Bal Masque Read Free Page A

plans.” Lucienne bent down and buried her face in Ninette’s dark fur with a soft chuckle.
    “And you , chèrie ? Will you be delighted to have such a wedding?” Marie knew Lucienne’s change of heart signified more than the desire to wear the butterfly gown, but she couldn’t imagine what Lucienne was planning. Sparing a look out the window, the older woman sought something on the grounds that offered a clue to Lucienne’s thoughts. All she saw was the overseer Price and his daughter Dorcas walking along the path to their cottage.
    “Delighted?” Lucienne echoed Marie’s word choice with wonder. She shook her head. “Well, perhaps not delighted, but I will certainly be more agreeable.”

Chapter Two:
    Masquerade
    “What do you think, Ninette? Papa has guests, so he’ll invite the gentlemen into his office to sample this year’s taffia. He should be in a good mood, good enough to grant his little Chou-Chou a small request, shouldn’t he?” Giddy with plans for a way out of Papa’s unacceptable arrangements, Lucienne swirled her embroidered skirts and curtseyed to the wide-eyed kitten on the bed. “If I give him a few hints, maybe Papa will come around to my idea all by himself. He loves to surprise his friends with something a bit unconventional, doesn’t he?” The kitten polished one black paw and tidied her ears. She seemed to agree with her young mistress that winning any campaign started with perfect grooming.
    René Toussaint expected his wife and daughter to be charming and ornamental at all times, but especially so when he had guests for dinner. Though Lucienne dressed with her usual care, tonight her demurely flirtatious dinner dress was also the first step in a delicate ambush, and she had designed her appearance accordingly. The white gown framed her pretty shoulders with a lace pelerine. A fresh camellia tucked into her shining curls helped create a portrait of transparent sweetness. Delicate embroidered scallops edged her hem and brushed the toes of her slippers as she skipped down the gallery steps and into the long dim hallway below.
    From the end of the passage she heard the faint rumble of voices. Her father was speaking to someone else in the small plantation office, a room half hidden by an elaborate étagère. One of the guests talking horses with Papa. Assured that her earlier expectations appeared correct, she slipped silently into the front parlor, where a window put the outside office door in view. She wouldn’t have to eavesdrop, and risk getting caught, to know when the business day was concluded. She could see her father’s guest depart.
    In less time than she expected the door opened, with a force that made it spring outward. Price the overseer marched out, popping his Panama hat against his palm and clearing the veranda with long steps. His sunburned face turned neither left nor right as he charged away from the house and into the gardens beyond. That didn’t bode well for Lucienne’s plans. Price appeared to be in a rage. Perhaps he and Papa quarreled. But Price is always in a hurry, and his red face always looks angry . Lucienne shrugged as he disappeared into the late evening shadow. Maybe that’s the way it is up north where he lived before. Everybody always fussing and fuming. Hope he hasn’t upset Papa. I might have a harder time if Papa’s in a temper.
    Lucienne strolled through the shadowy hall once more, making her way to her father’s office. A faint murmur reached her again, but this time she was sure the voices were only her parents. Mama would be going to the dining room to make a final check on the table settings shortly. Then Lucienne would have her chance. She slipped back into the shadows to wait once more. In a minute or so she heard the rustle of skirts and the quick tap of slippers on the painted wood floor as her mother continued her pre-dinner errands.
    Lucienne assumed an anxious pose in the doorway of the office. A heady scent of cigars, taffia,