“I’m sure you’re right, but I just don’t see how people are going to let a piece of paper tell them how they should behave in their own homes, on their own land.”

“Gantly’s lost a thousand dollars on that slave who got away. When the planters see that the bill will keep their slaves from running, and keep the North at bay, they’ll support me. I’ll make them understand how profitable it is to have content and happy slaves, like me. Then they’ll listen.”

I heft the laundry basket on my hip and climb the stairs. Least I know Red’s runaway escaped. Don’t sound like Red ran with him, but if he did, Lord, help us all.

Chapter 23

Henry

I wait for her at the top of the hill by the horse enclosure, where I know she likes to come at night when her work is done. I’m bathed and shaved and I feel like a fool, but I also don’t care. I’ve been pacing about and I’m getting myself worked up, so I sit in the tall grass, and pull out the strip of her dress that she used to tie up my hand. I run my fingers along it, rubbing it like it was my Ireland stone, as I stare out toward the Blue Ridge Mountains silhouetted in the distance.

Above the noises of the night, I hear her come up the hill toward me and I jump up and wave, so to not frighten her. She startles and stops walking, so I call out to her. I try to make my voice sound casual, but I’m nervous and I know she can hear it.

“Why you lying here in the grass, Mister Taylor?”

I tuck her dress strip back into my pocket and walk down to her, trying to settle my nerves. “It’s Henry, remember?”

“I remember.”

We regard one another, both unsure. I want her to trust me and I guess she’s waiting to see if I’m trustworthy.

“You come up here for something special?” she asks.

“It seemed like a fine night,” I say. “I thought I’d come up here and watch the stars.”

She laughs. Above us the stars lay hidden behind a blanket of clouds with a pale half-moon shining through like a dull lantern. All around us the cicadas shout their mating call, sounding like a thousand desperate souls.

We both know I’ve placed myself here to meet her.

I crook my elbow for her to take my arm and she hesitates. And I wait. I hold myself back from reaching for her. The time drags on until finally, finally she slips her hand into the crook of my elbow. I lead her along the top of the hill, neither of us speaking. I walk with her as if I’m courting her, and I guess I am. I know plenty wouldn’t approve, but with Sarah next to me I feel like I could fly.

I borrowed a blanket from Red, and I’ve spread it out on the grass to sit on.