He stepped onto the portico. “Have you given any thought to remaining in Virginia? Or should I arrange passage on a future ship to England?” At her silence, he said kindly but forthrightly, “Oceanus has outgrown the need for a nurse. He’s to have a male tutor in time.”
Color high, she fiddled with the watch pinned to her falling band. “I shall need another month or more to decide my future. I beg you to allow me that.”
“As you wish,” Xander replied.
If she did return to England, it wouldn’t be for lack of offers. Not in deprived Virginia. Nor did he feel the slightest qualm about severing her tie with Oceanus. Despite the two years she’d minded the boy, he failed to sense any sort of sincere affection on either side.
“Good morning.” McCaskey cleared his throat, shielding bloodshot eyes from the sun’s glare as he joined them. “My disheveled head is pounding, my wits lagging. I must say, your Caribbean rum and port are second to none.”
Xander eyed him without sympathy. “You’d best hie to James Towne if your thirst continues to exceed my supply.”
A rueful chuckle. “Meaning my intemperate habits tax you greatly.” McCaskey took the bench the nurse had abandoned. “You are not the sot I am, to your credit, Renick.”
“The harvest commences soon, so a clear head is a boon. You’ll need to earn your gill of rum with all the rest.”
“I suppose I should sharpen my tobacco knife.” McCaskeysighed, then raised his voice, breaking into song. “‘Hail thou inspiring plant! Thou balm of life, well might thy worth engage two nations’ strife; exhaustless fountain of Britannia’s wealth; thou friend of wisdom and thou source of health.’”
“How tiresome.” Nurse Lineboro motioned to Oceanus as he neared, gingerbread in hand. “Come and let us resume our lessons. After today, your afternoons will be spent otherwise.”
“Thank you, Father.” Oceanus looked relieved. “I dislike so much study.”
“As I once did.” Ruffling the lad’s shortened hair, Xander led the way as they went inside. He sought his study and opened the windows, the dogs circling before lying down. From the parlor, Oceanus began his lessons.
Until the nurse and factor departed Rose-n-Vale, Xander wouldn’t marry. He wanted Selah to come to him without any guests beneath their roof. Though their impassioned time in the garden settled a great many questions between them, he sensed Selah still needed more time. More proof of a courtship rather than a business transaction. She also needed telling that her family, Shay included, were welcome to live at Rose-n-Vale permanently, if needs be.
“Nephew?” His aunt rapped at the closed study door, voice muffled. At his bid to enter, she did so, shaking her head all the way. “I bring ill news. Three salted hams have been robbed from the smokehouse. Cook believes it happened last night.”
“While the dogs were inside and we were sleeping,” he surmised. He didn’t set a night watch. All his indentures were needed in the fields. “Mayhap we should turn the dogsloose and add a padlock, though we’ve had no need for such till now.”
“I do think that would be wise. Though I daresay it frightens me to think the damage the dogs might do a starving thief.”
“Better that than the hangman’s noose.” Virginia law didn’t fit the crime, he’d always thought. Not to those first settlers who remembered the pinch of prolonged hunger. “‘Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his soul when he is hungry.’”
“Ah, Scripture has an answer for everything. Do not forget the last part, Alexander—‘but if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.’”
He gestured to a chair. “I suspect ’tis Africans from a neighboring plantation.”
“Helion Laurent’s, no doubt.” She sat, looking as aggrieved as he felt. “I’ve heard what happens under his oversight. The harm done those slaves.”
“If so, the brunt of the blame should be laid on those who made them hungry and fail to relieve them.”
“God deliver them.” She sighed. “Such prized hams. I do hope the starving souls savor them. We won’t butcher again till November, after the first frost, so will be woefully short on pork. And you know my distaste for wild game.”
“There’s beef to be had.” He studied her, sensing more than thievery on her mind. She never resembled his mother so much as when she was vexed.
She met his gaze, ire giving way to fear. “Speaking of Laurent, you no doubt saw him consorting with colonial officials at our gathering. I hesitate to bring it up now, but I fear his presence bodes ill. It certainly unearths all I’ve tried to bury since Mattachanna’s passing.”
Going to the mantel, he reached for the pipe Selah had given him. ’Twas too early in the day to smoke, but he needed a distraction. “It soured the evening, aye.”
She looked out a window, chin atremble. “You are a man of great endurance and restraint. ’Tis a wonder you’ve held on to your temper and not run him through.”
His gaze lifted to the sword mounted on the far wall. “Bitterness is a disease, sickening he who harbors it. Our chance to avenge Mattachanna died with her.”
“Will you tell Selah?” Her chatelaine clinked as she took a handkerchief from her pocket. “As your bride, should she not know what transpired with Laurent? The debacle that led to your marrying Mattachanna?”
“I’m undecided. It seems to have little bearing on the present.”
“I beg to differ.” She dried her eyes. “’Twas all I could do to not confront the scoundrel the other night and assure him his sins will find him out.”
