Theo gently refused. She wished to go by herself, and she certainly did not want Venus. She saw more than enough of her maid as it was. Joseph had flown into a passion when Theo had suggested getting rid of her. And, in truth, she had been unable to give any good reason. Venus was remarkably deft and efficient and prompt to answer a call: too prompt. Theo was convinced that the girl listened at doors and hid herself in corners, she moved so swiftly and quietly.

Theo longed for Minerva and the happy days of wild free rides across Manhattan Island. She might have ridden here; there was a large stable of horses—but not alone! Oh, never! A decorous trot, accompanied by one of the grooms, was all that was permissible, and that was considered eccentric for a married woman.

'Order a carriage if you wish to go somewhere,' said Joseph carelessly.

Theo had as yet seen nothing of the country except Clifton, and she longed more than ever for a sight of the sea. But it turned out that that was not so simple. The horses needed rest, or the coachman was drunk, or a spoke had broken in one of the wheels; the latter a simple matter to fix, thought Theo, in her first innocence, until she discovered that an excess of service often resulted in nothing being done. If the wheelwright was ailing, as he usually was, then the wheel must wait until he felt better. No one else would dream of touching it.

How different it will be when we are in our own home, thought Theo. Yet here, too, lay cause for disquiet. Though she had not yet seen the Oaks, she had now heard enough about the place to realize that it was uninhabitable in its present state.

'Then let us start at once to make it habitable,' she urged Joseph. 'If the roof leaks, it can be mended. If, as you say, the house is too small, we can build a wing.'

'To be sure,' he answered readily. 'But little can be done during the summer. The fever months will soon begin. In a week or two we shall move southward to Sullivan's Island.'

'With the family?' she asked in a small voice.

'Of course with the family'. Joseph stared; and she said no more.

Today, having momentarily escaped them, Theo walked swiftly down the plantation road toward the river, hurrying lest she should be caught by any more delays or admonitions. Once out of sight of the house, she gathered her muslin skirts high and ran in an access of freedom and released spirits. Her yellow chip straw hat flopped crazily about her face. Panting, she laughed at herself and ran the faster, plunging off the road and down a shady bypath into the forest. She reached an open clearing beneath a grove of longleaf pines, sank down on the moss, and fanned her face with her hat.