by Kitty Margo
Suzanne and Daniel perspired in rocking chairs on the verandah at Magnolia House amidst the searing heat of an Indian summer. Suzanne’s ever present slave child fanned unenthusiastically by her side, stopping often to swat at a pesky insect and cause Suzanne to cast an evil eye her way.
Daniel’s eyes were lowered, ashamed for having gone along with his sister’s calculating scheme to coerce Joshua into marriage, especially since the ploy had been such a stunning failure.
True, Suzanne had finagled a proposal from Joshua, but Lynna was now an ocean away and Daniel had accepted the fact that he was partially responsible for dooming Joshua to a lifetime of misery, for naught. He hung his head guiltily. “Have you gotten yourself with child, yet, dear sister?” he sneered, his tone conveying his true feelings for his sibling. “The wedding is tomorrow, you know.”
“I know when my own wedding is, Daniel Fletcher. And no, I am not carrying Joshua’s offspring, yet. However,” she added confidently, “after tomorrow I should have no difficulty resolving that minor problem.”
Hopefully, Amari’s curse would soon take Lynna out of their lives for good.
Suzanne smiled dreamily in anticipation of the many nights to come in Joshua’s arms. “After my wedding tomorrow it shouldn’t be too difficult at all.”
The wedding was a simple affair. Suzanne had begged and pleaded for a grand event complete with an orchestra, dancing, and hundreds of guests. But, for once, Silas had put his foot down and gone against his daughter’s wishes, and her mother had agreed that due to her condition the ceremony would not be an elaborate one.
Few people saw her in the virginal, white silk organza wedding gown, boasting a ten-foot train, that had been painstakingly stitched by Deirdre Chisholm. The gown was magnificent and had set Silas back a small fortune, but Suzanne and her parents were certain there had never been a more beautiful bride. Her bridegroom saw nothing at all extraordinary about her. He made the requisite responses during the vows, but his mind was far, far away.
After the ceremony, with his wife’s arm entwined securely through his, Joshua drank to toast after toast, already feeling suffocated by her cloying nearness. He relaxed somewhat as the chilled liquid warmed his insides, but no matter how much he imbibed he could not drown out the vision of Lynna’s tear stained face.
When at last Silas claimed his daughter for a dance, Joshua took the opportunity to slip outside unobserved. He had to get away from the crowd, the music, the heat, and his wife. Wife? God, how did he allow this to happen?
As he turned the corner of the house, his eyes fell on Lynna and Judith’s cottage. Would she ever return? Should he be made to pay for the rest of his natural life for his foolish mistake? The thought of his child being raised by Suzanne’s hands alone was all the answer he needed. He would not wish that fate on his worst enemy, and never on his own flesh and blood. He might be made to suffer a lifetime of misery, but his child would not.
Long before the festivities had ended, Joshua stumbled upstairs to their room with the help of his wife. Their room. He could hardly abide the notion of being in the same house with the shrew. As she undressed him, Suzanne allowed her hands wander slowly over his body, caressing him until they drew the desired response. Leaving her expensive wedding gown in a crumpled heap on the floor she ignored the sheer peignoir that had been laid on her bed and stretched out beside him. Pressing her slim body against his, she continued moving her hands over his muscular frame until they reached his manhood, taking it firmly in hand.
Joshua gasped and pulled her close as their lips met in a rough kiss, causing passionate moans to erupt from her throat as his lips slid down her neck to nibble at her small breast. Suzanne smiled deliciously as his hands slid over her hip, then up the curving waist. She had all that she needed in this life now. No man had the power to make her body ache for his touch the way Joshua did and he was her husband, now and forever.
Joshua stopped and opened his eyes, slowly realizing that the woman in his bed was not Lynna. Even in the dark, and officially drunk, he could differentiate between their bodies and vastly differing curves. “Suzanne,” he slurred drunkenly.
All at once the events of the day came rushing back and he released her, repulsed by her touch. He may have been forced to marry her but he damn well did not have to share her bed. Turning over, he closed his eyes, his steady breathing confirming to Suzanne that he had fallen asleep, on their wedding night, without consummating their vows.
However, being quite sure of her charm and appeal, Suzanne came to the erroneous conclusion that his rejection was to be blamed on the large quantity of wine and rum consumed during their reception. She was confident that was it. After all, what man could fall asleep with her naked body pressed against him? She had let him shirk his duty tonight, but no more. She could not afford to waste precious time. He had to plant his seed in her and quickly, before everyone, but especially Joshua, learned of her deceit.
Much later, after Joshua was sure his bride was asleep, he crept silently from the house and into the barn for his rendezvous with the provocative slave girl Juanita. She had traveled with them from Sea Grove to assist Malinda and his mother. Perhaps a few hours with her would help him dismiss from mind his current plight. How had he gotten himself into this sorry state of affairs? It was a query that reiterated over and over in his scrambled brain as he waited for Juanita to appear. He was married to a woman he despised, while the woman he truly loved was... God only knows where.
He had asked Judith shortly after the wedding, pleaded with her in fact for Lynna’s whereabouts. She had looked at him with unmasked fury in her eyes, informing him that if Lynna had wanted him to know her destination she certainly would have told him herself.
Nobody would tell him where she was. Suzanne, Daniel, Silas, and Mary pretended not to know her whereabouts. Even Jasmine could not be persuaded or tricked into revealing Lynna’s secret hiding place. He had even ridden into Charleston in hopes of speaking with her Aunt Gypsie, but although her house remained standing amid the rubble of the city, it was locked up tight as a drum and Gypsie was nowhere to be found.
Joshua resigned himself to the fact that Lynna didn’t wish to be found, not by him anyway. He couldn’t blame her for hating him. Hell, he hated himself.
Hearing a noise, Joshua grinned as Juanita stretched out in the hay beside him. If anyone could clear his head she could.
A few hours later, with both of them spent, Juanita whispered against his ear, “Dey’s sumphin I needs ta tell you.”
“What’s that?” he mumbled against her ear, sleepily.
Juanita loved Joshua, had for several years, and knew her words would make him happy. “Rose done tol’ me dat Miz Suzanne ain’t knocked up fo’ real.”
Joshua chuckled, rising up on his elbow to face her. “And how would Rose know this?”
Juanita crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her full lips, perturbed that Joshua would doubt her word. “Cuz she wash’ her clothes, an’ she done be seein’ proof evah month dat she still be havin’ her curse. Dat’s how.”
Joshua sat straight up.
Could Juanita’s words be true.
Was Suzanne really that devious?
Of course, she was.
The conniving bitch!
Suzanne had lied all along. And he had been stupid enough to believe her without question. Oh, but she would pay. Not only for her deception, but for breaking the heart of the woman he loved.
After an entire week of wedded bliss, Joshua still hadn’t touched Suzanne. She was forever trying to lure him into her bed with skimpy negligees and bottles of whiskey. She was confident that Joshua’s resistance was weakening and he would be unable to deny himself much longer. What man could?
They had left for Sea Grove the day after the wedding where Joshua had insisted on separate bedrooms, ignoring the questioning glances of servants and family. Suzanne had been furious, with loud bouts of crying, pouting, and screaming. Patricia,
who had never heard such carryings on in all her born days, rushed to calm the distraught girl. She was unsuccessful and after a few minutes of her caterwauling eagerly fled the room.
Suzanne would have been positively irate to learn that the servants were fair rolling with mirth behind her uppity back, due to the fact that Joshua refused to share the bed of his eternally sniveling wife.
Malinda steadfastly refused to welcome her new sister into the family fold, pulling Joshua aside and accusing, “You told me not to worry, that you would never allow yourself to be trapped by Suzanne’s feminine wiles. Instead, you succumb to her… dare I say… meager charm and wind up committing yourself, and this entire family, to a lifetime of misery.”
“I could not agree with you more, Malinda,” Joshua agreed, climbing the stairs in search of the voluptuous Juanita. She could help drown his sorrow tonight. “Admittedly, I was a fool, but rest assured that I will never allow the misery that I brought on this family to last a lifetime.”
“Joshua, whatever do you mean?” Malinda shouted to his retreating back.
At the top of the stairs, Joshua turned, put his finger to his lips, winked, and when he was just outside Suzanne’s door, shouted for the very agreeable Juanita to join him in his room.
Just after midnight Suzanne slipped into Joshua’s room and stood beside his bed, slowly and seductively removing her clothes. “Joshua darling, what is it about me that you find so unappealing? Is my body so repugnant that you cannot bear to touch me? How can you stomach lying with a darkie when your own wife is waiting with open arms?” Naked, she held out her hands. “I am your lawfully wedded wife. Please, make love to me.”
Joshua was totally void of any emotion as he declared unequivocally, “I will not risk jeopardizing the life of my child. When the child is safely delivered, then, and only then, will I execute my marital duties.”
“Duties?” she snarled. “You never considered it a duty before.”
He didn’t even attempt to stifle a yawn as he turned over, ignoring her still outstretched arms.
“How in the hell am I suppose to deliver a child when you refuse to touch me?” she mumbled through clenched teeth. With a shriek of anger, she fled the room, slamming the door hard enough to send picture frames leaping from the walls.
Suzanne knew that time was fast running out and she was getting desperate. People would soon start questioning why she was not showing. What would she tell them? Several times she had caught Joshua fixated on her flat stomach. She caught the glimmer in his eyes and the smile that played across his lips when he thought of his little brat that she carried safely inside her. The horror! Even though the mere thought of ruining her slim figure appalled her, she had no other choice.
In a state of total desperation, she realized that Joshua might not desire her, but plenty of other men did. She may never know who fathered her child, and she didn’t care. Her only concern was creating one before it was too late. Besides, it would serve Joshua right to raise another man’s offspring after his cruel and neglectful treatment of her.
So it happened that by the end of their first fortnight as man and wife, Suzanne had frequently been with William, the new stable boy, and Sawyer, the son of a neighboring plantation owner. She found Sawyer to be too unskilled, and William too slow for her taste, but after a few weeks under her tutelage William was soon able to satisfy her.
She was distraught the following morning to once again find undeniable proof that she didn’t carry Joshua’s, or anyone else’s, child. What if there was some female problem and she was unable to conceive? How would she excuse such deceit to Joshua?
If she hadn’t been so convinced that she would become with child presently after their marriage she could have feigned a miscarriage, but Joshua would have, in all likelihood, had the marriage annulled. How was she to know that he had ice water flowing through his veins instead of blood?
Joshua, on the other hand, was sure beyond any doubt now that Suzanne was not carrying his child. She had paraded around in front of him naked often enough, trying to entice him into her bed.
The following days he kept a careful vigil and observed closely her every move. He was watching when she slipped silently out of the house around midnight. He saw her greet William, with no small amount of exuberance, and the two of them enter the barn from the rear. He waited and then crept silently inside, guided to their hiding place by Suzanne’s passionate moans. Walking to the edge of the dimly lit stall, he stood watching them, actually feeling sorry for the man as Suzanne dug her long nails into his back, trying to devour him.
“Well now, what have we here?” Joshua drawled, smiling pleasantly. “Evidently I have ignored my duties as a husband for too long and my darling wife was forced to turn elsewhere for satisfaction. Although I doubt that any one man is even capable of such a monstrous feat.”
Suzanne gasped in horror, pushing William from her roughly as she grabbed her gown and tried to cover herself. “Oh, thank goodness you came when you did, Joshua!” she sobbed, breathlessly. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t submit to him!”
“Are you saying that the moans I heard were cries of fear?” Joshua was enjoying her groveling immensely.
“Yes! Oh Joshua, I was so terrified,” she cried, clutching her gown to her breasts as she nervously reached out to him. “Thank God you arrived in time.”
“Don’t touch me, Suzanne. And please do not think me dimwitted. Your touch sickens me.” He watched her cringe from the pure malice in his voice. “I watched you from the time you left the house until now and you certainly were not forced against your will. In fact, you were enjoying yourself so much that in all honesty I regretted having to disturb you.”
“You bastard!” she sneered, sensing that the ruse was up. “I know what you hope to accomplish with your hateful words. But believe me, you will never get an annulment. And Lynna will have you only over my dead body.”
“That can be arranged, I assure you,” he replied ominously. “And you are woefully mistaken, Suzanne. You see, you will grant me an annulment, for I have witnesses who will attest that you coupled with them during our marriage. Our Marriage. Hah!” He laughed harshly. “What a farce. But not to worry, for it is all but over.” His eyes were green shivers of ice. “You will grant me an annulment or I will drag your family’s good name through the mud and there will be a scandal the likes of which Georgia has never seen.”
He turned to William, who was still cowering against the wall. “William, will you swear in a court of law that you fornicated with my new bride?”
“Yes sir, Mister Jordan. Be happy to,” he replied eagerly. “We forn’cated more times than I can count, in fact.” He was getting off lightly if that was all he had to do. He didn’t even glance at Suzanne as he made a hasty retreat from the barn. He had expected Mister Jordan to kill him when he caught him with his new wife. Instead, much to his surprise, the man had actually seemed genuinely pleased to find them going at it. Damn. Rich people was a peculiar lot.
“Get packed, Suzanne. You will be returning to your parent’s home first thing in the morning. If you agree to the annulment, we can put this entire fiasco behind us and move on with our lives. If not, then I feel reasonably certain that your parents will be both distressed and appalled to learn of your lies and… multiple… indiscretions.”
“Joshua, you cannot mean this.” Suzanne could not let him go, not without one last try. “You could love me if you would only give yourself the chance. Joshua, please. William meant nothing to me. It was a mistake.”
“And Sawyer,” Joshua sneered, “was he a mistake as well, Suzanne?”
Her gasp echoed through the otherwise quiet barn. “How did you…?”
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that I don’t care to love you.” His tone was final as he looked her dead in the eyes before turning and walking out of the barn, and out of her life. “It gives me great pleasure to inform you that Lynna is the only woman I will ever lo
ve.”
Chapter 26