Emerald Ecstasy (46 page)

Lianne stroked Carmen's hair. “You'll be all right, Carmencita. You did the only thing you could have done under the circumstances.”

Lianne's soothing tone of voice calmed Carmen. She looked at Lianne, and her dark eyes resembled those of a small, hurt puppy. “I shouldn't have killed Diego. He was my husband. But he hurt me so much when he touched me. He was cruel.” She grew quiet for a moment then said, “I am glad he will no longer hurt me.”

“So am I,” Lianne said.

True to Raoul's word, the authorities judged Diego's death to be murder by an intruder. Within the week the bags were packed and loaded on a coach for the trip to Pachuca. Lianne, Raoul and Carmen rode in a separate coach while Josephine rode in the one with the valises.

Lianne didn't think she'd be glad to leave Mexico City, but she was. There were too many memories of Daniel, and she grew very upset when they neared the spot on the road where she knew Daniel and Isabelle had been murdered by banditti months ago.

Raoul glanced her way, and she discerned a mixture of compassion and jealousy in his eye. However, he took her hand and squeezed it.

“Soon your daughter shall be with you,” he said.

She nodded but was unable to manage a smile though the thought of having her child with her filled her with great joy.

When Lianne spotted the XiXi Mountains she knew Pachuca lay not far beyond. As they passed the foot of the mountain, curiously shaped rocks of immense size known as the Peñas Cargadas caught her attention. Some people picnicked there, laughing in the afternoon sun despite their bedraggled attire. A young woman with long dark hair in a braid which hung down her back danced to and fro. Her short red skirt whipped around long, tanned legs.

Lianne watched the woman's movements in fascination and realized that she danced for only one man. The man stood a distance away from the other men who clustered around her, clapping their hands in appreciation of her dancing. He leaned against a rock with his muscular arms folded across his chest and lazily surveyed her. Lianne could see his clothes were old but clean. His face was covered in dark hair, but she couldn't see higher than his nose because the sombrero he wore obscured her vision, casting a shadow over the upper portion of his face.

As the carriage drew in front of the group, the man looked up. From the window she noticed he stiffened perceptibly. Though she couldn't see his eyes, she felt his gaze upon her, and she knew he wasn't looking at her in friendship.

An odd sensation overtook her, and for a brief moment, her breath caught in her throat. The man seemed so familiar.

From beside her, she heard Raoul's contemptuous voice. “Peasants! Have they nothing better to do than dance and sing in the hot sun?” But she didn't withdraw her gaze, and though she didn't turn to look back when the carriage had passed, she knew the man watched her.

During the next few days, they settled into a routine. Upon waking in the morning, Raoul left for the mine and didn't return until noon. After a late lunch, siesta time approached. Raoul insisted Lianne join him in the bedroom for activities other than sleeping. She knew he loved her to distraction, that he adored her. This knowledge gave her power. So one afternoon just before Raoul drifted off to sleep, she kissed his mouth.

“Raoul?”

“Hmm?”

“Am I mistress of your hacienda, truly your wife?”

“Si,”
he answered sleepily.

“Then everyone must obey me?”

“Si.”

“Even the men in the mines?”

“Uh … huh.”

She watched him for some minutes as his breathing grew steady.

“Raoul.”

No answer. He was asleep.

Smiling to herself, she slipped from under his arm and dressed in a gaily decorated peasant's blouse and violet skirt. She pulled on her sandals and quietly left the darkened room to face the brilliant sunshine of the afternoon through the patio doors.

She left the house to wander along the terrace which sloped to a ravine. Bright feathered ducks and wild geese swam and flew above the river which flowed through the property of Raoul de Lovis. Viaducts and chimney stacks were seen not far from the house as she walked to the amalgamation court.

Mules harnessed in teams were driven back and forth across the court. This was where the ore which had been taken from the mine and sprinkled with water until it became a muddy paste was laid out. Then salt, mercury and copper sulfate were used as preservatives. The mules were used, as were barefoot workmen, to stir the mixture. When the mercury was added, the mixture became lead-colored, but the process took hours of sloshing with bare feet and hooves.

The overseer was directing this scenario when Lianne approached. He smiled and inclined his head. “Good afternoon, Dona Lianne.”

“Good afternoon, Raphael. I have a small favor to ask of you.”

“Anything, Dona Lianne.”

Lianne shot him a brilliant smile. “I should like to visit the mine.”

“I must ask Don Raoul,” the man replied.

“Are you going to go against a direct request, Raphael? I don't think my husband would be pleased if you refuse me.”

“The mines are unsafe for such a lady as yourself.”

“I'll take my chances. I wish you to accompany me.”

She drew herself to her full height, and squared her shoulders. She must appear authoritative and apparently she looked the part. Raphael nodded and escorted her to a gently sloping shaft in the hillside which led to a flight of large stairs.

Lianne had only been to the mine once and knew it was the largest in Mexico. Torches hung upon the walls, and she had no difficulty finding her way as she followed after Raphael.

Much of the manual labor was performed by Indians known as
tenateros
. They were half-naked and carried heavy bags upon their slim shoulders. She was aware that these men watched her out of the corners of their eyes. They wore hats like inverted cones with tallow candles set into the center so they could see while they worked.

Suddenly Raphael stopped. “Dona Lianne, do you wish a tour of the mine?”

“No, I would like to see a young man who was sent here some months ago. His name is Felix.”

Raphael looked curiously at her. “
Sí
, I know Felix.”

“Take me to him then.”

“As you wish.” Raphael turned and Lianne followed him into a sloping cavern. Everywhere men watched her, and she felt embarrassed and wondered how Raoul would take her little jaunt into his silver mine. But she didn't care. She could wrap him around her fingers. For the moment she must find Felix.

When they stopped, Lianne saw a group of men filling sacks. Immediately she picked out Felix but noticed one difference. While he was dressed as scantily as the Indians, he was the only one chained to the wall. Evidently Raoul didn't want Felix to escape.

At her approach Felix looked up, focusing his eyes as if unable to believe he saw her.

“Señora Lianne!”

“Hello, Felix,” she said softly. “I've come to free you.” She turned to Raphael. “Unchain him.”

“Señora, I cannot.”

“Can't or won't?” she asked.

“Both. Don Raoul will be very displeased. I don't wish to be in trouble.”

Raphael seemed like a good sort of person to her, and she was sorry to put him in such a position, but she was determined to free Felix from the mine.

“I personally will take responsibility for this, Raphael. Unchain him. Now.”

Her tone left no doubt that she intended to be obeyed. Reluctantly Raphael unlocked the long chain from around Felix's waist.

“Gracias, amigo,”
she told Raphael and motioned to Felix to follow her.

When they were outside, and the brilliant sun splashed her hair with fire, she laughed.

“That was easier than I expected.”

Felix squinted and adjusted his eyes to the sunshine. “Don Raoul will beat both of us.”

“No, he won't. After we find you a change of clothes, you're free to leave.”

“I have nowhere to go, señora.”

“Then stay here with me. You may drive my carriage again. I promise you that Raoul won't lay a hand upon you.”

“How can you be so certain, señora?”

“Because, my dear Felix,” she said and grinned, “I know his weakness.”

And she did. When she returned to the bedroom, she told Raoul what she had done. As she expected he ranted and raved, but she wrapped her arms around him and pushed her breasts against him.

“Will you deny me this favor, Raoul? Just an hour ago you told me I was mistress here and must be obeyed.”

“Lianne…”

She kissed him with long, languid kisses, and when he stripped off her clothes, she knew she had won.

“Do you see a carriage yet?” Lianne asked Carmen who waited by the front window.

“Not yet,” Carmen replied. “How often are you going to ask me? Only five minutes ago I said I saw nothing.”

Lianne hurried to the window as she had at least forty times in the last hour. She peered into the gathering gloom of evening. The peaks of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range in the distance had already dissolved into a purple haze. Lianne grew agitated. Suppose Maria didn't arrive this evening? She'd go mad. The thought that she might not hold her Désirée in her arms today made her pace the floor of the
sala
. But she stopped suddenly as a thought struck her.

Turning to Carmen, she put her hands to her face. “What if the carriage was attacked by banditti? I've heard reports lately that some coaches have been stopped and the victims robbed. What if…” She couldn't say the words. The memory of what had happened to Daniel was still too painful though the incident had occurred almost five months earlier. Raoul had sent his personal coach to meet Maria and Désirée in Mexico City, and he had even sent three of his brawniest men on the hacienda to accompany them to Pachuca. Perhaps Raoul should have taken time off from the mine to meet Maria and the child himself instead of leaving the job to others. Lianne knew he was very busy with hacienda matters now, but if something happened to her baby, she'd never forgive him. He had assured her that Désirée and her nurse would arrive safely. Still an ice-cold shiver ran down Lianne's back.

“Don't think such a thing,” Carmen warned and crossed herself.

At that moment Felix burst into the
sala
. “Señora Lianne, the coach is coming up the road!”

Instead of rushing to the window, Lianne took Felix's word and ran into the foyer, pulled open the front door and flew into a small courtyard at the front of the house. Pushing open the iron gates, she was on the road in time to see the coach emerge from the encroaching darkness.

When the horses halted in front of her, the carriage door opened and out stepped Maria with one of the men's hands to guide her.

Lianne threw her arms around the portly woman. Maria's eyes filled with tears as did Lianne's.

“I never thought to see you again,” Lianne cried in joy.

“Such a long time,” Maria said and sobbed.

The two women parted when a small voice inside the carriage said, “Maria.”

Instantly Lianne looked away from the woman. Her eyes took in the tiny person who stood in the doorway of the coach. She gasped. This child couldn't be Désirée. She wasn't the little toddler any longer, but a small person, almost three years old. And the most exquisite little girl Lianne had ever laid eyes upon. Her face was small, her features perfect. Except for the dark hair coloring and the eyes which were an ocean gray, Désirée resembled her mother.

Désirée's small chin quivered, and she seemed about to cry. “Maria, I want to go home.”

Lianne approached her with hope in her heart. She smiled at her daughter and said softly, “Désirée, I'm your mother. Come to Mama, baby. I want to hold you.”

She reached out for the child, but Désirée let out a huge piercing scream. “Maria! Maria!” Throwing herself headlong into Maria's comforting arms, she buried her exquisite little face in Maria's shoulder.

Reality trampled the hope within Lianne's breast. “She doesn't remember me,” she said to Maria, her voice breaking.

Maria patted the small back. “I half expected this, Lianne. She has known only me and Dera for so long. Give her time to come to know you again.”

“But I wished to hold her…” Lianne's arms ached. Instead of reaching for the child, she patted her silky dark hair. “I'm your mama, Désirée. You must remember me.”

“Let's settle her in,” Maria suggested softly.

Lianne nodded and led the way into the house.

That night she tiptoed into the room which she had set up for Désirée, next to hers and Raoul's. She watched her sleeping child and touched the tiny hand which rested on the pillow.