Page 16 of Discovering Grace

Matthew stacked his rocks along the wall, his back to Jacob. “I believe so.” He took an extra moment to align them. “Courting has not been as easy as I expected, but I am finally confident enough in the matter to be hopeful.”

“That’s good news.” Though Jacob’s circumstances in that area remained less than favorable, he could not resent his brother’s better luck. “If the rest of us move on with our lives quickly enough, your bride might even have a home almost to herself.” He dropped his rocks and cracked them together, lining them up along the top of the wall.

Matthew stayed where he was, an arm’s length away from Jacob. “I’m in no hurry to see all of you away. You will have your living soon enough, and Mother will remain at the house for as long as she wishes. Elizabeth and Mary are not being courted by anyone at present. My prospective bride knows how I feel about the matter. Eliza is a practical woman.”

Eliza Muir, a widow with two small children, could hardly afford otherwise. She lived with her late husband’s sister in Aldersy village. Matthew’s sweetheart, a pleasant woman and quite pretty even while wearing mourning colors for her late husband, had captured Matthew’s interest as soon as she arrived. Though no one had suspected as much, including Jacob, until his mother had brought the matter to the family’s attention at dinner one evening.

Their mother’s uncanny ability to understand her sons’ hearts never failed to amuse Jacob.

“But let us leave off talking of my present happiness,” Matthew said. He turned and hoisted himself onto the wall, sitting upon the very stones he had laid in place. “Why are you out here executing such a useless task? I will help you in it all the day long, since you look as though you need the company, but it would be nice to know why we are out working in the sun.”

“Physical labor is good for us.” Jacob turned and stalked across the courtyard to lift the next stack of rocks. “And it helps me think. You need not stay. I am certain you have more pressing matters to attend to.”

“Not at all.” Matthew hopped down from the wall again and went back to hauling the pieces from one wall to the other. For several long minutes, neither brother said a word.

Jacob’s thoughts went back to Grace, pretending to be her sister, and what a disaster it would cause when she was found out. Hope, with all her past antics, had never disappointed him in such a profound manner. Her trick would ruin her in the eyes of the community, would leave Grace in a difficult position, anger her parents, and all for what? For her to live out some childhood fancy to be a pirate or explorer.

He slammed down his rocks on the wall.

“Are you sure you do not wish to talk about it?” Matthew’s question sounded less innocent and more concerned.

“There is little I can say that you would understand,” Jacob said, not even glancing in his brother’s direction as he glared at the stones as though they had given up his thoughts.

“It is Miss Everly, isn’t it?” Matthew asked.

Perhaps their mother was not the only one in the family capable of seeing to the heart of a matter. That or, Jacob supposed, he did not hide his feelings so well as he thought. “It is. I am—” What could he say without giving her away? “—Vastly disappointed in how she conducts herself of late. It is most unbecoming a gentlewoman and I don’t know what to make of it.”

“Mother hinted you might wish to court her.” Matthew had the decency not to sound skeptical, though his neutrality was somewhat suspect. “Is that where your frustration lies?”

“Yes.” Jacob lifted his eyes from the stone at last and met his brother’s concerned gaze. “I have admired Hope for so long. And we are good friends. I hoped to build upon those things, but—” He broke off and threw his hands in the air.

“Ah. You have run into some difficulty.” Matthew’s lips quirked upward in a commiserating sort of mien.

“Indeed. I am beginning to wonder if I was wrong to even consider more than friendship between us.” Jacob crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the sweat upon his brow. Bending himself to a physical task had eased some of the tension in his body though it had given him no more peace of mind. “It’s as though all the people I know have accepted they must grow into respectable adulthood, while Hope still thinks of the world as she did when she was ten years old.”

“Not exactly the model vicar’s wife, I suppose.” Matthew rocked back on his heels. “I will not presume to tell you what to do, but might I offer some advice?”

Jacob chuckled. “If you think it will help. Though I must admit to some misgivings, since you are thirty-two and still unmarried.”

Matthew cuffed Jacob on the shoulder, laughing as he did. “Come now. I am making progress; you must allow for that.”

Although he doubted Matthew had any words of wisdom concerning his predicament, Jacob nodded. “Very well. I suppose if you have obtained approval from Mrs. Muir, you must have some idea of what you are about. What is your advice?”

“Stop worrying about whether or not Miss Everly will make a good vicar’s wife. Instead, try to determine if she will make a good wife to Jacob Barnes.” Matthew grinned as though he had said something particularly clever. “And come for a ride with me next time you are vexed. It is more productive than moving these old stones about.” He retrieved their coats from the bench and held Jacob’s out.

“Perhaps I will.” Jacob accepted the coat and pulled it back on. Matthew’s advice would be difficult to take if Hope’s plan worked and she wound up thousands of miles away in the Caribbean Sea.

“There is a card party tomorrow evening at Mr. Greenfield’s home. Will you come with me?” Matthew asked suddenly. The Greenfields were a respectable farming family, nearly neighbors to the Barnes family.

“A card party? I had not heard word of it.”

“They are entertaining some cousin visiting from the north and decided a card party was in order. I received an invitation this morning. I think you might enjoy it.”

A distraction would be most welcome. “I will come.” But it was doubtful anything would keep his thoughts away from Hope and Grace for long. Grace’s pleading expression surfaced in his mind, her eyes begging him to understand her part in the deception. For Grace he would say nothing, though it was Hope who had cracked his heart.

Chapter 8

Sleeping with a guilty heart proved impossible for Grace. She had taken herself to Hope’s bedroom early the night before, pleading a headache and trying to maintain a sullen manner, only to spend most of her time staring out the window into the darkness. Though her bedroom was across the hall, her twin’s room had nothing of the familiar about it. With Hope gone, and Grace unable to return to the comfort of her bed and belongings, she felt rather like an intruder.