For Demelza, the next week passed quietly, if not quickly. As the summer began to bear down on Cornwall, she could tell that Ross would soon have to relent on her working outside in the fields. There was just too much to be done, especially if Jud and Prudie weren't going to pitch in fully. Jinny couldn't be hired quite yet, so Ross had asked Mrs. Zacky if one of her younger children could work for him. The family had jumped at the chance: at his age, the boy could earn a better wage above ground rather than in the mines and it kept him away from exposure to all the lung irritants below.

She and Ross were still trying to figure out how she would now fit into life at Nampara. She had always worked at something and didn't think that she would enjoy the pampered, quiet life that Elizabeth enjoyed at Trenwith. She knew he wouldn't expect her to go calling on society ladies all day long, every day. But Nampara was no Trenwith. Ross had said to her one time that his father had been a second son, so he had received the worse land and mine and less money for an inheritance from Ross's grandfather than Charles Poldark had. It showed in Nampara, which skirted closer to the dwellings of the miners in Mellin than Trenwith, no matter how the two were compared. There was always work to be done.

On Thursday morning at breakfast, just as Demelza was beginning to become snappish regarding Ross's pronouncement of no field work, she had received a letter from Verity. When she had tried to hand the note to Ross, he defiantly crossed his arms and would not take it. His actions made her want to stomp her foot in frustration. It had taken her some minutes to decipher it: she was better at reading than writing, but Verity's script was much fancier than what Ross wrote out for her to study. "'I should like to call on you for tea this afternoon,'" Demelza read, "'if you or Ross have no objection.'"

Her gaze turned back to Ross when she finished reading the note aloud. She had no excuse to make. The house was still so clean it shone. Ross wasn't sure that Demelza hadn't been in the stable doing the same for want of a better task.

"Not that it matters, but I have no objection. I wouldn't expect to see me, however. I'll either be with Jud and the Martin boy or taking a turn in the mine." He watched as her fingers clenched in the fabric of the apron she wore over the new maroon dress he had purchased. It wasn't in anger: it was more a nervous habit of her that she still hadn't been able to work out. He had noticed it on previous occasions.

She sighed. "I wish you would join us."

Ross shook his head. "I think it would be better without me." He smirked. "You can tell all my secrets."

She did smile at that. "Oh, Ross, your secrets are either already known to all of Cornwall or they aren't worth knowing."

He gave a mock huff. "My lady, you wound me."

She tsked at him and went back to her breakfast. "More likely Verity will be the one telling stories rather than me."

"Now I am concerned," Ross said.

Demelza could tell he was trying to be serious, but the mirth in his eyes gave him away. "Off with you, Ross. I've chores."

He stood up from the table, kissed her, and ran his hand over her hair. "I'll be back for dinner."

She grabbed his other hand in hers and said, "Be careful. At the mine."

Ross, mid-turn, stopped short at her statement. "Demelza?"

She shook her head. "I don't have a sense of doom or anything of the like. Just seemed like something a...wife would say." She gave him a small smile.

Ross returned her smile with a wide grin. "Well, that's good, wife." He bent down again and kissed her forehead. "Soon, Demelza. We'll be married in truth."

Demelza nodded, then watched as he walked out of the kitchen. As she heard the front door slam shut she sighed. Verity would be expected mid-afternoon, and Demelza planned to show her soon-to-be husband's cousin that Ross wasn't going to be ashamed by her.

One thing she had been doing was baking. After the trip to Trenwith and the anticipation of either Verity or Elizabeth (or both) calling at Nampara, Demelza had made a number of attempts to bake something fancier and sweeter than a loaf of bread to share. They always had plenty of clotted cream and jam for anything she made, and Ross had been a willing tester for all her endeavors. He found her a book of recipes from the library, but as she had never cooked that way, she had barely given the text a second glance. Her last undertaking had produced something she thought Verity would enjoy: sweet and substantial enough for cream and jam while still being light enough to accompany tea.

At noon she walked out to the fields with a cold lunch for Ross and the others, mostly to keep her from pacing throughout the house and making herself more nervous. Her mood affected even Garrick, who circled around Nampara barking regularly when he wasn't coming in and out of the kitchen, the only room in the house he could occupy. She found the group harvesting grass for hay in one of the lower meadows. They appeared to have had a successful morning, with a large number of haystacks taking shape over a large area.

When she got close enough to be heard she called Ross's name. He called her's back and straightened so she could see him over the top of the grass.

As she neared Ross, she opened the basket she had brought. "I brought you some food. For Jud and the Martin boy as well." When she reached him, she passed him a meat pie and a bottle of ale. She gave the same to Jud and the boy, whose name she thought was John. He was very quiet and rarely said much to anyone.

"Demelza," said Ross. He grasped her hand and pulled her away from the others into the grass with him.

"Ross!" Her tone indicated a token protest, more at their surroundings than his actions.

He backed her against a haystack and her protests were thoroughly interrupted as Ross gripped her waist and kissed her with as much passion as she had seen from him since their first night together. By the time they separated, both were taking deep breaths, trying to calm their heartbeats.

"Judas, Ross." Demela could feel her face flushing and knew it wasn't due to the sunshine. "What...?"

Her sentence remained unfinished as he drew her back to him. He bent his head near to hers and in her ear whispered, "When you get to pacing Nampara, and I know you are, think of my kiss. And how much I am looking forward to you being my wife in law as in all other matters."

She sighed, but it was in relief and joy. "Ross." He saw her eyes flutter closed for a moment before they opened again and she said, "I just came to bring you a meal."

He chuckled, still near her ear and she felt the small puff of air. "I wish you were the meal, my dear. Alas, neither of us has time for that."

"Judas!" Her tone could not be further from the indignant one her word usually indicated. "Well, I did bring you one of the scones as well. Something sweet." She smiled and put a finger to his lips. "Flattery will get you nothing, Ross Poldark." She let out a little laugh as he pouted. She pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek. "Don't keep me waiting too long this evening, Ross." She inwardly cheered at not stuttering on his first name: it had taken nearly two weeks but it was starting to be easier.

"I will see you at home," he said, his voice following her as she walked back to Nampara.

The walk and encounter with Ross had calmed her nerves considerably. That, and the thought that Verity was the most likely of all of Ross's family to be supportive and kind. She had changed from the maroon dress into the new yellow frock when she returned to the house. The more she wore it the more she liked it, and was impressed with Ross's ability to pick fabric.

Demelza had been expecting to hear hoofbeats and was startled to hear only a knock at the front door. Knowing Prudie should have been about, she hesitated to answer it. When it was followed by a second, however, she resigned herself to answer it herself.

Turning the handle of Nampara's heavy front door shouldn't have felt different, but it did. Two weeks ago, her status was of servant and when she answered the door it was to show someone in to see Ross. Less than two weeks from now she would be Ross's wife and mistress of this house. Demelza mentally shook herself free of her thoughts when she saw Verity in the doorway.

The older woman gave a smile and they both dropped a small curtsey before Verity came forward to grip Demelza's hands. "My dear! Thank you for allowing me to call! I know it was short notice."

Demelza just shook her head and said, "Please, come in." She looked past Verity out into the yard before saying, "Did you walk?"

"Oh yes, it was lovely. Francis and Father have gone to the mine. Geoffrey Charles was fussy and only wanted his mother. I needed a long walk."

As Demelza lead Verity into the dining room-come-parlor, Verity's step halted just a brief moment. She realized that Verity had not been back at Nampara since the duel between Francis and Captain Blamey. If, as Demelza suspected, she was still in love with the man, it had to be difficult to sit here and drink tea as if nothing had happened.

Verity quickly recovered, however. "Demelza, the flowers are lovely. You do have a good eye for them."

Demelza smiled. "They make it easy for me, being so pretty."

Verity smiled back and sat on the wooden bench seat, leaving Demelza Ross's much more comfortable chair. She was genuinely taken by surprise and didn't really know how to proceed. "Shall I serve tea?"

She watched as Verity's brows furrowed. "Do you not have a servant for that?"

Demelza sighed. "I try to not rely on Prudie for such things. We're going to hire Jinny Carter as a kitchen maid, but she won't start for near a month. I've already spoken to her of it, well, generally so. Until then, I can manage."

Verity's smile returned. "I see. Please, tea would be lovely."

Demelza had prepared the tea tray prior to Verity's arrival and all was in order. She only needed to wait for the water to boil. It didn't take long, but even so she was keenly aware of the woman sitting alone in Nampara's parlor. She took a deep breath and willed herself to be calm. She poured the water into the teapot and picked up the tray.

Returning to the other room, she didn't wait for any acknowledgement from Verity before saying, "Ross won't be able to join us: he'll be at the mine all afternoon."

"Oh," said Verity. "Well, that's a pity. I suppose we will have to entertain each other, my dear."

Demelza smiled, but suspected it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I asked him to stay for the afternoon or to at least return for tea, but he said no. However," she said, and this time her smile did make her eyes sparkle," he assures me that these are the best scones that he's ever had. I've been trying recipes for near a week."

Verity's smile was small and tight. "I see. Well, I'd love to try them."

Demelza wish the floor would swallow her. It was becoming painfully obvious that they had nothing in common. Did Verity even know where the kitchen was in Trenwith? Demelza doubted it, she thought meanly to herself. Knowing the tea was sufficiently steeped, she began to make a cup for Verity. "How do you take your tea?"

"One sugar and a little milk, please."

She fixed the two cups of tea and moved back to Ross's chair. She wished she could stomp her foot in frustration, though she knew it would do no good. Whose idea had this call been, anyways. She watched as Verity took her first bite of the scone. The other woman's eyes fluttered shut in pleasure.

Opening her eyes quickly, Verity said, "These are wonderful, Demelza. I agree with Ross; I've never had better." Her smile gentled, and Demelza felt her hopes for this visit begin to return, though slowly.

They sat in companionable silence while each woman sipped tea. Demelza could see Verity's face set, as if deciding something.

"Ross is not just a cousin, you know, and more than a friend. He is like a brother to me," said Verity. Demelza didn't know how to reply, so kept her mouth shut and just nodded.

"Has he told you anything about why he joined the army?"

The war was definitely not a topic that Demelza had thought Verity would bring up, and she shook her head. "He... Neither of us like to speak of before," she said simply.

Verity nodded. "He was only 11 when his mother died. His father and mine had sent Ross and Francis away to school. He got into fights there, nothing too troublesome. But when he returned home at 18, Nampara and Cornwall weren't enough. He gambled and ran afoul of customs officials, even if nearly every man in Cornwall smuggles rum and brandy. He, however, got caught." She sighed. "When he came home...he was changed. I knew it would be so, but I wasn't prepared to see it. Oh, the scar is the most obvious, of course, but not all wounds leave external evidence."

Demelza listened, but she gazed at the fire in the hearth rather than at Verity. Where was the woman going with this?

"I was so pleased for him and for myself when he decided to stay and yet afraid for him as well. And when Father told me you two were to be married, I'll admit my first reaction was shock."

Demelza felt her face flush with embarrassment. Would there be no way to have the Trenwith Poldarks accept her?

"But when you both came to supper on Sunday, my surprise became relief and joy." Demelza finally looked up at that statement. "He is very dear to me, and I want him to be happy. You make him happy, my dear."

Demelza took a swift sip of tea. "I do try."

"He was so...broken, when he came back from the war. He hides it well. With Elizabeth marrying Francis, I worried about him, constantly. But I see I no longer have a cause for worry."

Demelza felt as if a weight had been taken off her. One acceptance from a member of Ross's family could ease the way with them all.

"Aunt Agatha liked you as well."

At that Demelza let out a small giggle. "Truly?" She quickly sobered. "I didn't know if anyone in your family approved of Ross's choice of wife."

Now Verity laughed. "Oh, my dear. I've watched the ladies of Truro chase him for nigh on four years and none of them would have ever made him as happy as you have right now, and you aren't even married yet. No, however much Francis and Father may want to protest, you are the best match for Ross."

Demelza desperately tried to hold her tongue, to keep from asking her question, but couldn't. "And Elizabeth?"

At that Verity did sigh. "I'll not speak ill of my sister. But she and Ross are both vastly different people than they were seven years ago, even if you only took into account the years and not their experiences." She paused. "Elizabeth would not fit Ross's Nampara life."

With that, Demelza could see the subject of Elizabeth was closed. "Thank you for telling me." She hesitated briefly. "I'll not make Ross ashamed of me."

"You could not, my dear," said Verity, reaching across the empty space between them to grasp one of Demelza's hands. "Don't listen to Francis or any of those gossips in Sawle or Truro." At that her face grew a bit harder. "Ross chose you. And you accepted him." She paused. "Grab love, and take and keep it while you can."

Verity was no longer looking at her and Demelza knew she was thinking of Captain Blamey. It seemed unseemly to watch Verity, as her thoughts seemed to almost cross her eyes. It almost felt as if Demelza was spying. It took only a moment before Verity seemed to come back to herself. "You do love him, don't you?"

"More than anything," Demelza replied a little breathily. "But...he's never... I could never hope that he would..." She took in a deep breath. "He's kind to me. But I'd not call it love. He's never used that word with me." She took another breath and said, "And I doubt he shall."

"I see," Verity said, her smile small and somewhat secretive. "I don't need to stay to ensure you two have an adequate chaperone, do I?" Her smile turned into a smirk.

Demelza blushed furiously. "Judas. You're more like Ross than you let on." She grabbed her tea cup and took a sip, simply for the need to do something with her hands. "Believe me, Prudie and Jud's disbelief and disapproval are chaperone enough."

Verity frowned. "I don't know why Ross allows them to stay."

Demelza just smiled. It was a thought she had had many times in the past three years, and even more so in the past two weeks! "I'm sorry Ross could not join us," she repeated.

"I'm enjoying tea with you, my dear. Now, tell me about these six brothers of yours."

"Oh." Demelza felt her mouth fall shut with an audible click. "I haven't seen them since I came to Nampara. I think I told you that I'm the eldest. Luke's next, then Willie and Jack, the twins, and then Sam and Drake."

Verity looked at her with an interested eye. "Demelza and Drake are very unusual names."

"I was named after my mother. I look like her as well, or so my father said." SHe took a deep breath to calm her nervous at the thought of her father. "She died six months after Drake was born. I was only ten, but she hadn't been well for most of the she was carrying Drake. Really only Luke, Willie, Jack and I remember her." Demelza paused before nearly physically shaking herself. "My father just remarried to a widow woman in Illugan. So I have a new stepmother."

"Oh!" said Verity. "That will be good for your brothers, surely. Have you met her."

Demelza shook her head. "No, I haven't been back to Illugan." She paused. "And she hasn't visited Nampara." And pray she never would, thought Demelza.

"Do you think they will come to the wedding?" Demelza shook her head again. "Well, I am planning to be there, no matter how I have to convince Father and Francis."

On that triumphant note Verity surged to her feet before grasping Demelza's hands in her own again, an action she often did, Demelza noticed. "Thank you for tea, my dear. I'll go back to Trenwith now. And I will see you again soon."

As Demelza numbly followed her toward the door, she softly asked, "Will you not wait for Ross to walk with you?"

Verity laughed, high and sweet. It was not a sound Demelza had yet heard from the other woman. "No dear. I will be fine. Give him my best."

Then she was gone. Demelza watched as the gray of Verity's dress slowly blended into the colors of the sky and the grasses on the horizon until she could no longer discern her from the surroundings. As she returned alone to the sanctuary of Nampara, she let out a deep breath. Hopefully her second test with Ross's family had been a success. She rather thought it had, but was wary. As Prudie had said to her years ago, "Gentlefolks is strange."

Demelza would not think poorly of her tea with Verity if she heard the other woman gushing to Ross as he walked her close to the borders of Trenwith. She had purposefully taken a circuitous route by Wheal Leisure on her way home to see if she could catch Ross for a conversation."

"This had best be serious, Ross Poldark."

"What do you mean, Verity?" Ross would never admit that women, be they family, friend, lover, or otherwise, constantly perplexed him.

"Demelza. I know you're serious about being wed, but I hope you are serious in your intent towards her otherwise. She is kind and good, Ross. She doesn't deserve to have her heart broken or be ill-used." She didn't grip his hands in hers, but did pat them gently, almost as one would the head of a pup.

Ross was silent at this. One part of him was full of denials that he would ever hurt anyone in such a manner, much less a woman. Another felt deep disappointment that his cousin thought him capable of such. While he had been wild as a young man, there had been no debauching of innocent lasses or even much whoring. In this he was tarred with the brush of his father's philanderings.

"You needn't worry, Verity. Demelza is dear to me." Ross set his mouth into a straight line, hopefully displaying his displeasure with this conversation without saying such.

They walked in silence for only a few minutes more before Ross took his leave of Verity. "Please give my best to Uncle and Francis." He swiftly turned on his heel and began his way back home.