It was late when Leon came home that night, and he was sorry to find her waiting for him on the front porch, because he was a little drunk, and he smelled faintly of sex and the perfume of whores he and Bonard had been with. She had fallen asleep waiting but woke when she heard his horse coming along the drive. She called his name. He did not answer but walked his horse around the house to the barn, where one of Plumboy’s young stable hands roused himself from his hay bed and took the bridle reins from his master.

Turning to the house, Leon was surprised to find Sarah beside him and became immediately defensive. “Why are you still up?” he said accusingly.

“I wanted to talk to you.” She put her hand under his arm, and they walked toward the house as she related what had happened that day. They paused on the breezeway and looked out over the moonlit land. He laughed finally. “You have had a day of making mischief,” he said.

“How do you mean?”

“What I say.” He yawned. Under his own sweetish sweat smell she caught the odor of his whores and his drinking, as she had so many times before; and she said nothing about it, as she had not so many times before. Yawning again, he began to laugh. “Sarah, Sarah! There are times I wish you were more like Aunt Nell, leaving people alone and complaining about the ways of the Almighty. Just don’t drive Roscoe away. Overseers are hard to find, good ones anyway. Don’t expect me to go to the fields with the hands every day and count the hoes every night. Whatever you do—and you’ll do it—remember Beulah Land needs Roscoe. Maybe more than he needs us.”

“Leon, what do you mean? Leon!” He had gone ahead of her and was climbing the stairs without a light.

11

Having tested each other’s mettle, both Sarah and Roscoe drew back, were careful to behave casually when they met and to keep the key low when they dealt together, as they were required by circumstance to do several times every day. It was a busy summer, and there were always problems and decisions, but neither she nor he allowed himself to show any emotion to the other.