Box Set: The ArringtonTrilogy (3 page)

Hattie and I sat on the edge of the bed and
waited anxiously to hear Daddy’s predictable remarks about his
unhappiness and concern over the unpleasant incident at school that
very day.

“Mr. Mason informed me that you girls were
disobedient to the schoolmaster.” Daddy’s tone was deep, and I
could hear the doubt in his voice. He turned around, and we could
see right away that he wasn’t looking for an explanation. Daddy
came and knelt down on his knees before us, took hold of each of
our hands, and with pleading eyes asked us to please do our best to
overlook the tribulations that came with his agreement to allow
Hattie and Mammy to become like members of our own family.

It became obvious as the years passed that
what Daddy was doing was considered improper, and it was only a
matter of time before things were due for a change. Life would soon
begin to transform right before our very eyes.

~ ~ ~

It was on a fine, mild December morning,
right after Christmas services, that I noticed for the first time
that Mammy was with child. Mammy had been in a corner, discreetly
adjusting her skirt, when I noticed her protruding belly. She saw
me staring and quickly adjusted the dress and gave Daddy a fleeting
glance.

We were sitting in the parlor, waiting for
Cordelia to bring in our afternoon tea and sandwiches. Hattie was
not able to attend services, but was hurried up to bed as she was
sick once again.

Daddy stood from his chair and excused
himself for a moment and I watched him motion for Mammy to come
take his place in the chair. With wide eyes, I stared at my mammy
in wonder.

“I see you looking at me. You know I’m having
a baby,” she began, taking hold of my hand and putting it on her
belly.

I wasn’t certain if I wanted Mammy to have a
baby. Hattie and I were her children, and if a new one came, she
wouldn’t have any time left for us. Mammy seemed to sense my worry
and didn’t waste a moment to put my mind at ease. With affection
and tenderness, she opened her arms for me to come into her
embrace, and she hugged me close. “I will always love you,
child.”

She placed a warm kiss on my cheek and looked
over at Daddy. He stood tall and proud, his handsome face was
flushed, and his joyful smile filled every corner of the enormous
room.

I wasn’t certain Hattie was aware of the new
baby due to come into our close family. If she did know, was she
keeping it a secret from me, I wondered. Hattie and I swore never,
ever, to keep secrets from one another. But if she believed it was
for my own sake, would she do such a thing? Did Hattie sense how
jealous I was and how much the thought of Mammy loving another
child, other than her two best girls, left my heart aching? I asked
myself.

That night, Hattie wasn’t well enough to
return to our bedroom and was kept away. Without her to talk to, I
was overwhelmed with the burden of worrying about the future and
the evening before me.

Adding to my dismay, Mrs. Eugenia Norton
arrived with her brother, Niles Montgomery and his wife, Catherine,
along with Perry and Myrna Montgomery for our Christmas ball. Daddy
invited the slaves to attend along with the guests at this formal
party every year. Daddy gave every slave a gift, and the atmosphere
was always jovial. However, this year, there was something about
Mrs. Norton that left me less than cheerful. In fact, I was utterly
miserable.

Daddy proceeded to greet her with a warm
embrace, and his rosy lips lingered on her cheek an extra long
time. She smiled, looking pleased, and slipped her arm through
Daddy’s as they made their way into the grand ballroom. Mammy was
up with Hattie; her fever had spiked, and was continuously pressing
cool cloths on her head to keep her comfortable. Helen stayed near,
just in case I was in need of anything. Abraham, Daddy’s personal
servant and Helen’s husband, waited in the wings for the moment
when Daddy should need his services.

The celebration was as grand as in any year
past, and the slaves came dressed in their finest hand-sewn dresses
and suits. Christmas was the only day they dressed near the same as
Hattie and me and Daddy and Mammy. They were jolly and ebullient
and filled very part of our grand ballroom.

I was gloomy because Hattie couldn’t join the
party; I was lonely when she wasn’t beside me, to be my better
half, to lift my spirits. And I was especially miserable because
Daddy devoted all of his attention to Mrs. Norton.

I sat sulking away on one of the settees way
back in the corner of the ballroom, watching them dance. Daddy was
a fine dancer, and he gracefully twirled her around as if they were
floating on clouds. With a delighted expression, he gently guided
her across the gleaming marble floors and kept his strong hand
pressed against the middle of her back, as her white-gloved hand
rested in the other. Her lovely pale blue silk-overlaid ball gown
flowed beneath her, and her eyes, which typically were icy and
distant, sparkled with enchantment. Most woman seemed enchanted
when they danced with my daddy.

As I watched them, perplexed as to how Daddy
could want to give such undivided attention to such an unattractive
woman as Mrs. Norton, Perry Montgomery came over to me, looked down
with a pleasant smile, and extended his hand. “Young lady, will you
give me the honor of this dance?”

I hesitated at first, and then as I gazed up
at him it occurred to me that he was the only one who wanted to
dance with me - Daddy had no interest.

“Certainly, Mr. Montgomery,” I replied, and
allowed him to lift me off the settee and into his cordial
embrace.

I was the same age as one of his four
daughters. The girls stayed close by their mother as she sat
looking huge and uncomfortable, her new baby due at any moment. I
wondered why Perry Montgomery was interested in dancing with me
instead of his own girls.

He whirled me around as we danced amongst the
hundred or so guests. I had always thought Perry Montgomery was one
of the most handsome men in Georgia, besides Daddy, of course. His
hair was black, and his eyes almost the same color. His skin was
always tinted brown from the hot Savannah sun. He had high
cheekbones and a firm jaw, covered with a thick beard. From the
moment I met him, I remembered being enamored of his handsome looks
and profuse southern charm.

“Thank you, Miss Arrington. It was a pleasure
to dance with you,” he said after the music had ended and after
placing a lingering kiss on the back of my hand.

I could feel the heat of my blush cover my
neck and face, and as I flicked my eyes away he continued staring
at me. Then, before he left to return to where his homely wife sat,
he leaned down and whispered into my ear, “You are indeed the most
beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on,” and walked away.

I hurried past the crowds of people, flew up
the grand staircase and ran all the way to my room. I couldn’t get
to my armoire fast enough to pull out my personal book I always
kept hidden. It was where I wrote down all of my intimate secrets,
things I couldn’t even begin to reveal to Hattie. I wrote of
passion and desire, the things that made my heart race, and the
feelings that reminded me how I wanted nothing more than to someday
marry a man just as handsome and divine as Perry Montgomery.

Not long after, Helen came looking for me. I
had fallen asleep in my bed, with my book in hand.

“Miss Amelia, your daddy gone lookin’ for
you,” she said, as she gently shook me awake. “Come now, you best
git downstairs.”

Helen adjusted my skirt, quickly fixed the
long ringlets in my hair, and hurried me back to the ball. I had
only been asleep for an hour, but Daddy was not pleased.

He was waiting for my return, and took me
aside into a dark corner so no one would overhear his reprimand. No
one, that is, except Mrs. Norton. Daddy took a long breath after
glancing her way and receiving a sharp nod from her.

“You shouldn’t go off without my permission,
Amelia.”

Daddy stood towering over me, and I strained
my neck to stare up at him. His tone was harsh and I cringed at his
unhappy expression. Daddy had rarely been displeased with me, and
never before did I have to ask permission to do as I pleased. I
didn’t understand.

“But, Daddy, I just went up to my room for a
while,” I said in a whiney voice, laced with a comfortable southern
accent.

“Why does she speak like that? She is
English!” Mrs. Norton spat from where she stood with her lean arms
folded over her large bosom.

“Speak like what?” I asked.

“Go back to the ball,” Daddy ordered
uncomfortably. “And next time, make certain to ask permission
before you retreat to your room.”

A discreet, contemptuous smile came to Mrs.
Norton.

“Yes, Daddy,” I replied, and after being
excused, I sulked back into the ballroom.

I found my place back on the settee. My eyes
followed Daddy as he and Mrs. Norton politely conversed with our
guests. I would have sought out Mr. Montgomery, but he had taken
his wife home, where I learned the next day she had given birth to
another daughter.

As the evening wore on, I grew bored and
sleepy. Helen came to escort me off to bed. Daddy noticed us
slipping out of the ballroom and sauntered over.

Daddy’s eyes had a familiar sparkle in them
that I instantly noticed, and my heart skipped a beat as he took
hold of me. “I’ll see Amelia to bed,” he told Helen, and he whisked
off with me.

When he had me tucked in, Daddy knelt beside
my bed and took hold of my hands. I believed he was there to
apologize for being so harsh with me, for scolding me. I
anticipated him confessing that he had lost his senses, and that
the wicked Mrs. Norton must have cast an evil spell upon him to
make him dislike me for even one moment.

“Amelia, my sweet girl…” he began in a soft,
lighthearted voice.” I have some wonderful news for you.”

I slid closer to him and grasped his hands
and waited with wide-eyed anticipation, holding my breath for the
wonderful news he was about to divulge. Instead of a simple
apology, he had something wonderful to share with me.

“After so long, after so many years, I have
found love again. You will no longer be without a mummy.”

“Found love? What do you mean? Have you not
loved Mammy all along? Does this mean you will marry her and make
her my mummy?” I sat up and cried with delight. Oh, just the
thought of having Mammy as my real mother made me so happy. It was
a Christmas wish come true.

“And Hattie will be a real sister to me! I am
so happy!” I threw myself into Daddy’s arms and began to smother
him with dozens of kisses until I sensed his uneasiness. His subtle
shudder made me pull away and stare into his troubled blue
eyes.

“It is not Mammy whom I plan to marry. It is
Mrs. Norton I have fallen in love with,” he confessed and almost
shamefully swung his eyes away.

With a heavy lump forming in my throat, I
cupped his face in my hands and made him look at me. “Tell me you
are playing an awful joke on me, Daddy,” I implored.

He lowered my hands and smiled. It was a
weary smile.

“We are leaving for England tomorrow. We will
marry there and return by spring. She has two girls who will be
your sisters - Beatrice and Violet.”

Daddy spoke matter-of-factly and turned
away.

“I thought you loved Mammy. If you truly
loved me, you wouldn’t marry Mrs. Norton. You told me I would
always come first, that you would never do anything to hurt
me!”

“You must try and understand,” he
pleaded.

“I don’t understand!”

He came and brought me into his embrace.

“I don’t love Mrs. Norton the way I love you.
You are my daughter and will always have a special place in my
heart. Mrs. Norton is one who will make a suitable wife for
me.”

I lifted my face and peeked up at him. Daddy
was crying, and his eyes were pleading with me to understand his
plight.

“You don’t love me!” I huffed and pulled away
from him.

He went to reach for me, to pull me back and
shower me with the kind of love and affection only he could give
me, when suddenly he stood up awkwardly. Mrs. Norton stood in the
doorway.

“I must go now,” Daddy said. A cold chill ran
straight through me. He gave a strained smile and cleared his tight
throat. “Tomorrow, on Christmas morning, there will be a special
gift for you in the parlor.”

He leaned in to kiss me farewell, but I
turned my cheek away. From the corner of my eye, I saw him wince,
and I fell into bed the moment he followed her out the door. The
sound of my bedroom door abruptly closing rang through my ears as I
drifted into a dejected, miserable sleep.

“Amelia, Amelia,” I heard as I was gently
nudged awake.

I drifted out of sleep and opened my heavy
lids to see Hattie standing beside me, anxiously waiting for me to
rise.

“It’s Christmas morning!”

I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my
eyes.

“Come on now, let’s see what Santa Claus
brought us,” Hattie urged, yanking me out of bed. Her fever had
disappeared as fast as it had come, and she was more lively and
excited than ever.

After I slid out of bed, Mammy came in to
help me dress. Her eyes looked red, and the crease in her brow was
extra deep this morning. She didn’t come in singing this day; her
normally happy glow had vanished.

“Come, Miss Amelia, you must dress for
church,” she said, pulling my nightgown up over me.

“Can’t we see our presents first, Momma?”
Hattie cried.

Mammy sighed, shaking her head in
protest.

“But Momma!”

“Hush now, Hattie!”

“Daddy said there was something special for
me, Mammy. Is it true?” I whispered into her ear as she leaned in
to button my dress.