David started laughing. “Now you have me. That is the worst story I’ve ever heard. What happened?”
“Bertrand stayed home the next day and nothing anyone said or did could get him to move.”
“And his bride?”
“She showed up for the wedding that never happened. Poor dear. Her family was so humiliated, six months later they moved to Atlanta.”
“What did your brother say to explain?”
“Nothing. To my knowledge he’s never mentioned that day. The work other people do has never concerned him.”
“And your mother?”
“After that, she stopped trying to manage her son’s life, and my father said that that was almost worth the expense of the wedding.”
David was really laughing now, and Edi had finished with the bandages. She could tell by his eyes that he was at last comfortable enough to sleep. She pulled a quilt over him, then went to her own bed.
When he whispered, “Good night,” she smiled and went back to sleep.
20
JOCELYN WAS LAUGHING when Luke finished reading. “I’ve heard so much about Bertrand that I wish I’d met him.”
“He would have loved you.”
“Really?” she asked, feeling flattered.
“You leave your door open and people walk in and out all day. You feed anybody who stops by, and you always have time to listen to anyone. Yeah, I think you and Bertrand would have made great housemates.”
“I’m not like that,” Jocelyn said. “I’m…”
“You’re what? More like Miss Edi? Like the way that nurse described her, as cold and heartless?”
“I ought to send that woman a copy of this story and see if she still thinks Edi is without a heart.” For a moment Joce was quiet as she sat up and looked at the water, hugging her knees to her chest. “To think that Miss Edi lost him. There she was in the war, surrounded by men who were making fools of themselves over her, but she saved herself for True Love, but when she found it…”
“He was killed,” Luke said softly. “And later Miss Edi was injured severely. I wonder if that accident is why she didn’t marry and have children.”
“You mean you think she couldn’t have children?”
“I don’t know. How bad were her burns?”
“Toward the end, I helped her dress, and the scars were from her knees down. I don’t think the fire went higher. She told me it was very cold that day, so everyone was bundled up, and two soldiers threw themselves on her with their heavy coats on. If they hadn’t done that, the fire would have spread, because she had gasoline all over her.”
“Threw themselves on her,” Luke said, shaking his head. “And David was dead by then.”
“Yes. She said that she called out for him in the hospital. They kept moving her from one hospital to another while they waited for her to die.”
“They didn’t expect her to live?”
“No,” Joce said. “The gasoline and the fire and even the wool of the men’s burned coats all caused her to develop a serious infection. She ran a high fever for weeks. I think General Austin stepped in and had her sent back to the States, even though she wasn’t working for him then.”
“Did she quit him? Do you think she told him she couldn’t take his bad temper anymore?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask because she never even hinted that he was a difficult man. She just said that when she was burned she was still in England, but she was no longer working for General Austin. I don’t know what she was doing. I assume she was still in the military or she would have gone home to Edilean.”
“Would she?” Luke asked.
“Why do you say that?”