Spoils of Eden by Linda Lee Chaikin Read Free Book Online Page A

had commented, although Ambrose and Noelani were not actually her blood uncle and aunt. They were Eastons, which meant that Ambrose was Rafe’s blood uncle, while Townsend was Eden’s. Eden had wondered if she would ever move to the plantation house.
    Then, when she’d turned fifteen, Grandfather Ainsworth, without advance notice, sent for her by carriage and brought her to Kea Lani as a rightful member of the prestigious Derrington family.
    Eden had never resented those early years with Ambrose and Noelani, for they’d been happy ones. She loved them as fully as any Derrington and, in some cases, perhaps even more. It was through Noelani that shed learned to love the native Hawaiian people and to understand their Polynesian culture. And Ambrose,
dear Ambrose
, had brought her to faith in Christ and taught her to appreciate the missionary endeavors that were so much on his heart.
    After returning to Kea Lani, Eden had settled into the comfortable life of being a wealthy Derrington, receiving her higher education along with Candace and Zachary, and moving among the elite families of the islands and the influential planters and members of the Hawaiian monarchy. Through Great-aunt Nora, who was a friend of the royal family and especially of the present queen, Liliuokalani, she attended dinners and balls at Iolani Palace in Honolulu, and met dignitaries and ambassadors from England and America.
    “I’m on my way to Hawaiiana, Uncle Ambrose, so I can’t stay long,” she said as they entered the front door. She explained the expected return of her grandfather on the afternoon steamer, then said, “Zachary is concerned for Candace. Oliver P. Hunnewell is in the party that voyaged from San Francisco with Ainsworth.”
    “Oh he is, is he? Zachary does well to be concerned for Candace. No doubt your grandfather wishes the marriage to take place between her and Oliver this year.”
    “Is there any way you can convince him that she’s better off marrying Keno?”
    “No, but I will use our most powerful resource—the matter will go on my prayer list. Candace asked me to speak to Ainsworth before he went to Washington D.C. Unfortunately, he doesn’t see the need for her to marry any man other than the Hunnewell boy. Ainsworth’s a fine man, but when his mind’s made up on a matter, he can’t—
or won’t—be
swayed. I’ve little doubt, though, that Keno, while lacking in this world’s treasures, would be the better choice for Candace.”
    Eden stood on the woven palm fiber rug. It was stained blue-green. The rattan furniture throughout the room was padded with soft, indigo cushions, and on the wall hung one large painting that always made her smile: a replica of a fox hunt in Tudor England, with lords and ladies wearing massive white wigs. Though out of place in a Hawaiian bungalow, it had hung there since her childhood.
    On a small stand under the painting were woven baskets of coconuts and bananas, and next to these were a fire-darkened coffeepot that had seen many years of use and a certain brown-stained mug that Ambrose refused to yield for a chinaware tea cup from Shanghai. On a wooden table was a collection of his papers and books, an inkhorn and pen, and a worn leather Bible smudged with yellowing margins. Everything was old, but cherished because of memories of blessings and prayers answered, and verses that had comforted and warned. Yes,
this
was home to her. These things were more valuable than Kea Lani’s thick French carpets, mahogany furniture engraved with pineapples, fine damask divans, Vienna chandelier, and expensive figurines from Europe.
    Ambrose sat at his desk, and Eden noticed for the first time that his breathing appeared to trouble him. For a moment she forgot about Candace and her grandfather. She remembered how Ambrose had hoped to turn the church over to the Hawaiians and retire, but there was no one willing to take his place as its busy lay-pastor, and certainly no one as spiritually