It was always a special occasion when they had tea, which was expensive, and today Louise was marking her sister’s return. She had the teapot and cups on the table when Delphine emerged. ‘What happened?’
‘We had lots of parties and good times, and on the whole Margaret behaved herself fairly well.’ Delphine sat down and took the cup handed to her. ‘But when our visit was extended she seemed to go mad. It was as if she felt she’d been reprieved from losing the freedom that we’d both been enjoying.’
‘What happened?’
‘She started bribing a servant to bring her bottles of wine, just because Mrs Hammond doesn’t approve of intoxicants, and we drank it at night in our room. It was a poor wine and I hardly touched it, but Margaret would often end up vomiting.’
‘Didn’t that cure her?’
‘No! Once at a party she became publicly tipsy on champagne. Her mother was furious! Naturally the woman no longer thought me a good influence and declared I was responsible for Margaret’s behaviour, because I’d influenced her with my French ways. But there’s more. Margaret had started flirting as if she’d never seen a young man before. Although previously she had done plenty of slipping away at parties for kisses, she started climbing out of the window at night to keep trysts with one or another of them.’
‘Did you go too?’
‘Yes, but not through choice. I’m never going to damage my chances with a rich man by losing my virginity through a fumbling by a stupid youth in the dark!’ Delphine tossed her head in contempt at the idea. ‘I was afraid Margaret would allow too many liberties if I wasn’t hovering around, but perhaps she did in the end. Yesterday Mrs Hammond found her in the hay with one of the grooms. It was the last straw.’
Louise raised her eyebrows. ‘What a disastrous turn of events!’
‘Margaret hates me now as much as her mother, because she believes I told on her for being in the hayloft. But I didn’t know where she was!’ Then she shrugged cheerfully. ‘But I don’t care. Tomorrow evening will be my first at a Rousselot ball! Are my new evening gowns here?’
‘They were delivered yesterday.’
‘Just in time!’ Delphine rushed into the bedroom to try them on.
The sisters settled down to a routine that was singularly peaceful after all the past traumas. Richard arranged a trip to his rural home to let them see the full glory of the autumn trees that made breathtaking canopies of scarlet and crimson, bronze and gold and brilliant yellow. Louise, her face upturned in wonder as she wandered under the branches, raised her hands to catch the occasional leaf that came fluttering down. She wished so much that Charles could have been with her. They’d never had the chance to share an American autumn together. So much had slipped away from them.
Delphine was not in attendance at all the Rousselot balls. Turns had to be taken with other female instructors, but as winter began to take hold, she noticed gleefully that when an extra one was needed, she was picked out more often than anyone else. Whenever she caught sight of her reflection in the ballroom mirrors she was in full agreement with those who complimented her by saying she was as light as thistledown when she glided about the floor.
It was a grey damp day when Louise suggested to Miss Sullivan that a single, richly coloured hat should be displayed on a stand in the window where the small panes prevented a clear vision to passers-by.
‘A lighted candle-lamp placed on either side of it from opening to closing time would make it eye-catching to those going by in carriages as well as those on foot,’ she concluded.
Miss Sullivan made a show of uncertainty as she always did before agreeing to Louise’s latest idea. ‘Perhaps you’re right. But I leave the choice of hat and its arrangement to you.’
Louise changed the display hat every day before opening time, always choosing those in such sumptuous hues as Pompeian red, various shades of vivid green, King’s Blue and acid yellows. The duller the day the more brilliant the hat. She added the swirl of a gauze stole around the base of the hat-stand or a cluster of ribbons and sometimes a large ostrich feather to enhance the hat itself. Carriages did draw up, increasing custom, especially on very wet days when customers were few and far between.
Early one morning, bright with winter sunshine, she was dressing the window when she saw Daniel go by in a hackney carriage from the direction of the harbour. He did not glance towards the shop and over two weeks went by with no other sign of him.
She was beginning to think he must have returned to Boston again when a shadow fell across her early one morning as she set a purple velvet hat on its stand. Glancing up, she saw Daniel standing there, looking hard at her through the window. Then he turned and stepped back into the carriage that was waiting for him. She realized that he had been unable to resist seeing her just once before his departure from the city.
There was light snow in time for Christmas and the street cleaners turned their brooms to keeping the streets and sidewalks clear. On New Year’s Eve Louise dined with other guests at Richard’s house and Delphine was at Monsieur Rousselot’s for a grand ball. It was an hour before the old year gave way to 1795 when Delphine happened to glance towards some late arrivals at the ballroom. Her attention was caught by a young man, still with a boyish look about him, who had arrived with a party of friends about his own age. His fashionably cut hair was the colour of ripe wheat and, although he was only moderately good-looking, his straight, thin nose and strong chin came from a good bone formation, while his skin held a suntan that could only have come from some distant clime. He had a confident, self-assured air and must have been entirely aware of his fine physique as he stood, tall and square, to await Monsieur Rousselot, who was already crossing the room at his customary elegant pace to greet him and his companions.
Delphine, trapped with a partner in a lively minuet, had to keep turning away from the newcomer as they followed the intricate steps. Then, suddenly, as she rotated back once again, he turned his head and saw her, the glitter of impatience fading from his deep-lidded, very blue eyes. He raised his eyebrows appreciatively, showing that the sight of her was an unexpected pleasure. It was in that instant she fell in love.
Louise was home first and in bed when Delphine came bursting into the apartment, her face flushed and excited.
‘I’ve so much to tell you!’ she exclaimed, bouncing down on to the bed. ‘I’ve met the man I’m going to marry! Not that he knows it yet!’ She laughed in her exhilaration. ‘His name is Pieter van Dorne and he’s Dutch, but his home is in Banda in the Spice Islands. Where are they? I didn’t dare show my ignorance.’
‘The Dutch East Indies.’
‘Oh, yes, I remember. He’s twenty-two and his family has a nutmeg plantation. He’s been here six months, learning all there is to know about the import side of the family business, which will be his one day.’
‘How did you hear all this about him?’
‘From Pieter himself during the one spare dance I had in the whole evening. And after he followed me home! When I left the ball with that miserable old chaperone I didn’t know that he intended to come after me in his carriage. As soon I had entered the house he rushed in after me. We’ve been talking in the hall for nearly an hour. He wanted to know all about me, as I did about him.’ She bounced up and down on the bed again. ‘Say you’re deliriously happy for me!’
‘I’ll have to meet him first,’ Louise pointed out with a smile.
‘So you shall. He wants to call on you next Sunday afternoon.’ She leaned forward, supporting her weight on her hands, her face eager. ‘On the day we landed here in New York, do you remember how that sack of nutmegs split on the wharf just in front of us? I think it was an omen! Do you recall what you said?’
Louise shook her head. ‘It can’t have been anything important.’
‘But as I see it now, it was! You quoted an old saying about the wealth of Dutch plantation owners in the East Indies, because nutmegs are in such demand worldwide.’
‘Oh, yes. When a nut
meg tree is shaken, golden guilders fall from it.’
‘That’s right! It means that not only is Pieter the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen, but he’s as rich as Midas! A combination that I’ve always wanted.’
Louise sat up, linking her hands around her drawn-up knees. ‘So, you’re in love for the first time,’ she observed dryly. ‘Is it with the man or his money?’
‘Don’t tease! The man, of course! But it’s wonderful to know that he’s rich too. And I’m not just in love for the first time. It will be for ever!’
Louise thought to herself that, in addition to everything else that Delphine had attributed to him, he was also much travelled and was almost certainly worldly wise, but she would not make any prejudgements. She also knew better than to warn her sister at this point against letting her heart run away with her. Seeing Delphine so dazzled, it could have been herself at the same age after her first meeting with Fernand.
But Pieter van Dorne did not call on Sunday afternoon, through no fault of his own. New York was gripped by a savage blizzard that brought the whole city to a standstill. For three days the snow fell ceaselessly and then as abruptly the sky cleared to an icy, translucent blue and the city stirred into life again as householders and street cleaners shovelled and swept the snow from doorsteps and sidewalks. A message from Pieter confirmed that he would be calling the following Sunday to present himself.
He arrived exactly at the appointed time. Louise met him with a completely open mind and welcomed him to their home.
‘I’m honoured to meet you, Madame de Vailly.’ His Dutch accent was very pleasing, his smile revealed good white teeth, and his expression was interested and animated as he looked about the room with a boyish enthusiasm, taking in every detail. ‘It was lucky that this street of old Dutch houses escaped the fire that once swept through this part of the city. Some ancestors of mine came from Holland to settle in New Amsterdam many years ago. Their surname was the same as mine. Perhaps they lived in this very house!’
‘I’ve often wondered about those who first made a home under this roof.’ Louise shared his interest. ‘That would have been long before it was divided into apartments.’
‘From now on, think of those people as my forebears,’ he suggested exuberantly.
Louise was amused. ‘It would certainly bring them to life in my mind.’
During the afternoon, Pieter volunteered information about his parents, his brother, Jan, who was two years younger than himself, and the family home. It was for Louise’s benefit, Delphine having heard it all before at their first meeting, although she still gave him her rapt attention.
‘Mademoiselle Delphine has told me about the château you both had to leave in such dangerous circumstances,’ he continued. ‘I’m hoping to visit France one day when everything is back to normal. Before the Revolution my father did a great trade in exporting our nutmegs there. I’d like to re-establish it before I go home again.’
‘That could be quite a while yet, with France at war,’ Louise pointed out.
‘I’m in no hurry to leave these shores.’ He looked across at Delphine and they shared a private smile.
Louise took the opportunity to ask him about Banda and the Spice Islands. He responded willingly.
‘Banda itself is a busy little place with ships coming all the time for cargoes of nutmegs and cloves from the various plantations.’ He obviously enjoyed talking about his birthplace. ‘There is a volcano, but it’s been inactive for as long as anybody can remember.’ His voice took on a low, almost caressing note. ‘Exotic flowers bloom everywhere and we have the most wonderful sunsets. All the colours that come with the trees in the American fall are there in the same rich depth, turning the sea to the same hues before the night comes quite suddenly, melting everything to a warm, velvety darkness, with the sky more full of stars than anywhere else on earth.’
A few moments of silence followed. Louise found herself wondering how many times he had cast that spell over women as he conjured up those scenes of beauty with the same soft words. That boyish appearance of his was deceptive. Beneath the surface there was nothing naive about him.
‘You are quite poetic, Mr van Dorne,’ she said.
‘It’s impossible not to be when describing the islands. I believe them to be the most beautiful in the world.’
Louise thought to herself that he must have been asked about his birthplace countless times since coming to this country and was probably genuinely homesick when he spoke of its wonders. ‘Tell us more,’ she requested.
‘Well, I know how much you and Mademoiselle Delphine would like to see the turtles when they’ve just hatched out from the sands of the beach and, tiny though they are, go scurrying towards the sea. As for the island people, they are fine-looking, wear colourful clothes and know how to enjoy themselves. They like to race their long narrow boats, often twenty-six oarsmen in each, and afterwards they dance and sing far into the night.’
‘It sounds like paradise,’ Louise remarked admiringly.
‘It is to me,’ he admitted.
The day ended with Pieter taking them to supper at Belvedere House. As soon as Delphine was home again she turned eagerly to Louise.
‘What do you think? Isn’t he interesting? And fun to be with? Surely all he said made you want to visit the Spice Islands?’
‘I should love to see them,’ Louise agreed sincerely. ‘I’m sure they’re as beautiful as he described.’
‘But it will be a long time before he’ll be going home again,’ Delphine smiled with satisfaction. ‘He has to go to France first.’
Louise regarded her quizzically. ‘Do you mean that spending the rest of your life in the Spice Islands doesn’t appeal to you?’
‘I didn’t say that,’ Delphine declared happily. ‘It’s all far into the future anyway. In the meantime he is enrolling in Monsieur Rousselot’s adult classes for the very latest dances, and I’ll be there to assist.’
‘I suppose Pieter will be at the balls too?’
‘Yes, when I’m there. I’m going to ask Monsieur Rousselot if I can attend them all now that I’m one of his best teachers.’
Delphine put her request to the dancing master next morning, but he refused, saying that she was already allotted more attendances than the other teachers. But she did not tell Louise of his refusal, thinking it would suit her to have some Saturday evenings to do as she pleased. Pieter had already spoken of hoping to see her other than in her sister’s company or at the dancing school.
Her scheme did not work out well at first. She had to make the pretence of going to the Saturday evening balls when she was not required there. Fortunately nobody noticed her slip into one of the practice rooms, where she either danced in front of the mirror for her own benefit or read a book. Her ride home with the chaperone and two other dancing teachers was not queried and so each time she escaped a cold late-night walk in the dark. Then, if Louise happened to ask her about the evening, she was careful to say that Pieter had been unable to come due to some other engagement. In this way she was able to prevent anything untoward coming to light in any later conversation her sister might have with him.
Whenever Pieter took the three of them to the theatre or some other entertainment, it seemed all too familiar to Louise. She was reminded of when Daniel had escorted them both, although her role was now that of chaperone to her sister and she was still not easy in her mind about the Dutchman. Maybe she was just being over-protective, but after so many years it was a habit hard to dispel. She reminded herself that Delphine’s experiences with Margaret in the summer had shown that she knew how to keep level-headed in a difficult situation. What was more, whenever Delphine made up her mind about something, she could be as stubborn as a mule, and keeping herself intact until marriage was the strongest motive in her life.
As soon as Delphine had let Pieter know that on certain Saturday evenings she was only at the dancing school to practice, he swept her into his own social circle at parties where the
people she met were far more exciting to her than any she had met before. He taught her to gamble and she became adept at cards, often winning, but he would foot her losses if her luck ran out. She was always careful never to take too much wine or to let Pieter delay in taking her home, for if Louise suspected, there would be terrible trouble and she could foresee these wonderful evenings coming to an end. She had sworn Pieter to secrecy and he had been only too willing to oblige. She lived for his kisses and caresses, but she was resolved that there should be nothing more before a wedding ring was on her finger.
It was an evening early in April at one of the parties, when gaming was in full swing, that Daniel came from a neighbouring room, where he had been playing cards. He was astonished to see Delphine and looked around for Louise, only to find that she was not there. A short conversation with a friend gave him the information he required, and he took a long look at Pieter van Dorne before he left. Neither she nor Pieter knew that they had been the focus of his attention.
During the interval of a play at the St John’s Theatre, Louise stayed seated in the box, giving Pieter and her sister the chance to stroll the passageways and have a little time to themselves. She had just flicked open her fan against the heat of the candlelights that illumined the stage and the auditorium when the door reopened. She thought they had returned sooner than expected, but as she turned her head she saw it was Daniel who had entered.
‘Good evening to you, Louise.’ He took the chair next to her. ‘I haven’t seen you for quite a while. Last time it was a mere glimpse through the milliner’s window.’ His handsome mouth parted in a grin. ‘With those panes of glass between us there was no danger of my getting another rebuff.’
She ignored his jibe, remembering how he had come to New York during the epidemic. ‘I’ve never thanked you for making a special journey at the time of the yellow fever,’ she said evenly.
He shrugged as if it were nothing. ‘I feared that as virtual newcomers to this country you would underestimate its danger. Since then, of course, I’ve heard from Richard all that happened.’
New World, New Love Page 11
