His Dark Desires

Chapter One New Orleans, LouisianaJune 1874 As a child, whenever winter came to our grand home, La Belle du Temps, I'd slip away to the attic and stare at the black water of the Mississippi, just visible through the ghostly Spanish moss and live oaks. I'd huddle in the cold, watching the river rise, sure its greedy swells would some day steal all that I held dear. It was a childish fear, but one that set a precedent for shadows in my life. Shadows that would never recede, I thought as I curled my hand around the warning telegram in my pocket, sent to me by Mr. Goodson, the investigator from Baton Rouge I'd secretly hired. "Mrs. Boucheron, You are in danger. Trust no one." Though the river had never touched my family home, other ills had flooded my life, and La Belle had stood strong through them all. She gave breath to my fondest memories and held my deepest sorrows with gentle arms. She'd been the one constant in my life, stalwart during the occupation of Federal troops, solid throughout the war; and now she was the means by which I, my son, Andre, and my sisters Ginette and Mignon survived. I could not lose her and I would never sell her -- something Mr. Latour had yet to understand. "Ahem. I don't know how much clearer I can be, Mrs. Boucheron," Mr. Latour said for the third time. "With the tax increase this year and maintenance costs on the rise, I do not think you realize how difficult things will be. Your hardships will be greatly reduced with a smaller property, and by moving closer into town, you would have a steadier income from boarders year round." The man's pompous manner had a way of making La Belle's double parlor, with its high ceilings and wide windows, seem as small as a hatbox. Though he was a former friend of my husband, I could listen no more. I'd been polite beyond the point of duty these past two months. "I don't know how I can be much clearer, Monsieur Latour. La Belle du Temps is not for sale." He glanced at my sisters for support. "Juliet speaks for all of us," Ginette assured him firmly. "Pardon, monsieur, but we cannot sell our home. It would not be right." Mignon's expression implored the man to understand; she hated to disappoint anyone. "You're making a mistake, Mrs. Boucheron." Mr. Latour's spectacles magnified his displeasure. "This is the last offer Packert Investment Company will make. And I must say this new offer is very generous." "Exceedingly generous, which makes me wonder why." "Concern for your family. The company does not wish to take advantage of your reduced circumstances." The bald lie irritated me even more than his persistence. His family, along with the Hayeses, had led New Orleans's beau monde in shunning me and my sisters after my husband's supposed crime. Their social and financial reprisals had been crushing. And since the war's end, most businesses had had little regard for any family's hardship. They'd been vultures circling a battlefield, raking the South with greedy talons. My patience was at an end. "Whatever Packert Investment's reasoning, it is of no consequence to us. Our answer is final, Monsieur Latour. Now, if you don't mind -- " "What about Jean Claude?" My spine stiffened. "What did you say?" "Ahem. You give me no choice but to bring up this delicate matter. I'm sure you have heard the rumors that he is in Europe." "Those are old rumors. No one has ever seen him, and they won't, because he is dead. He wouldn't have abandoned his family." "A desperate man will do anything, and he was desperate. I am sure he took the gold and escaped. You need to realize that nothing can stop him from taking control of your boarding house enterprise, should he return." He lowereSt Giles, Jennifer is the author of 'His Dark Desires ', published 2005 under ISBN 9780743486262 and ISBN 0743486269.