"Betty, was there a heavy fog last night?"
"I don't believe so. The fog that hit at your arrival dissipated before sundown. As I recall, there was a bright moon last night. Why do you ask?"
Olivia shrugged and changed the subject. "I thought I heard music-did you have guests arrive after I went to bed?"
Betty looked perplexed. "No. There was no one here and there was no music."
Olivia picked up a blueberry muffin and spread it with butter, trying to calm herself. Betty must think her a complete fool, and she didn't blame her.
"Olivia, I must say that I like your hair worn loose. It's quite lovely." With a bemused look on her face, she watched Olivia for a moment. "You know, I could have sworn that your hair was darker. Perhaps it just looks that way when you wear it up."
Olivia could only stare at her hostess. "But I do have dark hair."
"Oh, I see-you colored it. Well, it looks very natural."
Olivia tilted the silver coffee server until she could see her reflection. Her hands were trembling as she reached up and touched the golden curls that spiraled about her face. What was happening to her?
There was something else that could not be explained, Olivia thought in a panic as she pushed aside the coffee server. She had forgotten her glasses, yet her vision was perfect. How could that be when she had worn thick bifocals since childhood?
Could this be a gift from Jade?
She stood up, placing her napkin beside her plate. "I find that I am not hungry. I believe I'll go for a walk before it gets too hot."
Betty was busy watering the flower boxes on the veranda, so she was unaware of Olivia's distress. "Yes, do that. Be sure to walk by the rose arbor; it's quite lovely there. If you keep to the path, it will eventually take you to the river."
Olivia moved quickly down the path, the same path she had walked last night. Of course there was no sign of the Chinese lanterns because they had not really been there- she had only dreamed them.
When she reached the rose arbor, she sat down on the cushioned bench. Last night had seemed so real. She glanced at her finger where she had pricked herself with a thorn and found a small wound. Her eyes dropped to the floor of the arbor, and there, crushed beneath her feet, was a single rose.
Olivia was suddenly terrified. With no aim in mind, she moved out of the arbor and ran down the path as if she could escape what was happening to her. She ran until she came to the spot where the path met the river. She had the strongest urge to leave this place and never come back. If she had Betty drive her to New Orleans this morning, she could spend the night in a hotel and catch a flight to Boston tomorrow.
She turned to glance back at the plantation house, with its mellow red bricks shining in the sunlight, beckoning to her like a ghost from the past. No, she could not leave. Not until this drama came to an end.
Perhaps the dreams would not come again, but that thought brought her no comfort. She ached to see Raige, to have him hold her in his arms. Last night he had asked her to be his bride-he must love her.
"No, fool," she told herself. "He did not ask you to marry him-he asked Jade St. Clair to be his bride. It was Jade he loved, not me."
Olivia was torn between not wanting to dream of Raige Belmanoir and fearing that she might not. She tossed and turned, thinking she would never sleep. At last a cool breeze came through the balcony doors, and she drifted off to sleep.
Until now, all her dreams had taken place at night. But the part of her that was Jade was growing stronger, and she made her first appearance in daylight.
As Jade stepped out the front door of the plantation house, she flipped open her green parasol and positioned it between herself and the sun.
"I have grown accustomed to these annual outings at Fairmont," Emmaline St. Clair remarked. "I do think it is lovely there this time of year."
"But you are not fond of Felicity Dunois," Jade's sister, Lizette, said with the honest observation of a young girl.
Jade's father arched his brow at his wife, but made no comment.
"I have no antipathy toward Felicity… exactly," her mother answered carefully. "I am just not one of her close confidantes."
"I know a secret," Lizette said, beaming at her sister. "Would you like to hear it?"
Jade smiled at the young minx. At eleven, she was forever being scolded by their mother for not acting in a ladylike manner.
"Oui, please do tell us your secret, Lizette," Jade cajoled dramatically. "I am waiting with bated breath-on tenterhooks-with wild anticipation."
"You would not jest if you knew what I had overheard Madame Dunois say to her husband after Mass on Sunday. They did not know I was within hearing.''
"It is not polite to repeat gossip," her mother admonished her. "You will say no more on the subject."
In her eagerness, Lizette continued as if her mother had not spoken. "Madame Dunois told her husband that she wanted Jade to marry Tyrone so she could get her hands on Meadow Brook."
"She did not say such a thing!" their mother exclaimed in disbelief and indignation. "The boldness of that woman is not to be endured!"
"She said it. I heard her as clearly as I hear you," Lizette stated emphatically.
Jade only smiled. "I adore Tyrone, but he is like a brother to me. And, chatterbox," she said, tugging on one of her sister's curls affectionately, "Tyrone only thinks of me as a sister."
"Little you know," Lizette said with a toss of her head. "You have been mooning after Raige for so long that you never can see what's before your own nose. I've watched you standing at the mirror, primping and daydreaming, ever since Raige came home."
"Lizette, we'll have no more of your mischief," her father said sternly. "Is that understood?"
Jade looked at her father, wondering if Raige had approached him with an offer of marriage. Obviously he had not, or her father would have told her. Raige had not meant anything he'd said that night in the rose arbor. Well, if he came to the outing today, she would just ignore him and let him see that she had not gone into decline because of him.
Jade glanced down at her new white silk dress, which was embroidered with pink rosebuds. The Grecian style, with the high bodice and puffed sleeves, was flattering to her and did little to hide her womanly body. Would Raige like the dress on her? she wondered, then chided herself for being a fool. What did she care if Raige noticed her? There were many other gentlemen who would.
By now they had reached the Dunois house, a great white pillared mansion. Monsieur and Madame Dunois came down the steps to greet them, and Jade noticed her mother's forced smile. But her mother was a lady born and bred, and she would never be discourteous when she was someone's guest.
Jade smiled as Tyrone rushed down the steps to her. He was about the same height and build as Raige, but there the similarity ended. Tyrone, tall and fair, was popular with everyone, while Raige was often dark and brooding and intimidated most people. Despite their differences, the two men had been friends since childhood.
Tyrone helped Jade out of the carriage and she linked her arm through his.
"Please rescue me," he said, laughing down at her. "The gentlemen have gathered in the library and talk of nothing but the American upstarts who will surely be the ruination of us all, by making us a star on their flag-and how France has sold us out for thirty pieces of silver. And I'll rescue you from the women, who will talk of nothing but the latest fashions from France."
Jade wrinkled her nose. "You are right, of course-that is exactly what they always do, and it would be a bore."
"You are the most beautiful girl here today," he said earnestly. But then Tyrone had always told her she was pretty; she'd come to expect it of him.
' 'And you, monsieur, are surely the most gallant gentleman here."