Page 136 of Frankly, My Dear

First things first, Selene told herself. “Where’s Etienne? Has anyone told him about Bob?”

Blossom nodded her head. “The master tol’ him. Lordy, Etienne was sobbin’ somethin’ awful. He went to the fields with his papa today.”

“Good. Now I’ll go talk to Mrs. Baptiste. Let me take her tray, Iris.”

Just then the bell rang and they all winced. Another day at the Last Chance Plantation, Selene thought, wondering if her last chance for happiness was dwindling away with each tinkle of the bell.

Selene didn’t talk to James the rest of that day as he and every able-bodied man on the plantation fought to save the south field. From afar, she watched as they dug drainage trenches, rebuilt the levee, fought against time and the rot that could soon destroy a good portion of the sugar crop overnight.

But Selene did talk to Giselle…a lot more than she would have liked.

“James will be ruined,” Giselle said with malicious satisfaction. Silent as a slithering snake, Giselle had come up behind Selene, catching her unawares where she stood at the edge of the field. Her blonde hair was perfectly coifed with ringlets framing her delicate face, and she wore a day dress of rose cambric over at least six crinolines. Her only deference to the heat was a pert straw bonnet and a feathered fan.

“Why would James’s ruin please you?” Selene asked in puzzlement. “He’s your husband. If the plantation fails, your well-being will suffer, too.”

“Perhaps,” Giselle said, studying her fingernails with lack of concern. “Perhaps not.”

“Did Victor do this?”

Giselle quickly drew a blank expression over her face. “Why would you ask me? I have nothing to do with Victor.”

“I think you do. I think you and Victor have concocted some evil plan to destroy James and Bayou Noir.”

“You think too much, my dear,” Giselle said patronizingly. “No doubt it comes from being so…tall…and thin. Oui, I have found that women who have no beauty think too much.”

Selene dug her nails into her palms, fearing she might scratch the witch’s eyes out. When she was more calm, she said, “And I’ve found that dumb blondes like you don’t know their tongues from their toenails. In fact, Giselle, do you know what you get when you cross a blonde with a pig?”

Giselle just gaped at her.

“Nothing. There’s some things even a pig won’t do.”

At first the dense woman didn’t understand. When she did, her face turned scarlet with rage. “Are you saying that I am…oh, you salope…you bitch…oh, I could kill you. I could kill you right now,” Giselle sputtered.

“Yeah, I’ll bet you could…try, that is,” Selene snapped back. “Just like you and Victor have tried to kill James and anyone else who gets in your way.”

Mrs. Baptiste was waiting for her when she returned to the house. Pulling Selene into the garçonnière, the trembling woman handed her a ball of black wax, which Selene immediately dropped onto a low table.

“Holy cow! Where did you get this?” Selene asked, wiping her hands on her skirt with distaste. The object looked very much like the gris-gris that Selene had found in her hotel room in New Orleans, the one presumably left by Lilith.

“It was on my bed this morning,” Mrs. Baptiste said. “Giselle has put a curse on me, I know she has.”

Selene could smell alcohol on Mrs. Baptiste’s breath, and the frightened woman swayed as she paced.

“Sit down,” Selene ordered. Before you fall down.

Mrs. Baptiste obeyed, wringing her hands in her skirts. “All of my belongings were scattered about. Giselle and Victor are looking for the will. And…and I think they put laudanum in my tafia last night. Why else would I have slept so soundly?”

Maybe because you were drunk.

Mrs. Baptiste looked up at her hopefully through bleary eyes.

Lord, why did everyone think she could solve their problems?

“First of all, you’re going to move into the big house. You can share a bedroom with me until the danger has passed.” Though when that would be, Selene had no idea.

“Oui. I think that would be best.”

Selene realized with sudden dismay that her invitation meant James could not come to her at night again. Well, that was just as well. Maybe she had unconsciously made the offer for that very reason. Despite Giselle’s viciousness, she was James’s wife, and Selene had trouble reconciling her morals and making love with a married man. She could trust in James to try to find a solution, but that didn’t mean she would continue to participate in adultery in the meantime.