She was afraid he might mention Charles and spoke quickly. ‘Are you enjoying the play?’
He regarded her thoughtfully, as if light chit-chat between them was a waste of time. ‘I’ve seen better,’ he answered casually. ‘Incidentally, I saw Delphine and Pieter van Dorne in the passage. Neither of them noticed me. By the manner in which they were gazing at each other, they looked like a newly betrothed couple. Is that the situation?’
‘No, not yet, but I believe a betrothal to be in the offing.’
‘Indeed? Do you approve?’
‘I want my sister to be happy,’ she answered, not wanting to discuss her doubts with him or anyone else. As always when he was near, she was uncomfortably aware of his intense male presence, which seemed even more powerful in the shadowed interior of the box. In a moment of fantasy she thought that, if he should touch her, sparks would most surely fly up from the contact. ‘How do you know Pieter’s name?’
‘Through being in the import business myself. Pieter van Dorne is a fortunate “Nutmeg Lord”, as these Dutchmen are called in the trade. He’s heir to a great plantation and has your pretty sister in love with him. His only misfortune is in having a father who rules his family and his plantation like a despot. It’s an old saying that money isn’t everything.’
Louise looked at him sharply. Was he giving her some sort of warning? But already he was asking her if she had seen Richard recently. ‘Not since I dined at his house three weeks ago,’ she answered. ‘He is a good friend.’
‘I agree. I was there yesterday.’ Daniel rose to leave. ‘It’s always a pleasure to see you, Louise. Enjoy the rest of the play.’
The door closed after him. When Delphine and Pieter returned they found her deep in thought. They were hardly in their seats before the curtain went up again.
The following evening after supper Louise chose a moment to talk to Delphine about Pieter, for Daniel’s few words had had the effect of strengthening her private misgivings. She had also noticed how secretive her sister had become, whereas in the past she had always been so open and confiding. ‘I don’t mean to pry,’ Louise began, uncertain how Delphine would react, ‘but has Pieter spoken directly of marriage to you?’
Delphine smiled smugly. ‘Many times.’
‘If he has proposed, why haven’t you told me? And since you’re in my care, shouldn’t he have spoken to me first?’
‘He will do when it’s time to make everything formal.’
‘Do you mean he hasn’t actually asked you yet?’
‘He will when the moment is right.’
‘What makes you so sure?’
‘Pieter wrote to his father the day after he met me, telling him that he’d found the girl he wanted for his wife.’ Delphine dived down between her breasts and produced a wide ring on a ribbon. ‘He told me when he gave me this token of his undying love. It’s his own ring from his little finger, but as it’s too large for me to wear, I’m keeping it close to my heart.’ She kissed it and let it drop back again out of sight, her face radiant. ‘When some more money comes through from his father, he intends to buy me a beautiful betrothal ring. That’s when he’ll ask your permission to marry me.’
Louise felt the grip of dismay, remembering what Daniel had said about Pieter’s father holding the purse strings, which was an easy way to keep a wayward son on a leash. ‘Don’t bank on everything going just as you wish, Delphine,’ she implored. ‘Promises can be broken so easily.’
Instantly Delphine’s good humour vanished. ‘You don’t like Pieter, do you?’
‘I didn’t say that. He’s very pleasant, as well as good company, and he has a quick sense of humour, which I enjoy. There isn’t a thing against him that I could name. But you should remember that he’s not his own master yet and no doubt he has obligations to his father and his future inheritance.’
‘I have to admit that’s true,’ Delphine said sullenly. ‘His father sends him fresh instructions with every nutmeg ship. Pieter knows that sooner or later he’ll be told to return home.’
‘Does he want to leave here?’
‘No, of course not! He’s still determined to go to France and says that we’ll be married before we go.’
‘That seems to endorse his wish to make you his wife.’
‘Don’t have any doubts about that!’ Delphine gave back heatedly. ‘The fact is that, even though I love him with my whole heart, I wouldn’t want to go to France with him. Not because it would be difficult for me to regain entry there, because under a new name all would go well.’ She drew her chair closer, her expression troubled. ‘I’ve never told you this before, but I’ve a terrible foreboding that, if ever I set foot on a ship again, I’ll drown at sea. I’d rather have gone to the guillotine than let that happen to me.’
Louise took Delphine’s hand into both her own. ‘I know you were badly frightened during that storm on the Ocean Maid and so was everybody else.’ She recalled vividly the wildly swinging lanterns, the screams of women as the great waves crashed over the ship, and Delphine huddled like a terrified child in her arms as water swirled under the cabin door. ‘But we came through it safely, as you would on any other ship. The weather isn’t always bad on the sea, as you should know. Next time you could cross the ocean as if sailing on the proverbial millpond.’
Delphine shuddered. ‘It’s not just the voyage to France that worries me. If the day ever comes when Pieter wants to go back to Banda, just think what that would mean for me! A voyage around Cape Horn and then on again almost for ever! There’s only one solution open to me.’ She cheered up visibly at the thought of it. ‘I’ve had it worked out from the start.’
‘So tell me.’
Delphine’s confidence had returned. ‘It’s so lucky for me that Pieter is set on restarting the French trade, because it gives me the extra time I want. I think he was in his father’s bad books when he left home, and this coup would reinstate him in the old man’s eyes. So after we’re married and living in a grand mansion on Lower Broadway he can go to France on his own and then return to me. That’s when I’ll persuade him to stay here and take full control of the importing of the van Dorne nutmegs, leaving his brother to care for the plantation.’
Louise shook her head. ‘No, no, Delphine! That’s only a daydream. The time will come when he’ll decide to go home, no matter what you say. If you love him enough, when that day comes you’ll have to conquer your fear and go with him.’
Delphine’s eyes flashed angrily and she sat back in her chair. ‘If he loves me enough he’ll stay. I don’t want to live anywhere else in the world but here!’
‘Then the only advice I can offer is that you bide your time.’
‘As you did with Charles!’ Delphine retorted furiously. ‘Much good it did you!’
Louise, her face stricken, raised her arm swiftly and struck her sister hard across the cheek. Then abruptly she sprang to her feet, her chair falling to the floor with a clatter, and turned away, her shoulders bowed, her face in her hands.
Delphine stared at her, stunned that for the first time in her life Louise had hit her. She put her fingers tentatively to her reddening cheek. She was not angry any longer, only filled with remorse at her own thoughtless cruelty. Standing, she addressed Louise’s back in a faltering voice.
‘I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to be so cruel. You know how thoughtless I can be at times.’ She rested her hands lightly against Louise’s shoulders. ‘Don’t hate me, even though I deserve it.’
Louise lowered her hands and with tears in her eyes she turned slowly to face her sister. ‘I don’t hate you. I never could, no matter what happens.’
Thankfully, Delphine threw her arms around her and the two of them embraced tightly. Louise, her face still full of pain from the thoughtless barb, hoped desperately that Delphine with her romantic dreams would never experience the wrenching heartache that was still hers.
Louise decided that when summer came they would visit Madeleine and The
odore in Boston. There was no reason why her path and Daniel’s should cross there, but if that did happen it would be a passing incident, as when he had come to the theatre box.
Louise was enjoying a musical evening at Richard’s house when Delphine arrived at the dancing school for the ball, where she was to meet Pieter. Monsieur Rousselot had restricted the number of times she was allowed to dance with him, having told her sternly that no guest had the right to monopolize her as had happened previously. She did not mind, for it added deliciously to her anticipation in the glances they exchanged and the amusement she shared with him in the comically yearning expression he conjured up from across the room. It was always an exciting moment when he took her hand to lead her on to the floor, the pressure of his gloved fingers conveying all sorts of messages to her.
This evening he was late. Delphine kept looking towards the door. Two of the dances that should have been his went by and she began to be anxious. What could have delayed him? When she sighted one of his gaming friends she swept across the room in a whisper of rose silk to speak to him.
‘William, have you seen Pieter? He should have been here two hours ago.’
He looked startled and then uncomfortable. ‘Didn’t you know, Delphine? Surely he told you?’
She felt herself turn icy cold with dread, all colour draining from her face. ‘Told me what?’ she demanded in a harsh whisper.
William drew her to one side, out of earshot of anyone else. ‘He’s sailing on the van Dorne ship tonight. It was a last-minute decision after he received a final ultimatum from his father to return home when the vessel docked yesterday. The old devil was going to cut him off without a guilder if he didn’t return on that same ship.’
Delphine’s whole face felt stiff. She could hardly voice the question she felt compelled to ask. ‘Was it because Pieter wanted to marry me?’
‘No. Pieter’s time here was already up when he met you, and after that he continually ignored a paternal order to return home that came with every one of his father’s ships. Ever since this final letter, Pieter has been busy packing and clearing up business matters.’ Pitying her, he decided a harmless little lie would ease the blow that had been dealt her. ‘I’m sure Pieter told me he had sent you an urgent message to inform you of his departure.’
‘It must have been for me to join him!’ she declared fixedly, her eyes still wide with shock. ‘Louise must have kept it from me, knowing my terror of the sea. I don’t care if I do drown as long as I’m in Pieter’s arms! He’ll be watching and waiting for me. What time does the ship sail?’
‘Half past eleven.’
She grabbed the young man’s arm. ‘There’s still time! Take me to the docks now!’ When he protested she shook her head frantically, not listening to anything he said. ‘Now!’
He could see she was bordering on hysteria and thought it wise to do as she wished. It was Pieter’s responsibility, not his. She ran ahead of him down the curved staircase and he followed, calling for his carriage. As it bowled along on its way to the East River docks, she sat staring unseeingly through the window, talking more to herself than to the embarrassed young man, who was regretting that he had allowed himself to become entangled in this nightmare situation.
‘The captain can perform the marriage ceremony,’ she was saying. ‘You will have to tell my sister what’s happened and where I’ve gone. Pieter will be so thankful to see me. It’s much better for us to arrive married at Banda, a fait accompli if his father should raise any objections. But there shouldn’t be any lasting difficulty. There isn’t a man I can’t charm if I’ve a mind to it.’
William decided that she was mad. Rambling on as she was, it seemed certain that Pieter’s desertion had turned her brain. He snapped open his gold watch, able to see in the passing lantern light that sailing time was only minutes away. She did not look in his direction, but spoke as if he was the one needing to be reassured.
‘Pieter won’t let the ship sail without me.’ Her voice was still strange. They passed through the harbour gates, the coachman stopping only for William to enquire from which wharf the van Dorne ship would be sailing. Then on they went again, the wheels rattling over the cobbles. There was plenty of activity everywhere in the lantern light, the vessels looming large as they passed by. When they reached the van Dorne berth Delphine leapt out of the carriage only to stand staring in disbelief at the ship sailing away in the moonlight. Then, before William could stop her, she hurled herself with a piercing scream into the water.
Nine
Delphine did not take long to recover physically from her ordeal, but mentally was a different matter. William and a sailor had dived in to save her, and others had come to help them get back up on to the wharf. Then the sailor had kicked over a barrel to throw her limp body across it, face down, and pump the water out of her in the time-honoured way of the sea until she coughed and spluttered as it gushed from her mouth. Louise had just returned home when William arrived, carrying her sister in his arms, wrapped in his coat, her wet hair streaming down like dark copper silk with a single strand of seaweed entangled in it. As he was leaving again, neither he nor Louise noticed that Delphine overheard him tell Louise of the lie he had told her.
As the days went by Delphine, listless and apathetic, went for hours without speaking, only ever answering in monosyllables. Louise became increasingly anxious about her. Such silence was distressingly unnatural in a normally garrulous girl, and there was no question yet of her returning to work.
Adding to the change in her, Delphine had stubbornly taken over all the household chores and the marketing, whereas previously she had always been reluctant to do her full share. It was as if she needed to be busy every minute to keep from remembering. Although she was up first every morning to prepare breakfast and always had a meal ready when Louise came home, she scarcely touched food herself and became visibly thinner until the simple clothes she wore daily began to hang on her. Monsieur Rousselot, who had been told that Delphine was unwell, sent word to ask when she would be returning. Delphine only shook her head at the letter and let it drop on to the table.
‘I never want to dance again,’ she said dully in the longest sentence she had used to date.
Louise was at a loss to know how best to help her recover her spirits. Previously there had been rarely a day when Delphine had not played her flute, but now it lay neglected in its box and was never touched. Louise decided that the only solution would be to get her away from New York, with its painful memories. There were plenty of other cities, maybe even Washington itself, where already people were buying some of the newly built properties, and there should be plenty of opportunities for her as an experienced milliner. It would be exciting to live in the very heart of this new nation. By selling one of her most valuable pieces of jewellery, she could even finance a small dancing school for Delphine. But for the present she would accept Alexandre and Blanche’s long-standing invitation to stay with them, which would give Delphine the chance to fully recover in the country air.
She went to see Monsieur Rousselot on Delphine’s behalf. He was understanding and expressed his hope that Delphine would soon be well again, but it was a different matter when Louise gave Miss Sullivan notice of her departure. As she had expected, the milliner was furious that she would be leaving on the brink of the summer season, no matter what the reason.
‘This time there will be no coming back when it suits you!’ the woman declared fiercely, handing over Louise’s wages. ‘Goodbye to you.’
Quite unexpectedly Alexandre came himself in answer to the letter that Louise had sent, turning up on the doorstep with a beaming smile. ‘I’ve combined a business trip with the pleasure of escorting you both back to the farm with me,’ he announced, hiding his private shock at Delphine’s emaciated appearance, having last seen her in France as a healthy, pretty child. ‘Blanche can hardly wait for your arrival. She’s been baking and preparing ever since your letter came, and so, if you’re ready and packed, we�
��ll leave tomorrow.’
Louise had withdrawn her jewellery and her small amount of savings from the bank and had only to hand the apartment keys to the landlord. She had also said farewell to Richard and to others whom she knew would miss her, with promises exchanged to keep in touch. A stallholder from the market had bought the furniture and all else that she had thought pointless to take with them. With their clothes and possessions packed into two trunks and a wooden box, they set off with Alexandre for the country, leaving New York behind them.
The voyage on a sloop up the great Hudson river took over twenty-four hours and was a holiday in itself to Louise, although Delphine spent most of the time in the cabin that they shared, showing no interest in anything. The weather could not have been better – very warm, with a soft breeze – and when Louise was on deck with Alexandre, or eating a meal with him by a saloon window, she was enthralled by the passing scenery. It was a panoramic vista of lush foliage, thick forests ancient as time, clustering blossoms in a variety of colours, mountain slopes and sheer rocky precipices. When the sloop called in at one of the small towns along the way there was the chance to buy moccasins and beadwork from women of one of the tribes whom Louise thought of as the true-born Americans. Their quiet dignity and the proud, straight-backed stance of their men, waiting a short distance away, filled her with admiration.
When the time came to disembark, it was late morning on a day full of sunshine. Waiting for them was a horse and carriage, brought by a strongly built man, whom Alexandre addressed as George. He was a freed slave and one of several farmhands whom Alexandre employed.
‘My pleasure, ma’am,’ George said when Louise thanked him as he handed her up to sit beside Alexandre, who had taken the reins. Delphine said nothing when he assisted her. He had been quick to load up the luggage and sat on one of the trunks as they set off for the farm, which was only a mile away and encompassed many acres of pasture, cropland and forest.
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