The Widow's Secret. Sara Mitchell

pinch of hurt aside. Countless other Southern daughters over the past decades of Reconstruction and national recessions had married to save their families from starvation. In return for Jocelyn’s hand in marriage, the Tremaynes would be allowed to live out the rest of their lives on the thousand-acre farm her great-great-granddaddy had carved out of the Virginia Piedmont two hundred years earlier. Her younger brothers and sister would still have a home until they each reached their eighteenth year, even if their heritage had legally just been signed over to Rupert Bingham.

      Perhaps the payment was justified. Until the war her father, and his before him, had run the farm with slave labor.

      Kathleen tugged a lace hanky from her sleeve and dabbed her eyes as she gave Jocelyn a sweet smile. “Well. It’s time. Jocelyn? Are you sure…?”

      “I know what I’m doing,” Jocelyn promised, even as a black chasm seemed to be sucking her into its depths. “I like my husband-to-be. He’s been nothing but kind. We’ll be happy, I promise.”

      Her mother’s cool hands cupped her cheeks. “Your father and I love you very much. If—” She stopped, pressed a kiss to Jocelyn’s forehead. “Let’s go, then. You don’t need to start your new life being late for your wedding.”

      Hours later, the new Mrs. Chadwick Bingham surreptitiously leaned against one of the ballroom’s marble columns and slipped her feet free of her shoes. An audible sigh of relief escaped before she could swallow it. Jocelyn hoped the din of four hundred conversations and music from the strings orchestra successfully masked her faux pas—until a masculine chuckle floated into her ears from the other side of the pillar.

      “I agree with your sentiment, but I’m surprised to hear it coming from the bride.” A tall young man appeared in front of her, a mischievous expression glinting behind a pair of gray eyes. “Don’t look so mortified. I won’t tell anyone.” He swept her an awkward bow, lost his balance and stumbled against the marble pillar. “Oops. Sorry. My father tells me I’ve sprouted an inch a month over the past year, and my feet—” A tide of red spread across his face. “I apologize.” He smoothed a hand over his long side whiskers, then fiddled with the end of his string-thin mustache while he continued talking. “We were introduced in the receiving line, but that was hours ago. Micah MacKenzie, at your service, Mrs. Bingham.”

      “Mr. MacKenzie.” Frantically Jocelyn felt for her shoes with her stockinged toes. She could feel the heat in her own cheeks, which certainly must rival her hair for color. “I—I do remember you.” A polite social fabrication. On the other hand, she wished she remembered him. As though to balance the impropriety of her sigh, her brain abruptly nudged her memory. “You were with your parents. And—and you’re in your second year at college, though I don’t recall where. Your father works for Mr. Bingham, I believe?”

      “Not exactly.” He paused, for a moment looking far older than his twentysomething years. “Never mind. May I fetch you something to drink? You look like you’re about to wilt.”

      “I’m sorry it shows. Brides are supposed to glow, aren’t they?”

      The gray eyes softened. “No, I’m the one who should apologize. Again. You make a breathtaking bride, Mrs. Bingham. Your husband is blessed.”

      Blessed? Jocelyn thought his word choice peculiar, but then everything about this gangly young man didn’t quite seem to fit the polished perfection of all the other guests. And yet, despite his lack of poised sophistication, she felt more at ease than she had in…in weeks, actually. “Are you one of Chadwick—I mean, Mr. Bingham’s friends?”

      “No, ma’am. I only know Chadwick through my parents.” He didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands; after twiddling his thumbs, he distractedly ran his fingers through his pomaded hair, then glared down at his sticky hand. “Forgot my mother insisted I look the part,” he muttered half under his breath as he pulled out a large white handkerchief and wiped his hand clean. “Now that I’ve made a complete fool of myself, how about if I finish the job and ask if you’d permit me to help you find your way over to your husband. You’ve been polite long enough,” he finished gently. “The guests are waiting for you to leave, you know.”

      “I know. I was…I mean, I thought…” Swallowing hard, she straightened away from the column. “I can’t find my slippers underneath all my petticoats,” she admitted with a defeated smile. “I took them off because my toes were cramping.” Was it impolite for a new bride to mention her toes? “I suppose I could start across the floor and hope the petticoats drag my shoes along, but I didn’t want to risk leaving them behind.”

      “I understand.” This time his hand reached toward Jocelyn, and for the breath of an instant his fingers hovered inches from hers before he dropped his hand back to his side. “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into the crush of wedding guests.

      Moments later he reappeared, Chadwick beside him. “Here she is,” Mr. MacKenzie announced. “Waiting for you, I believe.” He studied Jocelyn, and she suddenly felt as though he had touched a lighted match to her pulse. “You know, Bingham, I think you’re absolutely right. The freckles lend her face much more character than a ho-hum rosy-cheeked complexion. Congratulations on your good fortune.”

      Chadwick was gawking at him as though his ears had just sprouted peacock feathers. “I…um…thank you,” he finally murmured.

      “Before you take her away, she requires your assistance in a small matter.” Mr. MacKenzie tipped his head to one side, a half smile lifting one corner of his mouth. “God’s blessings on your life together.”

      And before Jocelyn could frame an articulate reply, he vanished around the marble column and was swallowed into the crowd.

      “What a bounder.” Chadwick offered his arm. “I never said a word to him about your freckles.”

      “Oh.” Jocelyn swallowed a stab of disappointment.

      “He’s certainly not part of Mrs. Astor’s Four Hundred, I gather. Friendly enough, but he’d taken off his gloves, did you notice? And his trousers were—” He stopped abruptly. “It doesn’t matter. He doesn’t matter, does he? Too bad. Congenial sort of fellow, not like some in this crowd. Now, what’s this small predicament that requires my assistance? Why, my dear, what a delightful shade of apricot. Here—” he leaned down, and the tang of his imported French cologne saturated Jocelyn’s nostrils “—whisper in my ear, then. Don’t be shy. We’re married now, Mrs. Bingham.”

      Married. With a tremulous breath of laughter, Jocelyn shoved aside all thoughts save her new status, and rose on tiptoe to explain her predicament.

      Hours later, she waited for her husband to enter the grand suite of rooms the Binghams had redesigned for the newly wedded couple. Hands clammy, heart thumping hard enough to rattle her teeth, Jocelyn squeezed her eyes shut and prayed with innocent fervor that she would please the young man who had vowed to care for her the rest of their lives.

      “Jocelyn…”

      She gasped, hands automatically clutching the crisp linen sheet even though she forced her eyes open. Chadwick stood by the bed, wearing a deep red dressing robe. Gaslight from the wall sconce limned his face, revealing the high forehead and the hooked nose so like his father’s. His face was freshly shaved save for the trimmed mustache. His eyes were…Jocelyn searched his eyes, trying to interpret their emotions.

      “M-Mr. Bingham?”

      “Oh, for Pete’s sake, when we’re alone, call me Chadwick. Or Chad, if you don’t mind. I’ve always hated my name, to tell you the truth.” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “The truth,” he repeated like an echo. “Why do you suppose the Bible claims it will set you free?”

      Flummoxed, Jocelyn gathered her courage and sat up, drawing her knees to her middle and clasping her damp hands around them. Apparently Chadwick was as nervous as she was, and thought a conversation might help them both. She warmed inside at the thought of his sensitivity. “I always thought it meant telling the truth about Jesus.