Alvah glanced around him to make sure no one was watching and picked up the teacup to examine the stamp on the bottom.
“Humph,” he grunted. “Wedgwood.” He wondered if Wedgwood was in England. Mrs. Durant was from England, he could tell by her accent. He spit out a gob of tobacco juice on the ground next to him; it was probably the last chance he had to do it before the ladies arrived. He never worried about spitting in front of anyone before, but Mrs. Durant might not take kindly to it and she could be caustic. Besides, she had invited him to tea, and although he figured he knew why, he thought it only proper to try to act civil.
Alvah looked around again, squirmed in his chair, and batted away a fly that was hovering over the teacups. His hand clanged into one of the delicate cups and he quickly grabbed it before it fell to the ground and shattered. It was just like the Durants to bring fine china to the woods. Another indication it was time to get out. Things were changing too fast for his liking. Every summer more and more tourists descended on the lake. They arrived by steamboats and stayed at Bennett’s new hotels. Antlers and another called Under the Hemlocks. That made Alvah laugh. He knew what it really meant to sleep under a hemlock, with balsam boughs as a bed. Used to be Alvah would guide a few adventuresome souls like ol’ Murray who came to the Adirondacks to breathe the fresh mountain air and take in a few deer. Now even Murray was gone; he left Osprey complaining of the same tourists that he had attracted to the area with his damned book!
It was no good anymore. The lakes were clogged with steamboats and guideboats, the rivers were flooded because nobody even knew how to carry anymore, and the women were the worst of all. The wilderness was no place for women and their fine china and tea. Give me coffee in a tin cup and I’m fine.
“Alvah, so good of you to join us for afternoon tea.”
Alvah was startled out of his musings as Hannah Durant approached the table that had been set out under a maple for the occasion, Ella following close behind. Alvah remembered his manners and stood up as the ladies found their own seats at the table. He took his hat in his hand and held it by the brim.
“Thanks for invitin’ me Mrs. Doo’Rant, Miss Ella.” He looked in Ella’s direction, blushed and sat down across from her. He put his hat on one knee and the linen napkin from the table on the other.
“Of course, we haven’t been around much this summer and I wanted to catch up with you. You always know what is what around the Raquette,” Mrs. Durant said.
Ella was not her usual animated self, Alvah thought as he cleared his throat. He was not much for small talk and he knew why they had invited him for tea, so he told Mrs. Durant what was on his mind.
“Well, I’ve been off guiding some gentlemen from New Yerk City these past few weeks. But when I got back to Osprey there was your nephew and workcrew buildin’ a cabin. Seemed as though he was takin’ advantage of me in my absence.”
He glanced up at Miss Molineaux as she came and put a tray of small yellow cakes and a jar of honey in front of him along with a teapot, sugar bowl and creamer.
“No biscuits or sandwiches Margaret?” Hannah looked down at Louise’s cakes unsure of what they were.
“No.” Margaret glared at Ella, “The provisions are low due to all the company that’s been here recently. There is no flour left. Louise made cornbread instead.”
“Johnnycakes! Louise makes the best.” Alvah said.
“Yes, of course she does.” Hannah tried to mask her displeasure. She had no idea what Louise had concocted but she did not like the sound of it — at all. “If it makes you happy, Alvah, all the better.”
“Louise’s cornbread is famous with the crew here,” Ella offered as she poured tea for Alvah and then her mother before pouring a cup for herself. Hannah shot Ella a look that said, why do you even know this?
Ella refrained from offering the hovering Margaret any tea, or a seat. She waited to see if her mother would and hoped she wouldn’t. Margaret took the hint and left the party.
“Well, Alvah, I’m so glad then that we could offer you cornbread instead of our usual pastries. This isn’t exactly Ranelagh but we do our best!” Hannah put milk in her teacup and using the silver teaspoon delicately stirred the beverage front to back, slowly, and then took a sip.
Ella rolled her eyes as Alvah dug into his piece of cornbread ignoring Mrs. Durant. As if he would know about what they served at a tea garden in London. Ella examined Alvah’s hands while he took a draw on his tea. They were the hands of a man that worked hard: calloused and stained black. He had taken the time to wash them she could tell, even cleaned under his fingernails. But the stains were so deeply embedded into his fingerprint they would not wash off.
“Back to the small infraction at Osprey,” Mrs. Durant approached the subject now that Alvah had brought it up.
“Infraction ma’am?” Alvah took a slug of his tea and used the linen to wipe his mouth of the dribble of honey that clung to his beard.
“What I’m referring to is the altercation between you and my nephew Charles. I’m very sorry to hear about this. We consider you a good friend Alvah and we would hate to see this argument between you and Charles go any further.”
“Well, that would be easy then. You just tell that nephew of yours that I’m not leavin’ anytime soon. He thinks he can offer me a hundred dollars and I’ll just vacate that land and set up camp somewheres else. Osprey’s mine fair and square, Murray left it to me.”
“We understand that, Alvah, don’t we, Ella?”
Ella took a sip of her tea and set the cup down on its saucer. This was her cue; she had been given instructions as to what she had to say.
“Allah, I know you’re unhappy with the way things are changing here at Raquette,” she said.
“You bet I am! Why these half-wits from New Yerk and especially Boston, they come up here with their new weaponry and thinks theys gonna shoot them a deer or a duck and they don’t even know how to load a gun much less handle one. And I knows you can understand that Ella, cos from what I hear you know your way around a gun,” he said.
Ella blushed at his compliment and continued with her prescribed script. “Well then, wouldn’t you like to move to the interior, say near the chain of lakes, where it’s more quiet? Your clients know how to find you. And the hotels are always looking for guides like you to lend themselves out to the clientele. You’ll not lose business if you move.”
“I personally believe Charles has not offered enough for what he wants from you Alvah,” Mrs. Durant piped in. “How does three hundred sound? And William will offer some of our crew to help you move your belongings and build a new cabin in the woods wherever you land.”
Ella shot her mother a look. What was she doing? That was not part of the deal they had arranged, and she knew her father would not like it either. William had told her that Papa had ordered him to New York City as soon as possible to sign papers to become President of the railroad company.
“Deal,” Alvah said.
“Wonderful,” said Hannah. She beamed at Ella.
“Make sure you put that money in the bank as soon as you get it, Alvah,” Ella said to him.
“Never,” he grunted. “I been to a bank before. I went up to the teller and gave him my twenty dollars and waited by the door to see what would happen to it. When all the sudden a man comes into the bank goes up to that very teller and takes out my twenty dollars!”
Ella waited to see what advice Hannah would offer to Alvah about banking etiquette, but Hannah looked confounded by the man.
He stood up from his chair. “Ladies, it was nice to have tea with you both. I must get goin’ now. I have a client waitin’ on me at Prospect House. I best get back to Osprey to pack up my things and when I get back from this excursion, you can tell Charles I’ll be expecting payment and I’ll talk to William about his assistance when I get back.”
“I’m so glad we could come to an understanding, Alvah,” Hannah purred as she lifted her hand in the air for Alvah to take into his own.
Alvah didn’t take her hand in his own, just nodded at the ladies, put his hat back on his head and walked away.
William took the path he knew through the woods to the foxes’ den he discovered last spring, wondering if a family was still there. It was under the roots of a large maple, a perfect spot to raise kits. The tree was perched precariously on the edge of the ravine. The roots, like gnarled hands, were grasping a large rock that was wedged underneath and protruding out of the stream bank.
The family of foxes had made their den between the roots and the rock. He sat down under a fir on the other side of the gorge and watched the entrance, a favorite pastime when he needed to think and reminisce. A flash of red fur blazed through the green forest and caught William’s attention. He turned toward the foxes’ den just in time to catch the tail of a fox entering. Once again he observed the tangled mass of tree roots clinging to the rock and earth. How, William wondered, could he mimic this natural design on the buildings in Pine Knot? And then he thought about what Isaac had told him; that saplings were pliable and he used them to frame the arched roof of the longhouse.
William picked up a small branch. He could bend it to his liking, in any shape he wanted. It gave him the sense of control he had been longing for since he came to America.
“Will, mother wants to speak with you.” William was startled to see Ella sitting next to him. He had fallen asleep under the tree. She was gently rubbing his shoulders.
“What’s this about?” William was confused. What had he been doing before Ella came to get him? He was near the foxes’ den. His favorite spot.
“Mother wants to speak with you.” Ella stood up.
“What about?” He stood up and dusted the needles and duff off his trousers.
“She has come up with a way to get Alvah to vacate Osprey, making it free and clear for cousin Charles to build,” Ella said. “She needs you.”
They walked side-by-side back to Pine Knot.
It was Ella that broke the awkward silence between them. “What does father know?” she finally asked.
“About you and Poultney you mean?” William replied.
“Yes.”
“Nothing, I told him nothing. Poultney’s a rake Ella, you know that, don’t you?”
Ella shrugged. “It’s an epidemic here in America. To hide the truth from others.”
“Perhaps you’re right. Although Poultney is not as conniving as some men I’ve met here in America, including our father. I see it all the time at the clubs in New York. Small white lies told constantly: stock tips to ensure one’s investments don’t go under; small transgressions sidestepped with a flimsy excuse; all for keeping on top of the game, as if the honor of one’s family name is inconsequential. Only the gain matters and as long as that is for the benefit of the man or his fortune, then the end justifies the means,” William said.
“I’m not aware of all the games that men play at the clubs you attend in New York. I’m aware of Poultney’s tendency to flirt with the women,” Ella said. “But he has been my only confidante here in America when no one else will do. Papa will never understand that. He has never tried to understand me.”
“You’re very good at playing the martyr, Ella. I hardly blame our father for being upset with you. You have never followed his bidding on anything, including finding a suitable match for marriage.”
“But I love Poultney! Oh I know he comes across as wily to you but I know him better. We share a passion for the written word and see the world as an endless opportunity to explore. Surely you of all people understand that? If only he would take me with him to England,” she sighed. “I know I would make him a decent wife. And Will,” she stopped to face him, “thank you. For not telling father what happened.”
“I wouldn’t risk it. He’s ill. It might have made him worse. And besides, we look out for each other,” William said. He refrained from telling her any more about Poultney’s true intentions. Poor Ella, would she ever find, let alone marry, a man capable of managing her passions?
“Speaking of which, what are you going to do about Louise?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t be coy with me, you know what I mean. You are leading her on to think you might marry one day. You are just lucky she is not pregnant.”
William let out a sigh. “I’ve thought it through. I’ve found a spot not too far from here where we can make a home together. Away from gossiping neighbors.”
“You think you can marry Louise?”
“Why not? Louise has more integrity than anyone I know.”
“Have you lost your mind? Father will never allow it.”
“He doesn’t have to know.”
“How will you keep it from him then?”
“By the time I marry her father will be long gone and no one will care.”
Ella shook her head. “You always were an idealist, William, but this, I don’t know, this is different. This isn’t like you trying to attract the attention of a courtier. This is keeping a secret that could ruin you if it became known.”
“Enough ballyragging. Leave my life to me,” William said.
Hannah was having tea with Margaret in her cabin when William and Ella arrived.
“Ella, Margaret, I want to speak with William in private,” she said.
“Did Ella tell you what I negotiated with Alvah?” she asked him after they left.
“Some of it yes,” William said.
“Did she tell you that I told him you would help him build a new cabin in the woods somewhere?”
“No, but have you told father this yet? He wants me to head to New York City as soon as possible.”
“I will deal with your father. New York can wait. You have greater concerns here, right now. You need to deal with Louise.”
William was shocked his mother knew. And ashamed. What excuse could he offer to her? Not that she needed one.
“Don’t look at me that way, William, I’m not an idiot.”
“Mother, I can take care of Louise.”
“No, you can’t. Not the way you need to anyway. You have your head in the clouds over that girl. You really think you can keep a mistress hidden away here at Pine Knot? Your father will be livid if he finds out she lives here now. He’ll cut you off.”
“It is not that strange to have a servant staying to watch over the camp, our neighbors do it as well,” William said.
“That is where you are wrong dear boy. Most of our friends hire only married women to staff their kitchens. And don’t think for one minute they are not talking about you behind your back! Mrs. Stott told me a few of their friends inquired about the ‘lovely young Indian girl staying at the Durant hunting cabin’.”
William cringed at his mother’s mocking tone. “I think you are overreacting.”
“And now that we have all of these tourists coming up from the city and staying at the hotels nearby it only takes one glance through a spy glass for any of them to gather the gossip needed to scandalize the family name.”
“I’m a gentleman, I will not abandon her, I plan to provide for her.”
“No,” Hannah said flatly. “That won’t do. Louise needs to go back to her family and never set foot at Pine Knot again.”
“But—”
“Listen to me.” She leaned forward and put her hands on his. “No one can ever know you are having an affair with an Indian girl. You will do as I say. I’ve told Alvah you’ll help him build a cabin in the woods. Take whatever workmen you need, and if you need finished lumber get it from your cousin’s mill at Prospect House. Alvah wants to build near Eighth Lake, I believe that is where Louise is from? Go with him, bring our workmen, and Louise and Ike. Take Louise home and say good-bye to her. I can only give you a short period of time before your father will wonder what you’re up to. Alvah’s cabin is the only diversion I could think of. He’ll get suspicious if you stay too long here after we leave. I can give you a month.”