(Based on the true story of Degas' ballerinas.)

Chapter Five Eliza's Story

Melly and her two daughters, Melissa and Jasie, helped the servants clear the table. Jane and Victoria excused themselves for an afternoon nap, and the small children were put down.

"Mother, can we ride out to the chrysanthemum fields and greenhouse? It's been a while."

Melly's smile filled her face and eyes, "What a lovely idea. With all the children occupied or asleep and the men folk away, we shall have our own adventure." and she went to get her cloak.

Melissa and Jasie beamed. Their mother had tried to make their childhoods magical and full of wonders. She told stories of adventure and fairies and all the flower names. They rode from early ages, made fairy houses in the woods, and read daily. She encouraged the girls to write poems and fanciful tales. She made the boys swords and potato sack villains to fight. All the cousins were welcomed in their home.

She talked Nick into giving her a plowed field to grow chrysanthemums. They would sell them for homes and for bullach. They were all of the rage in Victorian homes and they brought in a considerable amount of seasonal cash. He let her build a greenhouse the next year with her profits. Barkley Chrysanthemums were known all over the state.

(Based on the Hill family story behind the BV series)

/the-hill-family/

Those delightful days were a stark contrast to the melancholy she fell into every few years after a baby and "the change," as Grandmother Barkley explained. The longest one was after losing a set of little girl twins. Heath named them Rachel and Hannah; Melly was inconsolable, and he had to take care of the arrangements. She would get sad, then stay in her room and cry. She would light every lamp she could find.

The only person to who she would respond was Papa, her Heath. He would take off work, take her for long rides and sit her in the roses outside for hours.

Elize would wash her hair and braid it; she would bathe her in salts and oils to help her relax. Miranda and Victoria would bring her soups and treats to perk up her appetite. Young Maria Victoria would read her stories and the Bible.

Her aunts would take care of the children and tell them to "Pray for your momma. She can't help it; she will be fine, Lord willing."

Eventually, she would come back to herself, and Heath would tell the family, "See, horses and sunshine do it every time. She doesn't do well without them."

—-&—-

The chrysanthemums had been potted for the season and sent off on the train. The rows of potting tables were empty but occasional plants were blooming where cuttings were left.

The ladies gathered the leftover plants and repotted them for Aunt Jane and Grandmother's party.

"This was our biggest fall. Plenty of sales sent to San Francisco and Denver."

Jasie began the conversation as they laid the buckets in the back of the wagon, "Mama, thank you for telling us about Australia. I had no idea."

She smiled at her two daughters, "I guess it never came up. I never meant to keep it secret but my life pretty much began when I came to the ranch, let's see, 35 years ago. Your father was my saving grace. I don't know where I would be without him."

"He says the same." Melissa smiled.

"Your grandmother welcomed all of us with open arms: Miranda, Elize, Adrienne, and me. The brothers all brought home such different women, but —-it's like we have all become sisters."

"Oh Mama, we feel the same about our Aunts. A whole gaggle of mothers. And our cousins seem like brothers and sisters. I never realized how special it was growing up together all twenty-six of us."

"I don't know what I would do without the Barkleys. I am a blessed woman—-There were so many children for a while, we all just divided and conquered the best we could. Now Elize and I are the only ones with a daughter home. All flew the coop but Claire and Leah."

Jasie added, "Maria Victoria was pretty much another mother to us too."

"Yes she was—-and is." and they all laughed.

"Mama, I know you had seven of us. Me and Melissa and the four boys—-then you lost a set of twins. And then adopted the two brothers from the mining camp. Leah, the caboose. How did you do it? I just have two and I am overwhelmed."

Melly smiled, "You just get up every day and start fresh. Just do what is set in front of you that day. Children are a blessing and just take the time to enjoy them. They will make you a grandmother soon enough the way you both did."

"I love Aunt Miranda's stories. I wonder if Aunt Elize will tell how she met Uncle Jarrod when we all get back together. Aunt Adrienne and Uncle Gene met at the university and she still helps him write his books. Aunt Audra and Uncle Carl grew up together. They tried it a few times before Aunt Audra got good sense, according to Papa."

They all laughed.

"What about Aunt Elize? I know she is from Paris."

"I don't rightly know. Uncle Jarrod had some hard times losing two wives. First, Beth was shot by a man he sent to jail and then your sweet Aunt Eleanor died in childbed. I was carrying you, Melissa. Scared me to death. He has always been the strangest mix: secrets and openness. He will discuss anything with you but he never volunteers as much."

The girls understood. They loved their Uncle Jarrod with all their hearts.

"It was late, almost Christmas of 1880, when we got a telegram that he was headed home. He had been gone for months. Let's see, I had you and your brother; Miranda had two little girls, too, and was carrying your cousin, Jon. We had built our own house by then. Jarrod had been away most of the time since Eleanor died. He changed so much after the funeral. Grew a beard, drank more than he ate, never seemed to sleep, stayed away. Grieved your grandmother and uncles. Oh, girls, I shouldn't gossip."

"Mother, we won't tell a soul, and we are just interested in our family."

She saw no malice in her daughters, so she continued, "Silas answered the door. We were in the old dining room eating supper. I heard him loudly greet him, "Mista Jarrod is home."

"He looked so dashing in his French suit and trimmed beard when he walked in the dining room. We all got up and started talking at once. He shushed us, "I would like to introduce my wife, Elize." He was so proud of her.

"She walked into the room as graceful and proper as you could be. She was beautiful, tiny, and petite with dark auburn hair and the biggest green eyes you ever did see. Her suit was French and perfect, but the more you observed, her youth came through. She was fifteen years old. Uncle Jarrod had just celebrated his fortieth the month before."

The girls knew the age difference. She had always just been Aunt Elize but to hear Mama tell it, it sunk in.

"She curtsied to Maria and me. She kissed Victoria's hand. We were all in shock. I tell her still, she is the only curtsy I have ever gotten. Her greeting was perfectly rehearsed in English. We didn't know until later she could only speak a few phrases, and Jarrod would translate for her. She turned sixteen in January and Elisabeth was born the very next year on her seventeenth birthday. And you know what I know—she fit in perfectly, and Uncle Jarrod was happy like before."

Jasie added, "She sings, plays piano, dances, and loves to read. Her paintings are extraordinary. She always finds a way to help people."

"She does that. All of us, older folks, have had a time already when she got us through a dark time."

"I do wonder how they met. They still look at each other with so much love. Just like all my uncles and aunts."

"They never told us. In the beginning, they still traveled a lot with your uncle's tungsten claims. She had two tutors that first year. The first was a man who didn't last long—-I can't remember the second, a young tutor Jarrod hired for her. Pretty little girl from back East. Did English lessons with her and other subjects each day; she only knew a few French phrases. Oh yes, Jan, something or other. We took to listening in when we could. Miranda nor I had any formal education past primers. Silas gave us cooking lessons, and Victoria instructed us in social graces for entertaining. Made ladies of all of us. Come to think of it—Miranda or me or Elize, even Adrienne came from not much. Adrienne's father worked long hours in the library, and her mother died young."

Melissa and Jasie sighed in contentment. They felt even more to be Barkley's.

—-&—-

Heath, Jarrod, and Nick handed off the morning's catch to their sons to cook lunch. They went over to a patch of trees to relax from the morning of fishing. They stretched out under the elms.

"Little Jarrod outfished me at four years old. Did you see that?"

"Big brother, I think my grandson did so. Just like I have been doing your whole life."

"You both got bested by my grandboy, my namesake Little Heath."

The men laughed and shared other fishing stories from their past. Jarrod couldn't help it when he teased Nick about the fishing trip with that lady in the pumpkin dress.

"I would like to let Miranda have a set-to with that one. She'd clear her out real quick."

Nick just shook his head and grinned. It had taken twenty years for Hester to become a joke between the brothers. Once they broke the barrier, both brothers took shots at their middle brother. He, in turn, brought up their embarrassing situations.

"Yeah yeah, Good to see you can make a joke Heath—when you came to the valley, you was as stiff as a board."

"And you, Jarrod, them lily-white hands. And had to marry one straight from the school room."

"Don't be laughing, Gene. Everybody forgets you are around as little as you show up."

The brothers enjoyed picking at each other as did their sons with their cousins. It was a rich, comfortable tradition among the men.

"Seriously, Jarrod, thanks for getting us all together. I know it wasn't easy making all these plans."

"Well, I couldn't have done it without Nick, let's say his Maria Victoria. She took the bull by the horns and got everyone home."

"I cannot believe mother is ninety this month—-and Aunt Jane 85."

"And you turning seventy last month—seems like it was just the other day, we was all raising babies and kids, and there wasn't a quiet space on Barkley land. I never thought I would say it, but I miss all our kids under our feet. Never knew which cousins was where but you knew they was getting looked after right by the family."

"And now even Audra is expecting a grandchild. We all got namesakes of namesakes."

They walked around and found a lively game of poker amongst their sons.

"Remember your Grandmother's advice. Never let your hand reach your face."

All the men laughed.

"What are we betting?"

"Matchsticks unless one of our fathers or uncles want to stake us?"

"Nope. I will stick to the stock market." Jarrod replied.

Heath added, "Not here either, I got my eye on another mare."

Nick laughed, "I ain't scared of you, young pups. Deal me in."

The pot grew and grew. "7,000 dollars, I mean markers," James yelled. "It's our biggest yet."

—-&—-

Jarrod's head jerked slightly at the amount of the pretend pot. No one noticed.

"Seven thousand dollars. Best investment I ever made."

His mind went back to the Palais Garnier in 1880.

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The foyer de la danse, behind the stage where the wealthy patrons conducted business and socialized— and ogled the dancers warming up. The felt covered poker tables around the sides of the room; velvet curtains, mahogany chairs, and palms.

A well-stocked bar for the elite aristocrats and financiers holding powerful societal positions, their patronage underwrote the opera and ballet operations. Men like these had authority over those who obtained plum roles and were cast off. As a girl's "patron," he could provide her with an opulent lifestyle, paying for a comfortable apartment or private lessons to elevate her standing in the ballet corps. The brothel culture of the ballet was pervasive and a known entity in Parisian society.

But not to an American businessman, anchorless on the continent. Running from his memories.

I had spent two months in Portugal with the tungsten mines. Sending back every shred of information back to Heath. Hired two crew chiefs and put them on a ship at LeHavre. My first million was made with western tungsten and the steel needed for skyscrapers in the East. My second began in back expensive gifts for the family along with extensive plans and ideas. I missed my family but Beth, Eleanor, and the baby. Too much pain left at the ranch. Too much scotch, cigars, and women never seemed to drown my pain for long. Poker stakes were high but so was my need to feel. I made almost $20,000 alone in Lisbon.

An aristocrat invited me to Paris and his estate outside of the city—I purchased Audra a Worth gown with one night's winnings and a fur for mother. Aunt Jane was sent Parisian lace. My new sister in laws, silk. I met back up with my friend Armand from the mining claims.

The ballet and the opera house was the elite spot of the upper-echelon men. The first few nights were delightful; he wore his evening attire and danced, drank, and gambled the night away. Women offered to himself each night but he stayed with his luck at the felt tables. The fourth night took his taste away, forever for the Palais Gardiner. He immediately wanted his old life back, the ranch.

"You win, Monsieur Barkley—-again. The American luck holds out again. 7,000 dollars."

Jarrod got up and accepted champagne from a scantily clad dancer. Her breasts were obvious under the sheer silk. She made sure she rubbed them against him as he took the drink. He winked and nodded in appreciation. She had the attention of his body and he was considering accepting her advances.

He looked over at the angry man across the table; Jarrod reached to shake his hand.

He refused. His French companions looked aghast.

"Ridotto?"

Jarrod frowned; his friend translated, "His private room."

He looked around, and his friends showed no surprise at the offer.

"I don't understand?"

"Jeu de propriété"

Jarrod frowned and looked again toward his acquaintances, "He is giving me property in a private room."

"Oui," as they casually carried out other conversations.

"Collatérale! Nantissement!" the man still shouted at Jarrod. He recognized the word, collateral but not the other.

His friend explained, "He doesn't have the money. He's offering you something worth $7000 that many men would jump at. Take it, Jarrod."

He felt uncomfortable, and he pushed his chips back onto the table.

"Let's just forget it. Walk away." Remembering Nick and the sheep, he looked for the serving girl to get out of the uncomfortable situation,

"Jarrod, if you do that, you will shame him. He will be banned."

He frowned, not trying to create an incident, "Ok, I will take the nantissement"

The man nodded and pointed to the velvet curtains.

Jarrod walked with the man to the side room. He pushed back the curtains.

"Here!" and he stalked off. Jarrod looked around and decided he misunderstood the commands in French.

Looking around the room a second time, he saw what he traded for—his stomach lurched and he took a deep intake of breath. "Oh dear God,"—-as he viewed his $7000 mark on the couch.

-&—-

Jarrod's memories were interrupted by a wet fish dragged along his arm.

"Pappy, look what I caught."

Jarrod grinned and ran his fingers through his grandson's hair.

"What a fine fish," and he thought to himself, "You are the spitting image of your Grandmere."

"Pap, you feeling ok?" asked his son JT as he picked up his own son from Jarrod's lap.

"Couldn't be better, son. It seems like your mother, and I were fishing with you and your sister here."

"Don't take offense, but Mam can outfish the best of us. I can't imagine a better mam, Pap."

"I know I got the best end of this deal."