Chapter 6 #2
“The laundry,” he explained. “There are three other main buildings beside this one, each standing ninety yards from a corner of the house to form a square. The guest house” —he indicated the brick building opposite, a smaller version of the mansion yet with a one-story addition in the rear that had a white-painted roof— “with the new schoolhouse behind it, while on the other side of the house you’ll find the coach house and stable. ”
“Schoolhouse?” she asked.
“It was to have been a surprise. Your father had it built last summer for his future grandchildren.”
“Oh.” Susanna didn’t appreciate the way he was looking at her, her cheeks growing warm as she imagined the unseemly thoughts passing through his mind.
She was glad that there were servants bustling about on their various tasks, so he wouldn’t dare voice any of them.
Wishing to change the uncomfortable subject altogether, she turned her attention to the cluster of smaller outbuildings standing within the triangle formed by the guest house and laundry. “And those?”
“Bake house, some storehouses, the dairy, well house, spinning house, smokehouse, kitchen, house servants’ quarters—”
“A kitchen?” How unusual, Susanna thought, realizing that she had assumed the kitchen was attached to the house, as at the Redmaynes’. “In England, it’s part of the house.”
“As I told you yesterday, things are done differently in Virginia,” Adam replied.
“Planters design their homes for elegance and beauty, which is what your grandfather did when he built Briarwood. The interior is devoted to rooms where the planter and his family engage in pursuits that are proper to their station. Cooking is not among them. Prue and her kitchen maids carry all the food to the house.”
No wonder Lady Redmayne had often told Camille that when she arrived in Virginia, her main purpose would be to serve as a decoration for society, Susanna thought as they set out again, walking the horses carefully through the riverfront garden.
With all the rooms dedicated to leisure, there wasn’t anything practical for the mistress of the house to do…
well, other than have babies. That would keep her busy for a while, but of course, a nurse or two would doubtless be employed to help out.
Suddenly disliking the picture of life she conjured in her mind, Susanna decided then and there that she would change things to better suit her.
She wouldn’t be able to stand such an idle existence for long, especially since she would never be one to while away the hours doing needlepoint or practicing an instrument in the music room.
After she was married, she would take an active part in the life at Briarwood, even if it meant she must usurp some of Ertha’s managerial tasks.
Surely she could maintain the appearance of leisure required of planters’ wives yet keep busy.
“As you can see on this side of the house,” Adam continued, “there are a number of buildings between the coach house and stable—the wheelwright, blacksmith shop, a carpenter shop, shoemaker, distillery, and so on, while located further back are quarters for the servants who perform these jobs and other outdoor tasks. There’s also a barn behind the stable, and upriver a short way, the Cary mill. ”
“There’s so much here,” Susanna said, astounded. “In England, we would just go into town for many of these things. “
“The towns in Virginia are too far apart and even if they weren’t, planters tend to be self-sufficient. They’d rather have their own craftsmen than rely on outsiders for what they need.”
“Papa was like that,” she replied, looking down at the braided reins in her hands. It was still difficult for her to call Mr. Cary by such a familiar name. “Independent, I mean.”
“Yes, he was,” Adam said, his voice sounding so hollow and distant that Susanna, startled, glanced at him. He was staring toward a thick copse of elm trees that stood well beyond the coach house close to the river.
“What’s down there?” she asked, wondering at his sudden change of mood. She could tell he was upset, but why? She drew in her breath when he turned to look at her, his face set as in stone, his expressive brown eyes revealing turmoil…and something else. Pain.
“The Cary family graveyard.”
Susanna’s widened gaze flew to the circle of trees, then back to Adam.
“You know,” he continued, “it’s easy to see that you remember next to nothing about this place. Yet for some reason, I would have thought you knew where the graveyard was located.”
He was right, Susanna thought, stunned by his statement and even more by the naked emotion in his eyes. Camille probably would have known about the graveyard, but it wasn’t something they had ever discussed. She fumbled for a convincing reply.
“Captain Keyes told me Papa was buried next to my mother in the family cemetery, but that was all. He said nothing about it being near the York, or within sight of the house, and…and Papa never really spoke of the graveyard, probably because he lost my mother so young—”
“Camille, you don’t owe me an explanation,” Adam broke in quietly, his expression somber as he studied her flushed face.
She could see that whatever had so troubled him only a moment ago had subsided, his emotions once again tightly under control.
“It was an inconsiderate thing for me to say. I’m sorry.
” He paused, a heavy silence falling between them, then asked gently, “Do you want to go down there?”
“No…not right now,” she said, her heart thudding against her breast. She had never felt less like Camille and more like an impostor than in that moment. “Maybe later. When I’m alone.”
He nodded, understanding in his gaze. “Come on, then. I’ve a lot more to show you. If you think the grounds around the house are impressive, wait until you see the rest of Briarwood.”
Following his lead, Susanna kicked her mount into a gallop, thinking a good, hard ride was exactly what she needed. Anything to escape how miserable she felt right now.
Susanna was relieved when they finally slowed their pace a few hours later, not so much because she was tired but because she was hungry.
She had become embarrassed no more than twenty minutes ago when, as she was being introduced to Josiah Skinner, one of Briarwood’s head overseers, a discernible grumbling had sounded from her stomach.
Adam and Josiah had both pretended they heard nothing, continuing their discussion about the overseer who had been fired the day before, but she knew that Adam had heard when he smilingly suggested a few moments later that they find a comfortable spot to have dinner.
Now, as they approached a small freshwater pond lined with enchanting weeping willows, Adam slowing his stallion’s powerful stride to a trot, she guessed he had finally found that special site.
“How does this look?” he asked, surprising her that he would seek her approval when he seemed to have already made up his mind.
She was tempted to say that she hated willow trees, which she really didn’t, just to see if he was willing to act the gentleman and take her elsewhere, but she decided she was too hungry to test him.
“Lovely.”
“I thought you would think so. It’s a favorite place of mine.”
Now she wished that she had said it, Susanna thought with renewed irritation as she halted her mare a few yards from the pond in the cool shade of a giant willow. He seemed so bloody sure of her and her reactions.
“Let me help you,” Adam said, dismounting quickly and reaching up to lift her to the ground, as he had done all day during their tour of various sites on the plantation.
She had decided earlier to allow him to play his game of gallant instead of jumping down by herself, as she was accustomed to doing, but this time was different as he finished his offer by adding “…my love.”
Liar! You don’t love me, Susanna fumed silently as his strong hands easily spanned her waist. All you love is my wealth. Camille’s wealth. You don’t care about anything but your own ambition. Your own greed.
Yet her agitation quickly turned to alarm when he slowly slid her down the hard, muscular length of his body before setting her upon the ground.
He held her closely, too close, staring deeply into her eyes, and she tensed, again afraid that he was going to kiss her.
When she cast down her eyes to thwart him, he gently nudged up her chin, his other hand stroking her lower back.
“You’re trembling, Camille. Why? No one will see us here. We’re finally alone.”
Susanna tried to control her racing senses. That’s exactly what she was afraid of!
“You don’t have to be so shy with me, my love,” Adam continued, his tone husky and soothing.
“We’re courting now, remember? Men and women usually embrace when they like each other.
When they want to be near each other. You can’t tell me you didn’t read about such things in those romantic books of yours. ”
I don’t like you! Susanna screamed in her mind, though from the strange feelings enveloping her it seemed her body possessed an entirely different viewpoint.
Reason told her to pull away, to feign insult and dismay, as any gently bred young woman would do if entrapped by an overzealous suitor.
But her senses cried out for her to draw even closer to his compelling warmth, to enjoy the stirring sensations his touch aroused in her.
“Have you nothing to say?” he queried softly, tracing the full curve of her mouth with his fingertip as he wound his arm more tightly around her. “I long to hear my name upon your lips again, Camille.”