Cate of the Lost Colony - Lisa Klein [71]
Eleanor drew back as if I’d slapped her. “You dare to accuse my husband? And you speak ill of my father, too.” Tears came to her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I said, suddenly contrite. Eleanor and I had never quarreled. Now I stood to lose her friendship.
“I think you do need a husband to rule you and curb your tongue. Graham may be just the man,” she said coldly and turned her back on me.
I went to the armory, where the soldiers were oiling and polishing their muskets, and asked to speak with Graham. A few of the men leered at me, but I ignored them. Graham only laughed at their lewd jests.
“Come, fellows, you know I love the fair Lady Anne, not this sun-darkened Ethiop,” he said.
“Was that necessary?” I said when we were out of doors. “My hair may be black, but I am no Ethiop.”
He smiled. He really was quite charming. “Queen Cleopatra was Ethiopian and a renowned beauty. How may I serve you, my Cate?”
I said I wanted to hire him to row me to Dasemunkepeuc and protect me while I visited the Croatoan.
“You need not pay me. I will relish the adventure,” he replied.
“I have the means, and I will pay you,” I insisted. “For this is also a business investment. I want to learn how the women make the designs they paint on their skin. Then I will sell those designs to weavers and embroiderers. You know how London loves a new fashion in cloth. And the Croatoan would prosper by the trade.”
Graham did not reply for a long while. No doubt my plan sounded like an insubstantial dream. But I would find a way to make it real.
“I know why Ralegh loved you now,” he said, admiration in his voice. “You are a woman after his own heart.”
“I was after his heart,” I admitted ruefully. “But I doubt he loved me. If he did, I would not be in this bind. If he loved this colony, he would have sent relief ships by now. He would be here to govern it himself.”
I had never spoken about my feelings for Sir Walter to anyone besides Emme. But our shared exile led me to confide in Graham.
“Now it no longer matters whether he loved me or I him. I am no longer after his heart, but something more … lasting, I suppose.”
Graham nodded, looking into the distance. No doubt he was thinking of Lady Anne.
I told Alice Chapman of my plan to go to Dasemunkepeuc and asked her to come because of her knowledge of the ailments of women and children. Moreover, her presence might discourage the gossips. I was not entirely careless of my reputation.
“But my babe is not yet weaned,” she objected.
“Eleanor will nurse him for you,” I replied. “And we will only be absent a few days.”
“If it is to help women in need, you know I cannot refuse,” she said at last.
We visited the apothecary, who kept his medicines in a cupboard in his house. Alice advised me to buy saltpeter, a few grains of which cured measles and many aches; syrup of poppy, which induced sleep in restless infants; and small bags of a foul-smelling herb which, infused in a drink, relieved fevers. As I made these purchases, her eyes lit up with anticipation.
“Will the Indians welcome us, do you think?” she asked.
I reassured her Tameoc’s women would recognize me and I would be able to converse with them.
I did not ask Bailey’s permission to go to Dasemunkepeuc and thus acknowledge his authority over me. But Ananias knew of our plans. He preferred us to wait until Manteo had returned from his embassy to the Secotan, but he did not stand in the way of our going. Graham asked Christopher Cooper to procure a wherry for us, and Cooper, out of curiosity, decided to accompany us as well.
The morning of our departure, a tearful Alice turned up at the door alone.
“Is the babe sick?” I asked with sudden fear.
“I cannot leave him. What if I never return?” She began to sob. “My son will grow up without a mother.”
Eleanor went to comfort Alice. “At least you have some sense. Cate’s plan is folly,” she said.
“What is foolish about tending the sick and bringing them medicine?” I said. “Alice, nothing can go wrong. Why not bring your