Read Online Box Set: The ArringtonTrilogy by Roxane Tepfer Sanford - Free Book Online Page A

learned from Helen that she
was sick again. When Eugenia overheard this, she nearly collapsed
with worry.
    “What’s wrong with the girl? Has she scarlet
fever, typhoid fever?” she said anxiously and pulled her daughters
to her side.
    “No, ma’am. Hattie just gits fevers d’at come
and go. No harm come of it.”
    Eugenia turned pale with fear. “My sister
died from typhoid fever.”
    “Ain’t no one gonna die today,” Helen said,
continuing to sweep the floor.
    “Who knows that kind of diseases your kind
carry!”
    Eugenia flew out of the room with her girls
by her side, apparently fearing they would catch something from
Helen.
    “Guessin’ she don’t know d’at if she gonna
catch somethin’ from our kind , it gonna be Masta who’d be
givin’ it to her,” she mumbled under her breath, apparently
forgetting I was in the room as she swept the floor, seeming to be
consumed with her own thoughts. Helen often talked to herself,
never fearing who might overhear.
     
    Church was unbelievably stuffy and hot for so
early in the morning. The Montgomery’s were there to greet us, and
it was really the first time it occurred to me that we were now
related by marriage.
    Eugenia took her seat beside Daddy, and I
found myself at the end of the pew, as far away from the Norton
sisters as I could sit. Perry and Myrna Montgomery sat behind us,
along with his parents.
    All eyes were on Eugenia, as this was the
first time we were all out in public together as the new Arrington family. Some of the single women, daughters and widows of
rich plantation owners, seemed obviously disappointed with Daddy’s
new status as a married man. Pretty women who had batted their long
lashes at him and pined for his attention from afar now sat sullen
and uninterested.
    Eugenia sat proudly beside Daddy, her head
high, her expression confident and dignified. When the procession
began, she stood like a queen beside her king, while I felt as
insignificant as a peasant, but only until I began to sing.
    Eugenia’s eyes widened with surprise and
slowly turned to a steely glare, with her mouth twisted so tight it
drained the color from her thin lips until they were pasty white.
Beatrice and Violet seemed stunned and stared up at Daddy, who
smiled proudly while he sang the hymn along with the
congregation.
    During every hymn, Eugenia subtly shook her
head in displeasure, as if the sound of my voice was piercing her
ears. She appeared so consumed that she didn’t notice her nephew
leaning in from behind, standing so close that I could feel the
heat of his breath move the strands of hair that lay against my
neck. I even thought I felt his finger graze against my shoulder as
he held the book open for himself and his wife. His girls were so
fidgety and the baby so consistently fussy that his wife spent most
of her time as inconspicuously as possible hushing them.
    I turned slightly to look at him. His dark
eyes were fixed on the hymn book, while he stood straight and
strong. An instant daydream filled my thoughts. Perry Montgomery
was kissing me just the way Daddy did Mammy.
    It wasn’t until Reverend Carter began the
Lord’s Prayer that I suddenly snapped to my senses and felt
shamefully full of sin. I didn’t want Eugenia to be right about me.
I didn’t want to be like those girls she mentioned - loose women. I
was going to have to battle my own daydreams and the new grown-up
urges that were rushing through me. Not only to prove Eugenia
wrong, but to protect myself from the kind of pleasure that only
too often, nine months later, took women like my own mummy to their
graves.
    When we returned to Sutton Hall I made myself
scarce, staying far away from Perry Montgomery. I headed to the
cabins to see how Hattie was feeling and to apologize for my
atrocious behavior. I wanted her companionship more than ever.
    Mammy was outside hanging the washing.
    “Is Hattie feeling any better, Mammy?”
    “She is. Go in and see her.”
    Hattie was sitting up in