belong to your husband.”
“I know. I must choose someone I trust completely, and someone strong enough to protect me and Jake.”
“Do you know who that may be?”
Rose lowered her voice to an even softer whisper and glanced at the tent entrance. “The only one I truly trust is Elijah. If he’ll have me.”
Luisa followed her gaze and shrugged. “If? Why would he not? He likes you, I think.”
“Oh, I know he does.” Rose flushed, remembering the kiss. It seemed so long ago already. “But I hadn’t planned to marry again. Because of this necklace, I thought I could go home, and have enough to hire good care for Jake while I got work. I was going to be a cook in a fine house or have my own inn. And Elijah knows that’s what I wanted, because I told him so when he gave me the necklace. Asking him to marry me after that will be a little...uncomfortable.”
Luisa’s eyes widened again. “Yes. But you will manage. Does it bother you, that he is a Negro?”
Luisa was always blunt. Rose had never made up her mind if it was because her friend’s English was less than perfect or if it was her natural personality and equally present in her native tongue. “I worry a little about being stared at,” she admitted. “And it makes me feel...strange, somehow, to think of what my children might look like. I don’t think I would’ve thought of marrying Elijah if all this had happened three years ago. But—he is handsome, isn’t he? Especially when he smiles.”
Luisa grinned. “And big , too.”
This, from the woman who’d married one of the shortest men in the company and seemed entirely happy with her choice. “Luisa!” Rose protested, then winced as a fresh lance of pain shot through her foot.
“I should go and let you sleep. I will come again in the morning.”
“Thank you. And, ah—could you ask Lieutenant Farlow if he might have anything that might dull the pain?”
Luisa promised, and a few minutes later the lieutenant appeared and produced not whiskey or port, but laudanum. Rose eyed the little tumbler of brown liquid warily.
“Don’t worry, it’s a very small dose,” he said. “Only enough to dull the pain and help you rest.”
“How do you know how much to give?” she asked.
“Family experience,” he said with a sad smile. “My father resorted to it, in his last illness. I believe he found it comforting. Trust me, Mrs. Merrifield. A dose or two won’t harm you, and I don’t intend to allow you more.”
She submitted and found that it worked as promised, dulling the pain of body and soul enough that she soon fell into a fitful sleep. Dawn came all too soon, and with it the time to march. Luisa returned, bringing Jake and Fernando, and with her help Lieutenant Farlow and Elijah got Rose’s belongings neatly packed, then bundled her and Jake into a baggage wagon. Luisa and Fernando joined them.
Mercifully, Luisa saw her weariness and what remained of her laudanum-induced haze and did not try to talk much, instead busying herself keeping the boys amused. When Rose was awake and alert enough to think, she considered what she must do. The sooner she settled matters with Elijah the better. How could she make a marriage born of necessity sound like something worth entering into? And what if he said no?
Chapter Five
After a long day’s march, Elijah only wanted to seek out Rose and see how she fared, but instead he found himself summoned to testify at Yonge’s court-martial. Regimental justice was swift and severe, and in this case there was no doubt the accused was guilty. Colonel Dryhurst pronounced a sentence of two hundred lashes, to be carried out the next day, though in reality Elijah knew the punishment would be perhaps half that. The regiment’s surgeon always stood by during a flogging, and when he decreed the prisoner had had enough, the lashes stopped.
“I don’t like flogging,” Lieutenant Farlow commented as he and Elijah left together. “Other armies don’t
“I know. I must choose someone I trust completely, and someone strong enough to protect me and Jake.”
“Do you know who that may be?”
Rose lowered her voice to an even softer whisper and glanced at the tent entrance. “The only one I truly trust is Elijah. If he’ll have me.”
Luisa followed her gaze and shrugged. “If? Why would he not? He likes you, I think.”
“Oh, I know he does.” Rose flushed, remembering the kiss. It seemed so long ago already. “But I hadn’t planned to marry again. Because of this necklace, I thought I could go home, and have enough to hire good care for Jake while I got work. I was going to be a cook in a fine house or have my own inn. And Elijah knows that’s what I wanted, because I told him so when he gave me the necklace. Asking him to marry me after that will be a little...uncomfortable.”
Luisa’s eyes widened again. “Yes. But you will manage. Does it bother you, that he is a Negro?”
Luisa was always blunt. Rose had never made up her mind if it was because her friend’s English was less than perfect or if it was her natural personality and equally present in her native tongue. “I worry a little about being stared at,” she admitted. “And it makes me feel...strange, somehow, to think of what my children might look like. I don’t think I would’ve thought of marrying Elijah if all this had happened three years ago. But—he is handsome, isn’t he? Especially when he smiles.”
Luisa grinned. “And big , too.”
This, from the woman who’d married one of the shortest men in the company and seemed entirely happy with her choice. “Luisa!” Rose protested, then winced as a fresh lance of pain shot through her foot.
“I should go and let you sleep. I will come again in the morning.”
“Thank you. And, ah—could you ask Lieutenant Farlow if he might have anything that might dull the pain?”
Luisa promised, and a few minutes later the lieutenant appeared and produced not whiskey or port, but laudanum. Rose eyed the little tumbler of brown liquid warily.
“Don’t worry, it’s a very small dose,” he said. “Only enough to dull the pain and help you rest.”
“How do you know how much to give?” she asked.
“Family experience,” he said with a sad smile. “My father resorted to it, in his last illness. I believe he found it comforting. Trust me, Mrs. Merrifield. A dose or two won’t harm you, and I don’t intend to allow you more.”
She submitted and found that it worked as promised, dulling the pain of body and soul enough that she soon fell into a fitful sleep. Dawn came all too soon, and with it the time to march. Luisa returned, bringing Jake and Fernando, and with her help Lieutenant Farlow and Elijah got Rose’s belongings neatly packed, then bundled her and Jake into a baggage wagon. Luisa and Fernando joined them.
Mercifully, Luisa saw her weariness and what remained of her laudanum-induced haze and did not try to talk much, instead busying herself keeping the boys amused. When Rose was awake and alert enough to think, she considered what she must do. The sooner she settled matters with Elijah the better. How could she make a marriage born of necessity sound like something worth entering into? And what if he said no?
Chapter Five
After a long day’s march, Elijah only wanted to seek out Rose and see how she fared, but instead he found himself summoned to testify at Yonge’s court-martial. Regimental justice was swift and severe, and in this case there was no doubt the accused was guilty. Colonel Dryhurst pronounced a sentence of two hundred lashes, to be carried out the next day, though in reality Elijah knew the punishment would be perhaps half that. The regiment’s surgeon always stood by during a flogging, and when he decreed the prisoner had had enough, the lashes stopped.
“I don’t like flogging,” Lieutenant Farlow commented as he and Elijah left together. “Other armies don’t
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