Chapter 14
From Susanna’s window, as the carriage rumbled toward the distant brick house along a wide, oak-lined avenue, Raven’s Point looked every bit as magnificent as Dominick had described to her.
Four huge columns fronted the formal entrance, giving his home an elegant classical appearance, and its size certainly seemed to rival that of Briarwood.
The plantation also appeared to be bustling with activity.
She could see slaves—men, women, and even children—toiling in the tobacco fields, which she had been told stretched for hundreds of acres from both sides of the road, and riding on horseback among them were overseers who occasionally cracked their whips high in the air.
As the coach turned onto the circular driveway a few moments later, she noted more slaves busily going about their work among the many outbuildings, set a much farther distance away from the house than the arrangement at Briarwood.
“Did you see that, Miss Camille?” Corliss asked, her expression showing shock and dismay as she turned from craning her neck out the opposite window. “They’ve got little children, no more than six years old, working out in them tobo fields. Babies! And in this hot sun!”
“Yes, I did,” Susanna replied, surprised that Dominick would allow such a thing. At Briarwood, children younger than thirteen were given tasks suitable for their age or left under the watchful eye of motherly attendants to frolic and play near their cabins.
“Those overseers were using whips, too,” the maid added, her tone subdued. “I wonder if they did that when Mr. Thornton worked here. He never said nothing about it. I ‘spect he wouldn’t be too happy to see how things have changed, if that’s the case. He doesn’t tolerate no whips at Briarwood.”
Recalling Adam’s tight-lipped exchange with Josiah Skinner about the overseer who had dared to raise a whip against some Cary slaves and been summarily dismissed for it, Susanna could just imagine his response.
As the carriage came to a halt before the front door and a footman in modest livery rushed out to assist her, she resolved to discuss these matters with Dominick.
She didn’t like slavery in the first place, and there was no reason to make these people’s burden any more difficult than it already was.
“Corliss, would you mind waiting in the carriage for just a few moments? I’d like to greet Mr. Spencer alone.”
Susanna was surprised when Corliss failed to tease her about her interest in the widowed planter. Instead, the maid appeared willing to remain inside the coach during the visit, no matter that it was stuffy and warm. She was clearly upset about what she had just seen out in the fields.
Thinking that things weren’t getting off to the best start, Susanna disembarked and climbed the broad front steps to the door.
She couldn’t ask the footman within earshot of Corliss if Dominick was at home since this meeting was supposed to have been prearranged, but when she was ushered inside the sparsely furnished hall, she turned to him and said, “My name is Miss Camille Cary. I’ve come to pay a call on Mr. Spencer—”
“My dear Camille, this is indeed a pleasant surprise.”
Susanna’s pulse raced as Dominick, dressed more plainly than she had ever seen him, in a white full-sleeved shirt, unadorned waistcoat, and dark breeches, strode from a room which she could see was the library.
Realizing that he must have observed her arrival from the tall windows which looked out onto the front lawn, she wondered why he hadn’t come out at once to greet her.
As he curtly waved away the footman, she murmured, “Dominick.”
“Forgive me for not escorting you myself into my home,” he explained as if reading her thoughts, “but I took a moment to ask my housekeeper to prepare us some refreshment. I am delighted to see you, my dear, but I must admit that I’m startled by your unexpected visit. Have you come alone?”
“No, Corliss is with me.”
“Ah, yes, your talkative little maid. Where is she?”
“Still in the carriage. I…I didn’t know if you were home so I asked her to wait until…
” Susanna sighed, deciding she might as well tell him the truth, or at least some of it.
She had no intention of revealing that Adam had played any part in her journey.
“Actually, she thinks we arranged at the Grymes’s barbeque to meet here today.
I told her and the coachman that my coming to Raven’s Point was a secret.
I didn’t think my other suitors should know—”
“I understand,” Dominick broke in smoothly. “Propriety.”
“Yes,” she agreed with a small smile, thankful that she didn’t have to explain further.
“Don’t trouble yourself, my dear. I’ll explain the situation to my housekeeper when she returns from the kitchen and then have her fetch your maid from the carriage.
Corliss can wait in the hall while we talk in the drawing room.
” He took her arm. “Now, enough of that. As you can well imagine, I am most anxious to discover the reason behind your sudden visit. I hadn’t expected to see you until the horse races tomorrow at the Tates’. ”
He led her into an adjoining room which was comfortably furnished, although not in the luxury Susanna might have expected.
She was beginning to suspect that Dominick must have simple tastes other than his penchant for wearing very fine clothes whenever he visited his fellow planters.
His house might be very grand on the outside, but from what she had seen so far, the interior was almost spartan.
Or perhaps it was because he had been a widower for fifteen years, with no wife to decorate the rooms properly and no time to attend to such domestic matters himself.
As she sat in a chair with worn brocade upholstery, Susanna decided that whatever the reason, once they were married she would convince him to furnish this house more in the fashion to which his wealth demanded.
She imagined they would divide their time between Briarwood and here, and no doubt they would be entertaining a lot, so both homes would have to be equally splendid.
She certainly didn’t expect that they might sell one of them, especially when there would one day be children to consider who would need homes of their own—
“So, Camille, to what do I owe the honor of your beautiful presence today?” Dominick queried from where he stood leaning against the bare mantelpiece, his ice-blue eyes moving over her appreciatively.
Embarrassed that her thoughts were running on about having children and they weren’t even formally engaged yet, Susanna felt her face grow warm.
She didn’t know how else to broach the matter for which she had come to Raven’s Point other than to get right to the heart of it.
She cleared her throat delicately, staring at her hands, clasped nervously in her lap.
“Dominick, you’ve made it clear to me since my welcome ball that you would like to become my…” She paused, concerned by how forward she would surely appear to him.
“Your husband. Yes, I want that very much. I’ve wanted it since I heard the news last winter that you were returning to Virginia. I knew that we were perfectly suited to each other.”
Relieved and grateful that he had been the one to say it first, she met his suddenly intent gaze. Now that the subject was opened, there would be no turning back. She rushed on, eager to have done with it.
“I’m so glad to hear you say that because—well…
I came to Raven’s Point to tell you that you’ve made a very favorable impression upon me during the past few weeks, more so than any other gentleman I’ve met.
” Unwittingly she thought of Adam, but she quickly forced his stirring image from her mind.
“And I’ve decided that I would be willing to consider announcing a… announcing a—”
“Betrothal?”
“Yes, between you and me.” Blushing at the bluntness of her announcement, Susanna was so overwhelmed by the import of what she had just done that she blurted out, “I know these things aren’t usually handled like this…
it’s so bold of me, but I didn’t know when we would find the time alone to discuss the matter.
I’ve been rushing here and there, hardly ever at home, and there’s always been someone to interrupt us—Matthew Grymes, one of the Carter boys, Thomas Dandridge. I thought if I came to you instead—”
Susanna fell abruptly silent when he cupped her chin, his fingers cool and smooth against her skin. There was tension in his touch, but his expression was not one of displeasure. He looked…triumphant.
“I can’t tell you how happy you’ve made me today, Camille,” he said, his gaze boring into hers.
“Your method may be unconventional, but I respect you for being a young woman who knows what she wants and doesn’t hesitate to go after it.
We are much alike in that respect.” Grasping her hands, he drew her up in front of him but made no move to embrace her.
“If I may have your consent, I would like to announce our betrothal as soon as possible. I haven’t relished the constant competition, nor will I tolerate it now that we’ve reached an understanding. ”
“Whatever you like, Dominick,” Susanna heard herself say, numbed by how easily her troubling situation was being resolved.
“Tomorrow at the Tates’, then.”
Her thoughts flashed to Adam. Dear God, what would he say when he heard the news? What would he do?
“Is something wrong, my dear? If that is too soon, we could wait another day or two—”
“No, no, tomorrow will be fine,” she said, feeling strangely sick inside, although by rights she should be overjoyed that everything was working out to her satisfaction.
She tried to tell herself that she didn’t care one whit about Adam’s reaction.
She had, after all, been waiting for the chance to set him in his place!