“Enough of the pleasantries. Is this the woman everyone is making such a fuss over?” Bray’s wide nostrils drew up as if he smelled something that offended him.
Hoping to take the high road, I reached out my hand and smiled politely. “Nice to finally meet you, Bray. I have heard so much about you. Come inside. You must be tired from your flight. I think you might manage a few minutes of rest, but the family cars have been driving up all day. The Dufresne family is excited about seeing you two, and when they heard you were coming back to Sugar Hill, I couldn’t stop them from coming.”
He paused a moment but didn’t smile or speak to me. He then gave his “cousin” a tight smile and said, “Reed, I need you to call the airline and find out what happened to our luggage. I need my clothing. This god-awful suit was handed to me in Atlanta, but it will not do, not at all. And poor Dorothea has lost all of her things as well.”
“Fine, I’ll make the call.” Reed frowned, put out by the slight I’d just been given. “Are you deaf, Bray? Avery greeted you, cousin. Have a little respect.”
Both visitors turned their backs to me as they spoke to Reed. I’d never met ruder people in my life.
“She is not our matrone, Reed. I wasn’t going to bring this up right now, but we must convene the board—and soon. I have proof that America’s Sweetheart here is not our matrone. This whole situation must be Aunt Anne’s idea of a last bad joke. The old gal was one for pranking us, wasn’t she? I have the proof, and DNA doesn’t lie.”
Reed’s face said it all. His handsome looks darkened, and he spoke in low tones. “Are you out of your damn mind, Bray? Of course she is our matrone. Aunt Anne chose her. The ring chose her. She has it on now.” For Reed, that was the end of the subject. Period.
Bray put his hand up dismissively. “I don’t know about that ring or whatever Aunt Anne had in mind, but this isn’t right. And she’s not going to get away with it.” He stared at me with pure hatred.
Just then, Summer walked in with a big smile on her face until she saw ours. “What’s going on?” she asked slowly, looking at each of us.
I sat in the chair, unsure what to say or do.
“Bray, you have a lot of damn nerve coming here to Sugar Hill and challenging Avery at this party she’s having for you. Talk about rude! She could have you tossed out. You know that, don’t you?” Reed was full-on furious now. I’d seen him mad before, but this threatened to get out of control.
“I realize this is a shock to you, Reed and Summer, but it can’t be helped. I have the paperwork to back up my claims. If Avery Dufresne is the matrone, I’m the pope.”
Summer’s mouth opened in surprise. “What are you talking about, Bray? What the hell? Hey! Avery! Are you okay?”
The last thing I remember, my body went slack and there was a weird buzzing sound in my ears.
Then everything went black.
Chapter Two – Susanna
“Why must you fight me at every turn, Annalee? Why don’t you listen to reason? You can’t leave! This is your inheritance. I can’t keep you safe at Thorn Hill.”
She was throwing gowns, gowns that I paid for, into the open trunks. There was no rhyme or reason to her packing, no careful folding or wrapping the precious dresses in paper as she normally would if we were taking a trip to Gautier or New Orleans. How long had it been since we’d taken a trip? No, this was not my Annalee.
Olive, her perpetual shadow, hovered nearby wringing her hands. “Listen to your mother, Miss. Dominick will be home soon, and he’ll fix all this. You’ll see.” That caused her to pause, but only for a second.
“Yes, what would Dominick say, Annalee? He would not approve of your leaving, and I am sure he would not approve of your moving to Thorn Hill with…him!”
Annalee likely assumed I spoke of Champion, but it wasn’t him I worried about—it was Ambrose. If she thought the ghosts of Sugar Hill were more than she could bear, just wait until she felt his dead hands on her naked body or around her throat. “There are spirits there, Annalee. Things that don’t rest.” Olive made the sign of the cross and wrung her hands even harder.
“I won’t stay here one more night with you and your ghosts, Mother! Whatever wants to take you won’t take me! I want to be free from Sugar Hill—and you—forever! My brother understands me!” She had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair was unbound and unbrushed. As she rushed about like a madwoman, it was clear she hadn’t slept well in a while.
I sat on the bed feeling defeated, wondering how I could convince her to stay. “What if we left here together, Annalee? Took a trip to New Orleans? You always loved Lake Pontchartrain. We could go for a month or even longer. Come back in the fall, after you’ve had some rest.” Even as I said it, my stomach fell. I didn’t want to leave Chase, but I would for Annalee.
“It’s too late for childhood trips, Mother. It’s too late. I want to be free from you. It’s you I’m leaving! And the ghosts want me to go, your ghosts. They hate me, as they hate you.” She crept closer, a wild patch of hair falling into her eyes. Her green cat eyes were practically burning holes into my own. “You know what they say? They call me ‘placee’ and say they are going to kill me. I see hands coming out of the walls, my bed shakes, and there’s a man, Mother; he comes to me at night. And he vanishes, my ghostly lover.” Her voice dropped, and she covered her eyes as she sobbed for a minute. “You don’t understand. You’d never understand. I have to go.”
And I knew the horrible truth. If Ambrose came to claim her here at Sugar Hill, he would certainly come to her at Thorn Hill. But why? The magic was in the ring, wasn’t it? It was the ring that bound me to him. Why would Ambrose come for Annalee? She was not my true daughter, just the daughter of my heart! But this she could never know!
My wedding band warmed on my finger. Something was happening—something I didn’t understand. Through half-closed eyes, I glanced at the brilliant rubies and diamonds. Thorn Hill was the last place she needed to be. What could I do to prevent it? I don’t know why I said this, but I said, “I had a daughter before you. She was older than you by a year and a few months.”
“I had a sister?” Annalee sat in a pile of clothing on the floor. “Where is she?”
“She was taken from me as an infant, Annalee. Etienne took her from my arms, and I never saw her again.”
“Etienne? Who was she? Your mother? You never talk about her. Tell me about my sister. What was her name? Was she…was she…”
“Was she Chase’s daughter?” I smiled sadly. “Yes, she was Chase’s daughter. I gave her my gold necklace, my parting gift. If you stay with me, Annalee, I will tell you everything. I won’t hold anything back from you again, I swear it. Even if you hate me afterward.”
She rose from the floor and took a seat on the nearby slipper chair. She considered me for a minute, and I suddenly felt tired. I lay on the bed with my feet at the headboard and my head at the footboard. I grabbed a pillow and cuddled up with it. Olive discreetly crept out. She already knew the whole story, but at least she gave us some privacy.
“I never meant to keep secrets from you, Annalee. I never meant for the ghosts to find you. I knew they were here when I came back to Sugar Hill, for they’d never left, but I wanted you and your brother to take your place. I never thought you’d see anything.”
“Tell me about my sister. And my father. You never talk about him. Tell me about him.”
I rolled on my back and closed my eyes, trying to summon his image. “Chase was my golden dream. I knew from the first time I met him I’d marry him. I loved him with all my soul, and he loved me. He was the prettiest man I’d ever seen, save one.”
“And I know who it is, don’t I? The ghost of my dreams,” she whispered.
My eyes flew open, and I stared at her. “Yes, but don’t say his name to me. Don’t say it even when you’re alone. He will hear you and come to you.”
“Why? Why would he come to me? He was your—” The look I gave her made her shut her mouth.
>
“I see you have been listening to gossip. Let me tell you what really happened, and maybe you’ll understand.” I sat up. “Or maybe you’ll truly hate me. Whatever the outcome, let it be so.”
“Very well,” she said, tucking her bare feet under her skirts. Outside the window, a blue jay complained about something. It was a fine day, it looked like. A good day for fishing or swimming in the pond. I would never do that again.
“When Chase and I first married, he devoted all his time to me. We spent so many days and nights here together, just loving one another. I thought those days would never end, but they did…and too quickly. If I could summon them back now, I would, and I would lose myself in every moment,” I said regretfully.
“Please tell me,” Annalee said.
“Arthur, his father, soon called on him to take over the family business. It was a complicated job, but Chase had big dreams. He longed to show his father that he could make something of himself. He wanted to show him that he was intelligent and capable of growing the business. He had ideas about trading with the silk traders; he wanted nothing to do with cotton or sugar or slaves.”
“‘Just think, Susanna,’ he’d say. ‘If you want silk we have to go to Pensacola. Why? When I can own the market? My father just won’t see it. He’s stuck in the past.’” I smiled thinking about Chase’s ambitious strategies.
“I pretended to care about his vision for the business because it pleased him, and I certainly cared about him. I knew he could do it if Arthur would ever release the reins. Chase had many connections and was a friendly man. Not only that, but other men trusted him. To please his father, he began to spend a few weeks out of every month traveling to Pensacola or New Orleans. If he could secure the contracts, his father would sign off on his plans. I was happy for him, as everything appeared to be going the way he wanted, but I missed him.”
I took a deep breath and continued, “And when he was gone I would see the ghosts. There were two of them, but the old woman, she hated me. I mentioned it once to him in a letter, and he sent his father to see me. Arthur thought I was being foolish, that one of the slaves was playing a trick on me, but that was not the case. Eventually, I stopped mentioning it. I rarely saw Arthur, and he never called me for tea or lunch, but he came to Sugar Hill every week after I mentioned the ghosts. He’d make inquiries about my health, and I couldn’t help but notice that he stared hopefully at my belly. He was always building something or having men traipsing through the house at all hours of the night to construct goodness knows what. I don’t know why, but it disturbed me. He was not a nice man. Eventually, the building stopped and the house got quiet. Arthur left for good then, and when Chase wasn’t home, it was just the ghosts and me.”
Annalee said nothing but pulled her knees up and wrapped her slender arms around them.
I looked at her with sad, tender eyes. “I began to feel mad, like they wanted to kill me. Hands would reach for me at night—my bed shook too. A woman’s voice would mock me, and I’d been chased down the gallery more than once with hell on my heels.” I shivered at the memory. “Chase’s cousin—at the time, I thought he was his cousin and did not know he was Chase’s own brother—began to come around while Chase was gone. And Chase was always gone in those days. He, you know who I mean, would say that Chase had sent him to entertain me, that Chase wanted us to be together, and I believed him. Up until that time I had no reason not to.”
“Did you love…him too?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question, so I left it hanging in the air, like the scent of jasmine that seeped through the open window. At least the blue jay was gone now. “He was fire where Chase was sunlight and warmth. They were opposites in most everything from politics to fashion, even in declaring which hound was the fastest. When they were together they were inseparable, or at least as close as he wanted them to be. He was often cruel, saying the most hateful things imaginable, but Chase paid him no mind. His spiteful words didn’t appear to affect my dear husband. I would protest, as I was often offended on his behalf, but he’d say to me, ‘You don’t understand, Susanna. The world has been against him all his life.’ And it wouldn’t be too long before he returned to Sugar Hill, apologizing, in his way. And the two would be inseparable again. Chase loved him deeply. And then Chase would leave us alone, taking all the warmth with him.” I licked my dry lips. When had I last eaten or taken a sip of wine? I needed to do so soon or I would faint.
“Mother, why did you do it? Why would you have an affair with him? Everyone in Belle Fontaine talks about it. I can’t bear the shame,” she said with a sob.
I sprang to my feet. “You don’t know shame like I know it! How dare you speak to me about shame! All I’ve ever done is take you in, pamper you, give you what I never had, and this is my thanks? You wave the past before me, determined to make me remember it!”
Then like a wildcat she challenged me. “And what did you give me? A few dresses? Some baubles when you remembered I was here? And what about Dominick? All he thinks of is pleasing you, and you don’t even seem to notice him. It’s like we are the ghosts, Mother!” She froze. “What do you mean, took me in? What are you saying, Mother?”
“You are my daughter in every way that matters,” I said, my heart crumbling as I spoke. I could see awareness dawn in her eyes. She was beginning to see the truth. Oh, Annalee! You are my own!
“You have your freedom, and that’s more than I ever had! You weren’t born a Serene, born destined to be a placee! That’s not what I want for you—I won’t allow it .And I’ll fight both heaven and hell to keep you safe, Annalee!”
“Then it’s true. I’m not your daughter. Whose daughter am I? Who do I belong to?”
“Your mother was my friend, Flower. I never knew who your father was. He didn’t want a girl-child—but I did! I wanted you, and Flower gave you to me. I wanted to love you and save you from a life I would not wish for my own Minette.”
In a steely voice, she yelled back, “You don’t know what you’re talking about. How can you be so cruel? These are lies! You tell so many lies!” She was on her feet sobbing now. I thought she might attack me or throw herself in my lap and weep her life away, but she did neither.
“And what about your lover, Mother? What about him?”
“He…he’s dead now. He’s dead, and he can’t touch you.”
She was close now, so close I could smell her honey breath and feel the warmth of her skin near mine. She’d grown so much this past year. All traces of the plump child I’d held and rocked had vanished. She was a woman now.
“But he does touch me. He calls me your name. When I swim in the pond, he is there. If I go to the garden, he stands and watches me. If I walk down the path to the gazebo, he comes. Why? What does he want?”
I gasped, and my hands flew to my mouth. “That can’t be. He’s dead, Annalee. He can’t harm us anymore.”
“I am leaving this evil place. You may have your ghosts, but they won’t have me. I am going to Thorn Hill. Champion says I can stay there. No matter what you say, I am and always will be his sister, and he’s eager to shower me with affection. Dominick will be home in a week. Tell him he can find me there.”
“If you must go, then leave. But don’t go to Thorn Hill, Annalee. He is there. If you go to him there, you’ll never be able to escape. And I can’t protect you,” I said desperately.
“You aren’t protecting me here, Susanna.” Hearing her say my name was like a slap in the face. She’d never called me Susanna before. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“If you leave Sugar Hill, daughter, you won’t be welcomed back.”
“Daughter? I know precious little about whose daughter I am, but I am glad I am not yours!” Kicking away a pile of clothing, she stamped her foot and stared at me with unforgiving green eyes. “Goodbye, Susanna. I hope you and your ghosts are happy together.” In a swirl of silk and unbound hair, she spun out of the room.
I ran after her, pleading w
ith her. “Annalee, please listen to me. You shouldn’t go there. I can’t explain it all, but you just can’t. Only tragedy waits for you there. If you don’t want to remain at Sugar Hill, stay with the Jardines at Red Oaks. I would be more than willing to write letters for you, and I know they would welcome you.”
“I’m going to Thorn Hill. I will stay with Champion,” she said as she stomped down the staircase, her gown rustling as she walked.
“Go to your brother, Annalee. I know Dominick would love to have you visit. Think of the surprise he’ll get when he sees you.” I couldn’t hide the desperation in my voice.
“Dominick is with his placee, Susanna, or did you not know that?” She smirked, showing the dimple above her left lip. “And for the last time, Champion is my brother too. Goodbye. I’ll send for my things later when you’ve had a chance to calm down. Olive is coming with me.” Annalee climbed into the carriage, and Olive crawled up beside her, wringing her hands. She couldn’t look me in the eye.
“Olive, watch out for her,” I called as Annalee shot me one last disapproving look out the small window. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out where Ingrid had gotten to.
What should I do with her, Chase?
As the carriage rolled away I swallowed my tears. I wanted to run after her and demand she come back, but what good would that do? Now Annalee knew my secret—her secret—and she was determined to do what she wanted. I stood unmoving in the cloud of dust the carriage had left behind. Perhaps I should leave too, leave this unhappy life. Yes, I could go and be with my Chase, if he’d have me. I didn’t know whether to cry, scream or throw myself off the roof.
I noticed a solitary figure walking up to the house. She wore a faded blue cotton dress and a ragged hat that barely covered her thick, twisted braids. She had dark skin, so dark that it gleamed in the sunshine. Something about her captivated me. This was no slave. This was a free woman. You could always tell. I could tell. I held my breath as I watched her quickly close the distance between us.
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