New World, New Love (15 page)

As soon as Delphine had let Pieter know that on certain Saturday evenings she was only at the dancing school to practice, he swept her into his own social circle at parties where the people she met were far more exciting to her than any she had met before. He taught her to gamble and she became adept at cards, often winning, but he would foot her losses if her luck ran out. She was always careful never to take too much wine or to let Pieter delay in taking her home, for if Louise suspected, there would be terrible trouble and she could foresee these wonderful evenings coming to an end. She had sworn Pieter to secrecy and he had been only too willing to oblige. She lived for his kisses and caresses, but she was resolved that there should be nothing more before a wedding ring was on her finger.

It was an evening early in April at one of the parties, when gaming was in full swing, that Daniel came from a neighbouring room, where he had been playing cards. He was astonished to see Delphine and looked around for Louise, only to find that she was not there. A short conversation with a friend gave him the information he required, and he took a long look at Pieter van Dorne before he left. Neither she nor Pieter knew that they had been the focus of his attention.

During the interval of a play at the St John’s Theatre, Louise stayed seated in the box, giving Pieter and her sister the chance to stroll the passageways and have a little time to themselves. She had just flicked open her fan against the heat of the candlelights that illumined the stage and the auditorium when the door reopened. She thought they had returned sooner than expected, but as she turned her head she saw it was Daniel who had entered.

‘Good evening to you, Louise.’ He took the chair next to her. ‘I haven’t seen you for quite a while. Last time it was a mere glimpse through the milliner’s window.’ His handsome mouth parted in a grin. ‘With those panes of glass between us there was no danger of my getting another rebuff.’

She ignored his jibe, remembering how he had come to New York during the epidemic. ‘I’ve never thanked you for making a special journey at the time of the yellow fever,’ she said evenly.

He shrugged as if it were nothing. ‘I feared that as virtual newcomers to this country you would underestimate its danger. Since then, of course, I’ve heard from Richard all that happened.’

She was afraid he might mention Charles and spoke quickly. ‘Are you enjoying the play?’

He regarded her thoughtfully, as if light chit-chat between them was a waste of time. ‘I’ve seen better,’ he answered casually. ‘Incidentally, I saw Delphine and Pieter van Dorne in the passage. Neither of them noticed me. By the manner in which they were gazing at each other, they looked like a newly betrothed couple. Is that the situation?’

‘No, not yet, but I believe a betrothal to be in the offing.’

‘Indeed? Do you approve?’

‘I want my sister to be happy,’ she answered, not wanting to discuss her doubts with him or anyone else. As always when he was near, she was uncomfortably aware of his intense male presence, which seemed even more powerful in the shadowed interior of the box. In a moment of fantasy she thought that, if he should touch her, sparks would most surely fly up from the contact. ‘How do you know Pieter’s name?’

‘Through being in the import business myself. Pieter van Dorne is a fortunate “Nutmeg Lord”, as these Dutchmen are called in the trade. He’s heir to a great plantation and has your pretty sister in love with him. His only misfortune is in having a father who rules his family and his plantation like a despot. It’s an old saying that money isn’t everything.’

Louise looked at him sharply. Was he giving her some sort of warning? But already he was asking her if she had seen Richard recently. ‘Not since I dined at his house three weeks ago,’ she answered. ‘He is a good friend.’

‘I agree. I was there yesterday.’ Daniel rose to leave. ‘It’s always a pleasure to see you, Louise. Enjoy the rest of the play.’

The door closed after him. When Delphine and Pieter returned they found her deep in thought. They were hardly in their seats before the curtain went up again.

The following evening after supper Louise chose a moment to talk to Delphine about Pieter, for Daniel’s few words had had the effect of strengthening her private misgivings. She had also noticed how secretive her sister had become, whereas in the past she had always been so open and confiding. ‘I don’t mean to pry,’ Louise began, uncertain how Delphine would react, ‘but has Pieter spoken directly of marriage to you?’

Delphine smiled smugly. ‘Many times.’

‘If he has proposed, why haven’t you told me? And since you’re in my care, shouldn’t he have spoken to me first?’

‘He will do when it’s time to make everything formal.’

‘Do you mean he hasn’t actually asked you yet?’

‘He will when the moment is right.’

‘What makes you so sure?’

‘Pieter wrote to his father the day after he met me, telling him that he’d found the girl he wanted for his wife.’ Delphine dived down between her breasts and produced a wide ring on a ribbon. ‘He told me when he gave me this token of his undying love. It’s his own ring from his little finger, but as it’s too large for me to wear, I’m keeping it close to my heart.’ She kissed it and let it drop back again out of sight, her face radiant. ‘When some more money comes through from his father, he intends to buy me a beautiful betrothal ring. That’s when he’ll ask your permission to marry me.’

Louise felt the grip of dismay, remembering what Daniel had said about Pieter’s father holding the purse strings, which was an easy way to keep a wayward son on a leash. ‘Don’t bank on everything going just as you wish, Delphine,’ she implored. ‘Promises can be broken so easily.’

Instantly Delphine’s good humour vanished. ‘You don’t like Pieter, do you?’

‘I didn’t say that. He’s very pleasant, as well as good company, and he has a quick sense of humour, which I enjoy. There isn’t a thing against him that I could name. But you should remember that he’s not his own master yet and no doubt he has obligations to his father and his future inheritance.’

‘I have to admit that’s true,’ Delphine said sullenly. ‘His father sends him fresh instructions with every nutmeg ship. Pieter knows that sooner or later he’ll be told to return home.’

‘Does he want to leave here?’

‘No, of course not! He’s still determined to go to France and says that we’ll be married before we go.’

‘That seems to endorse his wish to make you his wife.’

‘Don’t have any doubts about that!’ Delphine gave back heatedly. ‘The fact is that, even though I love him with my whole heart, I wouldn’t want to go to France with him. Not because it would be difficult for me to regain entry there, because under a new name all would go well.’ She drew her chair closer, her expression troubled. ‘I’ve never told you this before, but I’ve a terrible foreboding that, if ever I set foot on a ship again, I’ll drown at sea. I’d rather have gone to the guillotine than let that happen to me.’

Louise took Delphine’s hand into both her own. ‘I know you were badly frightened during that storm on the
Ocean Maid
and so was everybody else.’ She recalled vividly the wildly swinging lanterns, the screams of women as the great waves crashed over the ship, and Delphine huddled like a terrified child in her arms as water swirled under the cabin door. ‘But we came through it safely, as you would on any other ship. The weather isn’t always bad on the sea, as you should know. Next time you could cross the ocean as if sailing on the proverbial millpond.’

Delphine shuddered. ‘It’s not just the voyage to France that worries me. If the day ever comes when Pieter wants to go back to Banda, just think what that would mean for me! A voyage around Cape Horn and then on again almost for ever! There’s only one solution open to me.’ She cheered up visibly at the thought of it. ‘I’ve had it worked out from the start.’

‘So tell me.’

Delphine’s confidence had returned. ‘It’s so lucky for me that Pieter is set on restarting the French trade, because it gives me the extra time I want. I think he was in his father’s bad books when he left home, and this coup would reinstate him in the old man’s eyes. So after we’re married and living in a grand mansion on Lower Broadway he can go to France on his own and then return to me. That’s when I’ll persuade him to stay here and take full control of the importing of the van Dorne nutmegs, leaving his brother to care for the plantation.’

Louise shook her head. ‘No, no, Delphine! That’s only a daydream. The time will come when he’ll decide to go home, no matter what you say. If you love him enough, when that day comes you’ll have to conquer your fear and go with him.’

Delphine’s eyes flashed angrily and she sat back in her chair. ‘If he loves me enough he’ll stay. I don’t want to live anywhere else in the world but here!’

‘Then the only advice I can offer is that you bide your time.’

‘As you did with Charles!’ Delphine retorted furiously. ‘Much good it did you!’

Louise, her face stricken, raised her arm swiftly and struck her sister hard across the cheek. Then abruptly she sprang to her feet, her chair falling to the floor with a clatter, and turned away, her shoulders bowed, her face in her hands.

Delphine stared at her, stunned that for the first time in her life Louise had hit her. She put her fingers tentatively to her reddening cheek. She was not angry any longer, only filled with remorse at her own thoughtless cruelty. Standing, she addressed Louise’s back in a faltering voice.

‘I’m so sorry. Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to be so cruel. You know how thoughtless I can be at times.’ She rested her hands lightly against Louise’s shoulders. ‘Don’t hate me, even though I deserve it.’

Louise lowered her hands and with tears in her eyes she turned slowly to face her sister. ‘I don’t hate you. I never could, no matter what happens.’

Thankfully, Delphine threw her arms around her and the two of them embraced tightly. Louise, her face still full of pain from the thoughtless barb, hoped desperately that Delphine with her romantic dreams would never experience the wrenching heartache that was still hers.

Louise decided that when summer came they would visit Madeleine and Theodore in Boston. There was no reason why her path and Daniel’s should cross there, but if that did happen it would be a passing incident, as when he had come to the theatre box.

Louise was enjoying a musical evening at Richard’s house when Delphine arrived at the dancing school for the ball, where she was to meet Pieter. Monsieur Rousselot had restricted the number of times she was allowed to dance with him, having told her sternly that no guest had the right to monopolize her as had happened previously. She did not mind, for it added deliciously to her anticipation in the glances they exchanged and the amusement she shared with him in the comically yearning expression he conjured up from across the room. It was always an exciting moment when he took her hand to lead her on to the floor, the pressure of his gloved fingers conveying all sorts of messages to her.

This evening he was late. Delphine kept looking towards the door. Two of the dances that should have been his went by and she began to be anxious. What could have delayed him? When she sighted one of his gaming friends she swept across the room in a whisper of rose silk to speak to him.

‘William, have you seen Pieter? He should have been here two hours ago.’

He looked startled and then uncomfortable. ‘Didn’t you know, Delphine? Surely he told you?’

She felt herself turn icy cold with dread, all colour draining from her face. ‘Told me what?’ she demanded in a harsh whisper.

William drew her to one side, out of earshot of anyone else. ‘He’s sailing on the van Dorne ship tonight. It was a last-minute decision after he received a final ultimatum from his father to return home when the vessel docked yesterday. The old devil was going to cut him off without a guilder if he didn’t return on that same ship.’

Delphine’s whole face felt stiff. She could hardly voice the question she felt compelled to ask. ‘Was it because Pieter wanted to marry me?’

‘No. Pieter’s time here was already up when he met you, and after that he continually ignored a paternal order to return home that came with every one of his father’s ships. Ever since this final letter, Pieter has been busy packing and clearing up business matters.’ Pitying her, he decided a harmless little lie would ease the blow that had been dealt her. ‘I’m sure Pieter told me he had sent you an urgent message to inform you of his departure.’

‘It must have been for me to join him!’ she declared fixedly, her eyes still wide with shock. ‘Louise must have kept it from me, knowing my terror of the sea. I don’t care if I do drown as long as I’m in Pieter’s arms! He’ll be watching and waiting for me. What time does the ship sail?’

‘Half past eleven.’

She grabbed the young man’s arm. ‘There’s still time! Take me to the docks now!’ When he protested she shook her head frantically, not listening to anything he said. ‘Now!’

He could see she was bordering on hysteria and thought it wise to do as she wished. It was Pieter’s responsibility, not his. She ran ahead of him down the curved staircase and he followed, calling for his carriage. As it bowled along on its way to the East River docks, she sat staring unseeingly through the window, talking more to herself than to the embarrassed young man, who was regretting that he had allowed himself to become entangled in this nightmare situation.

‘The captain can perform the marriage ceremony,’ she was saying. ‘You will have to tell my sister what’s happened and where I’ve gone. Pieter will be so thankful to see me. It’s much better for us to arrive married at Banda, a fait accompli if his father should raise any objections. But there shouldn’t be any lasting difficulty. There isn’t a man I can’t charm if I’ve a mind to it.’

William decided that she was mad. Rambling on as she was, it seemed certain that Pieter’s desertion had turned her brain. He snapped open his gold watch, able to see in the passing lantern light that sailing time was only minutes away. She did not look in his direction, but spoke as if he was the one needing to be reassured.