With One Look (34 page)

The young girl seemed excited. She wore a plain gold frock over a white dress, her long braided hair tied in gold ribbons. She watched the birds disappear into the darkening sky before she raced through the yard and up the house steps to the porch. He ran after her, knowing before he called her name that she could not see or hear him. "Mama, Mama!" she called in a whisper of excitement as she ran through the entrance hall and up the carpeted stairs. She turned down the hall.

He started up the stairs after her. He rushed after her when he saw her hands on the lever of wide double doors.

Suddenly Elizabeth Devon blocked his path. She was crying, desperately begging him to stop her daughter from opening the fateful door. The fateful door? What was inside the room? He looked from the mother to the daughter and in the flash of a second, he knew what she asked of him. There was no decision for him, there never would be, and as Jade reached for the latch, he turned back to Elizabeth and yelled, "No! Never!"

"Please!"

It was too late. Jade's small hand turned the knob. Victor forced himself to remain motionless. The door swung open. Elizabeth screamed as a blinding white light exploded in his head, his body jolted with a violent, unimaginable pain.

He bolted upright. "Jade!"

Startled, he opened his eyes to look dazedly around the room. Sebastian and Murray stood over him, watching him curiously. "For God's sake, Vic"—Murray frowned— "Marie said you had a hard night of it, but this is the first time I've ever heard you yellin' in your sleep."

Tessie sat with Jade on a blanket in the garden. Engaged in her reading lesson, the young woman read out loud while Jade helped her over the stumbling blocks. Reading was still a new experience and she hadn't yet developed Jade's enthusiasm for literature. She liked some stories as much as the next person, she supposed, but frankly, she could spin a much better yarn herself.

Tessie came to a word she couldn't make out. "P-R-O-V-O-K-E." "Provoke," Jade said. "Like a sad experience provokes tears."

Tessie sighed, her warm brown eyes revealing concern. It was. like that with every word. She knew Jade tried to pretend everything was normal, but it wasn't, not since the day she lost her baby.

Unbeknownst to the two, Victor stood nearby listening. Now he interrupted. "How about, an unfortunate accident provokes a man's anger, a woman's tears provoke a deep regret and an apology. Love ... provokes forgiveness."

Tessie wisely got up and left without a word or glance. Victor took her place on the blanket, resisting the urge to draw Jade into his arms. He knew to wait for her permission.

"Can you forgive me, Jade?"

Jade lifted her face to the sky in an effort to hold back the tears. Resisting the urge to fall into his arms required all her strength and will, a struggle that changed her breathing and pulse. She had to, though; she didn't want to spend the rest of her life crying.

"It is I who needs forgiveness," she said in a whisper. Victor reached for her, surprised when she pulled quickly away.

"No, please ... I don't want to. I—" She stopped, gathered her thoughts, but was so distressed that she blurted with anguish, "I think we should get an annulment."

She couldn't see his response. Cold blue eyes held her steady in their gaze for a good long minute. "I'm surprised you would give up on me so soon. Jade," he said slowly, "does our love mean nothing?"

Jade nodded her head, wiping the lone tear that managed to escape. "It's not working, no matter how much we love each other," she said with an inexpressible sadness. "You can't accept something that I can't change, and if we keep going on like this ... the day will come when you don't come back."

Had Victor given any credibility to his wild night of visions, he might have thought she could change what he fought to accept. But he didn't. His intelligence closed the door offered to

others who assigned credibility to visions. A person created visions to fulfill unmet needs, and it was no surprise that he dreamt Jade's mother said he'd be shown a way to restore Jade's sight. It was even less of a surprise when one considered what Marie placed in that tea. As for the house and the door—that was a vision spun from the terror.

Victor paused, seeking the means to his end. He could accept her blindness, but he refused to accept her method of coping with it: the denial that led inevitably to accidents. This wasn't the time for such a discussion, as it would only result in another argument, and right now he wanted only to have her in his arms. He wanted her with each and every breath, for the long rest of their life. He loved her....

"Jade, do you remember when I told you there'd be times when it would be difficult for

me?"

Jade nodded slowly.

"This is one of those times. It won't last forever." When she shook her head, he stated

flatly, "An annulment is out of the question. It's not to be mentioned to me again. You're my wife and that's one thing I have no intention of changing."

Jade struggled for words, alarmed by his attitude, the show of masculine simplicity. "Victor," she whispered, afraid, terrified to hope again, "what about the accident ... and children?"

"The accident took something from us we both wanted very badly," he said softly, and then he paused, his arms aching with the need to draw her against his body. "When I learn you're with my child again," he added harshly, "just don't be surprised to find yourself tied to my bed for the duration."

"How can you make light of it?"

"What part led you to think I was making light of it?" 'Tying me to the bed ... Really—"

"I think tying you to my bed is a fine idea. I don't know why I didn't think of it before." She looked quite shocked, not knowing if he was serious or not, and he chuckled as, finally yielding to desire, he drew her against him. It was too much. Like a dam bursting, she was suddenly clinging. "Oh, Lord," he said as his mouth came over hers, and he was kissing her as if it were the last time he ever would.

And so they began again.

Tessie stood at the bottom of the steps, and for the first time in a month, her smile was effortless. Victor and Jade had barricaded themselves in the bedroom for two days. Just like their honeymoon, all they did was eat, sleep and love each other. Every time she passed the door, she heard muffled laughter or the whispers of lovers.

Victor had ordered supper in a basket, for he and Jade planned go picnicking and swimming. Tessie had it all ready: including large pieces of fresh-baked cherry pie and a bottle of Victor's best port.

The door finally swung open. Tessie laughed at the sight of them. Victor had Jade over his shoulder. She wore that old Spanish skirt and blouse, with her mandolin swung over her back, all the while trying her best to hang on to her straw sun hat. Best of all, the musical sound of her laughter filled the house again. The sorely missed sound almost made Tessie cry.

Carl joined Tessie, and they watched Victor carry Jade down the stairs, Jade laughing as Victor sang one of the silliest songs ever heard. Wolf Dog raced down after them, barking wildly, and even his barks somehow seemed happier too. Carl handed the blanket to Jade and then kissed her, while Tessie gave the basket to Victor, ran around him and then smacked Jade with a kiss.

"Oh, Tessie"—Jade laughed—"I love you!"

"You look like you love everything." Tessie laughed too.

"I do," Jade cried as she was being carried through the door. "I love everything!" "It's going to rain," Carl warned.

"I love the rain, too!"

Victor chuckled as he lifted Jade onto his waiting mount before swinging up behind her.

Carl wore a huge smile and put his arm around Tessie, and together they watched the joyful couple ride off, Wolf Dog running alongside.

Murray burst from the study, waving a letter with excited, frantic motions. "Is that Vic I heard?" he questioned as he ran up. "Did he leave? Darn," he said, catching sight of the horse turning from the lane. "When will he be back?"

"They'll be gone a long time." Tessie smiled. "The way those two have been carryin' on, I won't be at all surprised if this honeymoon lasts forever."

*****

Victor and Jade tossed cares to the wind, and after finding a quiet, secluded spot along the riverbank, they spent the afternoon making love, swimming and laughing. The sky filled with gray rain clouds but like so many Louisiana days, the air remained warm, unnaturally still before the storm. The blanket was spread beneath the pendulous green branches of a large willow tree. The weeping branches formed a dense canopy over the two lovers, creating the illusion of a spot hidden from the world and sheltered from time itself.

Jade only knew that her earthly sphere once again had become a heavenly paradise. He loved her and she loved him, and that love would see them through anything life threw in their path. Anything ...

Victor was less in the heavens as he contemplated far more earthly matters. He insisted Jade dress before they ate, and as he watched the simple act of her dressing, he wondered how he could—after days and nights of doing nothing but sleeping and making love, after making love twice already—how he could want her so badly again?

Victor's sudden chuckle caused a smile, and Jade reached a hand to him as he pulled her on top of his long length. Her wet braid swung over her shoulder; where the damp spotted her blouse, the thin material became transparent. The sight of the tip of her breast, her bare shoulders and, probably more than anything, the laughter on her lips and the smile in her eyes, caused an immediate physical response. Jade felt the hot hard part of him press against her as his hand impatiently pulled the blouse from her skirt, seeking the source of his trouble.

Wolf Dog interrupted, first with a small whimper, then with a wet kiss on Jade's face. Once he got their attention, he raced to the basket and barked at it. Victor laughed, explained what Wolf Dog was after, and she laughed too, wondered out loud what kind of man would starve his poor wife and her dog.

"A man very much in love," he answered as he reluctantly opened the basket.

He watched Jade eat, tossing bits and pieces to her dog, and without expecting it, the image of Elizabeth Devon floated into his mind. The similarity was striking and he found himself saying, "I had a dream the other night about your mother."

"Oh? My mother?" she questioned, surprised. "Tell me, did she look like you?"

"Everyone said we looked very much alike. I inherited darker hair from my father, and except for the color of my eyes, everything else came from my mother. Did she look like me in your dream?"

"Yes, she looked very much like you."

"I used to have a pretty miniature of her but ... well, it burned in the accident. How very strange. What was this dream about?"

"Oh, I don't really know." He shrugged. "You know how dreams are—loosely connected images that never make any sense." He'd like to dismiss and forget it, but part of him felt intensely curious. "What color were her eyes?"

"She had the most beautiful blue eyes you can imagine! Just everyone commented on them.

They were so large and the blue was so blue—an aqua blue." She fed the last of her roll to Wolf Dog and then pulled her knees up. "Once when I was about nine, my mother's birthday was coming up in a month or so and I wanted to get her something special, not just the lace handkerchiefs I always gave her for her birthday. But I had no coin of my own and I didn't want to ask my father for it. The only day of the week I wasn't with my mother was Sunday. My mother never did convert from the Anglican church, except for the marriage, and my father went to church infrequently, so I normally joined the Taylours to go to mass in town.

"Well, for five Sundays in a row I told the Taylours that I was attending an ill friend during mass, keeping her company and reading to her and all. Then I skipped barefoot over to Congo Square. I played my mandolin, singing for coins for the crowd. When it was time to leave I'd race back through the streets to the church." She laughed. "People thought I was a Gypsy girl."

Victor was enjoying the story, listening with mild amusement until she arrived at the conclusion.

"The last Sunday I was there, guess who rode by and spotted me in Congo Square singing to a small crowd for coins like a beggar?"

"Your father." Victor chuckled.

"Oh, Victor"—she laughed nervously—"he was never more furious at me than that moment. But he just couldn't be mad at me after I told him why. He took my coins—I had ten or twelve reales saved by then—and we went that day to a jewelry shop. He told me to select my mother's present, that he'd make up the difference. As soon as I saw the ring, I knew it was the one. I picked out this delicate platinum ring, tiny diamonds surrounding an aquamarine stone that was

the exact color of my mother's eyes. And you know, she never once removed that ring. She wore it every day of her life."

"You must have told me that story before," he said quietly.

"Oh, did I? I don't believe I've thought of it for years." And in the same breath she shrieked, "Victor, it's raining!"

Nightfall descended with lightning speed and a torrential downpour caught them on the way home. Wolf Dog raced into the house first and shook over the freshly polished floor. Carl tried to be kind. Jade and Victor followed, soaked to the bone. All Jade wanted after such a perfect day was a hot bath and a warm bed, and not surprisingly, Tessie had anticipated just such a desire. The bathwater was being heated.

Victor had just finished drying himself when a knock came at the bedroom door. Murray stood in the hallway looking strangely agitated and excited.

"I have to speak with you about the lass," he whispered so as not to be overheard. "I hate to interrupt you, just when you've come to your senses and I hear laughter comin' from the two of you again, but it's important. I'll be waiting in the library."

Victor spent many of his working hours in the library. The room was dark and masculine; books lined two whole walls. A green-and-gold carpet spread beneath a long sofa and two chairs, while his large mahogany desk dominated the other side of the room. A painting of a brave clipper ship battling a stormy sea hung over the desk.