Moonwitch

Selena interpreted the quick, measuring look Kyle gave her as a warning that her questions were becoming too personal. Not wanting to spoil his good humor, she didn’t press him to share more about his family, as she would have liked. Instead, she began to tell Kyle about the celebrations that were held at the end of the grinding season, keeping the conversation impersonal, as she sensed he wished. They drove away, more in charity with each other than they had been since the night of their engagement.

It was as they were nearing the house once more that Selena grew silent. “Please, could we stop here a moment?” she said finally. “I must say goodbye to someone.”

Kyle obliged, drawing the horse to a halt, though he was surprised that she had chosen to stop on a somewhat barren stretch of road.

“You needn’t come with me,” Selena added quietly when he made to descend. “I shan’t be long.”

He watched her climb down and then disappear up a small rise some distance from the road, where several tamarind trees grew. After a moment, though, he secured the reins and followed her, curious to see who lived there.

She was kneeling in the scrub grass, her head bowed. Kyle didn’t need to see the two headstones to realize he was in a small graveyard or read the names carved there to know she was saying farewell to her parents.

He halted, regretting that he had intruded on her privacy, but before he could turn, Selena gave a sigh and rose. When she saw him, she smiled, but he could see how tremulous that smile was and how misty her eyes were.

Kyle gazed down at her with grudging admiration. This situation must be devastating for her, he realized suddenly; she was leaving everything and everyone she loved in order to face a new land and new way of life at the side of a husband who didn’t want her....

If it wasn’t for his son, Kyle thought with another twinge of regret, he might have been willing to give their marriage a chance. Having a planter’s daughter for a wife would be a great benefit to him now. And Selena Markham was undeniably lovely, even if her figure was too slender and her manner too proper and restrained for his taste.

Suddenly he wanted to make her leave-taking as painless as possible. “Whom would you trust to run your plantation?” Kyle asked quietly, wanting to ease her mind. It was obvious how much she loved this land and its people.

Her tawny brows drew together in thought. “I hadn’t really considered it. I always assumed Avery would take over the responsibility.”

Kyle couldn’t help the way his lip curled. “I wouldn’t,” he said carefully, trying to control his scorn, “sell a dog I didn’t like to that man-milliner.”

“I know you aren’t overly fond of him, and I’m not… particularly fond of him, either, after what happened. But he has wanted the land for ages. And my father chose Avery because he values his people and treats them well. Honestly—” she reached out and placed a hand on Kyle’s sleeve “—I’ve never seen Avery strike anyone before.”

Kyle gazed down at her, watching the dappled shade play across her ivory skin. The shadows blended with the faint discoloration that smudged her left cheekbone. Unconsciously, he reached up to brush the slight bruise with his fingertips. Then abruptly, he let his hand drop, looking self-conscious even as his mouth tightened.

Selena felt somewhat self-conscious herself, especially when she realized she’d been considering a solution that she couldn’t support with much enthusiasm. “I expect you could sell to Drew,” she said after further thought. “He would see it was well cared for.”

“Would he be interested?”

“He might have difficulty coming up with that much capital, but yes, his holdings march with ours, and I’ve heard him express interest in increasing the size of his plantation.”

“I find that a much more palatable alternative. Very well, I’ll speak to Drew when we return. The capital shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll offer him reasonable terms.”

“Thank you… Kyle.”

His broad shoulders lifted in a shrug before he glanced toward her parents’ graves. “Then if you’re finished here…?”

“Yes,” Selena replied, realizing he was uncomfortable with her gratitude.

“Can you be ready to leave by seven?” Kyle asked as he escorted her back to the gig. “I’ll need to go aboard the Tagus shortly, but you should be at the docks by eight if we’re to sail this evening.”

“I will be ready.”

“Good. I’ll send a carriage to fetch you and your trunks.”

“You needn’t put yourself to so much trouble. Beth and Drew will drive me.”

“It is no trouble,” he insisted with somber courtesy.

Selena wasn’t surprised to find that concerning the fate of her plantation, Kyle was as good as his word. As soon as they returned to the celebration, he took Drew aside and put forth their plan. And since Drew was pleased to more than double the size of his estate, they were able to announce to Selena’s people an agreement on the sale of the Markham plantation and to consult with her factor about the transition of ownership.

Neither her slaves nor factor were overly surprised or unhappy about the arrangement, for Andrew Thorpe was known far and wide as a just and honest man and master. And although, her people said, they would miss her, it was to be expected that she would leave the island, for was not a woman’s place with her husband?

Only Edith was not content with the arrangement. She held her tongue in public, however, and followed when Selena went up to the house to complete her packing.

“You should have sold the plantation to Avery,” Edith said at once as she entered her stepdaughter’s bedroom.