Midnight Masqerade

by Shirlee Busbee

  The burning of Washington seemed to unite the country as a whole, help flooding in from all directions. The greatest outpourings of men, money and sympathy came from the big cities along the coast and the Northeast. Rufus King of New York, the darling of the Federalists, declared that he would "subscribe to the amount of my whole fortune." In Frederick, Maryland, a company of eighty-four men was raised within twenty-four hours and within another four hours was marching to Washington. As far away as the Richland District of South Carolina, the citizens raised a hundred men and three thousand dollars for supplies. Even New England, which had been hotly antiwar, rallied to the cause, Governor Martin Chittenden of Vermont declaring passionately, "The time has now arrived when all degrading party distinctions and animosities, however we may have differed respecting the policy of declaring or the mode of prosecuting the war, ought to be laid aside; that every heart may be stimulated and every arm nerved for the protection of our-common country, our liberty, our altars, and our firesides." It was all very stirring, and up and down the Atlantic seaboard the country was galvanized into action. t In the interior, where the news was already several weeks old when it finally arrived, the reactions were not as obvious, although the anger was just as intense. As had occurred along the coastal reaches of the country, there was furious talk of raising men and money, but soon enough common sense prevailed. They were weeks, possibly months, away from being of any help, and the rumors of a possible British attack on Mobile, Alabama, or New Orleans had men thinking of protecting the territory closer to home. Everyone, however, seemed caught up in the events of the war, eager for hews, less complacent and more ready to commit himself to the war effort.

  As could be expected, the situation between Dominic and Melissa was momentarily eclipsed by the upheaval within the nation, and it was many days after Adam had departed before things began to return to something approaching normality. During that time Dominic had been totally preoccupied with considerations pertaining to the war, and there had been several meetings held by the various plantation owners and businessmen in Baton Rouge to discuss various strategies and methods to best use the men and arms available to them. This was not only to protect their own homes and families, but also to be ready to go wherever they were needed on a moment's notice.

  Morgan and Leonie had left Baton Rouge immediately after Adam, Morgan feeling, not unnaturally, that his place was in New Orleans. There were times in the days that followed, when tempers frayed and angry words were exchanged as hot-blooded gentlemen argued over the best plan for the area, that Dominic wished for Morgan's cool practicality. He and Royce did their utmost to keep friends and neighbors from taking out their frustrations on one another, Dominic saying wryly to two rather flush-faced gentlemen that "It is the British we wish to kill-not ourselves! "

  Latimer's presence at some of the town meetings made Dominic decidedly uneasy, but as everything discussed was of a most general nature, he did not think that Latimer would learn anything of great value . . . or anything that couldn't be discovered on any street corner, opinions being freely exchanged everywhere. He kept a careful eye on the Englishman, though, noting whom he talked with at length and with which gentlemen he seemed to be on the best of terms. It came as no surprise to him that Latimer concentrated his attention on those individuals, like Colonel Grayson, who either had once been British officers or were descendants of those who had been labeled "Tories" and had fled the Colonies for the sanctuary of the Louisiana Territory when the War for Independence had broken out. Latimer's actions only confirmed Jason's suspicions, and while the ridiculous story that Deborah had told Dominic had to be at least considered, it had been the opinion of Morgan, Royce and Dominic that the philanthropic organization was merely a rather flimsy ruse to cover the Englishman's true activities. Of course, there was no proof of anything, and Dominic supposed that was what grated on him the most, that and having to watch a man he clearly viewed as an enemy be accepted and apparently well liked by people who should have known better. He and Latimer politely avoided each other's company, and when they did meet, as happened occasionally in the small society in which they both moved, they would exchange only a cool nod of the head and then find some compelling reason to move on.

  The constraint between them was not as noticeable during the many town meetings they attended immediately after the burning of Washington, but as the first anxious weeks passed and Dominic and Melissa began to accept more and more invitations to social functions in the neighborhood, two things became obvious to those who paid attention: that Zachary Seymour appeared to be Deborah Bowden's constant companion (except for those times when she was to be found fawning over Dominic Slade) and that Mr. Slade did not seem to care overmuch for the handsome Englishman. It was also apparent that Mr. Latimer was equally not fond of Mr. Slade's company.

  Melissa, of course, noticed it at once, but then she had good reason to observe the two men closely. Their reaction to each other came as no great surprise to her, although she did wonder at the degree of dislike that existed between them. After all, she had only suggested that she might be interested in Latimer. She finally came to the lowering conclusion, especially when she remembered Latimer's letter, that the enmity between the two men had nothing to do with her-it was somehow tied up with what had happened in London in connection with Lady Bowden. A very lowering conclusion indeed.

  Even though nothing had been settled between Dominic and Melissa and they slept chastely, each in his own bed, there did exist between them a tacit truce of sorts. It was as if, during this time of anxiety and upheaval within the nation, their problems had been put aside and all their energies were taken up with the more serious matter at hand-the war. The news of the burning of Washington had come as a terrible shock to Melissa, and she had experienced all the rage and fear of any normal American; and like women all across the nation, her next thoughts were of her menfolk and the dangers they might face.

  She had felt both guilty and relieved when it had been decided not to send a contingent of volunteers to the Atlantic seaboard, but rather to keep them in readiness to be used in possible defense of the southern borders. Sending a beloved man, whether husband, lover, father or son, off to war would never be easy, but with things so unsettled between her and Dominic, Melissa dreaded the idea of waving him off to war, never knowing if the powerful feeling that seemed to be growing stronger day by day between them was real and true or simply a fantasy.... Just the mere notion of him facing a barrage of English gunfire filled her with terror, and the war suddenly became very real to her.

  But as the days passed, as September slowly gave way to October, her first rush of fear gradually lessened, particularly when the news that came trickling down the Mississippi River from the towns and cities in the north was only good: Baltimore, under the generalship of Samuel Smith, had valiantly repulsed the British attack on that city during the first week of September. Even more satisfying to the Americans, Major General Robert Ross, one of the British officers who had ordered the burning of Washington, had been killed by a sharpshooter. Then on September 11, at Plattsburgh, New York, a large British invasion force, under the command of Sir George Prevost, had been defeated; and on Lake Champlain, the American naval captain Thomas Macdonough had displayed some brilliant tactics and annihilated the British squadron which had accompanied Prevost. The news might be weeks old by the time it reached the remote towns and villages of the country, but it was just as joyfully received as if the event had happened yesterday.

  As things slowly settled back into some appearance of normalcy, Melissa's thoughts increasingly returned to the bewildering and dissatisfying situation that existed between Dominic and her. She saw him seldom these days; it seemed to her that he was always rushing out the door on his way to some important meeting, and though he was unfailingly polite to her those times they were together, attending this party or dinner or that one, it was not quite the relationship she had envisioned that morning Adam St. Clair had arrived with the
news of the burning of Washington. They were still as chaste as if they were brother and sister. It was a situation which Melissa found completely mystifying, especially since Dominic had sought her out and, during the night which had followed, had left her in no doubt of his desire for her. Unfortunately, it was equally true that he had not expressed any undying love for her, nor had he declared that he would spend every night in her arms. But if she found the situation mystifying and unacceptable, she was not quite brave enough to change it. For many more nights than she cared to contemplate, she had lain awake in her own lonely bed, trying to gather enough nerve to fling open the doors that separated their bedchambers and march boldly into her husband's room and . . . seduce him! Some nights she would actually get as far as her hand on the doorknob before her courage would evaporate and she would scuttle miserably back to her own bed to spend the remainder of the night tossing and turning, afflicted by the most explicitly carnal dreams imaginable.

  Melissa might have been able to do as she desperately wanted if there had not been the painful question of Dominic's involvement with Deborah Bowden. There were times she could have sworn that he cared nothing for the other woman, that he was actually annoyed by the way Deborah attempted to monopolize his attention at the various social functions that they all attended, and yet he continually allowed Deborah to get away with the most outrageous conduct. Melissa was in a state of constant, angry bewilderment. Dominic's manner to her, the few moments they had alone, was warm and gallant, the expression in his gray eyes making her pulse quicken; and then the next, he appeared to be vitally absorbed in some silly antic of Deborah Bowden's.

  Of course, Melissa admitted guiltily to herself, she hadn't helped matters either by letting Latimer attach himself to her side. But what else could I do? she thought mutinously. If my husband is going to be off dancing attendance on some other woman, shouldn't I be allowed to amuse myself with a handsome man? The problem was that Melissa was not at all amused by Latimer and that every moment she spent in his company was dreadful. Not that he forced himself on her-he always acted scrupulously polite-but whenever she was with him, she was always miserably conscious of the fact that it was because of his sister that she even tolerated his company and that if Dominic had not left her side to be led around by Deborah, she would have nothing to do with Julius Latimer!

  Her irrational belief that Dominic might not be as black as Josh and Latimer had painted him had taken quite a beating these past few weeks, but she was still clinging stubbornly to the notion that she might have condemned him unfairly. This was rather hard to do when she saw him smiling with apparent besottedness into Deborah's animated features, and while her earlier confidence was somewhat eroded, she was still determined to talk to Josh about Dominic. She had made several attempts to do so recently, but Josh, like Dominic, had been taken up with affairs relevant to the war and had been absent from Oak Hollow those times that she had called to see him.

  Royce, too, had proved to be singularly elusive, and her attempts to have any sort of private conversation with him were always brought to an abrupt end when he would hastily recall an appointment for which he was late. If she had not known better, she would have thought that Royce was avoiding her. But why would Royce suddenly become so .:. uneasy in her company? What did he have to hide?

  Frustration made her blunter than she would normally have been., and one afternoon in early October, Royce called unexpectedly to find Dominic gone from the house, and was about to ride away when Melissa hastily stopped him. "Don't go! I wish to talk to you."

  A decidedly wary expression flitted across Royce's handsome face, and edging toward the door, he said politely, "Another time, my dear. I really must be on my way."

  But Melissa was not to be denied. Catching Royce's arm, she looked up at him and in a tone of voice halfway between pleading and demanding, she said, "Royce, your errand cannot be that urgent-I must talk to you."

  He might have made good his escape, except her pale features and the faint bluish circles under her eyes that clearly spoke of sleepless nights gave him pause. He, more than any other outsider, knew of the difficulties Melissa was facing in her marriage. He suspected that, while the marriage might not have been a love match to begin with, neither Dominic nor Melissa was as indifferent to the other as either might pretend. In fact, he would have wagered a very large sum on the notion that they were helplessly in love with each other! Which he found rather amusing, especially with the added ingredient of Dominic's involvement with Deborah injected into the already tense situation. And though he had no qualms about watching Dominic wiggle and squirm in the prickly quagmire created by Jason's request, figuring that Dominic was quite capable of fending for himself, he was not immune to the suffering of a cousin for whom he had a great deal of fondness. Up until this moment, he had found the entire episode highly entertaining, especially observing Dominic trying to woo a wife and keep a grasping harpy like Deborah Bowden on convivial terms at the same time, but the unhappiness in Melissa's eyes lessened his enjoyment considerably and, his hard face softening, he capitulated to her request, saying gently, "If you insist, my dear."

  Allowing Melissa to guide him to the salon, he seated himself next to her on the sofa, and taking one of her hands in his, dropped a fond kiss on the soft skin. Meeting her troubled gaze, he asked, "What is it that is causing you such distress?"

  Her sweet mouth twisted slightly. "Is it so obvious? I thought that I was hiding it rather well."

  "Not from me," he replied quietly, and not relishing his own predicament, he plunged right into the speech. "I suppose it is Dominic and his flirtation with Deborah Bowden? I told you the night of your dinner party that you had nothing to fear from that creature."

  "Then why does Dominic let her fawn all over him?" Melissa fairly wailed, all her fears and uncertainties billowing up inside her.

  "Because he must!" Royce replied bluntly, not liking his role at all.

  Melissa's eyes widened, her confusion apparent. "Because he must," she repeated blankly. "Why? What sort of hold does she have over him?"

  Royce sighed. "She doesn't have any hold at all over your husband, and if you weren't such an innocent, you would know that he would like nothing better than to throttle the clinging Lady Bowden and never stray from your side again."

  Her eyes fixed on his with painful intensity. "How do you know that?" she asked huskily. "He d-d-didn't want to marry me-you know that your father forced us to wed." She swallowed with difficulty. "A-a-and L-L-Lady Deborah is very beautiful and sophisticated."

  "And a more conniving, self-centered little bitch would be hard to find!" Royce growled roughly, his contempt and dislike of Lady Bowden more than obvious.

  Since Royce had always acted in public as if he, too, found Deborah charming, Melissa was even more bewildered by his words. "I thought that you were as enamored as Zachary . . . and Dominic by her."

  "Good God, no!" Royce burst out. "I've never liked her-not even in Dominic's salad days when he was foolish enough to think, at least for a little while, that he might be in love with her. To anyone with a normal amount of common sense and not blinded by her pretty face, it is glaringly apparent that she is as dangerous and unprincipled as her brother."

  "You don't like Julius either?" Melissa asked with astonishment. "Why, Royce, you are with him all the time! At every party I have been to lately, it seems that you and Julius are practically inseparable ... except when Julius is with me."

  "And I've been meaning to talk to you about that, sweetheart," Royce began with an ominous glint in his golden-brown eyes. "What the hell are you playing at by encouraging that bounder's attentions?"

  Her temper rising a little, Melissa glared at her cousin. Stiffly she said, "If Dominic feels it is perfectly acceptable to chase after another woman, I see no reason why I cannot have a, er, friendship with a gentleman!"

  "Well, for God's sake, at least choose a gentleman," Royce said irascibly, "and not that cad!"

  The
re were several glaring inconsistencies in Royce's statements. Her eyes narrowed in thought, Melissa asked slowly, "If he is such a bounder and a cad, why are you such good friends with him?"

  It suddenly occurred to Royce that he was on the point of revealing far more than was necessary for Melissa to know. He had only meant to comfort her, not to divulge information that might put her in danger. Unlike Dominic, Royce knew very well that Melissa could keep her mouth shut, and under different circumstances he would not have hesitated to tell her everything. But Melissa was also quite reckless and adventuresome, and he shuddered to think of what might happen if she decided to help in the delicate situation. That she would want to help, would in fact try her own hand at spying, he had little doubt, memories of their childhood and certain dangerous pastimes that they had undertaken together in their youth flashing across his mind. No. He could say nothing more and must regain some of the ground that he had lost. Besides, he decided virtuously, it was up to Dominic to explain matters to Melissa-he would be infringing on a husband's rights if he were to take Melissa into his confidence. That he was acting just a bit cravenly, he was very well aware, but knowing Melissa's temper and guessing how she would react to the role in which they had cast her, Royce felt no compunction about his actions. Let Dominic handle his own wife, he concluded sardonically-far be it for a mere cousin to intrude.

  Having come to that decision, he promptly carried their discussion back into Melissa's camp. Putting on his sternest face, he said in a righteous manner that would have done Josh proud, "It is not for you to question my acquaintances. And you are not such a goose that you don't know that a gentleman may have several, ah, friends whom he would never introduce to the females of his family."

  "Stuff and nonsense!" Melissa retorted angrily, her eyes gleaming with indignation. "Latimer is not some backalley rogue you just happened to meet one night when you were out carousing. He is accepted everywhere, and there are many perfectly respectable people in the community who find his company, and that of his sister, highly agreeable. So I ask you again-why do you call him a cad but act his friend?"