I will restore the years the locust has eaten—Joel 2:25
FROM A DISTANCE Cameron Hall looked just as Blythe remembered it, as they drew nearer, she saw that the scars left by the war had nearly healed.
The mansion stood serene and stately, peaceful now and proud, the aged bricks turned to rosy-gold by the sun, the fluted white columns rising majestically above the wide green expanse of lawn. It embodied everything about Virginia and Mayfield that Blythe had admired, yet been awed by, loved, and yet still feared. This time is different, she comforted herself. This time, I am returning to become the wife of the master of Cameron Hall.
Blythe turned to Rod, grasped his hand tightly. Looking into her eyes, he smiled at her, a smile full of love, understanding, and pride. Her heart lifted, and all her earlier doubts fled.
Kate Cameron was waiting for them on the porch and embraced Blythe fondly. “Oh, my dear, it’s been so long … too very long. Welcome home, Blythe.”
“Yes, I do feel welcome,” she said gratefully, her heart full. For the first time in her life, she truly felt she had come home.
“There is someone who is looking forward very much to meeting you,” Kate continued as she led the way into the drawing room. “Jonathan is at Montclair now. He and Davida are coming for dinner. I thought you’d like to meet them your first night back, a real family occasion,” then added—“except for Jeff, unfortunately. When will he be here?”
“At the end of the term,” replied Blythe. “He’s at Brookside, you know.”
“Yes, of course. A very fine school.”
In the drawing room Kate seated herself and pulled the wheeled tea cart toward her. “Does Jeff know about Jonathan?”
“Yes, we’ve discussed everything—the people, his relatives, Montclair—”
“I’m so eager to see him. Rod says he is a fine boy.”
“Hardly a boy any more, I’m afraid.” Blythe smiled ruefully. “Nearly sixteen.”
“Sixteen?” Kate shook her head, “It seems impossible. The years do go by so quickly, don’t they? Geoffrey. What a wonderful name! You know what it means, don’t you? Geoffrey means ‘gift of God’.” Kate smiled at Blythe. “Giving him that name was surely an inspiration.”
“In a way,” Blythe conceded. She had chosen Jeff’s name for other reasons, but somehow this unknown one seemed best.
“Is he … is he at all like Malcolm?” Kate asked impulsively. Then she glanced almost apologetically at Rod for bringing up Blythe’s first husband. But Rod seemed oblivious to anything but Blythe, gazing at her as if he thought she might disappear, holding her with the strength of his love.
By way of answer, Blythe asked, “Would you like to see his picture?” Her hands already on the clasp of her handbag, she opened it. “It’s his latest, taken for the school yearbook.”
“Oh my! Yes, indeed!” Kate replied. She took the small photograph Blythe handed her and studied it intently for a moment, then lifted her head. ‘They’re very much alike, Jonathan and Jeff. I think you’ll notice. The same features, the same dark curly hair. Except for the eyes. Jonathan inherited Rose’s eyes, but Jeff has the Montrose look about him, I think.”
Kate poured the tea from the silver pot, then set it down suddenly, her eyes bright with tears. “Oh, I cannot tell you how happy I am! After all this time, here we are together! The Lord is so good, so gracious. I feel so blessed.”
She reached out a hand to each of them. Rod took the hand extended to him, lifted it, and kissed the fingertips.
“So do I, Mama,” he said, his eyes only for Blythe. “So do I.”
“And have you set a date for the wedding yet?” Kate asked as she gave them their cups.
The two exchanged a look, but it was Blythe who replied. “June, when school is over for the year. I—I’ve asked Jeff to give me away.” The color deepened in her cheeks, and beneath the long curve of lashes shadowing her eyes, she gazed shyly at Rod.
With a tiny catch of her heart, Kate realized that this marriage for Blythe was as if the first had never existed. Rod was her first love, her forever love, the love of her womanhood, not the girlish infatuation her “love” for Malcolm Montrose had been, a blind attraction that had been disillusioned and shattered by the man himself.
“I will restore the years the locust has stolen—” Kate quoted to herself. Surely the Lord has done just that for Rod and Blythe, she thought gratefully.