Tamsyn allowed herself to be pulled to the end of the hallway and into Abigail’s room. She gasped in surprise at the spacious suite, twice the size of James’s. The windows were wide open. Bright sunlight poured in.
“Benefit of being the only girl.” Abigail grinned, pushing the door closed behind them. “Open it, I want to see.”
Tamsyn untied the strings. Her hands shook. Pressing the paper aside, she pulled the dress out.
“Oh, Tamsyn, it’s beautiful.” Abigail brushed her fingers along the lace trim.
Tamsyn laid the dress on the bed and began to unbutton her dress. She’d opted for one of her worn, homespun dresses that morning.
Abigail helped her step into the peach colored ball gown and buttoned the back, the dress hugged Tamsyn’s curves, showing off her wide hips and narrow waist without the aid of a corset.
“You’re so lucky.” Abigail adjusted the shoulders of the dress. Tamsyn smiled at the compliment but remained silent. “Sit down and I will help you with your hair.” Abigail motioned to the seat in front of a tiny vanity near the windows.
Abigail combed Tamsyn’s hair away from her face. “Tamsyn, may I ask you something personal?”
“Certainly.” Tamsyn closed her eyes. Her mother had been the last person to help her with her hair. Just before her wedding to Ben.
“How would I…” Abigail paused, twisting the length of Tamsyn’s hair up and began to place the pins in. “If I were so inclined, tell a gentleman…”
Tamsyn opened one eye. “Just out with it, Abigail.” Tamsyn felt her tug a few curls from her temples.
Abigail blushed. “I’d like to do more than hold hands.” Abigail rushed the words as she smoothed Tamsyn’s hair with skilled hands.
“Exactly, how much more are you thinking?” Tamsyn asked softly after several silent moments.
Abigail’s face reddened to a deeper crimson. “Whatever it takes to keep him.” Abigail choked with honesty. She dropped her hands from Tamsyn’s head. “It looks beautiful.” She walked to her bed and sat down.
Tamsyn stared wide-eyed at the young girl.
“Oh, don’t look at me like that.” Abigail folded her hands together in her lap. “Well?”
“Abigail, if the gentleman loves you…” Tamsyn thought back to her own youthful indiscretions and sighed. “It’s a touch. A look. All at the right moment.” Tamsyn closed her eyes. “You haven’t known Edward very long, Abigail.”
Abigail blushed. “Not Edward.” Abigail stood and smoothed her dress before moving to the windows where the late afternoon sun lit on her hair.
“But I thought Edward…”
“Not Edward,” Abigail repeated.
“How long have you been in love with George?”
Abigail laughed. “George accompanied James to visit on a break while they were attending West Point. I was seven.”
Male voices floated in from the street below and Abigail pushed the curtains aside. The smile that lit Abigail’s face told Tamsyn all she needed to know. She couldn’t help but smile at the girl.
Am I in love with James?
The thought thundered through her mind and made her catch her breath. Abigail went on talking while Tamsyn tried to wrap her mind around her most recent thought. She’d never been in love with Ben. He’d taken her away when she needed to be taken away. He’d never spoken of love. It might have been love before…
No. That was never love.
“Tamsyn?” Abigail touched her shoulder.
“I’m sorry, Abigail.” Tamsyn smiled. “Perhaps you should just speak candidly with George. In private of course.”
A knock came on the front door. The first of the guests had arrived.
“I should help Mother receive the guests.” Abigail gathered her skirts and moved toward the door. Abigail stopped and looked back at Tamsyn. “I think you should know, I haven’t seen James smile in a very long time. You’re good for him. Whatever happens, I hope you stay with him.”
Abigail hurried downstairs and Tamsyn turned back to the small mirror at the vanity table. Twirling the loose bits of hair at her temples around her fingers to curl them a bit more, she found herself satisfied with her appearance.
“Abigail told me you were in here.” James leaned against the doorframe. The deep blue of his Union officer’s uniform made her stomach flutter. “I’m sorry I ran out on you this morning.” He rolled his hat in his hands.
“You had business with your father.” Tamsyn forced a smile.
“That may have been a bit of a fib.” James tossed the hat on the bed and he moved across the room.
Tamsyn stood. Her heart pounded with uncertainty.
“James, did you find her?” George’s voice carried into the room.
“Yes, in Abby’s room,” James called over his shoulder.
“Tamsyn, please don’t be angry with him.” George slipped into the room and closed the door. “It’s my fault he ran out this morning.”
Tamsyn’s gaze darted between the two of them.
Dashing rogues, the pair of them.
“I asked James to go with me to speak with Mr. Steele,” George explained. “I asked him not to tell anyone and he’s worried all day about you.”
“Well, as you can see, I’m quite all right.” Tamsyn wondered what the two of them were keeping from her.
“They are seating everyone downstairs.” James offered Tamsyn his elbow.
The trio moved downstairs. Tamsyn clung to James’s arm. A multitude of unfamiliar faces greeted and welcomed him home. Many curious glances were cast in her direction.
James sat Tamsyn into an empty seat between him and Abigail.
“You look beautiful.” He settled into the seat next to her. He shifted and someone across the table called for his attention.
Tamsyn glanced up to find Hester seated across from her. Tamsyn forced a polite smile for the woman. Hester smiled in return. Mr. Steele had agreed to allow her return for the dinner party, but Lars sat stiff next to her.
The sharp rapping on a glass brought a sudden silence to the room. Mr. Steele stood at the head of the table. Mrs. Steele sat smiling on his right.
“I want to thank everyone for coming. This evening, we welcome back our son, James. It’s been too long without him at our table.” Mr. Steele turned to James. Tears rimmed the old man’s eyes. He reached out and clutched James’s shoulder. “James, your Mother and I can’t express how happy we are to have you home. We love you, son, and don’t want your seat to be empty ever again.”
“Thank you, Father,” James whispered. A polite clapping swelled up from the guests at the table.
“A toast.” Mr. Steele raised his glass high and waited for everyone to do the same. “To family.”
The toast quieted and Mrs. Steele gave the signal for the first course to be served. The butler hurried toward the door to answer another knock.
Tamsyn’s stomach rumbled. The soup filled the bowls, and she realized she’d not eaten. The creamy oyster stew smelled marvelous.
“I am so sorry I am late.”
An attractive dark-haired woman stood at the door. She peeled out of a heavy dark cloak sprinkled with raindrops and handed it to the butler, revealing a scarlet red gown. “The driver must be new.” Her dark eyes flashed with smoldering anger. “He couldn’t maneuver the horses in the rain and mud.” She stepped gracefully into the dining room and turned a dazzling smile on everyone.
Tamsyn shuddered. Abigail’s hand appeared and gripped Tamsyn’s arm. A slow burn started low in Tamsyn’s gut.
James rose stiffly from his seat. He moved across the room to where the woman stood, a bright smile on her face.
“James, darling.” She clutched James’s hand. He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on her pale cheek.
Tamsyn’s breath caught in the back of her throat and she swallowed. Turning her gaze back to the bowl, the stew faded and she clutched the table.
No. This can’t be real.
“Frances.” Hester kept her gaze steady on Tamsyn while she spoke. “I’m so glad you made it from Essex in time. James, don’t just stand there. Bring her in and sit down.”
“Yes, I’m so glad we made it in time. I would have simply died if I’d missed this dinner party.” Frances smiled. She slipped her gloved hand around his elbow and he escorted her into the room.
The candlelight sparked off the dress with each step she took. The butler appeared, an extra chair held in white gloved hands.
James seated Frances in his own seat, next to Tamsyn and added the extra seat to the corner of the table.
“James, introduce Frances to your guest,” Hester urged.
“Ah.” James kept his gaze on the table. “Frances, this is Ms. Tamsyn Moody.”
Tamsyn’s teeth ground against one another. She nodded at the beautiful woman seated next to her.
“Ms. Moody, this is Miss Frances Amory.” He took a deep bresth. “My fiancée.”
“James saved her from the rebel dogs when they attacked her.” Hester injected.
“I do hope you weren’t harmed.” Frances smiled and turned her attention back to James. “With your approval, James, our wedding can now move forward. We can be wed in a month’s time.” She beamed with her news. Those around them offered their congratulations.
“Finally!” Hester clapped the loudest. “It will be
the
wedding of the season!”
Abigail squeezed Tamsyn’s hand again, but she couldn’t look up. Her head pounded and conversation continued around her. Her heart began to race and she tried to pull air into her lungs.
“Tamsyn,” Abigail whispered.
“Excuse me.” Tamsyn pushed the chair away from the table. It tipped over and clattered to the floor. She didn’t look back and rushed from the room.
At the top of the stairs she stopped.
Where do I go?
She passed by James’s room. She refused to take refuge there. Tears drained down her cheeks. She pushed inside the guest room.
This is where I should have stayed.
Closing the door she leaned against it. Her shoulders shook. Her chest burned and her stomach churned. Tears rolled down her face and stained the front of the dress.
I have no place here. I never had a place here.
The urge to vomit came over her and she scrambled toward the basin on the corner table. She clutched the edges of the sturdy table as another cheer came up from the table downstairs.
Her upper lip curled with disgust.
I have to find a way out of here.
There were still a few coins tucked into the bottom of the trunk. Her last gift from Ben. It wouldn’t be enough to take her all the way to Tennessee but it might get her back to her cabin in Virginia. Once there she could get a message to Davis.
A plan formed in mind. She scrubbed her face with her hands and took a deep breath. With her nausea under control, she straightened and slipped back to the door. She cracked open the wooden door. The noises of the party carried on downstairs.
She moved down the darkened hallway and slipped inside James’s room. The door clicked shut behind her. Feeling her way in the darkened room Tamsyn found the trunk was still in the corner. The lid creaked open.
She bit her bottom lip.
Her hand rummaged until her fingers closed on the small carpeted bag that was hers. Inside she’d left the coins, her wedding band and the deed to the farm in Virginia.
She pulled the bag out and rummaged through the trunk until she found her other items. She left the gowns James bought inside and closed the lid.
She slipped back to the door and opened it.
“I told you, Frances.” Hester’s harsh whisper carried the length of the hallway.
Tamsyn jerked to a stop in the doorway. Frances and Hester stood at the top of the stairs.
“I see.” Frances tilted her neck and stared down at Tamsyn. “Hester, please excuse us, for a moment.” Frances dismissed Hester with a wave of her and and stepped forward. “You’ve packed your bags and removed your items from his room. Very good.”
The tall woman stalked closer. “I’ll forgive his little indiscretion with you.” Frances went on. “But you must know, he couldn’t possibly have cared for you.”
Tamsyn stiffened. Frances was right. He’d never once mentioned caring for her.
She turned on her heel and walked away from James’s fiancée.
Back inside the guest room she dropped her bag by the door and turned the lock. She dropped onto the bed, letting the tears flow until she fell into an exhausted sleep.
Chapter Sixteen
Thursday, April 27, 1865
Tamsyn slipped past James’s room and down the stairs. With her bag in her hand, she hoped to make her way to the train station by sunup. Dressed in her own homespun clothes she pulled her cloak from the peg where it hung by the front door. In the wee hours of the morning she’d sneaked back into Abigail’s room for the dress.
The shock of finding George asleep and naked in the girl’s bed nearly deterred her plan. She pushed it aside, and found her dress across the chair of the vanity.
Her hand touched the knob of the front door. She realized the noises of the door opening and closing would carry up the stairs awaken everyone. Tamsyn decided to make her way out through the garden.
The kitchen was still empty. The party had carried on, late into the night and the help took advantage of a still sleeping family.
Outside in the garden she stopped short. Early dawn streaked pink across the sky and next to a large orange flower stood Suzette.
“
Bonjour
, Tamsyn.” Suzette whispered and smiled. “You are up early.” The woman took a second glance at Tamsyn. “Traveling today then?”
Tamsyn nodded.
“It was very nice to meet you, Suzette.” Tamsyn pressed toward the gate of the garden.
“No one will be at the train station this early.” Suzette made a delicate and precise snip and the petal fell into her open palm.
“I’m walking,” Tamsyn said. “I’m not certain how to get there or how long it might take.”
Suzette clicked her tongue. She picked up her basket and hurried to the gate with Tamsyn. “I’ll tell you how to get there, if you come have
le café
with me before you leave.” Suzette opened the gate.
Tamsyn’s stomach rumbled.