Page 35 of Master of Paradise
She gave him a swift, guilty glance, then thedimples peeped out.
Caroline Jackson had suffered a stroke thatsummer night, and during the next year her condition deterioratedmonthly. Her sister Virginia, who had married into one of thewealthiest families in Charleston, came to stay for a lengthyvisit, then took her nieces back home with her for a month in aneffort to lighten the burden the Jacksons were experiencing.Virginia was married to a man whose famous ancestor had signed theDeclaration of Independence, but more importantly to Virginia, hadbuilt the beautiful Greek revival mansion in which she was nowfortunate enough to reside.
Amanda Virginia had been named after thisaunt, much to the older woman's chagrin. She was a social snob ofthe first water, who pushed her own daughters relentlessly tocultivate only those who had 'connections'. Mandy's unconventionalbehavior appalled her and after a month she was relieved to packthe girl off home. Jennifer Joy was another matter altogether. Whyhad they named the wrong child after her?
Chapter Eight
Nicholas Peacock and Rafe Collins made suchrich profits from the fine furnishings they imported, theyimmediately filled two ships with lumber and tobacco and dispatchedthem to England so they could bring back more luxuries for thelucrative Charlestonion market. The cotton crop was harvested, andthough Nick found it impossible to sail for England as he hadpromised himself, he and Rafe decided not to let the cotton go forless than twenty cents a pound, even if they had to store it inLiverpool warehouses.
At last Nicholas had the money he needed tofinish the house on Paradise Hill. It began to take shape from theplans that had been meticulously drawn up. Two sweeping wings rosefrom a center hall. The outside was completely white with fourgracefully fluted columns rising to the second story, supporting alower and an upper balcony.
The gardens had been going in bit by bit foralmost two years before the house was started. A cathedral-likeavenue of live-oak trees marked where the driveway would be laiddown, and the flowers and shrubs had been chosen so that some ofthem would always be in bloom, no matter the season. Hundreds ofcamellias came into their full glory during the short winter andkept blooming through spring. Then came the azaleas, which burstinto a riot of color beneath the stately moss-hung oaks. Summerbrought forth roses, fragrant mimosa, and hibiscus so exotic incolor and size, they looked transplanted from some tropicaljungle.
Amanda found the building of the housefascinating. She had watched it from the moment the foundation wentin and she marveled each time she saw it change and grow. She couldnot keep herself from falling in love with it, and she coveted itwith a passion.
Mandy rode into the stables at Paradise,quickly stripped Miss Louise of the saddle she had borrowed andreplaced it with her own side-saddle. "Oh, Nicholas, there's a pairof blue herons in the cypress swamp. I think they're nesting. Dosaddle up, and I'll show you where."
He smiled at her enthusiasm. "I've beensaving a surprise for you. Back here." He indicated a large woodenbox. "I didn't want to uncrate them until you were here." Heunfastened the lid to reveal a pair of birds. The hen was plainbrown and unremarkable, but the cock was magnificent.
"Ooh peacocks! I've never seen anybefore."
"Careful Mandy, they can be bad-tempereddevils."
"They're lovely Nicholas. Do they reallyscream?"
"Make enough racket to raise the dead.Terrific watchdogs. The place wouldn't be complete withoutpeacocks, would it?" He threw them a handful of corn and they leftthe crate and made themselves at home as if they'd been born on theplace.
"You don't think they'll fly away, doyou?"
"Not now that I've fed them."
"Come and see the herons."
"Did you see Brute down there? He's clearingout weeds among the cypress."
"Yes. He was tearing out waterlily pads. Theyare so beautiful, I told him to stop, but he just grinned atme."
"They have to come out. Rice is going inthere for our own table. We could transplant some though. At thecenter of the maze there's to be a fountain and a pond."
"That sounds beautiful. I wanted to wade inand pick some, but I'm afraid of the 'gators."
"I hear them bellowing at night, and the oddtime I've seen them sunning themselves. They look docile enough,but I know they can take a man's leg off."
As they rode side by side, Nicholas took aclose look at the girl beside him. She would soon be sixteen andgrowing more lovely with each passing day. Her hair flew about,wild as a dark cloud caressing her shoulders, and sun-streaked atthe temples. Her wide-spaced golden eyes glowed with mysterioussecrets that made him long to have her whisper them in his ear. Shewas like a sorceress, and Nick knew himself susceptible. She hadthe same fascination for him as a fictional creature from somestrange forbidden place. She was part illusion, part girl, partwoman, with so much allure, she held him in thrall.
They skirted the marshy ground and stoppedtheir horses on the bank of the cypress swamp. The blue heronsheard them and rose up with a single cry. "Aren't they lovely?They'll come back down as soon as we leave," she assured himbreathlessly.
About twenty yards out from the bank, palepink and dark red waterlilies bloomed, floating on their roundgreen pads. Nicholas dismounted and removed his boots. "I'll getyou some," he offered, "before Brute rips them all out."
She watched him wade out, knee-deep in theblack water. Suddenly the happy look left her face and was replacedby one of horror as she saw the streamlined ripples cross the waterbehind him. She screamed, "Nicholas!" For a sickening moment theworld stood still. She couldn't breathe, or move, and then thewater snake struck, sinking its fangs into his thigh.
Nicholas roared, "Brute! Brute! Help me."
Mandy jumped from her horse and splashedthrough the water to him as fast as she could. Only thigh-deep onNicholas, the water reached up past her waist. Brute got to him atthe same time as Mandy, and she cried, "Water-snake... got him inthe leg... quick get him up on the bank. Give me your knife!"
Brutus hauled Nicholas, none too gently, outof the black water and eased him up onto the bank.
A feeling of unreality washed over Nicholas."This can't be happening."
