Chapter 60 The Last To Hear

Bridget Wilkins smiled when she caught sight of her husband riding up the lane. He wasn't scheduled to be home this soon. The woman got to her feet and walked down the stairs of the veranda to greet the officer.

James Wilkins dismounted and handed the reins of his horse to a stable boy. He embraced his wife, giving her a warm smile and kiss.

"How's my son?", he asked as he ran his hand over her abdomen. The instant he did, the baby within kicked against his hand. "Oh..he knows his father already!"

"You're so sure it's a boy," Bridget remarked.

"Yes!" the officer exclaimed giving his wife another playful kiss. With that he took his wife's hand and led her toward the porch steps.

"I didn't expect you home so soon," commented Mrs. Wilkins. She was quiet, looking down at the ground as they walked along.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Major Wilkins asked.

"Yes," she answered.

Jim could tell that there was something bothering his wife. Perhaps something had happened with the farm, he wondered.

"You seem distracted," he stated.

With that, Mrs. Wilkins dismissed the servants, took her husband's arm and led him away from the house. When they were out of earshot of everyone, she spoke.

"I overheard our servants talking," she declared, "It was disturbing."

"What about?" he asked.

They were now a few yards from the house on the front lawn when they stopped. "I sent Ruth and Aram to the market today. They must have run into some of the Tavington's servants. They said that the general came home very intoxicated one evening recently. Apparently he treated Melanie horribly. He forced her to submit to him and he beat her."

She paused as she looked at the surprised yet mute expression on her husband's face. Then she went on. "I'm worried about her. I feel I need to pay her a call."

"That would be fine, but remember the border line," Jim warned. "Do not step over it and interfere. We don't want to suffer the general's wrath."

James Wilkins paused, then added, "And besides that, I've just been put back under his command."

"What?" asked a surprised Bridget.

"General Tavington was just called back to active duty," he announced. "And, we are all being posted North. North Carolina, then eventually Virginia."

"What of us?" Mrs. Wilkins queried.

"I regret that I won't be close enough to visit you like I can now," the officer lamented. "You must stay here and help run this business."

"When do you leave?"

"In two weeks," he replied. "I've been furloughed until then to put our business affairs in order before I depart."

Bridget's hand dropped to her belly, which she rubbed mindlessly. "How long will you be gone? A few weeks?"

"No. I believe it will be a few months."

"What of our child?" asked Bridget, obviously alarmed. "I'm to give birth in November."

"I most likely won't be home," Jim answered. "He'll be born when I'm gone. It won't be the first time that an officer's child is born whilethe officer is away on duty."

"I wanted you here," Bridget said quietly, turning away in disappointment.

Jim turned his wife back around gently to look at him. "I will get home as soon as possible, darling," he promised, kissing her lovingly on the cheek. "Lord Cornwallis wants to put an end to this war soon—before winter if possible. If we are victorious then, I will apply for a transfer to an open position back here as I know he won't want a military campaign in the winter months."

Major Wilkins paused for a moment, then continued on. "I want you to promise me that when you take to child bed, that you will send for Melanie and my sisters to come attend you."

"I will," Bridget said, smiling up at her husband.

Within a few days of the news of Tavington's reactivation to duty, Melanie had calmed down with the comfort and consolation of her husband. She still did not want him to leave and would miss him but had finally resigned herself to the fact that she was an officer's wife. She could only hope that this next move of both armies to the north might end the conflict.

William had become very busy with the duties of the farm and squaring things away with the overseer and farmhands. Melanie had tried to help as much as she could, receiving instructions from him on how things were to be run in his absence.

A week after General Tavington had been reactivated, Melanie found herself busy in the village, running errands for William. She went from stores to merchants picking up supplies for the farm. As she rounded the corner to the mercantile, she heard her name called.

"Miss Prescott!"

The young woman turned around. She hadn't been called by her maiden name in weeks. She turned about and kept walking. Melanie looked as the list of things left that she needed to buy and sighed.

"Miss Prescott!"

Melanie turned again to see two redcoats waving at her. She turned back and walked toward them. The two soldiers were near a unit of infantry that was milling about. As she got closer, she recognized the two men from Fort Carolina. They were stationed there when she had lived at the fort.

"Private Cole! Private Benson!" she cried with a grin. She then curtsied to the two who bowed in return to her.

Cole had been in the infantry while Melanie was at the fort. His unit happened to be the one that was attached most to the dragoons because of their skill. Benson had been a sentry at the fort, usually posted at the front gate.

"Fancy seeing you here!" Benson declared.

"My home is not far from here," she said shyly. "And….it's Mrs. Tavington now."

"So the rumors are true," Cole remarked.

"Yes. We heard that you married the colonel," Benson agreed.

"He's a general now," Melanie corrected quietly. "How is life at the fort?"

"It hasn't changed that much since you were there," Cole informed.

"We aren't there that much anymore these days," commented Benson.

"A fort without a sentry?" Melanie asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"I'm not a sentry now. I was transferred to the infantry," Benson announced.

"I see," Mrs. Tavington acknowledged. "My husband leaves in a few days to go back to active duty."

"We will surely see him," Cole mused.

"I must go. I have a list of things left to purchase," she bid to them.

The two privates tipped their hats to her. With that, Melanie took her leave of the men. She stepped around the corner of the building and stopped near the bottom of the steps. The young woman studied the list of what she had left yet to buy. She could still hear the voices of the two soldiers babbling on as she looked at the paper in her hand.

"You were still on sentry duty when Colonel Tavington and his legion burnt that church in Pembroke, weren't you?", Private Cole asked Private Benson.

This question got Melanie's attention. She raised her head from the paper. Images of that day began to filter into her head.

"Yes, but I heard the rumors. Did he really order all the villagers into the church?"

"Yes."

"That officer has no morals or remorse when it comes to duty."

Melanie wanted to walk away. She didn't want to hear anything else they had to say. She found herself frozen to her spot.

"I heard another rumor from Pembroke."

"What?"

"A confrontation between he and one of his officers."

Images of that day flooded into Melanie's mind. She remembered Captain Wilkins refusing to torch the church and how mad it made William and Alex. She recalled being astonished and disgusted herself at the order and didn't want to be a witness to the barbarity.

"Yes. That rich loyalist captain challenged him…..and so did Miss Prescott."

"What did she do?"

"She tried to escape. Took a horse and started to run away. She didn't get far. Colonel Tavington shot the horse out from under her."

"Really?"

Melanie closed her eyes and shuddered at the words. She recollected just how fast the horse fell and how heavy it was when it rolled over her. The young woman remembered the crushing of it; feeling as if she would never be able to breathe again.

"Yes. The horse fell on top of her and rolled over her body. She had a miscarriage when she got back to the fort."

"Let me guess: she got her bellyful of Major Bordon's bastard?"

"Yes. After she lost that baby, word went around that she would not be able to bear any children because of it."

"Hmm. And now she's married to the officer that caused her that trouble."

"Aye. Convenient for him. He'll never have to worry about dipping the wick and getting her bellyful!"

Melanie Tavington could not believe what she had just heard. All these months after the day at Pembroke Village, she thought the horse had either lost its footing or thrown a shoe, causing the fall. She never knew that William had caused the beast to stumble.

Then the realization set in that she was married to the man who caused the loss of her child—the only one she would ever have. Her head started to spin, and she lost all awareness of what was going on about her. She suddenly felt shaky and her chest tightened, making it hard to breathe. The girl was still in shock over the revelation. "My God! I'm married to the man who caused me to miscarry my only child. And now I can't bear anymore. What have I done?" she thought.

The young lady forced herself to start walking. She hoped she was moving in the direction of where the wagons were parked. She wasn't aware of the hustle and bustle of the market in Devington going on around her as she made her way to her wagons.

As she stepped slowly, Melanie's mind could not stop repeating the fall from the horse. Her body hitting the ground hard and the heavy body of the beast rolling over her, smashing her down. She remembered the physical pain of the miscarriage as it happened and in the days she recovered. She recollected when the doctor told her that her miscarriage was so bad and her body had suffered so much from it and her near death stabbing of months before that she would not be able to conceive.

Mrs. Tavington was met by Mr. Barnes, who was immediately alarmed at how she looked. He knew something wasn't right.

"Mrs. Tavington, what's the trouble?"

"I feel sick," she replied, reaching out to clutch the arm of her loyal farmhand.

Her legs went out from under her and she fell to the ground. Then the girl leaned forward and threw up.

"Ezra! Mrs. Tavington has taken ill!", Barnes yelled to the slave that had driven the buckboard.

The strong slave ran to where the two were. "I'll get a doctor, sir," Ezra said.

"No! No!," Melanie gasped, reaching up to grab at Ezra and stop him. "Please, please, I want to go home. Help me into the wagon, please?"

The two men eased their mistress back to where she reclined in the shade under a small tree. Then they set about to rearranging the supplies in the back of the covered wagon, making a spot for Melanie with some blankets to rest on during the trip back. The men helped her into the wagon, and quickly finished their shopping.

As soon as the rest of the supplies were loaded, they set off back to the plantation. Melanie buried her face in the blankets, doing her best to keep her crying silent, heartbroken at the horrible revelation about her husband.

"We're home, Mrs. Tavington," Mr. Barnes called back to her from the driver's seat of the wagon.

The girl sat up and looked around, seeing the familiar scenery of her farm pass along the sides of the lane. She felt better, but was still heart sick over Will's actions and of her once again, being seemingly the last person to know of what a man she felt for in her life had done. She recalled feeling just as sick to her stomach when she had learned that Alex was married.

Melanie stepped out of the wagon with help, then made her way up the steps and into the house. She stood in the large reception room, just looking about at it, thinking about choices she had made in her life. The young woman felt dead inside, yet she was alive with rage and loathing. She didn't know what she would do when she would see William—she couldn't be responsible for her actions.

She had trusted this man with everything. Her feelings for him were growing deeper with each day that passed. He had even revealed some dark secrets of his military actions to her. But this she didn't know if she could forgive. No—she couldn't forgive. This man, her husband, had killed her unborn child and left her unable to have more children. The girl had worried over this, afraid that he wouldn't want her since she couldn't give him an heir, never knowing it was his actions that had caused the unborn baby's loss.

Mrs. Tavington began to walk lifelessly across the large room. The voice of her husband pulled her out of her stupor.

"Mr. Barnes told me you'd taken ill in the village today," he said as he stood in the doorway of the office. "How are you now?"

She turned slowly and gave him a scowl. "Not much better."

The general came out of the doorway and walked across the room to his wife. "Why don't you go lie down," he said with concern.

His wife said nothing and continued to walk toward the small parlor.

"Melanie?" he called, question in his voice.

At the door of the parlor, she turned slowly and looked at him. "I want you to pack your things and go on to Winnsboro now."

"What? Why now?"

"I want you out of this house," she said calmly; dryly.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Tavington. He took her arm and guided her through the doorway and into the small parlor so that they could talk in private.

"It seems that again, I am the last to find out something very important," his wife began, "about my own husband."

"And what is that?," he asked.

"That day in Pembroke," she began, "when I fled, you shot the horse out from under me!"

William hesitated, remembering that day; recalling his actions. He was somewhat stunned, having thought that Alexander Bordon would have told her of this.

"Yes, I did."

"Will, I was pregnant!", she exclaimed. "Why would you do that?"

"I had to restore order at the time," he answered unapologetically, getting ready to defend his position. "I had you and Wilkins rebelling and I couldn't allow that to spread through the ranks. I had to do it."

"At the expense of my child?" his wife countered, her anger clear.

"I have stopped many fleeing men that way," Will replied flatly.

"You knew I was with child!", she shouted, "Alex told you!"

Tavington took a deep breath. He was trying to stay calm and help get her ire back under control. "I wasn't thinking. I just reacted."

"That fall caused my miscarriage!" she screamed back.

Mrs. Tavington was shaking with fury now. But at the same time, she was on the verge of tears. She did her best to swallow them back.

The young woman turned away from him, shaking her head. "Tavington the butcher," she commented. "I should have known. It wasn't enough for you to kill half of the Martin children but you had to kill mine too!"

"Melanie, have you lost your mind?"

"This was a mistake," she cried. "If I had known this, I never would have married you!"

William reached for his wife, who immediately swatted his arms away and continued on her tirade.

"That was my only child!" she raged, "I'll never have a chance now. I can't conceive. This is all your fault!"

"It was an unfortunate accident—"

"No," she shot back. "You meant to do it!"

"I had to stop you!", countered William, losing his own temper now.

"No you didn't! I was running back to the fort!" she cried.

"How was I to know that?" yelled Will.

"You killed my child!", Melanie shouted, her voice cracking into tears. "Now you don't have to worry about children! You can fuck me as often as you like and never conceive!"

"You acted just as rashly," he accused. "If you wouldn't have run, I wouldn't have had to shoot the beast. Then you'd be raising Bordon's bastard child alone because no man would want you—a dead officer's used up mistress with his by blow!"

Melanie's jaw dropped in disbelief at Will's cruel words. But before she could say anything, he continued on.

"And how about another one of your rash actions," William pointed out, "the one where you wasted no time fucking me while you were angry with Alex!"

"You're despicable!," she said. "I'm leaving." The girl stalked toward the door. Will grabbed her.

"Don't you touch me, you murderer!" she shouted as she tried to jerk herself out of his grip.

With strong hands on both her shoulders, he shook her. "Stop this nonsense and calm down, Melanie!"

"Let go of me! I hate you!"

William had to get this argument back under control. He had never seen Melanie so furious and had to subdue her somehow. He pinned her against the wall and looked into her eyes, trying to talk some kind of sense to her.

"There is nothing you can do to change things now," he said sternly, "it was an accident."

"No! You meant to do it," she retorted, "You just told me that I couldn't be allowed to escape and had to be stopped!"

The young woman wrenched herself free from William's grip and ran for the door. Her husband's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Melanie! I forbid you to leave and speak of this to anyone!"

She spun on her heel and looked crazily at him. "How do you think I found out? The gossip is apparently all over!" she screamed, sweeping her arm wide.

"I overheard two infantry soldiers from the fort speaking of it in the village," she continued. "That's how I had to find out!"

"Who?" asked William, ready to tear them apart.

"Why does that matter?," she cried, "The gossip is obviously out there, and I was the last to hear it!"

With that, Mrs. Tavington turned and stomped into the gallery, ready to leave. Melanie was so blind with fury that she did not even notice the servants that had gathered about the room, having been drawn by the screaming argument between the master and mistress.

Will, now at the doorway of the parlor, called across the large room toward the foyer. His voice rang through the massive high ceilinged gallery. He extended his arm, pointing accusatorily toward his wife.

"If you leave, I will punish you when you return," General Tavington warned with an ominous tone.

"You fiend!," Melanie growled. Then she turned back toward the door, hurrying as fast as she could toward it, then through it. Once outside, she lifted her skirts and ran from the house as fast as she could, not sure where she was running to.

William, furious that his wife had heard this through gossip, and angry with her for defying him and leaving, stepped back into the parlor. He picked up two wine goblets on a nearby table and hurled them in quick succession into the wall, smashing them to bits.

He shouted as he did. "Yankee bitch!"