on
the bottom floor.  As I finished mopping the floor of the new sitting
room, Mr. Brown came and peered inside again.

“Begging your pardon, Mrs. Wellington, but I was wondering if
you could point me in the direction of some water.  My throat is parched.”

“Of course, forgive me.  If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you
the cistern.”  I took him across the courtyard to the cistern which was
next to the water pump near the kitchen, where we caught rain water for
drinking.  I was about to walk back to the bachelor’s quarters when Mr.
Brown addressed me again.

“I apologize if I upset you earlier when I asked you about
someone I thought to be your husband.  You see, I was in the war with a
gentleman by the name of Ethan Wellington, and he couldn’t stop talking about
his beloved Madeline.  When I heard your name was Madeline Wellington, I
thought perhaps you were Ethan’s Madeline.”

My, but he was bold!  After getting over the shock that he
knew Ethan – and learning that Ethan had talked about me during the war – I
cleared my throat and said, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I was married to
Ethan.  It’s a long story, but we’re not married anymore.”  I had to
look away to keep from breaking down.  It was difficult to talk about
Ethan to a stranger, even if he did know Ethan.  I turned back
again.  “We do have a small child together, and you will be seeing her
here on the plantation during the day.”

“Is Ethan dead?  I’m sorry if I’m being too forward,
missus.  Just curious is all.  I lost all my family.”

“I’m sorry you lost your family, Mr. Brown.  No, Ethan is
not dead, but like I said, we’re not married any more.  If you’ll excuse
me, I have to get back to cleaning before the sun goes down.”  I didn’t
want to be reminded that Ethan and I were no longer married, so I had to end
the conversation fast.

“Of course.”

I walked quickly back to the bachelor’s quarters, caressing my
Celtic necklace that I always wore around my neck, thinking of Ethan. 
After I finished cleaning, I returned to the kitchen to finish preparing the
evening meal, as the sun began to set across the water.  We had sort of
missed dinner this afternoon, since Lillie came over and we’d gotten so
busy.