Elysium: The Plantation Series Book IV (30 page)

She made herself look in
him the eye. "No. It wasn’t like that. I’m sorry I made you feel that all
of it, his leaving so broken and sad, was your fault."

"It was my fault."

She shook her head. "No
matter how poor you were, you would not have left your wife and child."

He stared at her, his
face unreadable.

"Say something,
Alistair."

The line between his eyes
deepened and his gaze was hard. "I would never leave you and Maddie."

If he would only relax
his stiff posture. It was impossible to touch him like this. Her heart
contracted. Maybe he didn’t want her to touch him.

"I’m grateful to be
released," she said, taking refuge in formality. "Thank you."

As sudden as lightening,
Alistair’s rigid face broke into an angry snarl. "I don’t want gratitude,
Lily. I didn’t do it for gratitude."

She felt the blood begin
to flow again. This is what she wanted – something, anything, as long as it
wasn’t this stony distance between them. She smiled, aware a smile was
incongruous after his heated, angry words, but she couldn’t help it.

"What did you do it
for, Alistair?"

Abruptly, he pressed into
her skirts, grasped either side of her head, and kissed her, not a gentle kiss,
not an enquiring kiss – a kiss that claimed her. She wrapped her arms around
his waist, drawing him in.

When they were both breathless,
he kissed her temples, her eyes, her jaw until she laughed.

"Will you marry me,
Lily?" he said into her ear.

"Oh, yes."

Thomas had slept and eaten
and lazed for a week. He felt like a new man. His mother had cleaned his suit
and starched his clean linen. His father had given him a haircut and Miss Lily
had made him a silk tie.

Upstairs, Fanny was being
fussed over as Rachel and Lily got her into her wedding dress. Thomas was at
his ease, in no hurry. Fanny would be down in a little while, they would take
the wagon to the church, and they would be married.

In seven months they would be parents. Even that daunting prospect
did not disturb him today. Today they would celebrate with their friends and
family, and after supper, he and Fanny would go home to the tiny apartment at
the back of the schoolhouse.

Thomas knew Fanny was
nervous about tonight. After what she’d been through, her notions about sex
were bound to be confused. But he had indulged in pleasurable pursuits with
women in his earlier days. He knew what to do to reassure her, to prove to her
she was desirable. Most of all, he knew to be patient.

Dawn climbed onto his
lap. "Listen." She put Miss Pitty Pat’s mouth up to his ear. "I’m
getting married today," Miss Pitty Pat whispered. "You see my pretty
dress? Do you want to kiss the bride?"

He wrapped his big hands
around Dawn’s doll and gave her a loud smacking kiss right on the mouth.

He narrowed his eyes at
Maddie’s doll. "Any other brides around here?"

Maddie delivered her doll
to him with a grin on her face. "Rebecca is getting married today, too."

Thomas repeated the
enthusiastic kiss to their great amusement.

"When I get married,
I’m going to wear a dress just like Miss Fanny’s," Dawn pronounced.

At the sound of rustling
skirts at the door, Thomas stood up. "And here she is."

Fanny stepped into the
room, looking both shy and radiant. Her dress was sky blue, and she had a white
lace veil over her hair.

"Ohhhh," Maddie
said. "You look like a princess."

Thomas felt his heart
thudding hard and strong. This was his Fanny. His life’s love, his partner.

He leaned in and
whispered in her ear. "You look beautiful."

"And you look very
handsome."

"You wanna get
married?"

"Today?"

He grinned. "Seeing
as how we’re all dressed up anyway."

She put her forefinger to
her lip. "Well, I guess I can take time out of my busy day to get married."

He pressed his lips to
her forehead. "Then let’s do that."

The church was full when
Thomas took his place at the altar, Reynard and Cabel standing up with him. The
black gospel choir in their white robes began the service with their sweet,
clear voices. Rachel and Peep walked up the aisle to the front pew and sat
down. Miss Lily followed and sat next to Rachel and Peep.

Fanny had no parents, no
brothers and sisters, but Major Whiteaker and some of her friends from the old
days sat across the aisle to be her family. Next came Mr. Chamard with Musette
DeBlieux on his arm. They slid into the pew behind Peep, Rachel, and Miss Lily.

Mr. Chamard smiled and
winked at him. Miss Musette looked everywhere but at him. Still, he was glad
she was here. Musette had sent flowers to Fanny, had even stopped in to enquire
about her while she was recuperating. They had been friends a long time. Maybe
they could be again.

The choir raised their
voices and the ceremony began. As Maddie and Dawn paraded down the aisle strewing
rose petals, everyone turned to see the bride walk in on Garvey’s arm.

Her veil was down, but he
could see her smile through the fine lace. He grinned back, oblivious to
everything but Fanny.

In half an hour, Thomas
said, "I will," Fanny said, "I will," and they were
married.

He raised the veil to
kiss her tenderly on the mouth. The choir burst into a joyous hymn, and Thomas
and Fanny marched out into the sunshine.

In the moment they had
alone, Thomas leant down and brushed his lips against hers again. "Thank
you, Fanny Bickell."

She shook her head at
him, smiling.

Their friends overtook
them then, some of them throwing rice, all of them chattering and
congratulating them.

Everyone wanted to kiss
the bride, and Thomas let them, though he kept Fanny’s hand in his. Then Cabel
swooped in and gave her a kiss that had the other young men whooping. Thomas
clapped a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, and squeezed, hard.

Cabel came up grinning,
Fanny holding on to her veil and looking a little bit flushed, which Thomas was
not pleased to notice, but then she grinned at him, not his friend, and he
forgot all about Cabel.

When the long day of
celebrations was over, Fanny and Thomas drove Garvey’s wagon through the
twilight to the rooms behind the school house, and they were home.

During the afternoon of
Thomas and Fanny’s celebrations, Alistair came to her with Maddie’s hand in
his.

"We wondered, Mrs.
Palmer, if you would like to drive? We’ll be back before they cut the cake."

"Can we, Mama? Major
Whiteaker says they have a baby horse in his barn."

"Oh, then we must
go."

With Maddie between them,
they drove out of the yard and took the river road to Alistair’s home. All
these months, and Lily had never seen it. He turned the wagon into the front
alleyway shaded on both sides by ancient oaks. "Oh," Maddie cried. "It’s
like a princess’s house, Mama."

Gingerbread work trimmed
the front galleries, upper and lower. There were three dormers with intricately
carved work around the windows. Below the central dormer was a large hexagonal
window. And the whole place was gleaming white.

Musette had said the new
Whiteaker house was less grand than the one the Yankees had burned down, but it
was quite grand enough with the sun shining on all that new paint.

Maddie held her arms out
to be helped from the carriage and shrieked when Alistair gave her a twirl
before setting her down.

"Would you like a
twirl, Mrs. Palmer?" he asked with all the gallantry of a Southern
gentleman.

"Perhaps another
time," she laughed.

The front door opened and
an ancient black man stood there. "This them, is it?" he said.

Lily had expected more
formality from the butler in a home like this. He certainly looked formal in
his starched white shirt, black coat and tie.

Alistair was smiling. "Lily,
this is William. He’s been on this place since the world was new. William, Mrs.
Palmer and Miss Maddie Palmer."

The old man’s grin showed
white teeth from one side of his face to the other. "Ya’ll come on in.
Likely Mr. Alistair gone show you the house."

"William, do you
suppose we still have lemons in the cook house?"

"I’ll have a look
see. I bring you something wet anyway."

"Come in,"
Alistair said, his hand on Lily’s back.

The central hallway
stretched the depth of the house with mirrors and brocade chairs lining the
walls. The arching doorway revealed a lovely parlor with a grand piano, soft
green carpets, and emerald green wall coverings.

"This is the front
room of a double parlor. When we have guests, we open the pocket doors and make
one large room."

The sofa was upholstered
in pale blue, green, and gold silk. The chairs picked up the colors in striped
damask. He opened the pocket doors to reveal furnishings very much in harmony
with those in the first room.

Holding Maddie’s hand, he
took them across the hall to a dining room dominated by a mahogany table large
enough to seat eight. "When we need to, we can add leaves enough to
accommodate twenty."

Lily looked without
comment. The life lived in this house was foreign to her.

The room behind the
dining room was Alistair’s study. Deep maroon walls, heavy brown leather
chairs, and a desk that had to be the least elegant piece in the house. It was
huge, made of walnut, and battered, scratched, pitted, and dented. A working
desk, piled high with account books, newspapers, pens and pencils.

"One more room on
this floor." He took them into a room full of light, windows on two walls.
The paintwork was brilliant white and soft yellow. There were three upholstered
chairs in gold and cream, a settee in gold, and a lovely carpet in greens and
yellows. "This is Mother’s sitting room, and yours." He lifted the
lid of a polished round cabinet next to one of the chairs. "Sewing,
embroidery. Should you like your own cabinet?"

"I have a basket,"
Lily said, a little overwhelmed. She wondered whether Mrs. Whiteaker would live
here, too, or would she prefer life in town during the winter. She worried at a
fold in her skirt. What if they didn’t get on? What if Alistair’s mother was
disgusted he had married a divorced woman? Mrs. Whiteaker would be ashamed to
be seen with her in town, Lily could safely assume that.

"Alistair. Your
mother. She’s knows I’m divorced?"

His amusement did not
reassure her.

"Do you mean would
she rather I marry the seventeen year old second cousin she’s been pushing on
me?" He laughed and cupped her elbow in his palm. "Don’t worry about
Mother. She has a good heart. And you bring something to this marriage that she
craves."

"I do?"

He nodded his head at
Maddie who was fingering an elegant porcelain lady in a grand riot of frozen
skirts. "My mother wants a grandchild more than anything else in this
world." While Maddie’s back was turned, he bent his head and kissed her. "She’ll
love you, Lily, you and Maddie both.

"Let me take you
upstairs. These are the only rooms on this floor, except the pantry. You can
see that later."

He opened the first door at
the top of the stairs and stepped inside. "What do you think, Maddie? Does
this look like a little girl’s room?"

Maddie let go of Lily’s
hand and looked around with wide eyes. The walls were blue. The bed’s canopy
was the same shade, the counterpane white with embroidered blue flowers. On the
floor was a round rug perhaps eight feet across with pink and blue flowers.

"Oh Good Lord,"
Maddie said under her breath.

"Maddie Louise
Palmer!" Lily said. "Wherever did you hear such a thing? You may not
take the Lord’s name in vain. Good gracious, child."

"I’m sorry, Mama,"
Maddie said, but she clearly wasn’t. She was admiring the blue silk slipper
chair in the corner.

Lily looked at Alistair,
embarrassed at Maddie’s rude outburst. He had his arms crossed, looking
thoroughly pleased even if his step-daughter-to-be was a horror.

Next to the slipper chair
was a miniature replica in the same blue silk. "Oh oh oh. This is
Rebecca’s chair!"

"I believe you’re
right," Alistair said.

William entered. "I
left you and Mrs. Palmer a tray of lemonade in the front parlor. This child,
though, she come on with me now. After you drink your lemonade, Miss Maddie, I
take you out to see the foal."

"Oh, thank you,"
she breathed. She went to William as if she’d known him all her life.

"You even remembered
a chair for her doll? Alistair Whiteaker, I believe you are going to be putty
in Maddie’s little hands."

He grinned at her. "I
don’t doubt it."

Alistair’s hand on her
back, he led her across the hall. "This is my room. Our room."

Lily stepped in, her
hands clasped together. The walls were washed in a pale gold. The bed was
enormous, its canopy and counterpane burgundy and gold.

She swallowed and turned
to him. "We’re really going to do this?"

Alistair took her hands. "Get
married? Yes. We are."

He pulled her close and
just held her.

"We’re going to be
happy in this room, Lily."

She couldn’t even talk.
This beautiful home. This beautiful, kind man.

He pulled back and drew a
small velvet box from his pocket and opened it.

"Oh Good Lord,"
she said, laughing.

"Do you like it?"

The ring was an opal
surrounded by brilliant diamonds. The sun seemed caught in the opal, the light
sparkling and dancing through every stone.

"Oh, Alistair."

"It was my
grandmother’s ring. Left to me for my bride."

"Will you put it on
for me?"

Lily’s fingers trembled
as he slipped the ring on her left hand.

"Will you marry me,
Lily?"

She laughed. "I
already said I will."

"I want to hear you
say it again."

"Then yes, Alistair
Whiteaker. I will marry you. And love you all my days."

Alistair shoved the door
shut with his foot. He took a step toward her. Lily laughed and backed up a
step. He advanced again and she retreated. "Alistair, we can’t. Maddie is
--."

"In the barn."

He cradled her face in
his hands.

"Yes, but -- ."

He brushed his lips over
hers and Lily forgot what she was going to say.