m
It took only a few more days to clear the rest of the area for the orchard and pond, as we’d planned. David came to help once or twice more, but never for long and always with his sleeves already rolled up. Julia’s coloring had improved greatly in the days we’d spent out of doors.
“I think gardening suits you,” I said to Julia one afternoon, after we’d spent the morning marking where the trees would go with rings of rocks. Her arm was in mine as we made the trek back into Tate Hall to have our baths and prepare for dinner. “Have you really never done it before?”
Julia laughed softly. “I’ve never had cause to garden before. You are the first person to drag me out of the house for labor purposes.”
I raised an eyebrow. “For company purposes, you mean.”
“Are you telling me I’m not quite up to snuff in my labors?”
I shook my head. “Of course not. Only that if all I wanted was labor, the boys and Mr. Harris could have done quite well on their own. I don’t know what I would have done with myself, sitting inside the house all the time.”
Julia glanced up at me. “Has it been terribly hard on you? Being married to David?”
Thatwas a question I had no idea how to answer. In truth, I thought being married to him under the circumstances we were in would have been much harder than it had been. I’d thought David might leave the house or at least skulk about, trying to avoid me, buthe’d been just as friendly as ever. “No, it hasn’t. I’ve loved planning the orchard, and David is a perfect model of a husband.”
Julia sighed softly at my comment. “I wish he could be more than that for you.” Gentle storms brewed behind her soft, gray eyes. “The world can be terribly unfair at times.”
I patted her hand. “The world was very kind to me when I quite literally landed on David again. Don’t worry about me. I’ve known for years I was unlikely to marry a man who loved me.”
Julia’s head turned toward me sharply. “What do you mean by that?”
I laughed. “Exactly what I said. My years for making a love match are long past. I’m simply grateful to have a place to live.”
Her steps slowed but didn’t stop. Had I offended her? Julia was my age. I should have been more careful with my words.
She inhaled deeply. “I don’t think David would like to hear you speaking that way.”
That was what she was worried about? Not herself, but David?
I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s the truth. And it is fortunate for both of us that I understand it. It frees me to be grateful for the marriage I do have.”
“But you must know ...” Julia started, then shook her head and didn’t finish her sentence.
“I must know what?”
“Nothing,” she murmured.
We continued on our path until we reached the servants’ entrance. I walked in silence, hoping she would give me more insights into my marriage, but she didn’t. What did she think I must know? If it was how grateful David was to me for our summer together, he’d made that abundantly clear, and I did know that. But somehow, I thought she meant something more than that.
We always came in through the servants’ entrance after working to leave most of the dirt where it would be easiest to clean.
After we removed our muddied boots, I turned to head toward my room, but Julia reached for my hand and turned me around. “I love having you here,” she said with firm conviction. “I want you to know that. Any man would be fortunate to have you as a wife, and your predicament with David, well ... it isn’t your fault.”
“It isn’t David’s fault either.” His father was squarely to blame, and both Julia and I knew it.
Her eyes sharpened, then slid toward the corridor that held David’s study. “No, it isn’t his fault either.”
I gave her a smile that would make her think the conversation hadn’t rattled me. “I’m very grateful to your brother. He’s given me much more than I ever could have asked for.”
Julia leaned forward as if she wanted to say something more, but then she blinked and must have decided against it. “I’ll see you at dinner.”
I nodded and dashed down the corridor.
But I never made it to dinner.
W
