A Perfect Mistress (8 page)

Nancy Ferguson smiled. “Isn’t Mr. Johnson a widower?”

Robert nodded vigorously. “His wife died the year before Pa did. She’d been sickly for a long time.”

“That’s interesting news.
We’ll have to see if we can
do something about that, Robert.” She stood up and stretched. “But now I think it’s time for bed. Tomorrow is going to come
awfully
early, and Sophie’s still tired out. She can barely keep her eyes open.”

It was true; Sophie
was
tired. She smiled sleepily.

“Where are we to sleep?” she asked. Earlier, Bonita had shown her around proudly, and Sophie noticed that the house consisted of two bedrooms, a kitchen, and this sitting room. “I don’t want to take anyone’s bed. I could sleep on a pallet in here.”

“No, no,” said the two in a chorus.

“I’ll sleep on the pallet, Miss,” Robert said. “Ma and B
ecca
will sleep together, and Aunt Nancy and you can share the other room. I sleep in here all the time when Aunt Nancy comes to visit.
I don’t mind a bit.
”

“Come,” Mrs.
Ferguson
said, drawing her up firmly. “You need your rest, and I suspect Bonita has fallen asleep with Becca already. I keep some clothing here, and I’m sure I’ve got something for you to sleep in.”

Sophie let herself be drawn away
, protesting no further
. Mrs. Ferguson undressed her as if
she were a child
and put a nightgown over her head that could have easily enclosed two more of her. She tucked her into bed and in moments, Sophie was sleeping peacefully with the warmth of the other woman beside her.

********

Sophie woke with a cry of fear, sitting straight up in the bed and looking around in panic. It took her a moment to realize that she was safe in Bonita’s house, and that Delia
hadn’t
managed to sell her after all. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, putting her head between her knees and gasping for breath.

When she finally managed to calm herself, she stood up shakily, holding onto the bedpost with one hand. She smiled when she saw her clothing laid out on the shabby armchair; Mrs. Ferguson had cleaned and pressed them. She
wouldn’t
have to spend the day in clothing too big for her, or wear her wrinkled garb. She washed herself as best she could with the basin of water left for her and hurriedly dressed.

Jackson was coming today, and from the look of the light pouring through the windows, he would be coming soon.
She’d
slept half the day away.

When she left the
bed
room, Mrs. Ferguson and her sister
turned from their ironing
to smile identical smiles at her.

“Well now, you’re finally awake,” Bonita said heartily. “I thought we were going to have to go and pull you from your bed before your fella gets here, but you’ve got time to eat a quick bite before he comes, I think.”

She hustled Sophie into the kitchen with Mrs. Ferguson and Becca trailing behind, talking nonstop as she put a plate of eggs and biscuits in front of her.
Sophie protested she
couldn’t
eat the whole plate, but when she took the first bite, it tasted like ambrosia. Before she knew it, all the food was gone and Mrs. Ferguson was whisking the plate away.

Mrs. Ferguson offered to fix her hair
,
and Sophie was quite pleased when
she finished
. Little curls cascaded from a high knot to dangle around her face. She
stared in the mirror and
thought it looked quite lovely.
She
didn’t
recognize herself, she looked so pretty, and she hugged the older woman fiercely.

“You’re so good to me,” she choked
out
. “I lived with you for all those years, and I never knew how good you were. I should have.”

“Hush now, child
.
It’s
all right. All I did was
fix
your hair.”

Sophie knew it was much more than that, but she knew that Mrs. Ferguson was embarrassed. Her face was bright red, so Sophie let it go.

They settled in the sitting room to wait, and Sophie’s stomach tied itself in knots. She was just regre
tting her big breakfast when a
knock came at the door.
She clutched her stomach, trying to still the butterflies there.

Bonita ushered him in, and he crossed to Sophie immediately, clutching her hands in his. He bent to look in her face intently.

“Are you all right, Sophie?”

“Yes, I am now.” Her hands trembled in his, and he held them tighter. Bonita and Mrs. Ferguson retreated to the kitchen. She could hear Becca
squealing
in the other roo
m, and t
he noise
the little girl made seemed
awfully
loud to be coming through a closed door
. W
hen
Sophie
glanced that way, she saw that the door
had been left
open a crack.
A wide crack, and if she
wasn’t
mistaken, that was an eye peeking at them.
She
squeezed Jackson’s
hand and tilted her head toward it, hoping
he
would pick up the signal and understand.
She
didn’t
want to have this conversation with the two sisters watching, even if they both were awfully sweet.
He squeezed back
and winked
.

“Do you
feel  up
to going for a ride? I rented the gig again. The note Robert gave me said you’d been dosed with laudanum and I thought you might not feel up to walking as we usually do.”

“I’d love to go for a ride.”

Sophie jumped to her feet and called out to the sisters that she would be leaving for a while. The kitchen door swung the rest of the way open before she was finished speaking, and she hid a smile behind her hand.

“Take your time, take your time,” Bonita said, bouncing Becca on one hip. “You young people enjoy this sunshine while you can.”

Once outside, Jac
kson handed her up into the gig
then
took the reins from Robert, who stood resolutely by the horse.
Sophie suspected from the huge smile on his face that Jackson had given him a coin for is trouble. Jackson
nodded toward a valise
as
he flicked the reins and got the horse moving
.

“Open that, would you?”

Inside
the valise
were her things.
Her spare dress lay on top, carefully folded.
She blushed when she
dug farther into the bag and saw
her ragged under
clothing. She so hoped Jackson
hadn’t
noticed how threadbare they were.
There was her handbag, the fine linen kerchief that
she’d
made from scraps of Delia’s dress, and the soft woolen shawl David had bought her the Christmas before he died.
Down in the bottom was a small, carefully wrapped bundle, and she opened it, her breath catching in her throat. She clutched it to her chest, eyes shining.

“How did you get my things?”

“I went over to your sister’s house and found a policeman there. I told him
that
I was your fiancée
and
that
you were too overwrought to come back to the house.
I
t
wasn’t
hard to convince him to let me in. I
recognized that dress when I opened your wardrobe, so I knew I must be in the right room. Is the cameo special to you?”

“It was my mother’s. It’s the only thing of hers that I have.”

Her mouth trembled
,
as did her voice
, and Jackson switched the reins to one hand and patted her knee. “There, there,” he said awkwardly. “I know this must be hard for you, but it’s going to be all right.”

They traveled in silence for a little while, Sophie
tilting her face up to the sun
and listened to the sound of the horse
clip-clopping
down the street.
She
didn’t
know what to say, so she pinned the cameo to her dress
and buttoned the valise back up, which
was awfully thin for something that held all her worldly goods. Jackson finally broke the silence.

“I’m glad I rented the gig. I
wanted to talk to you alone, and I
didn’t
want to discuss any of this in front of Mrs. Ferguson and
her sister. I
f we wanted any privacy, leaving the house was our only option.”

Sophie giggled. “I expected
one of them to trip and
come tumbling into the room any second. If
someone had given the door a good push,
Mrs. Ferguson would have lost her nose.”

“I have to leave tomorrow.”

The words fell starkly between them, and Sophie lost her smile.

“I don’t have any choice in the matter, Sophie. I received a message that my sisters have been coming around and interfering in the running of the farm.” Jackson stared straight ahead. “The man I hired to help me run the place is worried that they’re starting up trouble again, and I can’t have that.”

He stopped the horse right in the middle of the street, and turned to face her.

“I want you to come with me, Sophie.”

Sophie opened her mouth to speak, but Jackson held up a hand
and her words stuttered to a halt
. “Wait. Let me get this out.” His words were rushed and he
couldn’t
seem to meet her eyes. “You have a place to stay, that is true, but I can provide better. I can take care of you
, Sophie
.
I’ll
buy you new clothes, give you an allowance, and draw up papers that give you a settlement when you leave.
I promise that if you don’t like it there, I’ll make arrangements for you to come back to the city and live comfortably.
”

Jackson leaned forward and grasped her hands. Sophie
didn’t
know what to do. She
didn’t
want him to leave. “I’ve become very fond of you, my dear,” he said in a husky voice. “Please tell me you will come.”

“I will.” The words seemed to pop out of their own volition.
She’d
meant to say no.
Hadn’t
she? She opened her mouth to take it back, but the effect of her words on Jackson were so astounding that she just couldn’t do it. A wide smile lit his face, and he leaned forward to brush his mouth over hers, no matter that they were in the middle of the street with passersby gawking at them. His lips clung to hers, and Sophie kissed him back without reservation.

I did that
, she thought dazedly as he kissed her.
Just saying that I will live with him at his farm made him the happiest
I’ve
ever seen him.
Surely
he cares for me.
Then she stopped thinking at all while his mouth ravished hers thoroughly.
When he drew his head away, Sophie
was flushed
and her heart beat in her chest like a big brass drum. She
couldn’t
take it back now. She
couldn’t
take the smile from his face.
Besides…
she didn’t really want him to leave her behind.

“You’ve made me the happiest man imaginable. I promise you won’t regret it, Sophie.”

Sophie hoped that it was so, and she hoped even more that
he
wouldn’t
regret it.

The afternoon was a whirlwind of activity. Once Jackson had her answer, he wasted no time in making the arrangements. He retrieved his wa
gon, bought
supplies and
what seemed lik
e a mountain of clothing for Sophie
. She protested, but he would brook no argument; Sophie found herself wearing a smart new outfit in no time at all
and had a new nightgown and hairbrush in her valise
, with t
he promise that the rest of the items
would be sent on to her
at Jackson’s farm
in short order.

Then they were off to break the news to Mrs. Ferguson and Bonita. Sophie cried when Mrs. Ferguson and Bonita hugged her, one right behind the other, and told her that she was always welcome in their home. They extracted a promise from her that she would write at least once a month.

“You’re sure this is what you want?” Nancy
Ferguson asked quietly, looking intently into her eyes.
Sophie assured her that it was
and Mrs. Ferguson seemed to accept that, though her eyes still were troubled.