Master Of Paradise

by Virginia Henley

  Nicholas, who was across the room doing his duty as host, chose to ignore her.

  A secret smile curved her lips and her dimples appeared.

  Philip held out his hand to assist her from the bottom step. "I'd willingly forfeit claim to my title if that smile were for me."

  She examined him closely. He was so different from his brother. Philip was extremely tall and slender with fair hair and light complexion, and yet the aqua eyes told her they were brothers.

  He danced divinely, and she promised to take supper with him. Clay Hampden danced with her next. "Mandy, you've changed so much, ah can't hardly believe it's you." Though they were the same age, she had become a woman, while Clay was still just a boy.

  Clay was in a sullen mood because Beau and his father Wade were off to war, while he had been forbidden.

  Amanda tried to placate him. "Clay, your mother will need a man to run the plantation, and that's a heavy responsibility. The only thing is, there isn't any glory attached to it."

  He grinned reluctantly. "You always did have a knack for making me feel better.

  Mandy danced with Ty Caldwell and congratulated him on his marriage to Julia Hampden, then she gave equal time to Wesley Davis and Stuart Beverly, who always looked at her with his heart in his eyes.

  She glanced at the Vickers brothers. King and Duke Vickers actually look civilized in their gray uniforms with the yellow stripes down the trousers. Fear for them clutched her heart. They will be such brave, reckless boys, galloping heedlessly into danger, shouting their brave rebel yells.

  The party was an unqualified success, and Jennifer Joy the belle of the ball. The kitchen staff under Samuel's direction had outdone themselves. The centerpiece of the buffet consisted of four heavy, silver tureens filled respectively with pearl gray, jet black, coral red, and golden caviar.

  Amanda stood observing the guests as they slowly began to take their leave, and she realized that things would never be quite the same again. The girls in their lovely dresses with tea roses and cape jessamine in their hair; the men in their dashing uniforms, stealing the flowers for keepsakes and placing them over their hearts in their breast pockets; the mothers and fathers beaming with pride for their offspring; all of them so pampered and privileged, herself included.

  Nicholas came up behind her and whispered, "A Dusk Of The Gods."

  "Oh, please don't say that." She knew he had read her thoughts.

  He bowed low before her and swept her into his arms. He waltzed her into the gardens, where the deep shadows provided a haven for amorous couples. "My Mistress of Paradise," he mocked, his eyes glittering with anticipation.

  "My Devil of the Night," she answered tauntingly.

  He tightened his arms to bring her closer in his embrace as they danced. "My Goddess of the Dawn," he teased.

  She longed to be kissed, but would not let him know. "My Demon of Darkness," she hissed at him between her teeth.

  Nicholas looked at her the way every woman dreams a man will, with naked love, his face filled with tenderness. She was so soft, and vulnerable, and fragile. "My love," he whispered. They were both weak with desire. He danced her back inside where only a few guests still lingered. He slipped one arm beneath her knees and lifted her against his heart. Without taking his eyes from her, he swept her up the staircase. His gaze was intense, daring her to protest.

  She rested her head against his shoulder, content to let him have his way; eager for the mysteries that awaited her in his great bed.

  They slept late the next morning. When Amanda opened her eyes she found Nicholas gazing down on her, as she lay curled against him. The game began again. "Good morning, my Saucy Rebel." She felt his shaft harden and thrust against her thigh. "Good morning, my Cocky Englishman."

  The door burst open and Rafe Collins strode into the room.

  Mandy cried out and scrambled behind Nicholas's broad back. She peered over his shoulder at the intruder.

  Rafe was surprised that Nicholas was not alone, but he put a bold face on it and laughed. "Aye, aye, what do we have here? Two bloody imposters! One pretends he's celibate, the other pretends she's virgin."

  Mammy Lou came in with a breakfast tray. "Ah couldn't stop him, Masta Nick."

  Nicholas threw out his arm. "Come in Lou-- make yourself at home. By Christ we must be the most star-crossed lovers ever born. We've waited years to awaken in the same bed, and now I suspect someone's selling tickets to the event."

  Mammy giggled as she hastily put the tray on the bed and retreated.

  Rafe selected a luscious Scupernong grape and popped it into Mandy's mouth. "I love to watch you eat," Rafe said avidly.

  "You damned half-breed," Nicholas accused, "I wouldn't trust you alone with my wife for ten seconds."

  "I don't blame you. She might start to make odious comparisons between us," he boasted.

  Nicholas reached for his trousers. "Come on, let's give the lady some privacy." He turned and kissed her. "Remember where we left off," he admonished.

  "Reminds me of an old Southern expression-- If you weren't so ugly, you'd have it all." As soon as they closed the bedroom door, Rafe said, "I'm sorry Nick."

  Nicholas clapped him on the back and said ruefully, "Your timing was regrettable, but your urgency tells me you have news."

  "Forty-five ships under DuPont took Fort Beauregard and Fort Walker. They hold Port Royal secure."

  "Damn, that's too close for comfort," Nick swore. "Where's your ship anchored?

  "In a cove at the mouth of the Santee. Where's the Rattlesnake?"

  "Well-hidden in the Intracoastal Waterway. I think we should each do a couple of quick runs to Nassau. Let's get as much cotton out as we can, then in two or three weeks we can pick it up from Nassau and take it to Liverpool."

  "I'll bring the Hornet into the Intracoastal and you get word to the planters who still have cotton to get it to us by mule," Rafe said.

  "Good idea. Then we can sail inland and leave by a Georgia port or even sail down to Florida if we encounter the Union's South Atlantic Squadron."

  "I noticed the price of everything in Charleston is skyrocketing. Confederate dollar only buys half what it did before we went to England."

  "Soon, Confederate money will be totally worthless. For God's sake only accept gold for any goods you manage to get through the blockade."

  Rafe grinned. "I was born at night, but it wasn't last night, Nick. After I've eaten, I'll push off. I'll meet you tomorrow night where the Santee cuts across the inland waterway."

  Nicholas let out a deep breath of regret as he went back to the bedroom. He knew it was bad timing for him to leave Paradise.

  As Amanda watched him pack his bag she said impulsively, "Take me with you!"

  He turned in amazement. "Love, I'd never take you into danger."

  "Then I'll follow you and stowaway," she teased.

  He gripped her shoulders firmly. "Oh God, none of your feminine caprice, promise me!"

  She stood on tiptoe and brushed her lips across his. "I promise to behave, but only until you return."

  He sank into a chair and pulled her onto his knee. "Here's the combination to the safe. There's gold in there if you have any expenses while I'm gone. Amanda, if anything should ever happen to me, get in touch with my banker, Gabriel DuBose, in Charleston. There should be more than enough for your needs, but if not, there's money in England. More money than you could ever spend.

  "Nicholas, I'm afraid."

  "Love, the last thing I wanted to do was alarm you, but I had to tell you about the money, just in case." He kissed her eyelids. "Come now, enough gloom. I'm only sailing to Nassau, and nothing on earth could keep me from you." His hands were so gentle, so careful with her that she felt precious and cherished.

  After Nicholas left, it didn't take Amanda long to make her decision. She went to visit Jessie at the slave cabins. "I want a baby," she told the black woman.

  The slave laughed. "Ah never wouldha' knowed that man have a probl
em!"

  "Oh he hasn't Jessie. It's just that he refuses to get me with child because he thinks I'm too young."

  Jessie took some plants and crushed the dark juice from them. Then she mixed in herbs and spices until she had a thickened liquid. "He got powerful control?" she asked, just to be sure. "Can he perform two time?"

  "Sometimes three," Mandy admitted. Jessie gave her the potion and started to laugh again. "Mix dis in wine an' the power be all yores, chile."

  Bernard had arranged to take Samuel with him when he returned to Charleston. He needed an assistant to help him negotiate contracts and he knew of no man more capable of making deals than Samuel.

  "Oh, I almost forgot. Your Aunt Virginia's been working weeks to organize a Charity Ball to raise money for the cause. She asks that you bring something that can be auctioned at the bazaar. It's to be held two weeks from tomorrow night, but I warn you that if Nicholas hasn't returned from Nassau, you must not come to Charleston alone. It's become a rowdy den of iniquity. The place is a disgrace. It's unfit for white ladies to be on the streets," he told his daughters.

  Jennifer was intrigued by her father's words and she was still pondering them long after he'd gone. Beau had led her to believe kicking his heels in Charleston was a deadly dull business, but apparently it wasn't so. She'd find out for herself by going to the Charity Ball whether Nicholas returned or not.

  Jenny sought out Lady Pamela, her new ally. Pamela thanked her for the invitation, but added, "I am in the embarrassing position of having no money. I have to rely on the charity of others."

  "You think I'm any different?" Jennifer asked bitterly. "But now that the men have left and I don't have to answer to them, I'm going to change all that."

  Pamela was intrigued, as Jennifer explained. "I intend to travel up to Blackville and sell off fifty or sixty slaves that are doing nothing but sitting getting corns on their backsides and eating their damned heads off."

  Pamela smiled. "I should love to accompany you on such a venture. I've always found there is strength in joining forces."

  Amanda and Philip strolled back from the stables. "Have you noticed that my father has become quite attentive to your mother?"

  He frowned. "Yes. She always had the knack of attracting a man. Trouble is she hides her true feelings so successfully, you have no idea if her heart is involved."

  "At first, I was shocked that Father would look at another woman only a year after my mother died, but when I reflect, I realize Mother was an invalid for years, and he was devoted to her. I think perhaps it's time he tried to find a little happiness for himself."

  God help him if Pamela gets her hooks into him, Philip thought privately.

  It turned out that Jenny was saved her trip to Blackville by the arrival of a battered carriage that had seen better days. Jeb Sloan got down and wiped the sweat from his face and neck with a soiled handkerchief. Jennifer hurried toward the carriage before Amanda could find out who he was.

  "Mr. Sloan, I was on my way to Blackville tomorrow. How strange you should show up today."

  "Afternoon Miss. Mr. Jackson here?" he asked shortly.

  "My brother has left with his regiment, Mr. Sloan, and left me in charge of things at Blackville." She caught the smell of fear about him and asked quickly, "Something's wrong! What has happened?"

  "Slaves revolted. Burned down the sheds. Ran off," he said in short, jerky sentences.

  Her eyes widened. "They didn't all run, did they?"

  "No ma'am. I shot some of 'em, and managed to lock up one shed before they got away."

  "How many are left?" she cried, trying to assess the magnitude of the loss.

  "None. They burnt t'death."

  "Oh my God!" She shuddered. "Mr. Sloan, what about the runners? What are you doing to get my slaves back?"

  "Well ma'am, ah reported them to the authorities, but they say the patrollers have all joined the army, an' they say there's so many blacks runnin' North, ain't a blamed thing they can do. Ah think ah should report this to yore daddy. Ah allus done bidness with him afore young Mist' Jackson come."

  Jennifer was in shock. "Yes, yes. Report it to my father, Mr. Sloan, but I beg that you don't mention that you've ever seen me, sir. You'll find him in Charleston, at 39 Tradd Street."

  Jenny lay on her bed feeling sick. She had no money and no hope of getting any in the foreseeable future. I must get Beau Hampden to marry me without delay, and I must keep him from learning of the loss of the breeding farm.

  She had no choice but tell Pamela that the trip was off, and the whole story came pouring out.

  Pamela commiserated with her. "There are many ways for clever women to make money. The trick is to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves."

  A few evenings later when Beau arrived, bringing his fellow officers for a visit to Paradise for a friendly evening of gambling at the roulette wheel, Pamela hit upon her idea. She explained to Jennifer, "This whole area must be full of rich young army officers who are looking for pleasurable ways to spend their evenings. If Paradise belonged to me, I should charge them for drinks and gather in their losses at the gaming tables."

  "Nicholas would never allow it," Jennifer said.

  "Nicholas goes to England shortly, does he not?" Pamela asked smoothly.

  Chapter Twenty

  Amanda was glad she could spend her nights in Nicholas's room. It brought her closer to him to be able to see and touch his familiar belongings. It was so private in this West wing of Paradise. Jennifer and Aunt Billie's rooms were in the East wing over the dining room and card room, and even Philip and Pamela had guest rooms in the East wing. The house servants were quartered in the rear of the East wing, and it almost made it seem like two separate houses; one for her and one for the others.

  While Jennifer and Pamela were planning their wardrobes for the all import Charity Ball in Charleston, Amanda planned only for her husband's return. Each morning she filled their chamber with roses on the chance he would arrive that day. She carefully tasted every wine that Samuel had stocked in the cooling cellar to select one that best suited her purpose. Champagne and Chablis were unsuitable, as any additive would be detected instantly.

  Finally, she selected a rich red Madeira that had been aged for thirty years and carried the stone bottle to the master bedchamber. She decanted it carefully into a crystal bottle and mixed in all of the potion that Jessie had given her.

  She sorted through her silk and lace nightgowns to choose the one that would tempt a man beyond his endurance, and settled on the wisp of whiteness that bared one shoulder. It's transparency left nothing to the imagination.

  Nicholas made three speedy trips to Nassau in ten days and set a record. The navigator of the Rattlesnake was a Florida man who had known the waterways since childhood. They easily dodged the Union patrols until they were out in open sea, where the ship's speed and low gray profile left any pursuers miles behind.

  On his return Nicholas left the ship anchored at Murrel's Inlet and arrived home that evening on horseback. It had been one of those unbelievably hot summer days where even the wind felt like a hot furnace. He stabled the newly acquired roan in the stall next to Sunblood. His eyes sought out the new colt and he admired the rich color of its coat. His wife had named it Sungold because of that color.

  Nicholas scanned the galleries of the graceful plantation house and thought he glimpsed Amanda on the upper balcony of the West wing. He slung his saddlebags to Ben and ascended the outside staircase to the upper gallery three steps at a time in his eagerness. He experienced disappointment when he found their bedroom empty. Her essence was tangible in the room filled with pink roses, and a provocative nightgown laid ready on her pillow.

  He stepped out on the gallery to scan the garden. There it was again-- an illusive glimpse of Amanda over toward the reflecting lake. He smiled to himself. I'll make sure we finish dinner and come upstairs at the earliest possible moment.

  Nicholas bathed and changed his clothes,
then descended to the dining room. The head cook who'd been left in charge in Samuel's absence awaited him.

  "Masta Nick, de stock of wine is badly depleted. What we used t'pay ten dollars a bottle fo', dey is now askin' one hundred dollars."

  "Christ, if prices are going that high, I should be running wine past the blockade, rather than guns. Tell them we'll pay in gold, but at the old prices. They're beginning to call our paper money shinplasters because that's all it's good for."

  The family assembled for dinner and because of the excessive heat, a cold supper of shrimp on rice, thinly-sliced ham and wild turkey, and platters of strawberries, peaches, grapes and melon were laid on silver salvers at each end of the table.

  At the last possible moment, after everyone else was seated, Amanda slipped into her place. She smiled slowly as her husband's eyes devoured her.

  She watched him answer Jennifer and Pamela's questions about Charleston and Nassau, while Aunt Billie sat nodding. She listened to him discuss the war's developments with Philip. The deep bronze of his hands and face contrasted sharply with his white teeth, as his ready smile spread leisurely across his lips.

  His eyes however kept returning to Amanda and his thoughts could be so easily read by everyone present, he might as well have shouted across the room.

  Not so Amanda. As he looked down the table at his golden-eyed wife, she was almost a mystery to him. Tonight she tempted him, yet seemed remote and unattainable. She is without doubt the loveliest female I've ever encountered in all my travels. Her moods are mercurial, and often her thoughts, if I'm lucky enough to hear them, are mystical.

  Jennifer was worrying about what they could take to auction at Virginia's Charity Ball, and he solved the problem quickly.