Midnight Flame (29 page)

“I’ll kill that filthy swine, Roselle. I’ll cut out his heart for doing this to you!”

“No, please, don’t do anything you’ll regret, Hippolyte,” Roselle begged. “Denis is very strong.”

“He’s an old man, and I am young.”

Roselle’s gentle laughter drifted through the window to Laurel.
“Oui, chéri,
but Denis is a bull of a man still. He is far from weak.”

“I don’t want you living with him. Leave him and marry me. The child you carry is mine—”

Roselle silenced him with a finger on his lips. “Never say that aloud, for if Denis learns of it, he shall kill you. I couldn’t bear for you to be hurt. I love you so much. You know I only married Denis to keep a roof over Maman’s and the little ones’ heads. We had no place to go after Papa died, and Denis wanted to marry me. Your parents would never have agreed to us marrying, and you know it. My family is beneath yours.”

Roselle grew quiet a moment, then glanced up at Hippolyte with fearful eyes.

“Jacques suspects this child is not his brother’s. I think sometimes that I fear Jacques more than Denis. His cruelty is not with fists but his mind. He pretends to be stupid, but he is not. He is cunning. How else would he get you to steal Monsieur Duvalier’s cattle and turn them over to him? Monsieur Duvalier has no idea that you’re the one who is actually committing the thefts. And I don’t think he’d care that you’re doing it to protect me and my mother and brothers and sisters.”

Hippolyte grabbed Roselle’s hand. “Run away with me! Then I won’t have to steal.”

Roselle shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “I can’t, though I want to be free of Denis, of Jacques.
Maman
and the little ones would be at their mercy. I must return home before Denis awakens from his drunken stupor and comes looking for me, and Jacques returns from town. No one but
Maman
will know I was here. I just had to see you once more.” Her voice cracked. “I … love … you.”

She kissed him quickly, then rose from the bed. Hippolyte implored her to stay, but her voice came out in a breathless sob. “There is no hope for us!”

She slipped out of Hippolyte’s grasp and out of the barn. In the darkness Roselle didn’t see Laurel as she ran in the direction of the prairie.

Hippolyte cursed and blew out the candle. When he stepped outside, Laurel’s voice halted him.

“I think we have something to discuss, Hippolyte.”

~ ~ ~

Laurel had lighted the candle in the barn and motioned to Hippolyte to sit upon the pallet while she stood. She hoped that she would give the impression of a stern plantation mistress, though she shook inwardly. However, when she spoke, her voice was surprisingly calm and held no condemnation for the crime Hippolyte had committed.

She laced her fingers together and coolly surveyed the young man. Laurel could tell he was afraid, perhaps more than his countenance expressed, but he, too, was pretending a calm he didn’t feel. She cleared her throat.

“I heard everything you and Roselle said and am deeply touched by your love for one another.” Hippolyte looked up from the floorboards, surprised. “But,” she continued, “I can’t condone what you have done to protect your secret. You’ve stolen cattle from my husband, a man who cares for you and your family. This is unforgivable.”

“Do you have to bring in my family, madame?”

“No, but I think that just their knowing your crime would be sufficient to shame you.”

Hippolyte stood up, dwarfing Laurel. He might be only sixteen, but he was fully grown, and if he had wanted, he could have pushed her down and run away. Instead he waited before her with downcast eyes.

“I will wait here until you get Monsieur Tony and the sheriff comes for me.” He looked up. “I promise I won’t escape.”

Laurel nodded. “I know you won’t run away. You’re going to help rectify your crime, and free that pretty girl you love, along with her mother and family, from those horrid Jeanfreaus.”

Hippolyte’s face expressed utter shock and disbelief. “I don’t understand. Monsieur Tony will insist the sheriff be called in, and my family will be shamed. What are you telling me?”

“I’m not going to tell Tony what you have done. The cattle you stole can be replaced, but Roselle’s and her family’s lives are in danger as long as she lives with the Jeanfreaus. Once she is gone from them, Jacques can’t force you to steal for him any longer. I wondered where they got the money for those new clothes. He sells the cattle to someone else, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, a man from Opelousas. But I still don’t know what you’re planning to do, madame.”

Laurel shot Hippolyte a knowing look. “Yes, you do. We’re going to arrange a kidnapping.”

The kidnapping wasn’t as difficult to achieve as Laurel had originally imagined. Luckily, Hippolyte discovered that the Jeanfreaus had gone into town for a night of drinking and revelry, evidently celebrating the sale of the last cow they had stolen from Tony. Thus, Roselle, her mother, and the children were left alone. Laurel had decided the best escape route was across the prairie to the servants’ quarters. A cabin, set apart from the others, had recently been swept clean by Laurel and Gincie. Freshly laundered sheets covered the cots, and Laurel hoped the family would be comfortable there. She had no clear-cut idea how long they would stay, but Hippolyte had told her he would take responsibility for all of them and would keep them out of sight. Especially out of sight of Tony.

On a clear, star-filled night Laurel restlessly paced the veranda. Her eyes wandered in the direction of the prairie, hoping against hope that Hippolyte and the others would steer clear of the house. Glancing in Tony’s direction, she saw that he calmly smoked a cheroot and read the latest edition of the Opelousas
Courier
. Seth swallowed down a bourbon, his eyes on her every movement.

“You seem quite overwrought tonight, Cousin Laurel. Is everything all right?”

Seth’s question took her unawares. Her gold silk gown swished around her ankles as she turned in Seth’s direction, the torchlights attached to the house flickering over her. She gave him a wan smile. “I suppose it’s the heat that agitates me.”

Tony put down his paper. “How do you feel?” he asked, concern on his face.

Involuntarily she stiffened as she did so often in Tony’s presence lately. “I’m fine,” she snapped. “Must everyone comment on my every movement?”

“We think only of your comfort, my dear.” Seth smiled an ingratiating smile, which set Laurel’s nerves on edge worse than ever. Tony said nothing more, puffing on his cheroot and watching her like a cat silently inspecting his next mouse.

Realizing that she was making a spectacle of herself and worried that her plan might go awry, she flounced into a white cast-iron chair and fingered the leaf motif on the edge of the arm. If only she could have personally supervised Roselle and her family, but Hippolyte had suggested that things would be better if she wasn’t seen on Jeanfreau property. He insisted that he could convince Roselle and her mother to flee to the safety of Petit Coteau. Laurel hoped so. If the girl was forced to endure another beating at the hands of that beastly husband of hers, she might not survive.

The minutes slowly ticked by. When she thought she could no longer stand Tony’s silent perusal of her and Seth’s constant talk about San Antonio and the large profit the Little L had turned that year, Hippolyte appeared. He waited before Tony with hat in hand on the pretext of informing him about the cattle on the north forty, but Laurel knew his presence was to assure her that all was well.

“I hope you’ve passed a nice evening,” she told the young man.

“Oui, madame.
Very kind of you to ask.” He bowed, then started to walk in the direction of his parents’ home, but Laurel guessed that once out of sight of the main house, he would take the small gravel road in the direction of the cabin where he had hidden Roselle and the others.

Laurel felt as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She felt quite happy and spoke almost breezily to Seth. “Now, what was that you said about Uncle Arthur’s herd?”

“I thought you might be bored, Cousin Laurel. You didn’t seem to be paying attention.”

“Oh, piddle. Of course, I was listening, Seth. The whole thing sounded quite fascinating. Please repeat the story for me.”

Laurel didn’t fail to miss the glimmer in Seth’s eyes now that he had her attention at last, or the assessing look Tony threw her way.

~ ~ ~

The house was silent when Laurel sneaked down the staircase. The large grandfather clock in the foyer chimed the hour, and she stood on the last step, breathless. No one appeared on the upstairs landing. She let out her breath and continued into the hallway and out the back door until she stood under the breezeway connecting the kitchen to the rest of the house. Pulling her black lace shawl over her head, she ran across the lawn, then down the road to the hideaway.

Once on the porch of the small Acadian cabin, she knocked gently on the door. “It’s Madame Duvalier,” she assured the occupants.

Slowly the door opened, and Roselle stood there with her mother behind her. Both women were illuminated by a lone candle on the table. Laurel entered and nodded to them. Her glance swept swiftly over the children, asleep on the cots.

“I hope you’re comfortable,” Laurel said, practically cringing under Roselle’s stonelike countenance.

Roselle’s mother came forward and offered Laurel her hand. “I am Delphine Moret, Madame Duvalier. I thank you for your help. You have no idea the horrors my daughter has been forced to endure the past months. Denis Jeanfreau is an animal, and I think his brutality would have extended to me and my little ones if Roselle hadn’t borne the brunt of his wrath. I would liked to have saved her, but with these children and my own poor health, I was unable to stop Denis from harming her. I blame myself for her marriage to that man. If only—”

“Maman!”
Roselle cried. “Please don’t humble yourself to Madame Duvalier. You couldn’t do anything to stop Denis’s rages, nor could you risk injury yourself.” Roselle glanced at Laurel. “My mother is very ill, and she is quite weak.”

Laurel squeezed the thin hand of Delphine Moret. The woman was quite fragile, and she realized that Roselle had probably married Denis only to keep a roof over this woman’s head and to protect her brothers and sisters. A warm smile engulfed Laurel’s face, encompassing all of them. “I understand you love your children very much, Madame Moret. You needn’t apologize to me.”

Delphine Moret smiled tiredly and sank into a chair. “My mother must rest,” Roselle said.

“Yes, I’ll leave now. I wanted to know if you have everything you need. If there is anything you want—”

“I’ll ask Hippolyte for it.”

Roselle’s frosty attitude puzzled Laurel. She didn’t seem to care for Laurel at all.

“Good night,” Laurel mumbled and was barely out of the door when Roselle closed it with a heavy thud and bolted it. Roselle was a strange young woman, she thought and apparently didn’t mind taking refuge at Laurel’s expense and wasn’t even grateful for it either.

Retracing her path, she went inside the house and up the stairs. Just as she reached her door in the darkened hallway, she heard Tony’s voice.

“Where in the hell have you been?”

She turned to see him leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest in a gesture of disapproval. Her throat was as dry as a desert, and she couldn’t utter a sound.

“I asked you a question, Laurel. I presume you know what time it is?”

“Of course I know what time it is!” she snapped, finding her voice at last. He looked so handsome, standing there in a dark-blue robe that matched the highlights in his hair. So big and bold and unafraid of anything or anyone. Just looking at him caused her to feel wobbly, and so she pretended outrage to keep from throwing herself into his arms.

“Explain to me why you’re sneaking into the house at two in the morning.” His tone held a challenge.

“I took a walk.”

“You’re lying!”

“I did take a walk,” she hissed. “And where I go and what I do is my own business, Tony. Remember, we have an agreement. I don’t appreciate being badgered by you.”