Chapter 12:

The London hour was late in the night as an Indian princess opened her eyes and looked around her. From where she lay, she could see her husband sleeping beside her, as well as the walls and closed door. Pocahontas sighed as more tears came to her eyes, remembering the events of just a few hours before. Sighing again, the native woman slipped out of bed and silently opened the bedroom door. Peering out and in seeing no one, Pocahontas closed the door and made her way down the stairs.

'I'll just have a cup of tea.'

Pocahontas thought as she walked in to the Smith's kitchen.

"A woman doesn't have tea at midnight unless she has something on her mind," Alice's voice rang out as Pocahontas jumped to see John's mother sitting in a chair at the table.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed you," Pocahontas said, "I'll leave if you want."

"Oh no dear," Alice began, "I was only observing, you can stay as long as you like; and have a cup of tea."

Pocahontas gave a grateful smile as she poured what was already in the kettle, and sat down across from her mother-in-law.

"What's on your mind?"

Alice inquired, as she bent forward to push the sugar bowl towards the other woman, and Pocahontas flinched in seeing the marks that lined Alice's neck and upper chest.

"Nothing," Pocahontas said as she raised her head to look Alice in the eye, "What is on your own mind?"

There was no answer as Alice sipped her tea, then replaced it on the saucer in front of her;

"I often sit up on nights like this," Alice commented.

"Nights like what?"

Pocahontas asked as she saw the older woman lower her gaze and stare in to her cup; the native woman took the hint that she did not want to discuss it, so she sipped her tea as the silence stretched for a time. Each woman not knowing what to say to the other, until Pocahontas broke the quiet.

"Your son and I had an argument," she stated as Alice set down her cup.

"He told me the basic story I assume," she said.

"Did he tell you that he bedded a prostitute?"

"Pocahontas, I really don't believe that my son would do such a thing."

"He gave her gold," Pocahontas said, "he told me that he had to give her something."

"What was her name? My son neglected to mention that part."

"She said that her name was Gabriela," Pocahontas replied as she lowered her head in her hands.

"He must have found out about Esperanza," Alice stated matter-in-factely as Pocahontas gasped.

"You know about her?"

"Yes," Alice replied.

Pocahontas snapped her head up, "Alice please tell me the truth, is Esperanza John's daughter?"

Alice sighed as she once again placed down her cup, "No, she is John's half sister."

"John's half sister?"

Pocahontas inquired, as she leaned back in the chair;

"Right around the time my son left, my husband was not faithful to me. The night before John had gone with the Virginia Company, he had shared his bed with Gabriela."

Pocahontas nodded to show that she understood as Alice continued, "He slept with her in this house, and when George found out he got very angry. After John left the next day, my husband had his way with Gabriela. Soon after, she found that she was with child. When the babe was born, we thought it was John's baby, but as the months past, she began to resemble my husband."

"Why would John have her in this house? She has a place of her own; I saw it when we dropped her off."

"My son and Gabriela were courting, and she had no place to live. We allowed her to stay with us, my husband has always been jealous of his son's girlfriends."

Pocahontas shivered as George's warning that he had told her on the stairs flashed through her mind.

"Why can you not just leave George?"

Alice looked surprised at Pocahontas, "I can not leave a marriage, I would have nothing; my daughters would have nothing. George is already trying to marry Jane off."

Alice had a blank look on her face, "she is very choosy, and does not care for any of the men that she has courted. I try and tell her that women usually are not given a choice in who they marry, and that she is very lucky that her father is letting her choose."

Pocahontas didn't know what to say, unbelieving that George had a reasonable side, and a caring side towards his daughters.

"My father tried to arrange a marriage for me," Pocahontas said, "I did not want to be with him. I met John which reconfirmed my stand on the matter, and when my arranged fiancé was killed, and my father realized and allowed me to make my own decisions; I happily married John."

Alice smiled as she briefly closed her eyes, resting a hand under her chin;

"You know," Pocahontas began, "My father loved my mother. He cherished and honored her until one day, she was gone. In my tribe it is usual for the chief to have many wives, and many children. It was unusual for a chief to have one wife, and especially one child, but my father did not care about going with that custom."

"What happened to your mother?"

"She died from a sickness that swept throughout the village," Pocahontas stated as she looked at Alice, "do you not wish for a love like that?"

"As women, we all wish for many things," Alice commented, "Well it is very late, perhaps we should go to sleep."

Pocahontas nodded as Alice signaled the end of the conversation, and the Indian woman stood up and pushed in the chair she had been sitting in.

"Thank you," Pocahontas said as she walked around to Alice's side of the table, "I just do not understand why my husband could not have told me about Gabriela."

"Pocahontas, do you not have secrets that you wish not to discuss?"

Alice asked as the other woman shook her head, "no, to be honest I do not."

"Well," Alice began as she stood up, "Thank you for sitting up with me. None of my daughters have ever had a cup of tea with me at night."

"You consider me a daughter?"

Pocahontas asked as she smiled;

"You can call me mother if you like; I really enjoyed talking with you. Do you know how old you were when your mother past away?"

"I was around five years of age," Pocahontas replied, touched by Alice's words.

"She would be very proud of you," Alice continued, "Leaving your homeland and coming all the way here, and with child."

"I'm sorry about," Pocahontas stopped as she tried to find the correct words, "I'm sorry about your illness, isn't there anything the doctor's can do to help you?"

"No," Alice said softly as she lowered her gaze, "I'm just so glad my son came home."

Pocahontas opened her arms for the older woman as the two women hugged and Alice stepped away after a time, "We must get to bed now; goodnight Pocahontas."

"Sleep well," the native woman replied as she turned away from Alice and made her way upstairs. Opening and then shutting the bedchamber door, she crawled in to bed next to her husband as he slept.

"I understand my love," she whispered as she pressed a gentle kiss to John's lips and laid her head down next to his, "I love you."

..--..--..—End Of Chapter 12--..--..-.

A/N: Thanks so much for reviewing, I know this chapter is short, but I thought this would be a good place to end it. Thank you for always reviewing, they really mean a lot to me! So please RR and tell me what you think, thanks so much!