Ruby (Landry 1)

from top to bottom. Over it, she wore a cloak, low at

the neck and fastened with a diamond clasp at the

right breast. She looked like a princess from a fairy

tale.

She was nearly six feet tall herself and stood as

correct as a fashion model. With her beautiful looks, her 'slim, curvaceous figure, she could have easily been one. Her pale reddish blond hair lay softly over her shoulders, not a strand disobedient. She had big, light blue eyes and a mouth I couldn't have drawn more perfectly. It was she who spoke first after she

took a good look at me.

"Is this some sort of joke, Beau, something you

and Gisselle concocted for Mardi Gras?"

"No, madame," Beau said.

"It's no joke," my father said, stepping into the

room and not swinging his eyes from me for an

instant. "This is not Gisselle. Hello," he said. "Hello." We continued to stare at each other,

neither able to shift his gaze, he appearing as eager to

visually devour me as I was to devour him.

"You found her on our doorstep?" Daphne

asked Beau.

"Yes, madame," he replied. "She was turning

away, losing her courage to knock on the front door

and present herself," he revealed. Finally, I swung my

eyes to Daphne and saw a look in her face that seemed

to suggest she wished I had.

"I'm glad you came along, Beau," Pierre said.

"You did the right thing. Thank you."

Beau beamed. My father's appreciation and

approval were obviously very important to him. "You came from Houma?" my father asked. I

nodded and Daphne Dumas gasped and brought her

hands to her chest. She and my father exchanged a

look and then Daphne gestured toward Beau with her

head.