Harnessed Passions (61 page)

Julia hurried out of bed before dawn the
next morning, eager to bypass her morning ritual and was nearly
dressed when she realized she couldn't fool her stomach quite as
easily as she had hoped. She ran to her bathroom and made it just
in time to prevent a nasty accident; she found herself feeling
happy for being sick. At least it meant her suspicions were right,
she was indeed going to have Daniel's child.

Several minutes passed by before Julia felt
secure enough to finish dressing and head downstairs. She knew the
only one awake at this hour would be her uncle Rupert and found him
sitting alone in the dining room, reading the morning news. He
glanced up at her with surprise and frowned, his thick eyebrows
falling down across his grey eyes.

"What on earth are you doing up at this
hour?" he asked, setting his coffee cup back to the saucer in front
of him. Julia smiled and eagerly took one of the pastries the cook
had set out before her affliction reared its ugly head again.

"I have a few errands to run this morning
before mother and Lena wake up," she told her uncle, refusing the
maid's offer of coffee and asked for milk instead. Might as well
get a start on health, she thought with a private smile.

"There's very few people working this time
of morning, and I don't think your dressmaker will be open for at
least another four hours."

"It's not those kinds of errands, Uncle
Rupert," Julia answered politely. "I didn't want to tell anybody
until I'd made the arrangements, but I'm going to the train station
and booking passage back home on this afternoon's train."

"Good heavens girl, why? Has something
happened you didn't tell us? Has somebody done something I should
know about?"

"No Uncle Rupert, it's nothing like that.
I'm just need to get back home."

"It's not Daniel is it? He's not sick?"

"No, no, he’s fine. The truth is, I'm tired
of parties and I'm anxious to go back to my husband. I miss him,
Uncle Rupert, and there really isn't any reason for me to stay any
longer. I'm sure Aunt Lena can handle her endless invitations
without me tagging along."

"Without a doubt; but if there isn't
anything wrong, why not stay until next week? It's only a few more
days."

"Six days and eight hours to be exact and I
really can't explain it right now. I just need to go home. You
won't be upset with me if I leave early, will you?" Julia frowned,
thinking of how selfish she was acting. She hadn't considered her
aunt and uncle's feelings or the children or even whether or not
her mother wanted to leave this soon. All she could think of was
getting home to Daniel and telling him about their baby.

"You know you'll be missed," the older man
assured her, leaning across the table to pat his niece's hand
gently. "But you can always come back and visit, or we can come to
Kentucky. It's not exactly another country you know? Actually, I
sort of envy your husband. I've been married so long I doubt Lena
would even think about me if I was to send her away on
vacation."

"Don't be silly. She'd be as devastated as I
am." Rupert smiled and squeezed her hand before kissing her cheek
tenderly and straightening up.

"The least the mayor of this fine town of
ours can do is to offer you a carriage and driver to run your
errands." Julia smiled as he stood up and walked toward the front
door. She snatched another pastry and hurried out the door behind
her uncle, anxiously counting the hours before she would be on the
hot, smoking engine that would take her home to her husband and her
horses.

Passage was booked for four thirty that same
afternoon and tickets purchased for both herself and Louise. Julia
only hoped her mother would want to leave Boston this soon. She
hurried to the telegraph station next and ordered a telegram to be
sent to Daniel, telling him of her arrival. She paid the man behind
the counter sixty-five cents to send the cable and thought of
exactly what to say.

Daniel would want to know why her sudden
change in plans, but the reason couldn't be told through miles of
lines and station personnel. It had to be said in person, when they
were both alone and could express their joy in private.

She picked up the pencil and jotted down the
message then handed the paper back to the clerk. He read it over
once, looking up at her with a frown.

"Is this all you wanna say?" he asked her
with a note of sarcasm etching his tone.

"What's the matter with it?"

"Well nothing I reckon, it
just ain't very personable if you ask me," he replied reading the
words she had written. "
Arriving on four
fifteen Sunday - stop - Please meet us - stop - Julia.
I thought you said you were sending a message to
your husband?"

"Please just send it as I
wrote it," Julia instructed irritably, leaving the building before
the man could scold her further. She climbed back into the
Victoria
waiting outside
for her and pulled the shade down to block out the bright morning
sun.

Perhaps the man was right,
she thought, perhaps she should have been more personal. After all,
it wasn't as though she was arranging to meet a complete stranger.
She could have at least signed it
love
or
miss
you
. Before she could change her mind and
ask the driver to head back to the telegraph office, the carriage
came to a halt and the door opened to reveal the mayor's mansion.
Well, the cable would have to stand just as she had written it. She
had too much packing to do to worry about it any further. Besides,
she could tell Daniel how much she loved him when she was back in
his arms.

Julia had just finished closing the
remainder of her new dresses in her trunk along with the items she
had purchased for Margie, as well as the number of presents she was
bringing home with her, when the door opened and her mother poked
her head through. Louise smiled at her daughter in surprise,
stepping further into the room

"I wasn't expecting to see you up so soon.
Didn't you sleep well?" Julia smiled and took a deep breath. Trying
to explain her reason for wanting to leave so soon wouldn't be
easy, which was probably the real reason she wanted to get their
passage booked before her mother found out.

"I slept fine mother, but I do need to speak
with you." Louise frowned and sat on her daughter's bed next to
her. The massive pile of boxes were missing and the number of
dresses that had been laid out to air were also absent.

"What's going on?" Louise asked, eyeing the
room and its occupant suspiciously.

"I've arranged for our return to Kentucky.
We leave at four thirty this afternoon." Louise stared at Julia for
a long moment before smiling.

"I was wondering whether or not you'd be
able to stick it out until next week," she replied sympathetically.
"I know how hard it's been for you to be away from Daniel.
Actually, I'm surprised it's taken you this long to change your
mind."

"You don't mind then?"

"Of course not; to tell you the truth, I've
rather grown tired of all your aunt's parties and shopping sprees.
I can't imagine Rupert putting up with it as long as he has. If it
were me, your father would have had kittens with all the bills they
will be getting. I'm rather looking forward to going home and
reading my poetry again."

Julia and Louise laughed for a few minutes,
teasing each other with images of the first things they were going
to do when they returned to the ranch; Julia of course didn't tell
her mother what the first thing she wanted to do really was. She
wasn’t sure how to explain to her mother that she wanted Daniel to
take her to their flat in Mayfield for a long, passionate night
alone.

After a few minutes of joyful teasing and
eager talk of their impending trip, both Julia and Louise became
quiet, each thinking of Lena and all she had planned for the
remainder of their stay.

"Do you think she'll be very upset?" Julia
asked her mother with concern.

"Lena will be devastated, but then she takes
everything very personal. We'll have to have a better excuse than
your being homesick to soothe her ruffles."

"What if we told her I had to go home?"
Julia asked with a sly grin.

"Why on earth would
you
have
to go home
early?"

"I'd have to go back if I was pregnant,
wouldn't I?" Louise thought for a moment then smiled.

"I'll bet that would do it. Lena knows how
much attention you need when you're expecting, and a woman would
want to be with her husband when the baby arrived. I think she'd go
for it and now that you and Daniel have set things right, it's not
totally out of the question. I think I'll go tell her right now and
start packing."

Louise left her daughter sitting on the edge
of her bed, still rambling on as she closed the door. Julia stared
at her departing posterior and smiled, gently tapping her finger
against the mattress. Any second now her mother would realize what
she had said and would come back in to ask...

"Julia Dennese!" the door swung open and the
older woman exploded back into the room like a bolt of lightning.
"Was that just an excuse or are you really pregnant?"

"Yes mother," Julia blushed. "I've been
having morning sickness for the past several days, and I haven't
had my monthly for three months now."

"Oh darling, how wonderful! Have you told
Daniel? No of course not, how could you have? Oh, I can't believe
it; I'm going to be a grandmother. Are you alright? Do you need
anything? Why don't you lie back and I'll do the packing for you,
oh, you've already done that though, haven't you?"

"Mother please," Julia giggled, wondering if
Daniel would react the same way when he learned the news. "I'm
pregnant not dying; I don't need to stay in bed, at least not here.
Now will you please calm down and let's get things going. We only
have a few hours before our train leaves."

"Train? Good heavens, I'll have to wire
Daniel and tell him we're coming home early."

"I already have; he's expecting us. We just
have to tell Aunt Lena now, and get you packed."

"Good heavens, your Aunt Lena, I almost
forgot." Louise hurried out the door and could be heard shouting
for her sister all the way down the stairs. Julia knew it wasn't
going to be long before her aunt was up in her room issuing just as
many orders as her mother had, but until then, she had enough time
to finish one thing. Julia slid the diary out from her night table
and took the pen marking a big red circle around the day. This was
one day, she'd never forget.

The small two wheeled plum colored shay
rattled up the dirt road, bringing with it an annoying sound from
the three foot copper horn. Stevie Shepherd, the telegraph owner's
son and town's only messenger loved to play with the horn since
installing it on his small rig two months ago, making certain all
around knew he was there and ready to do business.

Daniel heard the noise from the back of the
house and hurried around to see what was going on. He hadn't
expected any more telegrams since most of the buyers had already
wired to say they were coming to the sale next month. He saw
Thompson accept the small yellow paper and hand the boy a coin.
Daniel chuckled softly to himself, smiling as he thought of how
much money the kid had made off them over the past several days. He
must have nearly paid for his own tuition into college by now, he
mused as he watched Thompson open the envelope.

Although he was born and sold as an African
slave, Thompson was one of the few black people in the county who
could read and write; a fact Victor had insisted on years ago when
he first bought him on the auction block as a young man. Victor was
very proud of his own formal education and insisted any who worked
closely with him know how to read; just in case the occasion ever
rose he should convey his orders through word; which had occurred
many times the past months of the man's life.

"It's from Miss Julia," the man announced,
noticing Daniel's approach. Thompson had been given the freedom of
intercepting all messages, since Daniel was too busy to be
interrupted every ten minutes with the more than two hundred
telegrams arriving from prospective buyers. The words he spoke
brought a quickness to Daniel's feet as he hurried toward the man
taking the telegram from him. He could feel the sudden tightening
in his throat and the erratic pounding of his heart as he read
through the short message.

"She's coming home!" Daniel's excitement
echoed through his tired tone, telling Thompson the contents of the
telegram as though he hadn't read it for himself. "She'll be here
tomorrow. We've got to get this place in order before she gets
here." Daniel hurried into the house leaving an amused butler to
watch his reactions.

"The way he acted you'd think he hadn't seen
the woman in months," he mused to himself, following behind his
employer.

The rest of that day and into the next
proved to be hectic and filled with urgent orders. The house was
quickly cleaned from top to bottom, fresh flowers cut and put in
bowls and vases in every room, and the curtains and carpets washed
and hung out to air. Daniel ordered his room in particular to be
spotless. Two vases of roses were placed beside the bed and the
sheets changed fresh before he left for the train station.

He was in such a hurry to get to the station
that he hadn't noticed the woman waving eagerly to him. She stood
there and watched in disgust as he and the stable boy he had
brought to drive the family's Dearborn headed out of the yard
toward the dirt road, leaving in their wake a cloud of dust.

Sharon couldn't imagine what was so
important to make him dress up the way he had, or totally ignore
the fact that she was calling out him. Daniel had donned a freshly
pressed suit that hugged his shoulders and chest like a second
skin, his hair neatly combed and tied back in a leather restraint
and the aroma of shaving soap lingered behind him in the afternoon
air like a hypnotic call of the masculine wild.