"If this wedding takes place, I'll probably always be in mourning," Olivia quipped gloomily.
Elyse entered just then, and the women gushed over her costume—a breathtaking creation of blue satin bordered at the shoulders with white fur, the neckline of the beaded bodice dipping just low enough to display her ample cleavage. The smooth skirt was accented with beaded embroidery in iris designs, and she was wearing elbow-length kid gloves, with thick pearl bracelets at each wrist. Her hair was caught high and held with a crusted pearl tiara, curls trailing provocatively to her shoulders.
"You are absolutely gorgeous," Olivia breathed in awe. "Oh, if only Michael weren't so blind."
"Oh, I'm not blind," Michael declared jovially as he joined them. "And if my heart hadn't been stolen by another years ago, I'd have been begging for your hand, Elyse—if I'd thought you would have me." He bestowed a light kiss on her cheek.
"You will have every unmarried man at the party fawning over you,” he added, then dismissed her as he went to inspect the food.
Elyse hoped he had not noticed how she had shivered at his touch. Her face felt warm, and she prayed she was not blushing.
Verena asked sharply, "Well, Michael, where is our guest of honor? Seems to me she'd be hovering around, making sure everything is to her liking. Especially since she's no doubt looking forward to taking over the household," she added to goad Olivia and knew she had succeeded when she saw the flash of disapproval on her cousin's face.
Michael had promised himself not to let Verena get under his skin this night, "Jacie is looking forward to many things, Cousin Verena, the least of which is taking over this house when and if my mother decides she wants her to. As for where she is, I asked her to stay in her room till I send for her. Sudie will take her a tray. I want her to make a grand entrance down the stairway when all the guests have arrived." He turned to his mother to inquire, "Did she like the dress I had sent from Atlanta? And her wedding gown? She was too tired to choose one herself, so I asked the couturiere to make the selections."
"I have no idea. One of the servants took everything up to her." Olivia couldn't care less what Jacie wore, much less whether or not she liked it.
Verena could not resist asking, "Will she be wearing that exquisite necklace you gave her at your other engagement party?"
Michael saw how Verena's eyes were glittering and decided to put her in her place before she went too far. "I'm sure my mother told you Jacie lost it, so why are you wanting to make trouble by bringing it up? Besides, I've already ordered another one made," he added to irritate her.
At that, Olivia cried, "Oh, dear heavens. You spend money like it grows on magnolia trees. I'm going to the parlor and have a glass of sherry for my nerves."
"So am I." Verena was right behind her.
Elyse was suddenly ill at ease to find herself alone with Michael, yet she could not make herself leave him. The precious times when she could be with him would soon come to an end.
"Don't you want sherry for your nerves too?" Michael asked with a soft laugh.
"No. And I apologize for how my mother meddles in your business, especially when you've been so nice to let us stay here as long as we have."
Michael had never had a problem with Elyse but looked forward to her mother leaving. "It's been a pleasure," he said glibly, adding, "but I suppose the two of you will be going back to Charleston soon to find a place of your own."
"I would like that, but Mother hasn't said anything. Would you like us to leave, Michael?" she asked bluntly.
"Well, I—I..." he stammered, taken aback, for he had not expected her frankness, finally recovering to say with equal candor, "I suppose it would be nice to have things get back to normal as soon as possible, and I'm sure you would like to settle down somewhere and think about marriage yourself. You can't do that hiding away here," he added with a wink, pretending jollity.
"Yes, yes, I suppose." She turned away, tears smarting and not wanting him to see. "Maybe I should join the others."
"And I need to see to the barbecuing going on out back. I'll be along soon."
Elyse stood in the hallway and watched as he disappeared into the rear of the house, thinking how devastatingly handsome he was, so elegantly dressed in a blue velvet waistcoat, ruffled white silk shirt, and tight fawn trousers. It made her sick inside to think how, unless a miracle happened, he was lost to her forever.
But miracles did happen, her mother had told her earlier in the day when she had found her crying. Jacie could change her mind, she said, reminding Elyse that Jacie had been acting strange since her return, depressed, as if she were in mourning. And everyone had noticed how delicately Michael treated her, as though she were about to break down any second. There was something going on they did not know about, Verena had decreed suspiciously and had urged Elyse not to give up hope.
But Elyse could feel no hope—only pain.
* * *
Jacie stared glumly at her reflection in the mirror. The gown Michael had bought for her was pretty. Made of lime green taffeta brocade, the skirt had hand-embroidered nosegays sprinkled all over. The sleeves were elbow-length and puffed, and the neckline was straight and modest. A thin satin ribbon was the only adornment at the narrow waist. She wore satin shoes to match.
Sudie had done her hair in high ringlets, caught and held with a cluster of white roses. Then she had stood back to exult over her creation, declaring Jacie the most beautiful woman in the whole world.
But Jacie did not feel beautiful. The truth was, she did not feel anything. Nor did she care about anything. The past refused to leave her, clinging to torture and needle, and she had withdrawn within herself, finding solace only in her memories, refusing to be a part of anything going on around her. She felt as though she were slipping away from reality with no will to resist.
Jacie did not hear the man as he stepped through the window.
She was unaware of his presence until he loomed up behind her in the mirror.
But by then it was too late to scream, for he quickly stuffed the kerchief into her mouth to muffle any sound she might make.
Zach Newton's evil laugh sent rivulets of terror up and down Jacie's spine as she struggled futilely against him while he pulled her arms roughly behind her back to bind her wrists with the rope he had ready. "Well, well, you got all dressed up for me, did you?" he taunted, warm lips against her ear, making sure to speak softly, lest anyone passing by outside the room overhear.
"That was sure nice of you," he went on, "but the fact is, what I want is to have you undressed. I want to see all the delicious morsels you've been dangling in front of me all these years. But we'll have time for that later. Right now I want to get my money and get out of here. Not that I wouldn't like the opportunity to do your pretty-boy fiancé in, but he might scream for his slaves before I got done with him, and they'd love to gang up on me. I don't intend for that to happen. So I'll just be happy knowin' what a kick in the balls it's goin' to give him to find you gone for good, little spitfire."
After binding her ankles as she struggled futily, Zach lowered her to the floor, then glanced about the room wildly, anxiously. The letter had said the other five hundred he had coming would be hidden under a clock, and, with a rush of joy, he saw one on the mantel on the wall opposite. Snatching it up, he breathed in triumph to find the money, as promised. For a time, he had worried it would not be there, afraid he would arrive too late. The letter had said he was to come at once, and he had, only it took time to get all the way from Beaufort, South Carolina, to Red Oakes. And he hadn't expected to see the place all gussied up for a big party, either. But no matter. He had done it. He had his revenge on Michael Blake, and soon he would have his fill of Jacie after wanting her for so long.
He lifted her up and slung her over his shoulder and left as quietly as he had come, all the while with an ache in his loins only right now it was more important to distance himself from Red Oakes as fast as possible.
But he could muster t
he willpower to wait, he told himself with a grin. After all, he intended to keep her for a long, long time.
Maybe forever.
Because she just might prefer being his legal wife to having her neck wrung like a chicken, he cackled out loud to think, which is what he'd do to her if she refused him.
* * *
Olivia was having her third glass of sherry and wondering what was keeping Michael. Darkness was falling, and already servants were lighting the torches lining the driveway. People would be arriving soon, and he should eat his supper but was probably staying away fearing she would nag him about buying another necklace. Either that or he did not want to be around Verena. Well, that was too bad, because she did not know what she would have done without Verena's shoulder to cry on these miserable past weeks. Verena kept saying he would come to his senses, and Olivia wanted to believe that but knew she had to resign herself to the sad reality that it just wasn't going to happen.
Seeing Elyse so downcast, Olivia felt sorry for her. She knew the girl loved Michael, and nothing would have made Olivia happier than to have her for a daughter-in-law.
"So there you are," Verena said with a tiny sneer as Michael appeared. "It's a good thing we didn't wait for you, or the food would have got cold. Yours is, by the way," she added with a curt nod toward the little table that had been set up.
Paying her no mind, Michael said, "I thought Jacie might be here. She's not in her room."
Olivia gave an irritated wave. "Oh, she's probably ignoring you. She acts so strange all the time."
"That's right," Verena chimed in. "I've knocked on her door several times, trying to be friendly, but she didn't answer."
Worriedly, he said, "I used the passkey and unlocked her door, but she's not there."
Olivia's hand flew to her throat at the thought of her son daring to enter a lady's boudoir in such a manner, but Michael had already turned on his heel and left. Reaching for her sherry glass, she murmured, "Maybe it's best he does go ahead and marry the girl before he forgets all manner of decorum."
"Well, she's certainly not going to remind him," Verena sniped.
Michael returned a little while later, visibly shaken. "She's nowhere in the house. I've got the servants searching the grounds. I questioned Sudie, but she hasn't seen her since she took her tray up."
Verena saw how Elyse was glaring at her in warning to stay out of it, but she could not resist. Besides, it made no difference anyway, for she had given up on a miracle happening. "Oh, for heaven's sake, Michael, you're letting yourself get upset over nothing. As your mother said, Jacie is strange. There's no telling where she went. Goodness knows, she might have run away with some man again."
Elyse cried, "Mother, that's a horrible thing to say."
"It's not a nice thing to do, dear," Verena said.
Michael was struggling to hold back his temper as he bit out the warning, "Cousin Verena, I will not have you speak of Jacie that way. As long as you're in my house, you will hold your tongue. I'm fed up with your sarcasm and meddling."
Verena gave her head a haughty toss. "I am here as your mother's guest, not yours. And it's a good thing I've been here to console her, because heaven knows, you seem to be doing your best to send her to an early grave by insisting on bringing a little tart into this family."
Even Olivia gasped at that bold insult, and Michael could contain his ire no longer. "That does it. I'll ask you to leave my house as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made."
"Michael, no," Olivia protested. "She didn't mean it. We're all upset and on edge because of the tension you've brought into this house. Now Jacie has done something else to tear our nerves up, disappearing right before guests are supposed to start arriving. She has no consideration. And you're taking it out on your family. I won't have it. Oh dear." She set down her glass and crossed her hands over her bosom. "I think I'm having an attack." She fell back against the sofa and began to take deep, rapid breaths.
"I'm sorry, Mother," Michael said curtly, meeting Verena's angry glare with one of his own, "but I'm fed up with her interference. I want her out of this house as soon as possible."
Verena screeched, "Interference, you say? It's not my fault that little whore ran away with another man, and it looks to me like she's done it again."
"Don't you dare call her a whore," he warned.
Elyse was on her feet. "Mother, stop it. You've no right to say such things to Michael."
Verena was beyond restraint. "You feel the same way. You've said the same things. You hate her too."
"That's not true. I don't hate her."
"She's marrying Michael when you're in love with him. That's reason to hate her and wish her dead. I hope she is dead. Maybe then Michael will come to his senses and marry you, and then I wouldn't have to wind up in the poorhouse, and—oh, dear God." Her hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes went wide.
Elyse turned away on a broken sob, not noticing her mother's panic-stricken face as she whispered, "Mother, how could you?"
"Yes, Verena, how could you?" Olivia angrily admonished her, the attack of vapors forgotten. For Verena to embarrass Elyse in front of Michael was unconscionable. And now it dawned on Olivia that Verena had only pretended to care and comfort in order to stay at Red Oakes indefinitely, because she was destitute.
Michael stood clenching and unclenching his fists, wishing Verena were a man so he could punch her in the mouth for saying such things about Jacie, as well as humiliating Elyse. And now it looked as though once again what was supposed to be one of the happiest times of his life was going to be ruined.
Suddenly, Verena pointed beyond them to the window and screamed in terror.
"Now what?” Michael growled. “I've no time for your foolishness, Verena.”
Verena was shaking, her face pale and stricken, eyes wide with horror. “Indian...” she managed to whisper as she sank to the floor in a faint. “Out there. A savage Indian.”
Chapter 29
The window exploded.
Luke had grabbed the frame above for leverage, swiftly swinging back and propelling himself into the parlor to land feet first in a shower of glass.
Amidst Olivia and Elyse's hysteria, Michael froze in shock, but only for an instant. "You! What the hell are you doing here? I thought—"
"You thought you killed me," Luke finished. "It's good you're a lousy shot... when using the finger of a dead man," he added to goad.
"How did you find me?" Michael asked as he looked about wildly for anything that could be used as a weapon.
Luke also scanned the room. Two of the women were insane with their fear and no threat to him, and there was another on the floor who had apparently fainted. No other men. No guns. But he knew it would not be long before people came running in response to the noise.
He had left his horse hidden in the woods and crept to the house on foot to peer into windows until he spied Michael and the women. He would have liked for Jacie also to have been present but could not wait for her to make an appearance. A celebration of some sort was clearly about to take place, and Luke wanted to present his case and be on his way—with Jacie, if she would go with him.
A knife was tucked in his breechclout but he did not reach for it. Though he flamed with rage and had thought of nothing but beating Michael to a pulp, he knew it best to avoid violence, if possible.
"I want to speak to Jacie,” he said brusquely, “and then I'll leave if that's what she wants.”
Olivia and Elyse moaned as they stood with arms wrapped tightly around each other, staring at Luke in terror, sure that any second he would kill them.
Michael was likewise afraid but pretended not to be. "She's not here.”
“And I think you're lying. Now call her in here.”
"That's not possible, and how did you find us, anyway?"
"Jacie told her mother where she lived, and since Sunstar once lived in this part of the country, she was able to tell me how to get here."
Michael sh
ot a glance at Olivia and Elyse, but they were too stricken to realize what the Indian was saying so there was still a chance he could keep things quiet—if he could get rid of the son of a bitch. But where was the butler, damn it? Surely someone had heard the glass breaking and all the screaming. "Listen, damn you," he said shakily, "I want you to get out of here before I have you really killed this time. Jacie doesn't want to talk to you. Now go."
Luke stood with fists on his hips, legs apart, his eyes locked on Michael's and every bit as fiery. "You left me for dead, and Jacie thinks I am, and I'm not leaving here till she knows different."
Michael forced a laugh. "Do you really think you can come in here and take her? I realize you're nothing but a savage, but this isn't the West. You try it, and I promise my men will gun you down before you reach the main road. I'll never let you have her, you fool."
Luke's nostrils flared as he fought to hold back his temper. Getting mad would not solve anything. He was determined to try to reason with the man. "I'm no savage, Blake, but I can turn into one real quick when I get riled, and I'm about to do just that if you don't quit jawing and send for Jacie. I didn't come here to force her to go back with me, but I intend to give her the chance to make up her own mind."
Michael all but snarled, "You aren't talking to her. You've no business with her. Get the hell out of here while you still can."
Luke went on as though Michael had not spoken. "You see, I want her to know she's got another life besides staying here with you. You can't understand how important that is to me, or to her, and it's not necessary that you do, but I do intend to give her a choice. Now, call her in here, and there won't be any trouble. She'll see I'm still alive, and then she can make up her mind what to do about it. I'll accept her decision."
Michael endeavored to stall. Surely someone would come soon, he thought nervously. "You mean you actually want her to choose between me and you?" he sneered with contempt.
"That's right. And if you are a man of honor, you will agree to that."
Say You Love Me Page 27
