Donners Bend (12 page)

“Wonderful,” Emily said in a dreamlike state, “He’s been writing me letters lately, you know
. 
He sticks them beneath the flower
pot on the
Thompson
’s front porch each night and I find them when I arrive for work each morning
. 
I can only hope that no one else ever finds out
. 
I don’t think
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Thompson
would like to know that I’ve been seeing the neighbor’s stable boy
, but
, oh
Ellie
, Matthew’s such a wonderful writer and he’s just so sweet and earnest in his actions.”

Ellie
smiled; she loved hearing about her friend’s blissful love life, and could only hope one day she would find someone as perfectly matched to her as Matthew was to Emily.

“He says he loves me,
Ellie
. 
He says he’s never felt this way about anyone else before and
I
…
I
,” she stammered, “I feel the same way
. 
Do you think I’m foolish to believe him
? 
Surely he wouldn’t joke about such things.”

“Of course you’re not foolish,”
Ellie
assured her, “Matthew wouldn’t lie to you.”

Emily smiled slightly, looked around cautiously, and lowered her voice; “He told me yesterday that he wants to marry me
. 
He
says he knows he’ll never love another girl the way he loves me.”

“That’s wonderful, Emily
. 
What did you answer?”

“I told him I felt the same way.”

Ellie
reached over and gave her friend a hug, “I can’t believe it
! 
You’re going to get married, Emily!”

Emily beamed, “I’m going to get married
. 
It most likely won’t be soon though, but what does that matter
? 
All that I care about is that someday,” she closed her eyes, imagining the
day;
“someday Matthew and I will be wed.”

Both girls giggled and returned to their work with dreams of weddings, white dresses, and handsome men sweeping them off their feet occupying their thoughts
. 

“But hey, I’m not the only one lucky enough to have a wonderful man doting after me,” said Emily, gazing up at her friend with a quick smile.

“What are you talking about
? 
I don’t have a beau,” a confused
Ellie
returned, not looking up from her work.

Emily laughed, “Well, if he’s not your beau you’ve sure snagged his attentions well for just being friends.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

“
Jon
Smithton
, of course
. 
Why just about
any time
I see you outside of work he’s at your side
. 
You two are always playing around with each other, and laughing, and talking
...
 
Everyone in town sees it.”

“We’re only friends,
‘tis
all.”

“Friends now can lead to romance later
...
”

Ellie
giggled, “I’ll let you go on with this notion, but I can assure you it’s certainly not true
. 
Johnny
’s just a friend
. 
He’s like a brother to me.”

“Hmm
...
 
Johnny
. 
You even have pet names for each other
. 
Sounds like something sweethearts would do to me,” Emily suggested in a quiet voice.

Ellie
laughed, but didn’t reply.

Suddenly, the door behind them opened and Jamie and another man walked out
. 

“Good afternoon Miss
Henderson
, Miss Hardesty,” said Jamie
. 
He carried a long silver sword one would use in fencing
. 
His friend carried one too.

“Hello, ladies
. 
Mr.
Phillip
Browning, at your service,” said the man.

With nicely combed light brown hair and flashing green eyes, he wasn’t at all bad looking, both girls had to admit
, but
Emily had known of
Mr.
Browning before, and she knew he wasn’t of the best sort.

“Sorry to bother you,” Jamie apologized, “Come on,
Phillip
!”

Phillip
tipped his hat and the two men walked far over to the side of the yard where they wouldn’t interrupt the children’s play
. 
Both wore tan-colored pants, collared shirts, ties, and sweaters, though the colors were different
. 

“En garde!”
Ellie
heard Jamie say as he took his stance and raised his foil.

Phillip
did
t
he same and
t
he two began to fence
. 
Both girls watched a minute before speaking.

“So I see
Mr.
Jamie has returned to
Donners Bend
again,” said Emily as she continued to knit.

“
Yes, yes he has.”

“I’ve heard some talk from the servants and others around town and I was wondering if you might confirm something for me,
Ellie
.”

“Of course
. 
What
‘tis
it?”

“Has Jamie come home from whichever university he was at for a spell or has he been dismissed again?”

“From what I understand he has been thrown out for questioning and angering one of his professors,”
Ellie
answered, “His father says this is the sixth time it’s happened.”

“Oh yes,” Emily replied, “Jam
eson
Rhodes
is known for being dismissed from all the prestigious schools his father sends him to.”

“I see.”

“But like I’ve always believed, Jamie doesn’t need intelligent professors and years at a university to become wise
. 
He doesn’t need any teaching at t’all for that matter
. 
He’s already the wisest and most dashing man I’ve ever met in my life
. 
Too bad he’s so terribly contentious.”

He was quite dashing,
Ellie
agreed
. 
With dark, dark, almost black hair that fell into his brown eyes, not a girl in the world could deny his having an incredibly handsome appearance
. 
Like it was already mentioned, he was fairly tall and kept in good shape, though he wasn’t incredibly muscular
. 
His bright, playful yet mocking smile could melt a girl’s heart and he had the charm to accompany it
. 

Emily was the second person
Ellie
had heard characterize Jamie as contentious
, but
they both also said he was incredibly intelligent
. 
To
Ellie
, it didn’t make sense
. 

“If Jamie is so intelligent,” she pondered aloud, “Then why is he always getting kicked out of school
? 
Surely he’d be smart enough to know not to debate with his instructor’s words.”

Emily shrugged, “Well, like I said, he’s also terribly contentious
. 
When he doesn’t think something’s right, he lets you know
. 
So if he believes his professor has gotten something wrong, he feels free to just come right out and say it.”

“But he’s still really perceptive?”

Emily nodded, “Very
. 
He can ace all his courses easily and without much effort
. 
His father had high expectations for a while
. 
He expected Jamie would follow in his footsteps and become a doctor or maybe a lawyer
, but
apparently Jamie didn’t want the same things his father did
. 
Who knows what will become of him now.”

They watched
Phillip
and Jamie fence a few moments more
. 
Jamie was amazing
. 
He moved with a grace and ease
Ellie
had never expected him to have
. 
Easily, he triumphed over
Phillip
and they could continually hear
Phillip
say with a laugh, “Touché!” which meant, “I’ve been touched!”- Meaning that Jamie was winning.

“From what I can see
,
he
’s
not such a bad fencer either,” said
Ellie
as she watched.

“’Course not
. 
He’s been fencing since he was but a boy of five and I must say he’s caught on to the technique well.”

“How old is he?”

“Hmm
...
 
I suppose he’s twenty-four now
. 
Twenty-four or twenty-five
,
somewhere around there,” she paused, “He’s not
married yet, I suppose
. 
Or if he is I haven’t heard anything about her,” Emily smiled, “He did have an awful lot of girls fawning after him way back when though
. 
You can’t blame them
. 
I’ll bet every girl in
Donners Bend
fell in love with him at some time or another, though some never admitted it
. 
He was like the intelligent, sophisticated bad boy
, a
nd
oh my goodness,
was he charming,” she said with a sigh
. 

“The children adore him,”
Ellie
commented.

“I’m sure,” Emily nodded, “Jamie’s always been wonderful with children
. 
He’s a wonder with them
. 
Whenever he’s home on a sunny day I can see him playing in the yard with his sisters and Wesley
. 
He’ll do anything to please them
. 
He loves to dress up as a pirate, or a soldier, or anything else they want
. 
He teaches them to fence and lets them win every time if that’s what they want
. 
I’ve even seen him sit down for a tea party with Gracie and Leah,” she shook her head with a
hearty
laugh;
“I don’t know how he does it.”
             

Ellie
smiled too and watched as he fenced
Phillip
. 

“He’ll make an excellent father someday,” Emily added.

“He will,”
Ellie
agreed.

Their focus again turned to Jamie and
Phillip
.

“Allez!” said Jamie, and they began again
. 
Phillip
wasn’t doing t
erribly
bad this time
. 
Their swords clashed
. 
Phillip
looked hopeful at a win, but Jamie said, “Pas de touché.”