Love in Three-Quarter Time Read Online Free PDF

face she had witnessed while peeking through the banister to spy on Gingersnap twirling across the marble floor of their grand foyer in Prince George County.
    But those days had passed. They must seize the moment. “Try that again with a Yorkshire accent. Broaden those vowels. Remember, it’s dancing with a clear ‘a’ sound, not ‘doncing’ as so many pronounce it. Say, ‘I always find pleasure in dancing,’” Patience demonstrated.
    Constance repeated in a reasonable facsimile of their mother’s speech.
    â€œâ€™ey up! I think thou ’ave it. Aye, with t’ wee practice. In’t that so?” Patience tossed out more Yorkshire dialect.
    â€œI ‘wun’t’ take it that far, or she’d think me a shepherdess for certain.”
    The room grew quiet.
    â€œPatience.” Constance’s voice fell to a whisper.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œI don’t think we’ll ever succeed in Richmond.”
    â€œI know. I’ve thought that as well.”
    Constance lay back against her pillow. “Could we ever convince Mama to move?”
    â€œI don’t know. Maybe if we found friends elsewhere. Goodness knows we have few enough here.” Aunt Serena made sure they didn’t starve, but she did no more. She invited them to dinner once a month but never with anyone else present and never ever on a holiday.
    â€œI hope so. I hope I can do this, Patience. I fear it’s our last chance for any sort of normal life.”
    Patience could picture the expression on Constance’s face, even in the dark. The twisted, pinched countenance that said the weight of the family pressed upon her slender shoulders like lead. Almost as if she blamed herself. She’d never said as much, but Patience held her suspicions.
    Why? She had no idea. The slaves had been the ones to revolt and run away, causing Papa to collapse of apoplexy on the front steps. By the time the women returned from the river the next morning, it had been too late. And Papa had been the one to cheat and swindle the entire county to cover his gaming debts, leaving them nothing but a poor reputation and a disaster they could never repair.
    Constance had nothing to do with any of it. Perhaps she thought they should have left a note, that if Papa had at least known they were safe and alive when he returned in the predawn hours, then that would have made a difference. But any of them could have done as much, and none of them did. The haunted look in Sissy’s eyes had driven them away in a panic. Perhaps the other slaves had threatened to kill them if they interfered.
    They would never know for sure. Perhaps the system itself was at fault. Or even the God who supposedly created this botched-up world. That night had been horrible, the worst night of their lives.
    But Constance deserved no blame.
    Constance shifted toward Patience again and snickered. “At least we’ll always have Mr. Franklin as a friend. Mr. Franklin and his cow eyes.” Then she burst into laughter.
    â€œShh!” Patience threw a feather pillow at her sister’s head, glad she could still joke. “Cow eyes, indeed.”

CHAPTER 3
    Constance held her valise out the window of the bedroom Mother shared with Felicity. She dared not drop it from her own bedchamber above the parlor. Letting go, she held her breath and uttered a quick prayer as it landed with a thump upon the back lawn. She tiptoed to the top of the stairs and bent down to see if anyone had noticed the disturbance, but Mother and Felicity still sat stitching. Grammy snored nearby in her rocker.
    Returning to her bedroom, Constance took one last glimpse in the mirror and caught sight of her plain brown eyes gazing back. For years she had longed for Felicity’s cornflower blue, or even Patience’s amber hue. Growing up on a plantation surrounded by nearly a hundred dark-eyed servants, hers had always seemed so…common. Once upon a time