Counterfeit Lady (James River Trilogy 1)

“Breakfast is now being served across the river at Nicole’s mill.”

“Her! That slut! So that’s where you’ve been. I should have known you couldn’t live without your disgusting, primitive needs. What did she use this time to entice you? Did she tell you something about me?”

Clay looked away in disgust and started up the stairs. “Your name was never brought up, thank God.”

“At least she’s learned that,” Bianca said smugly. “She’s smart enough to know that I see through her, see what she’s really like. The rest of you are too blind to see what a greedy, conniving liar she is.”

Clay turned on Bianca with a snarl. He leaped four steps at once to stand before her. He grabbed her by the neck of her gown and slammed her hard against the wall. “You piece of filth! You have no right even to speak her name. You’ve never done a fair or decent thing in your life for anyone, and you accuse her of being just like you. Last night, Nicole sacrificed several acres of her land to save mine. That’s where I’ve been all night, digging right beside her and other people who know what kindness and generosity are.”

He pushed Bianca against the wall again. “You’ve used me all you’re going to. From now on, I’m going to run this place, not you.”

Bianca had to work hard to breathe. His hands were cutting off her circulation. Her fat cheeks bulged with the pressure. “You can’t go to her. I’m your wife,” she gasped. “This place is mine.”

“Wife!” he sneered. “For the things I’ve done, I think I almost deserve you.” He released her and stepped back. “Look at yourself! You don’t like yourself any more than anyone else likes you.” He turned away and went up the stairs to his room, where he fell on the bed and was asleep instantly.

Bianca stood as still as a piece of marble after Clayton left. What did he mean, she didn’t like herself? She came from an old and important English family. How could she not be proud of herself?

Her stomach rumbled, and she put her hand to it. Slowly, she left the house and went to the kitchen. She knew nothing about cooking, and the barrels of flour and other raw ingredients were confusing to her. She was hungry, very hungry, and she could find nothing to eat. Tears blurred her eyes as she left the kitchen and walked toward the garden.

At the end of the garden was a little pavilion, privately hidden under two enormous old magnolia trees. She sat down heavily on a cushion; then, when she realized it was soaking wet, she started to rise. But what was the use? Her beautiful gown was already ruined. The tears ran down her face as she plucked at the feathers on her gown.

“May I disturb you?” came a quiet, accented voice.

Bianca’s head shot up. “Gerard!” she gasped as more tears came to her eyes.

“You’ve been crying,” he said sympathetically. He started to sit beside her, then saw the cushions were wet. He tossed one over the railing, then used a handkerchief, not Adele’s silk one, to wipe most of the water from the wooden seat. He sat down. “Please tell me what is wrong. You look as if you could use a friend.”

Bianca buried her face in her hands. “A friend! I have no friends! Everyone in this horrible country hates me. This morning, he said that I didn’t even like myself.”

Gerard bent forward and touched Bianca’s hair. It wasn’t quite clean. “Don’t you realize that he’d say anything to hurt you? He only wants Nicole. He’ll do anything or say anything to get her. He wants to drive you away so he can have her.”

Bianca looked at him, her little eyes red over her swollen cheeks. “He can’t have her. He’s married to me.”

Gerard smiled as if she were a child. “How very innocent you are. You’re so sweet and vulnerable, so unsophisticated. Did he tell you where he was last night?”

She waved her hand. “He said something about a flood and Nicole saving his land.”

“Of course, she’d save his land. She plans for it to be hers someday. She made it seem that she was making a grand sacrifice, but actually she was creating more bottomland for the Armstrong plantation. And someday she plans for it to be hers again.”

“But how? There were witnesses to my marriage to Clay. It can’t be annulled.”

Gerard patted her hand. “You are a true lady. You can’t even imagine the treachery of those two. You played some tricks on them, but they were only tricks, nothing that really hurt anyone. Even the kidnapping wasn’t meant to hurt. But their plans aren’t so innocent—or fair.”

“What…do you mean? Divorce?”

Gerard was silent for a moment. “I only wish it were divorce. I think they’re planning…murder.”

Bianca gaped at him for a moment. At first, she had no idea whose murder he meant. The idea of Nicole falling off a cliff appealed to her. If Nicole were gone, her life would be a lot better. But she was puzzled about why Clay would contemplate murdering Nicole.

Very slowly did she become aware of what Gerard meant. “Me?” she whispered. “They want to kill me?”

Gerard held her hand tightly. “I’m afraid I am as naive as you are. It took me a long time to understand what was going on. I couldn’t understand why Nicole would voluntarily dig away part of her land unless she had a motive that no one else saw. It finally came to me this morning. Those barbarians made so much noise in the mill that I couldn’t sleep. I realized that if Nicole once again became mistress of the plantation, then the new land created by the changing of the river’s course would be to her advantage.”

“But…murder!” Bianca gasped. “Surely, you must be wrong.”

“Has Armstrong ever tried to hurt you? Ever struck you?”

“This morning. He pushed me against a wall. I could hardly breathe.”