Over the Misty Mountains (17 page)

“I know. I’m very fond of your father. No man could have been kinder to a son-in-law.”

“I’m glad you feel that way, Patrick. He does think highly of you.”

“I only wish I were better at the business. It would be better if I were as good with my head as I am with my hands.”

“You’re doing fine. Father was telling me just yesterday how hard you’ve worked, trying to take the load off of him.”

“I wish I could help him with more. Oh, don’t forget I’ll be leaving in the morning for Virginia.”

“I know. I haven’t forgotten. I’ll get up and help Rebekah make you a nice breakfast. I’ll get the children up, too.”

“It’ll be too early for them.”

“They can go back to bed and sleep if they want to. Andrew’s asked a dozen times to go with you. Do you suppose you could take him this time?”

“Maybe the next trip. I’m afraid this one will be long and tiring.” He smiled and said, “Besides, Sarah would have a fit if I took Andrew and left her home. I’ll have to take both of them somewhere when I get back.”

“That would be good,” Elizabeth said. She reached up and patted his cheek. “Now, try to remember which fork to eat with.”

“I’ll watch you,” he said. “That’s what I always do anyhow. As long as we’ve been married, a fork’s still a fork to me.”

“Well, at least you don’t still use your knife to eat the peas.” Her eyes laughed at him.

He reached out and squeezed her waist. “All right,” he said, “enough lessons in manners. Let’s go down and eat.”

****

The meal was excellent, as always in the Martin household. It was served in the large formal dining room, which was lit by silver candelabras with the light cast from the warm fire flickering in the verde marble fireplace. The green-and-gold mica wallpaper and many mirrors caught the light and gave the room a certain warmth. The aroma of turtle soup, potted fish, and beef filled the air as the family sat at the large mahogany dining table. These delicacies were brought in and placed on a gilt-edged wood serving table to one side of the room. On a large mahogany sideboard, which was placed behind Mr. Martin, were silver platters filled with artichokes with toasted cheese, assortments of cheeses, and a truffle for dessert. William asked the blessing, and as Rebekah brought a silver tureen filled with turtle soup and began serving it, he said to Patrick, “I’m sorry you have to make that run tomorrow. Lately, it seems as though I’m running your legs off—but business is picking up so much somebody has to do it.”

“Those are good customers in Virginia,” Patrick said. He watched his soup bowl as Rebekah spooned out the clear broth, smiled up at her, and said, “Thank you.” Picking up his spoon, he sipped it carefully and said, “You tell your grandmother this is good soup, Rebekah.” He received a shy smile as a reward, then turned to William and said, “Business is good in Virginia, particularly that area. More settlers are moving in all the time.”

“They’re mostly a rough sort, aren’t they?” The question came from Charlotte, who sat across the table from Will. As Elizabeth had expected, she wore a new gown straight from the dressmaker’s. The dress was an exquisite pale yellow silk of the open sack-backed style with a green bow decorating the front of it. The neckline was square and low in the back, and the tight-fitting sleeves ended with a bow and a delicate row of white lace at the elbows. A dark green brocade trimmed the edges of the neckline on down to the full skirt. The underskirt was layered with yellow pleated panels, edged with the same dark green brocade. As usual, she looked beautiful, and she followed up her question by saying, “There can’t be much profit in that area. All they need are butter churns and brooms.”

Patrick grinned. “They make their own brooms, I think. But it’s filling up quicker than you think.” He listened as the talk about Virginia went around the table.

“I heard that some people are moving across the mountains, the Appalachians. Is that right, Patrick?” Will asked.

“Yes, quite a few of them, as I understand.” An excitement came into Patrick MacNeal’s face, and he put his soup spoon down and began to speak of the land that lay across the Appalachians. “That’s a whole new unexplored continent over there. Why, they say a squirrel could go a hundred miles jumping from tree to tree and never touch the ground! And deer are thicker than cattle!”

He was interrupted as Charlotte said, “But the king outlawed settlement in that country back in 1763, when the war ended! Isn’t that right?”

“I don’t know whether it was
right
or not, but he certainly did forbid it.” Patrick shrugged. “A line on a piece of paper isn’t going to stop people who want homes. On my last trip to Virginia, I talked to a lot of those who have gone and come back, and what I hear is that land is filling up pretty fast.” Pausing, he picked up the knife on the platter of beef set close beside him and hewed off a chunk of it. He placed it on his plate, then looked up and said wistfully, “I wouldn’t mind seeing that country myself. It would be something to see. I’d love to ride to the top of a mountain ridge and look out as far as the horizon and see what God has made.”

Anne Martin was aghast. She gave her son-in-law a frozen look and said, “That is not much of an ambition, Patrick! Living with a bunch of savages who sit around scratching fleas!”

Elizabeth flushed, as she always did when her mother threw one of her barbed remarks at Patrick. “I’m sure it’s not quite like that, Mother.”

“I don’t know why you should think that,” Anne said spitefully. “That territory is filled with murdering savages. If you’d read your history, you’d know that! It was only the British who put a stop to that, and I think they should have gone through and driven all the savages away.”

“Away where, Mrs. Martin?” Patrick said quietly. He very rarely challenged his mother-in-law, but somehow her remark had irritated him. “Would you have the militia butcher them all? I thought that’s why you hated
them
—for doing that to white settlers. It is their right to live there. I just wish that everyone would realize that we are all God’s children, and that there is enough land for us all to share and live together peacefully.”

Anne Martin was not accustomed to being questioned. A tall, thin woman of fifty-five, her youthful beauty had faded, with lines tightly drawn around her mouth and eyes. There was a kindness in her, but it lay buried deep. She had married William for love and moved to the Colonies, but she was still bound by the traditions of English nobility. And the disappointment of Elizabeth’s choice of a husband had soured her. She simply could not refrain from criticizing him in public.

“I think the less said on this subject the better, Patrick!” she pronounced firmly.

Patrick looked over at Elizabeth. He would have said more, but he saw that she was watching him with a plea in her eyes. His eyes shifted to his children, and Sarah’s lips were set in a firm line. She would be ready to defend him in a moment, while Andrew looked at him hopefully, not wanting to hear a family argument. “It was only a dream,” he said, putting down his fork, for the meat had suddenly become tasteless. There in the middle of a fine supper, the crux of his life had suddenly surfaced. He was a man who loved the out-of-doors, and he was doomed to work inside warehouses, running his tired eyes down lines of figures. But he loved his wife, he respected his father-in-law, and he even understood his mother-in-law’s dissatisfaction with him.
I’d probably feel the same
, he thought,
if one of my children married someone I didn’t like
.

Elizabeth said quickly, “This is a wonderful roast. I think the cooking gets better all the time around here.”

“When we’re married,” Charlotte said to Will, “I’ve arranged to have a cook come over from France.”

“From France?” Will stared at her blankly. “Why from France?”

“Why, they have the best chefs in the world!”

“I’d argue with that,” Mr. Martin said. He was looking pale, and those who knew him best understood that he was in some pain. Nevertheless, he managed a smile and said, “Those times I’ve been in France I wasn’t overwhelmed with the taste I’ve had of their cooking.”

Charlotte smiled sweetly. “Oh, you’ll learn to change your taste, Father, when I get François settled. I promise you.” She suddenly glanced over at Elizabeth and said, “Did you get the problem of the missing money settled, Elizabeth?”

A silence settled around the table, and William asked abruptly, “What’s that about missing money?”

“Oh, it’s nothing, I’m sure,” Charlotte said. “Elizabeth just found a discrepancy in the accounts.” She laughed and winked at Patrick. “I told her that Patrick probably took it and donated it to himself.” The joke did not go over, and Mr. Martin stared at her with an odd look. It flustered Charlotte, and she said, “It was just a joke, of course.”

“I’m sure it was just a simple mistake. I will look into it with you, Elizabeth, if you’ll remind me of it.”

“Of course, Father. These things happen, with all the shipments we make,” Elizabeth said, casting a nervous glance at her mother.

Anne Martin had taken all this in carefully. She fixed her eyes on Patrick, who seemed uncomfortable and nervous. Her eyes then went to Charlotte, who looked directly at her and nodded slightly. The two of them got along well together, and Anne thought,
Well, at least we’ll have one member of the family who can keep her eye on business!

****

The main parlor was cozy with a fire crackling cheerfully in the fireplace. Patrick and Elizabeth had retired to get the children in bed, saying that they had to get to sleep early since Patrick was leaving in the morning. William and Anne sat on a Queen Anne settee with Will and Charlotte across from them. They were drinking chocolate from thin, delicate Chinese cups that Rebekah had brought in. As soon as Rebekah left, Anne said rather carefully, “I was surprised to hear about that discrepancy in the figures of the ledger.”

“These things happen often, Anne. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” William said. He leaned his head back on the antimacassar and closed his eyes wearily. “As much business as we’re doing, there’s bound to be mistakes.”

Anne hesitated, then her eyes met those of Charlotte. The two understood each other so well it was as if they had already spoken about it. Anne said rather carefully, “I know you think a lot of Patrick, but I think you should watch him more carefully.”

Instantly William raised his head. “What are you speaking of?”

Anne knew this look of her husband’s. He was a stubborn man, and she knew that once he got his back up, there was nothing to be done. “Oh, I simply meant that—well, he’s not very good with the books, is he?”

“He does the best he can, and he’s learning all the time. I’m proud of Patrick. I couldn’t ask for a better son-in-law.”

“Oh, I’m sure it was a mistake,” Charlotte said, “but you do have to be careful, Father. My father had a Scotch-Irish worker in his employ. He told me about him. The man stole from him terribly, and Father said he’d never hire another one.”

“Why, I don’t think that’s right!” Will said adamantly. “Some of the best men in the business are of Scotch-Irish descent.”

“But you know how tight they are with a dollar, and how close they are. I just think it’s better to have good honest Americans,” Charlotte said.

Will rarely argued with Charlotte, but now he stared at her with some degree of distaste. “The only Americans are Indians!” he said. “Do you want us to run the business with them?”

“Oh, don’t be foolish! You know I didn’t mean that!” She saw that her future father-in-law was upset and said quickly, “I’m sure Patrick did nothing wrong. It’s just that figures aren’t one of his strengths.”

“That’s gracious of you to say so, but I’m not convinced he’s not stealing,” Anne said haughtily.

“Stealing?” Will said vigorously. “I don’t believe it!”

“Neither do I,” William said. He stood up suddenly and said, “I’ll abide no more accusations about a member of this family. It ill behooves all of you. Especially you, Anne, and I will not have it brought up again.” He turned and left the room abruptly.

The silence that fell over the room was almost palpable. Anne turned quickly to Will, saying, “Your father can never believe anything wrong about any man. He was always too trusting.”

“There are worse faults than that to be found in a man.”

“Don’t be foolish, Will!” Charlotte said. “You’re going to be running the business one day. You’ll have all the responsibilities, not Patrick. You’re going to have to learn to take a firm hand.”

Will looked at her directly. “Do you think that Patrick was stealing?”

Charlotte knew she was walking a very fine line. Will was a placid enough young man, but there was some of his father in him, and she felt she had come dangerously close to pushing the issue too far. “Why, I don’t think I meant to imply that,” she said sweetly. “But as everyone knows, he’s not very good with figures. Even Elizabeth has admitted that.”

“He’s very good with people out on the road,” Will said. “None better.”

“Perhaps that’s his place then,” Charlotte said. “What do you think, Mother Martin?”

“That might be something to think about. Once you’re in charge of the business, Will, you can watch things more carefully, and Charlotte will be there to help you. Fortunately, she has a good business head as well.”

Will sat there quietly as the two women talked. He was greatly disturbed by their suspicions that Patrick MacNeal was a thief, for he admired his brother-in-law greatly. Will was only mediocre as a businessman, and the thought of taking over the business made him feel uncomfortable. He had hoped that his father would take in an experienced partner, perhaps the head bookkeeper, who knew the business from the ground up, but his mother had adamantly objected to that idea, saying abruptly, “Why, you would cut your own son out of the triumph of running our business?” and that had been the end of that.

Charlotte sipped her chocolate and let the conversation flow as her mind was working quickly. She put her hand suddenly on Will’s arm and said, “You mustn’t worry about it, dear. I know it’s a big challenge to take on a business like this, but I’ll be right beside you. We’ll do it all together. I’ll keep the house so you won’t even have to think about that, and I will study the business until we know all about it.”