Chapter Nine
Jarrod took her hand and walked her over to the couch. She handed him the note If you don't want this world to know who the father of your spurious offspring is, stay away from Barkleys and give up the deed. Your life and hers depend on it.
Jarrod was steeling every muscle in his body not to react. He was angry. He got up and poured a scotch for himself and a glass of wine for Elizabeth. He left the note on the desk. It fueled his fury. She was strangely quiet and distant.
He handed her the glass. She downed it. Not that he could blame her.
"First of all, my first inclination, this is most likely a bluff. Rumors have always gone around about Camellia and me. ALWAYS...I don't believe that there is anyone alive that knows the truth but me. I never even told Isabella the whole truth."
"My father, God rest his soul, made a mistake when she was born. He was trying to do his best for me. I had her at a convent when I was 15. He listed a long-dead Beaufort cousin as the Father. The birth certificate in Bermuda has caused more controversy than if I just told the truth, I was not married. People have tried to guess for years. I didn't know that was going on until Papa and John died and I found out about the talk on the island. I have just lifted up my head and walked proudly with her. She is worth every stare and she's everything to me."
She stopped and looked directly at Jarrod. "I am a fallen woman. I won't call my child, my Camellia Marie, a mistake EVER. She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It's one of the reasons I wanted to come west-."
"Please don't tell your wonderful family. I don't want them to look at us differently. I hate your Mother reading it. She will likely treat me differently. We have been so happy here. We will leave quietly when this railroad problem is solved. I was already looking at a home in Monterey. If that's not far enough from the rumors, I have considered Europe."
Jarrod stopped her. He took her hands in his and impulsively squeezed them. "Elizabeth, look at me. My family would never think differently about you or Cammie. I assume you don't know about Heath. He is as much my brother as Nick"- and he told her about the boy from Strawberry.
Tears dropped from her eyes onto Jarrod. He reached into his pocket and gave her his monogrammed handkerchief. "I had no idea. They treat him just like the rest of the family."
"Because he is—-Elizabeth"
"Will you make my excuses for dinner, Jarrod? I need to take a walk."
"May I walk with you? I can walk behind you or beside you. I promise I won't say a word unless you want me too. I don't want anyone alone on the ranch right now."
"Yes, please" and she took his arm. She went upstairs to grab her shawl. Jarrod asked Silas to save a plate for them. He got his sidearm from the gun cabinet and strapped it on. It seemed to be from another lifetime ago.
They walked about thirty minutes in the evening air and ended up at the forked creek.
"I was 15. He was 36, I found out later."
Jarrod cringed and clenched his fists thinking of someone his age taking advantage of this child. His rage was heightened and he felt like he could kill this unknown cur with his own hands… Jarrod used every bit of his willpower to calm his voice—He was here to listen...and protect her. Her directness was refreshing.
"Papa and John were out on short runs. Week trips to different ports with special shipments. Mama had been gone about two years. Isabella got an invitation to go with her friend and family to Trinidad for a month. I convinced them I was old enough to stay alone with the servants. Girls my age were already married and Papa kept me with a chaperone at all times- I met him in town. He was with the British consulate delegation. He asked me to meet him. There was a dance at the officer's club and I waited until my Nanny was asleep and snuck out. I thought I was so old and ready for the world."
She threw some stones into the water with a loud plop. "I wore my best dress, altered the conservative neckline that Papa had made me wear, and took some of Mama's jewelry. Tanzie did my hair and swore I looked like a grown woman."
"He met me outside. I realize why now. His colleagues knew he was married. At the time, he told me he wanted me all to himself."
She sighed deeply. "Oh God, I was so naive. I was at that age stuck between a woman and a child. I missed Mama so much, it had been almost two years, and I wasn't prepared for handling the kind of freedom I had that summer."
The lightning bugs were starting to come alive at the creek and one landed on Jarrod's knee. They both watched it in silent companionship. "They are so beautiful, Jarrod. They feel like God is giving some hope in the darkness."
"We used to come down here as boys to catch them. I don't think I have done this since before the war."
After a few more minutes, she continued...
"He would come to the guest house every night after the servants went to sleep. Told me he loved me and wanted to marry me. All the words a young, lonely girl wants to hear. Papa had not even allowed me to date. And here I was with a handsome grown man wanting to marry me. He was so worldly and charming. "
"I was so stupid. I believed him when he told me I was beautiful and how he fell in love with me the first time he saw me. After a week, he knew I was the one for the rest of his life. Ha! Right..."
Jarrod unconsciously flinched at those words.
She sighed deeply.
"You can assume the rest. Tanzie even had to tell me I was with child, three months gone. She told my Nanny who then told my Father. Papa confronted him and he left on the next ship...to go home to his heiress wife and five children."
"I went to the convent on another island. The nuns tried to convince me to give her up. They told me no man would want another man's leavings and I would not be marriageable with a child. I wouldn't do it.. . I will never allow her to be called a mistake. Papa and John came to get me and they fell in love with her too. They came up with the Beaufort cousin idea and six months later I was back on the island with a new baby and widow's weeds at sixteen years old."
"The rumors were rife, I understand. Mainly ones that I had to get married. No one knew his name or suspected the right person according to John. Obviously, he knew how to cover his tracks."
"Camellia asked Isabella when she was four about her father. She told her he was lost at sea. That's what she will tell you to this day. I haven't corrected that. Cowardly I know, but it is true in a way."
Jarrod put his arm around her and they walked back to the house. His senses were filled with the lilac from her hair. He was at least a foot taller than her and her auburn hair was intoxicating and distracting. Every instinct he had was aroused to take her in his arms and protect her. Damn, hadn't he already learned that lesson in the worst way? Beth...
Nick and Heath were up playing pool with questions in their eyes-but Jarrod shook his head not to ask. They went into the kitchen and ate their plates Silas had set aside. They talked about simple, everyday things and that was enough for the moment.
She excused herself for the evening after putting their plates in the sink and washing them. Jarrod dried them and put them up. He had even missed the familiarity of Silas's kitchen. She refilled Jarrod's coffee when he sat back down.
"Good Night and Thank You for ...everything." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek.
His face warmed like a schoolboy. I haven't done that for years.
"Elizabeth, we are all going to get through this and when we do-I am going to deliver you to that house in Monterey."
She smiled wearily at him and he was going to talk to his brothers after finishing the coffee. He watched her walk up the stairs.
He walked into the study and poured a drink without saying anything. The silence infuriated Nick.
"I guess you can't tell us everything, right Mr. Attorney. Secrets again you can't tell the family? I have been holding this all together pretty good for you to come in and save the day." angrily retorted Nick.
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. His patience was gone and he had been stewing the several hours they were walking and the several whiskeys he belted down loosened his tongue. When he was worried, his mouth got the best of him.
"Jarrod, I am sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I have been waiting for you to come and fix it too. My words just get ahead of me."
"Apology accepted. I guess we are both getting older and hopefully wiser. Five years ago, I would have hit you."
"And I would have ducked and caught you with my right."
All three of the brothers broke up into a hearty laugh. It felt good.
"Yes, she did tell me things in attorney-client privilege but they really don't affect us." and he walked around to the desk. The note was right on top where they had left it. Jarrod had an idea.
"This falls on the wrong side of ethics I know-but there is some paperwork left on this desk in plain sight where Mother left it. She found it in the trunk attached to Camellia's doll. If I left the room and you both read it in our home-you might get a better understanding of Elizabeth's situation now and the gravity of what she is facing - to support the Barkleys and the Valley. I won't be able to give you the background, of course, attorney-client privilege…" he smiled knowingly at them.
"But brothers, it might be the right thing for you to do when I walk upstairs to grab a new cigar or two." looking at the empty humidor. "I will be back in a few minutes to plan-with my brothers." It felt good to say that.