The Cards Don't Lie

by Sue Ingalls Finan

  “Oui, and he has even put on a little weight. I suspect you are responsible for that. Enjoy the evening, Doctor, and welcome back!”

  Catherine and Miguel continued to make their rounds, mingling with all the diverse citizens—free men and women of color, Creoles, Yankees, and Baratarians—who had banded together to save their city. They greeted exuberant friends and neighbors, buoyant soldiers and jaunty seamen, slaves and their merry masters. Even Sister Angelique and the Ursuline nuns were there, animated with smiles and hugs.

  Yet, despite the laughter and joy around her, Catherine grew increasingly uneasy. She still didn’t see Suzanne at the celebration. Or Millie and Peter.

  She immediately knew why when she returned home and found the folded letter on her dining room table.

  Tarot: THE PAGE OF WANDS

  Revelation: A message of tidings;

  an alteration in life.

  My dearest Maman,

  I hope you had a good time at the celebration. You deserve it. All of our people do. The men and women of New Orleans showed the rest of the country, as well as the world, that we are unified in patriotism and bravery.

  I am happy that Miguel has returned unharmed. You two share such an exceptional warmth that many couples seem to lack. And your success with General Jackson’s illness is so commendable. You are a true heroine in your own right. Your gift of healing will continue to relieve suffering. The people depend upon you for so much.

  So, the city is safe now and prosperity will return. The future is bright.

  But not for me. Not in New Orleans.

  Of course I cannot, will not, enter another plaçage; plus, I do not have your gifts. Thus, the prospects of supporting myself are absent. Although I know, dear Maman, that you would disagree, I would be a burden to you.

  I am sorry. I do not want to hurt you. But I had to leave.

  I am with Millie and Pete. The steamboat is taking us up north to the town of St. Louis, and there we will start anew, with different identities. We will look up René’s old friend Monsieur Lisa. He is an important person in St. Louis and can recommend trustworthy people to get us started. Pete is planning on using his skills in carpentry, Millie will open a boardinghouse, and I will be the business manager for both.

  Please do not look for me or try to communicate in any way. That could be dangerous for all of us.

  Please do not worry. René gave me money before he left for the battle. “Just in case,” he said.

  I am lucky, Maman, to have loved René, even for so short a time. He connected me to a new world, one of different ideas and exciting possibilities. I trust that our sweet baby is in a far better place, as Père Antoine would say. I know that René is with him, as he is with me, always.

  Give my best wishes to Miguel and Hortense, and tell Scamp to study hard so he can follow in your healing footsteps. You will always be in my thoughts and prayers, Maman, and I hope you understand and forgive me.

  Your loving daughter,

  Suzanne

  You were wrong, René. Suzanne is strong. Strong enough to leave me.

  Tarot: THE WORLD

  Revelation: Completion of a goal, reward,

  and assured success.

  May 1815

  Several months after the battle, the city of New Orleans was thriving, the river bustling, the theater and opera flourishing. As in a gumbo, the flavors of the different cultures sometimes clashed, but then adjustments were made, assimilations occurred, and adaptations were taken, and the outcomes were generally palatable.

  It was a particularly lovely spring day, sunny and warm. Catherine was shopping on Royal Street. She had just purchased some new linens and was now shopping in Judah Touro’s fine-merchandise store, when she saw a familiar figure pushing what looked like a small cart nearby.

  “Madame de Trahan?” she called out. “Is that you?”

  The woman stopped, turned around, and then smiled. “Hello, Madame Caresse! How wonderful to see you!”

  The woman of color and the Creole embraced. “You look well, Marguerite,” said Catherine. Then, eyeing the vehicle, she added, “What an ingenious contraption! It’s like a cradle on wheels! Wherever did you get it?”

  “They sell something similar in England, but Jacques had this one specially made for me here in the city! It’s just perfect, not only for our outings, but indoors, too. I always want the baby to be near me.”

  “Oui, it is a wonderful design. Very clever, and practical indeed! And the bébé likes it?”

  “Loves it! He’s asleep now; this is his naptime. But it’s such a delightful day that I thought some fresh air would do him good. Here . . .” She moved the small attached parasol aside. “Now you can see my little sweetheart!”

  Catherine bent over and peered into the small carriage. “Ah! Your petit garçon, Marguerite. He’s grown so!”

  “He has, Catherine.” Marguerite carefully lifted the sleeping infant out of the pram. “He’s just a love,” she continued, beaming. The mother gently adjusted the baby’s blue bonnet further back on his head. “So good-natured, sleeps through the night, has been gaining weight steadily, and the doctor says he’s robust and healthy. Would you like to hold him?”

  “Oui!” Catherine set down her items and held out her arms to receive him.

  “Bonjour, mon coeur!” she said to him softly. As she gently rocked him back and forth in her arms, she looked carefully at his features. Small copper curls peeked out from under the brim of his baby cap. Suzanne’s curls. His face was heart-shaped—again, like Suzanne’s. Just as I thought, mon petit!

  As Marguerite had said, he was a good weight and size. She bent her head to kiss his forehead softly and inhaled his warm sweet baby smell. Innocence.

  As the baby shifted his weight sleepily in her arms, he clasped her finger in his tiny fist. Strength, she thought. You will need it!

  Then Catherine perceived something else: a tingling vibration, a sparkling energy, and it was emanating from the child. Still lost in her thoughts, she nodded her head. Oui. And I suspected as much, mon petit fils! You’ve also got the power, hmm? I will try to guide you in whatever ways I can, so that you use your gift wisely.

  Realizing that Marguerite was staring at her, Catherine exclaimed, “Oh! I’m sorry, Marguerite! It’s just been so long since I’ve held a baby. He is so precious! And how handsome he is. Obviously, he has his mother’s good looks!”

  Marguerite laughed and said, “Thank you, Catherine. You are one of the few people to see any resemblance to my side of the family. Everyone else says he looks mostly like Jacques.”

  The baby stirred and gazed up, almost knowingly, at his grandmother. Catherine continued to rock him tenderly as she looked into his emerald eyes. “Yes, I’m not surprised. Those gorgeous green eyes are a very distinctive family trait!”

  She looked back at her Creole friend. “I’m glad to see you both thriving, Marguerite.”

  “And what about you, Catherine? You look wonderful! And pardon me for noticing, but isn’t that a Hollie Point christening cap you’re about to purchase? It’s beautiful! Is it for Suzanne?”

  “No, it is not for Suzanne, Marguerite.”

  Catherine did not volunteer any more information; she just continued rocking the baby in her arms, with a smile on her face. A very demure smile.

  Marguerite looked at her questioningly. Then her eyes grew wide. “Oh, mon Dieu!” she exclaimed. “You’re with child!”

  “Oui!”

  “Congratulations, my friend! When?”

  “Not for five more months. Plenty of time to prepare. But I gave away all of Suzanne’s baby things, so we must begin anew.”

  “And Miguel? How is he with this news?”

  “Oh!” Catherine replied. “He’s thrilled. And attentive, and nervous, and tells everyone he sees that he’s having a baby. Plus, he’s gaining weight right along with me!”

  “I’d like to see him go into labor,” Marguerite said, laughing.

  �
��I suspect he would if he could. He’s already converted Suzanne’s former room into a nursery and reorganizes the baby clothes and blankets on a weekly basis. Each day he suggests different names for the baby. Today he’s being very patriotic; he proposed Andrew for a boy and Jacqueline for a girl. I suspect he’ll adapt to fatherhood quite well and the child will be completely spoiled.”

  “Merveilleux! The baby has already snuggled into his heart!” said Marguerite.

  “And what about Jacques? How does he feel about his beautiful boy?” Catherine asked, as she gave Marguerite’s baby a kiss on his forehead and reluctantly handed him back to his mother.

  “Oh, my goodness. He couldn’t be happier! He’s already planning his future, from fencing lessons to his education in Paris,” said Marguerite. “I suspect Jacques will make this child the most indulged youngster in all of Louisiana!”

  Looking down at the baby in her arms and still beaming, she added, “Your papa absolutely adores you, doesn’t he, Tobias?”

  Again, Catherine smiled.

  Tobias did, too.

  Thus, the circle is complete.

  Further Revelations

  Treaty of Ghent: will be ratified by the US Congress in February 1815, officially ending the War of 1812.

  Andrew Jackson: will run for president of the United States in 1827.

  Albert Gallatin: will be quite apprehensive about a Jackson presidency, saying that the general was “altogether unfit for the office.”

  John Quincy Adams: will become the sixth president of the United States in 1828, although Andrew Jackson, his opponent, will win more electoral votes. Adams will lose to Jackson four years later.

  Henry Clay: will run for president against Andrew Jackson in 1832. He will lose; Jackson will serve two terms.

  General John Adair: will become governor of Kentucky and later serve in both the US House of Representatives and the Senate.

  Commander Jean Baptiste Plauché: will become lieutenant governor of Louisiana.

  General John Coffee: will be appointed by President Jackson to accomplish the Indian Removal Act of 1830. The five civilized tribes forced to surrender their ancestral lands and relocate to the Oklahoma territory will include the Choctaws, as well as the Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, and Chickasaws.

  General William Carroll: will serve as Tennessee’s governor from 1821 to 1827 and from 1829 to 1835.

  Major Arsène Latour: will write Historical Memoirs of the War in West Florida and Louisiana in 1814–15.

  Edward Livingston: will become a US senator and minister to France.

  The Baratarian Privateers: will receive official pardons on February 6, 1815, from President Madison. Most will choose to give up plundering forever.

  Dominique Yu: the half brother of Jean Lafitte will settle in New Orleans and become a politician.

  Jean Lafitte: will be forced to leave Louisiana in 1817; he will establish another “privateering” domain in Galveston, Texas.

  Our Lady of Prompt Succor: will become the patroness of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana.

  Père Antoine: will remain the popular and revered pastor of St. Louis Cathedral until his death in 1829.

  The Ursuline Convent: will, two hundred years later, still be located on the same site in New Orleans’ French Quarter. It will be the oldest surviving French-colonial structure in the lower Mississippi Valley and will welcome tourists, instead of the sick and wounded.

  James Madison: will die in 1836 at Montpelier, the last of the US Founding Fathers to pass into eternity.

  Dolley Madison: will die in poverty in 1849, at the age of eighty-one.

  Edward Coles: President Madison’s personal secretary and first cousin to Dolley Madison will become the second governor of the state of Illinois.

  Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry: will have thousands of male children and more than thirty counties and municipalities named in his honor.

  General Jacques Villeré: will become Louisiana’s second governor.

  Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones: will rise to the rank of commodore in command of the US Navy’s Pacific squadron. At the end of the Mexican-American War, he will accept the surrender of Mexican towns along the California coast and will be the model for Herman Melville’s character Commodore J in his novel Moby-Dick.

  Colonel Reuben Kemper: will settle down to become a planter in Mississippi; a county will be named in his honor.

  James Derham: will become the first licensed African American physician in the United States.

  Dr. James Tilton: will, at the age of seventy, develop a malignant tumor in his knee. While having his leg amputated, he will give advice to the operating surgeon and assistants.

  Judah Touro: will become a millionaire and will found the New Orleans Almshouse, the Touro Infirmary, and the Touro Synagogue.

  Rezin Davis Shepherd: will inherit half of Judah Touro’s fortune and will use the money to restore a New Orleans street, renaming it Touro Street.

  Jordan B. Noble: will become a popular New Orleans musician.

  Manuel Lisa: will continue trading through his Missouri Fur Company and will become a leading citizen of St. Louis and a trusted representative for Indian tribes living along the Missouri River.

  Choctaw Indians: will face hunger and death on the first Trail of Tears in 1831; sixteen years later, hearing of a people suffering a similar catastrophe, they will send $170 (approximately $3,000 in today’s currency) to Ireland to help peasants and tinkers starving in the potato famine.

  “The Defence of Fort M’Henry”: Congress will make this poem the US national anthem in 1931. It will become known as “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

  Francis Scott Key: will have a distant cousin, F. Scott (Key) Fitzgerald, born three generations later, who will become known for his writing of the Jazz Age.

  Congo Square: will be a venue for music festivals and community parades.

  New Orleans: will hold its first Mardi Gras in February 1826.

  The Spotted Dog Pub, Penshurst, England: will continue in operation successfully into the twenty-first century (open daily—watch out for the press gang!).

  So be it!

  Acknowledgments

  Many thanks to my own personal “saints and loas”:

  • Laura Ingalls Wilder, my distant relative, who also wrote her first novel as a senior citizen.

  • My book discussion group, AAUW friends, local librarians, and writing clubs for their ongoing advice and support over the years.

  • The authors of the published books regarding this period, including The Battle of New Orleans by Robert V. Remini, Jackson’s Way by John Buchanan, The War of 1812 by John K. Mahon, and Gumbo Ya-Ya by Saxon Dreyer and Robert Tallant.

  • My She Writes Press “overseers” Brooke Warner, Lauren Wise, and Annie Tucker, plus fellow SWP authors for their contributions and camaraderie.

  • My sons, Seán and Rauri, and sister, Anne Ingalls, for their ideas, encouragement, and humor.

  • Jim, my husband and partner, whose knowledge, creativity, and enthusiasm helped shape this book.

  Let the Good Times Roll!

  About the Author

  Sue Ingalls Finan is a graduate of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Loyola University Chicago. She has taught creative writing and American history in Chicago, IL, Pittsburgh, PA, and Sonoma County, CA, and her stories have appeared in textbooks, anthologies, magazines, and newspapers. Now living in Sonoma County with her husband Jim, she writes for her local newspaper and volunteers at hospitals and libraries with Duffy, her Irish wolfhound therapy dog.

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  She Writes Press is an independent publishing company

  founded to serve women writers everywhere.

  Visit us at www.shewritespress.com.

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