The Willows (49 page)

“
Leave John be,” Jervis told
her, taking Mr. Tillman’s arm to lead him away to the library.
“You’re too late anyway.”

Gwen shook her head in this belief as
they retreated.

That was the difference between her
father and cousin, Edith realized. Jervis worried about who would
get the Willows, while Gwn was more concerned with her father’s
life.

“
Your father is just
sleeping now,” Edith reassured her. “But I won’t lie to you. It’s
bad, Gwen. He won’t last much longer.”

Can I see him, talk to him?”

Edith frowned. “Of course but I had to
give him quite amount of drugs for his pain. Could be some time
before he wakes up.”

Biting her lip, Gwen glance at the
children. “Maybe the boys and I should go upstairs, to freshen up
while we wait. Considering the hourly left this morning, is
probably won’t hurt to rest up.”

There was a chorus of protests, to
which Hamilton helped. “Why don’t you go up on and help Gwen get
the boys settled in her room.” He told Edith. “I can wait in the
parlor until you are done.”

Watching his face as he shrugged off
Gwen’s quite thanks for his help, Edith finally understood
Hamilton’s charm. No drama, just patiently standing by, rushing to
the rescue when he needed him.

As he went into the parlor, Gwen nudged
her arm “you go and talk to Hamilton. The boys and I can find our
own way upstairs.”

“
I don’t know…”

“
Go on,” Gwen said gently.
“You will gain nothing from being a coward.”

After Gwen had herded the boys
upstairs, Edith went to stand before the parlor door for the
longest time, but in the and, she left without going in. She had
chores required her attention, she told herself. But worst of all,
she truly was a coward.

***

Worried about her father, as well as
the children back at the cabin, Gwen bustled about, straining the
close sheet let strain about her room. Weeks ago, she’d been in
such a of bus or having no servants, she’d tossed her viable
dresses to the floor with little regard. No wonder the boys quickly
deserted heard to go exploring; the room was a disaster.

As long as she must wait for her father
to way, she decided to wash your clothes, a task she never had
dream of doing earlier. Gathering and sorting them, she saw her
carpetbag in the corner. Eyed that it never occurred to her to
fully unpack it. There might be clean underwear inside, she thought
hopefully, or even a dress to change into while she washed her
laundry.

As she dumped the bag on the bed, she
saw the clean underwear and the calling card next to it. Lifting of
the card, she recalled the day Mrs. Tibbs had presented it. She
could see now that she been a terrible snob, too self-absorbed to
see that the river own way, the woman had been trying to help
her.

Gwen had a sudden urge to see the
impossible woman, to hear some more of her down to earth
advice.

Opening her door, Edith, clearly
surprised to find her cousin gathering clothes. “I need to keep
busy,” Gwen offered with a shrug as she lifted up the pile. “It is
not fair to leave you with such a mess.”

“
I came to see if you have
any correspondence to be taken to the city. Hamilton is heading
downriver soon, and has offered to take our mail.”

When thought again of Mrs. Tibbs. Maybe
she could write to her.

“
If you want, I can help you
in a moment,” Edith went on with a tight smile, “but first I must
drop off a letter. Daddy seems to have found himself some trouble
again.”

Hard not to hear her bitterness. “What
is wrong? Can I help?”

Gliding into the room, Edith waived a
letter in the air. “He promised that he would quit gambling, but
this is the third Bank of this month to call in a loan. I declare,
I don’t know where he finds these establishments. I’ve never heard
of this Barclay and Tibbs.”

Surprised by the name, Gwen remembered
Eleanor mentioning her connections. “My traveling partner from
Boston was named Tibbs. I wonder if she has any
relation.”

“
I wouldn’t think there
would be too many Tibbs wandering about the city.”

“
Actually, I was just
thinking of writing to her. Maybe I can ask if she can make an
extension on uncles loan.”

“
You would do that for
us?”

“
Of course. Your
family.”

Edith looked suddenly miserable. “Oh,
Gwen, how can you be so nice, when I was so awful to
you?”

Gwen set the pile of clothes on the
bed. “Come on now. We have both done some silly things-“

Edith shook her head. “You don’t
understand. It’s my fault, what happened to you. If not for me and
my jealousy, you would’ve married Lance, I Set Michael in your
path, hoping he would distract you. I wanted Lance so badly, I cut
his cinch at the competition, just to make sure you couldn’t have
him.”

Gwen found a hard to hide her shock.
“But that was so dangerous. He could have been badly
hurt.”

“
I realize that now, but at
the time-“she shook her head, tears pouring from her eyes. “Gwen, I
am not proud of what I did, but I wanted Lance so much. You know
what it’s like to love somebody so, you think you will die if you
can’t have them?”

Gwen thought instantly of Michael, of
what she might do to have him, and cannot bring herself to resent
her cousin. “As long as no one was hurt, I must admit, you did me a
favor. I’ve discovered I never really wanted to marry
Lance.”

She expected joy, or even relief, but
Edith instead burst did into tears. “Oh Gwen, I could be in a heap
of trouble. I think… I think I am carrying Lance’s
baby.”

Though shocked to the core, Gwen
reached for her cousin to give her a much needed hug.

“
I thought I loved him,”
Edith cried on her shoulder. “But he and father have been, well,
it’s gone so I don’t trust them. And then there is Hamilton… Gwen,
it’s all so confusing. I no longer know what to do.”

“
I know,” Gwen, patted her
back. “Why not try tackling one thing at a time? Have you told
Lance about the baby?”

Edith shook her head.

“
How about Hamilton? Have
you spoken with him?”

Her cousin looks startled. “Why would I
talk to Hamilton?”

Because the man’s loved you for years,
when wanted to tell her, but Hamilton might better convince her
cousin of the fact. “He is a good friend,” he said instead. “And he
has always been there to help you.”

Edith looked to her as if she had just
made an awesome discovery. “Gwen, I am so glad you are
home.”

Gwen nodded, but in her mind, when she
thought of the word home, she saw the cabin. How quickly one’s
perception could change, how the Willows can now seem to big and
empty and lonely.

“
Go down and talk to
Hamilton. And while you’re at it, ask if he will take my letter to
Mrs. Tibbs. We can’t have Jervis complicating matters by being
carted off to prison.”

“
But you have worries of
your own. You don’t need to be dealing with our
troubles.”

“
I’m not being entirely
selfless,” Gwen said honestly. I have a few things I would like to
talk over with Mrs. Tibbs. The women has the knack of saying what I
need to hear.”

Even as she spoke, Gwen
realize that the words were as much for herself as for her cousin.
The problems were piling up faster than she could deal with them,
as were the hours she been away from the cabin.
Hold on, Jude
, she thought in a mental
message to the girl
. I’m coming home soon
as possible
.

Her thoughts shifted to her father,
silently pleading with him to wake from his dream. There would be
no going home, she knew, until she had spoken with her
father.

At least she had done part of her
mission, she realize what they slowly spreading smiled. Nothing
else, she could rest easy, knowing the marriage license was
filed.

***

Jervis eyed at the license atop his
desk with the satisfaction and relief. It had taken a bottle of his
brother’s best whiskey, but he sent Tillman off so plastered, it
should take the lawyer a week to realize this license was missing
from his case. By then, Lance would have wedded and bedded
Gwen.

Where was that Idiot, that hadn’t get
answer his summons? Did not Lance realize that they had it a second
to spare? John’s life was wasting away; it would be just like his
brother to die before Jervis was ready.

Hearing a horse approach, Jervis
stormed outside, rounding on Lance before he fully dismounted.
“Where in the hell have you been?”

“
Out searching for Gwen. My
man had a lead to Michael’s cabin. We’ve narrowed it down to a
certain section of the Bayou.”

“
She is here, you idiot, and
you got some serious courting to do before she talks to her father.
Michael, like the perfect gentleman, has left the choice of filing
the license to her.” He held up the paper. “She gave it to Tillman,
not one hour ago, with instructions to take it to the parish
clerk.”

“
Impossible.” Grabbing the
paper, Lance ripped it into two. “I won’t let it
happen.”

“
That’s a spirit. Now go in
there and talk some sense into that girl.”

***

Searching through the house, Lance
found Gwen bending over the washboard with her sleeves rolled up.
Why on earth was she washing laundry but some common servant? “What
did that bastard do to you?

He went over to her, taking her hands
into his own. “I am so happy you are home. Gwen, darling, let’s
wait no longer for our dreams to come true. I’m taking you to the
Reverend so he can wed us this instant.”

“
I am sorry, Lance. I can’t.
I’m already married.”

Joy, he’d expected, and possibly
surprise, but never her pity. “You are not,” He snapped. “Michael
never filed the papers.”

“
Michael lift it up to me. I
want to be married to him, Lance.”

She seemed suddenly a stranger, so
proud and willful inner peasants clothing. Good of like nothing
better than to turn on a heel and leave her there staring after
him, but that wouldn’t get him the Willows. “You poor, naïve fool,”
he lashed out. “He didn’t file the license because he’s using you,
keeping the little princess happy while he tries to bleed money
from her poor, dying father. I tell you, Gwen, if anything kills
John, it will be that ransom note.”

“
Ransom note?” She shook her
head.

“
We all need money, but only
a true gentleman finds a gentler means of obtaining it. Only his
kind resort to crime.”

To Lance’s surprise, her eyes flashed
with fire. “What would you know about his kind? You have no idea
what Michael has had to endure.”

“
Indeed? And what do you
know?”

“
Only that he’s a true
gentleman. In your place, he wouldn’t be pestering a married woman.
You would be proposing to my cousin instead.”

“
Michael, marry
Edith?”

“
I am talking about you
married her, Lance. You’ve got her in trouble. Don’t you think you
should do something about it?”

“
Trouble?” As the
implication sank in, Lance panicked. Dear God, his mother would
positively murder him if he got the wrong woman pregnant. “What
lies has the girl been spreading? Don’t you believe her, Gwen,” he
pleaded, grabbing for her hand. “You know she’s always tried to
come between us.”

Disgusted, she yanked her hand free.
“There is no us to come between. I am married, Lance. I made a vow,
until death do us part. And to seal that vow, I gave myself to
Michael in every sense of the word.”

Lance recoiled in shock. “You let him
seduce you?”

She faced him squarely. “On the
contrary, I seduced him, get it through your head, Lance. He is my
husband and I love him, and I expect you to leave us
alone.”

As she walked off, a white-hot rage
exploded inside him. She could destroy everything-his dreams-his
life-simply by being her spoiled, and stubborn self. Dammit, he’d
have to show her, once and for all,

who was the man in her life.

And when he was done, see if Queen Gwen
didn’t come crawling on her knees, begging him to take her
back.

Until death do them part,
indeed.

***

Gwen hurried down the drive, calling
for the children. She been restless and edgy all afternoon, waiting
for her father to wake. After the conversation with Lance, she had
a sudden overwhelming need to make certain the boys were
safe.

An imaginary clock ticked off the
minutes in her mind, a mountain of them since she had last seen the
cabin. Her brain might know that Patrick and Jude could take care
of himself, yet she couldn’t shake the sense of impending danger.
If her father didn’t soon wake, it would be dark by the time they
can make their way back home.