Lady in the Mist - Laurie Alice Eakes [82]
And so foolish. If she feared Raleigh leaving again, she was unwise to care about another man who would most certainly leave. And Dominick was up to no good.
So was Raleigh. She had no doubt of that. He wasn’t being honest with her. But she would try again. She would try to get Dominick to be honest with her about the night’s events. Surely one of them would be, with enough encouragement. A little bribery to soften them up? Food worked with men. At least the married women she knew said so.
Her gaze strayed to the pantry holding the wooden box lined with precious paper and the even more precious candied violets from her efforts in May.
Candied violets.
Her cheeks warmed further as light, quick footfalls pattered into the kitchen.
“Miss Tabitha, are you ill?” Patience exclaimed.
Tabitha faced the maid fully. “No, why do you ask?”
“You’re all flushed like you’ve been taken with a fever. And no wonder, coming in soaked like a drowned rat this morning.” Patience pulled out a chair at the table. “Sit yourself down and I’ll make you a nice cup of chamomile tea.”
“Thank you. I should try to sleep.” Maybe the tea would soothe her, quiet her head. She turned to her maid and companion. “Patience, how did you bear to become a redemptioner after being a free woman most of your life?”
“It was do that or starve after my husband died.” Patience spooned chamomile leaves into the teapot. “And you and your family made it possible to survive it.”
“But do you miss home?”
“Nearly every day.” Patience’s head bowed over the tea preparations. “Sometimes it’s like a hole in my heart to be gone.”
“Then why don’t you return?” Tabitha began to pace the kitchen. “You’re free now.”
“God wants me to stay with you.”
Tabitha swung around. “How could you possibly know a thing like that?”
Patience shrugged. “I just do. I prayed about it when I worked out my time and had a peace about staying.”
“But . . . why would He do that to you?”
“Because I promised to serve Him.” Patience faced Tabitha, a smile on her face. “And if keeping you safe and having someone to take care of you is how He wants me to serve Him, then it’s what I’m doing.”
“But why me?”
“’Cause you’re all alone. God loves you too much to let you stay alone.”
“If He loves me so much, why did He cause me to be alone in the first place?” Tabitha lashed back.
“I don’t know, Miss Tabitha. I wish I did.” Tears brightened Patience’s eyes. “But He has His reasons. We just have to trust Him.”
“The pastor says I have to trust God to trust others. But I can’t. I—” The knocker pounded on the front door. “Oh, dear.” Tabitha headed to the door. “I’ll get it, Patience. It could be one of the Trowers.”
Which would mean Raleigh had taken a turn for the worse.
Heart racing, she strode to the door and flung it open.
A bondservant who looked no older than fifteen all but fell into the entry on a gust of rain-laden air. “It’s her time, Miz Tabitha. Mrs. Parks’s pains been going all night and she said to come for you.”
“I’ll just be a moment. Go into the kitchen for something hot to drink.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Leaving a trail of mud across the shining floorboards, he headed toward the warmth of the kitchen.
Tabitha raced up the steps, burden and heart lifting at the prospect of bringing a new life into the world, a life that was welcome. Even if the father was at sea more than at home, this baby would be loved and cared for by mother, grandparents, siblings, and a host of other relatives. It was the best kind of birth, a far cry from Sally Belote’s lying-in.
“Calm yourself, Marjorie.” Tabitha spoke in soothing accents. “Everything is all right.”
“But Momma says it’s two weeks early,” the young mother cried between close contractions.
Momma’s predictions were one reason why Tabitha had cleared the birthing chamber of female relatives—they’d been in the way. Their intentions were good, their presence a hindrance.
“I say it’s not,” Tabitha responded, “and I am the midwife.”
“Momma—” Marjorie groaned through another spasm of