Free Thorns in Eden and the Everlasting Mountains by RITA GERLACH Page B

live.”
    “Perhaps
you should consider the Colonies for yourself.”
    He
turned and leaned against the rail. Torches and a bonfire out on the lawn
warmed the air. Reflections of the flames danced against the house.
    “It
takes courage to leave home for a strange land and settle there,” she said.
    He adored
the way the moonlight changed the color of her eyes. “Your voice is alluring.”
A cackle of laughter caused him to pause. “Unlike those.”
    “My
uncle says my voice is too bold for a girl.”
    “Your
uncle is wrong.”
    He
walked on with her into the shadows, beneath the bough of ivy hanging over the
porch. The plucking of a violin drew people out on the lawn.
    “It’s
the Carrows and the others.” Rebecah waved to them.
    Henry
and Jane danced a country reel near the bonfire. Coachmen and footmen, laborers
and servants, clapped their hands and stomped their feet in time with the
music. Such a striking contrast to what went on inside.
    Nash
took Rebecah down the stairs and across the lawn. Joining the country folk, he
swung her around, holding her hands and smiling with her.
     

C HAPTER 10
    After
the guests departed, the family gathered in the drawing room. The door flung
open and Samuel Brent entered. His neckcloth hung loose about his throat. His
hair lay loose from its binding. The cuffs of his shirt were stained with wine.
    “Over
the last few months something has troubled my father.” Lavinia spoke quietly,
leaning in her chair toward Nash. “He refuses to speak of it, even to my mother.
I’ve stood by and watched his shifting moods of depression and anger, his
thirst for wine, his brooding.”
    “Perhaps
he is ill and should see a physician.”
    “I
believe his heart is troubled. Rebecah thinks she is the cause.”
    Nash
frowned. “What could she have done?” He glanced over at her. “She is an angel.
It’s all in your father’s mind.”
    Brent
slammed the door. “The food is half-eaten and wine spilled on the new carpet.”
    Lady
Kathryn looked at her hand of cards. “What is left the servants will eat. And
they will clean the carpet.”
    “A
waste of money,” Brent shouted. Everyone froze and stared at him.
    Lady
Kathryn stood with genteel grace and touched his hand. “Do not speak so, my
love.”
    “There
will be no more parties at Endfield.” He stumbled away from her.
    “You
are jesting, Papa,” Dorene said.
    “I’m
the master of this house and what I say is law.” He tossed himself into a chair
and covered his eyes with his hand. “Hugh has been screaming for you, Kate, and
given me a headache.”
     
“March said he was sleeping soundly a moment ago,” Kathryn said.
    “You
rely too much on March to do what you should as a mother. Go silence him before
I take a rod to the boy.”
    Lavinia
rose from her chair. “Let me go, Mother.”
    Lady
Kathryn agreed. “He will mind you, Lavinia.”
    Lavinia
walked out, avoiding her father’s path.
    Brent
put his hand on Sir Rodney’s shoulder. “Rodney, come with me to the study. Let
us drink like we did in the old days and remember real living before we took
wives.”
    “Thank
you for the offer, Samuel. But I had enough wine tonight. I would be happy to
have some strong black tea though, and talk over old times.”
    Brent
laughed. “Your Methodist wife must think it a sin? And I can see you do not
approve of my behavior. You find it brash. By heavens, have you been converted
too?”
    “I’ll not
judge you, my friend.”  
    “Ah,
but you should. I am a poor example to my son. Though I admit my wife makes up
for the shame my daughters and niece bring me.”
    Nash
saw Rebecah’s eyes lift.
    “Surely
that is not true, that you are ashamed of them.”
    “You
of all men should understand, Rodney. When the war starts, your son will take
up arms against us. It’s enough to make any English father cower in shame.”
    Brent’s
words caused Nash to stiffen. He saw the sad expression in his father’s face
and tightened his