She felt baffled, upset to realize that she had been at Raoul's mercy until Daniel arrived.
“Why did you help me after what I did to you?”
Raoul moved away from her but watched her like a hawk before it swoops upon its prey. “Because my nephew is a coward and not man enough for you, though I'm certain he believes he is a lover without equal. And he would have ruined your beauty with his beatings and broken your spirit. A spirit I do admire. But I wish for your love, Lianne. One day you shall be mine alone.”
“I'm going to marry Daniel Flanders.”
Raoul looked amused. “We shall see,” he said.
Lianne didn't see the point of saying more to him. Just knowing he watched her, sensing his passion for her, unnerved her. She ran from the room into the vestibule where the maskers still caroused.
They jostled her about, and she wanted to scream in frustration and terror at the polite conversation with Raoul de Lovis, a man she had blinded. A man who still desired her. But suddenly Daniel was beside her, holding her trembling body against his and kissing her greedily in front of everyone.
She clung to him. Her eyes met his, and she wept huge tears. “Take me to Green Meadows,” she whispered. “Take me home.”
“Just a moment,” Daniel said and walked over to Philippe who stood sulkily among his friends. He tapped him on the shoulder. “I believe I owe you this.”
With a mighty jab Daniel swung and landed a punch on Philippe's jaw which caused him to fall amid the merrymakers. The bystanders screamed, but no one dared to attack Daniel whose face was a mask of black anger. They had heard about his Irish temper from Philippe who now lay in a heap on the floor.
“I'm a man who always pays my debts,” he said, smiling at Philippe's friends. Then he grabbed Lianne's hand and they returned to Green Meadows.
When Lianne awoke the next morning, she lay snug in Daniel's arms, listening to the beats of his heart. She lifted her head and smiled into his eyes. “Soon I shall waken every morning beside you, in this bed,” she said and kissed his lips.
Daniel returned her kiss, but his eyes held anguish, something she had been aware of during their return trip to Green Meadows and even while they made love. But she had been in such an emotional state, she hadn't questioned him. Now she did.
Holding her tight against him, he didn't know how to respond to her, but he had to tell her the truth. “Lianne, when I spoke to Amelie last night she told me she was pregnant with my child. The news came as a complete shock. I didn't want to tell you after you had seen Philippe. You were so upset.”
Her heart skipped a beat. She heard the torment in his voice. She clutched the bedsheets when he stopped speaking and wondered if he'd continue.
“We can't be married now, Lianne.”
She shuddered at how hard he sounded. She wanted to be brave and tell him she understood, but she didn't. She loved him so much that the pain on his face transferred to her and became a physical ache inside her breast.
“You must stay with Amelie. That's what you're saying.”
He clutched her naked shoulders with his strong hands. “Hell, if I could divorce her, I would, but God, she's my wife and deserves my consideration ⦠at least until the baby's born. By that time perhaps I can make her see reason and obtain a divorce.”
Lianne shook her head. “She'll never agree to a divorce, Daniel.”
How well he knew that! For the first time in years, he wanted to do the right thing, to accept responsibility for his actions and not run off as he had done after Amelie's accident. He loved Lianne, loved their daughter. Yet he must make up for his past actions where his wife was concerned, now that she carried his child. But he hoped Amelie would grant the divorce once the baby was born.
“I can't give you up, Lianne. I won't.” Despite his words, a look of wretchedness spread across his face. Lianne realized how much he loved her, and inwardly she admitted she needed him; even if he belonged to Amelie in name, she belonged to him in spirit.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I won't let you, darling. If I have to live on the fringes of your life, I will.”
She didn't deserve such a life, but until he was free, if ever, she would wait for him.
That afternoon Amelie arrived home from Belle Riviere with her Uncle Raoul. Just as they entered the house, Daniel and Lianne were leaving. Raoul bowed low and kissed Lianne's hand, seeming to delight in her squeamishness. Immediately she took her hand back to be met by Amelie's sarcastic comment.
“Has my husband's mistress enjoyed her last night at Green Meadows?”
Daniel wished to rip the expensive blue bonnet from her head. Instead he only smiled. “You're truly charming, Amelie.” He held Lianne around the waist. “I just want you to know that I intend to do the right thing by you. I owe you for my past misdeeds, but I won't live life without Lianne.” He felt her body trembling under his arm.
Amelie's face reddened in outrage. “I'll be laughed at in New Orleans, once everyone knows about this. How dare you keep this operatic singer as your mistress while I sit here, having your baby!”
“I shall treat you with respect, the highest regard, Amelie. Never doubt that. But I want you and your uncle,” he nodded to Raoul, “to realize the situation. My heart belongs to Lianne and I intend to eventually pursue a divorce from you and hope you decide to agree.”
“Duels have been fought for less than this, Daniel,” came Raoul's cool and mellifluous voice.
Daniel quirked an eyebrow. “If you wish to duel, I have no objection.”
Raoul laughed, not so much at Daniel's bravery but at the shocked and worried look which crossed Lianne's beautiful face. He shook his head. “No, I don't think I'll risk it. The family honor has been besmirched enough and killing you wouldn't help it.”
Daniel began to move Lianne past Amelie, but Amelie's voice rang out clear and strong in the vestibule, not seeing Dera coming down the stairs with the baby in her arms, followed by Maria. “I'm mistress of Green Meadows, Lianne, something you'll never be.”
“How very strange,” Dera said when she reached the bottom step. “I thought I was mistress here.”
Amelie had the good sense to flush. She turned and ran the length of the vestibule and out of the French doors until she was on the veranda. How everyone infuriated her!
“Amelie.”
She heard Claude's voice and watched as he withdrew from behind a stone column. She threw herself headlong into his arms, not thinking they might be observed.
“Claude, hold me.”
Claude hadn't expected this display of affection, and he pulled her toward him and rained kisses across her pretty face. Then he captured the pink softness of her mouth and nearly drowned with desire for her. She pushed slightly away and sighed.
“I've missed you so much,” she whispered.
He groaned. Life had been hell for him since that day she found him with Ella in the barn. Amelie's shocked face stayed in his mind and wouldn't leave. She was all he thought of, and he knew she was the only woman he'd ever love. But he knew he must make a life for himself, and this is what he had come to tell her.
“I've forgiven you, Claude. But everything will be all right now. Of course Daniel thinks he wants a divorce, but I won't give it to him. I'm having a baby, you know.” She almost bit her tongue as that fact slipped out.
Claude's eyes darkened and the pupils seemed to blend with the white. “Is it my baby?” he asked her.
Amelie knew her pregnancy wouldn't have remained a secret for long anyway, but she hadn't wanted to tell him now out of fear that he might think the child was his. She worried Claude might tell Daniel about their love affair, and out of honor, Daniel would be forced to sell Claude. Then she'd have no one. She hoped she could win Claude back and have him return to her as a lover. Life would be so much simpler when she had Daniel, Claude and their child.
“This child belongs to my husband.”
“You're lying.”
“I'm not!”
Grabbing her arms, his fingers dug through the material and hurt her, “I think the baby is mine. Tell me so, Amelie!”
“Whether it is or isn't makes no difference. What can you give me, give our child? You're a slave.”
“We can run away to the Caribbean. My father is a wealthy man. He'll help us.”
“Stop dreaming! I'd like to think you can accept this situation. I won't give up my position as Daniel's wife, and I can't crawl back to Belle Riviere because Philippe would kill me before he'd take me and a slave's child into his home. But, Claude, we can be together here. No one need ever learn the truth. The chances of my having a light-skinned baby are very strong. I could still be Daniel's wife and you could still come to me at night. Wouldn't you like that, Claude?”
“No, I can't. I love you, but you've made your choice. I make mine.” He looked into her hopeful eyes. “I will marry Ella. It's time I lived for myself.” Her agonized scream of denial barely penetrated as he strode from the veranda back to the slave quarters.
Amelie attempted to run after him, but an unyielding grip clamped her upper arm. “Are you such a fool?” Raoul rasped beside her. “You would spoil everything for the love of a slave?”
She turned wide anguished eyes to him. “I do love him! I do!”
Raoul slapped her and immediately silenced her except for her small cries of pain. He positioned her in front of him and held her at arm's length. He sneered his disgust.
“You will do as I say, Amelie. From this day forth, you'll stay away from the slave and pretend to be a docile, dutiful wife. You will have Daniel come to care for you. When the child is born, he'll accept it as his own.” He worried a moment about the baby's skin color, but he would make certain Amelie presented a white child to Daniel. Even if he had to pay a woman for her newborn child, or steal one. It didn't matter to him as long as the baby was white.
Daniel would be a father to this child and he'd make certain that he didn't obtain a divorce from Amelie. As long as Daniel was married and thought himself to be the father of Amelie's child, he, Raoul, could pursue Lianne. Raoul intended to have Lianne eventually. And no one would thwart his plans. No one. Not even the simpering, half-hysterical woman he claimed as his niece.
“Do you understand me?” he said harshly and shook her until she replied that she did.
“Good.” His eyes glittered with satisfaction. “Now let's go inside and secure your position as Daniel's wife.”
Amelie walked trance-like into the house. Her body trembled with fear of Raoul and the loss of Claude. When she was finally in her room, she threw herself on the bed and cried. She was so alone, so unloved.
Lianne and Daniel arrived at the one-story house he owned in New Orleans on Saint Anne Street. After he helped Maria and the baby from the carriage and made certain they were settled in their new rooms, he found Lianne on the patio. A full moon shone upon her, and the night jasmine perfumed the air. She appeared so lovely and forlorn in the moonlightâhe loved her so much, and this was all he could offer her at the moment. She was finally his mistress, but he felt no happiness in the fact. He wanted her as his wife.
His hands caressed her shoulders. “You'll catch a chill, my love.”
She shivered in the cool night air. “I'll be all right, Daniel. I always am.”
“I know that.” Turning her into his arms, he studied her face. Never in his life had he seen a more beautiful one, but he noticed something in her eyes and he wasn't certain he liked it. “Tell me what's on your mind.”
She offered him a small smile. “I've been thinking about us, and though I'll love you always and will be here for you, I can't wait here and be idle until you come for me. I'd be in Chloe's position.”
Daniel immediately understood. “You wish to sing at the opera.”
Lianne nodded. “I was quite good if I recall.”
He tilted her chin and looked deeply into the catlike eyes. “You have other talents, too, my sweet.”
A giggle escaped her because she realized he wouldn't object if she performed again.
“Just remember, once you're finished at the opera, you perform for me alone afterward,” he said in a silky voice which sent delightful shivers down her spine.
Lifting her into his arms, he carried her inside where he loved her, cherished her as if she were his true wife.
The next day, after Daniel returned to Green Meadows, Lianne thanked Monsieur Tabary, the director of the theater, for giving her another chance to perform.
“You won't leave us again so soon as you did the last time?” he asked good-naturedly.
“No, monsieur, I won't. I shall be with your troupe for some time.”
“Bien.”
He kissed her hand and watched her walk out of the theater. He shook his head in dismay and grimaced as he entered his office. “The mademoiselle was just here,” he told the dark figure who sat behind the desk and blew smoke rings.