From This Day Forward Read Online Free

fine.” The moment she said those words she became aware of the persistent throbbing in her head.
    “Here, drink this.” He picked up a cup sitting on the small table next to the bed. “ ’Tis willow bark tea. You should feel better after you do.”
    Rachel passed her sleeping child to Maddy then took the drink and sipped it. “Thank you.”
    “I have chicken soup as well as bread and cheese.” He took the cup she had emptied and set it next to a bowl on the table. “ ’Tis not much. I was not prepared for a…guest.”
    As the tea began to take effect, the pain subsided to a dull throb. “I appreciate what you have done for us. As soon as I can, I shall be on my way. Perhaps later today.”
    “Nonsense.” He picked up the bowl and gave it to her along with a spoon. “You cannot go anywhere till you have regained your strength. Is there anyone I can notify?”
    She stared down at the liquid in the bowl with bits of chicken and vegetables. “No, there is no one. My husband died recently.” When she lifted her gaze to his, she saw the kindness in his tired features, the warmth in his blue eyes like the sun on the lake at Mansfield Manor. He had done so much for her already. The sense she could trust him spread through her to calm her anxiety. “He died on the voyage over here from England.” Breath held, she waited for his response.
    His mouth tightened for a moment before straightening into a neutral expression. “I thought as much. Do you know anyone in South Carolina?”
    The realization of how utterly alone she really was shuddered down her length. A stranger in a strange land with little money and a new baby. “No one.” Her hands holding the bowl trembled, sloshing the broth onto her.
    He cupped his hands over hers to steady the quivering. Again a softness entered his eyes as they roamed over her. “That’s not true. You know me.”
    She attempted a smile that fell. “I don’t want to be a burden to you. As soon as I can travel, we will leave for Dalton Plantation.”
    His hands slipped away from hers. “Plantation?”
    “You don’t know of it? I thought I was near it. Am I lost?”
    “What do you know about this…plantation?”
    Rachel set the bowl of soup in her lap, its aroma stirring the hunger pangs in her stomach. “Only what Tom, my husband, told me. The location. That it would be a new start for us. We would have a large house to raise our children in. Plenty of land to grow crops. There would be servants, field hands to help us.” She dipped the spoon into the liquid and sipped the broth. “This is delicious.”
    A frown creased his brow. “I don’t know where your husband obtained his information about Dalton Farm, but ‘tis not anything like that. There are a hundred fifty, maybe two hundred usable acres, uncultivated, and a house on the land, a small one that needs repairs from the great storm of 1811. There’s a barn. It needs repairs too. There hasn’t been anyone to look after the place since the war. The Daltons left for England a few years back. The farm is run down, but what is not swampland is good for planting crops.”
    “If a person knew how,” she whispered, more to herself than him. What has Tom done ?
    She stared down at her cooling soup, fighting the tears that demanded release. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she blinked to rid her eyes of them. But one dropped into her broth.
    “I’m sorry to have to tell you about the farm.”
    Concern threaded through his voice and immediately reminded Rachel she had an audience. She peered up at him. He stepped back, rubbing his nape and looking about him as if he were searching for a place to disappear.
    “Coming to America was not my dream. Now I don’t know what to do.”
    His gaze settled on her. “I can take you back to Charleston. There is bound to be a ship leaving for England soon.”
    “No!” The one word flew out of her mouth so fast it even surprised her. “I cannot do that.” She raised her chin