Master Of Paradise (40 page)

The wild streak in Amanda was immediately unleashed. She drew her hand back and crashed it into Maggie's face. "English whore!" she shouted.

A shocked gasp went around the room and people moved back away from them. Never had they heard such a bad word from the mouth of a lady.

Nicholas, at such a disadvantage, was unsure of himself for the first time in his life.

Virginia rushed forward, appalled at the behavior of her niece. She was almost incoherent. "How dare you offer Lady Margot such an insult? How could you deliberately ruin such an important evening? You are a wicked girl! You have always been uncivilized."

Mandy, seething now, her eyes shooting off golden sparks like an erupting firecracker, cried, "Uncivilized? I'll show you uncivilized!" She took hold of the banquet tablecloth in front of the enormous crystal punchbowl and smashed everything to the floor in an ecstasy of magnificent waste.

He had to quicken his pace to keep up with her. "Where are you off to Miss High and Mighty? Do you propose to walk all the way back to Paradise?

He ignored the venom and told the driver to take them to the Planter's Inn. When they arrived the sidewalk outside and the lobby were filled with attachés of the army, each escorting what looked to be a loose woman. Drunken mirth mixed with arguments created an atmosphere of disorder, so the couple at odds with each other went almost unnoticed as Nicholas procured a key for the largest chamber. A soldier offered Amanda a ribald suggestion, and she swept past him with her chin in the air.

As Nicholas locked the door, Amanda threw her fan and reticule onto the bed, then went over to the window, presenting her back to him.

"Damn it, it was before we were ever married. You were just a young girl when I visited Maggie. You can't punish me for something that happened then. The moment we exchanged vows, I ended it."

She turned to face him, hands on hips, eyes blazing. "I forgave you Solange, but you forgot to mention this one. How many more are there Nicholas?"

"Obviously you have
not
forgiven me or you wouldn't throw it in my face," he said quietly.

"My God, men are beasts. I shall pay you back and see how you like it. I shall find myself another man and be unfaithful to you!" she threatened wildly.

He was angry now and mocked, "Go down to the lobby and pick one up. I seem to recall you got an offer while you were flaunting yourself down there."

"It's over!" she shouted. "I'll never sleep with you again."

"You are behaving like a child."

She drew herself up to her full height. Then in a perfectly controlled voice she said, "That's your own fault. You shouldn't have married a child."

He stiffened at the insult, turned on his heel and left. He procured another bedchamber for himself and left her alone to stew in her own juice.

The atmosphere was subdued the next day as everyone traveled back to Paradise. The silence was only broken by Philip and Nicholas occasionally. The women sat in stony silence.

At home, Nicholas half-expected Amanda to remove herself to her old bedchamber, but she liked the privacy of the West wing and requested in a cool voice that he chose another room until he sailed for England.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said hotly. "Amanda, you will discover that a woman who demands all her own way ends up being miserable. I'd like to put an end to this silly nonsense before I sail, but obviously you are too willful and spoiled to forgive and forget."

Amanda was glad he was going away. It would give her a chance to sort out her chaotic feelings.

She turned away from him, and hurt, he ground out, "Apparently Paradise isn't big enough for both of us. I'll leave as soon as possible."

Lady Pamela gave every excuse in the book for not wanting to return to England. Finally she swallowed her pride and asked Nicholas if he would let her stay at Paradise for the time being.

He gave his permission.
She'll go back soon enough once Philip's wealth has been restored
, he thought cynically.

Amanda and Philip walked down by the reflecting lake to say their goodbyes. Finally, Philip took both her hands and swung her toward him. "I know you and Nicholas have had a rift, and if I thought for one minute it was permanent between you two, I'd stay here and try to win you. I'd say to hell with England, the title, everything."

Mandy's smile was both sweet and sad. "Dearest Philip, you must return and I must stay here. We both know that."

"At least promise me that someday you'll come to England for a visit?" he pressed.

She looked at him closely, observing the golden lashes and the earnest turquoise eyes that showed so clearly the tenderness he felt toward her. She placed her hand on his arm and pressed it warmly. "I will promise you that much, Philip, but I don't know when it will be. You must promise me that you'll be the finest Lord Peacock that England has ever had."

Philip grinned at her, then pulled her to him and kissed her.

"Goodbye and God bless," she whispered against his lips, before she slipped away from him beneath the shadows of the magnolia trees.

Hidden from his view she leaned against the bole of a tree and listened as the trees sighed and murmur to one another. In that calm, leafy solitude she felt melancholy. She had a pain in her throat from holding back her tears. For days she had wanted to cry to ease the pain of Nicholas's philandering, but she knew that once the tears started, they would be torrential.

She felt as if she could literally cry her heart out, but she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing that she was a poor defeated female with hideously swollen, red eyes. When he was on the high seas, let him remember her anger or her cool indifference. A man had no patience with a weeping woman. One tear slipped down her cheek to fall upon her hand. Angrily, she picked up her skirts and ran toward the house.

In the morning she was not there to see the travelers on their way. From the driveway Nicholas glanced up and scanned the gallery of the West wing hopefully. When she did not appear, the muscle in his jaw clenched tightly. Philip joined him and they departed.

If Amanda had wanted to bid farewell to her husband, she could not have done so. At the moment of his leave-taking she lay with her head over the edge of the bed being violently sick. The nausea had consumed her the moment she tried to rise from bed, and it seemed the vomiting and retching would never cease.

Mammy Lou shook her head and pressed her lips together. "Mandy, honeychile, looks like yo' done got yoself in a fix."

Mandy groaned. "Go away."

"Ma lambie-pie, let Mammy do for yo'." She bathed Amanda's face with cool water and brought a clean, lavender-scented nightgown. Then she brought her some chamomile tea and a warm brick for her feet. Mandy felt considerably better now that Mammy had taken over and coddled her a little.

Amanda spent her evenings alone in the West wing, and Mammy moved into the room next to hers to keep a close watch on the young mother-to-be.

Mandy now had all the time and solitude she needed to sort out her feelings for Nicholas. Each day brought home the realization that she missed him, that she needed him, and she loved him deeply for all time. After a month had passed, she counted the hours until Nicholas returned. She couldn't wait to tell him the news about their baby.

Beau Hampden left for Virginia with General Beauregard and it seemed that not a day passed without recruits from South Carolina and Georgia stopping at Paradise for a meal or provisions to carry on their long trek through North Carolina to Virginia where General Robert E. Lee commanded the Confederate Army.

The first major battle took place at Manassas Junction, which became known as the Battle of Bull Run. There were terrible losses to both sides before the Confederates under General Beauregard drove the Union Troops back across the Potomac River to Washington.

The South went mad with the victory. Every house threw open its doors to anyone in uniform. Two young cavalry officers, who had visited Paradise previously with Beau, turned up and brought others with them.

Jennifer and Pamela entertained them in the games room. Aunt Billie joined in the conspiracy, pointing out they had the perfect haven where wealthy young officers could be separated from their money. "We have a roulette wheel and that pair of twins can be installed as fancy wenches in that small chamber just behind the gaming room."

Lady Pamela contributed her own ideas. "We'll set the fees high for entering this house of pleasure to keep out the riffraff and common soldiers."

Jennifer avidly agreed. "We could make a lot of money if we sold liquor."

It began as an almost silent conspiracy of three women, but very quickly it grew to include the two field hands, Gold and Silver, who brought in home brew for the entertainments. Then Old Jessie from the Jackson Plantation agreed to make some of the black wenches available down at the cabins. The women knew they would never run out of customers because when the cavalry moved out they would leave behind the home guard.

When Nicholas and Philip arrived in London they found out with much relief that the law firm they'd retained had everything under control. The case was to be settled out of court, and Chetwynd had signed affidavits to relinquish any claim for all time, in exchange for a written promise they would not prosecute.

Nicholas was made guardian for the estate until Philip became twenty-five, with Power of Attorney going to Mr. Gardiner of Gardiner & Higgins, the law firm that handled Nicholas's money.

Once their business in London was concluded, the two half-brothers traveled on to Kent and Peacock Hall, where they dismissed the staff that had worked for Peter Chetwynd. They hired new servants and located some who had worked at the Hall while their father, Lord Harry, was alive.

Nicholas felt confident that Philip had matured enough to fulfill the great position he had inherited. When he took his leave, he said, "I'll be back in a few short weeks. I've put in a request to the government from the Confederacy for craftsmen and machinists. We need men who can make everything-- riding boots, saddles, harness, pistols, rifles, cannon, shells and powder. We realize we can't import all these things, so we have decided to open our own factories. Rafe Collins and I will return, probably next month, to transport the men to Georgia."

"Nicko... thanks for everything. I know without your help I would have ended up with nothing."

Nick's easy smile reached all the way to his eyes. "Philip, if you hadn't given me those golden peacocks, I would have ended up with nothing."

Philip shook his head decisively. "No, not you. Give my love to Amanda. If I found a girl like that, I'd marry her tomorrow."

Nicholas nodded his understanding and waved goodbye.
Amanda... God that's all I've been thinking of for the past month. Even the love dreams have begun again.

Chapter Twenty-One

Beau Hampden was in shock. It had taken only one hour of full battle to completely reverse every idea he'd ever had about war.

There is no glory, no valor, no honor. Only dirt and blood and death and pain.
There was also fear!Fear so powerful it clutched your guts until your bowels ran freely. Beau had only one goal, and it consumed him, staying alive. The shock he felt did not recede when they finally routed the bluecoats and tasted victory.
If this is victory, what in Christ's name would defeat be like?

When Beau was chosen to dispatch messages back to Charleston, he was weak with relief. He started drinking until he got rid of his fear, and he decided to stay in that hazy condition permanently.

His mother, brother Clay, and sister Julia, were delirious with happiness to have him home safe for a short time, especially since his father and the South Carolina Cavalry were up in the Blue Ridge Mountains supporting General Lee in his first Northern invasion.

Beau, a veteran of Bull Run, was much sought after to be feted, but spent most of his time at Paradise. The first three days Jennifer went willingly into the woods with him where they made love, but she suddenly realized that he would never marry her so long as she allowed him access to her body whenever he felt like it. She swiftly changed her tactics and became inaccessible. Still he came to drink and gamble, bringing others with him.

On the night of Jennifer's nineteenth birthday, she made a plan. Since it was her birthday, she knew she could persuade Amanda to put in a rare appearance for the evenings festivities, so she could get Mammy Lou to make some of Beau's favorite dishes. She would make certain she was not along with him for one moment, then finally she would relent, on condition that now she was nineteen they should elope before he went back to join General Beauregard.

Amanda was happy to dress up and spend the evening downstairs. She had been solitary long enough in her separate wing of the plantation. She feared that Nicholas should have been home weeks ago, and instead of spending another endless night worrying for his safety, she swallowed her distaste for Pamela's company and joined in the birthday fun.