The Abolitionist’s Secret (3 page)

“Whatever shall we do?” Heather asked.

Charlotte seemed to be lost in her own thoughts for a moment. Then, she brightened and turned to George Downing. “I have it!” Charlotte said as she grabbed Heather’s hands in her own. “We’ll employ her as a lady’s maid, to help Colleen get you and Jasmine ready for the Cotillion. Since there are two of you to dress, she’ll need the extra help.”

“Yes, that might work,” George whispered back. “I need to speak to her, though.”

“Yes, well of course. That’s why we’re here.” Charlotte grinned at the men. “Since we missed dinner last night, we would like to place an order to be delivered to the house. Could you arrange it?”

Thomas replied, “I will personally see to it, and I’ll have George deliver it to your home in an hour. It’s the least we can do, to make up for last evening.”

• • •

Sally was freshly scrubbed and dressed in new clothing when Charlotte and Heather returned from the restaurant. “Hello, ma’am, miss. It’s good to see you agin. My angels who was lookin’ over me.”

Charlotte sat beside the woman and brushed the baby’s head with her hand. “I’m a mother nine times over, so I could never turn my back on this little one.” She looked into Sally’s dark eyes as she continued. “Mr. Downing tells me it’s not safe for you to leave New York City right now, and I happen to be in need of a lady’s maid for my daughters for a week or two, so we’ll give you a job in the house to help get my girls ready for the Cotillion. George Downing will be here in an hour or so to tell you what he knows.”

Sally glanced up at her benefactors. “I’m obliged to your family for my life, and my boy’s. I’ze more than happy to help out. But who can watch my boy for me?”

“We have a nursery that hasn’t been used for years, since my youngest is now eight. With a bit of dusting, it will be a wonderful place for him to stay during the day. In fact, you can bed down there at night with him.” Charlotte nodded her head for emphasis. “When it’s safe for you to leave, I’ll see to it that you are taken by coach to Niagara so you can continue your journey. This will work out just fine.”

The matching white dresses for the twins were sewn and hung in their armoires to be unveiled at the Cotillion ball, still one day away. But the satin slippers that the handsome French cobbler created for them needed to be broken in, or the girls would risk having sore feet halfway through the evening. So today they were prancing around the house in their fine slippers. After practicing gliding down the staircase, executing perfect curtsies and walking through every room in the house, they were taking a well-deserved break.

Heather sat in the most comfortable chair in the room, one hand holding a book while the other hand played with one of her brunette ringlets. She dangled her feet over the side of the chair and swung them back and forth as she read, peering at the toes of her new slippers each time she swung her feet out.

Jasmine glanced over at Heather’s swinging feet. “You know our ball slippers are different, don’t you, Heather?”

Heather closed the book and looked up. “Yes, I know that. Mine don’t have slobber all over them from Monsieur Louboutin.”

“Ah, Philippe.” Jasmine tapped her heart with her hand. “He is so infatuated with me.” She smiled over at Heather.

“I found his actions from the other day deplorable, and I’m glad we have no need to return to him again this year. He was taking far too many liberties with you.”

“I don’t think it can be called a liberty if I welcomed his advances. Did I tell you we kissed?”

Heather stared at her sister in astonishment. “Jasmine, tell me you are joking.”

“No, I’m quite serious. It was delightful. And he gave me magic shoes, so I’ll be able to attract even more men at the ball.”

“Magic shoes? How can you possibly think your shoes are magic?”

“Just look at them. They are different from yours. He painted the soles of my shoes red, see?”

Heather moved from her chair to the floor, where she grabbed one of Jasmine’s feet and pulled it up to eye level. Sure enough, Jasmine’s slippers were constructed with red soles. Heather released Jasmine’s leg just as Charlotte came bustling into the room.

“I can’t wait for you to meet both of my girls, Lieutenant,” she said over her shoulder as she led the gentleman into the parlor.

In unison, the twins gazed up at the tall man trailing their mother into the room. Heather looked into his deep blue eyes, and had the unsteady impression of falling, even though she was already on the floor. This was the officer from the restaurant who had so unsettled her. The one she’d been waiting for days to see again. Once more, a current ran around the room as he stepped into the space. For a moment, she couldn’t move, she could only stare as her heart did a tap dance in her rib cage. Then, as if coming out of a trance, she shook her head and jumped to her feet as Jasmine rose from her chair.

“Lieutenant, these are my daughters. You met Heather the other night at the restaurant, but Jasmine was ill that evening and couldn’t join us. Girls, this is Lieutenant David Whitman, the gentleman your father and I met last year in St. Louis. I sent him an invitation to attend the Cotillion, and it is fortunate that he is on leave from his post in St. Louis and can join us.”

The twins executed a small curtsy to David. He bowed to each as the introductions were completed. Then, they took a seat as Charlotte ordered tea be served.

David glanced at the twins. “I’ve known twins before, but never have I encountered two who were so identical. Your hair is exactly the same hue of brunette, and your eyes are from the same vat of chocolate.”

Charlotte laughed. “I had to tie ribbons around their ankles when they were babies in order to tell them apart. Once they began to develop personalities, though, it became very easy to distinguish between them.”

Jasmine spoke first, as was usual for the twins. “So, Lieutenant, I, for one, am so thankful there was such a big, strong man on the train during the disaster last year. I’m so glad you were there to help my family to safety.” She batted her eyes at him as she played with her skirt.

“It was a rough couple of days, and I’m so glad that your family had only minor injuries. What about the other gentleman, Mr. Gray? He was much more seriously hurt than the others. How is he doing?”

“He is still recovering. His broken legs took a long while to mend, and he now walks with a limp,” Charlotte replied. “But, in typical Charles Gray fashion, he says he believes his limp makes him look dashing, and he’s never at a loss for a story to tell at dinners now. That disaster would have been far worse without you and your company of men being there to help rescue the victims, and we will be forever in your debt.”

David fingered his hat, which was resting on his knee. “We all did whatever we could to help. I’m just happy that your family and Mr. Gray were among the fortunate ones who survived.”

Heather took a deep breath. She knew she needed to say something to this handsome man with the deep blue eyes that were driving her crazy. “Are you in town just for the ball, or do you have another reason to be here?”

David looked over at her for a long minute before he replied. Heather could tell her cheeks were reddening as her body temperature notched up a few degrees from his perusal. She grabbed her fan from the table and began a swift back and forth motion as David’s eyes remained on her face. She wished he would release her from his intense gaze and just answer her inane question.

“The ball is certainly one of my reasons for being here, after your mother so graciously extended me the invitation last fall. But I am also on a mission for my father, which was why I was with those men in the restaurant the other night.”

“You said your home is in the south?” Heather squeaked out another question.

“Yes, near Savannah. My father owns a plantation there.”

Heather looked at her mother. Charlotte raised an eyebrow in her direction, and then turned her attention to David. “So you grew up on a plantation? I thought I detected a bit of an accent when we met last fall, but I had no idea your family is in the slave trade. You’re just who we need to talk to.”

David smiled at his hostess. “We own slaves, yes, but we are not in the slave trade. That’s an entirely different matter. I’d be happy to answer any questions you might have. What can I help you with, Mrs. Fitzpatrick?”

“We northerners are struggling to understand slavery, Lieutenant. I’m curious to hear the rationale a plantation owner uses to make sense of one person owning another.”

David drew a deep breath. “Well, first and foremost, my father owns the plantation, not me.”

Heather expelled a breath she’d been holding. “So, are you saying if you owned the plantation, you would not have slaves?”

David glanced once more at Heather. She could feel her blush deepening as he locked eyes again with her. “I’ve been gone from my home for four years. The time away has caused me to question whether the plantation life is the best possible way to run a farm. It’s worthy of some thought. I’m going to have a discussion with my father about some of my ideas when I return home. He wants me to settle down and take over the running of the plantation, but I can’t do that until some changes are made.”

“I realize that talking politics is not good parlor conversation, but we really are so eager to hear a southerner’s side of the argument.” Charlotte continued to prod.

“The most troublesome part for me is dealing with the darkies. We feed them, clothe and house them, treat them with kindness, yet still they want to escape. Not many have left from my father’s plantation, since he treats them fairly, but there have been one or two over the years. Then, we have to pay bounty hunters to round them up and bring them back to us. It’s a constant headache.”

Heather couldn’t keep her emotions in check any longer. “Is that what you were doing the other night in Downing’s? Working with those bounty hunters to find a slave?”

She held up her book. “I’m re-reading
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
right now, and I have so many questions about slavery. Would there ever be a case where a Negro couple would be split up even after having children together, like what happened to George, Eliza, and little Harry in the book?”

David shook his head. “You sound so much like your sister, Ginger, when we talked last year about the Indians out west. Such innocent questions to which there are no easy answers.” He shifted uneasily in his chair. “In fact, yes, the men I was with the other night are bounty hunters. We had a tip that our missing slave might be at Downing’s. But we lost the trail. I’m staying in town a bit longer to see if I can find it again.”

Heather’s fan took on an even more furious pace as she risked taking another look at her mother. Charlotte rose and went to the teacart, busying herself pouring tea into the cups. Her hand shook slightly, spilling some of the liquid onto the cart itself. When she turned back around though, her face was composed and her hands calm. She passed a cup to her guest, and then to her daughters.

Jasmine picked up the reins of the conversation. “Well, I, for one, am totally bored with the subject at hand. Slavery has no part in our world, or in our parlor, so why are we wasting our time discussing the issue?”

David turned his gaze from Heather, finally, and glanced at Jasmine. “What would you prefer to talk about, then, Miss Fitzpatrick?”

As Jasmine and David began to talk about the latest musical on Broadway, Heather and her mother exchanged another furtive glance over their teacups. Heather knew they must keep David from finding out about their part in assisting the slave woman they found in the alley, along with her baby. They must send David back to Savannah without his missing slave.

Jasmine kept attempting to capture his attention, but Heather noticed more than once David’s gaze left Jasmine and raked over her instead. Could he tell she was hiding something? Oh, she wanted nothing more than to prop her book in front of her face so he would stop staring at her and making her stomach do such funny things.

Charlotte cleared her throat, causing Jasmine to stop her coquetry mid-sentence. “Let’s discuss the Cotillion, which happens tomorrow evening. Now Lieutenant, despite the fact that your family owns slaves, I did invite you here, so I expect you to claim your two dances each with my daughters before their cards fill up for the evening.”

David’s gaze moved from Heather, who continued to furiously fan herself despite the chill of April in the air, to Jasmine, who looked up at him from under her lashes. He smiled at Charlotte. “I am looking forward to dancing with both of them, Mrs. Fitzpatrick.”

And for entirely different reasons,
he thought, as he set down his cup and rose from his chair.

David had only one month to decide what to do with the rest of his life. His options were to renew his commission with the Army and Continue to corral the Indians onto the reservations, or return to the plantation outside Savannah and toil alongside his father. He knew there were advantages to both choices, but he needed to thoughtfully weigh the pros and cons of each. His mind ran back and forth between the two lifestyles, and his body tossed restlessly in the hotel bed.

He sat up and punched his feather pillow before he lay back down. Tonight, the evening before the Cotillion, was not the night to be concentrating on his career path, or on the mission his father had given him to find the runaway slave. Tonight was the time to ponder his delightful dilemma of choosing between the Fitzpatrick twins. Heather and Jasmine. Jasmine and Heather. He rolled over and punched the pillow again. There was really no choice to make. His body did the picking even before his mind began to weigh the advantages of each woman.

The moment he had spied her in the restaurant his heart actually stopped for one second as he and Heather locked eyes. He totally blanked out what the men he was with were saying. It was as if everyone and everything in the restaurant came to a standstill as they stared at one another. Then, as Heather broke their gaze and raised the menu in front of her face, David was able to breathe again. But he knew his life’s pattern had just shifted. If he hadn’t had the good fortune of already knowing her parents, he would have manufactured a reason to be introduced to her. When he walked into the parlor today the room shifted again, just as it had at the restaurant. As if in a trance, they stared at each other like they were the only people in the room.