"It be ma pleasure, suh," Mammy Lou said, meek as a lamb.
Nicholas beckoned Mandy into the dining room. "For God's sake Amanda, I haven't time to settle domestic disputes. Couldn't you have handled it?" he asked shortly.
Still hurting from last night, and now upset because he had spoken sharply, she flared, "Well, excuse me. I'll just run along and play on my swing and let you grownups get on with your business."
Nicholas grasped her wrist in his strong brown fingers to prevent her departure. "Amanda, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I had a bad night." He looked at her closely and knew her night had been spent in tears. "I know you're not getting the attention a young bride deserves. No second and third day dresses, no wedding trip, no honeymoon visits."
He braced his arms, imprisoning her against the wall, an arm on either side of her. "I'll make it all up to you someday. I thought you were a good, sensible girl, and it would be enough just to know that we were married."
He was so close, her senses began to swim. She missed half of what he said when she looked into his eyes. Their color held such fascination for her. Turquoise or aqua? I can never quite decide. She turned her face away so she could think more clearly, but there was his strong arm braced against the wall, muscles tanned and bulging. She felt strangely weak because of his nearness.
As Nicholas looked down at her lips and saw them tremble slightly, he wanted to cover her mouth with his until she cried out for breath. As her breasts moved up and down with each breath, her fragrance stole to him, making him almost light-headed with desire.
"Oh Mandy," he breathed, 'it's a blessing in disguise that I'm busy with the cotton, or you would have more of my attention than you could handle." He removed his arm so she was free to go.
She looked at him saucily. "You were smooth as silk with Mammy Lou. Do you get your way so easily with all women?"
"Always," he promised.
Well I've decided you won't get your way too easily with me. She blushed at her daring thoughts.
He called back to her. "We're having a guest dine with us tonight. I know he's dying to meet you."
"Your friend, Rafe Collins, the sea captain?"
He nodded. "Consult with Samuel about dinner, and look beautiful for me. I've a full day's work ahead of me. Go now and stop distracting me," he teased.
She went back into the kitchen. "Samuel, I'm so sorry about Mammy interfering in everything. It's just that she's done for me for so long, it's hard for her to stop."
"An' what kind o' house servant would she be if'n she didn' want everythin' jest so fo' yo', Miz Mandy?"
This attitude was so completely opposite the one he'd taken in Mammy's presence that Mandy began to laugh. It was infectious, and Samuel laughed with her. She decided the best way to handle him was to ask his advice rather than give him orders. "What will we give Captain Collins for dinner tonight?"
"Cap'n Collins allus brings his own dinner, Miz Mandy."
"Whatever do you mean?"
"Lobsters. He allus brings lots an' lots o' lobsters."
Amanda went through her wardrobe twice, threw up her hands in despair, and decided she'd better make friends with her sister again if she wanted something decent to wear.
As usual, Jennifer's room was a hive of activity. Petticoats and dresses were strewn everywhere. "I came to see if you wanted to dine with us tonight. Nicholas has invited Captain Collins."
"No. I'm going out. Brandon is taking me to the Vickers tonight."
"Do you think you should be going to a party, Jenny?"
"It isn't a party, Mandy. We're just dining at the Vickers."
"You know as well as I, it will be one of their famous chicken bogs."
"Oh Mandy, I'm so deathly tired of all this mourning. I want to dance and laugh. Please don't tell Mammy; she'll never stop her prating."
As Amanda looked at her sister's pretty blue eyes and blonde curls, she found it hard to believe that Jenny wasn't as innocent as herself. She looks gentle as an angel. In face if they were compared with each other, it was Amanda who looked enticingly wanton with her slanting golden eyes that hinted of unplumbed passion and wilfulness. She looked seductive next to Jennifer's Madonna-like sweetness. "I know exactly how you feel. I came to borrow one of your pretty dresses."
"I was just deciding what I would wear." She picked up a crimson taffeta and held it against her, then put it down quickly. "Even I wouldn't dare wear red."
"I would." Mandy picked up the rustling gown.
"Be careful with it. I haven't had a chance to wear it yet."
A sense of excitement began to build in Amanda. She chose one of Nicholas's new house servants, a pretty young girl called Juel to help her get ready. Mandy bathed with lavender-scented soap, then washed her hair and polished her nails while it dried.
"Juel, in the bottom drawer of my dressing table, hidden under some nightgowns, you'll find some hairpins and face power... and rouge," she added boldly.
Juel laid them out for her, giggling at such daring.
"Will you please go below and see if Captain Collins has arrived yet? I don't want to put the dress on until just before I go down. Oh, I have an awesome idea. Will you pick me one of those red hibiscus blooms from beside the front door. I'll put it in my hair."
When the girl left, Mandy powdered her face and applied a small amount of rouge to her cheeks and lips. Then she rubbed her finger on the inside of the glass chimney on the bed-lamp. She touched the lamp black to her brows and lashes, then washed her hands. She took the brush and began to sweep up the hair from the nape of her neck and fasten it on top.
Juel returned and reported that the guest had just arrived and was being looked after by Samuel until the master went down.
"Would you please help me with this curl? I can't get it to go right."
Juel took the brush and redid two or three curls around the back.
"That's lovely. Now help me put on the dress without mussing up my hairdo."
A look of dismay clouded her eyes when she saw her petticoat frills showing above the gown's low-cut neckline. "Oh dear, that won't do. I'll have to take off the petticoat."
"But what will yo' wear, Miz Mandy?" Juel asked, puzzled.
"Nothing. I'll just wear my pantaloons and nothing on top. There now, lift the gown over again."
"Oh my!" Juel exclaimed as Mandy's breasts thrust tantalizingly from the crimson taffeta. "Ifn yo' go down like dat, yo' gonna drive him crazy."
"I hope so." Amanda smiled. "Now if I just pin that hibiscus behind my ear, I'll look exotic as some night-blooming flower."
"Yo' headin' fer trouble-- ah recognize de road."
Amanda paused at the top of the staircase. She could see through to the room where the men were laughing. As she began to descend, the two men came to the foot of the stairs to greet her. Rafe Collins dark face gazed up at her with rapt attention. "Bellisima," he whispered.
Nicholas came up the staircase to her and took her hand. He called down, "Excuse us Rafe, we'll be down shortly." He ushered her back up the stairs without hesitation.
"Where are we going?"
"To change your dress," he said quietly.
She tried to resist, but realized her efforts were fruitless against his strength.
He took her back into her bedroom and closed the door. "Take it off and change it for one more suitable," he told her.
"I will not! How dare you humiliate me this way?" she demanded.
"Would it not humiliate you to have men gaze at your bare breasts?" he asked quietly.
"They are not bare."
"Damn near," he said shortly. "Take it off."
"I will not!" she refused angrily.
Nicholas shrugged. "If you won't, then I will." Before she could protest further, he spun her about, undid the gown and was about to pull it off, when she clasped her hands protectively across her breasts. "Nicholas, please, I'm naked beneath this gown."
He turned her to face him. Anger mixed with lust th
reatened to consume him as his long fingers bit into her naked shoulders. He gained control and flung open the bedroom door. "Lou!" he called loudly, and was thankful when he heard, "Ah's comin' masta Nick."
As Mammy Lou's slow steps shuffled up the hallway, Amanda flared at him, "You seem very experienced at removing ladies' gowns."
"Remember it," he admonished. He reached up to take the pins from her hair, and as the silken mass tumbled over his hands, his mouth swooped down to take hers. Mammy Lou entered the room and he recalled himself and stopped his mouth before it took Amanda's.
She drew back, wide-eyed at this husband of hers whose anger had turned to lust in a flash.
"Lou, help her change her gown," he said shortly, and stepped out onto the balcony to preserve his wife's modesty.
Amanda pulled a cream-colored muslin with demure puffed sleeves from the wardrobe. Mammy helped her into it and hung up the red taffeta. She avoided looking directly at Mammy because she knew the tight-lipped disapproval she would see there.
Nicholas re-entered. His anger vanished when he saw how lovely she looked.
Amanda whispered, "I can't go back downstairs. I'm too humiliated."
"Nonsense. Rafe will understand completely." He reached for the brilliant hibiscus and put it back behind her ear. "You are more beautiful than a queen," he said softly, "come."
She blushed as Nicholas introduced them, but when Rafe took both her hands and brought them to his lips, she saw his eyes sparkle with the knowledge of what had happened."
Rafe murmured, "I understand. He is very protective of you, and with good reason."
She raised her lashes and looked into his dark eyes. They were warm with his admiration, and made her feel pretty and desirable.
Nicholas held a chair for her. "Sit here between us. Tonight you will have two men to wait upon you and spoil you with our lavish attentions."
"I was sorry that my sister Jennifer couldn't join us for dinner, but now I'm glad she had another engagement." She dimpled.
Nicholas said solemnly, "It is a great pity that Aunt Billie also sent her regrets, so we shall have to muddle through without her delightful company."
Amanda laughed outright at his lie.
"Let me give you a glass of Chablis," he offered.
Rafe jumped to his feet. "No, no. She must try some of the champagne I brought. It is superb with lobster."
"Amanda shall decide which wine goes better-- yours or mine."
They each held a glass for her, and she took turns, first sipping from the one held by Nicholas, then from the one Rafe was holding to her lips. She was wise enough to realize she could not pick one over the other when two men vied with each other.
They laughed their way through the meal and ended up actually feeding her. First Nicholas would take a morsel of lobster, dip it in the drawn butter and pop it into her mouth, then Rafe would take his turn, choosing lemon garnish for her.
Rafe told them stories of his Irish father and Spanish mother, and how their passionate natures had clashed. It had been an unusual mating, sometimes hilarious, sometimes explosive, but always exciting.
Nicholas could hardly keep his eyes from his beautiful wife, and he noticed that she was having exactly the same devastating effect on Rafe Collins. He watched her listen attentively as Rafe told her some nonsense. The slant of her eyes gave her an exotic allure. The scarlet bloom behind her ear added to the hypnotic effect. She has aroused Rafe's desire. I know exactly what has done it, too. She is a virgin bride, and the sexual aura surrounding her is almost overpowering. The fact that she is unaware and innocent, only heightens the effect.
A word or a look from Amanda could harden him in an instant, and men's fashions being what they were could hardly conceal his condition. He noted with irritation that Rafe had been in like case most of the evening.
"Enough pleasantries, let's get down to business. You've been dying to tell me something all evening. What is it Rafe?
"You wish to discuss business with your lovely wife present?" he asked in surprise.
"Amanda would hate it if I excluded her from things. She'll soon leave if we begin to bore her."
"It's the steam engine we had installed. It was the right decision, thank God. You won't believe the speed. I took her on a trial run. Only two days to Nassau!"
"Terrific. Let's go ahead and convert the other ship then," urged Nick, equally enthused.
"I bet I can sail Nassau to Liverpool in three weeks or under."
"Impossible!" Nick hoped against hope that Rafe was right in his calculations.
"Not impossible by any stretch of the imagination. If you hadn't just gotten married, you'd have no excuse not to take the cotton."
Nicholas laughed. "By God, if you're right, it means our cotton could be there in just over twenty days from now. It's ready to go. It can be on our ship in Charleston tomorrow."
"Do you know what all the talk is about in Charleston? They say we should secede from the United States."
"Secede?" asked Nicholas. "Why?"
"The North is hell-bent on abolition of the slaves, and where the devil would that leave the South?"
"South Carolina would never be fool enough to secede. Hellfire, if one state did it, it would have a domino effect. The other Southern states would follow suit, and it would pit the North against the South," Nicholas pointed out.
Rafe shrugged. "Charleston can talk of naught else."
Amanda spoke up. "Write to Father in Richmond. He should know what's going on."
"I will, by God. Bernard went up to the capitol to voice opposition to abolition and higher taxation."
Rafe shrugged again and smiled. "Well one thing is certain-- any rumors that threaten the supply of cotton getting to England will send the price soaring, so we stand to make a lot of money out of it."
"In the short term, yes," Nick said quickly.
"What do you mean?"
Nicholas glanced at Amanda, then said lightly, "Not a thing. We're letting our imagination run away with us. Rational minds will prevail, never fear. Rumors of secession will soon die down and fade away."
Amanda sensed the two men would be able to discuss these things more comfortably if she were not present. "I've had a delightful evening, but I'm ready to go upstairs. I'm sure you gentlemen won't object if I leave you to your own devices.
"Goodnight Miss Amanda. You made my evening a delight."
"Goodnight Mr. Collins. I hope to see you tomorrow before you leave. I'd like you to be my friend as well as my husband's."
Nicholas walked with her to the foot of the stairs. "You made quite a conquest tonight," he murmured.
"Didn't I?" she teased.
"Do you mean to tell me you knew the effect you were having on Rafe?" he demanded.
"I was talking about you," she whispered.
At breakfast, Nicholas told Amanda he would be leaving for Charleston in the late afternoon. "I'll leave Jason at Paradise so he can begin the brickwork for your herb garden."
This gave Amanda an idea. She knew where quite a few herbs grew wild, and she would go out this morning to dig some up to replant in her kitchen garden. There was catnip, chicory, and over by the waterfall was some wild spearmint.
When Nicholas came in for midday meal, Amanda was nowhere to be found. "Lou, where did Mandy go?"
"Lawsy, Masta Nick, she don' tell ol' Mammy what tricks she git up to."
"Lou, let's not always assume she's up to something," he cautioned.
"Now suh, 'ceptin' she usually is. Dese ol' bones cain't keep up wiv her-- she like quicksilver!"
"Well, tell them to serve lunch. I'm sure she'll be back soon. The last thing she would want would be for us to keep track of her every move."
The cotton bales were loaded onto the flatboats and the flotilla was ready to go with the next tide. Nicholas came in to change his clothes and pick up his overnight bag. He and Rafe would ride to Charleston along the riverbank to keep an eye on the awesome amount of cotton they
were transporting.
When Samuel informed him that Miss Amanda had not yet returned, he was slightly annoyed at the necessity to look for her and cause delay. He went to the stables to see if Miss Louise was missing. The horse was in her stall, but Old Joe told him if he was looking for his wife, she had gone to the woods and taken young Ben with her.
Nicholas frowned. She's been away for hours. She knew I was leaving this afternoon, why did she go missing for most of the day?
Irritated, Nick trekked over toward the waterfall to look for her. There seemed no sign as he stood and scanned the escarpment. Then he caught a glimpse of something moving high up the hill through the trees. He climbed swiftly, but when he reached the top, there was no sign or sound anywhere. He entered a deeply wooded area and followed a small path. Then he saw her. She reached for Ben's hand and the two of them went further in where there was almost no light.
Fury almost choked him. What the hell is she doing here with a young black male? He saw them go down on their hands and knees in the grass, and was so shocked and outraged he reached into the holster on his hip for his gun. He doubled his pace and surprised Mandy who looked up at him in disbelief.
With wide fearful eyes she cried, "Nicholas, you mustn't shoot them!"
The red mist of rage cleared as he saw that she had reached into a fox's lair and was holding a young fox kit. Relief flooded through him as he looked down at the two sixteen-year-olds and saw they had only been on a youthful adventure.
Master Of Paradise Page 18
