Page 24 of Master of Paradise
"No, no, I didn't buy her for that; at leastI don't believe so. She wasn't even particularly beautiful, but sheheld herself so proudly, I couldn't bear to leave her there for mento examine and degrade. I wasn't being particularly noble either,Maggie. I felt stained, damned, if you will, buying human flesh, soto absolve myself in a token fashion, I bought her to freeher."
He ran his fingers through his hair. "Thatproved more difficult than I thought, as is often the case in thisworld of ours. Freedom frightened her more than slavery did, so Itook her on as my housekeeper. That night she came to me, and Iselfishly indulged myself. It only happened once." His eyes showedtheir misery. "She's carrying my child."
Maggie was relieved. She thought he'dcommitted murder at the very least. "Nick, most men wouldn'tacknowledge such a thing after only one time."
"Maggie, I'm not most men," he saidquietly.
"I know that, Nick. In the South the majorityof white men father children with wenches. It's simply accepted asa way of life."
"I have no qualms about acknowledging thechild, and it surely goes without saying that I shall give fullfinancial support. The thing I have difficulty with is knowing I'mresponsible for bringing a half-caste child into a world where it'scertain to meet pain and suffering," he said softly.
"Nick, we are all certain to meet that,sooner or later."
He smiled slightly. "You're right of course.Thank you for listening to me moan. I don't usually."
She moved closer and bent her lips to hisear. "Come to bed. Everything will seem brighter in the morning."What woman could sleep under the same roof and not long to shareyour bed?
"You go ahead up, Maggie. I'll just have asmoke in the quiet and join you shortly." He turned out the lampsand sat in the dark. The tip of his cheroot glowed in the darknessas silence filled the house.
Solange wanted a white man's child anddeliberately went about it the only way she knew how. But the factremains that I am deeply ashamed of myself.
He was ashamed of his ignorance in sexualmatters. Until this moment he'd always considered himself a goodlover, but now it came to him with a jolt that he was selfish,inconsiderate, and woefully ignorant.A real man would taketotal responsibility when he made love to a woman. Any male whocannot prevent an unwanted pregnancy is not a man, but aboy.
He remembered, on his travels through Italy,hearing of young men who had mastered the art of prolongedintercourse by practicing partial release or postponement ofrelease altogether. Young men in Europe who got girls pregnant weremocked and scorned for their ignorance and lack of technique. Theirconcept of maleness required sophistication is sexual matters.
Nicholas decided to study the sexual moors ofother cultures.From now on when I make love to a woman, I swearI will take care of her.He vowed to learn to be a skilled andattentive lover, enjoying the intense excitement of a female'sresponse rather than concentrating on his own orgasm.It'srumored that postponement of release leads to increasedpotency.He would discover the truth of that for himself.
Maggie slipped out of her gown and sat at herdressing table in her revealing shift. She brushed her red hairuntil it crackled. When he came into the bedroom, she watched himwith hungry eyes, and hoped that she excited him half as much as heexcited her. By the time he removed his shirt and her eyes slowlytook in the full splendor of him, she was slick withanticipation.
Three days later, as the empty log bargeswere hauled slowly back upriver by the mules Nicholas hadpurchased, he talked with his men about his future plans forhimself and for them. "The extra mules will enable us to get allthe land at Paradise cleared. I want each of you to have your owncabin, your own plot of land to grow food, and space enough forchickens and hogs and other livestock." Nicholas and Samuelpresently resided in the stables. The building was so large, airy,and clean, it was a source of pride to all of them.
"I don't intend to grow as much rice nextplanting season. I'd like to drain all the land that's marshy intoa man-made lake that will be ornamental and part of the formalgarden that will surround the house on Paradise Hill."
The house itself would have to wait for ayear, but he could visualize it down to its last detail. He wouldstart laying out the formal gardens as soon as cooler weather cameand then in spring along with the crops, he would plant andtransplant camellias, brilliant azaleas, roses, hibiscus, lilies,magnolias, and dogwood. The gardens would stretch down from thefront of the house to the grassy banks of the meandering AshleyRiver.A house is like a jewel. It needs a magnificent settingto display it to perfection.
A few miles downriver from Paradise, theyfloated past Williamson's great lumber mill. On the spur of themoment, Nicholas decided to leave the thirty rafts of logs to beturned into building lumber. They rode the mules home, laughing andsinging all the way.
Chapter Six
In November, Bernard Jackson traveled up toRichmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy of SouthernStates. Nicholas had agreed to move into Brandon'sgarçonnierbachelor quarters in the far back of the house,and Bernard had a word with each of his daughters separately.
Jennifer Joy was her daddy's girl, and alwayshad been. Bernard never looked at her without amazement that he hadproduced such a pretty, delicate-looking daughter. "Now Jenny, Iknow I don't need to remind you of the proprieties. You've beenraised properly and know full-well the behavior that is expect of alady when an unmarried man is staying in the house. You must neverbe alone, so that your reputation is safeguarded at all times. Irealize that someday he may well be your husband, but for thepresent, let's not give the gossips anything to whisper about."
"My husband? Nicholas Peacock? Daddy, youmust be jesting!" Jennifer was clearly angry. "Why, he's no betterthan a dirt farmer, working his own fields, and... and... I dobelieve he lives in a cabin!" She looked at her father indisbelief. "Surely you expect me to marry Beau Hampden or someonefrom an old Southern family? Someone with a big plantation?"
"Now, now, darlin', don't be angry at yourold daddy. I know you can have anyone you please, just by liftingyour little finger. Nicholas is ambitious. He'll have a fine houseone of these days, and there's no denying he has his eye on you,"he soothed.
"Then he can take it off," she said with moreflippancy than was nice in a young lady of her breeding. "Mr.Peacock is undeniably handsome and I might pass the time of day ina little harmless flirtation, but if he expects me to wait aroundyears and years for him to become rich, he's deluding himself!"
Her father frowned. "You're only seventeen,young lady. You know how strongly I disapprove of young marriages.Scandalous in my opinion! No daughter of mine will wed before she'stwenty, Beau Hampden or no Beau Hampden." He dismissed her andasked her to send in Amanda. When Mandy didn't arrive, hisannoyance increased.
It was fifteen minutes before she showedherself, breathless and apologetic. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting,Daddy." She winced slightly.
"What's the matter with your arm? You look asif you've been pulled through the hedge backwards."
"I fell," she admitted.
"Good lord, that horse didn't throw you, didit?"
