Cecily already seemed smitten as she slid another coquettish glance Xander’s way. Selah tensed. Should she warn her? Xander looked down at his tankard, his neatly trimmed beard hardly masking his swarthy hue.
“The Scots part is true, but don’t believe the ‘humble’ part.” Shay grinned, spoon aloft. “He’ll own all of Virginia one day, some say. Makes the gentry of James Towne squirm.”
Reaching out, Xander rubbed his knuckles across Shay’s sunburnt scalp affectionately, earning a wince and a chuckle.
“Harrow!” Shay exclaimed, asking for seconds in the same breath.
“Shush, Shay,” Candace scolded gently. “Your tongue is too loose!”
Smiling, Izella served him the last of the custard as talk turned to settlement matters.
“What’s this I hear about you burgesses wanting to carve all of Virginia into pieces?” Ustis questioned. “And appoint a sheriff of James Towne?”
“There’s truth to it, aye.” Xander set down his tankard. “Virginia is to be divided into eight shires.”
“Shires?” Ustis lay his napkin aside. “Betimes I regret stepping down from the governor’s council. Sorting fact from fiction is quite tiring but for your confirmation.”
“I advocate for counties, not shires, as do most settlers coming into Virginia who want to handle matters differently than England. Five thousand strong to date, most at oddswith English custom.” Xander looked to Selah, brow raised. “Rather, five thousand fifty-seven, aye?”
She smiled, surprised he’d kept tally. “And once the brides marry and the begats begin, a great many more.”
“Daughter!” Candace flushed like a schoolgirl as Xander gave a low, roguish laugh. “No such talk in the presence of company.”
“She is only speaking truth, God be praised. ’Tis no secret these brides were sent for to increase the populace.” Ustis sent a nod Selah’s way. “A far cry from the hundred or so poor fools who first set foot on our shore, most of them men.”
“I’ve had many a fear we’d become like the lost souls of Roanoke Island.” Widow Brodie gave a noticeable shudder. “God rest them.”
A sorrowful hush descended till Xander said, “We still hear secondhand reports of Roanoke survivors living among the interior tribes.”
“One can only hope.” Candace raised a Delft blue cup to her lips. “A great many people vanished without a trace. How can that be?”
Selah looked at Cecily, wanting to protect her from such dire talk. But truly, much of life in Virginia was still an ongoing fight for survival, thus anything other than the utmost honesty seemed misleading.
“We’ve made it through the terrible starving time, the lengthy droughts, and all sorts of Indian unrest. For that we can be thankful.” Ustis stood, praising the meal before withdrawing to his study with Xander.
When Shay excused himself to reunite with friends down the lane, the four women remained at table, sipping their beverages and talking of daintier matters as the candlessank lower in their holders. Now and then Selah’s attention strayed to the study, where wisps of pipe smoke surrounded the conversing men like Scottish wraiths.
Raising a hand, Cecily suppressed a yawn, which didn’t escape Candace’s attention. “You must be exhausted, my dear.”
“On the contrary.” Cecily looked considerably fresher than she did upon her arrival. “The hot bath you insisted upon and a nap this afternoon has quite revived me, not to mention this fine elderberry tonic.”
“I suppose the courting commences as soon as you’ve rested.” Widow Brodie’s eyes lit with interest. “We all await to see which gentleman you fondly bestow yourself upon.”
Selah smiled, her prayers for felicitous matches unending. “Tomorrow shall prove interesting once formalities are finished and matchmaking begins in earnest.”
“Indeed. But why is it with so few women here”—Cecily all but pointed a finger at Selah—“youremain unwed?”
“Why, indeed,” Selah replied, draining her cup only to have it refilled by Izella. “I am too preoccupied with storekeeping to settle by some hearth with bantlings about me.”
“Bantlings are needed more than merchanting,” Candace said quickly. “’Tis not for the want of offers our daughter remains cloistered behind the counter.”
Feeling the start of a scold, Selah made light of such. “Never mind me. Any woman on two stumps is considered a catch and has offers aplenty.”
“You are a modest miss,” Cecily replied. “Tell me, for I fear a false start, who is the settlement’s foremost bachelor?”
A sudden hush.
Widow Brodie smiled a tad smugly. “You need only look to the study for your answer.”
