by L A Morgan
“Then, tell me.”
The woman looked down and said in a small voice, “I can’t tell you now.”
Steve drew his arms away from her to move back behind the wheel. He started up the engine without saying a word and drove on.
The French Quarter was a clamorous splash of color and excitement, but Maria’s private masquerade had taken away all of her fun.
CHAPTER 10
Later that evening, Maria walked along the balcony, lost in despondent thoughts. Should she have told Steve the truth while she had the chance? It would have been such a relief to get the charade over with, even if he had been furious with her.
Steve had a right to know, but there was that promise she had made to Marla. Her roommate had made her swear that she would give her explanation only to Tienne DuPont. It was important that her refusal to marry him should be delivered in just the correct way.
If he was only half as formidable as Steve, Maria could understand the necessity for this action. The last thing that Marla wanted was for her ex-fiancé to fly up to Illinois to confront her. That was why she had taken such pains in telling Mara exactly what she should say. The tie had to be broken irrevocably. There was no room for misunderstanding.
Marla could never have foreseen that her friend would fall in love with Tienne’ s brother or imagined the consequences that would ensue. An alternate plan had never ever been considered. If only Tienne DuPont had not left for Japan before she had gotten a chance to tell him!
Maria slid her fingers along the top of the balcony railing as she walked back toward her room, letting the cool dampness repress the hot emotions that warred within her. She stopped in front of the lighted doors to look out at the starlit river. Suddenly, an object came hurtling up at her to land on the floor by her feet.
Maria looked down to see what it was. There on the floor beside her was a long-stemmed white rose. She stooped down to pick it up. Dewdrops still glistened on its petals.
She wondered who had thrown it there. Holding the flower in front of her, Maria leaned over the railing to look down into the garden. The dim accent lights revealed the dark form of a man.
“Who’s there?” she called out.
“It’s not Romeo,” came back an all-too-familiar voice.
“Steve! What are you doing there?”
“I was walking in the garden and I saw you silhouetted against the windows.”
His voice was soft and mild, very different from the impersonal tones he had taken with her after their confrontation in the car.
“It’s a nice evening,” Maria called back.
“The gods of Mardi Gras have provided fair weather for the celebration.”
“I thought it was a Christian festival created to celebrate the days before Lent.”
“Yes, but you have to admit it’s rather primitive, like some pagan orgy.”
“Well, I did see some girls pulling up their blouses just to get beads.”
“Don’t forget the drunken revelry. It’s not the most respectable party in the world, but it’s ours and we look forward to it.”
“And on Tuesday, it will all end,” Maria replied sadly, knowing that this was a double entendre.
“Fat Tuesday will be a momentous day for all of us. By the way, I got tickets to take you to a formal costume ball in the Quarter tomorrow night. That should give you a more refined impression of what Mardi Gras is all about.”
“Won’t your brother be back by then?”
“I’m not sure. My parents will be flyin’ back from France some time tomorrow.”
“You should stop them, Steve,” Maria said with a rush of emotion. “You should stop all of the plans before it’s too late.”
“It’s already too late. The wheels are in motion.”
Maria strained to see Steve’s face through the darkness, but it was useless.
“This can’t go on,” she said. “From the way your brother has chosen not to communicate with me at all, you must see that he’s not interested in marrying anyone right now.”
“That isn’t what he told me when I spoke with him before.”
“He called?”
“It doesn’t matter who called whom. The important thing is that Tienne DuPont plans to marry you as arranged on Tuesday. If you had any second thoughts about the arrangement, you should have shared them with me when we spoke about it earlier.”
“I couldn’t,” Maria sadly replied.
“You wouldn’t would be more like it. I offered you a choice, and you chose my brother, and that’s the way it’s going to be, Maria. There will be no more discussion about it.”
“But, you don’t understand!”
“Not another word and I mean it! We’ve said all that we have to about this.”
Maria felt a coldness pervade her heart. All of her chances to rectify the situation with Steve were gone. Now, he refused to hear her.
“Why does life have to be so complicated?” she mused in a sorrowful voice.
“That’s just the way it is, darlin’, and sometimes, we help it along ourselves by not being straightforward.”
“I wish I could start all over again from the time I first met you on the levee.”
“I did make a rather dashin’ entrance; didn’t I?” Steve said with a soft chuckle. “Why don’t you come down here and join me. We can talk better without all this air between us.”
“Would you rather come up here?”
“I think it might prove to be dangerous, bein’ so close to you and your bedroom at the same time.”
Maria could only nod to this. After she went inside, she placed the rose on her pillow. Then, she put on her jacket before she went down to the ground floor. The garden looked dark after the brilliance of the front hall. She looked around, but she did not see Steve.
“Over here!” he called from behind a vine-covered arbor.
Maria made her way along the path until she spotted his dim outline, sitting on a marble bench beneath the arbor. She sat down beside him, careful to leave enough distance between them so that there would be no physical contact. It was necessary that she should not give him the impression that she was there for anything more than conversation.
There was a short period during which neither of them spoke, and then, Steve said, “what was your life like, back in Illinois?”
“Not very exciting,” Maria replied, choosing her words with care. “I spent a lot of time in the library.”
“You must like to read.”
“I do.”
“Do you live at home with your parents?”
“No. They live in the same town, but I have my own apartment.”
“All by yourself?”
“I have a roommate.”
“Tell me about your parents.”
Maria settled back into a more relaxed position and said, “My father is a retired postal worker, and my mother does tailoring from the house. That’s how I learned to sew.”
“Do you make your own clothes?”
“Sometimes, if I can’t find or afford what I want in the stores.”
“Is that how you got involved with modelin’?”
“No. Actually, that was through my roommate. She taught me everything I know about it.”
Maria tried to stay close to partial truths.
“Then, she’s a model, too?”
“Yes.”
“Does she have auburn hair like you?”
“My roommate is a blonde.”
“Let’s get back to your parents. What are they like?”
“Nice, uncomplicated people. They’re not wealthy, but they always got me everything I wanted.”
“So, you were a spoiled child.”
“Not at all! I never asked them for anything extravagant, just a few simple things here and there. Of course, they did pay for my college education.”
“They sound like good people. What are their names?”
“Doris and Harold. Tell me more about your parents.”
> “My father was always a businessman. Our company has been in the family for generations. My mother was a New Orleans socialite. She also comes from an old family. My father fell in love with her when she was crowned queen of the Mardi Gras. It’s always been a special time for the DuPonts.”
“How romantic. Was your father the king?”
“Only of his own private world. When he saw my mother up on that float, he knew that she was the one he’d been waitin’ for. He went out and got a suit of armor, like the ones used by the knights of old. When it was time for the grand ball, he rode a horse right through the ballroom and on up the steps to the throne where my mother was sittin’.
“She had never seen him before, but when he put up his visor and told her that he had come for her, she smiled. Then he picked her up to put her on the horse beside him. They nearly brought down the room with applause as they rode out together.”
“What a wonderful story! It’s almost like a fairy tale.”
Maria held her fists clenched tightly against her in spine-tingling pleasure as she pictured the romantic event Steve had described. He glanced at her and smiled briefly.
“Now, you know where I get my impetuous nature.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Maria assured him. “I believe that spontaneity is very important in keeping us happy. If we all did only what was expected of us in some dull routine, we’d stagnate and grow old.”
“An interestin’ philosophy. Have you done any impetuous things lately, Maria?”
“I came to Mardi Gras,” she breathed out in suppressed emotion.
“I suppose my own spontaneity just took over after that.”
“There’s no denying it.”
“Are you mad that I brought you to the house?”
“Brought me? You dragged me!”
“Was I too brutal?”
“You’re a barbarian!” Maria exclaimed, but she could not keep the smile out of her voice.
“I guess you hate me for that,” the man replied.
There was no way to interpret his tone.
“I’ve never hated you, Steve, and I was what I said I was. You’ve treated me like a queen, at least, most of the time. I’ve never felt luxury in my life.”
“Do you like it?”
“Who wouldn’t? I only wish my parents could . . .”
Maria quickly stopped herself from completing this thought. She was afraid that Steve might think she was looking for an invitation. When he changed the subject, she felt relieved.
“Do you like to travel?” he asked.
“Very much, not that I . . .” Maria quickly corrected to add, “I’ve had my fill of it.”
The man ignored the statement, reading an odd interpretation into her sentence.
“Sometimes, I have to go away on business for long periods of time,” he said.
“That must be very exciting for you.”
“Not really. It’s kind of lonely, stayin’ in strange hotels havin’ all of my meals in restaurants. The excitement wore years ago.”
“It might be better if you had someone to go with you.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinkin’ lately.”
“Have you ever thought about getting married?”
Steve turned to look at Maria, but she could not see his expression through the gloom beneath the arbor.
“Are you still checkin’ on my commitment level?” he asked.
“I didn’t mean that. I mean, I wasn’t thinking about that at all.” Maria nervously replied. “You told me that you weren’t interested in forming a commitment.”
“I said that I wouldn’t be forced into a commitment, and I also told you that the subject was closed.”
Maria looked away in chagrin and made no reply.
After a prolonged silence, Steve asked, “Would you like to walk along the river?”
“Maybe I should be getting back to my room.”
“It’s still early. Wait a while.”
“Okay.”
They both stood up and walked out of the garden and onto the lawn. The dewy grass dampened Maria’s shoes, but she did not care as long as she had this time with Steve. When she had suggested that she should go inside, it was only to see if the man really wanted her company. She needed to be reassured that her presence was desired.
“It’s time for us to walk along the river bank.”
Maria did not reply to this suggestion. Instead, she turned to walk toward the Mississippi. Steve immediately joined her.
The large trees near the water looked like ghostly sentinels against the dim light of the stars. An occasional breeze would ruffle their branches, giving them a sense of sentient mobility.
As they walked along, Maria said, “This is the sort of place you could never take for granted.”
“That’s hard for me to say since I’ve lived here all my life.”
“How long do your parents stay here at the house when they come back from France?”
“A couple months.”
Why did they decide to move away?”
“I guess they felt it was time to pass on the reins to the next generation. After my father retired, I think he and my mother were lookin’ for a change. They might have wanted to be alone together again.”
“They must be very happy.”
“Like all couples, they have their ups and downs. I believe they’re happier than most.”
Steve stopped to pick up a pebble and toss it into the river.
“Do you have a boat?” Maria asked.
“Two, in the boathouse. The runabout, which is mainly used for fishin, and the other is a good-sized cabin cruiser.”
“Have you ever taken it all the way up the Mississippi?”
“Only as far as St. Louis. We’ve gone out on the Gulf a number of times.”
“How nice that must been!”
Steve appeared to be thoughtful. He made no response.
“Does it take long to get to the Gulf?”
When the man did not give her an answer, Maria repeated the question.
“What?” he said at last, sounding a bit confused at having been taken out of his reverie.
“Never mind,” Maria softly replied. “It doesn’t matter.”
Steve reached up to unexpectedly button her jacket.
“It’s getting colder,” he said.
Maria was surprised by the intimate contact of his hands. It brought a sudden warmth to her body and made her heart pound. When he was done, he let his hands linger on her waist.
“Why are we talkin’ about all of this nonsense when we could be talkin’ about us?” he suddenly asked.
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Maria answered in confusion.
“My dear, sweet Maria, you are such a child when it comes to dealin’ with men.”
Steve placed his hands on her shoulders and continued, “This isn’t high school any more. Why did you agree to walk out here with me when you know how I feel about you?”
“I . . . I thought we were just going to talk.”
“I haven’t just talked with a woman since I was sixteen, at least, not to anyone as desirable as you.”
“You know we can’t do anything about this, Steve.”
“I’m sorry to say that I probably do. You’re not like the other women I’ve known.”
“What were they like?”
“More worldly. Impetuous, in a different way. Phonies, mostly.”
“I could be a phony, too.”
“Not in essentials.”
“How would you know?”
‘I’ve been around a lot more than you, Maria. As a businessman, I’ve had to learn to see through people. As a lover, I’ve learned the hard way.”
“What do you see in me?”
Steve raised his hand to run his thumb down the side of her cheek before moving back to her shoulder.
In a soft voice, he said, “You’re pure and innocent, like a blossom that has just opened its petals t
o the sun for the first time. You’re like an angel who’s in danger of havin’ her wings singed as she’s drawn to temptation.”
Maria was startled by the beauty of the man’s words. They made her tingle with joy and, also, fear, the fear that she might not mind having her wings singed at all.
“Let’s go back to the house,” said Steve.
He did not wait for Maria to consent. After taking her hand in his, he led her back across the lawn. The garden seemed oddly empty when they passed through it, even though it had been filled with the spirit of their conversation only a short while ago.
Steve guided Maria right back to the door of her bedroom. He stopped there to turn and look at her.
“It’s hard to say goodnight,” he whispered.
Amazing herself, Maria replied, “I know.”
The man leaned forward as if he was going to kiss her, and then, instead, he raised her left hand to his lips and kissed the sapphire ring on her finger. The shimmer of its light was reflected in his eyes.
“Goodnight, butterfly,” he said sadly.
“Goodnight, sweet prince,” she whispered back.
Steve heaved out a long breath, and after giving her one long, penetrating look, he released her hand and walked away. Maria continued to stand in the doorway, watching him until he was gone. At that point, she walked into her room and shut the door. Long after she went to bed, she remained awake. Every now and then, she would turn to inhale the fragrance of the rose that she had left on her pillow.
CHAPTER 11
Maria was awakened by the feel of a hand gently caressing her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Steve looking down at her.
“As fair at rest as she is at play,” he said in a sort voice.
Maria smiled lazily up at him.
“Good morning,” she said, happy to have him near her. “Have I overslept?”
“Just a touch. I wouldn’t have awakened you except for the fact that I have to go into the office today, and there’s somethin’ I wanted to show you before I left.”
Maria sat up and asked, “What is it?”
When Steve’s gaze moved downward to take in the filmy folds of her negligee, she suddenly felt self-conscious. He chuckled softly when she pulled the sheet up around her chest.
