As Sapphire stood, her father grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders.
“And where is Angelique?”
Her father didn’t often become truly angry with her, but he was right now—so angry, sparks seemed to fly from his gray eyes.
“Coming, Papa!” Angelique sang.
“And you,” Armand snapped, looking Maurice up and down with contempt, “are fortunate that I am a civilized man. My father would have shot you down like a dog had you dared to lay a hand on one of my sisters. You had better go from here now, because I cannot promise not to lose my self-control and thrash you.”
“No, Papa!” Sapphire cried.
“You shame me, daughter. Cover yourself!” He glanced over his shoulder. “Please, gentlemen, could you give me a moment?”
The three Englishmen reluctantly backed up their mounts and disappeared behind a giant elephant ear plant.
“Angelique!” Armand called.
“Coming, Papa!”
Out of the corner of her eye, Sapphire saw Jacques duck and disappear under a clump of ferns near the shore. She turned back to look at her father. It was Angelique’s way, even since childhood. She never disobeyed or argued with their parents or Aunt Lucia. She would nod, smile prettily and do what she damn well pleased.
“Papa, you don’t understand,” Sapphire pleaded.
“What is there to understand?” Armand bellowed. “This…this young man, who is no gentleman, has obviously attempted to take advantage of you.”
“No!” Sapphire released one corner of the blanket and stepped back to loop her arm through Maurice’s. “Maurice and I are in love, Papa. He has done no wrong—he would never take advantage of me.”
“Love? What do you know of love?” Armand scoffed, taking a step closer. He had grown thin in the past year and his dark hair had turned almost entirely white, but he still had a voice of authority that made men nervous.
“I should go, mon amour,” Maurice said as he stepped back.
“I think that is wise, Monsieur Dupree, before I forget that I am a gentleman and deliver the painful lesson that you deserve.”
“I will see you later,” Maurice whispered in Sapphire’s ear, and then he turned and hurried back toward the shore to gather his clothing.
Angelique came up the bank already dressed, carrying her slippers. “Papa,” she said sweetly, “we were just going up to the house to prepare for your dinner. I simply cannot wait to wear the new gown you brought for me all the way from London.”
Sapphire took a step toward her father, defiance in her eyes. “You cannot do this to Maurice or to me, Papa. I won’t have it! We’re in love…we’re in love and we intend to marry!”
Armand looked down at her, his jaw firm. “You will not marry Maurice Dupree,” he said coldly. “He is not fit to clean your riding boots.” He turned and strode toward his horse.
“Papa! You can’t just walk away from me. I am not a child any longer and I will not stand to be treated like one!”
Armand put his boot into the stirrup and swung onto his horse. “I am still your father and the lord over this plantation and all who live here,” he told her quietly, staring straight ahead. “You are all my responsibility, which means I will do as I see fit, with my slaves and my daughter. I could lock you in your room or return you to the care of the Good Sisters of the Sacred Heart if I must.”
“You wouldn’t dare send me back to school!” Sapphire shouted after him as he rode away.
“I will not be swayed,” Sapphire insisted as she followed Angelique out of her bedchamber and into the wide, lamp-lit passageway. Orchid Manor had been built by her grandfather in the style of the great French châteaux of the Loire Valley, but he had created an airy West Indies ambience with wide doors and windows that opened from almost every room onto stone patios and lush gardens.
“I won’t do it, Angel.” Sapphire tossed her head as she fastened a pearl earring to her lobe. “When Mama died, he told me I was an adult now and that I would be treated as such.” She lifted the hemline of her new plum-colored silk dress with its fashionable bell-like skirt and low-cut décolleté and ran to catch up. “And now, when I have found a man to love, he speaks of sending me back to the convent school. Never!”
“You mustn’t run or you will ruin your hair.” Angelique reached up and fussed with an auburn pin curl above Sapphire’s ear. “Do not bring up Maurice at dinner this evening. Do not bring him up at all.”
“Not bring him up at all?” Sapphire said sharply. “I want to marry him. We want to be married at once.”
Angelique smoothed the skirt of her pale pink gown. “You should not be so free with your heart. You are young—you’ve much to learn about love. There will be many Maurices who—”
“Not you, too!” Sapphire flared.