Page 33 of Just Imagine
“None that I’ve accepted.”
“I’m glad.”
He smiled, and without quite knowing how it happened, they were standing still. She felt the whisper of a breeze ruffling her hair. His hands settled on her shoulders. Gently he drew her toward him.
He was going to kiss her. She knew it would happen, just as she knew she would let him.
Her first real kiss.
A frown creased his forehead. He released her abruptly. “Forgive me. I nearly forgot myself.”
“You were going to kiss me.”
“I’m ashamed to admit it’s all I’ve been able to think about since I first set eyes on you. A man who presses his attentions on a lady is no gentleman.”
“What if the lady’s willing?”
His expression grew tender. “You’re an innocent. Kisses lead to greater liberties.”
She thought of Eve’s Shame and the lecture on marital relations that all the senior girls had to endure before they graduated. Mrs. Templeton spoke of pain and duty, of obligation and endurance. She advised them to let their husbands have their way, no matter how shocking and horrible it might seem. She suggested they recite verses from the Bible or a bit of poetry while it was going on. But never once did she tell them exactly what Eve’s Shame involved. It was left to their fertile imaginations.
Lilith Shelton reported that her mother had an aunt who’d gone insane on her wedding night. Margaret said she’d heard there was blood. And Kit had exchanged anxious glances with Fanny Jennings, whose father raised Thoroughbreds on a farm near Saratoga. Only Kit and Fanny had seen the shuddering of a reluctant mare as she was covered by a trumpeting stallion.
Brandon reached inside his pocket for a pipe and a worn leather tobacco pouch. “I don’t know how you’ve been able to stand living in this city. It’s not much like Risen Glory, is it?”
“Sometimes I thought I’d die of homesickness.”
“Poor Kit. You’ve had a rough time of it, haven’t you?”
“Not as bad as you. At least Risen Glory is still standing.”
He wandered toward the garden wall. “It’s a fine plantation. Always has been. Your daddy might not have had much sense where womenfolk were concerned, but he knew how to grow cotton.” There was a hollow, hissing sound as he drew on his pipe. He relit it and gazed over at her. “Can I tell you something I’ve never confided to another livin’ soul?”
A little thrill went through her. “What’s that?”
“I used to have a secret hankering for Risen Glory. It’s always been a better plantation than Holly Grove. It’s a cruel twist of fate that the best plantation in the country is in the hands of a Yankee.”
She realized her heart was racing, even as her mind spun with new possibilities. She spoke slowly. “I’m going to get it back.”
“Remember what I said about self-delusion. Don’t make the same mistakes as the others. “
“It’s not self-delusion,” she said fiercely. “I’ve learned about money since I’ve been in the North. It’s the great equalizer. And I’ll have it. Then I’m buying Risen Glory back from Baron Cain.”
“It’ll take a lot of money. Cain has some crazy idea about spinning his own cotton. He’s building a mill right there at Risen Glory. The steam engine just arrived from Cincinnati.”
This was news Sophronia hadn’t passed on, but Kit couldn’t concentrate on it now. Something too important was at stake. She thought about it for only a moment. “I’ll have fifteen thousand dollars, Brandon.”
“Fifteen thousand!” In a land that had been stripped of everything, this was a fortune, and for a moment he simply gaped at her. Then he shook his head. “You shouldn’t have told me that.”
“Why not?”
“I—I wanted to call on you after you returned to Risen Glory, but what you’ve told me casts a shadow over my motivations.”
Kit’s own motivations were so much more shadowy that she laughed. “Don’t be a goose. I could never doubt your motivations. And yes, you may call on me at Risen Glory. I intend to return as soon as I can make the arrangements.”
Just like that, she made her decision. She couldn’t marry Bertrand Mayhew, not yet anyway, not until she’d had time to see where this exciting new possibility might lead her. She didn’t care what Cain had written in his letter. She was going home.
That night as she fell asleep, she dreamed of walking through the fields of Risen Glory with Brandon Parsell at her side.
