Ginna smiled at Melora and the others, as she descended the last three steps. A tiny woman with Channing’s warm eyes and sweet smile came toward her, her arms outstretched.
“Oh, Virginia, you look a picture this evening,” Letitia McNeal cooed. “How I wish Channing could see you this very minute.”
The two women embraced, then Ginna said, “No more than I wish I could see him, Miz Letitia.”
“Was he well, dear? Are they feeding him properly? How did he look?”
Ginna gave Mrs. McNeal an extra hug. “He looked marvelous! I believe he thrives on the military life.”
“Oh, I do worry so about him!”
“Our Channing’s a man now, Mother.” Ginna turned toward the gentleman speaking: Mr. Thompson McNeal, obviously. From him, too, Channing had inherited some of his handsome features—his broad shoulders, straight nose, and dark hair, although the elder McNeal’s was thinning on top.
“Mr. McNeal,” Ginna said, offering her hand. He took it, but drew her into an embrace, just as his wife had done. It was clear that Channing’s family approved wholeheartedly of their son’s choice.
Holding Ginna at arm’s length, McNeal said, “My dear, you grow more lovely every day. Why, you’re simply glowing this evening!” He leaned close and whispered, “It must be love.”
Ginna felt Virginia’s cheeks flush warmly. She looked away from Channing’s father, slightly embarrassed.
“Polly has made some of her special punch for us this evening,” Melora Swan announced. “Won’t you all come with me to the parlor to sample it?”
Ginna saw that the mistress of Swan’s Quarter was leading her guests toward the room that would later be used as the reading and game room at the sanatorium. It was a large, airy place with French doors that opened onto the veranda. Ginna glanced out, as they entered the room. The sight that greeted her all but stopped her breath. There on the porch she saw the faint outline of the rockers moving slowly, as Elspeth, Sister, and Pansy sat together drinking lemonade in the glow of the setting sun.
“Dear, is anything wrong?” Melora Swan whispered, from beside her.
Still staring at the shadows of the three women on the veranda, Ginna shook her head. “No! Nothing, Mother.” She turned and smiled, trying to shake off her uneasiness.
“I’m so sorry the girls couldn’t come this evening, Letitia.”
Channing’s mother shook her head and took a sip of Polly’s special punch from a silver cup. “Melora, I’m sure you understand. These young people nowadays make their own plans. Hester is off to spend the weekend at Oaklands and Janey is visiting her cousins in Front Royal. They did ask me to send their regards and regrets to all of you.”
Ginna knew, suddenly, that the next one in their group to receive a proposal would be Channing’s younger sister, Hester. She would marry the son of the French planter who owned Oaklands. But they would never live together in Virginia. Channing’s whole family was destined to flee to Paris, once the war started. As yet, this remained a secret to all the others.
Setting her punch cup down, Ginna made a conscious effort to banish all thoughts of the future from her mind. If she was to be Virginia Swan for the evening, she needed to stay in Virginia’s mind, as well as in her body. Otherwise, she might blurt out something shocking in front of the Swans and the McNeals.
“We will miss the girls tonight, Letitia, but I know exactly what you mean about young people. Hardly had we returned home before the twins and Jed were off on a hunting trip. I invited Rodney’s Agnes to come, but her mother isn’t well, you know.”
Mrs. McNeal clucked her tongue sympathetically. “That poor woman! She has been sickly as long as I’ve known her. I surely hope she lives long enough to see her only child wed to your Rodney. Then she can die happy.”
Trying to lighten the subject, Jedediah Swan began a full recounting of their trip. Nothing seemed required of Virginia but to listen quietly. Trying to remain inconspicuous, Ginna took a seat near the door, one that did not face toward the veranda.
After a few moments, Melora Swan came over and whispered, “Dear, would you mind telling Juniper to hold dinner for a time? It seems your father means to keep us here a bit longer, and I don’t dare interrupt him. You know how he enjoys telling his tales.”
Ginna rose and slipped out of the room. For a moment, she couldn’t think who Juniper was. Then she remembered Pansy’s version of the silver teapot’s story, wherein the Swans’ butler, Juniper, supposedly dumped the pot down the well.
She started across the hallway toward the butler’s pantry, when she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. She glanced toward the library. At first, she saw only the shadow of a figure, much like those on the veranda. He seemed to be wrapped in a thick cloud of mist. But as she stared, he became more distinct. It was Neal, standing at the door, holding a book in his hands.
“Ginna? I thought you were still resting.”
“Neal?”
“Well, I hope so!” He laughed. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”
Confused and stammering, Ginna allowed him to lead her into the library. He closed the door softly behind them, put his book on a nearby table, and drew her into his arms.
“I’ve been thinking all afternoon about that kiss earlier,” he whispered. “Ginna, I don’t know what’s happening to me. I’m not the same man I was a few days ago. From the first time I set eyes on you, things have been changing.”
“For the better, I hope.”
In answer, he drew her closer and brought his mouth down to hers. Ginna tensed for an instant. After all, she was supposed to be on an errand for her mother—no,
Virginia’s mother
. The taste of Neal and the feel of his body pressed to hers soon wiped all else from her mind. She relaxed in his arms and let herself experience this special pleasure to its fullest. No one had kissed her this way in a very long time. Not since Channing McNeal.
That thought made her pull away. She opened her eyes and looked up at Neal. Yes, this was Neal, all right.
“Would you think I was crazy if I told you I’m falling in love?” He stepped away and grinned. “No, that’s a lie! I’m
already
in love with you, Ginna.”
He caught her off guard. She could think of no reply.
Neal shook his head, warning her not to speak. “You don’t have to say anything right now. Just think about it. Think about
me
. You know I’ve been married. But, Ginna, I’ve never really been in love before. I never thought this would happen to me. Now that it has, I’m not sure how to deal with it. I can’t stand being away from you for a minute. I want to hold you, feel you close to me, all the time. When you’re not with me, I fall back into that deep, black well where I was before I met you.”
“Neal…”
He cut off her words with another kiss. This time he held her closer, kissed her deeper. She slipped her arms around his neck and returned his embrace ardently. Her heart thundered in her breast and she felt herself trembling against him.
Yes!
she thought.
This is right! This is what I’ve been waiting for all these years. Neal is the one!
For a long time, they held each other, neither willing to break the perfect spell of the moment. Finally, it was Neal who drew away.
When she looked up into his face, he was frowning. “How did you do that, Ginna?”
She laughed. “It’s very easy. I just put my lips on yours and my arms around your neck and …”
“No. I mean out there in the hall. You just appeared out of nowhere. One minute you weren’t anywhere in sight. The next minute you were right there. Where did you come from?”
“What do you mean? I was upstairs napping, then I came down, and here you were.”
“You didn’t come down those stairs,” he accused. “I’d just been up there myself and the hall was empty.”
Thinking frantically, she said, “Well, I did step into the game room for a minute.”
Neal was still shaking his head. “It must be these pills the doc’s giving me. They make me feel fuzzy around the edges. I keep imagining I’m seeing things. Would you believe I saw a whole group of people outside this door a little while ago? And earlier today I thought I was in New York City. But it wasn’t the Big Apple—not the one I know, anyway.”
Just then, Ginna heard Melora Swan’s voice. “Virginia? Virginia, where are you, dear?”
“There’s something I have to do,” Ginna said quickly, afraid that Virginia’s mother might pop into the library and find her engaged daughter in the arms of a stranger. “Wait for me out on the veranda with Elspeth and the others. I’ll be out there shortly.”
At the exact moment she finished speaking, the library door opened. Ginna swallowed deeply, sure she was about to find herself in deep trouble.
“Virginia, what on earth are you doing hiding away in the empty library when we have guests?”
Empty library?
Ginna glanced quickly about. Sure enough, Neal had vanished.
“I’m sorry, Mother. I didn’t mean to stay away so long.”
Think, Ginna, think! Why were you in the library?
She spied Neal’s book—a slim volume of poetry—on the table. “I suddenly remembered a poem Channing suggested I read when I felt lonely for him. I thought I might find it.”
“And did you, dear?”
Thinking quickly, Ginna answered with a smile, “Why, yes, Mother. That’s what kept me. I was reading it.”
“What poem was it?”
Trapped!
Ginna hadn’t bargained for this question. Reaching for Neal’s book, she opened it and quickly thumbed through it.
“This is it,” Ginna said, smiling confidently at Melora Swan. She read the first few lines of a poem to Virginia’s mother.
“That’s lovely, my dear, but I’m not familiar with the verse. Who is the poet?”
Ginna looked at the spine of the book and shuddered. Why couldn’t Neal have been reading Shakespeare or Chaucer?
“Robert Frost,” Ginna said hesitantly.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of him.”
Of course, you’ve never heard of him
, Ginna thought.
He won’t be born until after the Civil War
. Aloud, she said, “He’s rather obscure. A New Englander, I believe.”
“Well, I have every confidence he will be famous someday, if he continues to write so beautifully. Now, come, Virginia. We mustn’t keep our guests waiting.”
Ginna put the book back where Neal had left it and followed Melora out of the library. She was trembling with relief, but still wondering how Neal had managed his miraculous escape.
Dinner proved long and nerve-wracking. Hours dragged by, while the men discussed crop prices, plantation management, and the coming hostilities. Ginna noted that both families were on the side of their state and the South.
Poor Channing!
she thought. But for most of the evening, her mind was on Neal. How long had she kept him waiting? There was no way of knowing how much time had passed in that other realm.
“We have decided on a double wedding,” Ginna heard Melora say. “Virginia and Agnes agree that it will double their pleasure to share the ceremony. Of course, neither our Rodney nor your Channing seems in the least concerned with nuptial details. They simply want the weddings to take place, posthaste.”
“Ah, how like men!” Letitia said, with a soft laugh. “Thompson was the same way. I think he would have settled for jumping a broomstick.”
Jumping a broomstick?
The phrase leaped out at Ginna. Where had she heard it before? Yes! She remembered, suddenly. During the war, Virginia and Channing had married in that odd slave fashion—the only wedding they would ever have. She was reminded of Mathew Brady and his promise to come to Swan’s Quarter to make their wedding portrait. That picture would never be taken.
Ginna felt tears coming to her eyes at that thought. She couldn’t cry! Not now! What would everyone think? How could she explain tears, when they were discussing her wedding?
Melora noticed her brimming eyes and whispered, “It won’t be long, dear. I know how you miss Channing, but it won’t be long before he’s home.”
The others politely ignored Virginia’s red eyes and sniffles.
Dinner finally ended with old Polly’s specialty: coconut cake with lemon-cheese filling. Then their guests took their leave.
“You had better run along to bed, now, Virginia,” her mother told her. “I know you must be exhausted.”
Without even worrying about the steep stairs, Ginna hurried up, trusting Virginia’s good heart to carry her all the way. By the time she reached the top, however, she was short of breath and trembling. Ginna almost welcomed her weakness. She was back, back from the past, back with Neal.
Just to make certain, she walked down the hall to the elevator. Sure enough, there it was. She stepped inside and pressed the button to the first floor. When the doors opened, she peered out cautiously. There was no sign of any member of the Swan family. She hurried as quickly as she could to the veranda.
“Hey, that was fast!” Neal said, beaming at her. “I hardly had time to take a sip of lemonade.”
Ginna went to Neal and slipped her arm through his. “I didn’t want to keep you waiting. Let’s take a walk.”
The late afternoon air had turned cool. Already, everyone else had left the veranda and gone inside to escape the chill. Neal took off his jacket and slipped it around Ginna’s bare shoulders. “Can’t have my best girl catching cold.”
“Is that what I am? Your
best girl?”
He squeezed her arm and smiled down into her eyes. “You better believe it! The best I ever had. The best I ever want.”
Ginna felt her heart commence its happy tap dance again. She felt giddy, like a kid with a new toy at Christmas. All of a sudden, with Neal here beside her, the sun looked brighter, the sky was bluer, and all seemed right with the world.
“Where do you want to go?” Neal asked, as they reached the lawn.
“Someplace where we can talk.”
“Someplace private? Where I can hold you and kiss you again?”
“I know a place,” she said softly. “Then lead the way, darlin’.”
Beyond the house and the main out-buildings, Ginna remembered a place where Virginia and Channing used to meet It had been a playhouse for generations of little girls at Swan’s Quarter. A few years ago, a swimming pool had been added. At that time, the old playhouse was converted into a cabana. This time of year, the pool was closed. They would have the privacy they both craved.