Lady in the Mist (16 page)

Trower laughed. Tabitha looked . . . sad, or as weary as she’d claimed she was. A pucker had formed between her winged brows.

Dominick reached out his hand and smoothed the line with a forefinger. “You look in need of rest, my dear.” He spoke in a soft voice. “I mustn’t keep you any longer.”

“Don’t touch her,” Trower ground out between clenched teeth. “She’s not a strumpet to be toyed with.”

“I beg your pardon, Miss Eckles.” Dominick bowed to Tabitha yet again. “I meant no disrespect. I meant the gesture as one from a concerned friend, is all.”

“No offense taken, Mr. Cherrett.” Tabitha’s cheeks had turned the color of strawberries. “Raleigh, calm yourself. Mr. Cherrett and I are—” She hesitated.

Dominick held his breath in anticipation of her completed statement as to what he was to her. A yard from him, Trower appeared as though he were about to explode.

“Friends,” Tabitha finished.

“You’re friends with a redemptioner?” Trower turned on her, his countenance purple beneath his sunburned skin. “How could you?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your concern, Raleigh.”

“It’s my concern if he’s betraying all of us.”

And it was Dominick’s concern if Trower took some action to make Dominick appear as though he were betraying the locals.

“We’ve enjoyed some badinage, is all.” Dominick tried, probably too late, to defuse the situation. “To say we’re friends is pure generosity of spirit on Miss Eckles’s behalf.”

“Do you always kiss mere acquaintances?” Trower demanded.

Oh, no, he didn’t, and the way Tabitha’s lips looked at that moment—thin and tight—Dominick wanted to kiss them again, change their conformation to something much softer.

He settled for the thought—for the moment—and a rueful confession. “I felt like a friend at that moment, as she’d given me words of encouragement in my despair, and I was wishing a friend Godspeed on her journey. Perhaps I was a bit too familiar, but I hold Miss Eckles in high regard and the moment overcame my good sense.”

Trower held his fisted hands at his hips as though ready to strike at any moment.

Dominick sighed to himself. If only he were as good a spy as he was a liar, he’d have his information now instead of creating a worse enemy with every breath.

“And speaking of Godspeed . . .” He bowed to both of them this time. “I’d best be on my way.”

Not waiting for them to respond, he spun on his heel and strode toward the village.

“Wait just a minute.” Footfalls thudded behind him.

Dominick kept going.

“Raleigh, don’t,” Tabitha called.

“Can’t stop to chat now.” Dominick waved a hand. “Master’s waiting and all.”

“I said stop.” Trower grabbed Dominick’s jacket and spun him around.

Though shorter, Raleigh was indeed stronger, or at least his fury at the moment lent him strength. His fist shot upward. Dominick swayed to the side, his hands shoved into his coat pockets. No one would accuse him of retaliating against a free man, earning him a taste of the lash.

The blow merely grazed his jaw. He raised one brow in query. “How may I help you further, Mr. Trower?”

“I don’t know what your game is, Cherrett.” Trower’s words emerged roughly, as though each one was formed of emery grit. “But you’re going to lose.”

“Dear me, and I’ve already lost so much.” Dominick grimaced as though he smelled something foul.

Tabitha ran up and caught hold of Trower’s arm, a protest on her lips.

Dominick took the opportunity to beat a hasty retreat. As he loped toward the village, he weighed his options. He could continue his courtship of Tabitha and increase Trower’s animosity. Or he could forget an alliance with Tabitha and give up on finding answers by June 21.

17

______

Though the sun blazed from a now cloudless sky, the breeze off the ocean held a chill. Tabitha rubbed her arms and tried not to watch Dominick walk away.

It proved difficult. He had a nice way of walking, relaxed, covering a great deal of ground in a short time without appearing to move with speed. All the while, his perfect posture never wavered.

Raleigh, next to her, emitted a noise like a growl. “I want that man out of here.”

“Why?” Tabitha turned her attention to Raleigh. “He can’t do anything. He’s a bondsman.”

“You don’t seem to care about that.” His blue eyes held accusation. “You called him your friend. That’s beneath you.”

“Raleigh,” Tabitha said, keeping her tone level, “I am merely a midwife, little more than a servant. However respected midwives are in most communities, here I’m not.”

“Because of him.”

“I beg your pardon?” Her spine went rigid enough to make Dominick’s seem hunchbacked.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.” Raleigh’s face darkened. “You know as well as I do that your association with someone like Cherrett is one reason the council talked about stopping you from practicing here.”

“If Wilkins didn’t have reasons for wanting to discredit me,” Tabitha bit out, “my chance encounter with Dominick on the beach on Sunday would not have mattered. My reputation has never been in question.”

“Your chance encounter.” Raleigh’s upper lip curled. “Seems Mr. Cherrett has a lot of chance encounters. You on Sunday and the sloop today. I expect the next chance encounter will be with American men for the British to impress.”

“Are you really accusing Dominick of being behind the abductions?”

“Can you honestly say you haven’t thought of it yourself?”

Raleigh held her gaze. Tabitha couldn’t look him in the eye and say the notion had never occurred to her. It had. It did. She called him friend in her desire to learn the truth and reinstate her good name in the community, or at least make the town beholden to her.

“I thought so.” Raleigh smiled. “You know he’s the most likely person within twenty miles.”

“Except he’s only been here for a few weeks.” It was her only difficulty in believing Dominick guilty of helping steal men from American shores. “The disappearances have been going on for nearly a year.”

“And escalated since he arrived.”

“Then we should both befriend him. Maybe that way we could ferret out the truth.”

Raleigh grimaced. “I’ll die before I befriend another Englishman.”

“Raleigh.” Tabitha stepped back from the wake of his vehemence against the English. She didn’t trust the British, but Raleigh’s response was vitriolic. “Would God want you to talk that way about another person?”

Her question emerged somewhere between a challenge and a taunt. Unkind. Unfair. Laden with her own guilt for painting all persons of one nation with the tar brush because of the actions of their government.

“No.” Raleigh bowed his head. “Forgive me. I am in the wrong in speaking that way. It’s just that the sight of him looking at you like you . . . like you’re . . . one of your candied flower petals, makes me sick.”

Tabitha laughed and uncrossed her arms. She no longer felt the chill of the breeze. She suspected that Dominick looked at every female as though she were the prettiest, sweetest, kindest lady alive. It was part of his charm. It was only one of the dozen reasons to stay away from him.

But she wouldn’t.

Her awareness of Dominick’s flirtatious nature and her own susceptibility to it would protect her. She knew her mission. In the meantime, though, she realized she needed to protect Dominick from Raleigh. The latter’s jealousy was palpable. He could cause trouble for Dominick if she didn’t persuade him otherwise.

“Raleigh.” She laid her hand on his arm and gently nudged him toward the garden gate. “Don’t cause trouble for Dominick—”

“You’re calling him Dominick.”

“Yes, and I call you Raleigh.”

“We’ve known each other all our lives.”

“And, as you keep reminding us, Dominick is only a bondsman.” Tabitha used the tone she applied to anxious fathers and children—a little too much like the coating of one of her candied flower petals. “I call Patience by her Christian name too.”

Raleigh grunted and reached for the gate latch.

Seeing movement in the garden, Tabitha stayed his hand. “Please, listen to me a moment.”

“You won’t persuade me not to do something about that bondsman.” Raleigh set his hands on his hips.

“Did you ever witness a flogging when you were impressed in the British Navy?” Tabitha countered.

Raleigh’s sudden pallor answered before he mumbled, “Yes, too often.”

“You know that’s what will happen to Dominick if you tell Mayor Kendall about Dominick’s morning excursions. Can you condemn a man to that?”

Raleigh’s silence was answer enough.

“I can’t either, which is why I didn’t make a scene over him kissing me. He was being impudent, is all.”

Raleigh’s jaw hardened. “What if he’s behind these abductions?”

“Then he’ll get caught. And if he’s not, this town may punish him, even find him guilty anyway, simply because he’s English.” Her stomach felt sour. “I myself hold being English against him, but I know men like Wilkins will do something foolish like hang him without a trial. I’m a healer, Raleigh. I can’t be responsible for something like that, whatever my suspicions—not without proof.”

“I don’t think getting proof will be difficult.”

Tabitha hoped not. She wanted things settled, and settled quickly.

“Then you won’t say anything until then?” she pressed.

“All right, just for you.” Raleigh smiled. “If you go to church with me next Sunday and the Midsummer Festival after that.”

“Raleigh, if I go to church with you, everyone will think we’re courting,” Tabitha protested.

“Why aren’t we?” He took a step closer to her. “You can’t know I’ve changed until you spend more time with me.”

“I know. It’s why I went fishing with you today. But not church. Not yet.” She gave him an encouraging smile, though at that moment, his nearness, with the odors of salt spray and perspiration she had once found manly and appealing, made her feel trapped in an airless room. “Please, don’t force me to trust you again. It’s not possible.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He didn’t move back, but his chin lost some of its forward thrust. “I’m just so anxious to be settled here at home.”

“As anxious as you were to leave?” She didn’t like the bitter taste of the words on her tongue. Even less did she like the hurt expression on his face. “Raleigh, I’m—”

“No, don’t apologize.” He bowed his head. “I deserve that. But will you at least come to the festival with me?”

Tabitha fumbled with the latch to the gate. “I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“You offered me marriage after the last one we attended together. I don’t want people to think we’ve renewed our engagement.”

“We could—all right. I’ll leave it alone. But you’ll dance with me there, won’t you?”

“I’ll dance with you there. Now, I really need to go help make supper.”

“Thank you for today.” Raleigh’s face softened as he took her hand and kissed it. “I’ll do whatever I must to persuade you things will be different between us this time. I learned my lesson.”

“Give me time.” She reclaimed her hand. Completely unaffected by the warmth of his lips on her skin, she entered the gate and latched it behind her.

She didn’t need to look back to know he watched her all the way to the house. Instead of the tingle of excitement she’d received when knowing Dominick watched her, the hairs on the back of her neck rose. She felt like a cat petted the wrong way.

Never in the past had Raleigh been so jealous of other men, so possessive of her. She had made it clear since he returned that she would not easily renew her engagement to him. Right now she felt no more for him than the affection she felt for any of her other childhood friends. Affection. Exasperation. And something else that didn’t go along with friendship—apprehension.

Two years at sea had hardened him, not just physically, but in his demeanor. She read it in the pugnacious thrust of his chin, a certain missing warmth in his rich blue eyes. He was quick to judge.

But then, so was she. She’d judged Dominick guilty on nothing more than the grounds of his being a British subject. She could add his nighttime wanderings too, but he hadn’t been in the vicinity of the missing men.

He had, however, been on that sloop. It looked bad for him. As she stepped over the threshold and through the open kitchen doorway, she wondered if maybe Raleigh was right and she should tell Mayor Kendall about the incident. Yet Kendall would not be amused to have his bondsman, his precious butler, shown to be a spy in their midst. If it were untrue, she would have damaged Dominick and tossed doubts on Kendall’s judgment of men for nothing. At the moment, Kendall was her ally amongst the men of the council. No, she would find her proof, then report Dominick Cherrett for the cheat and liar he was.

She decided to seek Dominick out as soon as she could, if he didn’t come to her first. An opportunity arose the next day with a request from Mrs. Lee to look in on the four-footed mother and babies. Noting the date on the calendar, Tabitha decided to call on Marjorie Parks as well.

“You’re going to deliver soon,” she told the young mother. “Do you know when your husband will be home?”

“He’s been gone over eight months.” Sadness filled Marjorie’s eyes. “I want him home for the birth, then just to stay. It’s too dangerous being a sailor these days.”

“It’s not all that safe on land,” her mother-in-law declared. “British ships coming right up our waterways, indeed.”

“Like they want a war,” Marjorie said. “That’s what Donald said before he left and the disappearances were just starting, that someone wants a war.”

“Why?” Tabitha kept her hand on her childhood friend’s abdomen, loving the sensation of the baby’s movements.

“Some men make money off of wars,” the elder Mrs. Parks said. “They become privateers like Mayor Kendall’s father in the last war with England. They build ships. Prices of goods increase . . . Lots of reasons.”

“Appalling.” Tabitha stepped away from Marjorie. “You look well, my friend. I’ll expect the baby in no more than two weeks.”

“I hope you’re right.” Marjorie smiled. “It’s uncomfortable in the heat.”

“I’ll be waiting for your servant to call on me.”

Tabitha left for the Downings’. This time, all the ladies gathered around the mother and puppies in their new home—a three-sided box beneath the trees. The ladies cooed and giggled over the tiny, spotted creatures clambering over one another for attention and nourishment. The puppies squeaked and wagged their tails. Momma spaniel gave a canine grin to the assembly and licked Tabitha’s hand.

“They’re doing well,” she assured Mrs. Lee. “What concerned you?”

“I thought maybe their eyes weren’t focusing.” She stood. “Come into the kitchen with me. I’ll get you something to drink.”

Tabitha started to refuse, but a pleading look from the younger woman caused her to keep her mouth shut until they reached the house. “What’s really wrong, Mrs. Lee?”

“Oh, do please call me Phoebe. Mrs. Lee is my mother-in-law, and it makes me feel old.”

Tabitha laughed. “You don’t look old.”

“I know. I look about sixteen.” She grimaced. “My aunt says that’s an asset for finding another husband, but I don’t want to go through marriage again, thank you.”

Tabitha waited for more.

Phoebe pulled glasses out of a cupboard, retrieved a pitcher from the pantry, and poured lemonade. “I made it an hour ago, so it’s still cool. As cool as my heart.” She laughed.

Tabitha arched her brows and sipped the tart drink.

“I’ve shocked you, I know.” Phoebe toyed with her glass, head bent. “The thing is, Miss Tabitha, I want your help.”

“I . . . beg your pardon? Are you . . . that is, does it involve a female issue?”

“Not like you think.” Phoebe brushed shining curls off of her face. “I want you to take me on as an apprentice.”

The glass slid from Tabitha’s hand. She caught it before it broke on the floor, but lemonade spilled. “I’m so sorry.”

“No matter. I startled you.” Phoebe rushed to gather a cloth and started wiping up the spill. “I should have warned you, but I was afraid I’d go coward, when I’ve been wanting to ask you since before I came here. In fact, it’s why I came here.”

“Miss Phoebe, do you know anything about what I do? I mean, you were married, but you have no children . . .” Tabitha ran out of words.

“I have no children,” Phoebe bit out, as though the honey of her voice had turned to frozen wax, “because of an incompetent midwife. She killed my baby, nearly killed me, and, I fully believe, killed my husband. But she is all that county has, and I want to rectify the situation.”

“I see.” Tabitha blinked back tears, seeing too much, understanding as much of the pain of that kind of loss as could any woman who hadn’t borne a child. “Couldn’t you sponsor a woman to be trained?”

“Yes, ma’am, I could.” The hardness of Phoebe’s voice remained. “But only I can judge whether or not I’m competent.” She relaxed and smiled. “But I’ve taken you unawares. You don’t need to answer me now.”

Tabitha could have answered. Her midwifery was a skill she intended to pass along to her daughter. Never had the women of her family passed the trade to someone outside the family. They hadn’t needed to. They had always borne at least one daughter by the time they were seventeen or eighteen.

Until she came along.

“I’ll give it thought,” she said.

“Please do.” The anguish in the other woman’s eyes wrenched at Tabitha’s heart.

Phoebe Lee understood loss too.

Tabitha didn’t feel like finding an excuse to go to Mayor Kendall’s in search of Dominick after that. Instead, she crossed the alley and entered the graveyard, where three generations of Eckleses and her maternal grandmother had been buried. Simple stones marked each grave. Tabitha dropped to her knees between Momma’s and Grandmomma’s headstones, where she’d planted a rosebush.