Chapter Two
"Morning, my love" when he answered the door dressed in his shirtsleeves and pants. Jo was an early riser as always. Propriety wasn't an issue in a hotel of this size.
Jo was dressed in a fashionable day dress of deep plum. "You look beautiful, my love. New dress?" "Yes. Between Calixte and Audra, I will be set for a long time."
He smiled at her and continued to fumble with his cufflinks. She moved his hands away and began lovingly buttoning them. Then she looked up and found a button he had missed on his shirt. The intimacy was too much for Jarrod and he pulled her in close for a deep kiss. He pulled away and touched a tendril near her scar. He traced his finger down her face and neck and then the plum lace of her bodice. He allowed himself to cup her breast for a brief second. He wanted to chastise himself but he just couldn't.
"I love you Jo and I swear we will get through this together."
Their familiarity was comforting to each other. They had spent several nights together in crisis situations and then living at the ranch and hotel together; they were raising children together and running a company; she baked for him and tended his ill stomach...they were all but married in every way but one...
They spent the day at the Metropolitan Museum and several art galleries in the city, A bistro lunch and a carriage ride around town made for a perfect day. No one knew them here and they could be anonymous and blend in the busy New York City streets... Holding hands and stolen kisses… it was a pleasure they had not found before. They returned to the hotel to rest and dress for a late dinner. Jarrod had arranged the day to a tee, ending it in dancing by midnight. They had never had such freedom before.
The next two days passed quickly with the same pleasure for both of them. Jarrod found a French restaurant one night and Delmonico's for their last night. An opera one night; theatre the next. Steak and lobster, of course with plenty of champagne.
Telegrams arrived from home and everyone was doing well. A package was delivered to the hotel just before they checked out for the ship. It was from Jacqueline.
Jo made the mistake of opening it in front of Jarrod. It was a forest green silk peignoir with a note that said Bon Voyage. She blushed as she nervously stuffed it in her traveling bag. Jarrod shut his eyes and stifled a groan. He did not need that image burned in his mind before taking an eight-day steamship trip across the Atlantic.
They had good weather and made it to LeHavre at excellent speed. The couple had spent many hours talking about their future, reading, and business. They ate at the Captain's table several nights and danced every night in the ballroom. Jo enjoyed watching Jarrod gamble and play cards. He could bluff better than any man she knew including BlackJack.
They could be anonymous on the ship too. Jo still wore the cameo on her left hand so most people assumed they were married. Jarrod's grandmother's ring was still proudly worn in her right hand. She had told Jarrod she did not want an engagement ring but for him to move it to her left hand when it was time. He hadn't told her but he had already had two sapphire and pearl bands created by Abraham to complement the ring for their wedding. They were in the Barkley safe waiting for the wedding.
Every night on the ship, they struggled not to enter each other's cabins…'who would know' would cross their minds... They would know...
One morning on the ship's deck, they were watching a family with four small stair-step daughters laugh and play. "I wonder if that is what we looked like except adding two more daughters. The father looks frazzled."
Jarrod laughed. "Just wait until they are of marriageable age. Poor man… I pity the man that comes around for Rose or … our daughters to be. And then add Uncle Nick, Eugene, and Heath. We will have a house full of old maids."
"Jarrod, what if we have six daughters? Would you be sad not to have a son?"
He took her hand and looked directly into her eyes. " I have a son already". She smiled. "The twins are mine and just as much ours as any babies we may have."
Every time I think I can't love him more, he says something that endears me more...
"I was serious when I told you I don't want a junior or a Thomas. We have our Jay, John-Jarrod and he is my namesake. Thomas is for Nick to use one day. I loved my Father but one Thomas Barkley is enough in my life."
Jo continued. "But every man wants sons."
"I promise you, Jo, a houseful of girls is fine with me. I already have our first daughter's name picked out."
"What is it?"
"It's my secret and you will find out when you give me a daughter." He winked with that irascible look that melted her heart every time.
LeHavre was a busy port city second only to Marseille. The Beaufort chateau and vineyards were only two hours away from the sea. Jarrod and Jo decided to rent rooms in a quaint inn on the cliffs by the sea to make some inquiries. They hired a driver to take their bags up to the inn and stayed in town to ask questions.
The first place Jo wanted to go was the Le Havre Cathedral. A family priest had retired there, Father Clement. There were several priests she knew that might help them find the papers but he was closest. The Admiral may have left a set with them or he might have the information they could use. It was worth a try.
Jo covered her head, crossed herself, and went into the cathedral with Jarrod.
Father Clement was very easy to find. He was sitting on a stone bench in the cloister garden. Snow-white hair and deeply wrinkled skin showed his age. He had to be close to 90 now.
The old man's eyes appeared vacant until he saw his visitors.
"Marie" he exclaimed.
"No, Father, it's me, JoElizabeth" He looked confused but then continued the conversation again.
"Oh, my beautiful Marie, the most beautiful daughter of France. You should marry him and not live in sin. You shouldn't have run away. The Lord forgives all."
He reached out and held her hand firmly. "I will marry you today". He turned to Jarrod and said, "Come monsieur and let me perform the sacrament and then you can take communion." He started tugging on Jarrod's forearm.
Jo tried to tell him again who she was but he was lost in the recesses of his mind. He became more agitated as he seemed to want to tell them something. A novice noticed his distress and came to calm him.
As they were escorting him back inside, he turned to look at Jarrod and Jo with clarity in those old eyes, "Come back and let me marry you when you find the truth. The Lord knows.."
The novice shook his head apologetically but the couple was unnerved. The Lord Knows…
Jarrod grasped her hand firmly. He believed in God and had studied many denominations of Christian belief but the supernatural had always confounded his logical mind. The lawyer in him liked to rely on what he could see. He wanted explanations, not the unknown.
After finding his Jo again, he had turned back to his childhood faith and began attending church again. During his dark periods, he would use any excuse not to attend with Mother and his brothers. He had even read his Bible again. He knew there were unexplained events in life but to have one happen to him… the ancient priest had used Jo's words from New York here in LeHavre. And he knew they wanted to marry. He was disquieted, to say the least.
Jo's religious experiences had been much more varied than Jarrod's. She was a believer but organized religion had failed her too many times to align herself with one group. Her father's atheism to her Mother's Catholicism to the voodoo practiced among their house servants to the Methodist and Baptist missionaries to Bermuda to the high church of the Episcopalians to the Anglican Church of her British relatives, she had found truth in them all.
Somehow she had felt most comfortable in the small, community church in Stockton. She took the admonition in scripture, working out your salvation with fear and trembling to heart literally. She found her truths in the Bible alone. She would see Lily again.
Jo was less discomfited with the old man's words than Jarrod. She took it as a sign that they were on the right path to find the truth. They were a comfort that someone bigger than themselves was in charge. The Lord knows...
They went back to the inn for a light supper and then a moonlit walk on the beach. Hand in hand, they quietly walked deep in their own thoughts. Jarrod looked down and the moonlight glimmered off a partially buried shell. He dug it out and smiled broadly as he presented it to Jo, a perfect conch shell. She washed it off on the edge of the water and used her petticoat to dry it. "We are taking this home to the ranch. I may put it on the table at the fancy wedding your Mother is planning."
"I don't know how she will feel about that conch shell in the middle of her decorations but it is your wedding, too. But you have to tell her. I am still wary of her wooden spoon." he chuckled.
"Jay has already been promised a visit with the wooden spoon if he tracks mud into the foyer again."
They both laughed at the memory of Victoria taking the little boy to task and having to clean the floors. He was so much like Nick. At least, I had experience in that area.
He smiled thinking of the promise that Victoria extracted from them not to marry anywhere but California. She had been adamant that they not elope as Jarrod had done once before.
"See I told you, Mr. Barkley. It's another sign we are on the right path." He nodded in agreement and kissed her intensely. I hope you are right, my Love.