9
To Selah’s relief, Cecily was asleep upon their return from Rose-n-Vale, still a bit worn down by her recent fever. But the next morning her florid face bespoke much once Selah informed her that her hopes had gone awry. “So Master Renick refuses me.”
“He has sound reason, I am sure,” Selah told her, heating an iron to press one of her father’s shirts. “Goodman Wentz is still calling, is he not? A worthy suitor after Goodman Peacock’s failed pursuit.”
Cecily stayed sullen. “A far cry from the master of Rose-n-Vale.”
Pressing the hot iron to the cloth, Selah curbed her exasperation. Many of these brides were a spirited bunch, unlike their more restrained British sisters, with far more rights and a voice here than in their homeland. Helion Laurent was right about that.
Forging ahead, Selah said, “I’ve heard you laughing with Goodman Wentz in the parlor. A man of merry temperament bodes well. An industrious planter too. And not overfond of drink as many are.”
“His mother must live with us.”
“She is a kind soul, mostly deaf and almost blind.”
“I sometimes wonder if he courts me mostly as a caretaker to her.”
“Widow Wentz is very old and needs looking after, as many do in James Towne.”
“Better that than a half-blood son, I suppose. I heard prattle the Renick heir might be coming back.”
Selah stared at her, and the hot iron gave off a seared linen smell. She grabbed it free. “Oh?”
“My friend Felicity, now Goody Shaw, told me so. Her husband’s brother is a sea captain who vows the boy’s passage has been paid.”
“The timing is right.” Selah resumed her ironing. “Sailing is far preferable in good weather months.”
Still, she couldn’t hide her surprise. Yet didn’t this news dovetail with what Xander had told her about seeking a bride? And might it be Xander’s reason for meeting with her father? To announce his decision to remarry? Despite her best intentions, the small blister that had begun in Xander’s study began to fester.
Be done with such foolishness, Selah. Think well of the man and thisfelicitous situation that you, too, will benefit from. Have younot wanted a reunion with the child since he was taken from Mattachanna’s lifeless arms? Haven’t you lamentedXander’s lack of a wife, a mother to his son, a mistress at Rose-n-Vale?
Immediately she righted herself and returned to pressing another shirt as Izella brought more dried laundry.
“Enough of my matrimonial prospects.” Cecily leaned in conspiratorially. “What about that man I saw you speaking with in the marketplace?”
Selah frowned. “Helion Laurent? The physic?”
“A Frenchman,oui! He is quite the dandy—and seems quite taken with you.”
Selah shook her head. “He is taken with none but himself, I fear. Laurent is as full of prickles as a porcupine, and I am quilled every time I draw near.”
“On your part, perhaps. Not his. He seems to enjoy bantering with you. Tell me more about him.”
Selah’s lips parted as a dozen faults flashed to mind. ’Twas sheer work to give a favorable accounting.
A hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor.
The timely Scripture tempered her answer if not her dislike. “I know very little. Laurent is French born but trained at the College of Physicians in London. ’Tis said he is the best swordsman in Virginia.” And rumored to have killed half a dozen men in duels on his native soil. “He has been in James Towne but a few years and is a great favorite of Governor Harvey.”
“I suppose a gentleman and physic wouldn’t marry a middling woman like myself.” Cecily shook out a wrinkled petticoat. “How I tire of this matrimonial game. The most eligible men are now wed, so I suppose I mustn’t dally any longer lest Phineas Wentz look elsewhere.”
“I look forward to calling on you as Goodwife Wentz, then.”
Done with ironing, Selah looked out the open doorway, past Izella scrubbing laundry, beyond her mother’s bent back as she gathered herbs for supper, and over the paling fence to see Xander riding down the road toward James Town. Her tangled feelings, having been schooled into submission, again unraveled at the sight of him.
Would he meet with her father at the store? As it was wash day, she’d stayed home but now found herself wishing she were behind the scarred counter. Her father would be full of news by suppertime, no doubt, if Xander did not swear him to secrecy.
As she thought it, Cecily all but burst out the front door and stormed into the street, nearly sending Xander’s mount rearing. Selah felt a warm rush from the roots of her fair hair to her feet. What reason could Cecily possibly have to behave so unbecomingly? Yet Xander seemed to take it all in stride. He removed his hat and smiled down at her, from all appearances unmoved, as if used to women rushing him as he rode.
