Was his, and the widow’s, attitude what she’d have to face here all the time in the South?
LaJoyce heard the hustling in her main room, her girls yipping with excitement, and she raced in to find out what was happening. She was not prepared for what she saw. Standing in her door way was a strapping young man, a little disheveled looking in his rather worn Confederate uniform, bronzed in the face and wild black hair, but the devilish look his sultry blue eyes always gave him away.
“Francois!” She leaped right for him and he caught her, his cane crashing to the ground.
He laughed as he hugged her tight, though at a bit of an angle. “LaJoyce, I’m so glad to see you!”
He lowered her and she noticed the walking stick and picked it up. “I’d hoped you’d come back, right as rain.”
He snorted, taking the cane from her. “You know, nothing keeps me down long.”
She grinned, her heart thudding wildly. Her own fears he’d be killed now faded as she squeezed his arms again. He looked leaner and a touch older with the sun-kissed skin showing age lines. But he was still hers…
A rather loud grunt came from behind him. LaJoyce gave him a questioning glance before she bent to peer around him. There stood his companion, in a dark colored gown, covered in yellow dust and God-knows what else. Her hair was perhaps blond, though it was dull and wisps flew around her face as it escaped the pins that held it so fiercely tight. The woman’s jaw was locked, her lips narrow and the angered stare told LaJoyce everything.
“Good afternoon, Miss ?” She gave the girl her welcoming grin. The woman didn’t return it.
“Dr. Lorrance.”
LaJoyce laughed and turned to Francois. “Oh, my, look what you brought home! Though didn’t think you would, considerin’.” She chuckled.
Francois shook his head softly. “LaJoyce, Dr. Ada Lorrance is a physician and my fiancée.”
LaJoyce’s smile broadened at his announcement. She opened her mouth to speak, but he didn’t give her time to respond, throwing in a request.
“We need baths. I brought her home to tend to mama and the rest of the ill.”
That reality check refocused her. “I’ll have those made immediately.” She turned toward the girl, who didn’t look as harsh anymore since he came to her defense. Good, LaJoyce thought.
“Ma’am, or shall I say Doctor Lorrance, if you would be so kind, I have a couple of my girls having fits with this fever. May I ask you to take a peek at them?”
Ada sank into the tub, rubbing her eyes and letting herself just succumb to the warm waters. She didn’t have long, knowing the water would chill, despite the sitz bath sitting near the fireplace with its green wood burning. But she was determined to allow herself the luxury of reclining in it, even if it was only a second. She slid down the back of the metal tub, her knees bent so her entire top half would sink under the water, a task not easily done.
“Doctor Lorrance! Doctor!”
She shot up out of the water. “What!” she cried, gripping the sides of the tub to pull up and get out but the black lady who greeted them was standing in the room, motioning for her to stop. LaJoyce was what Francois called her. She wasn’t tall, but her large bosom kept her from being small, also. The dress she wore wasn’t exactly the type for society, or none Ada knew of. The low neckline that displayed the swell of her breasts was hardly suited for teatime. She stared at Ada with a sparkle in her eyes and a grin that was anything but malevolent.
Ada sunk into the cooling water. Being naked in front of another woman was very uncomfortable for a conversation. She couldn’t help but squint.
To that, LaJoyce laughed. “Oh, my, yes, I did put you in a tight spot. Here,” she said, unfolding the linen towel and holding it above the rim of the tub.
Ada sat, still trying to decide. At the moment, she couldn’t see the woman but this was highly improper.
“Missy, Doc Lorry, please. You’ll catch your death if you stay in that cold water, then I’ll have to deal with Francois over it.” She shook the sheet.
Goosebumps were already popping up on her shoulders. With great reluctance, she tucked her legs beneath her and rose, grasping the towel by the top. “Thank you.”
LaJoyce walked to the side. “I expect you want some answers and I have a few questions of my own I’d be looking for, so now was a marvelous time to get to know you.”
Ada frowned. She’d never been around a woman with such boldness as this woman. Her skin prickled and not from rising out of a cold tub. The woman waited so she shimmied into her chemise, asking, “You are right. I do have questions, like who are you?”
The black woman’s grin grew larger. “My name is LaJoyce. I’ve known the Fontaines for many years. Some of them very close. Yet, let us get this right. I am in charge, here.”
“And we’re where?”
“At La Bonne Jeux,” she answered with a smile.
“A house of ill-repute.” Ada shuddered. Francois brought her to a whorehouse?
“Now, you wipe that foul look off your face,” the woman stated, as she went to the armoire in the back. Ada could see an array of silks in various colors hanging inside it. “You act as if my place isn’t worth your time, but believe me, you needed that bath and a change of clothes if you think you’re going to Bellefountaine, illness or not.”
“I hadn’t begun to start…”
“Of course not, because I stopped you.” The woman yanked a dark dress from the back. It was a deep blue dress, trimmed in white and black. “Yes, this will do. Put this
