Among the Fair Magnolias Page 8

  He slapped her so hard her ears rang. Pain exploded in her cheek, and she tasted blood. Charles loomed over her. “Don’t you ever mention him again in my presence. Do you hear me? And don’t you dare lie to me. About anything. Because I will find you out, and you will regret it more than you can possibly imagine.”

  His words sent a raw fury coursing through her. She wanted to rail against him and everything he had done, but she was afraid of making him even angrier. Her cheek throbbed, and she felt a trickle of blood beneath her eye. She headed for the door. “I’m going to bed.”

  “Do not walk away from me, Abigail.”

  “I’m through with this conversation.”

  “But I’m not through with you.” He crossed the room, his arm raised, his face a mask of anger. She grabbed a heavy jade-colored vase from the table by the fireplace and threw it at his head. It grazed his cheek and shattered as it hit the floor.

  The parlor door crashed open, and Papa rushed inside. “What in the name of heaven is going on here?”

  Abby sank to the floor, sobbing, her wounded cheek dripping blood onto the rich silk of her skirt.

  “Charles? What is this all about?”

  Charles tossed Wade’s ring onto the floor and stalked to the door. “Ask your daughter.”

  “Abigail?” Papa drew her to her feet. “What happened?”

  Before she could explain, Mama appeared, a wide-eyed Sophronia trailing in her wake.

  Mama opened her arms. Abby, overcome by fresh sobs, collapsed against her mother.

  “Sophronia,” Mama said. “Please fetch a basin of water and some towels. Then bring the broom and sweep up this mess before the Gists return. And not a word of this to the others.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Not even to Molly and Hector.”

  “No, ma’am. I won’t.” Sophronia hurried away.

  Mama led Abby to the sofa and sat down beside her. “Is Charles Kittridge responsible for this?”

  Abby nodded.

  Papa knelt in front of her and examined the open wound on her cheek. “I’m certain it was an accident. I’ve known him his entire life, and I’ve never seen any tendency to violence in him.”

  Abby fished her handkerchief from the cuff of her dress. “It wasn’t an accident. He’s angry with me for the remark I made at dinner. And for going to town without his knowledge. Apparently I’m to behave as another of his slaves. Silent and obedient.”

  Papa opened his palm to reveal Wade’s gold ring. “What does this have to do with it?”

  “It’s a keepsake. From Dr. Bennett.”

  “Oh, Abigail,” Papa said, his expression pained. “Surely you know how inappropriate it is to accept a gift from a man who is not your—”

  “Miss Alicia, here’s the water.” Sophronia came in carrying a blue-enameled basin, a white towel draped across her arm. “I brought the broom, and some elder-bush ointment too.”

  “Thank you,” Mama said.

  Sophronia set down the basin. “I’ll take care o’ this mess in no time.”

  Mama dipped the towel into the water, pressed it to Abby’s cheek, and leaned over Abby for a closer inspection. “I don’t think it’s a very deep wound. It looks terrible just now, but I don’t think it will leave a scar.”

  “In the meantime, we must think of a logical explanation for your injury,” Papa said. “We can’t have people thinking poorly of Charles.”

  Abby gaped at him. “Why not think poorly of him? He deserves it. He hit me, Papa.”

  “I know that. And I’m not excusing him. Striking a woman is dishonorable, to say the least. But sometimes even the most careful man can succumb to momentary madness. And he will apologize in the morning. I will make certain of that.”

  “And what happens the next time he gives in to his dishonorable impulses?” Abby looked up at her father through a blur of angry tears. Did he really care so little for her own safety and happiness?

  “I’ll have a talk with him. But we don’t want to make any rash decisions. This will blow over. I’m sure of it.”

  Mama blotted Abby’s wound and smoothed on the ointment. She wiped her hands, pushed to her feet, and stood toe-to-toe with Papa. “John Clayton, I’m shocked. And what is more, for the first time in the thirty years of our marriage, I am ashamed of you. Say to Charles Kittridge whatever you will, and make whatever excuses for him that you like. But I will not stand by and watch this child wed a man who would do such a thing.”

  Papa frowned. He opened his mouth to speak, then turned and walked out of the room, the shards of glass crunching beneath his feet.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  July 10, 1860

  THE NINA ARRIVED IN CHARLESTON AN HOUR LATE. ABBY helped her mother with her hat and reticule and handed her cane to her. The gangway was lowered, and they stepped off the steamer into the stifling city heat.

  Mama blotted her face and emitted a long sigh. “I must say, as delighted as I am for Theodosia, I don’t see why she could not have waited until the fall to hold her engagement party. This disagreeable weather is enough to make a preacher swear.”

  Abby laughed. The incident with Charles had freed something inside her mother. When it came to expressing an opinion, Mama was no longer the circumspect lady she used to be. Now she was fearless, and her insistence that Abby not marry Charles had drawn the two of them closer than ever.

  A handsome carriage drew up at the pier, and a liveried driver jumped down. “Mrs. Clayton?”

  “Yes.” Mama opened her reticule and took out her fan.

  “Mrs. Avery sent me to fetch you to Meeting Street.” He craned his neck and looked past them to the pier, where trunks, travel satchels, hatboxes, birdcages, and wooden crates were being off-loaded. “You say which are yours, ma’am, and I’ll fetch ’em for you.”

  Mama pointed out their trunks and hatboxes. He retrieved their belongings, helped them into the carriage, and began the short drive to the Averys’ graceful three-story home on Meeting Street. Situated behind a tall wrought-iron fence, the redbrick home boasted a tall mansard roof and twin white pillars. Rows of wide windows with deep-green shutters flanked an elaborately carved mahogany front door. On the front lawn a small fountain was encircled with rose-bushes, the white blooms now browning in the summer heat.

  As the carriage drew up in the porte cochere, the front door opened and Theo Avery rushed out, her green satin skirts swirling around her ankles. Before the driver could get down to open the carriage door, Theo wrenched it open. “Abby, you’re here! I kept watching for the Nina, but it was so late I feared you’d been lost at sea. Oh, Abby, I can’t wait for you to meet Nathaniel. He’s—”

  “My word, Theodosia.” Mrs. Avery had appeared on the front steps. “Give these poor ladies a chance to breathe.” She smiled at Mama as the driver helped her alight. “Alicia, I’m delighted you could come. Please come inside. Peter will see to your things.”

  Abby and her mother followed the Averys to the parlor, where tea had been laid and the windows flung open in hopes of capturing a breeze. While their mothers caught up on the latest news, Theo drew Abby aside and peered at her intently. “Your face has healed perfectly.”

  Abby nodded.

  “And Mother says your father has released you from your promise to marry Charles.”

  “Yes, thanks to my mother. I agreed to the engagement only because I felt I owed it to her. It came as such a relief when she told Papa she would not stand for the marriage.”

  “So you said in your letter. And now you are free to marry Dr. Bennett.” Theo paused. “You have written to him? He knows you are no longer expected to marry Charles?”

  “I wanted to write to him. I began half a dozen letters, but—” Abby drained her teacup and set it down. “I thought he might write to me, but I’ve heard nothing.” She clasped her friend’s hand. “Have you seen him, Theo? Is he all right? Is he happy?”

  “We arrived here from New York only last week, and we’ve been so busy
arranging my party that I’ve scarcely had time to breathe. But yesterday Mrs. Middleton’s niece Emmaline came calling.” Theo refilled their cups. “Emmaline knows everything that goes on in Charleston. I’m sure if there were news of Dr. Bennett, Emmaline would have told us. But in any case, now that you’re here, you can find out for yourself. You can’t expect that he would write to you, thinking you are still promised to Charles.”

  “Theodosia?” Mrs. Avery stood. “Why don’t you take our guests up to their rooms? I’m sure they’d like to freshen up and change.”

  Ten minutes later Abby was installed in a spacious room overlooking the back garden, unfolding her dresses and placing them in the clothespress that stood next to a tester bed covered in a pale-blue coverlet. Mama was unpacking in the room down the hall.

  Theo plopped down on the bed. “Did I tell you that Nathaniel is taking me to Paris for our wedding trip?”

  Abby set her hairbrush on a dressing table scattered with silver powder boxes, hairpins, and tiny crystal perfume bottles. “You’ve hardly had time to tell me anything. When you left Pawleys after the barbecue, bound for New York, I had no inkling you were about to become engaged.”

  Theo released a merry laugh. “Nor did I. Nathaniel and I hadn’t spoken since the Middletons’ ball last winter. I had no idea of his romantic feelings until he appeared one day in Saratoga. But after that everything happened quickly.”

  Abby grinned. “To say the least. Mother and I were quite surprised to receive an engagement-party invitation in the middle of the summer.”

  Theo waved one delicate hand. “Oh, I know the proper thing is to wait until the start of the social season this fall. But Nathaniel doesn’t want to wait to get married, and neither do I.” She looked up, her expression suddenly grave. “He thinks war might be declared by Christmas.”

  Abby perched on the slipper chair by the open window and lifted her hair off her neck. “Papa thinks so, too, but the governor says Britain and France will come to our aid and any war will be hardly more than a skirmish. He says that by this time next year, the South will be stronger and more prosperous than ever.”

  “I hope he’s right. If your father is elected governor this fall, perhaps he can persuade the Yankees to leave us in peace and secession won’t become necessary.”

  Theo’s mention of Papa brought a hot prick of tears and swelled Abby’s throat. “Papa doesn’t think he will be elected now.”

  “What? Because of your broken engagement to that odious Charles Kittridge?”

  “Not entirely. Last week some men from the General Assembly came up to Pawleys to go fishing with Papa, and they told him several members are supporting Mr. Pickens. Apparently Mr. Pickens holds the same political views as Papa but has the advantage of being a cousin of the late Mr. Calhoun. Even Governor Gist has switched his allegiance.” Abby shrugged. “I suppose it’s difficult for anyone to compete with the memory of someone so powerful as John C. Calhoun.”

  “Yes. My father invokes Mr. Calhoun quite often, even though the poor man has been dead these past ten years.” Theo fanned her face. “What does your mother say about all this?”

  “She’s sad for Papa, of course, but I think she’s secretly relieved. A governor’s wife is expected to host countless parties and balls and teas, and all of that would be taxing for her. It’s all she can do to organize our yearly barbecue on the island. By the time everyone leaves, she’s completely done in.”

  “You’d never know it—she runs things so smoothly. Which reminds me.” Theo got to her feet. “I have some things to attend to before my party tomorrow night, so I must leave you for now. But I’ll see you at dinner. It’s a small group tonight. The Ravensdales will be here, and Penny’s cousin Henry Plowden is in town. He and Nathaniel were at school together.”

  Theo picked up her reticule and tucked a fresh handkerchief inside. “I’m so relieved you’re all right. And glad you’re here to share in the happiest time of my life.”

  “Then it’s truly a love match—you and Nathaniel.”

  “Very much so.” Theo inclined her head until her brow briefly touched Abby’s. “I’m so deliriously happy, and I want you to be happy too. Go to Dr. Bennett. Tell him what’s happened.”

  “Oh, Theo, you know how people would talk if they knew I’d sought him out. Especially now that all of Charleston knows I’ve broken my engagement to Charles.”

  “What could they say? Dr. Bennett has been your friend for years. Judge Bennett and your father were in the army together. Both your families have cottages on Pawleys. Nobody can say a word against your wanting to say hello while you’re in town.”

  Abby felt for the gold ring suspended on a delicate chain that she wore concealed beneath her collar. “I do want to see him. On the journey here I could think of nothing else. But now I’m afraid. What if—”

  “Oh goodness. Look at the time.” Theo hurried to the door. “I won’t be long. We’ll figure this out. I promise.”

  Though many in the Averys’ circle of friends were still away for the summer, Theo’s stately home rang with music and the voices of guests assembled to celebrate her engagement. Half an hour ago, Theo had knocked on Abby’s door to announce that she was going down to greet her guests. Now, dressed in an ivory gown trimmed in pale-lilac lace, her hair held in place with her diamond clips, Abby hurried along the carpeted gallery hung with Thomas Sully portraits of Avery ancestors and with gloomy Dutch paintings of pale, round-faced women swathed in black.

  “Abby, there you are!” Penny Ravensdale, dressed head to toe in canary-yellow silk, clasped Abby’s hand and drew her to the top of the staircase. “I’m so sorry we missed the dinner last night. Mother wasn’t feeling well. It’s this heat, I think.” Penny fanned her face with her hand. “Of course it’s hot as the hinges of hell on Pawleys, too, but at least there is some semblance of a breeze.”

  Abby grinned, happy to see her friend. “You’d better not let your mother hear you talking like that.”

  “Well, it’s true. I haven’t been dressed for half an hour yet, and already I am perspiring all the way through to my drawers. Honestly, I think Theo decided to get engaged now just to make me suffer.”

  They went downstairs to a buffet table laden with an array of meats, fruits, and sweets. Candlelight from a magnificent glass chandelier glinted on fine bone china and delicate crystal glasses rimmed in gold.

  “I’m starving.” Penny reached for a plate. But Theo appeared and drew them to the double doors that opened onto the broad second-floor piazza. “Come and meet Nathaniel.”

  “But I’m hungry,” Penny said. “What kind of a hostess are you anyway?”

  “You can eat later.”

  Penny grabbed a thin cookie and munched on it as they threaded through the crowd of well-wishers. Nathaniel stood with his back to the room, talking to an older man. But he turned to face them when Theo spoke his name, his entire face lighting up at the sight of her.

  Theo made the introductions. Nathaniel, a tall, angular man with prominent cheekbones and a merry gleam in his eyes, bowed to Abby and Penny. “I do apologize, ladies, for holding our celebration during such uncomfortable weather, but Theo and I want to marry as soon as—”

  A flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder shook the house, momentarily halting all conversation. “Perhaps we’ll get some cooling rain,” Abby said, scanning the crowd. Mama and Mrs. Ravensdale were seated near the doors opening onto the piazza, talking with Mrs. Avery. Most of the menfolk had gone outside to smoke.

  Abby was sorry now that Papa had not made the trip from Pawleys. Somehow the evening felt incomplete without his imposing presence. But Hector had returned from Mulberry Hall last week with news that one of the storage barns had been damaged by a fire, and Papa had gone home to assess the damages and see to repairs.

  Perhaps it was for the best. Though he had agreed with Mama that her marriage to Charles could not proceed, Abby couldn’t help feeling that Papa still blamed her for Charles�
�s behavior.

  Mr. Avery drew Theodosia and Nathaniel to his side and tapped on his glass to get the guests’ attention. “Thank you all for coming. Mrs. Avery and I have the honor of announcing that the marriage of our daughter, Theodosia, to Nathaniel Butler will take place here at home in three weeks’ time.”

  Everyone applauded.

  “You’re all invited to the nuptials.” Mr. Avery signaled the musicians assembled beside the black marble fireplace. “Now, please enjoy yourselves.”

  Everyone paired off for the first dance. After Nathaniel danced with Mrs. Avery and his mother, he danced with Abby, guiding her around the room with practiced ease, making small talk that Abby found pleasant but instantly forgettable.

  “Abby.” Theo appeared at her side as another song began and Nathaniel whirled away with Penny in his arms. “I need you for a moment. It’s of utmost importance.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  Wordlessly Theo led Abby out of the ballroom and through the open doors leading to the piazza. “Stand right there. Don’t move.”

  “What’s—Why?”

  Theo heaved an exasperated sigh. “Will you for once in your life just do as you’re told? I’ll be right back.”

  Abby stood at the railing looking out over the darkened city. A few raindrops plopped onto the porch, and she turned her face to the slight breeze coming off the river. The lilting strains of a waltz floated on the evening air.

  “Abigail.” Wade’s quiet incantation of her name was a whisper falling into the darkness.

  She turned, tears already starting behind her eyes.

  He crossed the piazza and stood beside her, so close that she could smell the clean warmth of his sun-browned skin mixing with the earthy scent of summer rain. “Miss Avery sent for me. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to town?”

  “I wanted to. But I wasn’t sure how you would receive the news.”

  “She says your engagement is broken.”

  “Yes. Charles isn’t my intended anymore.” One look at Wade’s dear face and the entire story came pouring out. Her innocent remark at the dinner table and Charles’s angry reaction. His rage when he discovered the gold ring Wade had given her. The unexpected blow that had left her stunned and bleeding.