Pearl (22 page)
Sidney Longstreet was the first to arrive. ‘‘Good evening, Miss Hossfuss,’’ he said, handing the butler his hat and actually smiling.
‘‘Welcome.’’ She could think of nothing else to say to him. Was his reticence contagious? ‘‘It is lovely out in the gardens if you would like to walk out there.’’
‘‘If you will accompany me.’’
‘‘Oh, but Father said that I must see to our guests—’’ ‘‘No, no, my dear,’’ her father interrupted, ‘‘you two go smell the roses.’’
Pearl looked at her father, trying to figure out who had taken over his body.
‘‘My dear?’’
Since when had he ever called her an endearment like that?Was his eyesight going and he mistook her for her stepmother?
Longstreet took her hand and tucked it under his arm, then strode smartly for the French doors that led out to the gardens.
Sometimes being polite took more effort than others. It was all she could do to not snatch her hand back. What had come over the man? Yes, she’d agreed to allow him to court her, but this forward behavior could not be tolerated.
She cast around in her mind for some way to disentangle herself without being rude. Nothing came. Her mind seemed filled with either holes or mush, she wasn’t sure which. What it didn’t do was come up with any witty or profound saying. In fact, she had no more to say than he.
They strode around the rose beds, twice, before returning to the house at her subtle influence. If one could call pulling slightly at his arm and guiding him in that direction
subtle
. Even her smile felt insipid as it tried to slide off her face and disappear in the froth of lace at her bosom.
‘‘Ah, there you are.’’ Her father greeted them as soon as they entered the dining room, where the long table had been pushed back up against the wall and was now covered on every inch with the offerings of Cook at her exemplary best.
‘‘Before we begin, I have an announcement to make.’’ Her father raised his voice to be heard over the hum of conversation and musical background. Amid a few hushes, they all became quiet, faces turned expectantly to Mr. Hossfuss.
‘‘Tonight I have the privilege of announcing the engagement of my daughter, Pearl Elaine, to a fine gentleman, Mr. Sidney Longstreet.’’ He nodded toward the young couple and began applauding.
Pearl could not get her breath. Her throat convulsed, her hands shook. Had not Mr. Longstreet covered her hand with his own, she would have pulled away and clasped her own behind her back.
‘‘Look pleased,’’ her mother whispered from behind her.
At the prompt Pearl assumed a smile, or at least she hoped it was a smile. She shook hands with those who came up to offer their congratulations, all the while smiling by rote, in spite of her mind gone numb.
She could not eat a bite of food on the plate her now fiance
brought her. When he turned to fix something for himself, she set her plate behind a flower arrangement and bolted for the library, where the tray of aperitifs still waited to be put away. Pouring herself a glass of sherry, she took a gulp and then coughed at the unaccustomed heat she could feel all the way to her stomach. She drank the rest neat, then shuddered. Whatever did people see in that? Eyeing the amber liquid in the other cut-glass and stoppered bottles, she thought to try something else, but someone entering the room stopped her.
‘‘Here you are.’’
‘‘Mother, did you know?’’ Like a naughty child she wanted to stuff the evidence of her misdeeds out of sight.
‘‘No, he did not tell me either. But you must have realized that sooner or later—’’ ‘‘Yes, and I would have chosen later, far later.’’ Pearl fought the urge to raise her voice and scream her frustrations. ‘‘Most assuredly far later and hopefully never at all.’’
‘‘You and I will discuss this in the morning, but for now, you must return to the gathering, and if you have any sense, which I know you do, you will act pleased or at least polite. And accepting. Now go, before your father comes looking for you.’’
Somehow Pearl made it through an interminably long evening with Longstreet at her side as if stitched there. And since he was the last to leave, she could not even plead a headache and take the rear stairs to the upper floor to hide in her room.
‘‘Thank you, Miss Hossfuss. This evening has made me a very happy man.’’ He brought her cold fingers to his lips and kissed them, sketching a slight bow at the same time.
If Pearl did not feel so much like crying, she would have burst out laughing.
Finally he was gone, and she could escape to her bedroom and her bed. But sleep would not come. All she could think as the minutes ticked off through the interminable night was
I cannot
do this. I cannot marry this man. I cannot. I cannot
. At one point she climbed from the bed and knelt beside it, forehead resting on clasped hands.
Please, Lord, if there is any way to change these circumstances,
please rescue me
. Where, oh where was God when you needed Him?
‘‘You will marry Mr. Longstreet,’’ her father announced in the morning at the breakfast table, ‘‘and you will do so before the summer is over. If I had my way, you would be married next week, but in this we will accede to your mother’s wishes.’’
Pearl swallowed, nodded, and made her way up the stairs, her back stiff and her insides a puddle of tears.
Sometime later her mother found her sitting in front of the window in her room, staring out at nothing.
‘‘Ah, Pearl, it will not be so bad.’’
‘‘I do not love him.’’
‘‘Many women do not love their husbands before the wedding, but they learn to later. It is easy for us to love if the man shows any affection.’’ Amalia sat on the edge of the bed.
Not me. I will not be mollified this way
. A bird sang spring outside the window and flew away.
Oh, if only I could be like that bird
and fly
.
‘‘Now answer me these questions. Do you find him repulsive?’’ ‘‘No, of course not.’’
Insipid, but not repulsive
.
‘‘Has he been cruel to you?’’
Pearl shook her head.
‘‘Has he shown any hint of cruelty to anyone or anything?’’
‘‘No.’’ He seems most kind, but in a distracted sort of way.
‘‘Lazy?’’
‘‘I think not, or Father would not have promoted him.’’
‘‘Will he be able to provide for you?’’
‘‘I believe so. We have not talked of such things. We have not talked of anything at all.’’
‘‘Is he a Christian man?’’
‘‘He goes to church and knows the service.’’
‘‘And how is he with his children?’’
‘‘He loves them.’’ Pearl turned and tightened her jaw, along with her spine. ‘‘That is what this is all about, isn’t it? Finding a mother for his children. Surely any other woman with a modicum of sense or compassion would meet his needs.’’
‘‘But he has chosen you, and that is really an honor.’’
An honor I don’t want.
Tell her you sent the application.
I can’t
.
Amalia nodded slightly. ‘‘Think on these things. I know you will come to the right decision.’’
‘‘Do I have any choice?’’
Amalia only smiled slightly and left the room.
The next day Pearl woke with a resolve.
I will talk to my father
and tell him how I feel. Surely he will listen
. She spent most of the morning deciding how to present her plan, even to making two lists, one for and one against, on a sheet of paper. Only two things came up on the against side. Number one, I do not love him. Number two, Mr. Longstreet is boring beyond measure.
All the traits her mother had pointed out filled in the other list. She crinkled the paper into a ball and slammed it down in the basket.
‘‘I have reconsidered,’’ her father announced to his family at supper that night. ‘‘The wedding will be in two weeks. There is a house for sale, and today I purchased it for your new home. Mr. Longstreet and I will take you and your mother over there tomorrow. I believe it has plenty of room for the children and for those to come.’’ He nodded, tucking his thumbs into his vest pockets, a sign that Pearl knew meant he was pleased with his transaction.
Talking would do no good.
He narrowed his eyes, looking her directly in the face. ‘‘And now I expect you to put away these childish meanderings and act like the daughter we have raised you to be. Obedient, grateful for your many blessings, and ready to assume the mantle God has for you. As a wife and mother, it will be your duty to love and care for this fine man and his children.’’
He waited.
She knew what he waited for.
When his eyebrows beetled and his jaw tightened, she forced the words past lips that first trembled, then tightened. ‘‘Yes, Father.’’
‘‘Good. This will indeed be a busy two weeks if what your mother says is true about preparing for a wedding. I am sure she will carry it off with her customary grace and skill.’’
As soon as the meal was served, eaten, and cleared away, Pearl bolted for her room.
I am trapped. I have no choice. None at
all
. She threw herself on her bed and scrunched the spread up in her fists. No choice but to obey.
Little Missouri
‘‘He sure is a nice man.’’
‘‘Who is?’’ Ruby turned to see where Opal was pointing. The sight made her stomach roil.
‘‘He cleaned up right good.’’ Cimarron pinned her end of the sheet on the line. ‘‘Sometimes he came in here smelling ranker than a dead polecat.’’
‘‘What’s a polecat?’’ Opal dug down in the basket for another clothespin to hand to Ruby.
‘‘A mean skunk.’’ At Opal’s questioning look, Cimarron laughed. ‘‘You’ve seen a skunk—fluffy black with a white stripe down his back and out the tail. Night critter. If’n you ain’t seen one, you sure smelled one around here the other day.’’
‘‘Pee-uw. I remember. Why do they call him a polecat?’’
‘‘Got no nevermind. Just do.’’ Cimarron snapped a pillowcase to straighten it before pinning one corner over the last one of the sheet.
Ruby moved to another line and shook out another sheet. The man they’d been discussing was out in the garden helping Charlie dig in the last of the old cow manure they’d taken from the Johnsons’ barn. If only she could ignore the haze of red that blurred her vision every time she looked at him. No matter how hard she tried to ignore or forget it, the attack, with its accompanying fear, set off her rage again. She pushed a clothespin down so hard it split. Muttering, she dug in her apron pocket for another. Good thing Charlie had carved so many of them during the winter.
Except for his size, one would not have recognized the man in the garden as her attacker. He made Charlie look puny. How Charlie had managed to pull him off her was beyond her. But then, how she’d been able to conk him with the lamp base surprised her still more.
Don’t think about it!
She glanced upward toward the robin’s song that floated from the tree. The robin pair had built a nest in the cottonwood at the west side of Dove House, right above the place where the grouse had nested. Such a cheerful song the male had, and he sported a rust red breast.
Ruby picked up the now empty basket and returned to the back porch of the hotel. They’d moved the washtubs outside again and heated the wash water over an open fire to free up space on the stove.
