Mardi Gras Masquerade (2 page)

“Can you believe the arrogance of the man?” she shouted as she tore the note to shreds.
 
“As if I would meet him in
New Orleans
just because he demands I should!
 
Well, Mr. DuPont can sit there and wait for me until his teeth fall out!”

“You can’t just stand him up like that!” the librarian replied in a horrified voice.
 

The model looked at her in surprise, and then slowly sat down on the couch.

“You’re right,” she said in a thoughtful voice.
 
“I can’t do that.”

“It would be a nasty thing to do,” Maria stated, sitting down beside her to wrap a reassuring arm around her friend’s shoulders.
 
“You have to be reasonable about this.”

“I’m thinking about it,” Marla replied with a look of intense concentration on her face.
 
 
“I can’t stand him up like that.”

“That’s right.
 
The only sensible thing to do is to go down there and settle this with him in person.”

Marla, still distracted, did not appear to hear her friend’s advice.

“I can’t just leave it like that,” she continued, “because he’ll come here to confront me.
 
I could never stand that.”

“What?” Maria asked in confusion.

Her roommate turned her face to stare at her, and her expression became devious.

“You’ll have to go down there and explain it to him for me,” she said in a tone that indicated she had no doubt about her roommate’s compliance.

“I can’t do that!” Maria replied in horror.

“You have to!
 
You’re my friend, and you know just what to say all the time.
 
It will be perfect.”

“It would be awful!
 
He’ll be furious!”

“Good.
 
Let him rant all he wants.”

“But I don’t want to be there to see it.”

“Oh, come on, Maria.
 
If you got into the same fix, I’d take care of it for you.
 
Just do this one, little thing for me.”

The model’s face was so pleading that Maria found it hard to resist.

“Even if I go, it won’t satisfy him,” she said in a timid voice. “You know he still expects you to marry him.
 
He’ll come after you anyway.”

“No, he won’t.
 
Not if you explain it all to him.”

“I can’t,” Maria replied, shaking her head.
 
“I don’t want to do anything like that.”

“But, you told me you always wanted to go to Mardi
Gras
!” Marla exclaimed with a brilliant smile.
 
“It will be like a free vacation!
 
You’ll have the plane ticket he sent me, the hotel suite, and all the room service you want, and it won’t cost you a cent!
 
And after you tell him, you’ll be free to enjoy Mardi
Gras
.
 
I know that’s what you’ve always wanted.
 
Tienne is rich.
 
He can afford it, and he wouldn’t dare turn away any friend of mine.”

“How can you ask me to do this?” Maria asked with a gulp, as her resistance began to break down.
 
“I’ve never even met the man.
 
I wouldn’t know what to say to him.”

“You don’t have to worry about that at all.
 
I’ll tell you exactly what to say.”

And that was exactly what Marla Fontaine had done, as she wore away the remainder of her friend’s opposition to the scheme.
 
Before Maria could fully comprehend what was happening, she was on a plane to
New Orleans
.
 
As a final incentive, the model had thrust the masquerade costume that she had intended to wear into Maria’s suitcase.
 
The bright red, glittering gown had been several inches too long for her friend to wear, but she had had it secretly altered to fit Maria a few days before she left.

The hotel suite had been all prepared for her arrival, or rather, her roommate’s.
 
Two large bouquets of flowers graced the rooms with their beauty and heavenly aroma.
 
Chilled champagne and a basket of delectable treats had been placed on the table by the couch.
 

When she had told the desk clerk she was there to take Miss Maria Fontaine’s suite, a note had been presented to her.
 
It read, “Maria, darling, I’m detained by business.
 
Please, make yourself comfortable.
 
The room service menu is in the top drawer of the desk.
 
I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Maria felt out of place and heartily ashamed by all of the luxury that was not meant for her.
 
About fifteen minutes after she had settled into the room, she had received a call from the hotel manager.
 
The staff had already assumed that she was Maria Fontaine, so she now felt compelled to go ahead with the pretence.
 
Everything could be rectified later.

Yes, she was Maria Fontaine.
 
That’s what she said.
 
The manager then told her that Mr. DuPont had called shortly after her arrival and left a message for her.
 
He apologized again for being detained, but he would not be able to meet her before
ten o’clock
that evening.
 
She should order dinner from room service if she liked, and then, occupy herself with the festivities as long as she desired.
 
He would contact her later.

Maria had accepted this information with as much grace as her throbbing nerves would allow.
 
On a sudden inspiration, she told the manager that when Mr. DuPont called back, he should tell him that she would see him tomorrow.
 
At this point, she felt unprepared for an encounter with the formidable exporter.
 
She needed some free time to compose herself before she delivered her friend’s message.

In order to assure herself of this essential time alone, she immediately dressed in her roommate’s glamorous costume and left the hotel.
 
If Tienne DuPont decided he did not want to wait to see his fiancée, he would not be able to find her.
 
He would be forced to wait another day before he received the fatal blow to his engagement.

Before Maria had left
Chicago
, she had researched the web to learn all she could about
New Orleans
.
 
She had studied the information carefully, especially the map of the French Quarter.
 
The Mardi
Gras
celebration was in full swing, and the streets were alive with activity.
 

She was thrilled by a parade of elaborate floats, passing along on
Bourbon Street
.
 
Golden coins and strings of beads were tossed out to those who clamored for them on the sidewalks.
 
Maria had been prepared for this, but the crowds were much thicker than she had expected.
 
The week of celebration had just begun.

By this time, all of her worries had fallen away.
 
It was all so exciting, the French Quarter during Mardi
Gras
.
 
The exotic aromas, the color, the life, the flamboyance of the people who had come there to enjoy themselves.
 
It was a kaleidoscope of bustling activity, and yet, the jostling of the crowds unnerved her in a way she might not have felt if she had someone to share her enthusiasm.
 
It was almost too much for her to comprehend.

That is how Maria Jones came to be sitting by herself in a chair at the Café Du Monde, shifting the red-feathered Mardi
Gras
mask onto her forehead as she sipped the rich
New Orleans
coffee.
 
Her feeling of mortification at being an imposter at the hotel had lessened as her excitement with the events around her had grown.

When Maria finished the delicious coffee and pastries, she wanted to linger a while and watch the passing masqueraders, but people were waiting to take her table.
 
She left a tip and walked back into the noisy throng.
 

Tonight was hers to enjoy as she wished.
 
Tomorrow might bring sorrow to a man she had never met, and he might send her on her way home.
 
That would be all right.
 
The director of the library had been sympathetic about her need for a sudden vacation, and she was sure he would find no problem if she decided to curtail it.
 
This might well be her only night to enjoy the fun of Mardi
Gras
, so she would enjoy it while she could.

A short distance away was the stairs that led up to the levee which bordered the
Mississippi River
.
 
Maria was filled with a childlike excitement as she viewed the mighty river for the first time.
 
Ever since she had read Mark Twain’s tales of the
Mississippi
, she had longed to see this magical water that flowed down from afar to visit the land of dreams.

All of the noise around her faded into obscurity as she looked across those darkly turbulent waters.
 
Lights from the opposing bank sent shimmering patterns across the water.
 
A number of ships passed in the night as they made their way to their various destinations.
 
Not far away, a paddleboat’s horn blared out its strident message against the muted murmur of the Mardi
Gras
’ cacophony.

“I’m here!” Maria called out, feeling new joy in being alive.

“And what can I do for you?” replied a raggedly clad man who came out of the darkness beside her.

Maria shrank away from him in sudden fear.
 
She looked quickly from side-to-side, but the levee held only two passersby, moving in the opposite direction.
 
The man stepped closer to her.
 
His face was a grinning mask of sensuality.

“What do you want?” Maria cried out as she clutched her purse tightly against her.

“Whatever you have to offer,” that menacing face replied.

All at once, she was seized from behind by a pair of strong arms that swiftly shifted her away from the threatening intruder.
 
Maria gasped as she looked up to see what the new danger might be.

It was another man, costumed in a black mask and cloak.
 
He held her shoulders firmly in his hands as he looked back at the horrible man who had been bothering her.

“This woman is mine,” he whispered in a quiet, yet penetrating voice.

The first intruder hastily melted back into the darkness.
 
Maria felt herself growing faint.
 
The hands that held her increased in strength, as they led her to a bench on the boardwalk.

“It’s all right,” he whispered in a soft, Cajun drawl against her ear.
 
“You have nothin’ to fear from me . . . for now.”

He added that last word casually, almost as though it had no meaning.
 
Maria felt too weak to resist him, but she dreaded whatever significance that final word might have implied.

Once she was seated, the stranger drew away his arms to sit closely beside her.
 
His posture held no imminent threat as he looked out across the water, but Maria still felt the need to quiver uncontrollably.
 
Under normal circumstances, she would not have been so shaken by this unpleasant incident, but the fear and excitement of the day had her emotions in turmoil.

Before she could think of a word to say, the man said, “It’s not safe to come up here on the levee after dark.
 
There are those here,” and he paused before completing the sentence, “who are not kind.”