Swallow came up just then, and took the lad under his wing. The boy was Swallow’s younger cousin. Charlie surrendered the lad to him gratefully.
It was time for Charlie to go and attend to Rebecca. He took a deep breath. The short time it would take him to walk to the main house was a welcome respite. He needed the time to think. He needed the time to prepare for the afternoon. Cleaning up the mess that Montgomery created would have to wait until he had settled the Regiment for the winter.
Chapter 4
Sunday, November 6, 1864
Charlie straightened his uniform and brushed off the dust from his coat and trousers as he walked up to the house. The next few hours would be critical, he thought. Perhaps Miss Rebecca would make her decision.
As he got closer to the house, he remembered the duty that lay immediately before him, to serve as Miss Rebecca’s personal maid. The thought of her standing before him in just her chemise and slip was enough to make his hands sweat.
Manfully, he strode to the front door, and was, as usual, greeted by one of his own troopers. I have to do something about that, he thought to himself. She deserves to have some help around here that is hers, not one of my boys doing double duty.
"Miss Rebecca’s upstairs, sir. She asked me to ask you to join her in her sitting room."
"Thank you, soldier." Sitting room? Oh, yes, the small anteroom next to her bedroom.
Charlie walked up the stairs, feeling stoic under the circumstances. To touch her bare skin, just to touch her and find out if her skin was as soft and velvety as it looked in that pink dress. The idea was making Charlie slightly crazy.
He entered the sitting room and closed the door behind him, then moved on to the door to the bedroom. Softly, he rapped at the door.
"Come in, my elegant sir." Rebecca’s voice was filled with laughter. The prospect of the ride had made her bright with anticipation.
Opening the door just enough to let him pass, Charlie slipped into the room. The vision before him stopped him cold for a moment.
She was standing in the sunlight from the western windows. In the light, her golden hair, pinned up for riding, formed a halo around her head. The bare skin of her neck and shoulders had a soft glow, and was set off by the simple white chemise and slip she wore. Charlie’s mouth went dry; his throat seized up and breathing was, for a long moment, not an option.
"Oh, Colonel, I am so excited. It is been so long since I have been able to ride. Please, give me a hand here and we can be on our way."
Charlie nodded, dumbly.
The habit was laid out on the bed. It was a lovely green velvet, with a tight bodice that buttoned up the back with a full skirt. Charlie sorted out the skirt, then knelt and held it for Rebecca to step into. Her hand on his shoulder, she stepped into the pool of velvet. He could feel the warmth of her touch through his woolen coat. That was hard enough, but with her body so close to his, he could smell her. Her body exuded a unique blend of lilacs and musk.
Charlie stood, drawing her skirt up over her hips and tying the strings that held it around her slim waist. His fingers trembled, making it hard to hold the bow tight.
Rebecca stepped away, and drew the jacket onto her arms, settling the fabric over her shoulders. She stood there, waiting for Charlie to button what looked to be about a hundred tiny buttons that would draw the fabric snuggly around her slender frame. She looked over her shoulder at him. "Well?"
"Uh, yes. Sorry. You are lovely in green, my dear lady." You are lovely in anything. Your shoulders glow in the sunlight. Your hair is like spun gold. I would lay my lips on your neck and think I was in heaven. Charlie shook himself out of the haze of desire that assailed him at the sight of her and began the slow process of buttoning the garment.
The waist was tight, but that was not too difficult. The cotton chemise was there as a slight buffer between Charlie’s trembling fingers and Rebecca’s warm skin. As he moved up her straight, strong back, the chemise ended, and he brushed his fingers against her skin, feeling the heat of her body, the silk of her as he continued to fasten the small buttons. By the time he finished the last button on the high collar, he was sweating and trembling.
They stood there for a moment, his hands resting gently on her shoulders. She turned her head and softly brushed her lips over his fingers. "Thank you. You make the best ladies maid I have ever had."
Charlie stood there, unable to move for a moment. From somewhere in the distance, they heard the neighing of a horse.
"Come on, Colonel Redmond. The horses await us."
Charlie shook himself and stepped forward to take Rebecca’s hand and escort her downstairs and to the horses.
--*--
"Oh, my. She is beautiful!" Rebecca went to the solid mount that was obviously prepared for her. In the afternoon sun, Shannon’s coat looked almost golden, and her mane and tail was a soft buff blonde, lighter than her coat. She was a good-sized horse, built like a warm blood but with the gentle eye of a saddle bred. And at over sixteen hands, Rebecca’s head did not top the gentle beast’s withers.
Rebecca stood waiting expectantly for Charlie to lift her into the saddle. He took a deep breath to steady himself and laid his hands gently around her slim waist. She set one hand on the saddle, the other on Charlie’s shoulder. "Ready?" She nodded and with that, he lifted her gracefully into the saddle.
She settled herself in and flicked her skirt to adjust it to lie comfortably.
Charlie stepped away and ducked under his own mount’s neck. In the moment when he was hidden from her gaze, he pulled his handkerchief out and wiped his sweating forehead and upper lip. The heat that consumed his body was not from the weather –– that was cool and crisp. The woman beside him, on the other hand……
Rebecca took a moment to put on well-worn riding gloves. "Come on, Colonel. Let me show you my land. It is the most beautiful place in the world, I do believe."
"Well, then, Miss Rebecca, which way would you like to go?"
"That is entirely up to you, Colonel. I am at your leisure."
Then, ma'am shall we make a circuit? I have seen the northern and eastern parts of your property, but I am sure there is more." Charlie nudged his horse into an easy walk down the carriageway. Rebecca joined him and they rode down the carriageway to the road knee to knee, chatting as their horses walked along companionably.
"There is much more. I am sure you will find all kinds of things that will interest you."
"I am sure I will. I have lived with horses for many years, ma'am. From what I have seen, this is the most beautiful horse country I have ever been in."
"Well, as I said before, sir. I have never been out of Virginia, but I cannot imagine a more beautiful place."
"I thought that Buck County, Pennsylvania, where I did my basic training for the army, was spectacular horse country - rolling hills, sweeping pastures and plenty of water, but there is something about this place that is truly special. I have not been able to decide if it is the colors, the mountains like lavender ghosts in the west or something as intangible as the quality of the air that makes this place so unique."
"Indeed. There is just something very special about the land here. My father always told me when I was growing up, that first, God created Virginia. Then he did everything else."
Charlie chuckled at that conceit. "Well, ma'am, perhaps he was right. All I know is that even with the neglect of the past years, this is the loveliest land I have ever seen. The only thing I miss is the smell of the ocean."