A Hope Beyond by Judith Pella Page A

year ago had been far less evident.
    She smiled, remembering an overheard conversation at church when Mrs. Milford had commented to Mrs. Wilmington that Virginia Adams was quickly being overtaken by her younger sisters and would soon no longer be the belle of the county. Of course, at the time Carolina had presumed the comment to be more intended for fourteen-year-old Georgia Adams, who had made it her goal to break every heart within a fifty-mile radius.
    Thinking of Georgia, Carolina frowned. She saw something distasteful in the way her little sister treated people, but especially in the way she treated men. Georgia seemed to flirt without shame and make promises with her eyes that she could never begin to keep.
    Carolina had tried to talk to her, but Georgia had snapped that if she was going to die young, she would do it only after having lived a full life. Carolina had tried to assure her that she wasn’t going to die young, but Georgia would hear nothing of it. She pointed out that Mary was already gone and Penny lay sick in bed, so she wasn’t about to take any chances.
    If their mother had been given to more days of clarity and sense than to depression and forgetfulness, Carolina knew that Georgia would never have been allowed such behavior. Their father was too overworked and busy to take seriously the gossip about his children. After all, Carolina thought, the gossip about her desire to further her education and play a part in the railroad hadn’t phased Joseph Adams at all. He couldn’t abide gossip and gave it no credence whatsoever.
    “Don’t tell me you’re too busy to bid your big brother good morning,” a voice called from the open bedroom door.
    “York!” Carolina squealed in delight and ran to embrace her favorite brother. Wrapping her arms around him she exclaimed, “I didn’t know you were coming home!”
    He easily lifted her and walked into the room, spinning her around several times before setting her back down. At twenty-two, York Adams cut a dashing figure. Lean and medium in height, his brown-black hair and steely blue eyes resembled that of their father’s. Some said he was the spitting image of a younger Joseph Adams, and York very much liked the idea and took it as a high compliment.
    “Thought I’d surprise everyone. My, but don’t you look all grown up. I swear, if I weren’t your brother, I’d be running after you like everyone else.”
    Carolina waved away his declaration. “No one is running after me.”
    “No one?” York asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. “That’s not what I heard.”
    Carolina smiled. “So, tell me what you heard.”
    “Oh,” he said, looking up at the ceiling, “it will cost you.”
    “Cost me what?” Carolina asked in a tone of disbelief. “York Adams, after years of keeping silent about your misbehaving deeds, I think you owe me plenty.”
    York laughed. “All right, have it your way.” He sat down on the bed and leaned back on his elbows. “Talk in Washington is that you and Hampton Cabot are quite an item.” Carolina blushed and York grinned. “I guess I heard right.”
    “No, you did not. Hampton fancies himself interested in courting me, but I have not given him any indication that I feel the same.”
    “Well, folks said you two were dancing up a storm at the charity ball. I was supposed to be there that night, but President Jackson needed me more at the White House. You do realize he’s not been well?”
    “Father told me,” Carolina said solemnly. “I hope it isn’t serious. I truly like that man.”
    “And he is quite taken with you. Told me to invite you to the White House Christmas party.”
    “What!”
    “It’s true.” York glanced up with a look that suggested he’d not said anything of any consequence whatsoever. “That’s why I’m here.”
    Carolina gasped. “I can’t believe it. He really invited me?”
    “He did indeed. He said that he knew I fancied the company of a particular young woman in