A Lover's Legacy by Veronica Parker

Author:Veronica Parker
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-58571-510-7
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2006-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Justin sent Marcus to pick Marcia up at seven o’clock that evening for the party. With her hair up and a fresh manicure, she emerged from the mansion in a black strapless dress and matching heels.

Though Marcia tried to keep her mind focused on making a good impression on Justin’s friends and family, for Anna’s sake, she couldn’t help thinking of what Walter had told her about Beatrice. Why had the marriage been so short-lived? Maybe Justin had been married more than two times. How many more women had there been in his life? Maybe, and this was what frightened her, Justin wasn’t really in love with Anna.

Marcus helped her into the car and as they headed out of the French Quarter, she sighed. Anna and Justin say they knew they were meant for one another in just two months, so maybe love at first sight really does happen. But as she thought about them, a nagging worry returned. Justin St. Jean was not being completely honest with her sister. Though she had less than a week, Marcia resolved to make sure that her sister wasn’t throwing her life and dreams away for a man who wasn’t completely trustworthy or deserving.

As the car made its way toward Vacherie, Marcia leaned forward.

“I hear the River Road has many beautiful plantation homes.”

“It sure does, ma’am. Do you know anything about plantation life?”

“Only what I’ve seen in Gone with the Wind.”

Marcus laughed. “That was Georgia, but some things are the same. White folks had fancy parties in grand ballrooms and sat on the porch sipping mint juleps while slaves did the work that needed to get done. And they worked hard, especially the field hands who worked from sun up to sun down with little food and not much else.”

“I find it hard to believe that slave owners would treat people so badly. If slaves were property, didn’t they want to keep them around for as long as possible?” Marcia asked.

“Slaves weren’t as expensive as you might think. Planting sugar and tobacco and harvesting it was real back-breaking work, especially in the summertime in New Orleans. You’re lucky you’re here in the fall, ‘cause in the summer it’s too much even to lift a glass of water to your mouth, the heat and humidity is so bad. Try to imagine laboring all day in horrible heat and humidity with nothing to keep you going except some vegetables you’ve grown for yourself. No, ma’am, slaves didn’t live long at all. You were an old man at thirty and most died young. But the slave owner’s mentality was to buy you young, work you till you died in ten, twelve years, and then get another to replace you. It was cheaper that way, in their minds, than feeding and clothing you properly.”

As Marcus took the next exit, he nodded toward the Mississippi River.

“Old Man River here was a big draw for planters. They built their homes on the road that ran parallel to the river, the Great River Road we’re on right now.

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