Wronged (The Cuvier Widows Book 1) (15 page)

“Now who’s being ridiculous?” he said, with a
chuckle that felt forced.
He wasn’t jealous, was he?

“George Morgan is our customer. I’m being
nice to him because he’s our client. I’m having a great time
tonight and for the first time in a long time, I feel well ...
pretty.”

“Damn, Marian. What do you mean, you feel
pretty? You’re gorgeous. You’re beautiful. You deserve someone a
lot better than George Morgan.”

“I’m not looking for a man.” She smiled at
him. “You are full of surprises tonight. I bought this dress
especially for this dinner and I think you didn’t even notice.”

“Oh, I think every man in here noticed,” he
replied. She giggled, closed her eyes, and moved with the
music.

“I don’t want George Morgan, but I’m having
such a lovely time tonight. There’s really no need for you to worry
about George seducing me. Remember I’m the woman whose husband
married two other women, just so he wouldn’t have to ...”

The music ended and she opened her eyes. “Oh
my, no more champagne for me.”

What had she meant to say? Why did she think
Jean had married other women? Just when things were getting
interesting, the music ended and she realized what she’d been about
to reveal. He watched her orienting herself on the dance floor, the
spell obviously broken.

“Come on, let’s finish our dinner and then
I’ll take you home,” he said reluctant to let her go, enjoying her
in his arms.

She stepped out of his embrace and glanced at
him as they walked off the dance floor. “Why are you so worried
about me?”

“I’m not. I just don’t want George to—”

She smiled, reached up and patted the side of
his cheek, her humor restored. Her hand felt warm and silky against
his skin and the sudden contact had him taking a sharp breath to
hide his reaction.

Suddenly he didn’t want to return to the
table.

“Don’t worry, Louis. Nothing will happen.
You’re taking me home,” she said her gaze sparkling with
amusement.

He shook his head realizing he’d been unable
to convince her, while trying to break the spell she’d cast upon
him. “This is why women are not involved with business. If this had
been just a dinner for two men, it would be over by now. I wouldn’t
be worrying about how to protect you.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet Louis. I never would
have thought you would want to protect me.” She laid her hand on
his arm. “Don’t worry. As for your nasty comment about women in
business, I’m going to let it slide tonight because I don’t want to
spoil my good time. But I’m warning you, don’t say it again during
working hours. Now try to enjoy the rest of the evening without
worrying about Mr. Morgan.”

Louis stared at her, stunned. Didn’t she
understand?

They arrived back at the table and Louis
pulled out Marian’s chair, but before she could sit down, George
took her by the hand.

“Come on, let’s dance,” he said, and whirled
her out on the floor.

Marian laughed at the older man’s antics and
Louis realized she seemed more carefree than he’d ever seen her. In
the last two months he had watched her go from being completely
shocked at the death of her husband to fighting mad trying to
protect her place in the business. Tonight for the first time he
had seen her actually enjoy herself and have fun. Tonight for the
first time he’d seen her in clothes other than that dowdy black and
she looked more beautiful than he thought possible.

Tonight he’d found her irresistible and
though he knew any attraction between them was doomed, he realized
he wanted her for himself, at least for one night.

***

A week passed and since the dinner with Louis
and George Marian had received flowers with a note from George,
telling her what a wonderful time he’d had that night. The sight of
that bouquet of flowers still bothered Louis and he’d resisted the
urge to jump up and throw them out.

Just as Louis predicted that night, George
did indeed offer to take Marian home. But Marian had had the good
sense to refuse George’s offer, saying Louis and she had come
together, which wasn’t a lie.

Somehow she’d fallen asleep in the carriage
on the ride home and leaned her head against his shoulder as she
slept. The sight of her nestled so trustingly against his shoulder
had stayed with him all week and left him feeling oddly warm and
protective at the same time.

His imagination had taken the widow home and
peeled the clothes from her luscious body and taken her to bed,
though his mind knew the fantasy was impossible. Work and pleasure
should remain separate if at all possible, he kept reminding
himself.

A rapid knock drew Louis’s attention to the
doorway of his office. He glanced up to see his father standing
there gazing at him with an affectionate expression on his
face.

“Father?” Louis said jumping up from his desk
to come around and give his father a handshake and a partial hug.
“What brings you to town? Everyone all right at home?”

“They’re all fine. I had to come up here to
meet with the banker regarding building a new barn for the
plantation. I thought I’d drop in and see how you are.”

“I'm well. Have a seat,” Louis said directing
his father to a chair on the other side of his desk. “How long are
you going to be in town?”

“I’m returning home tomorrow. Just a quick
trip. Tonight, I’m having dinner with Daniel Comeaux and thought
that you might join us.”

“I think that’s possible.”

“Heard about that nasty business with your
partner Jean Cuvier. You’re still involved with the business, I
see. Is it all yours now, boy?”

Louis shook his head. “No, Mrs. Cuvier still
owns her husband’s part of the business, though I doubt she’ll be
involved much longer. Right now she still thinks she can help the
business, I hope she comes to her senses soon.”

“Mrs. Cuvier?”

“Yes,” Louis said. “I have to give her
credit, she’s not just any woman, Father. She’s learning the
business and seems eager to do her part. But I’m hoping she’ll give
up this foolish notion soon.”

Louis felt a moment of shock at the
realization that he had not only defended Marian, but also spoken
highly of her. And his words were true, Marian never shirked her
duties and spent hours combing through volumes to learn the answer
to a problem she encountered.

His father snorted with disapproval. “Seems
to me if she’d paid more attention to her husband, he wouldn’t have
married two other women.”

Louis shook his head. “No, it wasn’t that way
at all. Jean didn’t know the meaning of the word fidelity.” There
he went again, defending Marian to his father. The image of her in
the carriage dressed in all her finery came to mind and he’d
remembered thinking on the way home, he understood why George
Morgan had pursued Marian. Her unique beauty enticed him more than
that a girl of eighteen and though he’d thought her beautiful
before that night, she’d outshone all the women he’d ever
known.

“Speaking of marriage, remember Emily
Fratenburg?”

His father’s question jerked Louis back from
his thoughts of the way Marian had looked that night.

“Yes, we were in the same class at
school.”

“She’s just come home from Europe. She’s here
to stay. And she’s unmarried. Lovely too, from what I hear.”

“That’s nice,” he said uninterested.

“You should come home and maybe we could
invite her to dinner,” his father suggested.

“Maybe.”

A moment of silence filled the office and
Louis watched his father’s face turn serious. “Louis, Anne has been
gone for ten years. It’s time you found yourself another wife and
moved back to the plantation.”

For the first time, Louis noticed how his
father’s once dark hair had turned silver, making his sixty-five
years apparent.

“We’ve talked about this before. It’s not
that I don’t want to get married. I just haven’t found anyone that
I want to spend the rest of my life with,” he acknowledged.

“You married Anne.”

“Yes, but she died. Since then there’s been
no one else whom I want to marry.”

It was true. He would like to get remarried,
settle down, and have a few kids. But so far he’d not met any woman
who really intrigued him or made him feel compelled to marry.

The image of Marian dancing in his arms,
laughing and teasing him came to mind. He felt a stir in his heart
at the memory and quickly pushed it away.

His Father took a deep breath and sighed. “I
didn’t come here to argue with you. I mainly wanted to make sure
that you were well, that this scandal of your partner’s hadn’t hurt
your business.”

Louis shrugged, hating to admit this to
anyone, including his father, “Business is down some.”

“Did you see the article in this morning’s
paper?” his father asked.

“No, I haven’t had time to read the morning
paper yet. What did it say?”

“The writer certainly made Jean out to be
less than a gentleman. I’d say they all but made him into some kind
of miscreant.”

Louis frowned, thinking every piece of bad
press him his chances for selling the business. “Jean is gone. The
business will recover and we’ll make enough to keep it going.”

“Shame,” his father said with a sigh. “I know
it’s selfish, but I kind of hoped you would tell me you were coming
home to work the plantation with your brother and me. You know your
brother wants you to be his partner.”

Louis shook his head. “Neither scandal or
marriage is going to bring me back home. I’m thirty-five years old
and I want my own business.”

“As your father I want you to come home and
be a part of the family operation.” He sighed. “Come see Emily and
then maybe you’ll change your mind.”

“Maybe I can get home in the next month and
then you can invite Emily over for dinner. I’ll let you know.”
Though Louis knew without hesitation he had no interest in Emily
and doubted he would return home anytime soon, yet somehow he felt
sorry for his father and tried to appease him.

Marian stuck her head in the doorway. “Louis,
have you seen last month’s financial statement?” She put her hand
to her mouth. “Oh, excuse me, I didn’t know you had company.”

“It’s all right. Come in and let me introduce
you to my father,” Louis said watching with interest as his father
rose to meet Marian for the first time.

They shook hands and said the niceties while
Louis remembered how it had been to feel Marian in his arms, the
buggy ride home, and the way her head fit the curve of his neck,
the smell of magnolias that permeated her hair.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Fournet. What brings
you into town?”

His father smiled graciously at Marian. “I
had some business I needed to handle and I wanted to check on my
youngest son here and see what he’s been doing, since he rarely
comes home.”

Marian nodded her head.

“Yes, I’m afraid your son doesn’t strike me
as the family type. He seems more suited for convincing businessmen
they need his services and occasionally acting as a chaperone,” she
said, with a mischievous laugh as she winked at Louis.

Louis felt his father’s eye upon him as he
watched the exchange between Marian and himself.

“Well, I must run. I hope to see you again
soon, sir,” said Marian.

“Thank you,” he said, and observed her
walking out the door, her skirts swishing as she departed.

After she left his father turned to face him
and raised questioning brows. “Nice
and
beautiful. A good
combination.”

Louis shrugged. “She’s a recent widow,
Father.”

“And you’re a widower.”

“What time shall I meet you for dinner?” he
asked trying to change the subject.

“Eight o’clock will be fine. About your trip
home. Why don’t you bring Mrs. Cuvier just in case Emily is no
longer available?”

Louis smiled at his father. “You just don’t
give up, do you?”

“Of course not, I’m your father. Only I can
give you this kind of abuse.”

Louis smiled at his father, knowing the old
man had gotten ideas about Marian.

***

Marian spent Saturday afternoon reading over
the last quarter’s financial statement, the realization of her
economic uncertainty and her responsibilities suddenly very clear
and frightening. Cuvier Shipping was their livelihood and must be
successful or they would quickly go broke.

The numbers for the last month since Jean’s
murder were pitiful. The fear of closing the doors of Cuvier
Shipping almost overwhelmed her, making her frantic with worry.

Upon realizing their dreadful fiscal outlook,
she sent a message to Louis to visit her at home as soon as
possible.

Just when she’d given up on him stopping by,
Edward, her manservant, announced his arrival. Dressed in a rose
floral silk dress, she greeted him, pacing the floor in the family
room.

“Where have you been?” she asked trying to
keep the sharpness out of her voice, knowing she failed
miserably.

He gazed at her with his brows raised, his
blue eyes seeming to laugh at her, as she stood there a nervous
wreck, the hour late. She watched his gaze slide down the simple
dress, taking note of her apparel. When his look returned to her
face, a smoldering shadow lingered in his eyes that reminded her of
hot, muggy nights spent restless and hungry.

She took a deep breath and reminded herself
that this tuxedo-clad man, who liked to chase women even more than
her dead husband had, was her business partner.

“May I remind you it’s Saturday night. I’m a
bachelor and I want to have some fun.” He paused. “I’ve been with
men all week. Tonight, I want to be in the company of a woman.”

Marian bristled. Just the sort of thing that
Jean would have said.

“I’ve been waiting for you all afternoon.
Didn’t you get my message that I needed to speak with you right
away?”