Remembrance

, holding her away from him. “I want to know everything that is going on. And do you not want to know about Meg? Have you forgotten Meg? She has sent dried apricots for you and Talis.”

“He does not deserve them,” Callie said. “I should make him a pie with these.” She waved her hand toward the poisonous plants.

At that reminder, Will frowned. “I want to know why you are here. Why have they put a girl in charge of a garden such as this? Why are you here alone with that young man? For all the good that sleeping old man does, you might as well be alone,” he said before she could point out Father Keris to him. “You must tell me everything.”

It was hours later that Will was able to get the full story out of Callie. For all that Callie was usually an excellent storyteller, when Talis was involved, she was nearly incoherent. She could say no more than a couple of sentences about her life since coming to Hadley Hall before she went off on a tangent about the perfidy of Talis, how he was lusting after every female in the county and how he cared absolutely nothing for her anymore.

Under all the words Will heard the loneliness in her voice, heard the emptiness of her life. If Callie had Talis she was interested in her stories and her animals and in other people, but without Talis she was interested in nothing. Without Talis she had no one to tell her stories to, no one to make laugh, no one to give to.

“And what does Talis feel about this?” Will interjected into yet another tirade from Callie about his “uncaring ways.” “Is he happy here?” They were sharing a beef pie that Callie had been given for dinner. That she was not to come to the house to sit at the table with the others was another indication to Will that something was deeply wrong.

“No,” Callie said before she thought, “Talis is not happy.”

“Oh? And how could he not be with all those women around him? That would have made me happy when I was his age.”

“He is not happy,” Callie fairly shouted. “He doesn’t like them. He wants me. I know he does.” She buried her face in her hands and began to cry again. “Why, oh why does he not come to see me? I am here all day and that man, that man he thinks is his father, would allow him anything, so why does Talis not come to me? He said that if we could not be together here we would go back to the farm. But he lied. Why?”

“I do not know, sweetheart,” Will said, pulling her into his arms, not wanting her to see the shock on his face at hearing that Talis had lied. “But I will try to find out.” For a moment he stroked her hair, then, trying to lighten her mood, he said, “What would you have of Talis? Would you like for him to buy you a fine house like that one?” he asked, pointing toward Hadley Hall.

Callie didn’t hear the note of envy in Will’s voice, envy that another man could give the children what he could not. If it hadn’t been for Meg, they wouldn’t even have learned to read and write.

“No, I don’t want a house. I want…” Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she said, “I want him not to be ashamed of me.”

“Ashamed of you? Callie, how could you say such a thing about Talis? He never wants to be without you.”

“Yes, but that was when he had no one else. Now that he has the choice among all these beautiful women, he does not want to see me. His father is this rich John Hadley, while I am the daughter of a dreadful man named Gilbert Rasher. There are horrible stories about him! Talis does not want to be seen with such as me. I am the Poison Girl.”

Will did not know what to say to her to calm her. He well knew that Talis was not ashamed of her, but he also knew that something bad was happening if the children were not together. Or perhaps this was just the way it was in rich households; he did not know.

“Come, now,” he said coaxingly. “What would you have of Talis?”

“Nothing. I want nothing of him.”

“Do not give me your pride. I know what you feel for him. Tell me a story of what you would have of Talis.”

When she looked at him, her eyes were serious. “Talis thinks he owns me. He thinks that I am his, yet he has done nothing to win me. Do you understand? He has not fought for me!”

“Yes,” Will said, understanding that courtship was so important to a woman. And it was true that Talis had never done anything to court Callie. Sometimes it was as though they had been born married to each other.

“I want Talis to tell everyone that he loves me best,” Callie said softly. “I would like for him to…to shout it from the rooftops that I am his and he wants no one else.”

At that Will had to laugh. The idea of proud Talis sitting on top of a roof like a rooster and crowing that he loved Callie was not something he could imagine. No, Talis’s idea of love was to allow Callie to serve him hot gooseberry tarts under a shade tree.

And until now that had been enough for Callie.

“You ask for much,” Will said, “but I will see what I can do.” There was not much hope in his voice.

33

Interfering old man,” John was muttering, flinging objects on the table about. “I have had him escorted off my land! I have given orders that he is never to be allowed to return. If he comes back I’ll have him hanged.”

Hugh knew better than to make any comment at this point. John was in a rage because his beloved Talis had nearly fallen to pieces yesterday at the sight of an old, stooped man wearing the rough clothes of a farmer. In the midst of riding at the quintain, Talis had leaped from his horse and run to the man, flinging his arms about him as though he were still three years old.

John, who more than anything else in the world wanted Talis’s love, had nearly choked on his jealousy. He had immediately called Talis back to him, meaning to reprimand him, but Talis hadn’t so much as heard his call as he repeatedly kissed the old man’s cheeks. It was the old man who’d pointed out to Talis that he was being summoned.

To John’s further distress, Talis had presented the old man to John as though the man were visiting royalty. John’s face had turned purple with outrage and he’d ordered Talis to return to his training.

“But I must to see to my father’s welfare,” Talis said calmly. “He has come a long way to see me and he is tired and hungry.”