Aaron overruled Natalie's objections. 'I admire your sense of propriety, yet these circumstances are exceptional,' he said, and Natalie finally allowed that they were. So she brushed Theo's hair and braided it into tight auburn plaits, straightened the bedclothes, pulling them up to her chin so that no inch of the high-necked linen nightdress might show. Then she stationed herself in a far comer of the room with Aaron.

Joseph, when summoned, shuffled to the bedside and stood there uncomfortably, trying to think of something to say.

Theo was unexpectedly touched by the anxiety in his face. 'I'm much better, you know, except for this stupid ankle.'

The gentleness of her voice flustered him anew. She seemed so young, lying there between her long braids, her pale little face upturned and defenseless.

'I'm sorry you're going tomorrow. I shall miss you very much,' she added, from an impulse of pure kindness, and realized as she said it that she did feel more kindly toward him than she ever had.

His heavy face flushed. 'I'll come back soon, soon as ever I can. Will you be glad to sec me?'

She smiled up at him. 'Of course, very glad'. That was true, too. She would surely be glad to see him when the time came. It was a long way off: three months or more—an eternity.

'We'll write each other often?' he insisted.

'Yes, indeed we will.'

He moved uneasily. Her soft pink mouth tempted him, as did the innocent relaxation of her body, outlined, despite Natalie's carc, by the bedclothes. He glanced nervously toward Aaron and Natalie. They were chatting in low tones, politely unconcerned, but his courage failed him.

He bent and kissed Theo on her cool cheek. 'Good-bye, Theo.'

She touched his shoulder lightly. 'Good-bye, Joseph'. And as that seemed inadequate and he still looked unhappy and dissatisfied, she added, 'I shall count the days until your first letter.'

With this he had to be content. No one could expect vehement emotion in the face of sickness. Neither of them suspected that the pattern for their whole marital life had been set. Theodosia had discovered the power of weakness and illness, the release they gave from intolerable circumstance, and though she fought this consciously, never recognizing the evasion, she was to be many times defeated.

Joseph, his Gullah servants, and his fine carriage sailed next day on the Veronica for Charleston. While the vessel awaited the tide's turn, he and Aaron shared a flagon of Trent wine at the Tontine Coffee House, and the latter rehearsed his prospective son-in-law's instructions.

'Communicate with me in the cipher I gave you if you wish to write indiscreetly. I need not tell you to guard your tongue: you are not overtalkative. But do not be niggardly with your letters, either to me or to Theo.'