Joseph stared at his boots. “Wherever their bodies may rest, I am certain their souls are Heaven-bound.”
“Hélène also shared her worries about what it will be like for David and Sophie, to watch at such close quarters while their great-grandmother and their aunt…” Tessa trailed off.
“Unfortunately, we have no alternative. My cousin Frederic still hasn’t surrendered his bachelorhood. David and Sophie need a mother. My Aunt Véronique and her husband have the space and the pecuniary resources to raise another family, but they say they want to travel.” Joseph leaned against the railing and sighed. “In truth, we were relieved. Véronique is a cold woman. She’s not what any of us want for the children. They need a true mother.”
Still Tessa did not raise her eyes. “Father…I knowIam not family, but?—”
“Of course you are! We are practically sister and brother, you and I.”
Tessa smiled, but it did not last long. Hélène appeared, and Tessa addressed her too. “Since I learned about David and Sophie, I’ve been pondering and praying… It has been more than a year since— I must accept that Our Lord does not wish me to bear my own children.”
Hélène came to squeeze her friend’s hand.
Tessa looked up to her and then Joseph, hope and supplication in her brown eyes. “But I should very much like to be a mother to your nephew and niece—if your family would agree to it.”
Cautiously, Hélène voiced the question before Joseph could: “WouldEdwardagree to it?”
“There was a time when he would have refused,” Tessa acknowledged, “when he would have been jealous. But now, Edward is married to the plantation more than to me. We are like strangers sharing the same roof. We each inhabit our own little country, and I think I can welcome David and Sophie into minewithout disturbing Edward’s very much.” Tessa lowered her eyes. “I will find a way to convince him. I cannot promise he will be a good father to the children.” She looked back to Joseph. “But they will have you, Father, and their grandfather. I would never wish to separate David and Sophie from their true family. They would be only two streets away; they could visit you often, and you could visit them.”
To Joseph’s shame, the thought foremost in his mind was:I could visit Tessa often.
“It’s a marvelous idea, Tessa.” Hélène embraced her friend. “We will ask Papa before he leaves. But I am certain he will agree. He’s as fond of you as we are.”
Over his sister’s shoulder, Tessa’s eyes searched Joseph’s. “Do I have your blessing, Father?”
“Of course. I could not choose a better mother.”
When they’d broken their embrace, Tessa stared down at Hélène. “Are you really wearing them?”
Hélène grinned. She pulled up her skirt and a single petticoat to reveal the black trousers underneath.
Joseph smiled too. “They’re Liam’s?”
His sister nodded. Then guilt darkened her face. “I know we’ve been planning this for weeks; but we’re in mourning now. I feel disloyal, enjoying myself so soon after Cathy…”
“It was your father’s—your physician’s—idea,” Tessa reminded her. “And it’s our last week on the island.” It was already October. Very soon, the Stratfords’ slaves would close up the cottage. They would not return to the island till spring. And only their Lord knew how profoundly Hélène’s condition would change in six months’ time.
“Cathy would understand,” Joseph assured Hélène. He suspected Cathy wouldnothave understood; but she should have.
Hélène was persuaded. Joseph led Prince, walking beside his sister and Tessa till they were out of sight of the other bathers and strollers. Then Joseph helped Hélène onto the horse’s back. Tessa arranged her friend’s skirts, and Joseph adjusted the stirrups. They had no side-saddle, so his sister had settled on trousers to allow herto ride astride.“Besides, I would confuse Prince,”she’d said,“hanging off one side of him like that!”
As it was, the grey proved himself quite amenable to his new rider. With Tessa watching and laughing, Joseph dashed along the sand, leading Prince. Hélène leaned back into the sunlight, her face awash with peace, and lifted her arms as if she were flying.
CHAPTER 35
Show me your garden…and I will tell you what you are like.
— Alfred Austin,The Garden that I Love(1905)
Joseph’s father agreed to entrust David and Sophie to Tessa. Edward and his father consented upon several conditions. The children would be wards. Edward would provide David with an education and Sophie with a dowry, but he would deed them no property. Nor would they take the Stratford name.
Instead, the Stratfords stipulated that the children use their mother’s name. Thanks to Joseph and his father, Lazare was known and respected in Charleston, whereas the name of an obscure dead Scotsman meant nothing to anyone. Except his children. Joseph’s father bristled at this qualification, but finally he signed.
“Did the Stratfords think I would neglect my grandchildren if they carried a different name than me?” he blustered afterwards. “Maybe that’s how their set behaves, butnot mine!”
Joseph knew it also rankled his father that near-strangers could provide for his grandchildren better than he could, at least financially. He’d already spent most of his nest-egg: on a gift to startCathy in California (which David had used to return to Missouri), on Hélène and Liam’s wedding holiday, and on Prince.
Since the cathedral had no cemetery and St. Mary’s churchyard had no corner unfilled, Joseph’s father used the remainder of his funds to purchase a plot at St. Patrick’s in Radcliffeborough. There, two of his patients, free colored artisans, built a brick mausoleum. The men carved LAZARE on the sandstone arch above the door and three names on a limestone panel inside: Cathy’s, Perry’s, and the name of their newborn son, Ian. But of course the crypt behind the panel held no remains.
