In early November 1796, Raoul gave Christine a party for her eighteenth birthday. He invited the elite of their social circle, including government officials, to the celebration, making it one of the most distinguished events held in Louisiana in years. Because this was the first party Christine hosted, she and Josephine agreed that the young lady had to look her absolute best. With Josephine's assistance and guidance, Christine was adorned with sapphire earbobs to match her mother's sapphire ring and royal blue ball gown, and her hair was curled and pinned with matching blue and gold roses. After the cake was served, Raoul presented his daughter with the finished portrait of herself, eerily mirroring her mother's portrait in that exact same gown. The portrait even gave her guests pause as to the extreme likeness between mother and daughter.

The birthday celebration was filled with music, dancing, rich foods, a delectable cake, plenty of champagne and punch, and a harpsichord mini-concert, given by the hostess herself, making the party a delightful success. The party's jovial atmosphere was completed by the presence of Raoul's boyhood friend, Andre DuPres, who owned a plantation in Martinique. The Louveauxs were quite pleased with Monsieur DuPres' visit, especially since they have not seen each other since Andre, his daughter Josette, and his sister Natalie visited their home the Christmas before Christine was sent away to Ville-Marie. Although Christine and Josette were not as close as their fathers, Christine always wished Josette well, even when Raoul wrote to her of Josette's marriage into a prominent New England family. She adored Andre, who substituted for her estranged Uncle Lasalle. However, in spite of her adoration, Christine disapproved of Andre for owning slaves as her father, but treated him with more respect than Raoul. She allowed Andre the first dance as her guest of honor, followed by a dance with her father's least favorite suitor: Henri Dazencourt.

As the party progressed, Andre DuPres noticed his friend's temperament as Raoul observed his daughter dancing with Henri. Andre maneuvered through the ballroom as best as possible, due to his weight, until he reached Raoul. He placed a hand on the man's shoulder.

"Raoul, is there something wrong?" asked Andre.

"Oui! I don't like that boy waltzing with my daughter!" he said, straining to soften his voice.

"Don't talk about it now, mon ami. Wait until after the celebration has ended. After all, you don't want to spoil your only daughter's triumphant evening, do you?"

Raoul replied softly no.

"Very well. We'll discuss this issue later. For now, let's have some more champagne," suggested Andre, maneuvering through the crowd again, followed by Raoul.

The birthday celebration ended after ten o'clock that night. Everyone had left, including Henri and his uncle, whom Raoul was glad to see leave. Christine retired to her room after wishing Raoul and Andre a good-night, and Josephine helped the house slaves clean the ballroom and perform late-night kitchen work. Raoul Louveaux and Andre DuPres decided to take a walk in the night air, smoking cigars and talking Henri and Christine.

"So you don't approve of the young man with Christine? But isn't he following in his uncle's trade?" asked Andre.

"No, he is not. The boy has no aspirations to go into law at all. He's a dreamer! I will never allow my only daughter to marry a dreamer. She should take an interest in one of the boys of her rank, but she refuses to consider them because they are heirs to plantations. Moreover, she thinks that love is more important than class and breeding! You remember in our day when we married to increase our family's fortunes and to maintain our bloodlines with quality mates. Our late wives were exquisite choices on our parts. Now and days, our young ones are fantasizing of romance and love poetry, and not using their heads to plan for their future. What kind of life can she have with a penniless clerk?"

"Not a comfortable one, if you ask me," replied Andre, puffing on his cigar. "May I make a suggestion, mon ami."

"If you must," relented Raoul.

"If Christine does not want a planter's son, then perhaps she may consider a New England heir?"

Raoul turned to him. "A New England heir?"

"Oui. Do you remember when I wrote to you of my daughter's marital mishap?"

"Oh yes," replied Raoul. "She cuckold her fiancé with his uncle. Why bring up that misfortune to me?"

Annoyed, Andre answered, "That's all in the past now. Josette and her husband, Jeremiah, have made a life for themselves, and are accepted by decent society. However, her former betrothed refuses to leave them in peace. He still tries to convince Josette to leave her husband, in which she honorably refuses."

"That is honorable on her part, but what does her former betrothed have to do with my problem?" asked Raoul.

"The patriarch of the family, Joshua Collins, is becoming impatient with his son's persistence of my daughter. Josette fears that the man maybe disowned by his father and banished from the estate if he doesn't stop. Then, I remembered in our spring correspondences that you had decided to bring Christine home to marry-"

"Absolutely not!" shouted Raoul, stopping in his tracks. Andre stopped with him.

"Are you suggesting that my daughter be some consolation prize to your daughter's former betrothed while he is still obsessed with her? Are you mad?!"

"But just consider the benefits of such a match-"

"I said no! This man will humiliate my daughter and my name with his shameless persistence of Josette, and you know that the Louveauxs do not take kindly to being humiliated by anyone. What if he decides to leave Christine and any possible children they have for Josette? What if he sends her back to me, and uses her dowry to go off with your daughter if she gives in to his charms? You said it yourself that he would not stop pursuing her."

"Oui,Raoul, but listen: Barnabas Collins is a highly intelligent and sensible man, when he is clear-minded. He's well-educated, very respectable, more or less dignified as of late, and stands to inherit the most prosperous shipping and fishing empires in the colonies. That is, if the proper wife could be found to take his mind off of Josette."

"And I suspect that he is not attempting to find one on his own, isn't he?"

"No. Barnabas has no interest in marrying a woman from his own province. Not even an heiress amongst his cousins. I believe that the exotic and beautiful is what captures his attention. In other words, a young French or Creole girl, like Christine, would suit him. Now, the family is Protestant, but it will not be an issue since they accepted Josette as a Catholic. And Christine is convent-educated, and knows her place and duties as a prospective wife. I hardly think that she would give Barnabas any trouble."

"You don't know that girl, Andre! She is as rebellious as her mother before we married. First, it was this crazy notion to become a nun, and now she wants to marry that boy! I've already told that boy, and his uncle, what I thought about him and his suit to Christine, and told them that it was non-negotiable. Dazencourt won't even pursue law as his uncle had! Such a waste of a man! And she actually tried to bargain with me to either let her marry him, or to send her back to Ville-Marie. Absurd! I have a good mind to pick out one of the young men from the party, and marry her off to him instantly. If she thinks that I'm going to allow either of her terms, she is grossly mistaken. I will let her beg on the streets before I give her to that-that swine!"

"Get a hold of yourself, man," said Andre, calming Raoul down. "Despite what you think, I think that betrothing her to Barnabas may be good for the both of them. Christine is intelligent and beautiful, which will attract him to her. As for Barnabas, she may find him an interesting spouse."

"But doesn't his family's ships transports slaves?" asked Raoul, knowing his daughter's reaction to such a thing.

"Of course they do, but Barnabas does not agree with our lifestyle. His father has an indentured servant, whom Barnabas befriended, and now the man is in his service. Josette told me that Barnabas was teaching the man to be literate."

"A waste of time, if you ask me, but Christine may excuse his family's dealings if she knew that he opposed the slave trade, and is teaching an illiterate servant to read and write. How old is he?"

"I believe Barnabas is approaching forty."

"'Approaching forty'! Ha! Christine would never accept him. He's older than her by almost twenty years!"

"But a young woman like her should marry someone older. At least he is already established, and serious about his responsibilities."

"And how will he take to Christine being unfortunately out-spoken? She may speak out against his family transporting slaves and also becoming the consolation prize that she will be seen. She may drive him to pursue Josette if he doesn't continue on his own," said Raoul, tossing away his cigar.

"That may be, but this is a solution to both yours and Joshua Collins' dilemmas. He needs Barnabas to marry and to forget about Josette, and you need Christine to marry a respectable gentleman with established wealth. What could be better?"

Raoul thought about the situation. The match between Christine and Barnabas Collins could be either hell or heaven for them. He envisioned hell since both would most likely be too stubborn to get along for their own reasons, but it could be heaven if they realize that it may benefit Barnabas' reputation and Christine's future. Besides two, wealthy, prominent families joining together, Christine would bring a generous dowry to the Collins household, and she would someday become the mistress of an estate, financed by a magnificent shipping and fishing empire, passed to her children. What more could he want?

Yet, what if this Barnabas Collins abandons Christine and their children if Josette finally succumbs to his pursuit? Raoul conceded that if he was going to take this risk and give his daughter to this Barnabas Collins, then he would have to take precautionary measures to insure his daughter's and grandchildren's welfare. It's one thing for Christine to willfully want to put herself in destitution with Henri Dazencourt, but it is another for this Barnabas Collins to abandon her and their offspring.

"Alright, Andre," said Raoul. "I will consider your kinsman as a possible suitor for Christine, but on two conditions."

"Oui?" asked Andre, tossing away his cigar into the wind.

"Christine is not to know anything of the scandal between Barnabas Collins, his uncle, and Josette. As far as she knows, Josette was always meant to marry Jeremiah Collins. If she knew the truth, she would outright reject the gentleman's suit for marriage, and I will never allow for her to be connected to him. Second, I will make known to Joshua Collins of my knowledge of the scandal, and the precautionary measures that I will take to ensure that his son will not make a fool of Christine or of my grandchildren by his infatuation with Josette."

Andre nodded in agreement. "Very well, mon ami. Let's get started while we are motivated to perform the task at hand. One more thing: didn't you tell me earlier that your contracts with your currents ships were expiring?"

"Oui, why?" Raoul asked.

"I was thinking that perhaps you would consider having a business arrangement with Joshua Collins as your new exporter. I would also suggest that you invest in his ships so that Christine would still be provided for, just in case Barnabas should abandon her."

Raoul nodded. "That is an excellent idea, Andre. Either way, Christine and my grandchildren would be secured. Now, let's draft those letters."

Andre stopped him. "One more thing, Raoul."

Raoul lifted an eyebrow. "What is it, mon ami?"

"For all the years of friendship between us, and my knowledge of your household, I never thought that you truly loved your own child."

Raoul narrowed his eyes. "To love her is one thing, Andre, but to see her well-married is another. Although she has the intelligence to run a household and to be a good wife to whomever she marries, I do not have to like her or love her. The same with her mother. As long as the Louveaux lineage continues, I have no other concerns but that. Now, shall we start those letters?"

Both men walked back to the house, to draft letters to Joshua Collins until the middle of the night. Yet, Andre pitied Christine for having a callous man for a father. He hoped that perhaps he was doing the right thing by suggesting a match between she and Barnabas. He shuddered at the thought of the match being a failure.