When at last Rachel, white-faced with shock rather than from her recent illness, found words to reply, they were these: “I never heard anything so cold-blooded in my life. No, I will not be a party to it. My own life is over. I shall not ruin James’s. I shall have my child and live quietly here, if you will let me, in whatever disgrace the county decrees. I do not care what people say. I am only sorry if I hurt you, Mama. But I am not sorry that Adam and I loved each other. That I can never be; I can only thank God for it.”

Both were quiet for minutes then, sitting together, each with her own thoughts.

“You know, Mama—when you came in and began to speak about ‘a plan,’ my fear was that you would ask me to get rid of my child somehow with the connivance of Dr. Platt.”

Sarah went to the girl and took her hands, drawing her up from her chair and into her arms. “I could never ask you to do that!”

And so James, without having been allowed to speak for himself, was told later that day that his proposal was refused. That usually gentle and sober young man was thunderstruck when Bruce and Edna spoke with him.

“What right had you to act for me? And without even my knowing what you were doing?”

“But Doreen told us that you—”

“I spoke privately to her. Papa, how dared you! Grandmama, you have all done wrong!”

He strode from the room, ran from the house to the barn where he saddled a horse, and then galloped as fast as he could to Beulah Land.

Sarah was just having a word with Otis in the back yard when James arrived. Dismounting even as he rode around the house, he threw the reins to Otis. “Aunt Sarah, where is Rachel?”

“Why, in her room, James!”

He had gone into the house and through the breezeway when Sarah ran after him. “James! You cannot see her! She is not yet well! What do you want? She is not to be disturbed!”

At the foot of the stairs he turned. “Aunt Sarah, it seems to me I can’t make any more of a mess of things than you all together have already made. I intend to see Rachel alone, and I will thank you, ma’am, to keep out of it until I have had my say!”

As he bounded up the stairs, taking them two and three at a time, Sarah stared after him, not knowing what she should do and not moving to deter him further. But when she heard him pounding his fist on a door and calling, “Rachel!” she climbed the stairs and waited to see what would happen.