‘Mr Lombard!’ she exclaimed in a startled voice.
He switched to speaking in French. ‘I apologize for arriving unannounced, but I arrived back in New York today and wanted to invite you and your sister to dine with me this evening.’
Delphine spun round on her heel to look eagerly at Louise. ‘Do let’s accept!’
Louise put down the spoon and came across to the doorway. Her face was flushed, but whether it was from annoyance or the heat of the range, he did not know.
‘Thank you, but no, Mr Lombard. It was kind of you to think of it, but our dinner is already prepared.’ Her tone was adamant in her polite refusal. She had nothing against him personally, except that she was wary of the penetrating look she met in his eyes, which seemed to be seeking out the very depths of her. ‘Displaying the hats for you in Miss Sullivan’s showroom was part of my work. There was no need for you to feel under any obligation to return a courtesy.’ She stood ready to close the door.
‘That’s not the reason I came. I wanted to see you again.’
Delphine intervened quickly, glad of a diversion on this evening, which otherwise she and Louise would spend on their own. She gave him a dazzling smile. ‘Then since you are here and our meal is ready, do stay and eat with us. You’re very welcome, isn’t he, Louise?’
Louise hid her exasperation with her sister, her upbringing and the rules of hospitality making it impossible for her to say other than, ‘Then please come in and sit down.’ She indicated the table with two chairs in the shadows. At the range she lit a taper through the grill and took it across to give a flame to the table’s candlestick.
As Delphine laid a third place, Daniel brought forward a wooden stool for himself. There was no cloth, but the table was scrubbed white and although the crockery did not match, the cutlery was silver and very fine. He guessed the sisters had salvaged it before leaving home in their flight from France.
Delphine poured some red wine from a flagon into three engraved glasses. These were too delicate to have been carried in the bundles that the sisters had brought ashore and must have been bought locally. He thought how very French it was that the two of them, obviously existing on the most meagre means, had not been able to consider drinking wine from coarser containers.
‘We hadn’t treated ourselves to wine in New York before the other evening,’ Delphine explained. ‘Which is why we have some now. It’s from Madeira and very good, We couldn’t afford the French wine, but I suppose the problem of importing it at the present time has made it soar in price.’
‘It has indeed. What was so special about that particular evening?’
Happily Delphine told him about her birthday celebration as she cut up chunks of a long, freshly baked loaf, which she said Louise had made from a French recipe.
Louise served the cassoulet straight from the cooking pot. There was little meat in the rich sauce, but he found it as delicious as the aroma that had drifted from it, and he guessed she had used some of the wine in it.
‘Where did you learn to cook so well?’ he asked her appreciatively, accepting another chunk of bread to go with his second helping.
Louise smiled ruefully. ‘Through necessity and the help of an old book of recipes that I found when Delphine and I were without servants before we escaped from France.’
‘Whereabouts was your home?’
‘Just a few miles from Bordeaux.’
He would have liked to ask her how she and her sister had escaped, but since she had not offered any information, it would be tactless to ask questions. In any case it might be painful for her to recount it, stirring up sad memories. He had been reading in the newspaper only that day that under the present reign of the terror the guillotines were not able to cope with the number of victims and other gruesome methods were being used in wholesale slaughter.
‘I’ve never been to Bordeaux,’ he said. ‘Although, as a boy, I was once in France with my parents. It improved my command of the language, which was sometimes spoken at home.’ A fondness for France warmed his voice as he spoke of visiting Paris and Rouen and other parts of the country.
‘You crossed that terrible Atlantic Ocean just for a visit!’ Delphine threw up her hands dramatically. ‘I’m determined never to set foot on a ship again!’
‘My parents’ reason for taking me to France was to introduce me to our Huguenot roots.’ Daniel smiled. ‘It’s said that all Huguenots know their ancestry. Mine had fled here to the New World in the last century when Louis XIV began prosecuting Protestants for their religious beliefs. So, my forebears settled in South Carolina, as did many other Huguenots at that time. I was born in Charleston and my sister, Elizabeth – for whom I bought the hat – and her husband still live in the family house that my great-grandfather built. Did you know that when Marie Antoinette was imprisoned, there was a plan in the offing to smuggle her out of France and bring her to safety in Charleston?”
“We have never heard that!” Louise exclaimed, both she and Delphine showing their surprise. “If only that could have happened!”
“Sadly time ran out,” Daniel said gravely.
Louise shook her head in deep regret. “She was such a brave woman and didn’t in any way deserve her fate.”
In spite of herself, Louise was becoming more relaxed in his company. Conversation with him was easy. They found that they shared a deep appreciation of music, and Delphine offered to play her flute for him when their meal was over.
When he asked them both how they had settled down in surroundings so different from all they had known in the past, it was Delphine who answered first – and forcefully.
‘I’ve never been used to being shut in all day, working my fingers to the bone! I hate it! I know lots of exciting things are happening every day and night in the city, but we never get the chance to see anything or go anywhere, except that one and only visit to the theatre. At home I’d have gone to Versailles with Louise if our uncle hadn’t prevented it in the first place and afterwards her husband put obstacles in the way. Then came the Revolution, which ruined any last chance for me!’
It was a bitter tirade. Daniel turned to Louise, whose weary look showed she had heard it all many times before. ‘Do you feel the same about this new life of yours?’
‘No,’ she answered without hesitation. ‘But then I had a surfeit of balls and parties and great occasions, all the excitement that Delphine missed, and which I hope she’ll have the chance to enjoy one day on a more moderate scale. I’m determined that we should make a success of our lives here.’
‘Well said!’ Daniel said admiringly. In his turn he told them that his business was importing silks from India and China. ‘I used to get wonderful French silks from Lyons as well, but the Revolution has put an end to that source for a while. I came to New York this time to inspect a cargo of silks from Delhi before shipping them on to my warehouse in Boston.’
‘What drew you to the silk trade?’ Louise inquired with interest.
‘I suppose it was to be expected, since my ancestors were silk weavers, but I started my career in my father’s business, exporting raw cotton from the South to the mills of Lancashire in England and other destinations. I often visited my uncle’s cotton plantation in Alabama to get to the basics of the whole process. After my father died from a heart attack, never having overcome his grief at losing my mother, I kept the business on for a while and expanded it, but it was never what I really wanted to do every working day of my life. So I decided to sell up and make a change.’
‘Why did you decide to go as far north as Boston?’ Delphine questioned.
‘There were several reasons.’ He did not elaborate, but went on to talk of Boston itself and its history, which held Louise’s interest. But Delphine, quickly bored, broke in to ask him about fashionable life there, which she did want to hear about, and he answered her questions readily. She became quite starry-eyed as she pictured the balls and soirées and parties he described for her benefit.
‘We h
ave cousins in Boston. I wonder if you know them?’ she said eagerly. ‘Mr and Mrs Theodore Bradshaw.’
‘Yes. I’m acquainted with them, but not closely. Our paths cross at local gatherings. He is prominent in local politics and she devotes herself to charity work. I shall look forward to telling them I’ve met you both.’
The meal had ended, but after Louise had cleared it they sat on at the table with the last of the wine, there being nowhere else to sit. Delphine gave a short recital on her flute, the sweet music dancing around the room as she stood with her back to the window-hanging, which glowed ruby-red behind her in the candle glow. Daniel applauded her enthusiastically when she sat down again.
As the evening went on, none of them noticing the clock, he recounted some amusing incidents, taking particular pleasure in making Louise laugh. She had a way of tilting her chin, exposing her long white throat, her eyes half-closed with merriment under her long lashes, making him yearn to put his lips to her smooth skin and kiss her beautiful mouth.
When the time came to leave he hoped that she had forgiven his brash acceptance of her sister’s invitation to him, but as she must have guessed, it had been a chance to get to know her better that he had not been able to resist. Yet did he know her any better? A slight melting of her coolness had not given him an insight into the mysterious depths of her. He was uncertain whether she would accept an invitation for her and her sister to dine with him the following Saturday evening, but he tried his luck after thanking them for their hospitality.
Louise, seeing Delphine’s undisguised excitement at the invitation, felt obliged to accept for her sake, but as she closed the door after him she was uneasy. He was too vibrant and powerful a man to let into their lives. Then she reminded herself that after he had entertained them he would be going back to Boston, their brief acquaintanceship at an end.
Daniel, making his way back to the City Hotel, knew that, even more than before, Louise was going to dominate his thoughts and everything he did until he saw her again.
The following evening Delphine opened the door to a messenger boy from the hotel. He handed two striped boxes to her and left again. She had recognized them instantly as being from Miss Sullivan’s shop.
‘Look, Louise! This one is for you. There’s a note for each of us!’ She read through hers quickly. ‘These gifts are a token of appreciation from Mr Lombard for our hospitality.’ She tugged at the ribbons and let the box fall to the floor as she ran with the silver-threaded gauze stole to the mirror. There she draped it about her shoulders. ‘It’s beautiful and so expensive!’
Louise sat down and read her note from him before opening the box slowly. Then she let the stole with its glittering gold thread remain unfolded in its box on her lap. She felt as if Daniel was closing in on her.
After work on Friday Louise made preparations for the following evening with Daniel, certain she was going to enjoy the occasion in spite of her misgivings, for it would be a great treat to be in more sophisticated surroundings after such a long time. She took from the closet the black silk gown that she had trimmed with the scarlet bows and braid. Now she removed these trimmings, putting them carefully aside for re-use, and cut the neckline into a décolletage. Then she took her sister’s silk gown, which was a deep blue, needing nothing added or taken away, and again cut the neckline deeper. The sleeves of both gowns were fashionably elbow-length already and nothing had to be done to them.
‘We can wear our lace shawls to hide the gap when we want these gowns for day wear again,’ she explained to Delphine, who made a deprecating grimace.
‘But those old gowns are so dull for a special invitation.’
‘I haven’t finished yet. I promise you that when the evening comes you’ll be well pleased with your appearance. Now be patient.’
Next morning Louise went out during the short break Miss Sullivan allowed for a midday snack and collected from the bank a sapphire necklace, which Delphine had inherited, and her own parure of a diamond necklace, chandelier earrings and bracelets. She carried the leather cases unobtrusively in an old canvas bag.
As Louise had expected, Delphine was enthralled by her own appearance when she was dressed and ready, the sapphires glowing around her throat. She could scarcely tear herself away from her distorted reflection in an old mirror to fasten Louise’s necklace for her.
‘These sapphires match my eyes! I wish I could wear them every day,’ she said, patting the necklace proudly as she returned to her reflection.
Louise was amused. ‘I don’t think Miss Sullivan would approve of that!’
Daniel came himself in a carriage to collect them. They emerged in their cloaks, for the evening was wet and windy, both wearing the gauze stoles draped over their heads, for which they thanked him.
‘I’ve been looking forward to this evening so much,’ Delphine declared excitedly when they were seated and the carriage was on its way to the City Hotel. Recently built on the West Side of Broadway, five storeys high with its entrance flanked by expensive shops and its own elegant coffee house, it was New York’s first grand hotel and it had become highly fashionable to dine at this new and expensive venue.
‘I hope it lives up to your expectations,’ Daniel remarked with a grin.
‘I know it will!’ she declared exuberantly.
At the hotel their cloaks and stoles were taken from them. In the golden aura of candlelight and the dazzle of jewels, Delphine was aware of heads turning as they were shown to their table. She felt as proud of her sister’s diamond-sparkling appearance as she did of her own.
‘Was Versailles as grand as it is here, Louise?’ she asked eagerly as soon as they had taken their seats.
Louise smiled to herself at her sister’s naivety, but did not show it as she answered, not wanting to cause her any embarrassment. ‘The palace had many lavishly beautiful rooms, but I’m sure this dining room could have taken its place somewhere in that vast building.’
Her tact was not lost on Daniel. He had observed both sisters closely over dinner at their apartment and seen how caring and protective Louise was towards Delphine. He wondered how long it would be before she woke up to the fact that her sister would always be a source of trouble, forever scheming for her own ends. He’d once loved a woman of Delphine’s character and knew the signs, which he had been too blind to see at the time. If it lay in his power, he would not let Delphine destroy Louise’s chance of happiness.
He knew himself to be in love with Louise. Maybe he had been since first sighting her in that yellow hat. Yet in spite of her softened attitude she remained totally self-contained, an invisible guard between her and any slight intrusion by him into her private self. She did not seem to realize that her very reserve was a challenge to him, holding out the promise of undiscovered depths that he longed to explore.
As she merrily explained something to her sister about the tradition of French kings always dining publicly, his gaze under lowered lids dwelt appreciatively on her, his thoughts running swiftly towards his intense desire for her. He wanted to bury his face in her gloriously burnished hair, to caress and to know every part of her lovely body, for he was able to see enough of her pearly breasts in the low-cut gown to make his hands ache to enfold and arouse them. Although she would still be mourning her late husband, he knew that nothing could deter him in his pursuit of her. He meant to have her eventually, however long it took. There was no barrier he wasn’t prepared to break down when the time was right.
At that point, just as Louise was turning her head to speak to him, waiters brought the first course and he was saved from her seeing the stark passion in his eyes.
During the several courses, he noticed how Delphine kept glancing around the room with an entranced gaze. He supposed she was imagining how it must have been to dine in that brittle world of Versailles that had gone for ever. Louise saw deeper than that and felt the chill of concern. Delphine was promising herself that one day she would come and go in such grand places, no matter what it
cost to achieve her aim.
In spite of the formality of the evening, the three of them conversed as freely as when they had eaten together in a humbler setting. Delphine scarcely knew what she ate in her exhilaration at being in such a splendid setting. She was fully aware of the keen glances cast in her direction by men, young and not so young, and she sparkled flirtatiously with Daniel. In contrast, Louise quietly enjoyed each course, even though none was up to the French standards she had known in the past, but the wines had been well chosen by Daniel and were quite excellent.
After they had finished dining they went through to a large salon for the serving of tea, one of the English customs that had lingered on. Before sitting down Louise paused to look at a framed etching on the wall. It showed the new capital of Washington. Daniel came to her side.
‘That’s how it will look when all the buildings are finished,’ he said, studying it. ‘It was New York’s loss when the Government moved to Philadelphia. Yet it’s right that the country should have a fine new seat of government, designed with an eye to space and beauty, as well as a grand house for the President and all who take the presidential oath after him. But the circles of high society here have missed all the splendid social occasions that centred on him and Mrs Washington, which is why the present flood of French aristocrats has been like manna from Heaven to them.’
Louise turned to look at him with a soft laugh. ‘Is that true?’
He grinned. ‘Indeed it is! To have the names of dukes and duchesses and other titled personages on a guest list means a great deal to certain people. It shouldn’t be long before you’re swept up in the whirl.’
Delphine, standing by them, was suddenly filled with hope. She would enjoy being fêted. Maybe the future was far brighter than she had hoped.
Before the week was out Daniel took them to a concert and then on Saturday evening to a ball at the exclusive Belvedere House, bringing a business acquaintance as a partner for Delphine. His name was Harry Turner, a pleasant young man, but too intellectual for Delphine and she found his conversation tedious. But when they danced in the beautiful octagonal ballroom she was in her element, starry-eyed as the chandeliers spun overhead.
New World, New Love Page 5