The house itself would have to wait for a year, but he could visualize it down to its last detail. He would start laying out the formal gardens as soon as cooler weather came and then in spring along with the crops, he would plant and transplant camellias, brilliant azaleas, roses, hibiscus, lilies, magnolias, and dogwood. The gardens would stretch down from the front of the house to the grassy banks of the meandering Ashley River. A house is like a jewel. It needs a magnificent setting to display it to perfection.
A few miles downriver from Paradise, they floated past Williamson's great lumber mill. On the spur of the moment, Nicholas decided to leave the thirty rafts of logs to be turned into building lumber. They rode the mules home, laughing and singing all the way.
Chapter Six
In November, Bernard Jackson traveled up to Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy of Southern States. Nicholas had agreed to move into Brandon's garçonnier bachelor quarters in the far back of the house, and Bernard had a word with each of his daughters separately.
Jennifer Joy was her daddy's girl, and always had been. Bernard never looked at her without amazement that he had produced such a pretty, delicate-looking daughter. "Now Jenny, I know I don't need to remind you of the proprieties. You've been raised properly and know full-well the behavior that is expect of a lady when an unmarried man is staying in the house. You must never be alone, so that your reputation is safeguarded at all times. I realize that someday he may well be your husband, but for the present, let's not give the gossips anything to whisper about."
"My husband? Nicholas Peacock? Daddy, you must be jesting!" Jennifer was clearly angry. "Why, he's no better than a dirt farmer, working his own fields, and... and... I do believe he lives in a cabin!" She looked at her father in disbelief. "Surely you expect me to marry Beau Hampden or someone from an old Southern family? Someone with a big plantation?"
"Now, now, darlin', don't be angry at your old daddy. I know you can have anyone you please, just by lifting your little finger. Nicholas is ambitious. He'll have a fine house one of these days, and there's no denying he has his eye on you," he soothed.
"Then he can take it off," she said with more flippancy than was nice in a young lady of her breeding. "Mr. Peacock is undeniably handsome and I might pass the time of day in a little harmless flirtation, but if he expects me to wait around years and years for him to become rich, he's deluding himself!"
Her father frowned. "You're only seventeen, young lady. You know how strongly I disapprove of young marriages. Scandalous in my opinion! No daughter of mine will wed before she's twenty, Beau Hampden or no Beau Hampden." He dismissed her and asked her to send in Amanda. When Mandy didn't arrive, his annoyance increased.
It was fifteen minutes before she showed herself, breathless and apologetic. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting, Daddy." She winced slightly.
"What's the matter with your arm? You look as if you've been pulled through the hedge backwards."
"I fell," she admitted.
"Good lord, that horse didn't throw you, did it?"
She laughed. "No, of course not. There were some apples that hadn't been picked, right at the top of the tree and I leaned out too far."
"Climbing trees!" he exploded. "This is exactly why I asked to see you. When Mr. Peacock is here, I want you to behave like a normal, decent child. No careening over the countryside like a hoyden, staying away all hours. No shouting matches with Mammy Lou. No embrangles with your sister."
Amanda looked repentant and his voice quieted slightly. "It's a mystification to me how you go from one scrape to another, in spite of all the prating we do over your behavior and manners. I hate to say this to you Amanda Virginia, but you are acquiring a reputation as an eccentric child; an oddity. Now if I hear tell that your sweet mother has recourse to her smelling salts as a result of your misconduct, I shall deal with you severely."
Nicholas arrived in time for supper that first evening and brought Samuel with him as his body servant. Samuel soon had the Jackson house servants doing his bidding, fetching towels and hot water for his master's bath; running with heated flatirons, so he could press Nicholas's newly acquired white suits and lawn shirts. Every once in a while he would sniff and mutter under his breath, "Cheap slaves is cheap slaves." Nicholas was not so arrogant. He was extremely grateful to be bathing in a proper bathtub, instead of the outdoor wooden cabinet he used at Paradise.
When Miz Caroline was carried into the dining room, Nicholas bowed formally.
"My dear Mr. Peacock, before the children arrive, permit me to express my heartfelt gratitude that you are extending your protection to our all-female household. My mind is vastly relieved. Forgive me if I am indelicate, but all this talk of slave uprisings is most upsetting."
"It is an honor, ma'am. Don't be apprehensive. As soon as it comes dark the patrollers are out looking for any who shouldn't be abroad."
"It is an apprehension white womanhood lives with from cradle to grave, Mr. Peacock," she said quite sincerely.
It is impossible for me to argue with this frail lady who is such an hospitable hostess. "Please call me Nicholas," he murmured.
Jennifer arrived, a vision in delicate pink. She sketched him a curtsy that was so brief, it was almost an insult. She gave him a pert little smile, but her eyes remained deliberately cold.
Mandy arrived wearing vivid yellow that emphasized her dark tawny hair and golden brown skin. She sank into an elaborate curtsy before Nicholas and her eyes danced warmly.
"I thought you were opposed to the principle of curtsying," he murmured.
"Please don't encourage her, Mr. Peacock," Jennifer said coolly. "What you think quaint, others find distinctly peculiar."
One of Mandy's eyelids dropped in a droll wink that brought a smile to his lips.
Aunt Billie floated in like a ship in full sail and lowered her stern thankfully onto a dining chair.
The meal was a culinary masterpiece of roast pork, baked apples, candied yams, with mounds of fluffy white rice grown right on the plantation. There were two different flavors of succulent gravy.
When Billie helped herself to two helpings of desert, Nicholas fancied she indulged herself because of Bernard's absent eagle-eye. She still spoke very little, excused herself the moment the meal was over and disappeared as if she had been spirited away.
The next evening, Miz Caroline did not appear and Nicholas learned that it was one of her 'poorly' days. He noted the changed behavior at table with a cynical eye. Jennifer Joy was using him to practice her coquettish tricks. She was seventeen, but the flirtatious way she used her body to tease him, made her seem much older and worldly-wise. She knows she looks attractively saucy in the red dress and wouldn't have dared such a bold color if her parents were present.
Nick hid his amusement as he recognized the invitation in her warm little glances. Last night she was cold; tonight she is hot. It's a trick females love to use to keep men off balance, and it almost always works.
Jenny knew Nicholas had a powerful body that would undoubtedly respond, but here in front of her family and the servants, he was only latently dangerous.
Aunt Billie also acted like a different person. She began to chatter, quite enjoying this male company that was a rarity without the constraining presence of her half-brother.
Nicholas motioned for Charles, the head dining-room servant, to refill Aunt Billie's glass with bourbon, and sat back to listen to what revelations she might make.
Only Amanda acted the same as she always did.
"Would you think me forward if I addressed you as Nicholas?" Jennifer asked with a provocative sidelong glance.
"Of course not, Miss Jennifer." He took care to be exquisitely polite.
"On Saturday we have been invited to a musicale evening at the Hampden Plantation. Mother is sending our regrets today because Daddy is unable to accompany us." She smiled at him, and he knew what was coming.
"Everyone will be there and I'll simply die if we all don't attend.
I feel emboldened to ask if you will accompany us, Nicholas?"
"I would consider it an honor. If it meets with Miss Caroline's approval," he added.
"Ah have a passing acquaintance with Wade Hampden," Billie declared.
"Beau's father?" Jennifer asked doubtfully.
Billie nodded. "Met him in N'Orleans."
"Perhaps you're mistaken. It could have been another Hampden," Jennifer suggested.
"Ha." Billie's raucous voice cracked out loudly. "No mistakin' Wade Hampden." She leaned toward Nicholas and whispered hoarsely, "Randiest male ah ever encountered!"
Nicholas tried to keep his face straight as he struggled with the vision of Billie attracting a man. Perhaps before the folds of flesh took over, she possessed some allure.
"Son takes after him." She winked at Nicholas.
At this reference to Beau, Jennifer said, "I don't know what you mean, Aunt Billie."
Billie's laugh was crude and suggestive. "You will girl. You will if you keep flutterin' them eyelashes at him, to say nothin' of other anatomical parts."
Jennifer looked shocked. Ladies did not indulge in coarse conversation. Amanda was enjoying the unusual repartee immensely. Nicholas smoothly steered Aunt Billie into another channel of conversation. "I am told New Orleans is comparable to Paris."
She cocked an eye at him. "It is a city of contrasts, enjoyed alike by the very poor and the very rich. But whatever their status, the men and women of N'Orleans have sophisticated tastes in all things. Are you a Francophone, Mr. Peacock?"
He looked directly into her eyes and grinned. "In most things, Billie."
"Have you actually been to the wicked city of Paris?" Jenny asked, betraying her tender years.
"Upon occasion," he murmured.
"Oh, do tell us about it," Jennifer begged.
"He wouldn't dream of corrupting us with the sordid details, would you, Nicholas?" Amanda's eyes twinkled.
"Your mother would not approve of this conversation, and speaking of your mother, I think it would be kind of you both to go and sit with her for an hour." He turned to Aunt Billie. "Don't run off. Join me in a bourbon and branchwater out on the verandah."
He mixed the drinks himself and escorted the large lady to a comfortable wicker chair. As the aroma of the glass's contents reached her nostrils, she put her head on one side. "Ah feel it is only sportin' of me to warn you that ah am aware of what you are trying to do."
"And that is?" Nick asked, amused.
"Ply me with liquor to loosen my tongue."
Nicholas grinned. "I confess."
Her raucous laugh rang out. "It won't work. Ah can hold my liquor like a man. Drink most of 'em under the table in fact. You are most perceptive, Mr. Peacock. When you look at me, ah feel pinned to the wall like a butterfly. Well, perhaps not a butterfly-- let's say a very large moth."
"You seem to know a lot about men," he prompted.
"Ah am an expert, nay a connoisseur of men. Ah'll tell you-- you've probably guessed anyway. Ah ran a house in N'Orleans." She smacked her lips over the bourbon. "Ah tell you suh, it was the most respectable whorehouse in the whole of Lousianna."
He smiled. "Madam Billie's, I presume?"
"True for you, Mr. Peacock. Ah catered to no real perversions, mind you. No girls under twelve."
Nick almost choked on his bourbon.
"Most men want a body, preferably a pretty one, and a touch of the exotic is always appreciated. Best money makers ah ever had were a pair of identical twins. They did a sister act. Charged triple for the two of them; would have been a right shame to break up the set. Pretty little blonde things. Got them when they were thirteen. Had them five years an' passed them off as thirteen all that time." She said confidentially, "Gentlemen like their girls young, you see. In a way though, that's what did me in." She shook her head.
"The twins?" he ventured.
"No, Giles Gregoire, stood high in government. Used to issue me orders for girls. 'Nothin' over eleven!' he'd say. Politicians are the worst you know. Anyway, the old fool got himself shot. Managed to do it in my place, the son-of-a-bitch! The ensuing scandal was hideous. Authorities closed me down and forced me out of N'Orleans. Ah decided to visit my dear half-brother until things cooled down. Found life here so pleasant and indolent, why work for a livin'?"
"This county thrives on gossip. Are you accepted among the hostesses who guard our morals so zealously?"
Her raucous laughter cracked out. "Truth is that although most of the men hereabouts have visited my place in N'Orleans, not one wife has ever heard tell of Madam Billie."
"Your secret is safe with me," he pledged.
She looked at him shrewdly and replied, "And yours is safe with me, Nicholas Peacock."
His eyebrows rose in mild surprise, but he let the remark pass without comment.
Nicholas returned to Paradise each day at dawn, unwilling to let the work of his own plantation slide. One morning he was surprised to see Amanda ride into the stables.
"Hell's afire!, she began, "you wouldn't believe the song and dance I've just been through at our stables. Nathan, our head groom, refused point blank to put a regular saddle on Miss Louise. Says no mistress of his is riding about the countryside astride no horse from his stables. Damn servants anyway, they think they own you!"
"That's a fact," Nick agreed, looking pointedly at Samuel.
"So, I propose to leave my side-saddle here everyday and barrow one of your regular saddles."
"I couldn't let you deceive them every day."
She thought this over for a moment. "Well, could you let me deceive them two or three times a week?"
"How am I to resist you?" he half-murmured.
The dimples peeped out, and she quickly unbuckled the sidesaddle before he changed his mind.
The Jackson carriage was ordered up for the visit to the Hampden's. Because Miss Caroline was still feeling indisposed, it was decided that Mammy Lou would accompany the girls. Their crinolines and hoops took up so much space that they had to sit on opposite seats, with Nicholas next to Jennifer Joy and Mammy squashed in beside Amanda Virginia. Jenny wore a delicious confection of apricot lace with brown velvet ribbons, while Mandy was in white ruffles, the traditional color for a young girl's first party dress. Nicholas watched as she stuffed her fan down behind the seat cushion to get rid of it.
"May I be the first to tell you both how lovely you look tonight?"
"Thank you, sir," Jennifer said playfully.
Mandy made a face. "I had my heart set on a green dress."
"Thass no way to accept a compliment from no genlmans," reproved Mammy, warming to the task of pointing out Mandy's shortcomings. "Young girls has to wear white, leastwize 'till they's sixteen."
"It would be considered eccentric to do otherwise," Jennifer pointed out helpfully.
"An' when we gits der, don't go runnin' off wiv dat young Hamden boy, catchin' snakeses and suchlike unseemly things," Mammy warned.
Nicholas frowned. "I'm sure Mandy is tired of hearing her faults catalogued; I know I am, Lou," he said shortly.
"Yessir." The old servant knew she had been reprimanded.
Jennifer heard the steel in his voice and shivered with pleasure.
Nicholas had agreed to this evening, mainly to get a good look at the Hampden's Plantation. It's one of the richest in the county, known as a 'thousand baler' in cotton talk. Nicholas calculated they were cotton rich to the tune of at least a hundred and fifty thousand a year.
When they arrived, Mammy Lou went off to the regions of the kitchen and the servants' hall, which was overflowing this evening with visiting servants from Magnolia, Twinoaks, Summerhill, and Greenpond Plantations.
Jennifer joined the flower-like group of belles who kissed and shrieked and giggled, in fact anything to draw all eyes, especially those of eligible men.
Nick knew most of the young men who were present from the card sessions. Stuart Beverly was away at military college along with Brandon, but Tyler Caldw
ell, Wesley Davis, and King Vickers were very much in evidence. Beau Hampden lost no time singling out Jennifer for his undivided attention, while his brother Clay, about fifteen, made a bee-line for Amanda. Nick smiled to himself as he saw Clay pull something from his pocket for Mandy to admire.
Nicholas introduced himself to Wade Hampden and was surprised at the man's youthfulness. He didn't seem a day over thirty, yet his son Beau must be at least eighteen. Wade showed off his lovely home and Nick, noting the paintings, chandeliers, heavy ornate silver, and deep-piled carpets, realized it had all been imported from England. For a moment he regretted that he was not in the shipping business.
Nick slipped outside to observe the workings of such a successful plantation. He noted they had facilities for ginning their own cotton, and decided that would be the next improvement at Paradise. I'll build the mill right next to the stables.
He returned to the house, and as he passed the library door, he saw Mandy and Clay with a decanter of bourbon. He was just in time to see her toss back a shot and triumphantly pick up a silver dollar from the table.
The moment he stepped into the library, Mandy looked as if she wanted to sink through the floor. The look Nicholas gave her was so darkly forbidding, she stepped back in fear.
"It was only a bet, Nicholas. I had to accept the challenge," she explained.
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