“And what is that?”
“How do you feel now about this young woman? In other words, do you feel that she is Ives’s daughter?”
Silence filled the room, and for a moment Leonie could not breathe. She saw her grandmother’s eyes were resting on her. She could not imagine what the older woman was going to say, but her eyes were kind. Leonie’s whole life seemed to be resting on a pair of balance scales, and Lady Augustine’s words would decide her fate.
“I am convinced that she is.” Maria rose from her chair, and Leonie rose as well, feeling faint. Lady Augustine reached out, embraced the young woman, and said, “Granddaughter, it is good to have you here in your home, where you belong.”
Blaise Mignon expelled a deep breath of relief. He smiled broadly as he saw tears come to the young woman’s eyes, and she held f iercely to the older woman. Well, he thought with pride, at least I’ve done one thing right in this sorry life of mine! In his satisfaction, he announced, “A regular job is much better than a monetary reward! Therefore, I will forego financial remuneration for delivering your grandchild. Thank you, Lady Augustine.”
Chapter sixteen
Luke Benteen took a sip out of the whiskey bottle, gasped as it hit his stomach, and then leaned back against the post that supported the roof over the small porch. His tiny shack sat on a piece of the bayou just outside the plantation. He had been drinking steadily all afternoon. He looked up and saw the moon begin to rise, covered with stains of clouds. Discontentment filled him, and he had an impulse to go visit the next plantation, where he could have a liaison with one of the slave women. He knew better than to have any such encounter with the slaves on Belle Fleur; nothing happened in the slave quarters there without everyone knowing about it.
From far off in the swamp came the sound of a bull gator grunting, and Luke listened to it with half his attention. He had been working at Belle Fleur for two years. He was well enough paid for his position, which mostly involved caring for the horses. He had come from New Orleans after experiencing some unpleasantness with the police, and as he sat in the bright moonlight, he longed for the city again. At the age of twenty-eight, he felt his life had gone nowhere.
A slight sound caught his quick ear, and as he turned, he saw a glimpse of white. “Who can that be?” he muttered. He strained his eyes and then suddenly saw Zara Augustine walking toward him. He had quietly admired her beauty many times but knew nothing could ever come of it. What can she want with me?
It was not usual for one of the family to be roaming around servant quarters, and curiosity began to fill him.
“Luke,” she said, coming closer, “is that you?”
Luke put the whiskey bottle down on the porch. “Yes, ma’am, it is.”
“Stand up. I want to talk to you.”
Luke jumped up to face Zara. She looked strangely determined— but about what? “Don’t see you here often, Miss Augustine.”
Zara ignored his remark. She was looking at him steadily, and Luke frantically tried to think what he might have done that she had come to scold him about it. “Anything wrong, ma’am?”
“No. Not yet, but I’ve come to ask you to do something.”
Luke grew wary. What would this woman be coming to ask me? “I’m surprised, but I’ll do what I can.”
“You haven’t heard what it is yet.”
Luke grinned. “Well, I reckon you wouldn’t want it known or you wouldn’t be comin’ like this, Miss Zara.”
Zara’s face was fixed. She had thought of nothing else but a way to get rid of Leonie, and now there was a frightening rigidity in her body, and her eyes seemed almost to glitter. “Do you like money, Luke?”
“I reckon I like it as well as the next.”
Zara was carrying something in her hand. She held up a handful of bills and said, “This is for you if you do what I ask.” She handed the bills over, and Luke took them. He didn’t count them but saw that it was a considerable sum. He held the bills tightly in his hand and asked, “What is it you want me to do?”
“Something that isn’t honest or honorable.”
Luke Benteen laughed. “I don’t reckon we need to worry about that.”
“You understand if you ever breathe a word of this, I have ways of making you wish you hadn’t.”
“For this kind of money, no problem about that. What is it you want? This ain’t enough to hire me to kill somebody.”
“You don’t have to kill anybody.” She took a step forward and said, “Here is what I want you to do . . .”
At dinner that evening, Zara seemed brighter and more cheerful than usual. Leonie thought she looked nervous, but she could not think why that would be. It was just the usual family: Leonie, Lady Maria, Hugh, Lowell, and Zara. The talk had been mostly of the ball that was coming. Lady Maria spoke of it with great anticipation, saying, “We’re going to spare no expense on this, Lowell. I’ll expect you to help with the preparation. You, too, Zara.”
“Why, of course, Aunt,” Lowell said at once. “It’ll be a pleasure. We’ll do it up right.”
“How’s your dress coming, Leonie?” Zara asked, fixing her eyes on Leonie.
“It’s nearly finished.”
“I’m sure it’ll be beautiful,” Lady Maria said.
“I feel odd about all this,” Leonie said.
“Why ‘odd’?”
“Because I’m not using to having a fuss made over me.”
Hugh smiled and said, “Then it’s time, isn’t it? After all, we can’t have a second-rate ball for Lady Maria’s granddaughter.”
Lowell and Zara seemed to have frozen in position. Finally Lowell said, “You’ve decided that, have you, Aunt?”
“Yes, I have. The more I thought about it, the more I saw Ives in Leonie. She resembles him greatly physically, and her ways are like his. And besides, there’s the evidence. I told Hugh of my decision this afternoon.”
“Well, welcome to the family, cousin,” Lowell said. He moved his foot to touch Zara’s under the table.
“Yes. Welcome to the Augustines,” Zara said. She held her glass high and said, “A toast to our new cousin.”
Leonie took the glass and drank. Her face was pale, and she could not take her eyes off her grandmother. She said, “Thank you, Grandmother.”
“I wish your father were here to see this,” Maria said. “But at least we have you.”
Zara had watched Leonie carefully for several weeks, and she had learned that every night Leonie went to the kitchen and drank a large glass of buttermilk. She had asked Leonie once why she did this, and Leonie had said, “Oh, I love buttermilk, and it seems to make me sleep better.”
The house was still as Zara made her way to the kitchen. She opened the cabinet where a quart of buttermilk was kept, removed the top, then poured the contents of a brown bottle into the milk. Quickly she replaced the top, put the jar back into the cabinet, and left the kitchen.
She barely managed to conceal herself behind the door that led to the dining room when she heard steps. Peering out, she saw Leonie enter the kitchen. She watched as the young woman poured a glass of buttermilk and drank it with obvious enjoyment. Relief came to her, then, for she had not been certain that the sour taste of the buttermilk would conceal the taste of the laudanum.
As soon as Leonie left, Zara quickly moved to take the tainted buttermilk from the cabinet. She stepped outside, poured the contents of the jar on the ground, and then filled the jar with fresh buttermilk from the springhouse. Moving inside, she put the jar into the cabinet, and as she turned to leave, a smile was on her lips.
Benteen stood waiting in the darkness. He hid behind one of the large live oak trees, his eyes fixed on the light just over the back porch. It threw its feeble yellow gleam over the yard, and he felt nervous. There was never a thought in his mind of refusing Zara Augustine’s offer. He had done worse things for less money.
Suddenly a noise caught Benteen’s attention, and he straightened up. He saw Zara Augustine step
out on the porch. At once he slipped out from behind the tree and approached the house. He asked, “Is it time?”
“Yes. You’ll have to be quick.”
Luke Benteen, of course, had never been in the big house. It was late, nearly midnight, and the house was quiet. “Don’t make any noise,” Zara said.
“No, ma’am.”
Benteen followed her through the kitchen, down a hall, and then up to the third floor. She stood outside the door and said, “Go in, and do as I told you.”
“What if she’s awake and makes a holler?”
“She won’t be,” Zara said flatly. “You go in now. You know what to do when someone comes.”
“I reckon so.”
“You’d better be sure of it. You’re getting well paid enough.”
“I know what to do,” Benteen said and stepped inside the door, closing it behind him. The silver moonlight came through a window, illuminating the room. His eyes went to the young woman lying asleep on the bed. Moving quietly, he went to stand over her. She was lying on her back, and her face was placid and still. He knew her name and that she was reputed to be Lady Augustine’s granddaughter. Too bad for you, Miss, he thought, but I’ve got to get out of this place, and you’re my ticket!
Maria looked up, surprised, at the door. It was late, and she had been unable to sleep. She could not imagine who would knock at that time of the night. “Who is it?”
The door opened, and Zara came in. Her face was fixed. She said, “Aunt, something terrible has happened.”
Instantly Maria threw the cover off. “What is it? Is someone injured?”
“No. It’s worse than that.”
“What is it, girl? Tell me!”
Zara had practiced this scene many times. She swallowed hard and tried to make the words come out as if they were bitter. “I hate to tell you this, Aunt, but it’s about Leonie.”
Maria flinched. “What is it? Is something wrong? Is she sick?”
“I wish it were only that.” Zara was a good actress. “It’s so hard,” she said. “I know how much you care for her, and I’ve tried to keep you from finding out.”
“From finding out what? For heaven’s sake, child, tell me.”
“Well, Leonie’s been having an affair with one of the servants.”
Maria’s eyes flew open. “That can’t be true!” she exclaimed. “It’s impossible.”
“I thought so too. She fooled me for a long time, but it’s true enough.”
“Which servant? Who is it?”
“Luke Benteen.”
“Why, he’s nothing but a rascal!”
“I know, but I got suspicious some time ago, and I began watching them. I hate a sneak as much as you do, but I felt that I had to find out if it was true.”
“What did you do?”
“I followed her. She goes to his room at night after everyone’s in bed, and lately he’s come to her room more than once.” She hesitated, then said, “He’s there now, Aunt Maria.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“I didn’t want to either. That’s not all. I’ve been missing things, some valuable jewelry, and I believe she’s been stealing from me. She’s helped me clean it. She’s the only one that could have taken it.”
The missing jewelry did not seem to disturb Lady Maria as much as the charge of a liaison with one of the servants. “I’ll have to see it.”
“I knew you would. That’s why I waited. He’s there now.”
“Show me.”
The two women left the room and walked down the hall. They ascended the steps to the third floor where Leonie’s room was, and Maria’s face was pale. She watched as Zara opened the door and stepped inside with her.
She saw Luke Benteen jump out of the bed half-dressed. He scrambled into his clothes, and her heart seemed to grow cold. He began to babble something, but she did not hear it. “Get out of here!” she shouted. “Right now!”
Benteen grabbed his shoes and scurried out of the door, and Maria stood looking in disbelief at the girl in the bed. She was lying still, and Zara said, “She’s drunk, Auntie. Here. See this bottle.” She reached on the table and picked up a whiskey bottle. “She pretends not to drink, but I know she does.”
Maria Augustine stood looking at the face of Leonie Dousett. Her heart seemed to have stopped, and she turned and walked out in silence. Like a sleepwalker, she went down the stairs and back to her own room. She sat down heavily in a chair. All strength seemed drained from her. She did not move and could not think straight.
Finally she looked up and saw that Zara had entered. “I found the jewelry,” she said stiffly. “It was under her things in a drawer of the chest in her room.” She held out her hand with the jewelry in it.
Silence filled the room them, and Maria heard herself speaking as if a stranger. “Get rid of that man.”
“Yes, Auntie. Anything else?”
“I will tend to the rest.”
Leonie’s head seemed to be splitting as she woke up. She had never had a headache in her life, but she felt as though someone were putting a red-hot ice pick through her temples. She heard a voice, but for a moment she could not make it out. When she opened her eyes, the room was blurred, and finally her eyes focused and she saw Mrs. Danvers.
“Lady Augustine wants to see you right away.”
Leonie sat up and had to pause. She felt sick, and the pain in her head was terrible. Her tongue seemed thick. “What did you say?”
“You heard me,” Mrs. Danvers said coldly. “I suggest you go to her right away.” She turned and walked out of the room without another word.
Leonie could not put things together. She looked in confusion, then slowly began to remove her night dress and to put on her clothes. It was difficult. She thought, I must be coming down with a fever. I’ve never felt this bad before.
Finally she was dressed, and she made her way to Lady Maria’s door. She knocked, then she stepped inside and saw Lady Maria standing over by a window.
“You wanted to see me, Grandmother?”
Lady Augustine turned, and a glare was never fiercer. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”
“About—about what, Grandmother?”
“Do I have to spell it out? Do you have to hear it? I’m talking about the man you had in your room last night. A servant, and a bad one at that!”
“No. That’s not true!”
“I saw it myself, Leonie.” She repeated what had taken place, and Leonie’s mind seemed to be whirling.
“I don’t know what’s going on. I’m sick.”
“I wanted you to be my granddaughter and perhaps you are, but the bloodline does not run true. You’re not what I thought you were. I expect you to be out of this house today, as quickly as possible.”
Leonie stared at Lady Maria, then she turned woodenly and left the room. Her mind would not seem to function. She went upstairs to her room and sat down. Her legs felt weak, and the headache continued to rage. Finally she fell on her knees and said, “God, I don’t know what’s happening, but I know one thing. I don’t have any money and no place to go, but I have You, Lord, and I believe that You’ll take care of me.”
For a long time Leonie Dousett remained on her knees. Finally the headache seemed to grow less violent and then passed away. She thought about all that had happened and knew that she had no choice. She felt a touch and looked down to see Louis pressing against her. She picked up the large cat and hugged him, pressing her face against the fur. “We’ve got to leave this place, Louis, but God will take care of us.”
Chapter seventeen
Ransom Sheffield slumped down in a chair and let the weariness fill his body. He had worked steadily for almost twenty-four hours, having missed a night’s sleep because of the demands of the clinic. For a moment he felt completely and utterly drained, unable to do more than listen to the hum of voices that came from the outer offices.
The door opened, and he looked up to see Lolean enter carrying a tra
y. “What’s this, Lolean?”
“You must eat something, Doctor.”
“I’m not very hungry.”
Lolean set the tray down on the desk in front of him. “Sometimes when we get very tired we don’t know we’re hungry, but you must eat. You can’t keep going like this.”
Ransom looked up and managed a weary grin. “I don’t know what I’d do without you to take care of me, Lolean.”
The young woman flushed at his praise and said quickly, “I made you some bouillabaisse.”
“What’s that? It smells delicious.”
“It’s mostly fish. I made a lot, so it will last.”
“What’s in it?”
Lolean smiled. “A whole redfish, a whole red snapper, a whole blackfish, and a whole sheepshead. And shrimp and crawfish tails.”
“Well, Lord, for what I’m about to receive, make me truly grateful.” Ransom dipped into the soup with the large spoon she had provided, took a sip, and blinked. “That’s hot.”
“Bouillabaisse is supposed to be hot. I added some hot peppers. I always like it that way myself.”
“I think you could get a job cooking at a fancy restaurant.”
“No, men do all that. Here, I think you’ll like this, Doctor.”
“What is it?”
“Creole lamb chops.”
Ransom cut off a bite of the meat and tasted it. “Why, this is great! I’m going to weigh three hundred pounds if you don’t stop stuffing me.”
“No, you never will. You’re not one of those men that gets fat.”
“No, I guess I’ll be tall and skinny all of my life.”
“You’re not skinny,” Lolean said. “You’re lean and trim.”
“I guess ‘lean’ sounds better than ‘skinny.’ How many patients are out there now?”
“They’re all gone except three, and I asked Dr. Roberts if he would see them. You’ve worked hard enough today. Two days, really.”
“I guess I’d have to agree with you.”
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