The Soul of the Rose (30 page)

Under the deep shadow of a tree, Edward stopped. He turned and put both arms around her. “You know what I want before we go to your house, don’t you?”

In answer, she lifted her arms, encircling his neck. In the near darkness, she saw him smile at her willingness, no, her eagerness to accommodate him. He lowered his head and touched her lips with his, lightly at first, then ardently. At length, he lifted his head, breathed deeply, and said softly,
Thy lips . . . as the honeycomb
:
honey and milk are under thy tongue
. A quote from the Song of Solomon, my dear. You see I read the
entire
Bible. If you only knew how your loveliness entwined me when I read Solomon’s Song.”

“Oh,” she whispered, “I will have to reread that book.”

“Why don’t you do so after our marriage. Or maybe right before the nuptials. I would not have you think wayward thoughts before we are married, my love.” He laughed. “Then afterward, you can think such thoughts
about me
all you wish.”

To hear him laugh! It brought warmth and eagerness to her soul.

He lifted her up at the waist and held her close, planting a quick kiss on her ear. She laughed, delighted, but tried to keep her laugh soft.

“Celia dear,” he said when he put her down, “we better return before it gets any later, or your father might take back his blessing.” He reached for her hand. “We’ll start now, if you promise me one more kiss at the door.”

“But if I will not promise?”

“Then I will be forced to—” He seemed at a loss for words.

She laughed. “Promise only
one
kiss?”

“You, my dear, are headed for trouble!” They both laughed again and hurried the remainder of the block to the house. At the door, he stopped, and she made good on her promise.

30

I
’m glad our adopted daughter finally came home.” Mrs. Chestley patted Celia’s hand, sitting near her on the couch. “It took you awhile, but you’re finally here. I knew Mr. Lyons, now our dear Edward, would convince your father.”

“Well, you didn’t sound so confident a week ago,” her husband said.

“Don’t remind me, I don’t even like to think of it. But with her back at her job in the bookstore, I am delighted to be your full-time wife again.”

“Amen!”

Mrs. Chestley turned to Celia. “I was just filling in, you know. The whole time I believed you and Edward would get together, that is, after you turned down that Jack fellow.” She leaned over to her husband. “Mr. Chestley, aren’t you glad now I told everyone she had merely gone home for an extended visit, so that she could return to us without undue speculation?”

“I see you’re delighted only you and I know the whole story.” Mr. Chestley sat back in his chair and slapped his knees.

“Of course. I like to be in the know on some things. I think Mrs. Harrod guessed, but we
do
have the inside track with you, don’t we?” Mrs. Chestley patted Celia’s hand again.

A knock sounded at the door. Mr. Chestley rose to open it.

“That will be
him,
I suppose.” Mrs. Chestley added in a whisper, “You look ravishing in the rose-colored dress, my dear.” As Celia stood, she added, “Be sure not to stay out long. I want to have you home with us. Call it selfish, but there it is.” She looked up as Edward entered. “Besides, you know it isn’t proper for you two to be out alone too late.”

Edward chuckled. “I see I have traded one set of chaperones for another. I hardly saw Celia alone when I visited her parents last month, and now I’m encountering the same obstacle.”

“As well you should,” Mr. Chestley said. “When Celia first came to live with us, I promised to be her adopted father. In addition, I said to the world in general, and now I say to you in particular, that all men must first get my approval before claiming her hand.”

“I hope I have your approval, sir.”

“You do. And you have won her heart, we can all see that. So, go along now, but I’ll have to second Mrs. Chestley to bring Celia back in a timely manner.”

As they walked from the house, Celia said, smiling, “Do you think you can put up with the two hens? Mr. Chestley is as much one as his wife.”

“I think I can. It will only be a few months until our marriage. And you, my dear, are worth it.”

“Thank you. I suspect as the Chestleys and I get back into a routine, they will ease off a bit. They are just so delighted at my return—but they have you to thank for that.”

“I had quite a time convincing your father. He and your mother thought you should stay home and plan the wedding. They finally agreed on our present arrangement, you to help with the initial planning those first weeks, then return home the last month before our marriage.” He reached to cover her hand on his arm. “But for now I want you here, near me. We need to become better acquainted. I promise to be the perfect suitor. Neither your parents nor your adopted ones will have any fault to find.”

He was leading her toward the road to his home. She stopped as they turned into it. “Edward, what’s happened? Where is Mrs. Divers’s house?”

“I bought the property. To save and rebuild the house would have required a lot of work and expense, so I decided to take away what was left of it. Come to my place and we’ll walk the path I made to adjoin the two properties. I want you to see it from that vantage point.” A minute later, they entered his drive.

“You know Mrs. Divers forgave me at the end. I never heard her actual words, but Miss Waul told me she whispered them the day before she died. Miss Waul was always fair-minded. I think she tempered her friend’s thinking, even when Mrs. Divers hated me the most. Oh, she would always take Mrs. Divers’s part out of loyalty, but after the fire I found Miss Waul more than kind.”

“What has become of her?”

“I wrote her a recommendation for the companion position she holds in a neighboring town.”

Celia looked up at him. How she admired this man.

They crossed the backyard then to a wide path that adjoined the two properties. As they approached the clearing of what had been Mrs. Divers’s place, Celia stopped. “It all looks so different.”

“Yes, fill still needs to be brought in and the ground leveled, but we are well on the way. I decided I want a clean slate. Just like my life.” He paused, looking over the changed scene. “I must confess, even though I forgave my neighbor, the thought of getting rid of her damaged house and the memories it represented, was a relief.”

“The best thing to do under the circumstances.” Tenderness swelled in Celia’s heart. “What are you going to do with the property?”

“Make it a garden. A friend of mine from Boston will plan the bones, the structure, supplementing it with additional trees and shrubs, and then you and I, my dear, will add to the landscape, choosing our favorite plants and flowers. I’ll enlist Ned’s help with the planting, of course.”

His eyes scanned the property. “The place will need more care than Ned and I can give it. I thought of that young Loydie. As the house was being razed, I came on him standing rather woebegone, gazing at the property. I believe that boy had a soft spot for Mrs. Divers, she seemed a grandmother of sorts. In fact, now that I remember it, the day we sent off her things to her sister, there was a box of junk to be thrown away, and the boy took one look inside and claimed it for his own. I’m thinking of hiring him to help with the gardening, training him to tend the yard.”

Edward smiled. “Besides, he seems to know his way around this place. I suspect that boy has been up to more than meets the eye. His energy needs to be turned to good account or he’ll get into mischief.”

Edward guided Celia back to his home. At the edge of his own yard, he stopped and became pensive. “Are you sure our wedding must wait until the spring? A December one couldn’t be managed?” He took her in his arms. “Oh, Celia, sometimes I think I can’t wait that long. My bed will seem cold and lonely this winter.”

“Edward.” She clung to him a long moment. “I had thought about making it earlier, but to ask my mother to do all that work in such a short time, making our dresses and all, I just couldn’t.”

“I suspected as much.” He gently put her from him. “You know as much as my flesh wants you, wants you
now
, I would never dishonor you. The fear of God is in me—after reading the Bible—and I know what He says about fornicators. More than that, I could not betray the love Christ has shown me.” He looked at her seriously a moment, then added, “Knowing all this, another idea has been brewing.”

“Oh?”

“It involves the upstairs of my house. When Marguerite was ill, I took a secondary bedroom and let her have our room. Now, however, I think I will knock down the wall between the two bedrooms to make one large room with a dressing room at either end. I want old memories shed there, too. While the work is being accomplished, I can use a room downstairs for a bedroom.”

Celia felt wonderful anticipation welling up at the elaborate plans.

“I will purchase a new bed for our room. And other furniture as well. When we travel to Boston to visit Mother, we can choose it all.”

Celia knew her family could have never done anything like this. Wouldn’t have been able to afford it. How cared for and cosseted she felt.

He looked at her with a twinkle in his eye. “I need to have something keeping me busy this winter, waiting for you. Mrs. Chestley has said she wants you by her side, but I don’t believe she knows what it is to feel
need
.”

He laughed ruefully. “Now, I feel the need for a brisk walk. But first—” He chucked her under the chin, then leaned over and gave her a quick peck. “That’s all you get for now, Miss Thatcher. Take my arm. Any matron happening to look out her window will see a sedate couple taking the air, deep in discussion. Meat and potatoes first, then dessert.”

He placed her hand more firmly on his arm, then paused, apparently thinking better of his hasty decision. “Maybe, a little dessert first,” he said and bent down and claimed a sweet lingering kiss. He looked into her eyes, smiled, then drew away with decision and led her across his lawn.

A deep sense of contentment filled Celia . . . to be so loved and desired. A little impatience needled her, too, but she knew a spring wedding would be best. If nothing else, the town needed to accustom itself to this change in Edward. She wanted the townspeople here to appreciate him as much as those in her hometown.

When they arrived at the drive, Celia looked at the maples and oaks on either side. The scene before them had an air of quiet distinction, like Edward himself. Fall had arrived with leaves turning yellow, orange, and red. Just about this time last year, they had met. And not many months hence, they would begin a new life together. This would be her home, and she would walk this beautiful avenue many times.

“Now,” Edward said, leading her down his drive at a leisurely pace, “I know Emerson is not your favorite writer, but I read something the other day I want to discuss with you. But looking at this beauty,” he lifted his free arm and swept it around to indicate the foliage surrounding them, “I want to first quote Milton.”

. . .
when the air is calm and pleasant, it were an injury and sullenness against Nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth
.

Celia stopped suddenly. “Mr. Lyons, I beg to differ with you, and with our dear Milton.” She looked up at him with mock horror. “Sir, ’tis not an injury against
Nature,
not to go out and see her riches, for who is Nature?’ I can see we will have much to discuss in the coming months.”

She squeezed his arm affectionately, holding close a little longer. “It is an injury against
God
not to see His riches.” Her eyes smiled into his. “Don’t you agree, my love?”

Discussion Questions

1. Seeing Mr. Lyons is so particular about the books he orders from the bookstore, why did he choose to overlook or forgive the ripped page?

2. How does Mrs. Adams change as the story progresses? Cite specific ways in which she displays a new side of herself.

3. Contrast Celia’s belief in God and the Bible with Mr. Lyons’s Unitarianism.

4. During this time Unitarianism opened the way for individuals to believe in Transcendentalism. Describe this way of thinking and who represented it in literary America.

5. Why does Celia find the Chestleys’ marriage and the marriage of her mother and father so appealing? What specifically strikes her about them?

6. When does the idea of the rose first appear in the story? What is its significance? Where else do roses appear in the narrative? How do they help shape the story?

7. Describe instances where the color red, or shades of pink to deep purple red, are used in the story. What do they add to those particular passages?

8. What do you believe is the main theme of this book? What are some secondary themes or lessons?

9. Which supporting character is a favorite of yours and why?

10. Literature is cited in The Soul of the Rose. How do the examples quoted from books, essays, and poems tell us more about the characters?

11. Tell how the instances of fire help develop the story, especially in regard to Mr. Lyons.

12. What does the French print reveal about Edward and Celia? How does it bring the two protagonists together?

13. Who was the “villain” of the story? Who were other trouble makers?

14. Why did Celia feel so strongly about the necessity to forgive quickly?

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