The Mandie Collection (12 page)

“But that wouldn't be fair to you—” she hesitated.

“That's for me to decide. It would be enough to know that you were finally mine.”

“John, I just don't know. I really am truly fond of you, but in a different way from the way I loved Jim.”

“I know that. But, I'm hoping that with time you will love me, too. It would be wonderful to share Amanda with you, too. She is the only living relative I have left, except some distant Cherokee cousins.”

Elizabeth was silent for a few moments. “Let me think it over tonight. And I'll see you at breakfast—early,” she said, rising as he still held both her hands.

“Fine, Elizabeth. I hope you sleep well and have pleasant dreams of me.” He laughed. “I don't imagine you will sleep a wink after all the excitement, but, anyway, you are right. It is time to retire. I'll be up with the birds in the morning, and I hope I have something to sing about.” He bent and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Elizabeth looked solemnly up into his face. “Until then, John.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

THE WEDDING

After hours of tossing, unable to sleep, Mandie finally slept soundly for two hours then awoke with a start. She sat straight up in bed, trying to remember what was so special. The first streaks of light were in the sky and she could hear the twittering of the birds in the tree outside her window.

Then it suddenly came to her. Her mother—her real mother—her very own mother was here in this house!

She bounced out of bed and hastily snatching clothes from the drawers and the wardrobe she was quickly dressed. She quietly opened her door and crept down the long stairway.

The smell of fresh coffee was in the air and she knew Jenny must be up. Slipping into the kitchen, she found Aunt Lou busily giving the day's instructions to Jenny, who was rolling out the dough for the morning's biscuits.

“Aunt Lou, is my mother up yet?” Mandie quickly asked the old woman, who was startled by the sudden presence behind her.

“She ain't been in here if she is, my child,” Aunt Lou smiled and put her arm around the girl. “Set yo'self down over there. I'll get fresh milk for you while you wait on dat important lady.”

Mandie smiled and sat down at the table. Aunt Lou wiped one hand on her apron and poured a glass of milk from the pitcher on the sideboard.

“Here, you drink this. You ain't et a bite since them people come here. Your stomach's gonna be stuck to your backbone, first thing you know.”

Mandie laughed and gulped the milk down. “Thank you, Aunt Lou. My stomach does feel kinda hungry.”

Liza breezed into the kitchen. “Lady's in the dining room. Mr. John, too.”

Mandie scrambled to her feet and ran for the door, “Oh, I have to go. Thank you, Aunt Lou. Thank you, Liza.” Then turning back, she added, “And thank you, Jenny!
Thanks, everybody!
”

She hurried through the door, then slowed down to approach her mother and Uncle John who sat at the table. They both turned to smile at her.

“Good morning, Mother. Good morning, Uncle John,” she greeted them, slipping into a chair at the side across from the two of them. The thought of her real mother being present still seemed a bit strange to her.

“Good morning, my darling. I hope you slept well.” Elizabeth reached over to pat her hand.

“Good morning, my dear,” Uncle John said, watching the two.

“Mother, I thought about it all night last night. Where are we going to live?” Mandie questioned.

“Why, we'll go back to Asheville, of course,” Elizabeth told her.

“But, couldn't we stay here with Uncle John? You see, I've just found him, too, and I'd like to get to know him. He looks so much like my father.” Mandie looked from one to the other.

“Well, Elizabeth?” John queried.

“Well, John—” the young woman began.

Mandie nervously interrupted. “I was thinking about this so much I couldn't sleep last night and I think I have a good solution to our problem.”

“Why, what's that?” Uncle John asked.

“Well, it's like this,” Mandie began, and then paused to look from one to the other. “Mother, if you and Uncle John would just get married, then we could all stay together here for always!”

Elizabeth laughed hysterically. “And here I was afraid to express my own mind for fear my daughter wouldn't like it.”

John laughed, too. “Has Amanda answered my question, then, Elizabeth?”

Mandie was confused by the conversation, and was trying to figure out what they were talking about, when Elizabeth turned to her daughter. “You see, dear, your Uncle John asked me last night to marry him—”

“He did? Oh, Mother! Oh, Uncle John!” Mandie cried, and got up and ran around to embrace them both.

Elizabeth finished her sentence. “And I told him I had to think about it overnight. I was really afraid you wouldn't approve.”

“Oh, Mother, he's my father's brother!” Mandie exclaimed.

“Amanda, my child!” Uncle John got up to put his arms around the girl. She looked up into his face and saw the strong resemblance of her father. She buried her face against his chest.

“You have my answer, John dear,” Elizabeth told him.

Just then, Mrs. Taft came through the doorway. Mandie ran to her, grabbing her hand and leading her to the table.

“Guess what, Mrs.—Grandmother—you are my grandmother, you know,” she told her as she pulled out a chair across the table from her mother.

“Yes,” the old lady grudgingly admitted as she sat down.

“Guess what, Grandmother?” Mandie plopped down beside her. “My mother and my Uncle John are going to get married!”

Mrs. Taft darted a glance at the two. “This is quite sudden, isn't it, Elizabeth?”

“Not as sudden as you think, Mother. You see, John has been asking me to marry him for the last fifteen years, through the mail,” Elizabeth told her mother, and winked at John.

“That's right, Mrs. Taft. I never gave up,” John laughed.

Mandie cut in. “But it was my idea, really. I told them if they would just get married, then Mother and I could live here. We wouldn't have to go to Asheville.”

“Oh—so you won't live in Asheville?” the old lady asked. “Well, Amanda, you haven't seen our home in Asheville yet. Your grandfather was one of the richest men in the country and when he died ten years ago, he left a fortune to your mother and me.”

“Oh, that's very nice, Grandmother, but I'd really prefer living here where my father used to live,” Mandie told her. She looked around the huge room. “Just think. He used to eat in this very room. Oh, I loved him so much.”

Elizabeth turned to her mother. “You don't really need me, Mother. You have all the servants. I think Amanda has a good idea. We'll just live here and be on our own.”

“Don't tell me you are allowing a child to make such important decisions for you!” the old lady rebuked her daughter.

“No, Amanda did not make any decisions for me. John asked me last night to marry him and I was ready to say yes this morning, provided we lived in this house. You are welcome to stay, Mother, of course, but this will be our home.”

“Well, I was just—I didn't—” the old woman was quite ruffled at having her daughter speak to her in such a way.

“It is better this way, Mrs. Taft,” John added. “I would never think of parting with this house. It's to be Amanda's at the time of my death, and I trust she keeps it in the family.”

“Have it your way, then. I'll go back to Asheville where I have friends,” Mrs. Taft replied curtly, then added, “After the wedding, that is, so I hope you won't delay too long with your plans.”

Plans were indeed rapidly made. Dresses were ordered, the house refurbished, and guests invited. Elizabeth insisted on having Uncle Ned come to the wedding. After all, he was kinpeople to her new family.

Dr. Woodard finally came for Joe, but promised to return with Mrs. Woodard for the wedding. Mandie was surprised to learn
that Dr. Woodard and her mother seemed to know each other from way back.

Polly and her mother paid them a formal call and Mandie was again surprised to find that Polly's mother also knew her mother from long ago. Actually, Mandie's mother had been born and raised and lived in Franklin until her father moved to Asheville when she was sixteen. And there he had built their mansion.

It seemed to Mandie that everyone in town was talking about the forthcoming wedding and had been invited to attend. Things moved along quickly and the day soon was upon them.

Uncle Ned arrived and was given a guest room, even though he felt very uncomfortable among the white people. Mandie and Polly were the bride's attendants. Joe and his father stood for Uncle John. The ceremony took place on a warm September afternoon in the chapel of the church across the road where John Shaw was a member and where Elizabeth Taft had belonged before moving out of town.

Everything seemed like a dream to Mandie—all white, full of clouds and scents of flowers, soft music, and whispering voices. Her feet never seemed to touch the floor as she floated down the aisle with her bouquet. She was so happy, she was afraid she would awaken and find it was not true. She faintly heard the wedding march. She barely understood the words of the pastor. And when her mother and her uncle floated back down the aisle together and out through the door of the church, she pinched herself to be sure it was real.

The drawing room of Uncle John's house had been transformed into a wonderland for the reception. There were flowers, greenery, and candles everywhere. Mandie darted in and out through the room to keep from missing anything. She had never known there could be such happiness. She caught a glimpse of her grandmother sitting alone in a corner and tried to talk to her, but the old lady had little to say to anyone except Jason Bond, whom she had charmed.

“Hey, slow down, Mandie,” Joe said as he caught her arm at the corner of the long table holding the cake and punch bowl. “Where're you going in such an all-fired hurry?”

“Ain't goin' nowhere,” she teased him.

“Ain't goin' nowhere? I think you'd better go somewhere—back to school if that's the way you're going to talk,” Joe laughed.

“Oh, yes, I'm going back to school, all the way through, with years and years of education,” Mandie continued to joke with him.

“But not
too
many years,” Joe said, as he moved closer. “I don't want you to know more than I do.”

“Know more than you do?” she asked, twirling her long silk skirts.

“That's right. I don't want my wife to be smarter than I am,” he said, reaching to grasp her hand.

“Wife?”
Mandie shot back.

“You heard right. I said my wife. I'm asking you now to become my wife—that is, when we get all educated and grown up, and all that, of course,” he said, looking seriously into her blue eyes.

“Oh, Joe Woodard, you're not old enough to propose,” she teased.

“I'm old enough to know what I want,” he said. “Well, what is your answer? Will you be my wife—someday?”

Mandie became solemn. “I'll have to think about it, Joe. Too much has happened lately.”

“I'll wait for your answer. Whenever you make up your mind let me know,” he said, squeezing her hand hard.

“Holding hands in public! Shame! Shame!” Polly appeared at Mandie's side.

“Well, shame on you for being so nosy!” Mandie retorted.

“I have to look where I'm going, don't I? I couldn't just close my eyes as I passed,” Polly scolded.

“Let's go talk to Uncle Ned. He looks kinda left out over there in the corner,” Mandie remarked, and the three moved across the room to where the old Indian was sitting on a stool quietly taking in the whole scene.

Mandie was so happy she was giddy. As she approached the old man, she laughed, “Uncle Ned, will you come to my wedding? Joe has asked me to marry him!”

Polly stared at Joe in disbelief. Joe blushed and slipped away across the room.

“When Papoose gets to be squaw, then I come to wedding,” Uncle Ned smiled.

“Joe!” Mandie called after him. “I didn't mean—don't be angry with me!” But he ignored her and kept going.

“Uncle Ned, I guess I said the wrong thing, but everything is so out-of-this-world right now, I can hardly cope.” Mandie put her arm around the old Indian. “I'm so glad you came.”

Mandie didn't get a chance to see Joe again, alone, and he and his father left early the next morning. Then she learned that her mother and her new stepfather were going to Swain County to visit her father's grave and his Cherokee kinpeople, and she was to go with them.

Uncle Ned went ahead to prepare the Cherokees for the visit. Mandie still could not comprehend; so much was happening. All her young life she had never known what it was to be really and truly happy. She thanked God every night for being so good to her.

To top off the excitement, they went by train. Mandie had never been inside a real train before. It was stuffy and dirty, but to her it was like a chariot from Heaven. At the station, Dr. Woodard, his wife, and Joe met them, and they went to spend the night at their house. Mandie knew she would get a chance to see Joe alone, sooner or later.

After supper, as the older people were sitting around discussing old times, Mandie asked Joe to show her his dog's new puppies. They went outside and into the barn where Samantha was giving her four offspring their supper. She flapped her tail when she saw Joe approaching, but kept right on with her duties. She was a golden brown mixed breed and her puppies were a variety of colors.

“Joe, they are beautiful! But, they're so little! Watch that black one! What a little pig. He keeps rooting the others away,” the girl laughed.

“They might let him push and shove, but they get their share,” Joe assured her. Then he turned abruptly to her, “Well, did you make up your mind?”