Kindred (16 page)

“Did you ever reveal to her that you were an heir to Twainhaven?”

“Yes.”

“We have our answer! She knew you would come into money one day, but she also knew she had to contrive a way in which it would be compulsory that you marry her. It seems she’d do anything for money.”

“Kindred, you know I am not boastful. I never elaborated.”

“No need to my boy,” stated Herr Doktor ben Lazer through a yawn. He shuffled into the kitchen. “Remember the one time you mentioned it in passing when we all were in that coffee house in Köln?”

“No.”

“Apparently, she did. You must stop her.” He rubbed his grumbling middle. “Kindred, my stomach is in an uproar still. From the trip. Would you make me some peppermint tea? Sorry to be a bother.” He took a seat at the table.

“It is not a bother, Nachman.”

“And who is this adorable bundle whose cry I obviously have been hearing off and on?” He looked at Kindred, then Lelaheo, then the baby. Lela rested in the safety of her father’s arms, grabbing strands of his hair, engrossed with all around her.

“My daughter,” Lelaheo answered proudly. He caught Kindred as she passed on her way to the hearth and pulled her close. “Our daughter, Lela.”

Chapter Twenty Four

The following morning, Adeline swept into the dining room and planted her wide paniers on a chair. “I am simply famished. When will you be serving breakfast?” she directed at Rozina, who was returning to the sideboard, candlesticks used to accent last night’s table. Adeline folded her hands on the table and looked expectantly at the woman.

Rozina stayed her task, propped one hand on a hip and eyed the girl.

“Sence you fambly now, fambly eet een de odduh rum. Dis yuh rum iz fo’ speshle t’ings. You ent speshle.” Rozina pointed toward the kitchen. Crimson flooded Adeline’s features. She shot to her feet.

“Where I come from the help knows its place!”

“Missy Harkness, frum wuh uh onduhstan’, you wuz de hep weh you come frum.” Rozina resumed placing candlesticks. Reluctantly, Adeline headed for the kitchen where the rest of the household was gathered. Her eyes narrowed as they fell on Cassian. He had

his arm around Kindred’s shoulder as she nursed Lela.

“What is this?” She pointed at the scene before her. “Whose child is that?”

“Ours,” said Lelaheo, hugging Kindred closer.

“Am I to be cuckolded under my own roof?”

“Adeline, this house, with its accompanying roof, is still mine,” remarked Dr. Twain as he read the gazette. His tone was soft, but challenging.

“Doctor Twain, forgive me. I-I did not ….”

“Adeline, I know what you meant. I am simply correcting you.” He folded the paper with a snap and drained his coffee cup. “Lelaheo, meet me outside in one half hour. We have a hectic morning. Kindred, is my bag properly replenished for the day’s rounds?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed a gurgling Lela on the head. Dr. Twain glanced at the overdressed guest at his table. “Adeline, explore the grounds all you want, Except, I’d don something more sensible. This is a
working
farm. Good day.” He rose and left.

Lelaheo nuzzled Kindred’s ear as she handed the baby to him.

“I must prepare to depart, love.” He got up, cradling Lela in one steady arm. “Do you not wish to assist me?”

“No.” Kindred locked eyes with Adeline and would not look away. She had unfinished business with this well-bred interloper.

“Kindred?”

“Yes?” she replied, finally breaking eye contact with the girl. “Go, Lelaheo. Give Lela to Gramma. Miss Penvenen and I have much to discuss.” He bent over and kissed her passionately, then he hoisted the baby on his shoulder and left.

“This is disgusting! You are married to me,” Adeline ran after him shouting. Lelaheo ignored her. Returning to the kitchen, she focused her rage on Kindred. “Having his half-breed bastards will not secure your place here. Populate the countryside. It serves no purpose. I have the legitimate document stating we are man and wife.”

Kindred pounded her fist on the table and toppled her chair as she stood up.

“And under what means did you obtain it? The ceremony may have been legal, but the circumstances were not.” She approached Adeline and hovered over her. “I know what you did, Adeline.”

“What I did?” Adeline swallowed audibly.

“Yes, you drugged him.”

“What nonsense are you spewing?”

“Please do not act coy. I loathe that luxury of the rich.”

“How did I drug him? How could I get that man to wed me if he had no interest?”

“You were desperate, Adeline, and saw opportunity. I am apprised of your sad history with men. You knew that if your aunt even thought another man was on your mind, she’d make sure you’d wed that one. No matter who he was. And pity the poor man, for he would become an immediate savior. But you had so carefully planned it would be an immediate savior with the promise of wealth.” Kindred’s diatribe drained her so, she had to sit again. She perused Adeline from head to toe. “Madam, I am one who has never cared one wit about what another female did or did not do with her privates, but these machinations have made you a whore of the highest caliber.”

Adeline tried to remain composed, but pulling at stray strands of hair signaled her uneasiness. “Your tale is quite … interesting, but it is just that. A tale.”

“My tale is the truth. I have sorted out your treachery. You will not have him! I am the mother of his child and we are pledged to each other.”

“The law is on my side, Kindred. Sentiment plays no role in legal matters. Cassian is
my
. You are his concubine. Remember that with each illegitimate breed you squeeze out. Now excuse me. I must eat something. I have my environs to inspect today.” She walked to the hearth and ladled an ample amount of porridge into a cream ware bowl.

“I need to keep up my strength for life in this hostile region.”

“Best you consume the entire pot, Miss Penvenen,” said Kindred as she headed out the kitchen door for the herb garden.

Chapter Twenty Five

Adeline curbed her exploration of the environs and stayed close to the main house of Twainhaven. The constant crack of musket fire was unsettling. London was her home, but she dare not return unless her husband was on her arm, or his money was in her

purse. Neither was possible at the moment, but she could wait. She had carved out a small space for herself. Through an unspoken understanding, she had claimed the parlor as her own during the day. It was sunny and offered refuge from all the battles going on around

her. She only mixed with the “family” at meal times.

Cassian came into the parlor with a colicky Lela on his shoulder. Adeline looked up from her needlepoint and frowned.

“You do realize that child is ill because all of you handle it too much.”

“Is that your medical or maternal observation?” Cassian kept rubbing Lela on the back.

“In my household, children would not be so indulged. I was not.” She jabbed her needle in and out of the landscape scene on the frame before her. “Let it be and it will heal on its own.”

“Adeline, my child is not an ‘it’. Secondly, you know nothing of what you speak. You would make a poor mother.”

“Am I ever to be a mother? Poor or otherwise.”

“Not to my offspring.”

She brushed aside his comment and returned to her needle and thread. “When will you be introducing me to the people of society here?”

“Introduce you?” He drew nearer. “People of society?” He threw his head back and roared with laughter. “And your aunt thought I was cheeky. Our union is a lie. No matter how many documents you possess.”

“So you say. I am tenacious. You do not know me, Cassian.”

“I know enough.” He turned to leave. Adeline grabbed his sleeve. She pushed away the needlepoint frame and stood in his path.

“No, you do not.” She stroked his cheek, then dropped her hand into the opening of his shirt. She massaged the smooth pectoral under her fingers. “Cassian, the morning you woke to find me wrapped around you, I saw that you wanted me. I felt it. Literally. Even if your mind denied it, your body was ready. Confess. Did you not want, just for one second, to sink yourself into this flesh? Were you not a tad curious? I am quite different than Kindred. Not just our hair, skin and eyes. I am sure we differ in our way of loving. I can introduce you to new pleasures. Satisfaction of which you have only dreamed. And I

am aware that you are not shy about exercising your appetites. I have heard you with her.” Before he could stop her, Adeline latched onto him and kissed him again. Lela mewled at being squeezed.

“I think not, Adeline,” Cassian said shakily, wiping his mouth. “Any response from me was purely a reflex. Totally natural.”

“If you say so.”

She stepped back, feeling triumphant at making a dent in his stoic manner. She knew from experience that his emotions bubbled just under the surface, but that he was slow to act. But when he did …

“Lelaheo, Father needs you in the surgery,” announced Kindred, who had been standing quietly on the threshold watching.

Ignoring Kindred, Adeline addressed Cassian. “I am here and my door is always unlocked.” She licked her lips as she passed Kindred on her way out. “Good morning,” she chirped, beaming from ear to ear.

****

Joshua was trimming overgrown bushes with a crew and hauling away debris in time before high winds from an approaching storm could wreak more havoc. In the midst of his task, he looked up to see a coach coming up the road.

“Go tell Father a coach is coming,” Joshua told a helper.

Minutes later, Doctor Twain emerged to stand on the front steps with Joshua, waiting and wondering. The coach turned into the courtyard and stopped. Without waiting for a liveryman to assist, a single passenger jumped out.

“Howdy, cousin. What beautiful land you have,” shouted Sebastian Oren Brainerd as he looked around.

****

“Bad t’ings come een t’rees.”

If Douglas had not put any credence in Rozina’s adage before, he set his clocks by it now. With the war, Lelaheo’s unexpected bride and now the arrival of his cousin, three bad things had come to call. He knew Sebastian and knew this unheralded visit was not for his household’s good. Wherever Sebastian tread, he left very large, messy footprints. Douglas hoped his cousin would walk softly here. His appearance had upset poor Rozina.

“Tell Doctah Twain uh wunt cook fo’ dat man. Uh wunt serve him.” Lelaheo and Kindred had carried Rozina into the kitchen, put her a stool, and sat her by the open kitchen door. “Dat buckruh duh him bet’ ta kill me and Kinny,” she panted. Rozina wiped the tears from her face with her apron.

“I’ll do all the cooking. Do not be scared, Gramma.” Kindred wrapped her arms around Rozina and hugged her tightly. “Please calm yourself.”

“Please do, ’Zina.” Lelaheo checked her pulse. “Your heart. I forbid you to tax yourself.”

“Uh ent scary’d. Stop dat!” She swatted at him and struggled to her feet.

“’Zina, please!”

“Luk uh said uh ent scay’d. Uh iz mad!” Rozina trembled with anger. Fear or anger. Neither was good for her heart.

“Gramma, I could give Mr. Brainerd a very large dose of a sedative and all our troubles would be over.” Kindred winked at her granny.

Rozina patted Kindred’s cheek. “You iz a good gal.”

“Let us leave this plotting of Mr. Brainerd’s demise until later, ladies. Kindred, help me get ’Zina to her room.”

“Uh ent po’ly.”

“I am the doctor here and I prescribe rest.” Lelaheo lifted Rozina into his arms and took her up the back staircase with Kindred leading the way.

Chapter Twenty Six

“Sebastian, what brings you to this region? And when will you be departing?” They were assembled for the evening meal, except for Rozina, and Lela, at a simply set table. They sat in the back courtyard in the shade of the canopy that the birch, maple and beech trees created. A light rain had fallen cooling the raw heat a tad. The shower had also coaxed the scents from the plants in the herb garden and the combined aroma perfumed the humid air.

Sebastian fanned himself with his sizeable planter‘s hat. “Why cousin, you speak of my departure when I have only just arrived.” He sipped his cool cider and rolled it around his mouth. “My that is good. Didn’t know how parched I was. That hit the spot.” He whipped out a handkerchief from his vest and mopped his neck and brow, then

repositioned his hat on his head. Relaxing in his chair, he added, “Let me brush the road off my boots before I have to be on it again. Besides, I have business here. I tracked three runaways to this region. I caught ’em afore they crossed over into Canada. Got ’em under lock and key on a barge two miles down river.”

Douglas drained his glass in one swallow.

“Sebastian, you are family, but I shall not endure any nonsense. Do not bring your plantation ways here. Understood?”

“I have no intention of committin’ nonsense. I shall conduct myself like the Southern gentleman I am. Unlike the Northern relation who visited me years ago and left with property,” he subtly reminded.

“That was a horse of a different color, Sebastian. They were in danger. Danger you had created.”

“They were mine to do with as I saw fit. Mine.” He spoke softly but menace was in his voice. “Do you understand that?”

“Douglas? The herb garden?” Nachman uttered in a cautious tone. “I’ll be over there with Joshua. Summon us when the meal is served.” Nachman excused himself.

Adeline emerged from the house, swathed in green silk and mountains of petticoats. Sebastian shot to his feet at the sight of this lady.

“Why, miss, who could you be? I do not recall seeing you upon my arrival. We have not been properly introduced.” He removed his hat again and bowed.

“It is Missus.” Adeline corrected him. His demeanor was rustic, but at least he was welcoming, she mused.

“Permit me.” Sebastian pulled out a chair for her. “Missus?” His attention shifted back to Douglas. “Cousin? You ole dog. You’ve finally relented and married?”