Wellington Cross (Wellington Cross Series) (20 page)

“Me?” I asked, getting out of the chair.

He escorted me down the entry hall.  “I’d like you to help
me interview him.  Please forgive me for not discussing it with you before
now, but I want you to know that I value your opinion, and I thought perhaps
this would be something you could help me do, take care of the field workers
and servants’ needs.  Is that something that would interest you?”

He wished to include me in plans for the future and wanted me to
help him with important household duties.  I was ecstatic.  I had not
really done anything like that while we were married before.  I felt
honored.  “It would be my pleasure,” I said, smiling.

We reached the river-front door, which Ethan opened and bade the
black man to come inside.  Ethan directed us into the parlor, and I sat
down on the sofa next to him, as Red sat down across from us in a chair. 
Red was a tall burly man with scars on his arms and dark oily skin.  He
looked to be middle-aged and spoke slow and deliberate.

“Why don’t you tell us about yourself,” Ethan said.

The man explained that he had been a slave to the Chatham family
down in Georgia before the war.  “My real name is Cyrus,” he explained,
“but Mas’er Chatham started calling me Red after I was accused of
stealin’.  It happened during the war.  The fella who done it was a
deserter from up in Mar’land who left his battalion and stumbled ‘cross the
house one day when no one else was there ‘cept for me.  He stole’ some
copper pots out of the kitchen house and was about to storm the main house,
when I stopped ‘im.  Mas’er Chatham came up the drive then, and the thief
ran off, leaving me with the copper pots standing out there ‘side the
kitchen.  Mas’er Chatham thought I was trying to steal ‘em and take ‘em
back to my cabin.  So he had my left hand cut off.” 

I flinched.  It was only then that I noticed he had a
missing hand.  How cruel!

He continued, “That’s why he started calling me Red, saying he
caught me ‘red-handed’.  Mas’er Chatham didn’t believe me when I told him
I took the pots from the real thief.  I wanted to be honest with you from
the start, ‘case you heard anythan’ different.”

“I thank you for your honesty,” Ethan said.

The man breathed a sigh and continued, “After Emancipation, I
escaped the family at the first opportunity, as I had no respect for him after
that.  He didn’t want me to go, threatened to kill me.  I joined a
group of local militia and ended up in Virginia by the time the war was
over.  After the war, I’ve had a hard time finding decent people to work
for, people who didn’t, excuse me, ma’am, beat on me.  Seems some people
forget that Lincoln freed the slaves.  I just escaped a house over near
Blackstone and came east till I hit the river, crossed the bridge, and then I
saw your house and wondered if you needed help.”

Ethan looked over at me and took my hand in his.  I smiled
at him and nodded.  I thought this man was being honest, that he really
needed a new start in life, and that we could take care of him here.  I
tried to convey my approval to Ethan.

“Can you work out in the fields?” Ethan asked him.  “Does
it hinder you, not having your left hand?”

“Sir, I don’t have a left hand to hold on to things, but my arm
strength well enough makes up for that.  I’ve got plenty of brawn, and I
can lift heavy things all right.  I’ve learned how to use this stump, and
I’m a hard worker, too.”

“Very well, then.  We’ll get the paper-work done up, and
you can start tomorrow.  I can hire you as a tenant farmer, and you can
have a small piece of land to build on eventually.  For the time-being you
can live in the Great Quarters.  Do you have any family?”

“No, sir.  Jus’ me.  My family was taken away from me
when I’s hired by Mas’er Chatham.  I’ve never been able to make it back
down to Georgia to see what happened to them – my wife and baby girl.”

I spoke for the first time.  “I’m sorry.  That must be
really hard for you.”  I looked over at Ethan, who seemed to agree with
what I said.  He and I both understood how deeply it hurt to be taken away
from someone you loved.

“Come into the study with me for that paper-work, and then I’ll
take you over to the Great Quarters.”

I followed them into the study as Ethan sat at his father’s
desk.  He pulled out papers, explained what they said, and had Red make
his mark, as he didn’t know how to read or write.  I signed the papers
also, as a witness.

“Sir,” I said, touching him on the shoulder, which startled him,
and he flinched.  I wondered if he’d had a sore back from a recent
beating, and felt sorry for him once again.  “Would you prefer to be
called Red or Cyrus?”

He smiled at me for the first time, showing a wide space between
his two front teeth.  “Cyrus, ma’am.”  He looked at Ethan for his
approval.

Ethan nodded.  “Cyrus, it is, then.”

“Thank you, sir,” he said.  He turned and looked at
me.  “Thank you, missus...”

“Mrs. Wellington.”  I smiled at Ethan, liking the sound of
that again.

“Missus Wellington,” he nodded. 

Since Cyrus was going to live in the Great Quarters where Jake
and Zeke lived, one of his first tasks would be to make a room livable. 
They all had the option of building their own cabins in the future, when the
plantation became more prosperous and were able to give them wages.  At
least Cyrus had a safe place to live.  I felt bad for the misfortunes he’s
had to endure and hoped he would be happy here.  If he was to become my
responsibility, as well as Cora and the girls, I would do my best to make sure
they are all well taken care of.  I wondered if sometime in the future, we
might be able to find the rest of Cyrus’ family.

Ethan found me in the sitting room after showing Cyrus around
outside.  I had been playing Mozart’s piano concerto No. 23 at the piano.
 We had no sheet music, as it had all been burned up during the war, so I
had to play from memory.  This piece was very quiet and romantic.  I
stopped when Ethan came into the room.

“Good evening, Mrs. Wellington,” he said, looking intently into
my eyes.  I loved hearing that.  Mrs. Wellington.  I just wished
I was the only Mrs. Wellington that was married to Ethan.  “Please,
continue playing,” he said.  “I love to hear you play.  I’ve missed
it.”

I smiled and continued playing.  I remembered that I
learned to play the piano here on this very piano, since our family didn’t own
one.  Ethan had had a younger brother, Godfrey, who was self-taught at the
young age of 5, before he died of scarlet fever at age 6.  No one else in
the family knew how to play, but I liked to play around on it.  Clarissa
found out that Mrs. O’Loughlin, the parishioner’s wife, who lived on a nearby
farmhouse, could play the piano, and she came over with sheets of music and
taught me how to play.  I smiled again, at remembering all those
things.  I had forgotten about little Godfrey.

Ethan sat down and watched my hands move across the keys. 
Then I felt his hands pull pins out of my hair, releasing it freely down my
back, undoing my braids.  My arms got cold chills, even though the room
was very warm.  I continued to play as Ethan smoothed out my hair, but
found it very hard to concentrate. 

“Ethan,” I said, quietly.  “I cannot continue to play when
you’re doing that.  Do you want to hear me play or not?” I asked,
teasingly, my eyebrow arched.

He pushed my hair away from my neck and placed a kiss there on
my exposed skin.  More cold chills.  “If you cannot do both at the
same time…” Then he kissed my ear.  Even more cold chills.  “Then I’d
rather do this.”  He kissed my cheek, and I stopped playing.  His
arms went around me, and I placed mine around his neck, and we kissed on the
lips, on the cheeks, on our chins, all over each other’s faces.  I ached
inside for him.  I wanted him to carry me back upstairs to our bedchamber
and have relations with me.  We had struggled all afternoon up there to
try and ignore the bed that beckoned us.  How I wished we were up there
now. 

But he was still technically married to Elizabeth, the other Mrs.
Wellington, and so we made ourselves stop.  For now.

The next morning was a busy one.  Cyrus hammered away in
his room of the Great Quarters while Jake and Zeke finished repairing the
chicken coop and were presently working on repairing the carriage house. 
Cora and the girls were able to get more eggs and were busy cooking up some for
breakfast.  Ethan had gone out on Blackfoot somewhere early in the
morning.

While waiting for breakfast, Clarissa and I enjoyed biscuits and
coffee, and Lillie crawled around on the floor of the sitting room.  I
told Clarissa that I had remembered almost everything about my past, and she
was so happy for me that she hugged me.  I told her I remembered how much
I had looked up to her in the past, especially during the war and how she
handled things.  How she would sneak food down to the cellar to
Confederate prisoners being held here when the Yanks weren’t looking.  How
brave she was and how she helped me hold it together over at Magnolia Grove. 
How she’d helped me bury my mother in the dead of night and let me mourn. 
I told her that I admired how she treated others and was respected in the
community.  She had tears in her eyes and hugged me again.

“Thank you, Madeline.  You’re so sweet to say those things. 
I love you dearly.” 

“I’m so glad you found me that day in Chester.  I don’t
know if I would have ever gotten my memory back if you hadn’t brought me
here.  Thank you.”

“I’m glad, too, dear.”

Cora called us into the dining room when the eggs were ready,
and we went in and had breakfast, joined by Elizabeth.  She had dark
circles under her eyes and looked pale. 

“Are you all right, Elizabeth?” I asked.  We hadn’t spoken
much at all, so she seemed surprised to hear me address her.

“I’m fine,” she said quietly.

“You do look pale, dear,” Clarissa observed.  “Are you
ill?”

“I didn’t sleep very well, that’s all.  And I’m feeling a
little queasy this morning.”

“Why don’t you have some biscuits and then go lie down and
rest?” Clarissa suggested.

Edward came in and took food back over to his study with
him.  I had just finished up my eggs and was wiping strawberry juice off
of Lillie’s face and hands, when Ethan came into the dining room, smelling of
fresh air and sunshine.  

“Madeline, could I speak to you for a moment?” 

I met his eyes and stood up.  “Of course.”

Lillie let out a squeal, and Ethan walked over and kissed her on
the cheek.

“I’ll take care of her,” Clarissa told me, reaching to take
Lillie out of her chair.

“Ethan, I have something I need to talk to you about,” Elizabeth
interrupted. 

“Not now, Elizabeth.”  Ethan dismissed her, taking my arm
and escorting me towards the hall.

“Ethan, I really must insist that you stop wandering off
with…with
her
,” Elizabeth said.  We turned around and noticed she
had gotten up out of her chair.  She looked very pale.

“Elizabeth, I promise to speak to you later.  Now be a good
girl and finish your breakfast,” he chided.

He turned back around and led me outside through the river-front
door.  I thought he handled Elizabeth very well, without getting upset at
her.  He led me all the way down to the bench by the river.  This
must be serious, since he was taking me so far away from the manor, perhaps for
privacy.

“What is it, Ethan?  Is everything all right?”

He took my hands in his and kissed them.  “Everything is
fine, wonderful in fact.  I have begun the process of having my marriage
to Elizabeth annulled.  I just got back from the Court House, where I
signed papers to start the process.  Very soon, she will be gone, and you
and I can start our lives together again.”

I felt my heart leap inside me, joyful at the thought of
that.  “Oh, Ethan, that’s wonderful news.   I had thought
perhaps something bad had happened.”

“I want us to be re-married again, publicly…to let everyone know
that we’re back together again.”

“I’d love that, Ethan.  Nothing would make me happier than
to be yours again, truly.”  I meant that in every way.

“You’ll have to go to the Court House to prove that you’re
alive.  I had to declare you dead before I could marry Elizabeth, so we
have to undo that.”

“Oh, I see.  That should be easy enough.”  So, that’s
how he’d been able to marry her.

“You’ll have to find your birth record to show them, if you still
have it, and have Jonas testify as to your identity, since he is the closest
blood relative.”

“That’s fine.  I’ll ride over there today and let Jonas
know while I look for my birth record, see if it’s still in the floorboards of
the attic where I hid it.”

He smiled, “Don’t go alone.”  He looked down then and
swallowed.  Something else was bothering him.

“What is it, Ethan?  What else?” I asked.

He looked back up at me, caressing my hands with his.  “You
apologized yesterday about being gone so long and missing out on a year
together, but that wasn’t your fault.  It is I who should apologize to
you.”  I furrowed my brow, confused, not understanding.  He
continued, “For marrying Elizabeth.  For giving up hope of ever finding
you again.  I should’ve never given up on my search for you.  I’m so
sorry.  You had the opportunity to marry Jeff but you didn’t.  I
admire that.  I wish I’d waited longer.  Just one month longer, you
would’ve been here, and we’d still be married right now.  And when you
remembered me in our bedchambers yesterday, we could have…”  He didn’t
need to finish that sentence.  I knew exactly what he meant.  He
shook his head.  “This whole thing has taught me to have more patience and
to never give up hope.  Will you forgive me?”