He was grim.
IT WAS NOW THE MIDDLE OFMAY.The transatlantic crossing had been a slow and difficult one, with several storms and disadvantageous winds slowing Cliff’s schooner down. It had also been a dangerous journey. Cliff, who captained the ship, had ordered a twenty-four-hour lookout for any warships, friend or foe. Twice they had evaded American ships; once, theAmeliehad even flown the Stars and Stripes in order to provide cover when a pursuit had begun. Cliff had given her his cabin, a luxuriously appointed affair, but otherwise, he had kept his distance, at once formal and polite. That had been fine with Virginia. Her spirits were bleak and she had not wanted anyone to confide in. All in all, the journey had been long and dismal and she was relieved to see its end.
Virginia had one arm around Arthur, who shared the back seat of the open carriage she had hired in Norfolk. With her other hand, she held on to the carriage door as they bounced down the rutted driveway, her home rising in real glory before her. She almost expected to see her mother running out of the front door, waving madly at her and crying with joy; she almost imagined her father on horseback, riding in from one of the fields. She smiled tearfully, for the house remained such a splendid sight, tall and stately and oh, so welcoming. She had come home after all this time, and her smile was her first since leaving Britain, Somehow, she would bear Devlin’s child alone and everything would be all right.
She smiled still, even though more tears fell. To even think of Devlin brought crushing heartache. Instead, she gazed at the fields, which had yet to be planted, as it was too early in the year. She could see that the soil was in the process of being burned, which sterilized it before the transplanting of the seedling plants, and her heart leapt for the first time in a long time. Suddenly she was eager to walk the fields and inspect them for fungus, rot and other seedbed disease. She was as eager to inspect the crop of seedlings, protected by a thin layer of mulch, so she could calculate the crop they might harvest at the end of the summer. She did not expect much, not with the plantation having been up for sale for most of the past year. But Sweet Briar was now debt-free, so she could borrow money to get them through next winter if she had to. And there had been plenty of rain—she could tell by the thickness of the grass on the lawns and the abundance of the flowering gardens.
Excitement rippled through her, like the cool, fresh air that came after a hot summer storm.
She inhaled deeply then. The salty-sweet, thick Virginia air was like an elixir; her stomach, long since settled, growled with hunger for the first time in months.
A thin, tall, familiar figure appeared on the porch. Virginia really smiled and she waved at Tillie as the carriage halted in front of the house.She could do this. Before, she had secretly doubted her strength, but now she knew Sweet Briar would save both her and the baby.
“Do come in for a meal before you drive all the way back to Norfolk, Ned,” Virginia told the driver, a man she had known most of her life.
“Thank you kindly, Miss Virginia—I mean, Mrs. O’Neill,” he said, tipping his felt hat at her.
“Down, Arthur,” she said softly, and the big dog bounded to the ground, wagging his tail enthusiastically.
Tillie had not moved. She appeared immobilized as she stared toward Virginia in shock.
Virginia climbed down. “Tillie!” And the seed of happiness began to take root.
Tillie screamed. “Virginia! Virginia, it’s you!” Skirts lifted, she flew down the porch steps. Virginia ran to meet her and they embraced halfway.
“I haven’t heard from you since I got your letter in February,” Tillie cried, pulling away and clasping Virginia’s face. Virginia had written her about her marriage and Devlin’s wedding gift of the plantation. “You didn’t tell me you were coming home—why didn’t you tell me you were coming home? And why are you as white as a ghost—and so skinny?”
Virginia hugged her again. “There was no time to write since then,” she whispered.
“And you’re alone? I mean, other than that dog?” Tillie put her arm around her. She stiffened in surprise, for Virginia’s cloak had hidden the protrusion of her tummy. “You with child? Honey, you got pregnant so soon?”
Virginia nodded, suddenly incapable of speech. Their gazes locked.
Tillie stared and her brows lifted in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
Virginia swallowed hard. “My marriage is over, Tillie, and I am here to stay.”
VIRGINIA BUSIED HERSELFwith running Sweet Briar, never mind that Tillie scolded her to no end for doing so in her condition. The seedlings were transplanted the last week of May, and it looked as if they had enough plants for an abundant crop. Far to the north in Canada, the British fort of York had fallen to the American troops, and as word of the hugely significant victory traveled about the countryside, her neighbors rejoiced. Still, the toll had been huge, due to an explosion of the garrison’s magazine. One county newspaper claimed that more than three hundred Americans were killed in the explosion, twice as many losses as the British had in their defeat.
Virginia did not want to hear about the war, but it was impossible to avoid now that she was home. There was constant fighting in the Canadian Territory. Even more distressing, four Sweet Briar slaves had run away, as had dozens in the rest of the county. Rumor had it they were encouraged by the redcoats, and that they were even fighting for them. There were also terrible shortages of the most basic foodstuffs—sugar was exorbitantly priced at more than $20 a hundredweight in Richmond and Baltimore, almost triple what it had once been. Flour had risen to $4.50 a barrel in Richmond, and Virginia heard it was five times that in New York. Everywhere she went, the hottest topic was the cost of essential food items that no one could now afford. There was no sugar at Sweet Briar and Tillie’s jams were sour.
Toward the end of May, Virginia began to feel unwell. It was just a slight lightness in her head and some difficulty breathing, but it was enough to make her feel faint. She worried that she might actually black out if she did not rest. Tillie scolded her endlessly and refused to let her out of the house. Virginia complied, afraid she knew the real reason for her sudden illness. The day before, at church, she had heard that theDefiancewas hovering off the coast of Maryland with another British frigate, theHonor,hoping to do battle with any American warship brave enough to come out of the Chesapeake Bay.
Virginia had done her best to make it appear that she had forgotten about Devlin and her failed marriage. In the month since her return home, she was careful to never mention him, not even to Tillie. But the truth was that she thought about him every day, fear for his safety warring with the grief that had claimed her soul. And the worst part of it was that it was so painfully clear they were on opposite sides of the same war.
It was a warm and humid day. Virginia had asked her foreman, MacGregor, to meet her in the study so they could go over the plantation’s ledgers. Arthur was sleeping on the floor near her desk, panting heavily, and Virginia was fanning herself and standing by the window when she saw Frank riding up to the house at a frantic pace.
She was seized with dread. She ran outside, where it was even hotter and more muggy. Perspiration made her face shine and her skin sticky. “Frank?”
His expression taut, he dismounted and hurried up the porch. “Miz Virginia?”
“What is it? What has happened?”
He hesitated.
And somehow she knew. Her heart lurched with a sickening fear. “It’s Devlin, isn’t it?” There were no secrets at Sweet Briar.
“He gone an’ sent theHonoraway. But it was a trap, Miz Virginia. TheIndependencesailed out, thinking she could get by him, but she couldn’t. He sailed right up to us an’ started firing when the two ships were about to collide. Our troops done lost control of theIndependenceand the redcoats boarded her—all in fifteen minutes.”
