Chapter Ten

 

 

April had been sitting there way too long just looking at herself. She was utterly amazed and completely fascinated by what Alice had managed to do with her hair. The person looking back at her through the mirror looked like she was about to walk the red carpet at the Oscars. But she wouldn't be going anywhere if she didn't get that dress on.

 

        Getting herself into it was no small trick, either. She'd get the plum satin about half-way up and then realize she was stepping on the bottom of the skirt. Finally, she got the dress up and in its proper place, only to find that there was no way she would be able to zip up the back on her own. Heaving a sigh, she held on to the dress and opened the door to find someone to help her. Patrick was just coming up the stairs.

        "Patrick," she whispered a little embarrassed at her predicament.

        "What's the matter, Cinderella, lost your fairy godmother," he smiled.

        The serious expression on her face ended any more jokes. He could see she was frazzled. She stepped back to let him in, and took his breath away.

        April stood in the middle of the room with one hand holding her dress to her chest and the other holding the skirt out of the way of her feet. Even unzipped and hanging a little loose, he could see the gown would hug her lovely curves all the way down her hips before falling in a generous puddle of deep purple satin on the floor. The graceful lines of her bare neck and shoulders caused his heart to jump. Standing before him was not his old college buddy, but a dreamy vision of a woman he could find himself falling for.

        "Patrick, stop staring, shut your gaping mouth, and help me with the zipper," April said over her shoulder as she turned her back to him.

        "Yeah, sure," he mumbled as he struggled to keep his hands from trembling. His mind reeled as he tried to understand why she was affecting him so.

        The zipper easily climbed the gentle curve of her back. She turned back around to him with a grateful smile.

        "Thank you," she said. "I don't quite have my mind on getting ready for tonight."        

        Not really even aware of what he was doing, Patrick sat down on her bed and asked, "what has you so preoccupied, then."

        "Mary Anne's journals of course," she exclaimed. "She was very diligent in keeping her journal. Between what she had to say and what I already new of the prominent families of old Charles Towne, she must have been born around 1696 to Charles Ashely-Cooper and Anne Cooper, making her the older sister. It's quite possible that Lord Anthony Ashley-Cooper was her grandfather. He was one of the original noblemen granted the charter establishing the Carolina Colony by King Charles II. If that was so, Charles Cooper would have certainly been of the the most powerful and influential men in Carolina, no less Charles Towne.”

        As she continued, she sat down at the vanity table to touch up her make-up and put on a necklace and earrings.

        “According to what she wrote in her journal, Mary Anne met a certain Thomas Lodge in September of 1712 at a birthday ball for James Bellamy, the local shipbuilder. A courtship soon began. But when Charles Cooper learned of the less than high born status of his daughter's ardent suitor, he ended the courtship. By then Mary had fallen deeply in love with Thomas and Thomas with her. He secretly vowed to her to return to sea and amass a fortune that her father could not deny.

        So, Mary quietly accepted her father's demands and waited for Thomas Lodge to return. But in October of 1713 Mary's sister, Rachel, had captured the affections of the very desirable John Bellamy, the son of James Bellamy the shipbuilder. All was going well until he decided to ask for Rachel's hand. Unwilling to marry off his youngest daughter first, Cooper accepted Bellamy's offer on the condition that the couple wait until he could find Mary a husband. Still waiting for Lodge to return, Mary dismissed every suitor her father presented.”

        April was on a roll and couldn't stop herself.

        “By January of 1714 Cooper's patience with Mary ran out. If she did not agree to one of the many men interested in courting her, he would disown her and force her from the family home. Mary did not relent, but continued in her adoration for Thomas Lodge.

        By the time she was 18, Cooper carried out his promise and completely disowned his daughter. He even went so far as to forbid the rest of the family from corresponding with her. Her brothers were accustomed to following Cooper's dictates and obeyed his words to the letter. But since Mary and Rachel were the only girls in the family aside from their mother, Rachel would not be kept from her sister. knowing that her upcoming nuptials would provide her with certain freedoms, she secretly gathered her friends together and raised a sum of money that would enable Mary to leave Charles Towne in search of Thomas.

        Thanks to Rachel's love and generosity, Mary was able to go to Boston and hire passage to the Bahamas and later Cuba. In Havana she bribed a fisherman to take her to Cayo Hueso. Cayo Hueso was her destination because Thomas had mentioned Hector Salizar at the Spanish Garrison there.

        That's as far as I got in the journals today. Other than his promise to go to sea and seek his fortune, Mary Anne didn't seem to really know what it was Thomas Lodge was doing. Something about her father's reaction to him makes me think he might not have been just a lowly sailor. Maybe there will be more information in the rest of the journals."

        She turned back to face Patrick with a satisfied smile on her face. But that smile quickly faded as she realized that she'd kept him sitting there instead of letting him get ready for the banquet.        

        “Patrick! You aren't ready to go, yet. You haven't even shaved.”

        Raking his palm across his jaw, he replied, “So I haven't. But I'm certain I can be ready in far less time than it took you.” He got up, opened the door, and nearly collided into Alice.

        “Oh, there you are,” Alice muttered in surprise. “Why are you in here and why aren't you ready, yet.” A motherly scowl began to creep across her face.

        “Sorry, ma'am. She caught me coming up the stairs and needed help with her dress,” he sheepishly responded as he wormed his way passed her. “I'll be ready in a few minutes. I promise.”

        Alice had stopped by April's room to be sure that she was not having any trouble getting ready on her own. Once satisfied that all was as it should be, she went downstairs to make sure that everything else was in order.

        True to his word, Patrick was ready in just a few short minutes. Soon all were piling into the cars and making their way to the Christmas Banquet at the museum.

        The evening was a smash success all the way around. There were lots of people at the banquet. There was even some local media coverage of the formal unveiling of the Pruitt Letters. Patrick and April met far more people than they would ever remember. April even managed to get up in front of the entire crowd and make a few remarks without embarrassing herself. By the time the evening had whirled its way into the early morning hours, all had managed to eat, and drink, and talk, and have a grand time.

        Some time after midnight, April finally hauled herself up the stairs to her quiet little room. She looked in the mirror and giggled at herself. When she had done so earlier that afternoon, she could not have imagined wanting to take off the gown and break the magic spell that had transformed her. But after several hours of walking just so, standing just so, and sitting just so, she couldn't wait to pull that zipper and step out of the sea of satin. Then it occurred to her that if she couldn't zip herself into the gown, she wouldn't be likely to zip herself out either. She tried for a moment or two, but had to admit a small defeat and find someone to help her. She rued having to traverse the stairs again. She was about to start down them when she heard one of the bedroom doors creak open behind her. She turned to see Patrick padding across the hall to one of the bathrooms.

        “Patrick,” she whispered to him.

        He stopped and turned in her direction. “What's the matter now, Cinderella,” he yawned.

        “I'm stuck in this gown is what.”

        “Oh. You just need to be unzipped?”

        “Please?”

        “Sure, sure, come here.”

        He stuck the toothbrush he'd been carrying in his mouth and turned her back toward the hallway light. He unceremoniously pulled down the zipper tab right there in the middle of the upstairs hall. Then removing the toothbrush again, he planted a little kiss on her shoulder.

        “Good night, Cinderella. Sweet dreams,” he mumbled as he shuffled toward his original destination.

        April was too tired herself to care what all that was about. Within minutes she had climbed out of the gown and into bed.

        In the middle of the night, when the house was completely quiet, April suddenly sat up in bed. She had been dreaming that Patrick has kissed her shoulder, and then her neck, and then her earlobe. She dreamed that she liked it and didn't want him to stop. But as she sat there in the dark quiet room, the emotions of the dream quickly faded. April knew it was just a dream and nothing more. Patrick would never be interested in her like that, anyway. She snuggled back down under the covers and quickly drifted back to sleep.

        “April, honey,” Alice called as she wrapped on the bedroom door. “April, breakfast is already on the table. Are you up, dear?”

        April rolled over to look at the clock. It was already after eight o'clock. Then it dawned on her that she was supposed to be back at the museum at nine. She bolted from the bed.

        “I'm up now, Alice. Thank you,” she responded from the other side of the door. “I'll be down in a few minutes.”

        April began to rush around the room. How could she have overslept like that? She berated herself as she quickly dressed. What a day to get off to a bad start. Within ten minutes she had managed to dress and get down the stairs. Patrick was the only one still sitting at the table.

        “Whoa, that magic spell certainly ended at midnight. Man, Cinderella, it looks like the pumpkin coach shattered and you had to walk home.”

        “Oh, stuff it, will you please.”

        “Okay, okay. Sorry.”

        April heaved a sigh. “No, I'm sorry. I overslept and now I'm crabby.”

        “Then let me get the crabby lady a cup of coffee before she bites my head off.”

        She rolled her eyes at him and helped herself to a muffin from the middle of the table.

        “Alice and the rest of the family had errands to run this morning. It looks as though I will be your driver for today. You've got about five more minutes to finish up here and get to the museum on time.”

        She mumbled her assent around the muffin.

        “Okay, then, meet you in the car in five,” he said as he left the room.

        April sat at the table for a few minutes more and pondered how in the world she could have ever had such dreams about that guy. There was no way that a spark would ever fly between them.