Moontide Embrace (Historical Romance) (8 page)

The old man's face whitened, and his hand trembled as
he reached for his gold-handled cane. "What are you saying? I told Sebastian that I — "

"Did I hear my name spoken?" Sebastian ambled into
the room, his hands crammed into his pockets. After his
eyes moved briefly over Gabrielle, they came to rest on his
cousin, Judah Slaughter. Sebastian had been listening
outside the door, and this was not the puny American he
had expected. No, this was a man who could sweep
anyone who displeased him out of the way. And he had a
closer blood tie to his Uncle Gustave—he was a real threat, and Sebastian knew it.

"Did I, or did I not, tell you to make arrangements for
my daughter's arrival?" the elder man demanded, his head rearing up like a charging bull's.

"That you did, Uncle, and I did make arrangements.
However, I see I was very remiss in my calculations on the
time of their arrival. I made the arrangements for next
week." He shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, well, you are here
now, and that is all that counts, is it not?"

Judah eyed his cousin with distaste, his lips curling
somewhat. He didn't care for the man's foppish manner.
Sebastian strutted like a peacock in his vermilion coat and
tight-fitting pink pantaloons. Judah realized it had been
Sebastian Montesquieu who had caused his mother's hu
miliation, not his grandfather as he had formerly
thought, but that revelation in no way excused his grand
father for years of neglect, nor did it cool Judah's anger.

Sebastian bowed slightly to Gabrielle Slaughter and
gave her a weak smile. "Cousin Gabrielle, a long-overdue pleasure. Allow me to welcome you home." His words
sounded sincere, but there was a half-hidden dullness in
his watery blue eyes that bespoke something undefinable.

When Sebastian turned to face Judah, there was no hint of a smile. The two men's warring eyes locked.
Sebastian's sparkled with belligerence and unleashed ha
tred, while Judah's were cool and lethal.

Seeing that his uncle was watching the meeting between
him and his cousin, Sebastian smiled. "Cousin, this is indeed a happy day for Bend of the River. We are all eager to make your visit a happy one."

Judah glared over Sebastian's shoulder to lock eyes with
his grandfather. This had not been the welcome his
mother had hoped for. There were strange hidden under
tones in this room.

"Sebastian, escort my daughter to her room. I want to
talk to this young whelp alone." There was a hint of mirth
in the shrewd old eyes. "I want to see if he can take insults
as well as he can deliver them."

Sebastian looked as if he would like to protest, but his
uncle silenced him with a nod. Gabrielle was not in the least bit happy about leaving her son in the clutches of
her father. However, the old man reached out and touched
his daughter's flushed cheek with a tenderness that star
tled her. "It will be all right,
ma chere.
Go to your room
and wait."

Gabrielle gave her son a soft smile before turning to
walk away, and when his mother and cousin had gone out
the door, Judah turned back to his grandfather. "You and I have nothing to talk about, save the way you have treated my mother through the years. She is special in every way, and you have hurt her far too often."

Gustave merely smiled and pointed with his cane at the
chair opposite him. "Be seated. I always resented having to look up to a man. I like a man to be at eye level with me so I can see what he is thinking."

Judah nodded grimly and seated himself in the chair, his eyes locked once more with his grandfather's. He
would like nothing better than to spirit his mother out of
this house, but not before he told this old tyrant a few truths.

"I am taking my mother away from here tomorrow. I
should have known you would only hurt her again."

"I will ask you once more to speak in French," the old
man commanded. "As for your mother, must I remind you again that she is my daughter?"

"No," Judah bit out. "I have not forgotten. It is
you
who needs reminding."

Gustave's hand trembled as it tightened on the handle
of his cane. "I would like to make amends now, Judah. I
am an old man who has made many mistakes. When you
reach my age, I doubt that you will be able to say
otherwise. I regret every day I was without my daughter. I
know what she has been through. I also know many things about you and your growing-up years."

"How can that be?" Judah asked scornfully.

"I have my ways. It might surprise you what I know
about you. My spies have kept me well informed of your
progress over the years. I . . ." Gustave paused. "I am
proud of the man you have become. Captain of your own
ship at your age."

Astonishment sealed Judah's lips, as his grandfather
continued. "I know of the valiant struggle you made to fill your father's shoes. I also know about the sacrifices my daughter made to allow you to follow your dream,
and of the loan she received so you could get the
Winged
Victory
out of dry dock."

Judah remembered the money they had borrowed to
make the
Winged Victory
seaworthy. At the time he had
been surprised that the bank had loaned him such a large sum of money and had made the payments low so he
would have no trouble repaying them. Now he looked at
his grandfather suspiciously. "Are you the one who was
behind the bank loan?"

The old man shifted his eyes away. "Why would I want
to interfere in your life? Let us talk about your future,
and not dwell on your past. I know you could use money
now."

"You know nothing about me."

"I know that every penny you borrowed from the bank
was paid back in full." Gustave chuckled. "I even know about Adriane Pierce, but I will wager your mother does
not know about your mistress."

Judah was surprised at how closely his grandfather had
followed his life. He lowered his lashes so the man would
not read his astonishment. "I do not believe it is custom
ary for a son to inform his mother of his mistresses."

"I have also learned that you are a young man with high values and a strong code of honor." The old man's eyes bore into Judah. "A man must put honor above
everything else. It was so in my father's day; it must be so
in your day. I cannot leave Bend of the River to a man
who is unaware of the sacred trust and the responsibility he will be taking on. The man I choose to take over when
I am gone must be above reproach."

Judah stood up slowly, forcing his grandfather to crane
his neck to look into his eyes. "If you are hinting that I
might be that man, you are mistaken. I want nothing from you." Judah sneered. "You can take your Bend of the River Plantation and be damned, old man. If you
know about me, as you say you do, then you know I am
not stupid and I will not play your little games. How dare
you think you can bring me here and play me against your nephew, Sebastian."

The old man's eyes glowed with excitement. "Speak in
French," he said again. "What makes you think I would
entrust my fortune and my home to a young whelp like
you," he said, watching Judah with the same predatory
instincts a hawk might watch a rattlesnake.

Judah deliberately spoke in English. "I suspect you
would like to watch a battle brewing—some upheaval that
would take your mind off the fact that you are an old
man and will soon have to release your hold on everything
that you greedily clutched for so long. You overlooked one aspect,
Grandfather.
You will have to have two willing prospects to play out your little game. When I leave, you will only have one."

"You need money. Are you not tempted by a fortune?
Do you know what it is like to have the power to rule an
empire? Power beyond your wildest imagination?"

Judah's lips curled in disgust. "In the name of all that
is holy, do you think to lure me into your trap with the
promise of wealth? I told you, I want nothing that belongs to you. It galls me that I am forced to remain under your roof this one night."

Instead of being insulted, the old man's eyes danced merrily. "What if I told you I would leave you everything
I have, with no strings attached?"

"I would know it was a trick."

Gustave chuckled. "You would be right. I would have to lay down a few stipulations."

Judah's eyes seemed to spit blue fire. "Then I would tell
you to take your offer and go straight to hell. I am sorry
to say that you have lived up to my worst expectations. I
had hoped, for my mother's sake, that you were sincere in
your desire to see her."

Gustave's eyes took on a cunning glow. "So you will leave us tomorrow?"

"As soon as I can walk out that front door."

At that moment the old man grabbed his chest and began to gasp for breath. "My heart," he whispered through trembling lips. "This is . . . a . . . bad one."

Judah watched helplessly as his grandfather slumped
back in the chair. Dropping to his knees, he felt guilty for having been so rough on the old man. After all, Gustave
Montesquieu was quite frail. "Tell me what to do!" he urged. "Have you had these attacks before?"

"Moses will know what to do —get Moses!"

Judah dashed across the room, flung open the door
leading to the hallway, and almost collided with a giant
black man who appeared out of nowhere. "Find someone
named Moses," Judah told him. "Your master is ill."

The big man looked Judah over from head to foot
before he answered. "I am called Moses. I will tend to my
master."

Judah watched Moses lumber into the room. As he
stood by helplessly, the big man lifted his grandfather into
his arms. "Shall I send someone for a doctor?" Judah asked, not knowing what to do.

"No, that will not be necessary. My master has had these attacks before. I know what to do. He will need much rest and no excitement,
M'sieu.
Any strain might mean the end for him."

Moses carried Gustave Montesquieu as if he
weighed no more than a child, Judah's guilt deepened. He
should never have argued with his grandfather. His mother would take it hard if anything happened to her father.

Judah did not hear the door at the far end of the room
shut with a soft thud. He was aware that the butler, Noal,
hurried down the hallway and up the stairs to relay what
had occurred to Sebastian's mother, Alicia.

Judah crossed the room in heavy strides. He stepped
into the hallway and ascended the stairs to tell his mother
what had happened. His heart was heavy, for he knew she
would never leave this house now that her father was ill.
He had the feeling that he was in a situation over which he had no control. His feet had started down a path on which there was no returning.

Moses seated his master in the heavily cushioned chair
by the bedroom window. The old man's eyes were lively
with excitement, and there was no trace of illness on his
smiling face. His body shook with laughter as he looked
to the man who had faithfully served him for forty years.
"What do you think, Moses? Was I convincing?"

"He was most concerned,
M'sieu."

"What did you think of the boy?"

"It was as you said, he has a high sense of honor." The
old black face broke into a wide grin. "I believe him to be
not unlike yourself,
M'sieu."

"Yes, by damn, he is like me. I am sick to death of my
nephew,
Sebastian,
and his conniving mother. They both
sit by like poisonous snakes, waiting to strike. They cannot wait until I pass from this world so they can get
their hands on Bend of the River. But we will show them.
We still have a few tricks up our sleeves, Moses."

The old man's eyes were clear and sparkled with a new
awareness and joy. "He really is like me, isn't he now, Moses? You would not say it if it were not true, would
you?"