Emerald Ecstasy (38 page)

Daniel raked his hands through the thick blackness of his hair. “Do you know where they went?” he asked Manuel.

“
Sí
, but I don't wish you any harm, Daniel.”

“Tell me!” Daniel barked.

“San Augustin de las Cuevas. I heard de Lovis mention this to your lady as I waited in the shadows on the stairs.” Manuel pointed to the stairway near the door. “I didn't desert her, as you think. I was watching in case there be need to protect her from bodily harm.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Daniel said and immediately began to throw some clothes into a valise.

“I gather you are on your way to San Augustin de las Cuevas.”

“That's right, my friend.
Adios
.” Daniel buckled the valise and without a further word to Manuel, he pushed past him and was gone.

The afternoon was warm. Daniel, however, had ceased to feel the sun's hot rays on his back or even care how demonic he appeared to other travelers on the road out of Mexico City, which led to San Augustin de las Cuevas. He had removed his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves. The jacket hung carelessly across his saddle, and as he urged the black stallion toward his destination, he was unaware how his forehead creased into a frown or that his eyes looked blue-black. Rage filled him, and he was determined to take Lianne from Raoul. Even if it meant endangering his life to do it.

He knew all about the unsavory stories which circulated throughout Spain about Raoul. He'd heard them many times while he was in Madrid, but Raoul had never been called to task because he was powerful and capable of silencing his enemies. Then in Louisiana, Raoul received the same treatment. Money, it seemed, could buy anything. Even the authorities' silence about faking Lianne's death. Here, in Mexico, however, Raoul was in his element. He had been born here, and, Daniel knew, was regarded with the same awe as the viceroy. He wondered if there was no end to Raoul's power, to the fear he could strike within people's hearts. But Raoul didn't frighten him and never had. Yet Lianne feared him, or something he was capable of doing. He reasoned that she had never left the garret room willingly with Raoul. She loved him, Daniel, and this was the only reason he rode after her. If there had been any hesitancy on her part after he took her from Raoul's house, he would have left her to him. But he knew differently. She loved him, and soon they'd be together.

Yet he must tread carefully, because Raoul was a man to be reckoned with.

Ahead of him was a carriage, a rather garish-looking black one with gold trim. He paid no attention to it. His eyes were on the distant slopes of the two volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl which rose mistily before him. He knew San Augustin de las Cuevas was not far off.

He rode past the carriage and heard his name—a white, lacy handkerchief beckoned from the carriage window. Then he saw the beautiful face with the black eyes, the full-lipped, sensual red mouth which turned upward in an inviting smile.

“Daniel, Daniel,” Isabelle Hidalgo called until he cantered toward the carriage. The driver halted, and when Daniel stopped beside the carriage, Isabelle laughed.

“I'm so happy to see you,” she said huskily. “Are you going to San Augustin, too?”

She extended a gloved hand to him through the window. Daniel took it and kissed it.

“Yes, I hear there will be quite a crowd this year. I thought I would play a game of cards or view the cockfighting.”

“Ah, sí. The cocks. Raoul de Lovis will probably enter one of his. He bets quite heavily, I think. Of course he hasn't entered in years because he was in Madrid, but he will win. Raoul always does.”

The casual mention of Raoul by Isabelle grated on him, but he hid his aggravation with a disarming smile.

“Please ride with me, Daniel,” Isabelle invited prettily.

Daniel tied his horse to the back of the carriage and got in beside her. The heady fragrance of her perfume filled the small space of the coach. She leaned suggestively toward him and tucked her arm through his. She wore a gown of gold silk with a froth of white lace at the bodice which did nothing to conceal the lushness of her breasts.

“I've been quite upset with you,” she said and gave a fake pout. “You haven't seen me in some time.”

“I've been busy,” he said evenly, aware that her thigh pressed against his.

“With the ladies?”

“Perhaps.”

“One lady in particular?”

“You ask too many questions, Isabelle.”

“I understand Raoul married his French whore. Could she be the reason you've neglected me?”

His eyes narrowed as he took in her cunning smile. When he didn't reply, she sighed and leaned closer, placing her dark head on his shoulder. “Well, it doesn't matter any longer, Daniel. She is Raoul's wife and belongs to him.” Her fingers stroked the hard lines of his muscled arm. “Now you can concentrate on me. You may stay with me if Señor Guerrero has no more rooms.”

She smiled up at him, her mouth ready and willing to be kissed. But he resisted. He found Isabelle attractive and knew she wouldn't mind if he made love to her in the carriage. What a pleasant way to spend the remainder of the journey. But he didn't want her. He wanted a woman with red-gold hair and eyes as green as sea foam. He wanted Lianne, and Isabelle just wouldn't do.

He settled back against the cushions and closed his eyes, pretending to nap. He heard Isabelle extinguish a sigh, then her husky whisper. “One day you'll want me, Daniel. You shall want me bad.”

Josephine finished putting Lianne's gowns in the wardrobe and turned to Lianne who sat on a stool near the dressing table.

“Mooning about never helped anything,
chérie
. Put the Irishman from your mind and concentrate on your husband. Now there is a man for you.” Josephine winked.

“You would think that!” Lianne said, her head flying upward and the green eyes glinting in the candlelit room. “A person who would willingly drug another in the name of duty to her employer, I care nothing for her comments. And you haven't any idea how Raoul truly treats me. I thought you were my friend. I see I was mistaken.”

Josephine stood with arms akimbo before Lianne. “I think you should learn that sometimes a person has no choice but to play the game, or pretend to. I didn't enjoy forcing the juice down your throat each day, but Don Raoul insisted you be kept calm. I'd lose my position, otherwise, and I've gone hungry some in my time. I don't wish to feel the rumbling in my belly again,
chérie
.”

Lianne refused to break eye contact with Josephine. “I hold you in as much contempt as Raoul.”

“Well,” Josephine said, shrugging, “I can't change your opinion, but I won't allow you to hurt Don Raoul after he has treated me with courtesy. He has many faults, but he's the only person to treat me with respect.” She picked up a hairbrush. “Now, let's fix your hair for tonight.”

“Get out of here! I don't want you to touch me.”

“Tsk, tsk. Don Raoul will be much upset. He expects you to join him downstairs with Señor Guerrero and his guests.”

“No! Get out!” Lianne, in an unaccustomed gesture, raised her hand to strike Josephine's face, but the woman backed away and threw down the brush on the carpeted floor.

“I shall tell Don Raoul!”

“Do that!”

When the door slammed behind Josephine, Lianne sank onto the carpet. She felt weak, unbearably tired, but her heart ached with such wrenching pain she wished to die. Would she ever see Daniel again? Would he realize that she hadn't left of her own free will, that she left only to save his life? But she knew he couldn't ever know these things. Raoul wouldn't give her the opportunity to tell Daniel.

Again, Raoul had made certain their accommodations were luxurious. Señor Guerrero was a well-known banker, a man of great wealth and known for his hospitality. The large house in which she now stayed was his and was the grandest in San Augustin de las Cuevas. From the open doorway on the second floor which led to a small stairway at the back of the house, she smelled the sweet aromas of roses and jasmine in the garden below. She had barely glanced at the view from the French doors, but now she rose and stood within the door frame. In the misty twilight she barely made out the shapes of the mountains of Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl. Vaguely she remembered seeing their immense beauty when they neared San Augustin and recalled the silver poplar trees which shaded the roads. So much beauty surrounded her. Raoul always saw to that, but the beauty of the area, the jewels, the fine houses, the clothes, couldn't drive away his ugliness of spirit.

She was trapped. Trapped! Would she never be free of him, free to marry Daniel? The baby had been the only reason she married Raoul. Now her baby was gone. Nothing bound her to him, but she knew he'd never release her. Sometimes she felt that there were invisible shackles around her wrists and that Raoul had swallowed the key.

A knock sounded on the door.

“I told you to leave me alone!” Lianne cried.

“It's Carmen,” came the small voice on the other side.

Lianne called to her to enter. Carmen peered cautiously in, then pushed her whole body through the doorway. “I don't wish to disturb you,” she said.

Lianne put a hand to her forehead and smiled. “No, you don't disturb me.” Lianne realized how pale Carmen looked, how her large, dark eyes seemed bigger in her round face. She wore her dark hair in a braid wrapped around the top of her head, and her dress was a blue taffeta with a white ruffle at the neckline and the wrists. The girl looked charming and very pretty but it was evident to Lianne that she was worried.

“I need to talk to you about … something.”

“I'm listening.” Lianne motioned her to a spot on the bed. Carmen sat and Lianne sat beside her.

Carmen lowered her eyes a moment then lifted them shyly. “If my mother was alive I'd speak to her about this. I could tell her anything, and no matter how stupid she thought me, she never said so. Not like my father. He thinks I'm very stupid, only needed to make a good marriage and to bear children. My marriage to Diego is within a few weeks. I am afraid, Lianne.” Carmen swallowed. “Diego is not a patient man, I fear. I sense his cruelty. What will happen to me if … if I displease him?”

Lianne's heart went out to the motherless young girl. She understood Carmen's fears, because she had suffered from them every day since Raoul wrenched her from Daniel and her child. She couldn't advise Carmen to pretend indifference to Diego. She feared indifference might do more harm than good. So, she smiled and held the girl's hand, and said, “If I were you I'd not worry about Diego hurting you. He won't. Raoul is your father and though Diego thinks he can control you and do whatever he wishes, he can't. Your father won't allow Diego to lay a hand on you. You must submit because he will be your husband, but Diego won't do any more than what any husband expects as his due. But if Diego does harm you, come to me. I will see to it that your father is made aware of your treatment.”

“I doubt if Father would even care,” Carmen said shakily.

Lianne knew this to be true, but she'd never tell the girl this. However, she also knew that she could have Diego punished if he abused Carmen. All she had to do was use her wiles on her husband, to charm him with her beauty. This was something she had never done, but now she saw the advantage. And if she played the game well, she might become the winner in the end.

“He cares a great deal,” Lianne told her.

Carmen squeezed her hand then released it and stood up but a shadow crossed her face. “You heard what happened to Felix.”

Lianne remembered he was forced into servitude in Pachuca. “Yes.”

“He tried to help you escape from my father, Lianne. Felix will spend his life in the mines; he'll die in the mines.”

“Don't remind me, Carmen. I feel badly enough about his fate.”

“I know you do,” Carmen agreed, “but don't try to escape again. Next time my father may not be so generous.”

Lianne winced though Carmen didn't say this to be nasty. She was stating a fact. After Carmen left, Lianne stared at her reflection in the mirror. Despite the miscarriage and the drug she had been forced to take each morning, she didn't look any worse for her suffering. The violet dress she wore enhanced her beauty, the color of her hair, the porcelain quality of her skin. She was a desirable woman, a woman Raoul de Lovis had wanted so much that he might have ordered Elena's death to marry her.

For the first time she realized the power she wielded over Raoul. If she went along with him, pretended she was happy, she might deceive him, lull him into a false sense of security. Then she could escape to Daniel and return to Green Meadows.

She turned from the mirror and went to the wardrobe and extracted a gown made from the thinnest of materials. Its ivory sheen glimmered in the flickering light; the gold coronet she pulled from the jewelry box highlighted her shining tresses.