Counterfeit Courtship. Christina Miller

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СКАЧАТЬ so certain. It was probably time for him to tell his stepmother all he knew of Father. “Because he and Father were classmates and close friends at West Point, General Lee graciously met with me after the surrender and tried to pinpoint Father’s whereabouts. I didn’t know he had been transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department, which didn’t surrender to the North until May 26.”

      “Then he could come home any day.”

      “He was not on General Lee’s list of casualties. I sure wish the Confederacy hadn’t passed the new conscription law last year, raising the age limit to fifty. Father was a year too young to remain exempt.”

      “Ellie’s uncle Amos escaped by only one year. He served in the Silver Grays instead.”

      “Silver Grays?”

      “The home guard. I declare, I wish James could have done the same.”

      Betsy began to fuss then, as if she could sense their concern about her step-grandfather. Noreen jiggled the baby on her lap, but that didn’t seem to help. A new weariness lined Noreen’s delicate features, and she stood more slowly than usual. “She must want to be walked.”

      Babies wanted their mothers—or grandmothers, in this case—to walk about the room with them at this hour of the night? The mantle clock looked nearly ready to chime one. Noreen had always been early to bed and early to rise. How was this going to work out, especially at her age? Sure, she was a spry fifty, but it had to be harder than when she’d cared for her own child at age twenty-one.

      At once, he left his cushioned chair and laid aside his musings about his father and his own future. Until Father came home, Graham was needed here, and he’d care for his family with an undivided heart, no matter the sacrifice. He crossed the room to Noreen and held out his arms. “You’ve been looking after Betsy all day. Now I want you to go to bed and leave her to me.”

      The baby let out a great howl, startling Graham into dropping his arms. Noreen shook her head. “You don’t know the first thing about quieting an infant.”

      The howl grew to a shriek.

      “Well, Noreen, I’m not sure you do either, at the moment.” He tempered his words with a grin, raising his voice to be heard over the racket.

      Her eyes widened, and then she smiled. “I am a bit out of practice. But I’ll be all right.”

      Graham reached for the child, and this time, he took her in his arms. “Sorry, Noreen, but I’m the man of the house now. Until Father gets back, I’m taking care of both her and you.”

      Noreen pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen from her pins. “Maybe I’ll lie down for ten minutes.”

      She climbed the stairs toward her room. Good thing it was in the back of the house, overlooking the gardens, while he cared for Betsy in the front. Otherwise, the little baby with the big lungs would keep Noreen from getting any rest at all tonight.

      He looked around the parlor. What kind of atmosphere would a baby like at bedtime? Maybe less light. But dimming the room meant he’d somehow have to hold Betsy in one arm while turning the gasolier knob with the other hand. Could he manage that without dropping her? No, he should set her on the floor instead.

      But the moment her set her down, she howled all the louder. With a sheen of moisture forming on his forehead, he dashed to the gasolier and turned down the light.

      That was better. He picked up the baby again. Too bad she didn’t appreciate his effort.

      Perhaps she was tired of being walked. He knew she wasn’t hungry, as Noreen had been feeding her when he came into the room a half hour ago. Graham eased himself onto the wing chair, first holding Betsy tightly and then a little looser. Jiggling her didn’t help either.

      He had to get this baby to sleep, or Noreen would be right back down here, and she needed to rest after her exhausting day.

      Fact was, Graham was beyond the point of exhaustion himself, and he couldn’t hear his own thoughts over Betsy’s howling. He shifted her in his arms and looked into her pretty little face, tears pouring from her eyes.

      Did she miss her mother?

      Heavenly Father, I can’t do anything about that. Please show me how to comfort this baby.

      No ideas came to him, other than shutting the two massive parlor doors to keep Noreen’s room quiet. When he’d done that, he moved to the window, where he saw that the fog had obscured the Andersons’ gaslight. He closed the windows so the baby’s cries wouldn’t wake the whole neighborhood.

      About five minutes later, as Graham began to despair of ever getting the child to sleep, the front door opened and closed quietly. Then the parlor door eased open, and Sugar trotted in, followed by Ellie holding the leash.

      He ran one hand over his eyes, his fatigue making his head pound. He hadn’t the energy to spar with Ellie tonight. Why did she have to come over here? “Ellie, please...”

      She unfastened Sugar’s leash, her smile as bright as if she’d just risen from a full night’s sleep. “I heard Betsy crying, and I came to help. I have an idea.”

      He groaned like a cadet on his first ten-mile hike. “I’m not letting you involve this helpless child in one of your schemes. No baby, not even a Yankee baby, deserves that.”

      * * *

      “I’m a better nursemaid than you are.” Still in her ball gown after her short visit with Uncle Amos, Ellie sat on the edge of the gold settee. She had to admit that she came here to do more than help with the baby. The moment she’d glanced out her window and seen Graham’s silhouette in the parlor, pacing the floor with Betsy, she’d known how to calm her. This was the perfect opportunity to show him that not all her schemes went wrong. If she could somehow get that baby to stop crying, maybe he’d believe the courtship ruse would work out too.

      Graham’s square jaw clenched, and it made him look all the more commanding in his Confederate grays. “I’m not a nursemaid at all. I’m relieving Noreen so she can rest.”

      “She’ll never fall asleep as long as Betsy is crying so hard. Let me try. You haven’t done a great job thus far.”

      “Fine. Have it your way.” He carried the squalling baby to her and placed her in Ellie’s arms. “What can you do that Noreen and I haven’t already done?”

      She sat Betsy on the floor in front of her. “Nothing. But watch this. Come, Sugar.”

      Sugar ambled up to Betsy and licked her toes. After a few moments, the baby’s cries began to taper off until she quieted. Then she reached out and grabbed a tiny fistful of black-and-white fur on the dog’s neck.

      “How did you know that would work?” Graham no longer looked as if he were ready to fire a cannon at someone—namely, Ellie—but she also didn’t see the amazement she’d hoped for in his face.

      “I remembered how calm Betsy got this morning when she grabbed that long, floppy ear, so I thought Sugar might settle her down tonight too.”

      “I have to admit, it made her happy again.”

      Graham Talbot—acknowledging that Ellie was right? СКАЧАТЬ