11
The chambermaid’s early-morning knock on Rachel’s bedroom door didn’t awaken the 24-year-old beauty. She had been lying languidly beneath the duvet, caressing her most intimate parts, fantasizing about the stranger who had become their house-guest.
Odd that he so resembled her brother. Maybe she just held all men up to his standards, which might explain her break-up with Clarence… but without a father against whom to measure potential suitors, Thomas took on the role by default.
Rachel and her brother lived together; their parents had died at sea in a shipwreck en route to Europe. As much as Rachel loved the comforts that came with the wealth she and her brother inherited, she hated the fact that it was that wealth that had allowed her parents to travel so much. When she was young, her parents left her often with a nanny. Each time they left, Rachel feared she would never see them again, until one day her fears became reality.
To offset that pain, Rachel sought what pleasures she could. Among them was a morning bath. Her chambermaid was instructed to fill a tub with warm water and have it ready for her at perfect temperature at 7 AM sharp each morning and to knock twice when it was ready. The knocks were meant to be a wake-up call but on some mornings, such as this, the raps interrupted an earlier indulgence.
Rachel sighed, pushed away erotic, conflicting images of the stranger and her estranged lover and climbed down from her high, soft canopy bed. She disrobed, removing over her head the only item of clothing she wore to bed, a long white linen nightgown. Her naked body was perfect in every way; she knew this, in her mind it was a shame not to share it with someone who must surely crave physical affection as much as she. She entered the bathroom and lowered herself into the waiting tub; the warm water felt so good to her she allowed herself to drift almost back to sleep.
Bentley had the horse and carriage ready for Rachel as he had been instructed to do the night before. Rachel had dressed and eaten her breakfast. As she crossed the entrance floor from the kitchen in the rear of the house, Thomas was emerging from his room descending down the stairs.
“Good morning, Rachel. I trust you slept well?”
“Yes, Thomas, thank you, how is our guest this morning? Have you checked up on him?”
“As of yet, I have heard not a peep from his room. I will allow him to sleep for as long as he cares to! I can just imagine after the ordeal he went through yesterday he must need a lot of rest.”
“Well I am off to fetch Sarah Bulow. Thomas, will you take her out on the lake when I return? It may take her mind off her situation.”
“Yes, of course, I will prepare the row boat. I know how much she loves the peacefulness of the lake, it will be my pleasure.”
“Thomas, please promise me you will be sensitive to her loss, she must be heartbroken. I am not even sure if she will return with me, but I am certain she needs to get away from her sorrow. I shall be back in an hour or so. Please make sure William, Mr. Monterey, is fine.”
“Not to worry.”
Rachel did not wait for Thomas’s reply; she was already out the door when Thomas finished his words.
Thomas walked into his kitchen and helped himself to a cup of coffee from the kettle on the stove.
“Good morning, Mr. Byronville.” Thomas was startled. He did not realize Mrs. Gates, the cook, was in the room with him.
“Oh, good morning, Mrs. Gates, I didn’t hear you enter.”
“Actually, Mr. Byronville, I was already here before you walked in, your mind must be on some important business, pay no attention to me. Would you like me to fix you some grits?”
“Yes, thank you Mrs. Gates. I feel very hungry this morning. Can you also cook some bacon and prepare to make some omelets the way I like them?”
“Will your cousin join you?”
“I am sure once the aroma of our fine bacon fills the house he will not be able to resist its invitation to join us.”
Meanwhile Rachel and Bentley were charging at full gallop toward the Bulow farm. Rachel studied the countryside; she could see clusters of men working in the fields. Further ahead the road forked. In the distance on the left she could see a trail of dust; at the beginning of it was a large group of men on horseback, twenty or so. She assumed that the group included the men Thomas sent to help Matthew Bulow search for his son. Bentley veered the carriage to the right at the fork; the Bulow farm was just a short distance ahead.
Sarah Bulow sat all alone on her verandah staring at her feet; her hands were holding a baby’s blanket. She appeared to be in mourning over the death of someone very close, her eyes, puffy and tired from having hardly slept during the last thirty hours. She was in a silent conversation with herself but wanted the next statement to be delivered with real meaning so she spoke out loud.
“I deserve death, my baby is an innocent child. Please, Lord, return him to me unharmed.”
No one heard her.
“Sarah!”
Sarah looked up; she heard her name being called out. Sarah recognized Rachel Byronville’s face framed in the opening of a window on the side of a carriage. She and her driver had arrived just as her husband, Matthew, said they would. Rachel was assisted by Bentley out of her carriage, and quickly walked up the pathway to the front steps of the verandah and over to Sarah.
“Good morning, Sarah, how are you feeling today?”
“Hello, Rachel, I am trying to keep my sanity. I don’t know how to feel anymore. I feel broken, I feel tired, I feel sad, I feel cheated, but most of all I feel despair!”
“Sarah, I want you to come with me back to my house and spend the day with Thomas and me.”
“Thank you, Rachel, but I do not feel like visiting with anyone just now.”
“Sarah, it has nothing to do with you visiting us. I want you to be with us. Thomas will take you on the row boat out on the lake, I will make sure you eat a nice lunch, we will wait together until the men return from their search.” Rachel almost did not finish the word “search”; she realized it was a painful reminder for Sarah that her infant was missing.
“Thomas said he would take me out on the row boat?”
“Yes, he did. Please join me, I would love for you to spend the day with us.” Sarah nodded her head in reluctant approval. Rachel helped her out of her chair. Bentley walked forward and held Sarah by the elbow, and escorted her into the carriage.