Allison’s eyes showed her sadness. She had no wish to relive this part of her life or to parade all of her hardships before Araminta. So she quickly glossed over the months that she and the three others had spent working on a tobacco farm in Kentucky until the owner, Major Rad Meadors of the Union army, returned from the war.
“I met Major Meadors a year later. We were married, and a year after that our son Jonathan was born. Which brings us to Ginna. So, now tell me about this Dr. Forsyte and where you met him.”
“You mean you don’t know who he is, Allison?”
“I know only what Jonathan told me. That he’s an eminent surgeon who’s just been appointed to the staff of the medical center here. But, of course, I wondered if he might be some English relative of Coin’s, with a slightly different spelling of his name.”
“Allison, he is Coin.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me, Allison. Coin didn’t die in the Battle of the Wilderness. He was merely hurt and out of his head for a long time. Then he went back to the fighting. And after the war, when he returned to Roswell, you had completely disappeared. When we got married, we both thought you were dead.
“Do you want some laudanum, Allison? Charles might have some in his cabinet.”
“No, I’ll be all right, Araminta. It’s just the shock of being told that Coin is still alive.…”
“And the shock of realizing that you’re a bigamist, Allison, with a son who wants to marry my daughter. For the good of everyone concerned, we’ve got to keep them apart. They mustn’t be allowed to marry each other.”
Halfway across town, Cassie narrowed her eyes as she looked at her half sister Ginna, who was seven years younger than she. The girl’s skin was perfect, and her large eyes were a breathtaking azure. And she had inherited their mother’s brown hair without the red that Cassie was plagued with.
Seeing Ginna looking so beautiful, Cassie felt all the old animosity returning. She even remembered the very day it had started, a small happening that caused a steady, aching, devouring anger to erupt suddenly. She had been eleven, the same age that Nathan was now. She had been tending to the four-year-old Ginna that day in the park, when the boy she liked finally came up to talk with her. But he had accused her of telling a fib when she told him Ginna was her sister.
“You two can’t be sisters,” he’d said, looking from one to the other. “You’re as different as freckled cheese and clotted cream.”
Recalling his words, Cassie fanned harder to cool her flushed face. She was beginning to feel like freckled cheese all over again, what with her pregnancy and the awful July heat. But then she remembered who she was: a married woman with a husband who had a promising future. Of course, Stanley wasn’t the handsomest man in the world, but he had provided her with a nice house and furniture. And when her mother had advised her to have a baby as soon as possible, before he lost interest in her, as all men do with their wives sooner or later, she had complied. Only her mother hadn’t warned her how uncomfortable she would be.
“Cassie, it’s hot as blazes in here,” Nathan complained. “Can’t we sit out on the porch instead?”
“No, Nathan. Mama told me to keep a sharp eye on you two this afternoon, and you know I don’t like the sun in the middle of the afternoon. We’ll stay inside.”
At Nathan’s groan, Cassie said, “But I’ll get Harriet to bring us some iced lemonade. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Nathan?”
“If you’ve got a scone to go along with it.”
“Can I help, Cassie?” Ginna offered.
“No. Just stay in the parlor with Nathan to make sure he doesn’t break anything.” Cassie put down her fan and left the room.
“She still treats me like a two-year-old, Ginna,” Nathan complained. “How much longer will we have to stay? I want to go home.”
“So do I, Nathan. But we just got here.”
A croaking sound came from the nearby purse. “Cat’s pants! I almost forgot Green Boy,” Nathan whispered, opening Ginna’s purse and standing up to slip the frog into his pocket just as Cassie reappeared.
She saw the conspiratorial look on their faces, but she said nothing. Let them have their little games. They’d be separated soon enough. Nathan was to be sent away to boarding school in September, although he didn’t know it yet. And Ginna’s marriage to that Mr. Jonathan Meadors wasn’t a certainty. If her mother had anything to do with it, Ginna would remain at home to oversee the smooth running of the Forsyte household, instead of establishing one of her own at her age.
“Harriet will be here in a few minutes with the lemonade,” Cassie announced. “And do sit down, Nathan. You’re too close to the flower vase Stanley gave me for my birthday.”
“I haven’t touched a thing, Cassie.”
“Well, see that you don’t.”
A large tray with a pitcher filled with iced lemonade, three crystal glasses, and a plate of scones was brought into the parlor.
Nathan returned to his seat beside Ginna while Cassie carefully poured the glasses half full and meted them out as if they contained a rare nectar.
“What did you say, Nathan?”
“I didn’t say anything, Cassie.” The boy shifted position, trying to make the frog in his pocket more comfortable.
Quickly, Ginna prompted, “I think Cassie is waiting for a thank-you for the lemonade, Nathan.”
“Oh. Well, thank you, Cassie. For the scone, too,” he added. But just as he leaned over to select a pastry from the plate, Green Boy escaped from Nathan’s
