Betrayed, page 26
part #2 of The Cuvier Widows Series
Mrs. Reuss, who stood halfway up the stairs, turned around and walked down to speak with Max. “There you are, Mr. Viel. Rosewood looks lovely tonight.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Reuss. I can't take any of the credit, it all belongs to my wife. She's done a great job,” he said, placing his arm around Nicole's waist, drawing her against him.
Nicole sighed, the feel of his hand warm and comforting. What could his return mean? Was it only for tonight?
“Well, the old place is looking better than it has in years,” she said, and moved on up the stairs.
Nicole gazed into his eyes and saw the warmth there. “You came back.”
“I couldn't leave you alone for our first party. I had to come back,” he said, his voice soft for her ears only.
“I'm glad you did,” she said, trying to convey with her eyes all the words pent up in her heart.
He took her hand and squeezed her fingers.
“I've missed you,” he whispered.
She smiled. “Me, too.” A carriage pulled up just then and she glanced into his emerald eyes, wishing they had more time alone. “Please stay after the party and let's talk.”
He nodded. “All right.”
For the next while, they greeted carriage after carriage of guests as they arrived. The servants set up the banquet table on the verandah and their guests went through the food line and then dined on the verandah, where the tinkling of the spirit bottles could be heard in the night air.
After dinner, the band began the next set, and Max and Nicole led their guests in the first dance of the night. As Max whirled Nicole around the dance floor, she couldn't help but wonder if this would be the first dance of a new life together or their last waltz.
She wanted their life together, yet there could be no lies between them. The feel of his arms around her felt so safe and secure, but if their life was built on fabrications and untruths, that security would be fleeting, and she'd already experienced that once. She wasn't willing to settle for that a second time.
Later in the evening, she went to check with the servants that the wine from the basement still flowed and that there were plenty of other beverages for those who didn't want to partake of the wine that Rosewood imported.
As she passed by the dining room she heard loud voices coming from the men's parlor.
“I heard you were looking for a new overseer?”
“Yes, I fired our previous one,” she heard Max tell the unknown voice.
“I know a man who is looking for an overseer position. He comes with a very high recommendation and I wondered if I could send him out your way?”
She didn't recognize the voice, but his question made her halt. Who could that be in there talking about the plantation?
Then she heard Max's voice. “Nicole handles the affairs of the plantation. Send him out and tell him to speak with my wife, Mrs. Viel.”
Nicole smiled to herself and continued on to the kitchen. Could Max have accepted the fact that Rosewood belonged to her?
She checked with Marie and the servants had everything under control. Nicole hurried back outside to her guests and ran into Mrs. Reuss.
“Mrs. Viel, I wanted to warn you about a nasty rumor that I heard regarding your parentage. I don't know if it's true, but you should be aware it's being spread.”
“I see, Mrs. Reuss. What kind of rumor are you talking about and I'll clarify the information for you.”
“Well, I didn't want to tell you, but they say you don't know who your father is,” she said in a whisper.
Nicole smiled, thinking of how her husband had helped her conquer her doubts regarding her identity. “Don't worry Mrs. Reuss, I know exactly who my father was. William Wing Loring. I'm very proud of him.”
The woman gasped. “The major general of the Confederate Army?”
“That's right. So you can assure the other ladies I know exactly who my father was,” she said.
“Oh, my! He was such a hero,” the woman gasped.
Nicole nodded, thinking how different this all felt, knowing the truth about her parentage. Yet she couldn't help but wish she could have gotten to know her father before he died. Just to have spoken with him would have been nice.
The information from Max's lawyers told her that her mother met General Loring after the war, while she was visiting in Washington. They had a brief love affair and when she left Washington, he went off to Egypt. Unable to locate him, he didn't find out about Nicole until he returned to the States ten years later and her mother had already passed away.
The older woman put her arm around her. “Don't worry about those ladies talking about your heritage. Once they find out that your father was the great General Loring, why, they'll be ashamed of the way they were speaking about you.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Reuss, but you know, it doesn't matter anymore. I know who I am and that's all that matters.”
Nicole felt shocked as she said the words and suddenly she realized it was true. She did know who she was and what she wanted out of life.
She glanced around the older woman. “Excuse me, but I think I need to find my husband.”
The woman smiled. “Of course, dear. I think I'm going to go set that Mrs. DeChoskey straight. The gall of that woman spreading more gossip.”
Nicole smiled and hurried off to find Max, suddenly needing to see him. She glanced across the yard and found him talking to a group of men. He looked up, his gaze meeting hers, and he smiled.
God, when would all these people go home?
A little after midnight the last guest stepped up into their carriage and pulled away. Nicole wanted to sink down onto the steps and collapse, she felt so drained.
Max stood beside her, gazing at her. “Tired?”
“Exhausted,” she said, and glanced up at him, worried. He seemed tense suddenly and she couldn't help but wonder what could be going through his mind.
Giving way to her tiredness, she did sink down onto the steps, her dress billowing around her. She reached up and pulled him down beside her.
He sat down with a plop. The spirit bottles clanked in the breeze, their melody soft in the moonlight. The band had already packed up and gone home and the servants were scurrying around cleaning up so they could get to bed.
“I guess I should be going,” he said, gazing at her, his eyes dark in the moonlight.
“You know, after you left the other night, I was so stunned that you admitted you loved me,” she said. “Didn't you wonder why I didn't respond?”
He shrugged. “I thought I had ruined everything between us.”
She laid her head back on the stairs. “The funny thing is that I've loved you almost since the day you married me, but was so afraid to commit my heart to you totally for fear you'd betray me just like Jean. And then I found out the truth.”
“I destroyed everything with my lies.”
Max leaned back against the stairs and gazed up into the sky. “If I could do it all over again, Nicole, I would still marry you, but this time I'd be honest. I'd tell you the truth, but I'd want to marry you all over again.”
“If you'd been straightforward, I would never have married you,” Nicole said, gazing up at the stars, knowing the truth deep in her heart.
“Probably not,” he said.
“I would never condone lying,” she said. “But if you hadn't, we wouldn't be together and I would never have fallen in love with you.” She knew the words were a certainty. Jean's deception would never have let her take a second chance on love if not for needing a husband for her baby. And she would never have married Max if she'd known he wanted Rosewood.
“So do you forgive me for lying?” he asked.
She paused for just a moment, wanting him to sweat just a little. “Yes, if you'll promise never to lie to me again. That we'll always be honest with one another from this day forward.”
He turned toward her, shifting on the wooden steps. “That's an easy promise to give,” he said. “I promise to always be honest with you from this day forward. To never knowingly betray you and to love only you and our children until the end of my days.”
Nicole felt her heart swell with love. “That almost sounds like we're saying our vows all over again. Do you mean them this time?”
“I meant them the last time when we married,” he told her.
She stared up at him. “Were you in the men's parlor tonight speaking with a gentleman about Rosewood?”
“Yes, he told me he knew a man looking for an overseer position. I directed him to tell the man to come see you.”
She turned to face Max, her hand reaching out to touch his face. “Thank you! Without meaning to, you proved to me that your love is real. In all the months we've been together, you've always been there for me. When you left the other day, I realized that even though you married me under false pretenses, you've always been there to help me and protect me. I love you, Max Viel, and want to be your wife, bear your children, and create a legacy here at Rosewood with you.”
Max sat up and moved closer to Nicole, his arms encircling her, cradling her there on the steps. “My love for you is real, Nicole. I didn't marry you for the right reasons, but you changed my life and made me into a better man. All my life I've been trying to obtain Rosewood back for my family. But you showed me the true meaning of hearth and home. You've taught me the real meaning of being part of a family and I want that with you. Promise me that nothing will ever come between us again. Not land or family or even our children. You'll always be my guiding light, my wife, my love.”
Nicole touched her hand to his cheek and pulled his mouth to hers, feeling the strength of her husband as she lay cushioned in his arms. This man had freed her from the chains of her past and taught to love once again. And this time she intended for that love to last a lifetime.
She broke their kiss. “So you and Paul are going to move back to Rosewood?”
“If you'll have us, I'll gladly return home to you.”
“I love you, Max Viel. Your home is here with me,” she said. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “There is one other thing we need to discuss.”
“What, love?”
“Your mother,” she said, feeling anxious.
He laughed, his mouth finding her neck and kissing her gently. “That's an ongoing problem I promise I will not let come between us. Can we talk about her in the morning?”
He kissed along her neck until he found that special spot.
“Only if you'll take me to where it all began,” she whispered huskily. “To our gazebo in the moonlight.”
He chuckled. “My pleasure, my love.”
The breeze blew across the river, stirring the spirit bottles in the trees, making a soft, joyful noise as Nicole and Max ran to the gazebo where they'd first shared their love.
–The End–
Author Bio
Sylvia McDaniel
Sylvia McDaniel is a best-selling, award-winning author of western historical romance and contemporary romance novels. Known for her sweet, funny, family-oriented romances, Sylvia is the author of The Burnett Brides a western historical western series, The Cuvier Women, a Louisiana historical series, and several short contemporary romances.
Former President of the Dallas Area Romance Authors, a member of the Romance Writers of America®, and a member of Novelists Inc, her novel, A Hero’s Heart was a 1996 Golden Heart Finalist. Several other books have placed or won in the San Antonio Romance Authors Contest, LERA Contest, and she was a Golden Network Finalist.
Married for nearly twenty years to her best friend, they have two dachshunds that are beyond spoiled and a good-looking, grown son who thinks there’s no place like home. She loves gardening, shopping, knitting and football (Cowboys and Bronco’s fan), but not necessarily in that order.
Currently she’s written sixteen novels and is hard at work on number seventeen. Look for her the first Tuesday of every month at the Plotting Princesses blogspot http://plottingprincesses.blogspot.com/.
Be sure to sign up for her newsletter to learn about new releases, contests and every month a new subscriber is entered into a drawing for a free book.
http://www.SylviaMcDaniel.com
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You can write to Sylvia at P.O. Box 2542, Coppell, TX 75019 or visit her web site.
The Cuvier Women Series:
Wronged
Shock, anger and humiliation were the only emotions Marian Cuvier felt for her murdered husband, Jean, especially after the detective informed her she’s not the only woman he married. There are three Cuvier women and each one is suspected of murder.
After Jean’s death, Marian must enter the male dominated New Orleans business world and battle Jean’s handsome business partner, Louis Fournet to safeguard her children’s future and save their only source of income, Cuvier Shipping. Yet Louis has a way with women that Marian that arouses feelings she’s never experienced. Meanwhile Louis is wielding his power to sell the business without her knowledge. Can Marian learn to trust again or will Louis’ ruthless ambition shatter her heart as well as her future.
Look for it on Kobo
Beguiled
Recently married Layla Cuvier is awakened to the shocking news that her husband is murdered and that she is not his only widow. It’s true, she hated Jean Cuvier who forced Layla’s father to sell his shipping company and sanctioned their marriage. There may be three Cuvier women, but Layla is the most likely suspect to his murder.
Forced to turn to the man she blames for the sale of her father's shipping company, she must trust Drew Soulier, the best attorney in New Orleans. Layla knows that Drew doubts her innocence and is only using her trial to further his political ambitions, yet she can’t seem to deny his allure and finds herself struggling to resist her desires. Is Drew the man to find the truth that saves Layla from hanging and heals her troubled heart? Or will he stop at nothing to achieve his goal to be mayor?
Look for it on Kobo
If you liked the Cuvier Women series you might also like…
A Scarlet Bride
Alexandra Thurston wants revenge. Revenge on the husband who wrongly accused her of infidelity and divorced her, tainting her as a scarlet woman. She vows she will reclaim her good name and never marry again. However, her father wants grandchildren to be heirs to his banking fortune and he' s determined to find her a husband. He has no luck , though, until she finds herself caught in a compromising position with the handsome plantation owner, Connor Manning.
Look for it on Kobo
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Sylvia McDaniel
Published by Virtual Bookseller
Originally published by Kensington in 2002.
All Rights Reserved
All Rights Returned To The Author
ISBN-13: 9780988451339
No part of this book may be reproduced, downloaded, transmitted, decompiled, reverse engineered, stored in or introduced to any information storage and retrieval system, in any form, whether electronic or mechanical without the author’s written permission. Scanning, uploading or distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without permission is prohibited.
Please purchase only authorized electronic versions, and do not participate in, or encourage pirated electronic versions.
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Cover by Kathleen Baldwin
Table Of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Author Bio
The Cuvier Women Series:
A Scarlet Bride
Copyright
Sylvia McDaniel, Betrayed
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