Receive Me Falling (31 page)

           
“She’s worried to death about the
mural,” said David.

           
“We are scheduled to leave on
Sunday,” said Meg.

           
“You’ll probably have to postpone
your departure,” said Gwen.
 
“I know we
have.
 
We’re staying through until next
Tuesday.”

           
“If you all want to leave sooner,
you don’t have to stay because of the wedding.”

           
“We know.
 
In truth, it looks like the storm will head
out to the Atlantic before it even hits Nevis,”
said David.
 
“It’s not only your wedding
that keeps us here.”

           
“Gwen, that house has withstood
two-hundred years of hurricanes,” said Meg.
 
“I wouldn’t worry.”

 
Meg lay awake in her bed tossing and turning
all night.
 
She was not troubled—she was
very much at ease—but so much was happening so suddenly.
 
Around
four
o’clock
she slipped on her robe and padded out to the kitchen to
get a glass of water.
 
She saw her laptop
on the table in the great room and decided to email her office that she would
have to stay longer due to the weather.

Political fundraising seemed so far away from
where she was.
 
Meg found it difficult to
imagine returning to her life in Annapolis,
but she knew she needed a salary—especially now.

Meg decided to email Howard and tell him the good
news about the land.
 
Though she would
probably see a bit less than Grand Star could deliver, Roland thought Meg could
probably get over fifty million dollars for the land from all the buyers.
 
Meg recommended to Howard that they try to
reach a settlement agreement with all parties.
 
She was willing to sell everything down to the rugs in her house if they
could keep the lawsuit out of court.
 
Meg
couldn’t bear the thought of that.

After sending her emails, Meg opened the slider
and stepped onto the back porch. The sky was deep pink along a rim of clouds on
the horizon.
 
The sun was beginning to
rise.
 
It was windy and the blowing palms
made a rustling sound, but there were pauses in the gusts.
 
In the pauses, Meg could hear Beethoven’s
Sonata
.
 

16

Albert
decided to stay back with James while Cecil and Catherine attended dinner at
the Darrows’ estate. Catherine was surprised to see the Halls in attendance at
the gathering, but she supposed that since they were cousins it made
sense.
 
The Halls, however, cast a shadow
over the gathering with their glum faces.
 
The group did its best to avoid the difficult subject of their removal
from the island, but as the evening progressed, it was spoken of more freely.

           
The Halls were planning on putting
their land up for sale by the end of the month.
 
Catherine watched Edward and his father cast knowing looks at one
another as Mr. Hall discussed the sale of the property and their relocation to England.
 
Bartholomew whispered something to Edward
that made him sneer, and the tension between the Ewings and the Halls was
obvious.

           
On the carriage ride to the Darrows’
house earlier that night, Cecil had informed Catherine that Bartholomew Ewing
had made an informal bid on the Hall land, but that Mr. Hall was insulted by the
price he had offered.
 
When Catherine
asked why the Darrows had not made an offer, Cecil informed her that, like the
Halls, the Darrows were in great debt.
 
Cecil mentioned that he wished the property
was closer to Eden
so that he could make use of it, but that it would be a rather awkward
acquisition for them.

           
“We don’t need any more land for
slave labor,” said Catherine.
 
“Even if
we are fortunate enough to escape arsonists, we could face a similar fate.”

           
Cecil quieted Catherine and
reiterated his belief that the ban on slavery would never happen, and that he
was becoming increasingly aggravated about her involvement in such
matters.
 
He was irritable the rest of
the carriage ride, and Catherine’s mood blackened knowing that her only ally
for the social outing was cross with her.

           
That night, Catherine learned that
Caleb Whitting had been detained and questioned at the jail for two days, but
that they were unable to find sufficient evidence to convict him of the arson of
the Hall’s plantation.
 
A barrister
working for the Halls told them that they should not hold out hope.
 
That there were too many with motives to
destroy the mills—from the slaves, to the small farmers, to abolitionists—and
that it was possible that the fires erupted from natural causes.
 
The irony was that the thatched roofs on the
outbuildings had caused the fire to spread and grow out of control—which was
the very reason the Council had given the small farmers with thatched homes the
order to re-shingle or rebuild.
   

           
When the men retired to the billiard
room, Catherine was forced to stay with the women.
 
Tired of listening to the insufferable
conversation between Fanny and her cousin, Eugenia, Catherine excused herself
to the back veranda and walked outside.
 
Wind blew through the garden, and the moon gave a blue glow to the
landscape.
 
Catherine found a bench with
an unobstructed view of the coast and sat on it.
 

           
It felt as if she hadn’t sat in
weeks.
 
Caring for the plantation, caring
for James, fighting with Leah, the increasing tension with her father, and her
confusing feelings for James began to weigh upon her.

           
Earlier that day, as Catherine
prepared a tea tray and light sandwiches for James and Albert, she had stumbled
upon the surprising and turbulent realization that she was going to miss the
Silwells.
 
Catherine spent the afternoon
indulging in wild fantasies about leaving the island with them and traveling to
England.
 
She was unable to spend too much time
contemplating her thoughts, however, since she was interrupted constantly for
counsel on household matters.
 

           
A movement caught Catherine’s eye,
and Edward Ewing slipped from the palms.
 

           
“You’d better not let Mrs. Hall find
that you’ve been sitting out here with bare arms and no covering between
yourself and the tropical night air.”

           
Catherine felt the tension that had
just relaxed its hold on her return with Edward’s appearance.
 
She did not want to be alone with Edward, but
there was no way to avoid him.
 

           
Catherine had known Edward since
they were children.
 
They played together
quite a bit growing up, as Catherine was always more interested in romping
through the jungle than participating in the more feminine activities her aunt
wished she would embrace.
 
But since
childhood, there was always something sinister lurking beneath Edward’s
charming exterior.
 
He was bossy with her
and unkind to Leah.
 
By the time they
were teenagers, Catherine made sure their meetings were as infrequent as
possible, but she was forever being surprised by him sneaking up on her in the
lagoon or at the beach.
 
His appearance
now reminded her of that, and made her uncomfortable.

           
Edward walked over and sat next to
Catherine.

           
“Our island is one of great beauty.”
said Edward.

           
“It is.”

           
“I’m usually too busy to sit and
admire it, but I must make more of an effort to do so.”

           
Catherine did not respond to Edward.

           
“Catherine, I need to speak with
you.”

           
Catherine rose from the bench. “I’m
sorry, but I was just going back indoors.”

           
“This is tiresome.”

           
He had her attention.

           
“I’m not going to dance around this
any more,” said Edward.
 
“I need to speak
to you about something of great importance.
 
Sit.”

           
Catherine knew she could no longer
avoid the conversation, and lowered herself back to the bench, as far away from
Edward as possible.

           
“I spoke to your father this morning.”

           
“Yes, about the dinner party this
evening.”

           
“You know as well as I that the
dinner party was ancillary to our discussion,” he said.
 
“I’ve tried to be gentlemanly about this, but
you clearly are not interested in being wooed by me, so I need change my
approach.
 
I’d like to make you a
business proposition.”

           
“You must be joking,” said
Catherine.

           
“On the contrary, I’m quite
serious.
 
My father and I are about to
acquire the Hall’s land for our good uses.
 
Our estate is nearly as profitable as yours.
 
If we combined the three estates there would
be no limit to our financial possibilities.
 
As charming as this island is, and as much as I enjoy plantation life,
you know as well as I that it is not going to last forever.
 
The slave system is in serious danger, in
spite of what our fathers would like to believe.
 
The land is not yielding as much as it did
years ago, and the threat of hurricanes is constant.
 
It is a miracle that our families have
prospered as long as they have.
 
I
propose to you that we marry, combine our estates, manage the plantations for a
year or two more, sell out, and relocate to England.”

           
“My father and I do not need to
combine with your plantation to do as you’ve suggested.
 
I’ve no reason to marry—“

           
“Your father is not well,
Catherine.
 
He is not long for this
world, and the sooner you understand that, the better off you’ll be.”

           
“My father is a young man.
 
He has had virtually no health problems his
entire life.”

           
“Your father is drinking himself to
death, and you know it.
 
What will you do
alone on your big plantation once your father dies?
 
Who will protect you once he’s gone?”

           
“And who will protect me from you if
we marry?”

           
Edward brought up his hand to strike
Catherine, but stopped himself.
 
His
angry countenance gave way to laughter.

           
“What, I beg you, could be funny at
this moment?” she asked.

           
Edward grasped Catherine’s hands. “You
and I would get great enjoyment out of one another.
 
Think about it.”

           
Catherine pulled her hands away and
moved farther down the bench until she nearly slipped off the end of it.
 
Edward rose and stood over her.

           
“If we marry, I would not only take
you in, but also your father.
 
I would
bring him with us to England.
 
Don’t be a fool.”

           
Edward turned and walked away.

By
the time Catherine regained control of her nerves and reentered the Darrows’
house, Cecil was stumbling and needed to be taken home. Edward helped Cecil
into the carriage and gave a knowing look to Catherine as he did so.

           
“Tomorrow night our families will
dine together.
 
My hope is that you’ve
come to your senses by then.
 
I know you
are not a stupid woman, Catherine.
 
Use
your head.”

           
Catherine climbed into the carriage
and commanded Thomas to drive.
 
Cecil
passed out as soon as the carriage was in motion, and did not wake even as he
was carried up to bed by several slaves.
 
Catherine was relieved that Albert and James were asleep.
 
She went to her room, opened the shutters,
and looked out into the night.
  

           
What Edward said about her father
was true.
 
Edward was smart enough to see
that the slave system was in danger.
 
His
plan was a good one.
 
Any other woman
would think Catherine mad to refuse him.
 
But she was sickened at the thought of marrying Edward.
 
He was loathsome, cruel, and violent.
 
He looked on her as a piece of property.
 
His marriage proposal would be nothing but a business
arrangement.
 
Catherine knew that she
would be miserable for the rest of her life if she were forced to spend it with
him.
 

But her father would be taken care of—she could be
taken care of, in a sense.
 
The
inevitable death of her father would not only leave her broken-hearted, but
abandoned and in a terrible position, if she were alone.
 
And she knew that her father wanted her to
marry Edward.
 
  
  

           
But what about James?
 
She dared to think, again, of leaving the
island with him.
 
She had grown quite
attached to him, and felt certain that he felt the same about her. But he had
made no proposal, and she did not know what would happen to her father.
 
She knew she could never leave Cecil on the
island, and yet she did not know if he would be welcome to come with her.
  
And the thought of leaving Leah, and Esther,
and Mary, and countless other slaves that comprised her extended family, filled
her with dread.