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Suzanna smiled in understanding, laid her cheek against his trousered leg and said, “Kiss me as if this were the last time.”
He crouched down on his heels, kissed her passionately and said, “I love you, darling.”
“Please be careful,” she murmured in reply.
Rear Admiral Mitchell B. Longley had barely exited the cottage before Suzanna jumped up, took a sheet of vellum paper from the desk in the corner and wrote down everything she had read in the damning dispatch.
She then dressed and trudged two miles through the deepening snow to reach the landmark—a carefully chosen leaning rock near her home—beneath which she consistently hid messages laying out information she had gleaned from the unsuspecting enemy.
A fearless spy for her beloved Confederacy, Suzanna LeGrande hesitated a moment before placing this particular missive under the rock.
If she passed on this vital information, she could be endangering Mitch's life. She could be responsible for her Yankee lover's death. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. She felt suddenly dizzy and her cheeks were hot despite the cold of the afternoon.
Suzanna closed her eyes and strongly considered tearing up the note. But only for an instant. She drew a labored breath, hardened her heart and dutifully placed the message beneath the cold stone.
One
On a chilly autumn morning in 1859, the lively mistress of a magnificent mansion came flying down the curving staircase, her lilting laughter echoing throughout the grand residence. Eighteen-year-old Suzanna LeGrande was a happy, carefree young aristocrat who had lived all her life in this stately two-story Virginia manse on the rolling banks of the Potomac River.
The laughing young belle lived with her widowed mother, forty-nine-year-old Emile, and her older brother, twenty-two-year-old Matthew. The frail, quiet Emile LeGrande loved her daughter dearly, but the mercurial Suzanna's rambunctious behavior was prone to give her mother headaches.
The LeGrande siblings were close, and Matthew, being the man of the house, was very protective of his beautiful younger sister. Since the high-spirited Suzanna had turned sixteen, hopeful young suitors had been drawn to the vivacious miss. She was, and had always been, stunningly beautiful, with her flaming red hair, large, wide-set blue eyes and milky-white skin. But Suzanna was not vain about her looks. She had turned heads her entire life and thought nothing of it.
Besides, it was a great deal more than her startling beauty that attracted a growing army of male admirers. She possessed a great zest for life and threw herself into everything she did with such blazing intensity it charmed the young bucks and frightened her sedate mother. Suzanna had a compulsion to dramatize, which made her tremendously fascinating to all her friends.
She was high-strung, sensitive, warmhearted and endlessly entertaining. There was never a dull minute around Suzanna. At an early age she had learned—from her gregarious, red-haired father—to spin yarns that left her listeners wide-eyed and hanging on to every word. It was not only boys who found the outspoken Suzanna intriguing, but girls as well.
She was impetuous and impatient, but so filled with the joy of living that she lifted spirits with her mere presence. Added to her talent for storytelling was her unique ability to read palms and predict futures, an art she had learned from her beloved old nursemaid, now deceased. Naturally, all the young belles wanted to know what romantic adventures lay in store for them. The boys were unconcerned about the future, but looked on the palm reading as an opportunity to hold Suzanna's hand.
Suzanna was totally feminine, yet she had a masculine directness that was captivating. She spoke her mind, was never coy or ambiguous, nor was she particularly diplomatic. While Suzanna took after her deceased father, the lovable, outgoing Lawrence LeGrande, Matthew was more like their mother. He enjoyed a good time as much as the next fellow, but he had no compulsion to race through life as if the world might stop turning should he miss a picnic or party or ball.
An honor graduate of West Point, Matthew took duty, honor and country seriously. And he felt that his most important duty was to see to it no unprincipled male took advantage of his sister. While he was away at the institute, Matthew had worried about what calamity might befall the trusting Suzanna. A scholar who easily excelled in his studies, Matthew had completed his education at the ripe old age of twenty, and had immediately returned home to take up his post as head of the LeGrande household.
“For heaven sake, Suzanna,” Matthew said now, looking up as a laughing streak of flaming hair and lilac ruffles dashed past the open library doors. “Isn't it time you displayed a bit more decorum?”
Suzanna skidded to a stop at the umbrella stand in the foyer. As she reached for a woolen cape and matching bonnet, she said over her shoulder, “Do forgive me, Matt. You see, I'm in an awful hurry and really must fly.” She turned and flashed a smile at her tall, sandy-haired brother, who had stepped out into the foyer.
“At breakfast you failed to mention you were going out this morning,” Matthew casually commented.
“Did I? Well, I have a great deal on my mind, what with next week's reception at Stratford House. That's why I'm in such a hurry. I'm on my way now and—”
“You're planning to be the first guest to arrive?”
“Don't be silly!” Suzanna said as she tied her bonnet's long grosgrain streamers beneath her chin. “I promised I'd help Mrs. Grayson and Cynthia Ann decide on the decorations and finalize the extensive menu.” She added excitedly, “It's a stellar guest list to be sure. More or less the beginning of our upcoming Washington social season. Why, even Colonel Robert E. Lee and his wife, Mary, are expected at the festivities, did you know that?”
Matthew nodded. Colonel Lee, a West Point graduate and superintendent at the Point, was home on leave from his regimental duties on the Texas frontier.
“I'll be very surprised if the colonel attends, Suzanna. You know very well that his dear wife is in poor health and rarely leaves Arlington House and therefore…”
“Colonel Lee with be at the reception, Matthew,” Suzanna stated emphatically. “He's far too polite and too political to disappoint a hostess as powerful as Jennie Grayson.” She crossed to her brother, stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “After all, the colonel likely plans to—”
“You have no idea what Lee's plans are,” Matthew interrupted, quickly changing the subject. “Let's discuss our plans. Have you given any thought to what you'll wear this evening?”
Suzanna stepped back. Her well-arched eyebrows shot up and she looked genuinely puzzled. “This evening? Is there something special about this evening?”
“Suzanna, you do try my patience. I told you several days ago we have an important dinner guest joining us this evening. I expect you to be here.”
“Why, I wouldn't miss it for the world,” she said with a shrug of her slender shoulders. “Another unsuspecting candidate for my hand in marriage?”
Matthew frowned. “Just promise me you'll be home in plenty of time to get properly dressed to receive our guest. And that you'll be on your best behavior. Ty Bellinggrath is a fine man, Suzanna, and—”
“You can count on me, brother, dear,” Suzanna said with a teasing smirk. “I'll scrub my face and cinch my waist and be on display when he arrives. Then you may point out all my finer qualities as I slowly pirouette for the prospective bridegroom.”
“Now, Suzanna.”
“Do me one small favor, Matt. Promise that if I'm not married by the time I reach twenty-five, you will give up and stop bringing young gentlemen here in hopes of marrying me off!”
For the first time Matthew smiled as he said, “Bellinggrath will be here at seven o'clock, my dear. And so will you.”
“I shall look forward to a most enjoyable evening,” Suzanna said sarcastically. “Now I really must be going. Poor old Durwood's waiting out in the cold with the carriage.”
Two
Suzanna sighed with pleasure as she settled herself comfortably inside the roomy brougham. Old Durwood, in full livery, sat proudly up on the box, handling the pair of matched bays with ease despite his worsening arthritis. The horses were fine specimens, curried to a high gloss, and the gleaming black, silver trimmed carriage had seats of soft burgundy leather.
With her bonnet off and slapped down on the seat beside her, Suzanna gazed out the window at the natural beauty of her native Virginia. How she loved the broad avenues and the glittering streams. The familiar sights never failed to take her breath away.
Suzanna was eternally grateful that this was her home, the place where she had been born, the place where she would live all her days. She considered herself fortunate to have had a father who had been so forward thinking and such a brilliant businessman.
It was true that the late Lawrence LeGrande had inherited a tidy sum from his British ancestors, but he hadn't been content to simply let the cash lie in the safety of a bank vault. Instead he had invested wisely in land and had, over time, accumulated a vast fortune from varied endeavors.
There were the tobacco fields in northern Virginia, a coastal cotton plantation in South Carolina, indigo crops in northern Georgia and a host of other well-chosen investments in rail and shipping. The holdings were diverse and profitable and afforded the LeGrande family a life of splendid ease in the stately riverside mansion known as Whitehall.
Suzanna loved her life and her home and prayed that nothing would ever change. She wanted everything to remain just as it was on this crisp autumn morning in October of 1859.
Suzanna was halfway out of the brougham before it came to a full stop in the pebbled drive of Stratford House in the heart of Georgetown. Nonplussed at his young mistress's less than ladylike behavior, old Durwood laid the long leather reins aside and gingerly swung down to the ground.
“Why you want to act like a boy, Miss Suzanna?” he scolded, taking firm hold of her arm as she jumped from the carriage. “Folk'll be gossipin' 'bout us if you don't behave and…”
But Suzanna, skirts lifted, bonnet left behind, was already dashing up the front walk, calling Cynthia Ann's name. The dark-haired girl stepped out onto the shaded veranda, spotted Suzanna and came dashing forward to greet her best friend and trusted confidante. The young women threw their arms around each other and embraced as though it had been weeks—not hours—since last they'd seen each other.
“You'll have lunch with us,” Cynthia Ann stated as they walked into the house, arm in arm. “Then spend all afternoon?”
“So long as I'm home by seven,” Suzanna replied. “Matthew is up to his old tricks. He has invited a poor naive fellow to dinner.” She made a face. “Be grateful you don't have a big brother!”
Both laughed, then Cynthia Ann asked, “How does Matthew keep coming up with new prospective beaux? Surely you've met all his friends by now. At least all the ones he'd hope you might marry.”
Suzanna sighed and shook her head wearily. “Hopefully this is the very last one! His name is Ty Bellinggrath. He and Matt were classmates at West Point, but Bellinggrath left home right after graduation. As I understand it, he's been in Europe for the past couple of years. He only returned a week ago and Matthew immediately pounced on him.” She quoted her brother, “‘I'll have you know, Suzanna LeGrande, that my good friend Ty Bellinggrath is the respected scion of an old Virginia family. He excelled in his studies at the institute and is considered quite a catch.'” Suzanna laughed and added, “I can just imagine what he looks like. Matt is so anxious to marry me off he's scraping the bottom of the barrel now.”
Inside the wide foyer of Stratford House, the slender, still handsome Jennie Grayson waited to welcome her. “We're awfully glad you could come this morning, Suzanna,” she exclaimed with a warm smile. To her daughter, she said, “Cynthia, dear, why don't you take Suzanna upstairs, where the two of you can relax for an hour before lunch?” Her attention shifted back to Suzanna. “After we've had a leisurely noontime meal, we'll go over the party menu and give you our ideas regarding the decorations. You're always so innovative, the final decision will be yours.”
In Cynthia Ann's bedchamber, a spacious room at the front of the mansion, the two friends gossiped and laughed and shared secrets. With their slippers and crinoline petticoats kicked off, stays loosened, they lay on their backs atop the canopied feather bed.
“Read my palm, Suzanna,” Cynthia Ann said suddenly, turning onto her stomach and holding out her hand.
“Again? I just read it last week.”
“I know, but perhaps something has changed since then. Maybe Davy is going to propose after the party.” Her brown eyes danced at the thought of marrying her gallant sweetheart.
“I don't understand you, Cynthia Ann Grayson,” Suzanna said, toying with the lace jabot at her throat. “Why would you want to get married and ruin your life? Married women don't have any fun, nor thrilling adventures. Worse, no one pays any attention to what they have to say. They're expected to keep silent on any controversial issue as though they don't have a brain in their head. Such a life couldn't possibly be fulfilling.”
“It would be if…”
“I shall never marry. Why should I? I have no need of a husband to take care of me. I can and will take care of myself. And I'll be free to speak as I please and do as I please without having to seek permission from some domineering male.”
Cynthia Ann just shook her head and laughed. She'd heard it all before. She felt certain that Suzanna would change her mind about marriage when the right man came along.
“You have exactly twenty-five minutes to make yourself presentable,” said an annoyed Matthew when Suzanna raced up the front steps of Whitehall at 6:35 that evening.
Laughing, she patted her brother's stern cheek and said, “I need only twenty, so I'll have five to spare.”
He exhaled heavily and followed her inside the well-lit mansion. While he turned toward the paneled library to join their mother, Suzanna climbed the stairs, struggling to unhook her dress. In her rose-and-cream suite at the head of the staircase, Suzanna's ever-patient personal maid, Buelah, waited to help her young charge get dressed.
Impressive in her black-and-white uniform, the stout, six-foot-tall Buelah didn't scold the girl she often called “my baby.” She admired Suzanna's free spirit and always laughed at her antics. Besides, she knew that with her help, Suzanna would be dressed and ready within fifteen minutes.
“Your tub is drawn and waitin',” said Buelah. She took Suzanna's arm, turned her about and made quick work of unhooking her dress.
“Ahh!” Suzanna sighed when, three minutes after walking into the suite, she sank down into the heated water.
Buelah, on her knees beside the tub, scrubbed Suzanna's glistening back with a long-handled brush while Suzanna drew a soapy washcloth down each slim arm.
“I laid out the pale blue velvet dress, the one you've never worn. It'll bring out your eyes. I'll brush your hair up atop your head and hold it in place with that oyster-shell comb.” Buelah chattered on as she drew Suzanna to her feet and began briskly rubbing her dry with a fluffy white towel. Then she followed her young mistress back into the bedroom and helped her don the silky stockings and lacy underthings laid out there. Nineteen minutes after arriving home, Suzanna came down the grand staircase fully clothed and breathtakingly beautiful.
She heard masculine voices and then her mother saying, “So glad you could come this evening, Mr. Bellinggrath.”
Suzanna frowned. She wasn't glad. She fully intended, immediately after dinner, to plead a headache and retire to her suite.
She took a deep breath, stepped down off the bottom stair, crossed the marble-floored foyer and walked into the high-ceilinged drawing room.
The two men came to their feet.
“Ah, there she is,” said her brother. “Ty, may I present my sister, Suzanna. Suzanna, this is my good friend Ty Bellinggrath.”
“Miss LeGrande,” said Ty, taking her offered hand in his. “A genuine pleasure to meet you.” He raised it to his lips and brushed a quick kiss to its soft back.
Young Bellinggrath did not immediately release her hand. Instead, his much larger one closed possessively around her fragile fingers. They stood there staring at each other while her mother and brother looked on.
For the first time in her life, Suzanna was speechless. She didn't say she was pleased to meet him. She didn't say anything. Not one word. She gazed up at the tall, slim, handsome blond man and felt her breath catch in her throat. His pale golden hair gleamed in the light of the chandelier and his luminous blue eyes sparkled with unmasked interest.
After several silent seconds, Matthew cleared his throat and said, “I believe Cook is signaling that dinner is ready.”
Suzanna and Ty had momentarily forgotten they were not alone. Both broke into nervous laughter.
But he didn't let go of her hand.
Three
“Shall we go in to dinner?” Matthew said, helping their mother to her feet. “Suzanna, why don't you show our guest into the dining room.”
Suzanna freed her hand, but immediately slipped possessive fingers around Ty's arm. “If you'll kindly come with me, Mr. Bellinggrath,” she said, and flashed him her most dazzling smile.
“Indeed, I'd be honored, Miss LeGrande,” said the shy, well-mannered Bellinggrath.
He graciously allowed himself to be propelled into the candlelit dining room by the determined Suzanna. Behind them, Matthew and Emile exchanged looks of surprise. Never had they seen Suzanna exhibit such unveiled interest in a would-be suitor.
Ty pulled out the chair Suzanna indicated, and she slipped into it. But when Matthew drew out the chair directly beside it, Suzanna said, sweetly but firmly, “Mother, why don't you sit across from us? Mr. Bellinggrath will sit here by me.”
Again Matthew and Emile exchanged glances, and Matthew couldn't hide a hint of a smile as he ushered his mother to the other side of the table. When Emile was seated, Ty sat down in the chair beside Suzanna, while Matthew took his own at the head of the table.
After shaking out a white damask napkin and draping it over his right knee, Matthew lifted the small silver bell beside his plate. He gave it a forceful shake. A pair of male servants in spotless black uniforms and snowy white gloves instantly appeared. One poured iced water into crystal goblets and port wine into tall stemmed glasses. The other placed bowls of chilled vichyssoise before each diner.
The meal began.
For the first time in her life, Suzanna found that she was not hungry. Not at all. Neither was Ty Bellinggrath. Hot yeast rolls and creamery butter did not tempt either of them. They hardly touched the rare roast beef and carefully steamed vegetables. Even the baked Alaska, Suzanna's favorite, sat melting on their plates.
Suzanna had no appetite, no interest in food. She was interested only in Ty Bellinggrath. His blond, blue-eyed good looks and quiet, gentlemanly manner made him tremendously appealing. She liked hearing him speak, his voice pleasingly low and well-modulated. She liked the way he shyly smiled, the corners of his full lips lifting ever so slightly. A bashful little-boy smile, touchingly adorable. At the same time there was about him a calm demeanor and dignified bearing that denoted strength and dependability.
Added to his physical attributes was his sharp intellect. He was wise and well-versed on a wide range of subjects, yet modest, clearly averse to flaunting his knowledge. He challenged her own keen mind, and she could tell by the look in his eyes that he was heartened to find her so smart. But he was not astonished as most gentlemen were.
The dinner conversation was lively and diverse, and Suzanna listened as, prompted by Matthew, Ty spoke about his recent travels through Europe. He painted vivid word pictures of Paris, that fabled City of Light. He told of the cafés lined with tables facing the street, where he had sat in the warm sun and sipped vermouth while watching the passersby. He described the flower sellers with their fresh blossoms. The boulevardiers in long-tailed coats and goatees. The open-air carriages rolling by conveying happy, handsome couples. The shop windows on the Rue de la Paix. The tree-bordered Champs-Élysées.
Concluding, he pointed out that he had returned to America only last week and that he was very glad to be home. He glanced at Suzanna when he said it, and she nodded, smiling. She was very glad as well.
The meal ended and the foursome went back into the drawing room. Inclining his head, Matthew suggested Suzanna play the piano for their enjoyment. Generally, such a suggestion drew quick protests and mean faces from his sister. She was no circus performer! She would not would jump through hoops to prove she had laudable feminine talents that might make her more attractive to the opposite sex!
But Ty gently coaxed, “Yes, Miss Suzanna, won't you, please…?”
“Only if you'll agree to sit beside me while I play,” she said sweetly.
“It would be my pleasure,” he replied in that low, soft drawl that so suited him.
Matthew and Emile sipped their coffee, unable to believe what they were seeing—Suzanna seated at the square pianoforte, playing Chopin beautifully and smiling warmly at the blushing blond man who sat beside her.
The impromptu recital ended.
Ty rose and drew her to her feet. “That was lovely, Miss Suzanna. I truly enjoyed it.” Suzanna beamed with pride. Ty then turned and said, “Mrs. LeGrande, Matthew, thank you so much for inviting me to dinner. It was a most pleasant evening and I appreciate your hospitality. Now I really must be going.”
“So soon?” Suzanna said, visibly disappointed. “Why, it's early yet, not even nine. Don't go.”
