Bittersweet Endeavors (9 page)

Breaking their em
brace, they picked up the water-
filled buckets and started toward the kitchen
s
.
 
Still troubled by the
information Lucia supplied,
Myra
shook her head.  “
Tis
difficult
comprehend
ing
why
Mister
Preston
allow
s
his daughter to live
as
a servant.  How cruel he must be,” she said angrily.  “His other four children are attending the finest socials and living such spoiled lives.  Yet
, here you remain,
a serva
nt unto them all. 
Indeed, t
is
quite unfair!”

She blathered out her frustration but it d
idn’t help
, so she
kicked at a stone
and
vent
ed
her
anger
.  “What
would make a man act so indifferently from one child to the next?  Blood is blood, wouldn't you agree?”

Lucia smiled and her blue eyes twinkled brilliantly in the noonday sun.  Laughter suddenly flowed from her lips when
Myra
crinkled her nose
and
express
ed
her disdain.
   Lucia’s laugh carried across the field,
b
ut
her laughter died away,
and
she smiled up at
Myra
.  S
adness clouded her eyes
and
the warm luster of gaiety
left
her
.  

“But not when the child's tainted with that of
Negro
blood.”

*                    *                   *

After nearly a full day’s work,
Myra
stepped outside.  The cool air
was
refreshing after
she spent
hours in
the warm, stuffy air of the kitchen
, all
filled with smoke and steam from the large pots of
meats and vegetables
that cooked
on
the fire.  She strolled toward
the
men
who
tarried and toiled on the new plantation home, a
full
bucket
of water
at her side
.  She continued c
autious
ly
and was careful not
to let
any
splash and
seep onto her wool
en
frock
.

A man who stood on the roof called down to Seth, and said,
“S
hould be done ‘fore winter
i
s over, I'd think,”

“
Aye, i
f the we
ather holds.”

For once, it looked as if Seth
was
in good spirits. 
Even from the distance she
saw
a
faint smile
on his face
as he conversed with
several of
the men
. 

Seth
didn’t notice her approach
, and when she walked behind him, he
chose that exact moment
for
stepping
back
ward
s into her path
.  He bumped into her,
and
practically
toppl
ed
her to the ground
.
The motion
emptied
the entire bucket of water onto
her dress.  His
hands
gripped her shoulders to
catch her fall
, as well as
kept
him
self
steady.

Myra
looked down at her dress
; the dampness of the water
blackened the gray frock from chest to hem.  A chill seized her when the cold air
penetrated
through the wet
dress
and
nipped
cruelly
at
her skin.

“What are you doing?” Seth yelled as he recovered
from his
near
fall
on
to the ground.
 
He grabbed the bucket fr
om her hand and tossed it aside
, and a
firm
scowl set
on
his face.
“If you hadn’t crept up
on
me,”
he accused, “
T
hen t
his
needn’t ha
ve
happened.” 

Myra
was
too
startled
for speech or in
defend
ing
herself
,
and so she
stood silent
.

“Then again, considering y
ou are a thief, I
assume
sneaking up on people is what you do best.”

“I
didn’t sneak
up on you.”  She rested her hand on her hip and pursed her lips. 
Albeit a difficult task, she held her anger in check.  She wondered who he w
as
to be yelling at her
about
something he
had
cause
d
.
  “I
was
bringing a pail of water to help
quench your thirst, t’was all,” she returned, annoyed.  “
And I’
m not a thief,” she
declared
with less exuberance.

Seth
looked at
her dress
and
offered
a
n
expression
of pity
.  He swept a
slow, sensual glance over her body
and the act
made e
ach
one of the fine hairs
on her body stand on end.  A shiver touched her skin and radiated
in
to parts within her
that
she
didn’t
yet know existed until that moment.

“You're cold,” he needlessly s
tated
when she shivered. 
             

He removed his
Cassock
coat and wrapped it around her shoulders.
A gesture of good faith
, she thought.
She
didn’t expect
such thoughtfulness
from the
brute
he
’
d
often p
rov
ed
himself
since her arrival
.  This was the same man who
frequently found
duties for her regardless if
she was already occupied
,
and
ot
hers
sat
idle and
readied for
t
he task
s
at hand. 
He
had become
such a contradiction
and she wasn’t sure what
to
make of him
.

His
current display of protect
iveness
challenged
her usual observation
of him
.  S
he wasn’t prepared for it.  Thoughts
of casting
the coat
off
her shoulders and into his face entered her mind
.  But its warmth and the faint, sweet
aroma of his scent still lingered
and gave her pause
. 
Myra
turned the collar upward against the wind that bit at her cheeks. 
She
inhaled
deep breaths
of air
and
calm
ed
herself, but
the
fragrant
scent
of him accosted her senses.
Dear Lord, she nearly sighed aloud!

“Go back to the house and change into something else before you take ill,” he softly ordered.

Myra
turned her head from him,
uncertain
by
the sudden change
in
his
demeanor
. 
Gadzooks,
he almost sounded
concerned!
“I—I can't,
”
she stammered out nervously.
 
He
r
dress looked indecent in its
wet state, and s
he tugged the j
acket’s collar down until it
wrapped
modestly
around her chest
. 
“I have
naught
to wear but
this
,
”
she said
,
embarrassed,
and then
remember
ed
the numerous gowns
she left behind at
Brunnington
.
 
S
adness quick
ly filled
he
r heart.  She thought
about the
pink
gown her father
had
purchased the
prior
day
of
his
death. 
She
had
planned
to wear
it
to
a formal affair hosted by the court
at the Palace of Westminster
,
and
hop
ed
she’d gain
the envy of all th
e
young
ladies of
London
. 
Myra wondered what Seth would think if he saw her in such
opulen
ce
.
  He
wouldn’t snub
his nose
at her then
, she figured.
  In fact,
s
he
’d
even
wager
a
guess
that
he
’d
have
probably
asked her father’s permission
in receiving him
.

“Come with me,” he said gently.  He took her by the crook of her arm.  “I’m sure Margaret will have something
suitable
.”

She set her feet
determinedly
into the ground and pulled back
.  She refused
to let
him take her further.  “But—but, I cannot.  Your sister’s clothes are too refined for m
y wearing with
such task
s
I do.”

Seth didn’t persist, but kept his hand placed
up
on her arm.  A smile graced his lips and
Myra
felt that she’d
melt into the ground
along
with the previous night’s snow.
 
H
e
was
the
most handsome man she’
d
ever seen
and that made her feel uneasy around him
.
Myra
looked down
at his
arm that held her sweet captive. 
His
touch coursed
heat throughout her
body
, and al
though soaked
and frighteningly cold from the weather, his
touch warmed he
r
insomuch that she thought she’d
break a sweat. 
She
wondered
what
ma
nn
er of power
he beheld
to cause
such
a reaction
from
within
her
.

“
What
would you know of finery?”
He laughed, and it sufficiently baited her
out
from her reverie.