She was wonderful, he told himself; and he had never been so glad to leave anyone as he was to leave her on the morning of the second day. She walked with him to the landing, and just before he went aboard the sloop that would carry him to Savannah, said, “Tell Sarah—tell Aunt Pea—anything you like, but nothing that will hurt them. Goodbye, Leon.” She took his face in her hands and kissed him, there in the bright winter sunlight, not caring who saw them. “It was I who sent the broadsheet to Aunt Pea. I was so close, I missed you all and hoped that she would send someone to see me. Thank God it was you and not Judge Truebody!” Laughing, she walked away without turning to wave, although he stood watching her until she disappeared. He went aboard the boat, as thankful to be rid of her as he had been to have her. She was too much for him. He almost wept with relief, thinking how it would be to see Sarah again, and his occasional, complaisant, undemanding whores.

6

Deborah was dead before Sarah’s letter arrived at Broughton Street telling her aunt that her mother-in-law was “ill with pneumonia and we fear for her.” Sarah urged her to do whatever she could to hasten Leon’s return home. Penelope sent Ichabod to the City Hotel with an invitation to Bonard to sup with her that evening. They and Judge Truebody were just finishing their evening meal when Leon returned from Rice Mill Wharf where his sloop had put in. Not having known just when to expect him, Penelope saw his arrival as providential.

She told him of his mother’s illness, and after consulting together, they decided to set off by stagecoach the following morning. Penelope was hopeful of being some use to her old friend. She knew at any rate that she could offer counsel and support to the younger women of the household. When the men took early leave, Penelope and Clarice set about choosing clothes for the journey and the visit. Ricey finished cleaning the dining room and kitchen, while Uncle Joshua waited for his mistress to come back downstairs so that he might tell her how well he intended to care for things on Broughton Street during her absence. He sat on a side chair in the dining room, his large, wrinkled hands folded on his lap and his gray head nodding on his shoulders. He had turned the lamp down low. It was seldom now that he ventured above the ground floor, because the stairs were hard on his rheumatism, particularly during the damp winter months. Penelope’s old cat Prudence was curled asleep in the side chair by Uncle Joshua.

The travelers did not learn of Deborah’s death until they arrived at the post office in Highboro. Nell had sent Felix to meet every coach, even before Leon could possibly have taken one.