Shades of the Wind

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Shades of the Wind

ISBN # 1-4199-0570-8

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Shades of the Wind Copyright© 2006 Charlotte Boyett-Compo

Edited by Mary Moran.

Cover art by Syneca.

Electronic book Publication: November 2006

This book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written

permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 443103502.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales

is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

Content Advisory:

S – ENSUOUS

E – ROTIC

X

-

TREME

Ellora’s Cave Publishing offers three levels of Romantica™ reading entertainment: S (S-ensuous), E (Erotic), and X (X-treme).

The following material contains graphic sexual content meant for mature readers. This story has been

rated S-ensuous.

S-
ensuous
love scenes are explicit and leave nothing to the imagination.

E-
rotic
love scenes are explicit, leave nothing to the imagination, and are high in volume per the overall

word count. E-rated titles might contain material that some readers find objectionable—in other words,

almost anything goes, sexually. E-rated titles are the most graphic titles we carry in terms of both sexual

language and descriptiveness in these works of literature.

X-
treme
titles differ from E-rated titles only in plot premise and storyline execution. Stories designated

with the letter X tend to contain difficult or controversial subject matter not for the faint of heart.

SHADES OF THE WIND

Charlotte Boyett-Compo

Acknowledgement

With much love and deep appreciation to my wonderful friend Angie Evans for

everything she does! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Author’s Note

The Speech of Anubis from The Egyptian Book of the Dead, 240 B.C. and The

Papyrus of Ani, from the speech of the dweller in the embalmment chamber—Anubis

were referenced in this novel.

Shades of the Wind

Chapter One

Catherine Brell lowered her head against the pelting rain as she stepped down from

the buggy and entered the fragile protection of the driver’s umbrella. Above her, the

sky turned a molten white as lightning washed over the sodden gray sky. She flinched,

glancing up with unease to the heavens, for she had always been deathly afraid of

thunderstorms.

“Bad day to be out and about, folks,” the driver shouted above the rolling boom of

thunder which followed. He took Catherine’s elbow. “Watch your step, milady.”

“Yes, do be careful, Catherine. I’ve no time to be looking after an injured woman,”

Bahru Karim grumbled as he descended the buggy. “Olabishi, do your duty and look

after my fiancée.”

The fourth occupant of the buggy got down with the assistance of the driver. She

meekly nodded to Bahru and moved closer to Catherine.

“It’s all right, Ola,” Catherine said gently. “I promise I won’t fall.”

Her promise proved to be a difficult one to keep for the brick walkway was slippery

and Catherine was grateful for the driver’s assistance. She kept the skirts of her

traveling dress lifted as high as was decently possible to keep them from dragging on

the wet pavers.

“Careful now,” the driver cautioned. His grip tightened as he helped her up the

graceful flight of marble steps to the veranda under which waited two black servants—

a very tall man dressed in the tuxedo suit and white gloves of a butler and a young

woman dressed in a long scarlet dress with a multi-colored turban wrapped around her

oval head.

“You are late, Beasely,” the housekeeper greeted them. Her voice was thick with a

lilting accent Catherine thought was most lovely. “The master was beginning to worry.”

“The roads are a quagmire,” the driver quickly apologized. He swept off his

battered hat to wipe at the moisture clinging to his wrinkled face. “Didn’t think we’d

get through some of them places. Water was darn near over the hubs.”

“It seems the water got inside the buggy,” the housekeeper accused, her mouth

tight with irritation. “The lady’s dress is damaged.”

Catherine shook out her damp skirts, looked down with dismay at the wide, dark

stain along the hem peeking out from the slit in her cape. She sighed heavily then gave

the housekeeper a woebegone smile. “I am a mess, aren’t I?”

Although the housekeeper did not return Catherine’s smile, she nodded with

understanding. “I fear that skirt is beyond cleaning.” She stepped back as the silent

butler opened one of the large double doors into the plantation house. “Welcome, Lord

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Bahru,” she said, bowing to the man who pushed past Catherine and entered the home

of his new employer ahead of everyone else.

“My fiancée’s frock is of little importance. I have purchased many new ones which

will be arriving before our Joining,” Bahru stated. His black gaze was sweeping the

foyer, his nose wrinkled.

“I understand, milord,” the housekeeper replied.

“Me and Hawkins will bring in Lady Catherine’s trunk,” the driver stated, nodding

toward a manservant who had suddenly appeared at the far end of the veranda.

The housekeeper frowned sharply at him. “Mind you do not track my floors,

Beasely,” she warned him.

Elmer Beasely mumbled darkly as he jammed his hat back on and then hunched his

shoulders before venturing once more out into the heavy downpour, Hawkins close on

his heels.

Once inside the plantation house, Catherine smiled politely at the butler as he

offered to take her cape.

“I know I’ll feel ten pounds lighter when I get this off,” she joked. She reached up to

unhook the clasp at her throat, wondering if the man was mute for he had yet to utter a

sound.

“Jacob is a mute,” the housekeeper confirmed as though reading her mind.

Catherine met the black man’s steady gaze, her own gentle and understanding. She

lifted her hand and made the sign for friend.

Jacob smiled back at her and returned the greeting, adding one of his own—of

welcome.

“Thank you, Jacob,” Catherine replied in sign. “I am sure I will be happy here.” She

turned to the woman standing behind her. “This is Olabishi. She too is mute.”

The black man smiled hesitantly at the diminutive woman behind Catherine. He

signed a hello to her.

“You have better things to do, Jacob, than gossip with Lady Catherine’s maid,” the

housekeeper snapped.

A shadow flickered across the tall man’s face and he cast a quick look at the

housekeeper. Whatever he saw on the black woman’s face sobered him for his smile

vanished. Bowing respectfully to Catherine, he turned and left.

“Actually, Olabishi is not my maid. She is my companion. My father hired her to be

my chaperone until my Joining to Lord Bahru.”

“I see. Whatever the case, you have made an ally of Jacob,” the housekeeper said

tersely. Her words were punctuated with a shriek of lightning hitting close to the

plantation house.

“Does it usually rain so hard here?” Catherine asked, wondering why the woman

did not seem pleased at the idea of her becoming friendly with the black man.

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Shades of the Wind

“This is the rainy season in Diabolusia, Lady Catherine,” was the reply. “You will

get use to it. Come August, you will wish it would rain again.”

“I hate rain,” Bahru complained. “I prefer the dryness of my native land. Rain

causes mildew and I detest mildew.” He sniffed. “It smells of mildew here.”

“You will get accustomed to the smell, Lord Bahru,” the housekeeper told him.

“I doubt I will,” Bahru replied.

The interior of the foyer was dark from the late spring storm and the feeble light

cast from a single lantern on a nearby table did little to dispel the gloom.

Catherine had a sense of very old, very expensive furniture, luxurious wool rugs

underfoot and priceless paintings on the damask-covered walls. She looked forward to

the morning when she could get a better look at the elegant furnishings of her new

home.

“I’ve laid a fire in the library,” the housekeeper informed them. She indicated an

intricately carved oaken door at the end of a short hallway off the right side of the foyer.

“You may wait there while Beasely brings in your belongings. Please follow me.”

Once more Bahru pushed ahead of Catherine, turning his head from side to side as

he surveyed the furnishings. “Very impressive,” he pronounced. “I shall be quite

comfortable here, I believe.”

As Catherine followed the housekeeper, she too became aware of the pervasive

smell of mildew, which seemed to weigh heavily in the air, but she knew that was to be

expected in this land of high humidity. She would have been surprised not to have

encountered it.

But she was not prepared for the semidarkness and overpowering smell of mold

that greeted her when the housekeeper opened the library door and ushered her inside.

“Unacceptable,” Bahru pronounced, sniffing the air like a bloodhound. “Most

unacceptable.”

There was indeed a comfortable-looking fire in the blackened grate, but it was the

only source of light in the entire room. Heavy velvet drapes over the windows blocked

out the waning light of late afternoon yet did not seem to keep out any of the chill. The

room was oppressive and bore the telltale stamp of abandon for there was the

unmistakable hint of dust among the thick tomes on the shelves.

“How many servants are employed at Anubeion?” Catherine asked, somewhat

taken aback.

“There are three here in the main house,” the housekeeper replied, stepping aside

so Catherine could enter the library. “The cook, her husband and Jacob. There are close

to fifty who maintain the plantation.”

Catherine turned to give the housekeeper a surprised look. “You clean this entire

house by yourself?”

A flicker of condescending amusement moved over the housekeeper’s face. “I am

not a servant here and there isn’t that much to do. The master is very meticulous in his

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personal habits and we have few visitors. He keeps mostly to his own suite of rooms.

Twice a year—spring and autumn—the master allows in a cleaning crew from among