Before the Dawn (Truly Yours Digital Editions) (5 page)

“It’s fine.” He groped for the cup. “You wouldn’t happen to have the laudanum, would you? For my headache?”

“I do, and I’ll add it to your coffee directly. I’ve been baking today. Would you like a muffin or some fresh bread?” Cupboards opened and cutlery clanked.

“No, thank you, Mrs. Morgan, just the coffee. Has Mother been in to talk to the staff?”

She hesitated. “Yes. She came in and had a few words with Buckford and myself and Sally Ann.”

“And what did my formidable mother say?”

“Well, now. . .”

“It’s all right, Mrs. Morgan. Just tell it straight.”

He pictured the comfortably upholstered Mrs. Morgan crossing her short arms under her considerable bosom and tilting her head before speaking. “She said no more trays in the study and no more coddling. She said you wouldn’t learn to live in this house without your sight unless we made you, and no matter how hard it seemed, or how you might fight us, we weren’t to give in.”

He pursed his lips. “No quarter given, eh?”

“That’s right, sir. Buckford said we had to be obeying the missus, and he told Sally Ann he’d take care of your room from now on himself. Here’s your coffee. You sure you won’t have a bite to eat?”

“No, thank you. I couldn’t eat a thing right now. Maybe later.”

She harrumphed.

He couldn’t seem to please anyone in this house today.

❧

“The lawyer has returned, and David is waiting with him in the dining room.” Buckford’s eyes held a note of laughter. Not much escaped his knowledge in the Mackenzie abode. Karen had no doubt he was fully aware of the pending lawsuit.

She nodded and braced her shoulders for the coming battle. Her resolve must not waver.

“Gentlemen.” She lifted her eyebrows in a silent question to her lawyer as she entered.

Both men rose and David cleared his throat. “Karen, we need to talk.” He had shaved and dressed in clean clothes, as if preparing to do battle. At least she’d gotten him to do that much.

“Of course.”

Mr. Fuller held a chair for her and then seated himself at the end of the table.

Karen smoothed her skirts and forced her hands to relax in her lap. “Please, sit down, David.”

Tiredness etched his pale face. The lingering signs of pain and illness clung to him, but he held himself erect, as if he had no intention of giving in to weakness.

Forcing himself to be strong all alone broke her heart while at the same time brought out her fighting side. He had made the choice to separate himself, pushing everyone away. And why?

David released a slow breath. “I’m sure you’ll agree it would be in everyone’s best interest to reach a settlement outside the courts.”

Karen kept her voice even. “It would be in everyone’s best interest if the wedding went ahead as planned.”

“No.”

Fuller smoothed his whiskers and laced his fingers together, bracing his weight on his forearms. “We would be interested in hearing your proposed settlement, but rest assured, David, we will not be easily satisfied. You’ve done grievous harm to my client, and we are seeking due compensation.”

“Your client? Use her name, Josiah. We’re all friends here. Or at least we used to be.” A whisper of regret clung to his words. He pressed his lips together and placed his hands flat on the table. “I am a fair man. I realize Karen’s life has been disrupted by all of this. I’m not averse to compensating her for her troubles.”

Compensate her for her troubles? He made her sound like one of his employees. “Just how much would you deem suitable?” Karen leaned forward, ignoring the damping motions from her lawyer. “I don’t want your money, David. I want your heart.” She twisted the garnet on her finger, the ring she hadn’t removed since the night he placed it there. “You said I would always have your heart, but you’ve taken it back and pushed me aside. I put my future in your hands, and you’ve dropped it like an old teacup. I’m trying to pick up the broken pieces. I’ve got no job, no home, and no future.” She rose and put both palms on the table, leaning forward. “Open the door on that self-imposed prison of pride you’re locked in and think of someone besides yourself for a moment.”

David flinched but rallied. “And whom are
you
thinking of in this lawsuit? Yourself, right?”

“Would you believe me, David, if I said I was thinking of you?” She straightened. “Of course you wouldn’t. You’ve wrapped yourself so deep in your hurt there’s no room for anything or anyone else. You act as if our love meant nothing to you.”

He sucked in a breath, and for a moment she thought she had gone too far. How had they so quickly descended into name-calling and accusations? “I’m sorry, David. I apologize for my bad manners. Mr. Fuller, if you could leave the papers you’ve drawn up, I’ll go over them and get them back to you.”

“Of course, my dear. Why don’t you show me out?” He gathered himself and heaved to his feet. “David, I am sorry about all of this, but Karen is my client, and I must do my best to guard her interests.”

She walked Fuller to the door and took the papers he offered her.

“Read them carefully, and if they meet with your approval, sign them and return them to me. And think about what I said. You have a very strong case.”

When he’d gone, she leaned against the door and swiped at the tears on her cheeks. Was this doing any good at all? She and David were further apart than ever.

❧

Buckford entered the dining room, his soft tread as recognizable to David as his lined face. “Mr. Quint is here to see you.”

“Marcus?” David’s cousin hadn’t visited once since the cave-in. Not that David really blamed him. No doubt he’d been busy with the clean-up at the mine and running the office in David’s absence. Sick calls probably weren’t high on his to-do list. “Is he in the parlor?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I know Mother instructed you not to lead me around, Buckford, but for the sake of greeting my guest in a timely manner and without benefit of a black eye from walking into a door, could you escort me?” He gripped Buckford’s arm, grateful for the support.

Gathering his courage and his wits—both scattered from his encounter with Karen and Fuller—he greeted his cousin. “It’s good of you to come, Marcus.”

Buckford placed David’s hand on the back of a chair.

Hoping Marcus wouldn’t comment on how he inched around, David eased onto the seat.

“David, I feel terrible I haven’t been to visit you before now. Things have just been so busy.”

David formed Marcus’s image in his mind, tall and slender, sandy brown hair just beginning to thin. A capable assistant.

“Have you made much progress? Are things getting back to normal?” It hurt to even ask. Not only had David caused the deaths and injuries of several good men, he had crippled himself to the point where he was helpless to make any sort of amends. He couldn’t even assist with righting the damage at the mine and getting production under way once more.

Marcus sighed, and David could only imagine the horror of pulling the broken bodies of friends and co-workers out of the depths of the mine. “All the bodies have been recovered. The shaft is a shambles, though. It has taken all this time just to clear it out.”

“What are the workers saying?”

“Accidents are a part of mining, David. You can’t blame yourself. Sometimes things happen that we don’t intend. You can’t plan for every contingency.”

The sadness in Marcus’s voice prodded all the sore places in David’s heart. “How could I have miscalculated so much? The square sets were in place and should have been more than adequate for the load. I can’t think of a single reason why that part of the shaft should have collapsed. Be honest with me, Marcus. I know I can trust you. Tell me, what did I do wrong?”

“You can’t beat yourself up over this. Things happen and sometimes we never know the cause. You can’t know how sorry I am about your. . .injury. That’s what I really wanted to say. I didn’t come to talk about the mine. I came to say how sorry I am that all this happened, and now I hear your marriage is off, too.”

“You heard? How?”

“Sam told me. Is she really suing you?”

“Word gets around quick. Yes, the engagement is off, and yes, Karen is suing me. It seems God is not on my side at the moment. Nothing but lightning bolts from the blue.”

“Was Karen horrified that you are. . . ?”

“You can say the word, Marcus. I’m blind.” David gritted his teeth. When would people stop dancing around the fact? He didn’t want people to talk about his blindness, but neither did he want them to skirt around the fact. “Karen seems to think my circumstances should have no bearing upon our wedding plans, but that’s naive. I broke the engagement for her.” Though he’d had no idea she would resort to legal action. “I’m trying to spare us both a lot of heartache. If anyone could understand my motives, it’s you.”

Marcus shifted. “You’re right. Nobody would understand like me.” He leaned forward and gripped David’s shoulder. “It would take a brave man to face the fact that things won’t be the same from now on. Releasing Karen is the only logical thing to do.”

“I wish other people would realize that it’s for the best.” David clenched his fists, forcing himself to believe his own words. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Anything. You know that.”

“Help me. Help me find out why the mine collapsed. Help me keep it from happening again. I need you to be my eyes at the mine. I need you to go over those blueprints, the load figures, rock samples. . .everything.”

“Are you sure you should be worrying about that sort of thing now? You need to heal. It hasn’t been all that long since the accident. Give yourself some time. You have this situation with Karen to deal with. I can handle things at the mine.”

“I know you can. It’s just. . .I need to know what happened.”

“I’ll do what I can, but I doubt we will ever know what really happened.”

“Thank you, Marcus. I knew I could count on you.”

FIVE

Karen waited on David’s next move. He followed the letter of the new law of the house, showing up for dinner and spending the evenings with the family in the parlor or study, but the spirit of the law he ignored completely, picking at his food and sitting in stony silence.

Three tense days passed in which she got little sleep and prayed for a breakthrough. On the evening of that third day, she joined the Mackenzies in the parlor.

Sam and Jesse began a game of chess while Matilda dug yarn from her workbasket. Her brows lowered as her knitting needles clicked.

Karen couldn’t take her eyes from David who sat by the fireplace, his profile outlined by the reflection of the flames. He held a pencil between his palms, rolling it back and forth, his sightless brown eyes focused on nothing.

If only he would let her past the wall he’d erected between them. She longed to soothe his hurt, to hold him and have him hold her. Why couldn’t he realize she needed him, not for his eyes but for his strength of spirit, his integrity, the caring heart she knew still lived somewhere inside him? Why couldn’t he realize the more-than-awkward position he’d put her in by breaking the engagement? She picked up her book, and though she turned the pages, she comprehended nothing of the story. When Matilda sighed and frowned at the yarn in her hands, Karen lowered her book and asked, “Is that a difficult pattern?”

“No, it’s just that my state of mind is evident in whatever I’m knitting. If I’m tense, the stitches get tighter. These last two rows are so tight the yarn is squeaking on the needles.” She thrust the points into the ball and stuffed the entire project back into her workbasket. “Let’s talk of something else.”

Sam looked up from his game. “How’s the arm feeling, David? You’ve quit wearing the sling.”

“It’s fine.”

Matilda lowered her chin and folded her hands in her lap. “Karen, I understand you met with Josiah Fuller again today. How did that go?”

David’s head snapped around to face their voices.

Matilda had dropped the cat among the pigeons, and her pale blue eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

“As well as could be expected.” Karen unfolded the document Matilda had requested she bring along after supper. “He brought me my own copy of the lawsuit. Would you like to read it?”

“It might be best if you read it out loud, since it concerns all of us.” The older woman’s voice was as bland as rice pudding, but she had David in her sights.

David scowled, and Karen’s hands trembled as she smoothed the papers on her lap. Her heart thrummed in her ears. So much hinged on David’s reaction. Her voice shook a bit as she read through the opening paragraphs but steadied as she got to the heart of the matter.

“
. . .did freely and publicly announce their betrothal and intention of joining together in marriage. Such being the case, the private setting aside of the betrothal will substantially damage the plaintiff’s ability to obtain a suitable marriage in the future, as well as severely affect her good reputation. The circumstances of the breach of promise defame the plaintiff’s good name and standing in the community. The plaintiff cites the economic hardship that has befallen her as a result of the breach of promise on the part of the defendant. She gave up her employment situation at the urging of her betrothed, and the position has been filled by another.
”