Letters and Love

Chapter Eight: Noah

With great reluctance, Mrs. Burns allowed herself to be pulled away from the doorway. I gave the ladies a respectful nod as I passed them. It was a relief to step out into the sunshine.

Behind me, I heard Mrs. Burns say, "Mr. Collins! What have you to say for yourself? How can you assist such a man, knowing what he has done? Do you have no care for my daughter's suffering?"

Shaking my head, I walked away from the general store, though I didn't know where to go. It seemed nothing had changed. Rollin' conversation with them, the substance of which I still didn't know, had done nothing to improve my shattered reputation. I'd thought that Mrs. Royal had been friendly before, but she had— No, I couldn't think ill of her. Women were outnumbered in the territory and in our town, so she would not have wanted to quarrel with her friend.

"Mr. Coleman!" the woman herself called out behind me. "Wait a moment! Please."

Surprised by the request, I turned and waited for Mrs. Royal to approach. "I'm sorry," she said as she reached me. She glanced over her shoulder as if to make sure she had not been followed. "Mary is...well, there is no reasoning with her right now. If I'd known what she intended, I would not have come with her."

Any lingering feelings of annoyance toward her vanished. "You're not to blame for any of this. I understand why Mrs. Burns is uncomfortable with me, even if she does believe a misunderstanding."

"She doesn't really need anything at the store," Mrs. Royal blurted out. "We were having a chat, and her son came in to tell her that you had come into town. Then, she insisted she had to go to the general store and that I had to come with her. I tried to talk her out of it, to wait until later on, but she wouldn't listen to me."

So the woman had sought me out for a public confrontation. Why? Just to remind everyone of what had happened? To further ruin me? I breathed out. "I understand why she is upset," I said, being mostly honest. "If the story were correct, she would be right to be furious with me. Heck, I'd be furious if I were in her position. I just hope that when she is not so angry, I will be able to reason with her and make her see the truth."

Though I was beginning to think that would take a miracle!

Mrs. Royal peered at me, and a slight smile curved her lips. "You're a good man," she said with a nod. "I knew Mr. Rollin would not vouch for you without being certain you were innocent of all suspicion, but I haven't seen you be anything but respectful to the Burns' for all their proclamation that you're the devil incarnate."

Before I could express my appreciation, someone slammed their shoulder into me and I stumbled forward a step. "Is this person bothering you, ma'am?" Eli Jones, the blacksmith, demanded, stepping to be between me and the woman.

"No, he is not," Mrs. Royal said, her eyes narrowing into a glare. "What gave you the idea that he was? I'll thank you not to interrupt a private conversation, Mr. Jones."

"Are you sure? Maybe you haven't heard about what he—"

"I have heard plenty of gossip and speculation from the members of this town these past few weeks," she interrupted, her tone sharpening. "Has someone stepped forward with proof that Mr. Coleman has done anything wrong?"

Jones' neck flushed a deep red. "Miss Annie isn't a liar! She—"

"When it comes to 'she said, he said' matters, and their accounts are wildly different, someone is lying," Mrs. Royal ruthlessly cut him off from continuing his statement. "If you do not have proof to give or an eyewitness to point me to, I see no reason to entertain any further speculation.My goodness! And people think women are the gossips! From what I have seen, men are even worse about spreading stories!"