Riverbreeze: Part 1 (38 page)

The beagles were sniffing along the ground as
usual, occasionally letting out little yips as they caught a
lingering whiff of some small animal. Elizabeth watched them with
pleasure; they brought such joy to the girls. And except for a
short time yesterday when Blockhaws had let the dogs loose and they
had followed their instincts, Fleurette and Papillon had been
behaving themselves surprisingly well. Perhaps they were so glad to
be off that horrible ship that they were afraid if they misbehaved
in any way, they would be put back as punishment.

Elizabeth laughed to herself at that thought.
Intellectually she knew that dogs could not have thoughts like
that, but one never knew. No one could explain why she and Evelyn
had dreams of the future and she didn’t know why the sky was blue
either. She only accepted these things as a normal part of her
life; the dreams, the blue sky, the green grass, her dogs behaving
like dogs, but sometimes behaving like humans also in the way that
they could sense sadness, happiness or frustration in her.

Now she was so involved in watching her pets
that she didn’t notice that for some time everyone had seemed to
disappear. It seemed that only moments ago there had been children
running around laughing and screaming, small groups of women
gossiping and men smoking their long-stemmed pipes over at the
paddock. She wondered where everyone had gone and decided to return
to the house to find out. And that’s when she saw the servant
striding towards her.

He was an ordinary looking fellow with
indistinct features. Of average height, quite thin, almost scrawny,
dull brown hair drawn back in a tail, tired-looking hazel eyes, a
perfectly straight nose and thin-lipped mouth. He was wearing
course woolen breeches, a canvas shirt under a buff jerkin, dirty,
patched hose and old leather shoes. Elizabeth only remembered him
vaguely from their brief introduction on her arrival. In fact, she
couldn’t even remember his name. But when he reached her, she
noticed that he stopped and stood at a respectful distance from her
and kept his eyes downcast as a proper servant should.

“Mistress Tyler.” He said formally, inclining
his head once in a sort of bow. “Forgive me for interrupting, but
Mistress Archer has asked me to locate you. She wishes you to come
to the house immediately and I’m to watch the dogs.”

“You’re to watch the dogs?” She asked,
immediately concerned. “Why can’t I bring them with me?”

“I know not, Mistress. I’m only repeating
what she told me.”

“Oh.” She said, looking him over again and
deciding whether or not she could trust him. The dogs loved
everyone and would happily go with anyone, so she had to be very
careful who she allowed to watch them.

He seemed to read her mind. “I promise to
take good care of them.” He said firmly. Then his expression
softened as he looked at the dogs. He relaxed and smiled, adding,
“When I was young, my neighbors had beagles and I was quite fond of
them. They’re wonderful dogs.”

“Yes, they are.” She agreed. Still, she
hesitated, not quite trusting him yet.

“I promise I won’t be like Blockhaws.” He
added, looking her straight in the eye.

She hid her startled reaction to his words.
It was as if he had known what she had been thinking. She stood for
a minute, looking into his eyes, seeing kindness and honesty in
them. Finally, she decided that she could trust him. “All right. Do
please take good care of them.” She added, handing him the
leashes.

“I will, Mistress.” He inclined his head
once.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Mistress.” He bowed his head
again.

Minutes later, Elizabeth approached the front
door, wondering what could be so urgent. All sorts of thoughts
swirled through her mind, the worst of them that Jamie had died and
that her sister needed her. But if Evelyn was grieving, Elizabeth
would sense that, and she didn’t feel any sorrow from Evelyn at the
moment.

Just as she was about to step up to the door,
Maureen pulled it open. “There you are! We didn’t know where you
were!” She exclaimed, grabbing Elizabeth’s hand and pulling her
unceremoniously into the entry hall. Elizabeth almost tripped on
the threshold but caught herself with a hand on the doorjamb.

Evelyn was standing in the hallway too, all
pretty in her yellow bodice and bronzy skirt, an embroidered cobweb
linen collar around her neck and a lace veil covering her head and
flowing down past her shoulders. Her face was all aglow, her cheeks
pink with excitement, her smile full of joy.

All Elizabeth could do was stare. She stared
at Maureen, who she noticed was looking as lovely as ever; and she
stared at Evelyn, wondering what was going on. But seeing the veil…
did that mean…? She opened her mouth to ask the obvious question,
but Maureen continued to talk excitedly. “Let me take your cloak
and then I have a veil for you too.”

“We’re getting married right now!” Evelyn
said in an exhilarated whisper.

“Right now?” Elizabeth asked. She had not
expected this. As she had passed people during her walk and
exchanged greetings with them, no one had given her any indication
that the weddings would be held this morning. The talk had been
about Jamie and his relapse and how awful the disease was.

Evelyn nodded her head vigorously.

“But…” Elizabeth started to protest. Her feet
were still wet and cold and the hem of her skirt soaked through.
She wasn’t properly dressed or prepared.

“Yes, right now.” Maureen answered, directly
in front of Elizabeth. She had hung up Elizabeth’s cloak and had
returned with the veil. First she smoothed Elizabeth’s hair, then
with great care she draped the lace over Elizabeth’s head and
secured it with a silver bodkin.

Elizabeth fingered the beautiful needlepoint
lace, then looked down at her ordinary clothes and suddenly felt
sad. She had always daydreamed that on her wedding day she would
wear a new gown in ivory silk damask with Valenciennes lace at the
sleeves and collar. And she had always imagined herself wearing the
traditional blue ribbons and garters, loosened ahead of time, of
course, so the young men could snatch them without difficulty. But
there would be no new gown or blue ribbons or even the dreaded
public bedding, (she didn’t
think
there
would be) or even sadder still, there would be no ceremony in St
Mary Le Bow, the local church, with all their family and friends in
attendance and she unexpectedly felt such an overwhelming pang of
loss that she nearly burst into tears. Their father should be here;
they didn’t remember their mother, but their governess should be
here too, their poor, loving governess who had acted as their
mother for the past fourteen years; and their neighbors, the Davis’
from next door and the Walmsleys from across the street. Their
friends, Alice and Mary from their music lessons, should be here
and Sister Maria and Sister Theresa from the church orphanage, to
name only a few. Of course she knew they couldn’t be here, but she
had always thought that her wedding day would be shared with her
immediate family and friends, not with strangers that she had met
only yesterday.

She felt so lonely for someone from her past
that she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks and
in an instant, Maureen started fussing and making sympathetic
noises. But Elizabeth didn’t even hear her; her gaze was locked
with Evelyn’s who understood her completely. Evelyn reached for
Elizabeth’s hand, gave it a squeeze and said, “Do not be sad, Bess.
Maman
and
Papa
are
watching us from heaven, and Louise as well. They would be happy
for us. We should be happy too.”

Elizabeth nodded, managing a wobbly
smile.

“I love you, Bess.” Evelyn whispered,
embracing her sister. “Remember, we’ll always have each other.”

“I love you, too, Evie.” Elizabeth whispered
back. She then took a shuddering breath, stepped back and accepted
the handkerchief that Maureen held out to her. She wiped her eyes
and cheeks dry, not wanting to meet her groom with swollen red
eyes, a blotchy face and a runny nose.

“Are you ready now?” Maureen asked, kindness
in her voice.

Evelyn exchanged a look with Elizabeth, then
nodded and said, “We’re ready.”

Maureen kissed each girl on the cheek once
before walking into the keeping room where all the guests had been
gathered for the ceremonies. The girls followed a few steps behind,
holding hands and composed once again.

The first thing that Elizabeth noticed was
all the people standing along the back wall, facing the fireplace
where Robert, Jamie and the minister were waiting. The majority of
them looked weary and haggard, either from lack of sleep or from
too much drinking the night before. She understood their condition;
one couldn’t get too much rest when one had to share a bed with
four or more people or when one had to sleep in a hayloft. But they
had gladly stayed overnight and one more day to see the weddings of
two of their most favorite citizens because they didn’t know when
they could afford to take time away from their plantations again.
She also noticed the children, grouped together in the corner of
the room. They were all seated on the floor, bribed to keep quiet
with suckets and marchpane. Even Robin was content to sit alongside
his cousins, savoring the sweet treats.

Surprisingly, the next thing Elizabeth
noticed was Jamie, not Robert, although she did glance at him, but
Jamie was the one who held her attention. She was shocked at his
appearance. She hadn’t seen him this morning like Evelyn had; she
had only been told of his illness. She stole a glance at Evelyn to
see if Evelyn was as shocked as herself, but Evelyn only gave her a
reassuring smile, squeezed her hand and whispered, “He’ll be all
right.”

Elizabeth was skeptical but kept quiet. Jamie
was sitting, rather than standing, propped up on the one settee
with cushions and bolsters. To her eyes he looked woefully sick.
His face was flushed a rosy red and his eyes were glassy with
fever. His whole body was limp with fatigue and he looked like he
could barely hold his head up. He was dressed once again in his
sage green camlet breeches and doublet. The doublet was in decent
shape, but there were grass and mud stains on his breeches that no
amount of brushing could eliminate. And his hair had been pulled
back and tied with a green ribbon so that one could clearly see
that his handsome face still had some of the boyish roundness that
would one day slim down with age.

What are we doing keeping
him from his sick bed
? Elizabeth wondered
.
Why couldn’t
this have waited until he was
better
? She didn’t understand the rush, unless…she had a
sudden awful thought. Jamie was going to die! But Evelyn didn’t
seem worried; she had even said that he would be all right.
Elizabeth could only hope to get the answer later.

Finally she met Robert’s gaze. He had been
watching her from the moment she had entered the room. He smiled
and there seemed to be a twinkle in his eye; Elizabeth could only
guess at what he was thinking. She returned the smile, blushing
slightly, lowering her eyes demurely. Well, she
could
guess what he was thinking about and it delighted
her. She wasn’t the only one who remembered that kiss last
night.

He appeared relaxed and more than willing to
go through with the marriage. There was no more resistance in him;
in fact, there was an anticipatory energy to him that sent a shiver
through Elizabeth’s body. It pleased her that there was now a
mutual acceptance between them, a mutual attraction and the start
of a comfortable relationship.

He was dressed in his buff breeches from
yesterday along with a borrowed doublet that pulled at his
shoulders and the sleeves were too short, but Elizabeth hardly
noticed his clothes. Even if he were wearing rags, she would think
him the most handsome man in the room.

Evelyn had joyfully moved to Jamie’s side.
She looked as fresh and lovely as a buttercup in her bright yellow
bodice. And she was beaming. Her smile was contagious and every
guest smiled along with her. Even Jamie seemed to perk up at the
sight of his betrothed.

Elizabeth was so glad for her sister, and
relieved. It was wonderful how things had worked out with Evelyn
falling in love with Jamie so quickly. Elizabeth would have felt
terrible if Evelyn hadn’t been attracted to Jamie because there was
no denying the dream. Elizabeth was destined to marry Robert and if
Evelyn hadn’t liked Jamie, that would have made life miserable for
both the girls.

Elizabeth went to stand beside Robert. He
smiled down at her. “You look beautiful.” He said in a low, tender
voice. He smoothed her hair at her temple and barely touched the
veil with his fingertips as if it were too precious for his rough
hands.

“Thank you.” She whispered back, blushing
becomingly.

Thomas Harrison once again opened his Book of
Common Prayer, this time to the section marked
The
Form of Solemnization of matrimony
. It had been decided
ahead of time that Evelyn and Jamie would be married first so that
Jamie could be put back to bed.

Harrison cleared his throat and everyone
quieted. Much to everyone’s surprise Jamie stood up with the help
of his brother-in-law, Phillip, and he and Evelyn held hands as
they faced the minister.

“Dearly Beloved…” He began the familiar
service, facing the two young, eager people. “We are gathered
together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this company,
to join together this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony…”

Elizabeth and Robert also faced the minister,
but their turn would come after Evelyn and Jamie exchanged their
vows. Elizabeth leaned back against Robert, feeling safe and secure
in the circle of his arms. Perhaps it wasn’t the most appropriate
behavior, being so casual and familiar with him, but she didn’t
care. She glanced back at his face and saw that he was smiling
affectionately at Jamie, almost grinning at him, as he watched his
little brother get married.