More softly he added, “Give it time, boy.”
Micah shook his head.
“Mrs. Bancroft saved your pie,” Benjamin offered. “You may go in and finish it if you wish.”
Micah said nothing more but rose, sheathed his knife, laid aside the branch, and strode into the house.
Benjamin walked several paces away from the house to a place behind the oak where he was somewhat shielded from view. He dropped to his knees in the dirt and clasped his hands together.
“Almighty God, I come before you a contrite and needy man. Each minute since I have left Boston I have seen more and more my need for you. I am nothing without your grace and mercy. I am weak and vulnerable without your covering. Only in you can I be the authority my family and my church desperately need. Only in you can I bear the burden of responsibility that rests upon me. My flesh would have me be as those who have shirked their duties as men, like my brother, Haden. My flesh longs after the so-called freedom of worldly ways. Subdue my flesh, O God! Bring it into submission to your righteousness.
“And now, God, I lift up my family. Thank you for the blessing of a new child and for sending her healthy and whole. Thank you for preserving my wife’s health through her birthing. Dear God, Rebekah’s delicate condition has made these recent changes much more difficult for her. Help her to put her faith in you, and give her the strength to submit to her husband as a godly wife should. Only then will she find true fulfillment. Let her be a shining example of godly virtue to our daughters, who will one day have to submit to husbands of their own.
“And Micah . . . Almighty God, break his rebellious nature, bring his sinful heart into submission to both his heavenly and his earthly fathers. He is nearly at the age of accountability. Let him not be lost to sin and perdition. I have striven to set an example of righteousness for him, but for some reason he has blinded himself to it. Open his eyes, God. Make him see clearly the path to holiness. . . .”
An hour and a half later, Benjamin rose from his knees. The sun had set long ago, but he had hardly noticed the gathering darkness, so absorbed was he in his petitions to the Most High God. He had spent longer than his usual hour in his evening prayers. Not only had he prayed for his immediate family, but he had also lifted up his family in Boston, lingering longer than usual over Haden. He prayed for the new land to which he was bound and decided that in the future, especially as more new needs arose, he might have to extend his prayer time to two hours. This was such a needy land. Nevertheless, he was regaining confidence that he was truly God’s chosen vessel to minister in this place and to these wayward people.
When he returned to the house, only a small candle burned on a table for his benefit. No doubt Rebekah had informed their hosts of his prayer routine, and they had left him to himself. He was saddened that there were loud snores coming from Bancroft’s room. Apparently the man had finished his evening prayers long ago, if he had offered them at all. Benjamin tried not to judge the minister, but with so much need in this frontier land, it seemed an unwise thing to forego prayer.
CHAPTER
9
E LISE WAS TAKEN TO A hotel in the French Quarter in New Orleans. For the middle of the afternoon, it was quite dim inside, made even more so by the dark mahogany paneling and the black-and-red flocked wallpaper on the walls. Heavy red velvet drapes kept out light as well, and the ornate lamps were turned down low. A cloying odor of cheap perfume mingled with whiskey hung in the stuffy air.
Elise wondered what work she would do here. She supposed she could learn to clean if she must. But before she could worry too much about this, Carter took her upstairs. Here she glimpsed several women in the corridor who were young, and by their skin color she guessed they were quadroons, or octoroons, like herself. They were
Micah shook his head.
“Mrs. Bancroft saved your pie,” Benjamin offered. “You may go in and finish it if you wish.”
Micah said nothing more but rose, sheathed his knife, laid aside the branch, and strode into the house.
Benjamin walked several paces away from the house to a place behind the oak where he was somewhat shielded from view. He dropped to his knees in the dirt and clasped his hands together.
“Almighty God, I come before you a contrite and needy man. Each minute since I have left Boston I have seen more and more my need for you. I am nothing without your grace and mercy. I am weak and vulnerable without your covering. Only in you can I be the authority my family and my church desperately need. Only in you can I bear the burden of responsibility that rests upon me. My flesh would have me be as those who have shirked their duties as men, like my brother, Haden. My flesh longs after the so-called freedom of worldly ways. Subdue my flesh, O God! Bring it into submission to your righteousness.
“And now, God, I lift up my family. Thank you for the blessing of a new child and for sending her healthy and whole. Thank you for preserving my wife’s health through her birthing. Dear God, Rebekah’s delicate condition has made these recent changes much more difficult for her. Help her to put her faith in you, and give her the strength to submit to her husband as a godly wife should. Only then will she find true fulfillment. Let her be a shining example of godly virtue to our daughters, who will one day have to submit to husbands of their own.
“And Micah . . . Almighty God, break his rebellious nature, bring his sinful heart into submission to both his heavenly and his earthly fathers. He is nearly at the age of accountability. Let him not be lost to sin and perdition. I have striven to set an example of righteousness for him, but for some reason he has blinded himself to it. Open his eyes, God. Make him see clearly the path to holiness. . . .”
An hour and a half later, Benjamin rose from his knees. The sun had set long ago, but he had hardly noticed the gathering darkness, so absorbed was he in his petitions to the Most High God. He had spent longer than his usual hour in his evening prayers. Not only had he prayed for his immediate family, but he had also lifted up his family in Boston, lingering longer than usual over Haden. He prayed for the new land to which he was bound and decided that in the future, especially as more new needs arose, he might have to extend his prayer time to two hours. This was such a needy land. Nevertheless, he was regaining confidence that he was truly God’s chosen vessel to minister in this place and to these wayward people.
When he returned to the house, only a small candle burned on a table for his benefit. No doubt Rebekah had informed their hosts of his prayer routine, and they had left him to himself. He was saddened that there were loud snores coming from Bancroft’s room. Apparently the man had finished his evening prayers long ago, if he had offered them at all. Benjamin tried not to judge the minister, but with so much need in this frontier land, it seemed an unwise thing to forego prayer.
CHAPTER
9
E LISE WAS TAKEN TO A hotel in the French Quarter in New Orleans. For the middle of the afternoon, it was quite dim inside, made even more so by the dark mahogany paneling and the black-and-red flocked wallpaper on the walls. Heavy red velvet drapes kept out light as well, and the ornate lamps were turned down low. A cloying odor of cheap perfume mingled with whiskey hung in the stuffy air.
Elise wondered what work she would do here. She supposed she could learn to clean if she must. But before she could worry too much about this, Carter took her upstairs. Here she glimpsed several women in the corridor who were young, and by their skin color she guessed they were quadroons, or octoroons, like herself. They were
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