She batted him with the fan LaJoyce had shoved in her hand when they left. “Next time, I’ll dismount by myself. Harrumph!”
He laughed. “Bertrand, ole boy, where is everyone?”
“Well, sur, after Massa Jack said his piece, some here and some ain’t. Then the fever hit. Mighty bad, sur. Mighty bad.”
Ada looked at him and then reached for her medical bag. Francois took her arm and as he started into the house, asked, “Where is that brother of mine, Bertrand?”
“Well, sur, he be gone. Massa Jack is gone.”
Francois stopped. Jack left? Now? He went to the front parlor, hoping to find his mother there but found an empty room.
“Perhaps they’re in their rooms?” Ada suggested, a slight annoyance in her tone, as if that was the better solution than a parlor.
Francois growled and turned to leave the room when a whirlwind in green brushed right into him.
“Francois!!”
“Cerisa?” He held her tightly. Her stomach bulged between them and he caught she was barefoot. “Still carrying that child?”
She ignored him. “I’m so glad you’re here. It’s been a mess ever since Jack left.”
“Bertrand said the same. What do you mean, he left?”
Cerisa caught her breath, then seem to notice another person in the room. “Apparently, Francois has lost his manners. Welcome to Bellefountaine.”
Ada nodded. “Thank you.”
Francois added, “Cerisa, my fiancée, Ada Lorrance. Ada, my sister, Cerisa.”
“You brought a fiancée back from the war?” Cerisa started laughing. It was an edgy laugh, one that grated on his nerves. “This family doesn’t do well being single during this rebellion, do we?”
“Where the hell is Jack?” Once the swear word was out, he regretted it but he was in no mood for her laughter. If Jack was gone, where was Emma?
Gripping as best she could around her pregnant middle, Cerisa stopped laughing. “He was called back to the war.”
“What?”
She shook her head. “He got orders to head to the western theater. Tennessee, I think.”
“Why didn’t your husband stop him?”
She snorted. “You can’t really think Pierce could stop the War Department, do you?”
“He’s a general, for Christ’s sake!” His anger escalated. How could Jack just leave the family like this?
“Yes, Emma was pretty mad, too.”
The man he was mad at ran into the room.
“Cerisa, what is—” he turned and saw Francois. “Francois, you’re home.” He looked his brother in law up and down. “Returned fairly unscathed.”
“Ha!” Francois mumbled as he paced, his steps emphasized with the sound of the cane on the hardwood floor.
“He brought a fiancée, as well,” Cerisa nodded.
Pierce turned to face Ada, smiling broadly. “Good afternoon! Welcome to the latest warfront here at Bellefountaine!”
Ada stood, unable to move, truly believing she was seeing a theater over real life. These people had embraced and embroiled within seconds and she stood to the side, like the audience of a bad play. She realized her hand gripped around the handle of her medical bag so tight, her fingers and wrist now hurt but she found she couldn’t relax. This was the family that madam had told her to be prim and proper for? Poppycock!
“Excuse me!”
All three heads turned. Francois looked mildly surprised. The woman just grinned and the other man’s eyes widened.
“I hate to interrupt your argument, but I am a doctor. I understand there’s a fever here?”
“Yes, there is. Been spending the better part of the week trying to keep my expectant wife clear of it,” Pierce offered, pulling the pregnant woman’s arm into the crux of his arm. “Which has not been an easy chore.”
“With Mama down, how can I ignore the demands of the house,” Cerisa answered firmly, leaning into her husband, but the strong lines that outlined her features told Ada that the general would stand no chance.
“Where is Emma?” Francois asked. It was his tone that bothered Ada. It was a touch more concerning than she liked.
“She’s gone, too.”
“How do you mean, ‘gone’?” His question hinged on worry and that now got Ada’s hackles up. Her fiancée seemed way too interested in his sister-in-law, if she understood him right.
Cerisa shrugged. “Surely you remember those two could be rather,” she rolled her eyes, as if trying to find the right words. “Argumentative at times.”
“Wait, please.” Ada’s temper was rising fast with this family’s unconstructive bantering. “Mrs. Fontaine is sick?”
“Yes ma’am.”
Everyone turned to find one of the servants at the door. Ada didn’t even see the ebony skinned young girl enter the room. She stood rather tall for the childlike features. Perhaps she was in her early teens, Ada guessed. The girl was thin but not starved, with long limbs and barefoot. The one thing that immediately grabbed Ada’s attention were her light almond blue eyes.
“Would you take me to her?”
The child nodded and turned with Ada in tow. She could hear Francois still arguing with his sister, so she said nothing but left. With his quick worry over this Emma, Ada realized she must be the woman in the mini portrait she discovered in his coat pocket. Inside seething, she needed to get herself busy before she did something drastic. What that’d be, she wasn’t sure, as her emotions rolled inside her stomach, making her mad and upset all at once. He exposed Richard for the scoundrel he was, but from the look of it, was he any better?
It took Francois a shove by his sister to realize Ada had left. He gritted his teeth and reached for his cane, which Cerisa took instead.
“General, get hold of your wife,” he barked, anger surging. What the hell had he just allowed to happen?
Pierce leaned back against the server, crossing his arms. “I believe this is a discussion for brother and sister.”
“Cerisa! You’re in no state for bickering with me like this!” He stumbled and cursed the injured foot, the pain searing up his leg.
“And you bring home a northerner to wed,” she shot back. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”
“Cerisa, don’t get yourself so
