Love Finds You in New Orleans(59)

“Oh, and I’m sure you will excuse Alcee, as she will retire early tonight to be ready for school in the morning.” Rosette’s pronouncement caused Alcee a few wide-eyed blinks, but from previous veiled statements, she understood that it was her mother’s way of telling her she would not be participating in the conversation. Gabriel suspected the capes might provide some solace as his sister said “Good night” and left for her bedroom.

Either out of the awkwardness of being the sole male in the room or the habit of serving during the day, Gabriel offered to bring in coffee and dessert, forgetting that outside of the home, men would always be the served, not the servers. But there was barely a flicker of surprise from the two young women, and Rosette thanked him as he left the parlor.

This visit to his mother had to be related to Paul Bastion being Serafina’s protector. Why Nathalie accompanied her, Gabriel had no idea, but he was curious about what had happened to precipitate this visit. He carried the gold-and-cream coffee service into the parlor and set it on the ottoman near Rosette, who poured the coffee into cups.

Nathalie was talking when he entered, so Gabriel sat across from the women as if he had been there all along.

“…So after she explained what happened, I suggested she talk to you.” Nathalie stopped to add a teaspoon of brown sugar to her coffee. “Serafina didn’t think it would be appropriate to visit at this hour, but I assured her that Gabriel and I have known each other since he told me mud pies really did taste like chocolate. I didn’t believe him, of course.” Nathalie flicked her eyes in his direction. “But I knew that he would not mind if a friend visited with a friend in need.”

Rosette slowly stirred her coffee. “And this need is?”

Without the ermine cape, the lime-green velvet dress, or the diamond-and-emerald earbobs and matching brooch, Serafina didn’t seem much older than the girl sent to her room. She had looked at Nathalie when she spoke as if Nathalie had been reading a new ordinance passed by the city. But Rosette’s voice seemed to lead her out of a fog. She set her coffee cup on the ottoman and started to speak when the eight o’clock cannon pounded the sky, notifying all in the city, especially slaves, of the beginning of curfew. Serafina smiled and said, “I suppose I could not have asked for a better introduction.”

“If you would prefer privacy, I understand,” said Gabriel, almost forgetting that he had been an uninvited listener.

“In this city, very little is private for long, so I don’t mind if you are here. Anyway, you are familiar with one of the parties involved. It is likely you would know this soon,” she said. “Madame Girod, first let me thank you for this intrusion in your private time. I trust Nathalie, and when she reminded me that talking to you during the day is difficult because of your business, I agreed to come tonight.”

“Sometimes Nathalie’s pluckiness is a gift,” Rosette said. “Had we not already met, this might have been uncomfortable. The first time we spoke, I didn’t ask you this question. But now that you are back, I feel it is an important one. Why haven’t you approached your mother with your concerns?”

“My mother is with her third protector. Not only does she send me away, telling me that I must learn to handle problems on my own, but she keeps me away so her protector does not see that she has an older daughter.” Serafina looked away for a moment then continued. “I hope you understand my situation. My grandmother and I were quite close. When she died, I felt I lost a friend.”

Hearing Serafina’s story, Gabriel thought of Lottie. How having an attentive, concerned grandmother would delight her. Without Agnes, Lottie, like Serafina, would have no one. That Lottie had grown to be a compassionate and generous woman was almost incomprehensible… and another man being the beneficiary of that was infuriating.

“Paul’s father, Emile, is interested in a prime parcel of land along the river. It has not ever been for sale, though he heard rumors that the owners may soon be interested. The owners met the Bastions at a party they both attended, and it was mentioned that their granddaughter would be making her debut, though late. You could probably surmise the rest. The land has now become the dowry, and when Paul marries Charlotte LeClerc, the land will be theirs.”

Rosette turned to Gabriel. He understood that to react on his feelings would be an irreversible disaster.

Concern shadowed his mother’s face. “This may sound harsh, Serafina, but did you not understand what it means to be a placée? It’s one of the first lessons we learn. That the men who purchase houses, furniture, clothes, jewels, or provide maids and cooks will never be fully ours. All that is ever fully ours is our children. Eventually, your protector will court another woman, and you will be available for balls, the opera, late nights only. He will marry a white woman. Like he was always meant to do from the first night you met him.”