The Eden Passion (83 page)

It was approaching midmorning when they reached the outlying community of Bayswater. There Alex was awaiting him with fifteen wagons filled with equipment and men, all laughing and jostling as though they were going on a seaside holiday, which in a way they were. John had determined early on to make it a pleasant excursion for his workmen.

After greeting Alex warmly, they both stood beside his carriage and watched as the fifteen wagons fell in at the rear of the entourage.

"Quite a tail we've got there." Alex grinned as he assisted John back into his carriage.

"Keep them close together," John shouted back in warning, and continued to lean out of the window until he saw Alex swing aboard the first wagon.

Then at last they were under way, an incredible train of over twenty conveyances rattling across the lush green English countryside, heading in a south-southwesterly direction toward Salisbury.

After two rest stops and two brief intervals for food, after having traveled all night and when the rosy streaks of dawn were just lengthening the sky, they pulled into the tree-shaded lane which led to Harrington Hall. Looking ahead, John saw a small and beloved figure standing on the terrace, her hand lifted in greeting.

Even before the carriage had come to a halt, John jumped out and ran to greet her, deriving continuous nourishment in her innocent beauty. How she would flourish at Eden, surrounded by nature's richness of both land and sea. And how good she would be for Mary, who might just once in her life find herself on the receiving end of sufficient love.

Then she was before him, her eyes lifted in an expression of adoration, and he embraced her lightly and whispered, "I've missed you."

"No more separations"—she smiled—"please," and in that gentle way told him that she had missed him as well.

A moment later, Lord Harrington emerged from the door, followed by a procession of stewards bearing trunks. He spied John and greeted him warmly. "Are you certain, John"—he smiled—"that I am included in this invitation?"

"Of course." John nodded. "There's work for all, and excellent fishing in both the ocean and channel." He clasped the man's hand. "No one is to be left behind, Lord Harrington," he said, suddenly solemn, "ever again."

"Then come," Lord Harrington said with dispatch. "While our stewards secure the trunks, we'll partake of breakfast. The staff has prepared a light buffet on the terrace. Come, all of you."

As additional stewards commenced opening carriage doors down the line, John saw Elizabeth and Dhari step down and adjust their gowns, Elizabeth hurrying forward first, her face showing not the least sign of fatigue from the night's journey, smiling brightly as she approached Lila, eager to meet her for the first time, though John knew that the two had established a warm correspondence, Elizabeth frequently receiving news from Harrington Hall even before he did.

He stood back, fully aware that no formal introduction was necessary, Elizabeth approaching, her arms open, and Lila responding admirably, stepping into the embrace, as though they had known and loved each other all their lives.

"You're even more beautiful than I had imagined," Elizabeth murmured at the end of the embrace.

"And you as well." Lila smiled.

"Where's Wolf?" Elizabeth asked suddenly, looking about. "I must meet the cat. Come, Dhari, Aslam, remember the cat Lila wrote about so often? Now we can meet him in person."

With Lila leading the way, the three women started around toward the garden, their heads bent in close conversation, Aslam running around and between them, relieved to be out of the confinement of the carriage.

For a moment John stared after them and marveled at their individual and unique beauty, poignantly conscious of the role each played in his life, aware also that he desperately needed each to fill the vacuum, to take the place of that one miraculous woman.

He heard Lord Harrington calling to him from the terrace. "Come, John, before your hungry men devour it all."

Laughing, he walked directly into the crowd of familiar faces, calling them all by name, feeling a sense of fellowship with them, aware that they were mutually dependent upon each other.

He proceeded on, shaking hands, answering questions about their destination, coming at last to the brick retaining wall which separated terrace from garden. There he stopped and looked over the edge at the gray cat luxuriating obscenely on his back, allowing the three women and Aslam to rub his belly while he pawed sleepily at the air.

John smiled at the tableau, worthy of an artist's canvas. Yet with all the festive merriment going on about him, he lifted his head and peered westward, as though in spite of the felicitous nature of this brief stop his true destination lay yet ahead.

Shortly before noon, their entourage swollen by the addition of Lord Harrington's three carriages, Elizabeth, Dhari, Lila, with Wolf in her arms and Lord Harrington riding together, the procession started forward again.

John stayed alert until he saw that his driver was back on the turnpike again. Looking opposite him, he saw Aslam sound asleep, exhausted by the sleepless night and the activity at Harrington Hall. Lovingly John studied him. Such a beautiful child, and so bright. All he had to do was outrace his past, which was what every man had to do.

Then, thinking to join him in sleep, John too stretched out in moderate comfort, wishing that he might close his eyes and open them to see Eden Castle before him.

But he could not sleep and found his thoughts filled with Eden, a curious mixture of the Eden he had left and the sadder Eden that Andrew had described. Again that awesome sense of grief descended on him, and with Aslam asleep and nothing to divert him, he closed his eyes and gave in to it.

Eden Castle, May 3,1861

Richard had been on the battlements since dawn, searching the horizon in all directions. From this vantage point he could see everything, could see the new barracks outside the gates nearing completion, could see as well the feverish activity in the courtyard as the army of new servants scurried every which way, trying frantically to prepare for John's imminent arrival.

Coming from the courtyard below, he heard a voice shouting up. "Do you see anything yet?"

Richard looked down on Andrew far beneath him. "Nothing," he shouted back.

"Keep your eyes open. He said a morning arrival."

Richard waved and lifted the spyglass to the distant horizon. Briefly he closed his eyes. Never had he felt God's hand so securely upon him, or God's blessing. How often he had prayed over these last difficult years, had vowed that if God saw them safely through their crucible, he would give his life to Him.

"Here I am," he whispered to the blowing wind, finding it a joyous promise to keep.

All at once, without the aid of the glass, he looked up and saw what appeared to be a sizable dust cloud on the horizon, coming from the direction of Taunton. He looked again with his naked eye, then quickly lifted the glass and saw it even more clearly.

Richard grasped the glass and tried to hold it steady against his eyes, but his hands shook. Still the dust eddied and swirled about the horizon, lifting in large brown clouds, something of tremendous force moving over Exmoor at a tremendous rate of speed.

Then all at once he saw it, the massive lead carriage drawn by four black stallions. He lowered the glass and shouted over the edge of the battlements, "Andrew! He's coming!"

The cry seemed to echo about the inner courtyard. Other voices were shouting now, Andrew's predominant among them. "Lift the grilles!" he shouted to the men at the gate. "And tell all the stewards to stand by."

Richard gazed a moment longer at the feverish activity below, then looked back into the glass and saw the lead carriage followed by others, two, three, four, five, more carriages than Richard had ever imagined, and following those, more wagons of the sort that had arrived with Andrew over two weeks ago.

He smiled, thinking that all of London had come to Eden; and even more acutely aware than ever of an ordeal ending, he lowered the glass and lifted his head and with eyes open gave a short prayer of thanksgiving.

And at last he was running, hungry to see the face of the man he loved like a brother, taking the narrow steps three at a time, emerging at last into the third-floor corridor, hearing even there the first carriage rattling over the grates, its speed unbroken, as though the passenger could not endure the slowed pace of a more cautious approach.

Still running, Richard took the final staircase, half-stumbling, and entered the Great Hall to see the servants at work setting up the massive tables upon which Aggie was arranging a sumptuous repast.

"He's here," Richard shouted, and saw only peripherally the excited faces of Aggie and Mary, Jennifer and Clara. Dodging his way through the servants, he reached the Great Hall door just as the lead carriage was swerving wide for its final turn, the carriage door, Richard noticed, already opening, a tall man running alongside for a few moments, then turning loose and looking up in all directions at the facade of the castle.

At the top of the steps, Richard stopped, his eyes focused on the man, his heart filling with ten years of unspent love. He'd changed, looked taller somehow, fully bearded, his fair hair windblown about his face, but then, to Richard, John had always been a giant.

Then all at once Richard saw him look up toward the top of the steps, look away, then look quickly back, as though his eyes had deceived him.

Although there was movement all about, Richard was aware of

nothing but that strong face, the man himself coming slowly forward.

Promising to keep his emotions in check, Richard started down the steps, saw John still coming toward him, the warmth of a smile on his face. Though less than three feet separated them, still neither had spoken. Suddenly Richard found himself in John's embrace, the two of them clinging together against all those staring eyes, impervious to everything save the goodness of their reunion.

Let it last a moment longer, Richard prayed, at least until he could clear his eyes. Apparently John was having the same difficulty, and when they finally separated, each laughed at the indisposition of the other as both tried to wipe away the embarrassing moisture with the backs of their hands.

"I . . . can't believe it," Richard managed at last. "There were times when I was certain that you were dead."

John grinned. "There were times when your estimate was fairly accurate," he said, then added, "Now, come, let me look at you. What in the hell happened to that little boy who wanted to play marbles?"

Richard was on the verge of answering when suddenly he saw John gazing past him to the top of the stairs. Poor man, Richard thought happily, as again he saw his eyes fill, and glanced up to see Mary coming shyly down the stairs, her one good dark dress painfully mended, her light hair, though, still curly and lovely.

Then she too was in his arms and he was holding her gently, the two of them laughing together as though the passage of ten long years had never taken place.

Immediately following Mary, he saw Jennifer, then old Aggie and Clara and Dana clinging together against the vicissitudes of age and the moment. They inundated him, all clinging to him while he tried to embrace them, reaching continuously out and drawing them close. Again, under the emotional duress of the moment, Richard looked away.

For the first time since he had descended the Great Hall steps, he saw a most incredible spectacle, the inner courtyard filled with carriages, each spilling forth a footman and driver, the narrow doors opening to reveal several lovely women, one dark and quite beautiful, a dark-skinned little boy teasing a great gray cat, a tall, distinguished-looking gentleman with graying hair and a look of almost unbearable joy on his face.

This small group now seemed to huddle together, all smiling at the warm reunion taking place at the bottom of the stairs, and mov-

ing around them was a large collection of maids and stewards releasing trunks and hatboxes and dropping them from the tops of carriages like autumn leaves.

Filling the rest of the courtyard were the wagons, grinning strapping men leaping to the ground, then turning to greet the other workmen who'd arrived two weeks earlier, who were now running in through the gates, their work on the new barracks temporarily abandoned in the excitement of greeting old friends.

In considerable amazement Richard looked around at the chaotic scene. After so many years of silence, when month in, month out, all he'd heard was the wind shrieking, the cries of sea gulls and his own persistent prayers, now the music of human voices raised in shouts and laughter seemed to him almost unbearably beautiful.

He might have been content to stand and watch forever if he'd not heard a voice behind him whisper, "Quite a gathering you're playing host to, Lord Eden," and he turned to see Andrew Rhoades's smiling face.

In spite of the fact that he'd only known the man for a few short weeks, he was very fond of him, and delighted that they shared a mutual love for John. "I'm afraid I don't feel very lordlike," Richard murmured good-naturedly.

"Nonetheless, that's what you are." Andrew smiled. "Come. Let's see if between the two of us we can't dry up some of those tears before the courtyard is flooded."

As they stepped toward John and Aggie Fletcher, Richard noticed the little group standing in front of one of the carriages move forward. At that moment John spied Andrew, embraced him warmly and turned immediately to the women waiting behind him.

Still hanging back, Richard took loving note of John's face, excited, joyous, as though he were playing out a scene in reality that had lived too long only in his imagination. As he motioned for the group to come closer, his expression became suddenly solemn, as though aware of the responsibility of his position and how important it was that he do it right, bringing together all these diverse elements of his life.

Gratefully Richard observed that there was no formal receiving line. He saw John calling for him to step forward first, and as he did so, he felt John's arm around his shoulders and saw that he was being led forward to meet first a lovely woman clad in a dark blue silk traveling suit and a feathered bonnet on her head. Richard was