Lilac Temptress (27 page)

“
I absolutely will not do
this, Drake,” she pouted, pushing out her lower lip. She didn’t
want any part of Drake’s absurd scheme to allow the commoners into
the ball. If the ruse failed, not only would she be humiliated, but
also she could very likely become the laughing stock of her friends
for years to come.

“
Rosaline, have I ever
asked you for anything? They are both important to me. Things are
much different where they come from,” he said hoping to play on his
sister’s charitable nature.

“
Your generosity
extends too far, Drake,” Rosaline refuted. “Answer one question for
me and I might decide to go along with your little charade. Is this
about Sierra?” Rosaline asked simply. “Do you
like
her?”

“
Things are complicated,”
Drake exhaled.

“
How complicated is
complicated?” Rosaline asked, arching her brows.

“
It is too
complicated
to discuss
now. So, will you do this for me or not?” Drake wanted a definitive
answer.

Rosaline shook her head
affirmatively, almost paled by her thoughts. If Sierra would keep
Drake from marrying Isadora she would welcome her, even at the risk
being humiliated at the ball. But still, what if Sierra only sought
after Drake’s wealth? Rosaline could not decide which woman might
be the lesser of two evils. Isadora might seek to suck the life out
of her brother like a vampire and Sierra might seek to take
advantage of Drake’s good fortune. She would know all soon enough.
She would give Sierra a chance and learn for herself what Sierra
might be up to. “Drake, I will do this for you—but you
owe
me one.”

“
Thank you.” Drake happily
sighed his relief. “Now let us return to dinner. We’ve been gone
long enough,” he insisted.

* * *

“
Kyle, what is troubling
you?” The expression on Sierra’s face showed her concern. “You only
gorge like this when something is terribly wrong.”

“
This place unsettles me,”
Kyle continued to stuff his face with New Orleans’ delicacy. “The
girl, Rosaline, thought me a stable boy. I don’t like her. I don’t
like the way she looks at me. She is a spoiled snobbish little
witch.”

Sierra shook her head. “Our
coming here isn’t about what
you
think of Rosaline, Kyle,” she grumbled in
disagreement. “And since when has a pretty girl had you on
edge?”

“
I want to leave tomorrow
at daybreak, Sierra. Find us another place. You said you had
money—I do too. I saved my earnings working at the tavern. We could
see what we have together to get a room in town. I promise you, I
will find work quickly,” Kyle tried to convince her.

“
Kyle, don’t be foolish.
What money we have combined might not last long enough, and then
what? What if we don’t find work quickly enough?” Sierra looked
into her brother’s eyes, “I know how you feel, believe me I do,
but... I don’t think I am ready to leave just yet,” she said
thinking of Drake. She wanted to get to know him better in his
environment.

“
This place isn’t for me,
Sierra.” Kyle eyed the footman as he exited the room. Obviously,
the attendant knew that they should be left alone.

“
Kyle, please?” Sierra
exhaled uneasily. “Just give it some time. I promise you we will go
soon. Let’s just find work first and only use our savings if we are
in dire need.”

“
I don’t know, Sierra.
Maybe coming here was wrong. Maybe we should go back to
Jadesville,” Kyle suggested. He didn’t feel he could ever settle in
there, even if it was a momentary stay.

“
Kyle, just listen to me
for a moment. I won’t return and if you go back you will lead Wil
straight to me and—I can’t face him. I can’t let him come between
Drake and me... I just can’t.”

“
I thought you two weren’t
lovers,” Kyle bit off. “This is a temporary arrangement, right? Why
can’t you come back with me?”

“
We
are not lovers, but I want to be sure
that—”

“
You think that you might
have a chance with him? Sierra, look around you. Not that I don’t
think you are good enough for him, but this man may just want
another pretty token.”

“
I have considered that,
Kyle. It’s one of the reasons that you absolutely cannot leave me
here alone! Kyle, I need you to stay. I am not brave enough to do
this on my own,” Sierra pleaded, fighting an onslaught of emotions
when her thoughts centered on what it took for them get where they
were.

“
Don’t be silly, Sierra.
You are the bravest woman I know.” Kyle looked at her sternly while
shoving peas into his mouth.

“
William wanted us to go
with him,” Sierra said seriously, staring back at her brother. “If
you return, you will lead him straight here and he’ll make us
travel with him. I can’t bring all this trouble down on Drake’s
head.”

“
Travel with Wil—whereto?”
Kyle muffled his words, spooning in a mouth full of
potatoes.

“
He wanted us to see the
world with him, but if we had gone with him, I swear he would have
never loosened his grip on us. We would never be free of
him.”

Kyle was silent for a moment and
grimaced at his sister in disbelief. “Don’t trouble yourself over
it. I wouldn’t have wanted to go with him either.”

“
I thought you might have
liked the offer. I was afraid to tell you,” Sierra voiced
worriedly.

Kyle dropped his fork and stood up. “I
have my reasons for why I wouldn’t want to go with Wil. I need to
be alone.”

Sierra had never seen Kyle
so worked up. She exhaled, understanding his discomfort with
Newhaven
, but she also
realized that Rosaline had really gotten underneath his skin. The
trouble was that Sierra couldn’t tell if his uneasiness still
lingered because of Newhaven, Rosaline or Wil. She watched him
stride out of the room.

* * *

Drake was disappointed when
he and Rosaline returned to the dining room only to find it empty,
so they each decided to take their meals in their rooms. After
escorting Rosaline to her guest room, he inquired of one of his
servants where Sierra’s bedchamber was located. He was relieved
that it was not too far from his own room at the far end of the
hall, and he decided to pay her a visit and apologize for not
returning to dinner with haste. He knocked lightly against her
door. There was no response so he turned the doorknob, finding it
was unlocked. When he entered he found her sleeping in the huge
canopy bed.
This room suits
her
, he thought to himself sitting down in
the high-backed chair nearest to her—the room was utterly silent.
He watched her soundly sleep for a while before drifting into
slumber himself.

Chapter 12

Sierra awakened in her bed startled,
soaring upright. Had she heard the sound of a shutting door? She
had slept very deeply and comfortably. Rubbing her heavy eyelids
and feeling drowsy, she forced them open, immediately squinting at
the bright morning sunshine pouring in through the widely opened
curtained-windows.

Pushing aside the silky
smooth sheets and urging herself slowly out of bed, she walked onto
the veranda. Overlooking the rear courtyard she took in the
overwhelming scent, inhaling a blend of roses, bonnets, irises,
orchids, daisies—so many flowers of the lovely estate of every
color—everywhere.
I must be
dreaming
.

When she had arrived last
evening, she hadn’t noticed the detail of the perfectly trimmed
symmetrical hedges and all the glorious cypress trees in the
beautiful gardens. She had not seen the three rustling fountains,
with water cascading over the marble figures of lovers entangled in
each other’s arms. And in the distance she saw the perfect grounds
for riding.
Kyle would absolutely love
this. Kyle,
her mind started racing. He
wanted to leave this morning. She had to find him.

Her heart beat wildly as she dressed
quickly. Moving swiftly down the halls, she passed early rising
servants and asked each in turn if they knew of her brother’s
whereabouts. Each time she was greeted to her growing dismay with,
‘no miss, we haven’t seen him’. She hurried downstairs and wandered
outside through two large open bay doors onto a patio where she
spotted Rosaline, having breakfast at a beautiful iron lacework
table, sipping freshly squeezed orange juice.

“
Sierra, there you are.
Please, take a seat and have some breakfast with me,” Rosaline
called out, while motioning to a servant to prepare another plate
of eggs, ham and corn cakes.

“
Thank you, but I can’t
really, Rosaline. I must find Kyle. Have you seen him this
morning?” Sierra heaved, still out of breath from her fast descent
down the stairway.

Rosaline stared at Sierra, taking in
her image. She’d obviously been in a hurry, telling by her
breathless reply and the look of anxiousness on her face. “Yes, as
a matter of fact I have. He left with Drake and Ben a few minutes
ago.” Rosaline, unaffected by Sierra’s hustle and bustle to find
Kyle, simply buttered her heated and browned sliced
bread.

“
Drake had some
business to attend to and your brother wanted to go with him into
the city. Kyle said he needed to find work. I don’t know why he
just wouldn’t take Drake up on his offer to work down at the
shipping docks. I’m sure my brother would see to it that he was
well paid. Perhaps he’d make a fine
errand
boy.” Rosaline lifted her nose
in a sneer, before savoring the taste of her warm
bread.

“
Kyle would never work in
such a position,” Sierra asserted, still standing, her breaths
becoming easier.

“
Prideful, isn’t he?”
Rosaline grimaced. “And what of you Sierra? Do you intend to find
work or do you plan to live off my brother indefinitely?” she asked
accusingly.

Sierra eyed Rosaline cautiously. Her
lips tightened to some extent and then relaxed before she asked,
“You don’t like us staying here very much do you?”

“
Well, if you must know the
answer, I haven’t made up my mind about you two yet. Please sit
down and have breakfast with me. We must get to know one another.”
Rosaline gestured toward the seat beside her, scrutinizing Sierra
as she walked toward the table and reluctantly eased into the
chair.

Rosaline wasted no time,
getting straight to the point. “There is a gathering of sorts at my
parent’s estate tomorrow night. Drake wants you and Kyle to attend.
He thought I might take you under my wing for the day and teach you
a thing or two about our...
refined
Society.” Rosaline’s halfhearted smile oozed with
snobbery.

Sierra tried to relax as tension
filled her limbs. She pressed her palms flat on her thighs to try
to calm herself. “I can assure you that I won’t be attending, so I
will need no lessons from you,” she retorted.

Rosaline perked up, eyes wide as she
caught her breath for a moment. “I am only trying to help you for
my brother’s sake. You will have to start mingling with our class
at some point, Sierra. At least for as long as you are living here
under my brother’s roof, I will not have you bring him insult.”
Rosaline delicately dabbed the corners of her mouth with a linen
napkin.

Sierra gaped, stunned by
the audacity of this young lady. She was not about to let this
pretentious
child
upset her, even if she was Drake’s sister. Now she fully
understood why Kyle had been so upset over Rosaline’s high and
mighty behavior. Sierra fought hard to maintain her calm. For her
sake and Kyle’s, she would not make an enemy of this spoiled little
brat.

“
When Drake spoke about
you, I had the impression that you were a darling young woman. Why
are you so inhospitable toward my brother and me? Let me assure you
that we don’t mean to cause Drake any grief.” Sierra had Rosaline’s
full attention now.

“
Rosaline... I know how
this all must look,” Sierra said, empathizing. “You think Drake is
our quarry and that we are trying to hunt him—take him for all he
is worth, but it is not as it seems. And you should give your
brother a bit more credit. He is too clever to become our prey and
fall down a victim to us.”

“
Well, let
us
hope so, for you and
your
brother’s
sake,” Rosaline snapped.

“
Should I take that as
threat, Rosaline?” Sierra narrowed her eyes.

“
You may take it as you
like, Sierra.”

The women stared daggers at each
other.

Sierra exhaled. “Rosaline, you are
misjudging us... I understand you, really I do. I have a brother
too, and I definitely try to protect him. But your brother is a
grown man almost twice your age and he can take care of himself. He
does not need your protection. Truly, he is only showing us some
goodwill and doing us a kind favor in letting us abide here with
him for a little while... at least until we are back on our feet.
There is nothing more to it.” Sierra bit her lower lip masking her
true feelings. She didn’t want it to be that simple.