to have received a letter telling me of your new plans, Elrissa—instead of hearing about them after the fact and secondhand.”
“It didn’t seem important,” she said, and she actually smiled.
“No. I don’t suppose it was. To you.”
“Oh, Jack, I haven’t broken your heart, have I?”
“My heart, no. My pride has taken quite a beating, I will admit. I suppose your father never knew about the marriage proposal. Mine, that is.”
“No,” she said, but Of course not was what he heard.
“I am sorry, Jeremiah. Truly.”
“About what exactly?”
“Well, that you...misunderstood.”
“I certainly did do that—misunderstand. I’m not sure why. I know that yes and no can mean anything other than what they’re designed to mean. Orphans find that out very early. But in this instance, my...admiration and respect for you led me to forget my early lessons. I suppose I should thank you. I won’t ever make the mistake of trusting someone so far above my station again, especially that she actually means what she says.”
“Don’t be cruel, Jack. There’s really no need—”
“I don’t think I’m the cruel one here. I’m only stating the truth. According to Father Bartholomew and the Sisters, I’m supposed to learn at least a little something from every situation, good or bad. And truly, I have.”
“He came to see me, you know,” Elrissa said, glancing at him and then away. “Your Father Bartholomew. When the engagement—Farrell’s and mine—was announced in the newspapers. He was really quite cross with me. I couldn’t imagine what you must have told him.”
“I told him if I was killed, I wanted him to give you what money I had put by. It wouldn’t have been a lot by your standards—especially now. But it was all I had in this world, and I thought you might buy yourself a little something with it—a keepsake. Or you might have wanted to give it to charity as a memorial gift. Knowing Father Bartholomew, it’s likely he would have suggested it go to the orphanage.”
“Well, luckily, you can use the money for yourself.”
“Yes. Luckily.”
“What are your plans now that the war is over, Jack?” she asked, actually looking at him directly now and not at other, more interesting aspects of the room.
“Well, coming back to work for your father isn’t very likely. Do you think Farrell has any job vacancies?”
“No, seriously,” she said, smiling slightly when she realized the grim humor in his comment. He had always been able to do that at least—make her smile.
“I thought maybe I’d...go out West,” he said, as if the notion to migrate beyond the Mississippi River weren’t something he’d just made up on the spot. Still, it seemed as good a plan as any.
“Go back into the army, you mean?”
He gave a short laugh. “No. I’ve had enough of armies.”
She started to say something, then didn’t, lapsing into a quiet sigh instead. “Don’t stare at me so, Jack,” she said after a moment.
“I don’t mean to. It’s just that I’d...forgotten.”
“Forgotten what?”
“How very pretty you are. I used to think about that—on the march or when our situation was...bad.”
“You mustn’t say things like that. My husband won’t like it.”
“Won’t he?”
“Farrell is very...protective of me. He will be home soon,” she said, glancing at the quietly ticking clock on the mantel. “You must leave before then. Now, actually.”
He made no move toward the door.
“Please,” she said. “I want you to leave now—and go out the back way. Mary will show you. You should never have come to the front door.”
“My mistake,” he said. “It won’t happen again. Goodbye, Elrissa. I hope you’ll be happy.”
“Jack,” she said, as he was about to open the door.
He looked back at her.
“When will you go? Out West, I mean.”
“I...haven’t decided.”
She got up from the rosewood sofa and came toward him, guiding her dress around a table in the effort to get to him.
“Jack, you were right. Something is wrong—terribly wrong. It’s been so— He—Farrell—he isn’t at all obliging like Papa. Truly he isn’t. I— It’s so difficult. I don’t know that I can abide it much longer, this...penchant he has to tame me. No, I’m certain I can’t abide it. I want you to take me with you when you go.”
“What?” Jack said, despite the fact that he’d heard her clearly. She was very close now and once again he was struck by her prettiness. He was also struck by her familiar expression, one he’d seen many times when he worked in her father’s dry goods store, one that meant she wanted something unsuitable and she intended to have it—or else.
“I’ll meet you someplace. We can leave here together—whenever you say—the sooner the better.”
“No, we cannot,” he said, trying to remove her hand from his arm.
But she kept reaching for him, trying to hang on to him. “Yes! Yes! You and I—we can go where nobody knows us. We’d be happy, Jack. Truly, we would—”
“Elrissa, stop this!” he said sharply, and she suddenly put her face in her hands.
“You’re upset. Let me find Mary,” he said, because it was the only thing he could think of.
“No! I don’t need Mary! I need you to say you’ll help me!”
“I can’t help you.”
“But you have to. Who else can I turn to?” she said.
“Your father. He won’t see you unhappy.”
“You don’t understand!” she cried, but Jack was very much afraid that he did. Marriage proposals weren’t the only things Elrissa Barden refused to take seriously. She clearly thought she could ignore her marriage vows, as well.
“I’m going now,” he said firmly, still holding her at bay. “Everything will be all right—”
Someone knocked urgently on the door behind him.
“Jack!” Mary said on the other side. “Come on, come on—you have to get out of here!”
Elrissa finally let go of him and stepped away.
