Before the Scarlet Dawn (28 page)

Ilene toddled forward, placed her hands on the grass, and on her knees leaned over to look at the little treasures. “Pretty!”

“Come sit here, Mama.” Darcy looked back over her shoulder. “The grass is cool.”

“I’ll spoil my dress, my darling girl.” Eliza took a step down from the porch but remained above the lawn. “I pray someday you shall have finer clothes than I.”

“I’d rather have a kerchief like Sarah’s, Mama.”

Eliza glanced over at Sarah. With strong arms she carried the wash in a large wicker hamper on her hip, dry now from hanging outside, and folded neatly. She wore a faded blue dress, with a red kerchief tied around her throat.

“There is a difference between what a lady should wear and a servant’s garb, Darcy.” Eliza brushed her hand over her daughter’s head of curls. “That is but a rag Sarah wears to wipe the sweat from her brow. It is not suitable for a lady.”

“If it were mine, I’d make believe it was a string of rubies or red rose petals,” said Darcy. She tumbled back with a giggle, and Eliza smiled. Her gaze drifted over to Ilene. Between her delicate fingers, the child gathered one of the eggs and balanced it in her cupped palm. Her hair, the color of ground nutmeg, tumbled over her forehead in tight ringlets that caught the sunlight. Ilene lifted her brown eyes and smiled at Eliza. Guilt stirred her heart, coupled with love.

Ilene called to Sarah, “Mama, see?”

On the brink of wishing that word had been spoken to her, Eliza shut her eyes.
I cannot mother her. I cannot, though my heart breaks, and I long to cradle her in my arms, soothe her when she cries, comfort her when she is afraid, tuck her in at night, and kiss her little face. It is my own fault, my own sin that has caused my pain.

Sorrow and regret stabbed her as she watched Sarah bend down and look at the egg in Ilene’s hand. “Be gentle, Ilene,” Sarah said. “Robin eggs can break easy.”

From a distance came the sound of hoofbeats growing stronger. Eliza lifted her hand above her eyes. Out of a copper cloud, man and horse appeared in the distance. The familiar set of shoulders under a blue regimental uniform, the handsome face shaded by a tricorn hat, caused her heart to run riot. But as he drew closer, and she saw him more clearly, her heart ached to see how lean he had become. Barely could her legs support her as her breath halted and she gasped.
Hayward!
Her pulse pounded in rhythm with the thump of his horse’s hooves.

The door behind her opened, and Fiona hurried beside her. “It is Mr. Hayward come home!”

Sarah stood and gathered Ilene up in her arms. Eliza held her hand out to Darcy, and she skipped up the steps beside her.

“Look, it is your papa, Darcy,” Eliza said. “He has come back to us. Is he not fine upon his horse?” She looked down at her daughter and saw her eyes grow wide. “He will be so glad to see how you have grown.”

Hayward jerked the reins and his horse halted, shook its mane, and pawed the soft ground. He threw off his hat and slid from the saddle. Eliza hurried down the steps and across the lawn to meet him. He gathered her in his arms, swung her around, and laughed. He kissed her face, her eyelids, her lips, and gathered her close. Every inch of Eliza soared. She grew faint, the same way she had felt the first time he kissed her. She tossed her head back and gazed up into his careworn face. His eyes were the same. A sigh slipped from her lips, and she pulled him to her, kissed him, and pressed her cheek against his.

“I had prepared words, but they fail me.” Hayward moved her back and placed his hands around her face. “You are as beautiful as the day I left.”

Yes, but so changed.

Tears burned in her eyes, and she let them fall. “I prayed God would watch over you and bring you back to me. Is it true, the war has ended and there is peace?”

“Yes, peace, Eliza.” He embraced her. His wool uniform brushed her skin. The scent of him was not as before. He smelled of woodlands and campfires, sweat and struggle.

Eliza turned out of his arms. “Darcy, come greet your papa. Ah, you have stained your knees in the grass. Never mind. Papa will not care.”

“On my soul, this is Darcy?” He crouched down and took her hands in his. “You were a little mite when I left, Darcy. How pretty you are, just like your mother.”

Darcy touched one of the buttons on Hayward’s coat. “What’s your horse’s name?”

“Gareth. He is somewhat worn for war, but strong. Do you like him?”

Eyes bright, Darcy nodded. “Yes, Papa.”

“What happened to Omega, Hayward? He was your favorite.” Eliza ran her hand over the horse’s sleek nose. Gareth blew out his nostrils.

“He was shot out from under me. I do not wish to talk about it.”

Darcy tugged on Hayward’s coat. “Can Ilene and I sit on your horse’s back, Papa?”

Eliza touched Darcy’s shoulder. “Your Papa is tired, no doubt, and cannot be bothered with such things.”

She followed the direction of Hayward’s eyes. Sarah cradled Ilene on her hip. A nimbus of russet hair tumbled about Sarah’s face and shoulders, and down her back in sleek spirals that caught the shimmer of sunlight.

“Who is this?” Hayward asked, his smile a touch lighter.

Eliza held out her hand. “This is Sarah. She was taken by the Indians, and after she escaped she found us.”

Ilene tucked her head into the curve of Sarah’s neck to hide her face.

“She has a child, Eliza.”

She stroked the sleeve of his regimental jacket. “Yes. Ilene.”

He glanced about the yard. “The father? Where is he?”

Sarah lowered her eyes. “I have no husband, sir.”

Hayward paused with a frown. “I will not ask why,” he finally said. “Have you worked hard at River Run?”

“Yes, sir. I love it here. I beg that you will allow it to remain my home—mine and Ilene’s.” Sarah ran her hand down Ilene’s back to soothe her when she whimpered. A cloud drifted over the sun, and the light faded and turned the color of the trees to a dull green.

“As long as you pull your weight, yes.” He handed Gareth’s reins over to her. “Can you stable my horse? Do you know how?”

Sarah nodded, and with Ilene in one arm she led the horse away. Hayward squinted and watched her. “She has an impediment, Eliza.”

“Yes, but she has a strong will, and it does not hinder her.”

Hayward slipped his arm around Eliza once more. Relieved that he had accepted Ilene as Sarah’s, and that he would be kind to her, she leaned against him.

Fiona stood near the door in the shade, her eyes full and warm.

“You look well, Fiona,” said Hayward. “Not a year has been added to your face. Is your cooking as good as the day I left?”

Fiona chuckled. “Better, Mr. Hayward. You’ll see. I’ll whip you up a homecoming you shall never forget. I still know how to roast a chicken the way you like. It’ll put flesh back on your lean bones before you know it.”

He smiled. “What little meat I have had these troublesome years has been as tough as boot leather. Prison food, if one should call it that, was not fit for pigs. So I welcome all the dishes you can provide.”

“I shall begin at once, sir.” With a skip, she turned back inside the house and headed toward the kitchen.

After she looped her arm through her husband’s, Eliza took in a slow breath. He spoke of the house, how well she had cared for it. And he inquired as to the prosperity of the mill. She nuzzled her face against his shoulder and assured him all was well. “I have missed you for so long. I cannot say it was easy taking care of River Run. It was exceedingly difficult. But you’re back now . . .”

“And for good.” Hayward took hold of her hand and moved with her inside, his gaze warm with desire. “I am starved for Fiona’s cooking . . . and for you, Eliza.”

She leaned her head back, drew him further inside the foyer, and looked at Darcy standing in the glare of the doorway. Then she reached up and touched his face.

“Tears, Eliza?”

“Will sent me a letter. He told me about the prison ship, but said you had died. I have grieved all this time over you— until I received your last letter. And now to have you back, to see the face of my beloved, which I never thought to behold again, has overwhelmed me with joy.” Her smile widened, and she laughed through her tears.

“I intend to write to Will and let him know I am now at home, with you and Darcy.”

“Yes, you must right away . . . he said he intends to bring his family to Maryland, and this news will . . .”

He nudged her chin. “Eliza. I know. I understand.”

Releasing her hand, Hayward reached down and lifted his daughter into his arms. Eliza smiled and wiped away her tears. Surely Hayward would never believe any child other than Darcy could be hers.

27

T
he heat of the day sucked at the air in Hayward’s study. He loosened his neckcloth, strode to the open window, and leaned his hands on the sill. He’d been home for weeks now and not a single thunderstorm had brought relief to the thirsty fields and wilting forests. Israel Creek was running low. But the Potomac flowed deep from the rains that had fallen at the headwaters.

The days had been sweltering, the nights warm with a breath of a breeze. The moonlight that glazed Eliza’s skin as she lay beside him upon the white cotton sheets, the way her dark hair clung about her throat, the way she twisted the sheets around her as she slept beckoned him. Since he’d been home, their love seemed like new love, she told him. He felt they had begun where they had left off, he still unable to tell her he loved her.

In the distance, thunderheads rimmed in gold threatened. Along the horizon the sky looked dark as slate. His eyes shifted to Eliza as she walked across the field. A basket hung from her arm, and a wide straw hat shaded her face from the merciless sun. Darcy, barefooted, skipped ahead, and Sarah trailed behind with Ilene on her hip.

They must have been out in the woods picking blackberries.
He watched Eliza place one finger into her mouth. The way she soothed the wound captured his eyes, and a surge of desire welled up within him. He did not turn away, but found himself basking in the feeling that grew stronger with each step she took, with each movement, and with the way the breeze lifted her dark hair and gathered her skirts into graceful folds. The sun bathed the brown fabric with a golden hue. He could see her limbs faintly through it, could see that her thighs were shapely and firm, her calves well formed, and her ankles slim.

Sarah set Ilene down when she squirmed. The child looked as tawny as the wing of a sparrow, and small and slight. Darcy’s hair was a deeper shade than Ilene’s, with long shimmering spirals that framed a sweet oval face. Her eyes were of the same shape and size. But the color of Ilene’s eyes was like Eliza’s. Ilene rubbed them with a balled fist and cried. Sarah paused to pick the child back up, but Eliza stayed her with her hand, then bent down and soothed the child with a touch.

Hayward dragged his hand over his face and drew away from the window. He’d speak to Eliza. She needed to show less affection for the child and not step in where Sarah should. Darcy should be her focus, never the daughter of a servant. And the more he thought of the color of Ilene’s eyes, the more disturbed he grew at the close resemblance to Eliza’s.

By four that evening, thunder shook the walls of the house and rattled the windowpanes. To ease her child, Eliza drew Darcy close while they sat side by side on the cushioned settee. She read to her, and her daughter’s head settled onto her shoulder as she drifted off to sleep. The patter of rain had a soothing effect, and she longed for Hayward to come into the room and sit beside her with his arm around her.

Fiona rolled a ball of yarn. “Miss Darcy never seems afraid of much. Not even the thunder can wake her.”

Eliza looked at Darcy and set the book aside. “I wonder, Fiona, if that is a good thing.”

“Hmm. A brave soul is what will get her through life. She inherited it from you.”

Eliza’s lips parted at those words. “Please do not say that again. Darcy cannot grow up to be anything like me. I am weak, Fiona. I am a sinner and a liar. I have kept secrets from my husband, and I will reap what I have sown one day.”