CHAPTER SEVEN I: THE WOMAN AT THE WINDOW
Elias found his mother sewing a loose seam in a blanket by candlelight.
She did not look surprised when he told her that their cart had been damaged.
“I saw a man near the kiln after supper,” she said.
“He carried a hammer beneath his coat.”
“Why did you not tell me?” Elias asked.
“Because I had not yet decided whether he was repairing something or breaking it.”
She set down the needle.
“Now I know.”
Elias described Dinah’s plan and Isaac’s conditions.
His mother listened until he finished.
“I will ride beside Isaac,
” she said.
“And you will not walk behind a wagon in the dark without telling me where you intend to go.”
“I intend to stay close enough to hear you call.”
“That is a better answer.”
She folded the blanket and placed it beside a small bundle of clothes.
Elias watched her smooth the fabric.
“Are you frightened?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“I am frightened of the road, and I am frightened of remaining here.”
He sat on the edge of the narrow bed.
“I thought finding Hannah would make this simpler.”
“Finding Hannah made it possible to imagine a different morning,
” she said.
“That is not the same as making the road simple.”
A soft knock sounded at the cabin door.
Elias rose, but his mother touched his wrist.
“Let me answer my own door,” she said.
Ruth stood outside with a covered bowl and a folded apron.
She entered quickly and placed the bowl on the table.
“The cook sent supper,” she said.
“And Adelaide has asked for Elias.”
Elias stiffened.
“I told her I would not return to that room.”
“She is not asking you to enter it,” Ruth replied.
“She wants you to meet her by the lower staircase.
”
His mother looked at Ruth.
“Why?”
“Ralston has sent a man to the north road with a message,” Ruth said.
“Adelaide believes the message concerns Beatrice.”
Elias stood.
“Then she should tell Thomas.”
“She has tried,” Ruth answered.
“He has ordered her to remain upstairs until the physician arrives.”
“The physician is not a physician,” Elias said.
“That is what she is afraid of.”
His mother reached for the shawl hanging beside the bed.
“I am coming with you.”
“The house is not safe,” Elias said.
“Neither is this cabin if men are watching the orchard,” she replied.
Ruth looked from mother to son.
“There is a service entrance behind the washhouse,” she said.
“Dinah can keep watch while we pass.”
They crossed the yard separately, with Elias following at a distance.
The mansion’s windows glowed above the dark kitchen gardens.
Inside, a clock struck nine.
Adelaide waited on a narrow landing, wearing a plain cloak over her nightdress.
She looked at Elias’s mother before she spoke.
“Mrs. Ward, I owe you an explanation.”
“You owe my son more than an explanation,” his mother replied.
Adelaide accepted the words without protest.
“Ralston knows where Beatrice has been living,” she said.
“He sent a rider to fetch her.
”
Elias felt the floor tilt beneath him.
“How does he know?”
“Someone saw Martha’s sister at the market and recognized the child.”
“Then warn the family,” Elias said.
“I have no messenger I can trust.”
His mother stepped forward.
“You have spent months ordering my son into a locked room,” she said.
“You do not get to make him responsible for every danger you refused to face.”
Adelaide pressed a hand to the stair rail.
“I know.”
“Do you?” his mother asked.
“You knew he could be sold for displeasing you, and you used that fear.”
“I did.”
“Then stop asking him to carry your fear as though it were his duty.
”
Adelaide looked toward Elias.
“I am not asking him to fetch Beatrice,” she said.
“I am telling him because Ralston may use her to force Martha to return.”
Elias understood the difference, but he did not trust it to remain a difference once Adelaide grew frightened again.
“Where is the rider now?” he asked.
“He left an hour ago by the east gate.”
“Then he is already beyond the crossroads,” Elias said.
Ruth glanced at the clock.
“Jonah could reach the village before him if he takes the upper path.”
“We will not send Jonah without telling him the danger,
” Elias replied.
Adelaide drew a folded handkerchief from her sleeve.
“I can give you the address.”
Elias did not take it.
“Tell Ruth,” he said.
“She can carry it to Martha.”
Adelaide handed the handkerchief to Ruth.
For a moment the landing was silent except for the clock.
Then Elias’s mother spoke again.
“There is one more thing you can do.”
Adelaide raised her eyes.
“Name it.”
“When Thomas asks why my son was in your room, tell him the truth without waiting for Elias to defend himself.”
Adelaide nodded slowly.
“I will tell him tonight.”
“Then do it before the rider returns,
” his mother said.
They left her on the landing and went back through the washhouse.
Elias had never heard his mother speak to the mistress with such open anger.
He knew the danger had not disappeared because Adelaide had listened.
But he also knew that his mother had refused to let another woman’s fear decide what would happen to her son.
