***
Marian spent Saturday afternoon reading over the last quarter’s financial statement, the realization of her economic uncertainty and her responsibilities suddenly very clear and frightening. Cuvier Shipping was their livelihood and must be successful or they would quickly go broke.
The numbers for the last month since Jean’s murder were pitiful. The fear of closing the doors of Cuvier Shipping almost overwhelmed her, making her frantic with worry.
Upon realizing their dreadful fiscal outlook, she sent a message to Louis to visit her at home as soon as possible.
Just when she’d given up on him stopping by, Edward, her manservant, announced his arrival. Dressed in a rose floral silk dress, she greeted him, pacing the floor in the family room.
“Where have you been?” she asked trying to keep the sharpness out of her voice, knowing she failed miserably.
He gazed at her with his brows raised, his blue eyes seeming to laugh at her, as she stood there a nervous wreck, the hour late. She watched his gaze slide down the simple dress, taking note of her apparel. When his look returned to her face, a smoldering shadow lingered in his eyes that reminded her of hot, muggy nights spent restless and hungry.
She took a deep breath and reminded herself that this tuxedo-clad man, who liked to chase women even more than her dead husband had, was her business partner.
“May I remind you it’s Saturday night. I’m a bachelor and I want to have some fun.” He paused. “I’ve been with men all week. Tonight, I want to be in the company of a woman.”
Marian bristled. Just the sort of thing that Jean would have said.
“I’ve been waiting for you all afternoon. Didn’t you get my message that I needed to speak with you right away?”
“I was busy. I didn’t receive it until I returned home.”
She continued her pacing, her arms crossed across her chest, her mind working frantically to resolve the problem she’d uncovered.
“I’m here. What’s wrong?” Louis asked standing in the doorway twirling his hat in his hand.
“Come in and shut the door. No one else needs to know about this,” she said with a frown.
Louis closed the door and stood in front of it, his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the closed door. It wasn't fair, Louis was so handsome, so debonair and so much like her dead husband.
“I’m waiting,” he said impatiently. “I have a party to attend.”
She turned on him exasperated. “I’m terribly sorry to disturb you, but I thought you might want to consider that we have lost over a fourth of our customers since Jean’s murder was on the front page of every newspaper in Louisiana. Our profits are way down and the newspaper continues to publish articles on Jean’s immoral character. I’m so afraid we’re going to lose more business. What are we going to do?”
“Whoa! Take it easy, before you have a case of the vapors! Slow down and let’s take these one by one.” He stepped into the room, crossing to where Marian stood. “Let’s start with the simplest. Are you referring to the article just printed a couple of days ago?”
“Yes, I think we all agree, Jean was a bastard of the worst sort, but the man is dead and I just wish they would quit writing about him. It’s destroying Cuvier Shipping. It hurts my children.”
Louis shook his head. “It’s not going to end until after there’s a trial for his murder. I’m sorry, Marian, there’s nothing I can do to stop the press.” He took a deep breath. “But I have a friend down at the newspaper who owes me a favor. He’s going to write an article on how Cuvier Shipping is changing with the times and about the new direction we’re taking toward the twentieth century. That should help our image and bring us more business.”
She gazed at him stunned. “So you’ve already handled that one?”
“Yes. It should be out sometime next week.”
Jean had kept everything to himself. She had not been included in any of the decisions regarding the two of them, but lived with his choices. He’d never involved her or even kept her informed. And now Louis had not involved her in the newspaper article.
“As for losing more customers, I sent a letter out just this week to all of our clients saying basically the same thing that the article will say. In the letter, I tell them how important their business is to us.”
“Oh. That’s a good idea. How did you sign the letter?” she asked, trying not to get upset, feeling more and more like Jean’s ghost had invaded Louis’s body and continued to make all the decisions, excluding her.
He gazed at her, his face looking quizzical. “I signed them.”
“Did you include my name?” she asked.
He looked sheepish. “No.”
“Perfect,” she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. “Let’s not include the new partner.”
He ignored her remark, but took a step back and walked across the room. “I looked at the financial statement sometime last week. I’ve since taken steps to get us new business and I feel we should recover in the next two or three months. Eventually we’ll recapture our losses.”
For the last five hours she’d paced the floor worrying whether they were going to survive her deceased husband’s reputation, while Louis had already taken steps to ensure the continuation of the company and was out having a good time. Would including her in these decisions have been so difficult? Or just like Jean, had he deliberately kept her in the dark regarding his decisions?
An overriding fury gripped her as she stared at the handsome man standing there in his evening clothes, looking like a man on the prowl.
Just like Jean.
“I have two other questions,” she said, her voice calm, her words precise. She glared at him, her eyes saying what she wasn’t quite ready to say. “When you and my husband were partners did you discuss the decisions you made regarding the business?”
Louis took a deep breath. “Look, I made these evaluations before I accepted you as my partner. That’s why I came in and spoke with you about all those other matters the other day. I was trying to remember everything that’s happened and tell you, so you’d know.”
“Well there were several important ones you missed. I’ve just spent the afternoon worrying about how I would feed my family,” she said, her voice rising.
“Marian, I can help you. Let me buy the business from you. All you have to do is say the word and I’ll buy you out.” He stared at her. “You could put all this behind you and concentrate on your children again.”
“No! I don’t want to sell,” she said curtly. “I want to be included. You weren’t going to tell me these things, just like you didn’t tell me about Jean’s other women!” The room grew silent. Marian stared at Louis. For several moments silence filled the room as he looked at her, shocked by her outburst.
“I didn’t tell you about the statement because at the time I hadn’t accepted you as my partner.” He shoved his hands down in the pockets of his tuxedo. “And I didn’t know that Jean married those women. I knew he cheated on his wife, but I didn’t know you at the time and frankly his affairs were none of my business.”
Marian felt the tears swell behind her eyes and knew she couldn’t break down and cry. Not now. Not while Louis stood there watching her.
She turned away from him and walked to the window. “I’d like you to leave now.”
Her request was calm and cool and perfectly under control, but she didn’t know how long she could remain this way.
Out of the comer of her eye, she saw him take a step toward her and then stop. He stood, uncertain, and then he turned to go, but when he reached the door, he paused with his back to her.
“I’m sorry about Jean, Marian. What he did to you and the other women wasn’t right. You deserved to be treated much better.” He opened the door and paused for a moment. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the financial statement. It didn’t occur to me. I’ll try harder.”
She heard the door click behind him and she burst into sobs. He reminde
d her so much of Jean. His lack of communicating, his way with women, even the way he laughed sometimes. But thank God, he wasn’t Jean. For Jean would never have apologized.
Yet the apology almost made it worse, because somehow it made her like him even more. And she didn’t want to be attracted to another man. Not now. Not ever. And especially not her business partner.
Wronged (Book 1) Page 23