Savage Surrender by Natasha Peters

Author:Natasha Peters
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Historical Romance, Nineteenth Century, Fiction, pirate, General
ISBN: 9780441751570
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 1977-05-14T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Mistress of La Rêve

La Rêve, the Fournier plantation, stood on a knoll overlooking the Mississippi River halfway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We made the trip by boat, because in late summer the roads were ribbons of mire, virtually impassable.

Jacques stood at my side as we rounded the last bend in the river and I had my first glimpse of the sprawling white house with its encircling balcony and white colonnades. A regiment of gigantic live oak trees flanked the drive from the river road that led to the house. I could see a large group of Negroes gathered on the wharf at the foot of the slope. Some of them were waving their arms and shouting. Our boatman tooted his whistle in reply.

"They know about us, Jacques," I said, surprised.

"I decided to send word ahead," he said. "I—I wanted to prepare Mother. She'll be upset enough as it is."

The knot in my stomach tightened. I felt nervous and apprehensive about meeting his family, more nervous for Jacques than for myself. He was only beginning to realize what marriage to me meant. I squeezed his hand reassuringly, but received no answering pressure. He was still so deeply ashamed and embarrassed that he could hardly bring himself to look at me.

Our wedding night had been a farce, a travesty. We were both unnerved by our encounter with Garth at the Cathedral, and I attributed Jacques' shaking hands and stilted manner to his dislike of scenes. We decided to spend our first night together at the Hotel Marengo, away from the prying eyes and loose tongues of the family servants who lived at the Fournier town house on Rue St. Anne. I dismissed Savannah and George for the night. I saw that someone had sent up champagne.

"What a lovely idea, Jacques," I exclaimed. "You are always so thoughtful. Will you open it, please?"

"I didn't order champagne," he said dully. "Perhaps the management—"

As we toasted each other I thought of Garth. What was it he had said on the long ago wedding night at the Chateau: "The object of champagne in the bridal chamber is to alleviate embarrassment, calm the nerves, and dull the pain."

I nearly choked on the wine. But Garth couldn't have known about the marriage! He had seemed genuinely surprised when he met us at the Cathedral. When he discovered that I had left the house on Rue St. Charles, he probably guessed that I had checked into a hotel. He came to my room at the Marengo with champagne to appease me, but I wasn't in my room. He asked where I might have gone, and someone must have told him about the Cathedral. No doubt Savannah had left word with her old friends on the staff, just in case Garth appeared.

And now, ironically, I was drinking his champagne with my new husband. I emptied my glass and held it out to Jacques for more. Oh, I hated Garth McClelland, but I had beaten him at his own game.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.