Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Adam and Madeline rode up the steep, grassy hill to Fort Cumberland. They dismounted outside the main gate and led their horses into the courtyard.
A voice rang out. “Miss Oxley!”
Madeline turned and recognized the caller.
John Metcalf, a young man who had traveled on the ship with her from Yorkshire, was approaching, ax in hand.
He had come alone to Nova Scotia to rent land until he could earn enough to buy his own and send for his brothers.
This morning, he looked as if he had been hard at work, splitting wood and perspiring in the sun.
Madeline smiled and walked to meet him halfway. Adam waited near the barracks.
“Hello, Mr. Metcalf. It’s good to see you. Have you been settling in?”
“Yes, Miss Oxley. Though I haven’t found a place to call my own just yet.”
She remembered his optimism on board ship, speaking ambitiously about the fertile soil in Cumberland, and how he planned to acquire enough land to someday make something of himself.
“I am sure you will find what you’re looking for soon enough. Have you been to see the marshes?”
“Yes, and it’s fine land, miss, but I knew it would be.” He peered over her shoulder.
Curious to know what had caught his attention, Madeline also turned. There was Adam, standing by the barracks, watching their conversation. When he noticed her looking at him, he glanced the other way.
“So you didn’t marry him after all?” Mr. Metcalf asked quietly.
“No.”
“Were you very disappointed?”
Madeline cleared her throat. She had no desire to talk about this—not with John Metcalf, not with anyone. “How could I be? I barely knew him.”
“He’s older than I thought he’d be.” After a pause, Mr. Metcalf settled his gaze upon hers again. “Will you return to Yorkshire?”
“No. I haven’t decided what I will do exactly, but I hope to remain here. For the time being anyway.”
Madeline couldn’t help thinking that after spending the morning with Adam, so full of knowledge, wisdom and experience, John’s eyes looked particularly youthful.
“So, what are you doing at the fort this morning?” he asked.
“I came to see the Ripleys.”
“Ah…”
Did she detect a hint of disappointment in his tone? She was probably imagining it. He couldn’t possibly be hoping that she was here to see him. Men never had hopes about her.
“They’re staying in there.” John pointed toward the barracks where Adam stood.
“Thank you, Mr. Metcalf. I must go now. It was nice to see you again. Good luck finding land.” She returned to where Adam was now leaning against the outside wall of the barracks.
“An acquaintance from the ship?” he asked, still watching John.
“Yes. His name is John Metcalf.”
Why did she feel uncomfortable answering that question? Was it her own foolish sense of loyalty to Adam? Or did Adam feel that because she was under his protection, she should not be talking to single young men?
“Did he bring a family with him?” Adam asked.
“Not yet. He plans to send for his brothers as soon as he finds property to lease.”
Adam watched John intently for a few more seconds, then escorted Madeline to the barracks.
They knocked on the Ripleys’ door, which almost immediately opened before them. Adam removed his hat and held it under his arm.
“Madeline! How wonderful to see you!” Mrs. Ripley pulled Madeline into her arms, then stepped back. “How is everything?”
“Fine, thank you. Mr. Coates was very kind to bring me to visit you today.”
He bowed at the waist and settled his tricorn hat back on his head. He was so gentlemanly, so courteous and elegant. And how handsome he looked in his hat.
“I shall be in the courtyard, Miss Oxley.” Then he turned and left them.
With his departure, Madeline felt the same way she often felt when she was sitting in her garden and a cloud moved in front of the sun.
Mrs. Ripley closed the door behind her and sat down on one of the beds with Madeline. “Oh, my dear girl. What brings you here? Has it been terribly difficult for you? Have you been crying? Do you wish to go home?”
“I’m fine.” Madeline laughed at Mrs. Ripley’s flair for the dramatic, but at the same time, she couldn’t bear the thought of everyone thinking she was heartbroken and pining away in Adam’s big house.
She needed to set them straight, even if she wasn’t being completely straight with them, or herself.
“Now that I am here and I have had a chance to get to know Mr. Coates, I see that we wouldn’t have been suited to each other anyway.
He is a good deal older than I, and he is not at all the man I remember.
Honestly, I have not shed a single tear.
I am glad things turned out the way they did.
He and Diana are meant to be together, and he has already sent another proposal of marriage to her.
In fact, it was I who encouraged him to do so. ”
The older woman touched her hand. “But he is such a handsome man. Surely it has been at least a trifle difficult to bear, living under the same roof with him.”
“Not at all,” Madeline replied, steadily. “He has been a perfect host, more like a father figure. Really, he seems very old to me.”
A father figure? Seems very old? She was more skilled at hiding her true feelings than she’d imagined she could be.
Nevertheless, it was time to change the subject. “May I ask, Mrs. Ripley, if you have found suitable land yet?”
“Yes, we found a very promising spot—a farm near Amherst township. A section of the marsh is included and the ground is plowed, and a full crop of potatoes has already been planted.”
A rush of hope surged through Madeline. “How wonderful. Will you be taking up ownership soon?”
“As soon as the present owner vacates the house in two weeks.”
Two weeks. Perfect. Although Madeline labored not to sound too delighted about it.
“In that case…the reason I came is…I wonder if you might have need of a governess. Or even a housekeeper. Or both.”
Mrs. Ripley was quiet for a moment.
Madeline shifted on the hay-filled tick. “I apologize. I don’t mean to sound so anxious. You will need time to discuss it with Mr. Ripley. Perhaps I could return for an answer tomorrow or the next day.”
She made a move to stand, but Mrs. Ripley clasped her hand.
“No need to come back, Madeline. We would be delighted to have you live with us. We have been saying so ever since we met you.”
A cry of relief spilled past Madeline’s lips. “Oh! What good news.”
“We’ll come by early,” Mrs. Ripley continued, “two weeks from Wednesday, and pick you up in our new buggy.” Mrs. Ripley hugged Madeline. “I am very happy. In a couple of weeks, we will all be together, and we can finally start to build a new life.”
Madeline rested her cheek on Mrs. Ripley’s shoulder. “I will be counting the days.”
A short while later, after sharing a cup of tea and catching up, Madeline said goodbye to Mrs. Ripley and found Adam sitting on a bench in the courtyard, conversing with some local tradesmen. He immediately stood, left the men to themselves and crossed to meet her.
“Will you be returning with me?” he asked. The question came abruptly out of nowhere.
“Yes,” she replied, “but only temporarily. The Ripleys have found land near Amherst township, and in two weeks, I will move into their new home and begin work as their governess.”
Adam’s gaze swept over her face and settled on her eyes. His voice grew quiet. “I see. Well, that is good news.”
“They are just waiting for the other family to vacate the home. The papers have already been signed.”
“Already signed. More good news.” Adam’s tone was as cordial as always, but beneath it, she thought she detected a hint of disappointment. Could it be that he had enjoyed her company and conversation this morning more than he had expected?
No, surely not. He was simply disappointed because his children would continue to live without a governess of their own.
He offered his arm. “Shall we go?” He escorted her to their horses where they were tethered near the fort’s entrance.
Suddenly an unexpected sadness moved through Madeline. She chastised herself, for those feelings made no sense. She had accomplished what she had set out to accomplish that morning. She had found another situation. She should be overjoyed.
Perhaps a small part of her had still not let go of the dream.
She tried to ignore it and told herself that soon, when she was settled into a new life with the Ripley family, all of this would surely pass.
* * *
Days later, Madeline ventured outside to feed the chickens.
She closed the kitchen door behind her, but started at the unexpected sight of Adam pushing the plow behind a yoke of oxen in Agnes’s vegetable garden.
The sleeves on his loose, linen work shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and he wore no waistcoat.
He labored hard to push the plow, his muscles straining as he strove to keep the furrows straight.
She stood motionless, watching for a moment, realizing how much she loved to watch him work.
The sight of him, with dirt on his clothing and perspiration dampening his face, made her skin tingle with gooseflesh.
She could have stood there and watched him all day.
He was rugged and strong, like the land itself.
He was a part of it. He worked it, handled it, nurtured it.
Then she began to entertain the most indecent thoughts. She imagined him alone in his bedchamber at night, removing his shirt in the candlelight, preparing for bed. What would his bare chest look like, and what would it feel like to share a bed with him and be held close in his arms?
Shaking herself out of those shockingly improper thoughts, Madeline started off toward the chicken coop and stepped inside.
There was a cackling frenzy, then the hens settled as Madeline made her way about, collecting the eggs from the nests of hay while she tried not to conjure up any more indecent images in her mind about her sister’s future husband.
A few minutes later, she stepped out to the barnyard, where more hens pecked at the dry ground. She reached into her bucket and sprinkled the feed at their feet.
A tiny voice caught her attention. Madeline turned. Penelope, resting her cheek on her arm and looking quite decidedly bored, watched Madeline from the other side of the fence. “Papa said you’ll be leaving us soon.”
Hearing dejection in the young girl’s voice, Madeline strove to sound cheerful. “Yes, Penelope, I have been hired as a governess and housekeeper for a family I met during the crossing.”
“Are they a nice family?”
“Yes, they’re very nice.”
Penelope picked her way around the fence. Her gait was shy and uncertain. “Do they have a little girl? Or just boys?”
Sprinkling more feed onto the ground, Madeline held out the bucket for Penelope to lend a hand, thinking it would do the girl good to feel useful. “They have two boys and two girls. The oldest is ten and the youngest girl is only four.”
“Does the youngest one know her numbers yet?” Penelope kept her gaze fixed on the chickens.
“Not yet, but I will begin to teach her right away.”
“I could count when I was two.”
A breeze fluttered Madeline’s skirts and she stopped what she was doing to gaze down at Penelope, who seemed to be seeking praise or approval. Madeline was more than happy to give it to her, for she knew what it felt like to spend a lifetime feeling deprived of it.
“That’s excellent, Penelope. You must be very bright.”
Penelope shrugged and sprinkled her grain on the ground. “Do you like those children more than you like us? Is that why you don’t want to work for Papa?”
“Oh, no, Penelope! It has nothing to do with you and the boys. It’s just that my sister will be coming here, and when she arrives, you won’t have need of a governess because you will have a new stepmother.”
She sighed. “But Papa says she won’t be here before autumn. Why do you have to leave now?”
Because if I don’t leave now, it will be too painful later.
Madeline struggled for a better way to reply. “It’s just the way things are. I’ve already made a promise to the Ripleys.”
Penelope was quiet for a moment. “I never knew my real mother.”
A heaviness settled in Madeline’s chest. She stopped what she was doing and touched Penelope’s shoulder. “I know, sweetheart, and I’m very sorry. I never knew my mother, either. I know how it feels.”
Madeline shuddered inwardly at the memories of her lonely childhood, of never being held or cuddled the way other children were.
Her own father had never offered her any affection—only blame and disdain, for having been the instrument of his wife’s death.
That fact had led to his favoring Diana all through their lives.
Madeline found herself wondering more about Adam as a father to these children. Was he affectionate? Had he ever blamed Penelope for Mrs. Coates’s death, as Madeline’s father had blamed her?
“Papa says that Mama had a good heart,” Penelope said, “and that she could thread a needle with her eyes closed.”
Madeline made sure to keep her tone cheerful. “That is quite a talent. I don’t believe I could do that.”
“Nor can Mrs. Dalton. Or I. But I keep trying. Papa says it just requires practice.”
Madeline held the bucket while Penelope dug into it for more feed. She felt a sudden, strong connection to the girl beside her.
Penelope’s tone brightened. “Is your sister anything like you?”
Now, there was a good question. Madeline had to think very hard to come up with some similarities to offer Penelope.
“Let me see. We both grew up on the moors in Yorkshire. And we both like the color blue.”
“Does she look like you?”
“No, not at all. She has blond hair and blue eyes and she is very beautiful.”
“You’re beautiful, too.”
“Thank you, Penelope, that is sweet of you to say. You’re a lovely girl.”
“I’m not trying to be lovely, or sweet. It’s just the truth.”
Feeling a pleasant swell of warmth, Madeline turned the bucket upside down and dumped the last of the feed onto the ground. Then she and Penelope went into the barn to fill another bucket for the hogs.
“Will you come and visit us when you’re living with the Ripleys?” Penelope asked.
Even though Madeline knew future visits would be difficult, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse Penelope’s invitation. “Yes, of course I will come. As often as I can.”
A short while later, Madeline and Penelope started back to the house. They had just reached the kitchen door and were discussing a new cookie recipe, when a gut-wrenching scream cut through the still, morning air and pitched Madeline’s heart into her throat.
It was coming from the upstairs bedroom. Mary…
Madeline picked up her skirts and dashed up the stairs.