Sallie woke first the next morning. Celia soon after began to toss and turn, meaning she was waking. Mandie was still sound asleep. Sallie thought to herself, Mandie had been really upset about the card last night that she'd found in the tunnel and Sallie wasn't surprised that her friend was still asleep. She wondered if Mandie would still go into Franklin to go dress shopping, as her mother had mentioned the previous evening. At that moment the door creaked open, revealing Liza who was coming in to light the fire.
Celia sat up quickly and opened her eyes. "Good morning Liza and Sallie." She yawned.
"Miss 'Manda's still asleep." Liza observed.
"She had a rough night." Celia told her.
"What do you means?" Inquired a curious Liza.
"She found a love letter in the tunnel last night; it was addressed to Polly and Mandie is convinced it is from Joe." Celia said.
"But the doctuh's son could never love Miss Pretty Thang, could her?" Liza said, looking exasperatedly at Mandie in bed.
"No, I think Mandie is wrong to assume it was Joe's writing, but she's awful wrapped up in thinking it is his." Celia responded.
At that moment Mandie rolled over and sat up. Sallie was at the window and Celia and Liza looked like they had been talking.
"What's going on?" Mandie asked sleepily.
"We were waiting for you to wake up sleepy head." Celia teased her.
Mandie smiled and yawned. "I wonder if we could get to breakfast before Joe… I mean Jonathan." Celia knew it was an ongoing joke between Mandie and the boys, about who arrived to breakfast first. Celia knew Mandie really meant Joe, but she chose not to press Mandie about it.
Liza let the room and the girls quickly rushed to change and hurried down to the kitchen. Both Jonathan and Joe were already down in the kitchen. Mandie hadn't decided yet how to act around Joe, especially after the interaction she'd had with him in the parlour and the card she'd read last night. She finally decided as she breezed through the kitchen doorway that she would limit her interactions with him until she decided what to do.
"We made it out of bed before you!" Jonathan teased Mandie.
"You must've smelled the food before it was even cooked!" Mandie teased back. She glanced briefly at Joe who Sallie had just greeted, the two were now conversing about something, Mandie couldn't make out what though. "Where is your fiance this morning?" Mandie asked Jonathan. She was trying to distract herself from looking at Joe. She was surprised he hadn't made any contact or greeted her.
"She must be getting her beauty sleep, not that she needs it." He replied grinning.
"I'm not asleep anymore my dear." Alice said, gliding into the room with Mary Lou. Dimar and George followed the two girls.
Everyone was still greeting each other when Liza came breezing in "Breakfust be ready!" She called. "Why you all in du kitchen?"
"Because we're hungry." Jonathan replied, matter-of-factly.
"If you'se hungry you'd be in du dining room."
"Where there's food that's where I'll be." He grinned at the girl. Then he held out his elbow for Alice to grab and marched out of the kitchen.
At breakfast Elizabeth told Mandie that the blizzard had hardly passed over the town, so the girls were free to go dress shopping.
"I also asked Abraham to drive you. You may stay in town for dinner." Elizabeth told her.
"Thank you, Mother!" Mandie said to her.
"I'll have Liza go and fetch Polly."
The young people had scattered about the house after they finished breakfast. Mandie found herself alone wandering down the hallway looking for Snowball. Up ahead she saw Liza with her ear to the doorway of the sitting room. Liza spotted her and gestured for her to come forward quietly. "Liza are you eavesdropping?" Mandie whispered to the girl.
Liza looked at her indignantly "I think yu gunna want a hear what their saying." Liza hissed back.
"Who…?" Mandie went to ask who Liza was listening to but Liza covered her mouth before she could say anything more. Mandie listened she could hear two male voices, but she couldn't quite make out who's voices they were. She looked at Liza questioningly.
"Listen close." Liza hissed quietly.
"… She told me yesterday she was going out with that George bloke in the Spring." Said a voice that was undeniably Jonathan's. Then there was silence for a few moments. Mandie looked at Liza in horror as she heard someone clear their throat, it was inarguably Joe who Jonathan was talking to. Mandie couldn't believe Jonathan was telling was telling Joe what she had confided in him yesterday.
"But he's engaged to Mary Lou, isn't he?" Joe's voice broke slightly in response.
"Yes, Mandie said she got them together and that everything between her and George was in the past." Mandie heard a pause. "When are you going to get on with it?" Mandie was confused for a moment.
"I don't think… I mean… something happened last night."
"Aha I knew it you were acting funny last night. What happened?" Mandie heard Jonathan's voice say triumphantly.
"I don't want to talk about it." Joe's voice scowled slightly belligerently.
"Oh, fine then. Get on with what you planned… if you have a plan." Mandie was slightly confused by this statement. "By the way I think Polly still fancies you." Hearing this Mandie backed away and quickly stole down the hallway and up the stairs with Liza on her heels, not wanting to hear the rest of the conversation. As they neared her room Mandie turned to look at Liza, her eyes were wide.
"You don't think the Doctuh's Son likes Miss Pretty Thang back?" Liza questioned Mandie.
"I… I don't know anymore." Sighed Mandie. Her stomach was churning. She wished she hadn't eavesdropped on the conversation. "If Joe fancies her then that's fine by me."
"You don mean that do you?" Liza said looking shocked.
"I don't think I know what I want anymore Liza. I wish I was a little girl still. Mine and Joe's friendship used to come so easily." Mandie looked at the girl with sad eyes. "Clearly things have changed."
Upon entering her room Mandie had expected Sallie and Celia would be there. Neither girls were there. Mandie expected they were with their fiancées or the other girls. She sat on her bed and mulled over her thoughts. She wasn't sure what to make of what Jonathan and Joe had said. Jonathan had alluded to Polly liking Joe but Mandie hadn't seen or heard Joe's reaction. She was so confused. Jonathan and Celia had encouraged her to pursue Joe and to let him know how she felt but how could she now? What if Joe liked another woman? And what about what had happened between them last night? Had Joe made a mistake? Why had he tried to kiss her? Mandie's mind stopped whirling abruptly when she heard a knock on the door. She wondered who it could be. "Just a moment!" She called rushing to the door. She quickly opened it and was shocked to find Joe standing in the doorway.
"Mandie." He said without meeting her eyes. "Would you go for a walk with me?"
"I don't know Joe." She said feeling a little nervous around him after all that had happened. "The girls will be leaving to go to town soon and I really should be here just in case they decide to leave…"
"It'll be a short walk, don't worry. I just wanted to talk to you about a couple things." Mandie stomach lurched as Joe said this. He still hadn't made eye contact with her and she wasn't sure if she was ready to talk yet. She still hadn't sorted out her thoughts and she was feeling confused about just about everything. Maybe talking to joe would clarify some things? She wondered to herself.
"Oh, I suppose." She decided. Joe finally met her eyes and smiled. "Just let me grab my shawl." She turned to grab her shawl which was hanging up in her closet. Turning back to Joe
"Are you sure you don't need something warmer after last night?" He teased lightly. "I don't have a sweater to offer you this time."
"Oh hush!" Mandie said, not before Joe saw her smile slightly. The two headed down the stairs. Mandie's heart was beating very quickly.
"So, I heard from Jonathan you were seeing George?" Joe said slightly bitterly as they went through the front door. His hands were lightly grasped in a fist however Mandie didn't notice this.
"Jonathan Guyer!" She wasn't surprised about Joe asking about George, but this didn't mean she wasn't upset that Jonathan had told him. "That was not his business to tell!"
"Come on Mandie, why didn't you tell me yourself? I had no idea!" Once again Joe's face was unreadable. He didn't seem as upset as Mandie thought he would be.
Some what haughtily Mandie tore back. "I didn't realize you needed to know every little thing going on in my life! And besides why would you care? I have no idea who you've been seeing if you've been seeing anyone! We've barley had a chance to see each other since you got here!" Now Joe's face was readable. His eyes looked rather cold and hard into hers. "Of course, I care. Mandie I've known you longer than anyone. It's always been me and you even if George and… others get in the way for a while."
Mandie was trying to get a reading on what Joe meant by this "Well" she said turning her head to the side. "Now you know and there is nothing more for me to say about it."
"What about any other fella..." Joe was cut off by someone shouting from the porch.
"Mandie! Mandie! We're getting ready to leave!" Celia's voice called her.
Mandie groaned. "Just a..." Then Joe's voice interrupted her.
"We should go." Joe told her. "I'll talk to you later maybe?" Mandie's heart skipped and she nodded.
The two joined Celia on the porch and headed to the parlour.
"Well, since the ladies are all going to be leaving us what would all of you like to do?" Tommy asked the boys.
"I'm going up to my room to do some studying. I may walk to town later on an errand." Joe told them.
"I will go for a walk outside." Dimar said.
"Chess?" Robert asked Tommy.
"Sounds like a plan." Tommy told Robert.
"Is there another chess set?" Jonathan asked Mandie.
"There is one over there beneath the settee." Mandie said pointing to the settee.
"Would you want to play chess against me?" Jonathan asked George.
"Sounds good to me." George told Jonathan.
Polly walked into the sitting room at that moment. "Hello everyone, I'm so excited to go shopping!"
"Well, we might as well go now." Celia said.
"I just have to grab my purse." Mandie told the girls. She began her way upstairs and was rummaging in the bureau that she was sharing with Celia, for her purse when she spotted a piece of paper folded up. Mandie unfolded the paper and read to herself. 'Celia do you think this is correct? Ruby and gold, size 6. -Joe' Mandie couldn't make any sense out of this piece of information. She stuck the note in her pocket figuring she'd ask Celia about it later. Mandie grabbed her purse and went downstairs to join the others. Wondering what the note could possibly mean she realized she had another mystery on her hands. Both Polly and Joe and Celia and Joe seemed to be corresponding in secret. She quickly tried to push the note to the back of her mind as she joined the other girls by the front door.