"His...wife?" The words were spoken in barely a whisper, so that the always perky brunette wouldn't overhear and begin to suspect anything was going on between Rogue and Remy. Which, the auburn-haired girl reflected miserably, couldn't be farther from the truth now, considering how all this time she'd been falling for a man who turned out to be married. Dazedly, Rogue noticed that her vision was beginning to blur with unshed tears, and suddenly, just as fast as she'd felt herself drop helplessly into an abyss of betrayal and despair, so did she swiftly regain control of herself as the anguish melted away into anger and hurt vanity. Rogue blinked viciously, shaking her head before the tears had a chance to slip down her cheeks while thinking in fury, So he's married, is he...and all this time he's been shamelessly flirting with and breaking the hearts of all those unsuspecting county girls...Her head lifted proudly, as she told herself, Ah feel sorry for them. Never mind the fact that her heart had been broken the worst. Out loud, Rogue asked Kitty in as steady a voice as she could manage, "So, Remy--Ah mean, Mr. LeBeau--is married. Funny he's never mentioned that to us." Kitty, God bless her heart, eagerly picked up the new subject and ran with it, all the while never once questioning why Rogue's voice seemed to crack while saying those words--that Remy LeBeau was married.
"Yes, it is quite strange, isn't it?" the pretty brunette mused, done with her task and stepping back so that Rogue could put on her petticoats and pick out a dress to wear. "In fact, now that I think about it, I don't believe Mr. LeBeau's ever mentioned his wife at all. Perhaps to Papa, for he didn't seem terribly shocked by the letter, but I could see from Miss Ororo's expression that she'd never learned of this Belladonna person--I guess I should call her Mrs. LeBeau, shouldn't I?--until now, and it was fairly obvious that she was quite displeased by Mr. LeBeau's hiding of this fact from her." Rogue's response was silence, as she moved around mutely with her cream-colored petticoats sashaying around her and a prim, deep pine dress that made her look at least ten years older clutched in her hands. Kitty's eyes widened when she caught sight of her sister's choice of clothing, remarking with wide eyes, "Rogue, please tell me you aren't thinking of actually wearing that old-fashioned monstrosity of a dress today! Why, it looks like something worn at least fifty years ago--I doubt even Mrs. Summers would wear that, and you know she's the most conservative of the county matrons!" Rogue's shoulders slumped, and she fell down backwards onto her bed.
"Ah...Ah don't know..." Her voice trailed off, as an idea came to her. Turning to her younger sister with the most pitiful look her pride would let her muster, she admitted, "Ah feel awful right now, Kitty--it must be from the, er, champagne at the ball last night. Could you please go downstairs and tell Miss Ororo that Ah'll be skipping breakfast today?" Kitty's curious expression melted into one of sisterly concern, and she reassured her while refraining from further teasing about last night's stirring rendition of the national anthem, "Of course, Rogue...you want me to send one of the maids with a tray when you're feeling better?" Rogue grimaced.
"Not really," she admitted. "Ah'm not feeling hungry at all; in fact, all Ah want to do is just lie down for a while." Kitty shrugged.
"Suit yourself," she said, gathering up her skirts and stepping daintily out of the room. "Hope you'll feel better by noon."
"Me too," Rogue muttered in a low voice, peeking out from one eye to make sure of when her sister had descended down the stairs and into the breakfast room.
When she was satisfied that nobody was around to witness what she was about to do, Rogue quickly leapt off her bed and ripped her flouncing petticoats from around her waist, slipping her white nightgown back over her corset as it was the only item of clothing she could wear that wouldn't make the telltale rustling sounds whenever she moved and thus alert her family of her presence. She knew there was no way she could go downstairs now and hear her family discuss Remy and his wife Belladonna--her facial expressions and body language would more than give her true feelings away--but she also couldn't stand the thought of not knowing anything besides the simple fact that Remy was married. Rogue's features set themselves into a hard line as she began stealthily creeping down the stairs and toward the breakfast room, wryly reminding herself, And there's certainly no way Ah can ask Remy about his wife, either, so there's really no other option but to eavesdrop.
Rogue
carefully inched her way closer toward the breakfast room, already hearing
Kitty's voice floating over the air as the perky young girl gave her excuse
for her second oldest sister's absence from the table.
"Well,
I suppose she'll come down when she's ready to face us," she heard Jean's
voice speak up neutrally, and couldn't help but scowl that her family thought
she was merely too embarrassed about the previous night to show up. Well,
let them think that, for all Ah care, she told herself fiercely, then
nearly shrieked out loud when, too preoccupied with darting glances behind
her to make sure nobody could sneak up on her, she accidentally wound up
crashing right into someone in front of her. The startled maid Rogue had
bumped into nearly dropped her tray at the impact, hastily turning around
to chastise whom she'd assumed was a careless little servant boy, but the
angry expression quickly melted from her features when she recognized the
girl who'd nearly catapulted her right into the wall.
"Oh,
Miss Rogue--!" she started to exclaim, but Rogue quickly shushed her by
clapping one hand against her mouth and hissing, "Not now, Sarah. Listen,
Ah'm sorry, Ah'll explain later, but for now, don't tell anyone about this,
all right?" Sarah nodded mutely, her eyes now wide open with surprise and
curiosity, and when Rogue was sure the young maid wouldn't start hollering
at Miss Ororo to come quick and help the young mistress get dressed or
for another one of the maids to get on over with a tray ready, she took
her hand away and resumed tiptoeing toward the breakfast room. She turned
around once to raise her index finger to her lips, and Sarah nodded understandingly
even though she had no idea what was going on, before obediently scurrying
off as Rogue finally reached the breakfast room and pressed herself against
the wall.
She
could hear Kitty speaking, but much to her disappointment, the subject
was Jean's upcoming wedding to Pietro rather than anything concerning a
certain Cajun.
"I
still can't believe it happened--I mean, that night at the ball when you
and Pietro announced your engagement, it was surreal," the pretty brunette
chattered in happy excitement.
"Yes.
I suppose this whole ordeal is like a dream," came the calm, somewhat subdued
response from the bride-to-be. Kitty failed to notice her sister's less-than-thrilled
response, going on, "Although, I am a bit surprised that this wedding's
going to happen so soon; I mean, usually people wait until they're engaged
for at least a year before actually getting married..." Rogue scowled,
wondering for how long her family was going to natter on about Jean and
Pietro's wedding. What about the other, more intriguing wedding, the one
that had already occurred...a year...two years, maybe...how long ago, really?
Rogue stopped and bit down on her lower lip in concentration, wondering
just how long Remy had been married to this Belladonna. Were they newlyweds,
or had they been already married for a long time, and Remy had begun to
get bored, which was why he had come down to Mississippi to amuse himself
with the pretty, naïve young girls...? Rogue was snapped out of her
train of furious thought and speculation when Miss Ororo finally brought
up the subject that she was so desperate to learn more about.
"Speaking
of marriages, it is quite interesting that Mr. LeBeau hasn't mentioned
his own until this morning, when he rushed off to the train station to
bring his wife here to meet the family," the elegant woman spoke up delicately,
and the others at the table could practically hear the disapproval in her
carefully chosen words. Rogue, however, was more concerned with the actual
words themselves than the tone in which they were spoken, while Xavier
began to say, "Yes, I believe it was an arrangement ever since they were
both children..." Tuning out the rest of her father's words, the auburn-haired
girl realized in a frenzy, She's coming here? Belladonna's coming to
this house?! Her first impulse was to storm into the room and command
angrily, "Ah won't have it! Ah won't have that woman take even one step
on the plantation, let alone this house!" Her second, slightly more logical
thought after she'd calmed down, was to wonder how Belladonna would react
to being in this house. Did she suspect anything about how Remy had flirted
and danced with Rogue? And what about Remy, how would he face the young
girl whose heart he had so effortlessly broken? For some strange reason,
Rogue's mind suddenly wandered back up to her room, and to the prim, nearly
prudish green dress lying across her bed that she'd planned to wear that
day. It would certainly show Remy that she didn't care whether he was married
or not, that she didn't need to impress him with splendid dresses or expensive
jewelry and perfumes. But on the other hand, what if Belladonna noticed
and got rather catty about it? Rogue scowled, muttering to herself, "Ah
certainly won't allow mahself to be belittled by that woman!" Hiking up
her flowing nightgown, she stomped back up the stairs, her mind firmly
made up that she would show Remy exactly what he'd lost by getting married,
and that she would show Belladonna that just because she'd succeeded in
trapping Remy into marriage didn't mean she was any better than her.
Rogue
stalked purposefully into her room and threw open the double doors of her
closet, wondering which dress would look most dazzling on her. She adored
the green moiré one, but after all, she had worn it just
last night...the forest-green organdie showed off the dramatic color her
eyes and made them sparkle like emeralds, but she was sure Remy had already
seen it during his visit...and the seafoam-colored watered silk dress was
lovely, but would better suit Kitty's more delicate profile and slender
figure than her own stronger, more striking features. The frothy pale jade
crinoline with its billowing hoop skirts was just plain childish--it looked
better suited for a young girl's birthday party, with its puffed sleeves
and yards of trimmings and loops of excess material. Rogue threw down the
last dress onto the floor, resisting the urge to stomp on it. Her eyebrows
slanted together in a thoughtful frown, as realization began to seep in
that she'd only worn green when around Remy. Now that she thought about
it, why did she wear green so often? Because it brings out the
color of your eyes and enhances the dramatic effect of your dark red hair,
somebody had once told her, which was why she barely had any fashionable
dresses that weren't of that color.
"Well
then," she told herself out loud, "if Ah don't have a dress that isn't
green, Ah guess Ah'll just have to borrow one from mah sisters."
The unmistakable sounds of carriage wheels and horses' hooves rolling across a road floated across the Xavier plantation and toward its elegantly-designed house, and inside Kitty squealed happily, "They're here! That must be Mr. LeBeau and Belladonna--er, Mrs. LeBeau!" In a lower voice, she guiltily reproved herself, "Ugh, I must remember to call her by that title--it's just so hard, though, when Mr. LeBeau didn't whenever he had to refer to her this morning!" Which probably means he's very close with his wife, Rogue thought sullenly from her seat in a satin chair. Since Kitty's room had been the closest, she'd settled for borrowing one of her younger sister's dresses, a lovely cerulean-colored watered silk gown that had come back to haunt her with its tiny seventeen-inch waistline. Rogue had called in Miss Ororo to lace her corset even tighter, had dodged the other woman's questions, and had fought for each breath and each step she could take in that suffocatingly tight whalebone garment, repeatedly telling herself that she should just be thankful the dress had a slightly larger waistline than Kitty's usual sixteen-and-a-half inches. Meanwhile, the family butler had hastily thrown on his black jacket over his starched white dress shirt as he tripped over to the door, before regaining his composure as he opened it and dipped down in a regal bow to greet the couple standing under the door frame.
Remy
LeBeau, looking no different from when he'd carried Rogue home in his arms
the previous night, grinned and charmingly tipped his hat at all the women
gathered in the atrium to greet him, and this could have been a flashback
to the first time when he'd stepped through those doors...except that this
time, there was a woman by his side. She was obviously a couple of years
older than Rogue, probably the same age as Remy, tall with long blonde
hair smoothly netted underneath her bonnet and beautiful in the way that
Southern women were, and when she spoke, as she did now to greet the family,
she had the same Cajun accent that Remy did.
"It's
quite an honor to finally meet the gentleman and his lovely daughters that
my husband has been speaking so highly of," Belladonna said with perfect
matronly charm, and Rogue barely avoided cringing at the way she'd referred
to Remy--as "my husband." It was almost as if the woman was putting her
stamp on Remy, was reminding everyone that she possessed him. Suddenly,
Rogue wasn't feeling quite as courageous as she did when she'd dressed
her best and vowed she'd show Remy and his wife that her heart and her
pride weren't hurt at all, and now she knew that she wasn't ready to be
in the same room as the woman that was Remy's wife and watch her charm
her family. Rogue abruptly stood up, gathering her rustling skirts around
her and discreetly lowering her head to avoid making eye contact with anyone.
"Ah...Ah
have to go," she stammered weakly, unable to think up any excuse at the
moment. "Mah headache's returned...Ah must still not be quite recovered
yet from last night..." She didn't bother to try to finish her sentence,
instead quickly tripping out on delicate chamois slippers and letting a
fragrant breeze of honeysuckle announce her exit from the room.
Rogue
headed out of her house, ignoring the cries and questions that sprang up
upon her departure, and when she spotted a waiting horse that had yet to
be unsaddled from Kitty's daily morning rides, she hopped gratefully atop
the animal and clicked her tongue at it to go off. As the obedient little
strawberry mare began to stroll away toward the nearby forest, Rogue unwittingly
breathed a sigh of relief, then froze as a dismayingly familiar male voice
spoke up when she was barely ten yards from the house, "Chérie?
I had been hoping that you would grace us with your presence for a while
longer." Rogue reluctantly held in the reins to signal her horse to stop,
and when it did she turned around to say in a bitingly sarcastic voice,
"Yes, well, Ah'm afraid Ah never did learn how to behave around matrons,
cherié."
By then, Remy had caught up, effortlessly jogging the few feet that separated
them and holding on to her horse's rein as he guessed while they resumed
their march away from the house, "Belladonna, huh?" Rogue scowled, snapping
in a clipped tone, "Yes, thank you very much for not telling me you had
a wife when we were dancing last night! And Ah know Ah'm being too bold
with mah speech, but Ah think Ah deserve an explanation." Remy sighed,
absently running a hand through his hair, and Rogue tried not to think
how handsome he looked as he tried to piece words together.
"Belle
and I...we were promised to each other since before we were born--to settle
an ancient grudge and finally bring our families together," he explained.
"Well,
aren't you the dashing Romeo," Rogue muttered sarcastically, causing Remy
to grin and remark good-naturedly, "Thanks, chérie, you're the first
one to mention that." The little smile slipped off, and Remy became serious
again as he continued, "There's not exactly any love lost between both
our families--one of my ancestors stole a valuable heirloom from Belle's
family, and their patriarch had him executed. Our two families have been
feuding ever since."
"Ah
see, so you married Belladonna all as part of some noble sacrifice to bring
peace between your feuding families; why, God bless your heart, Mr. LeBeau,
Ah am so touched Ah fear Ah might start crying," Rogue bit out, her words
laced with a poison that nearly made Remy cringe.
"It's
not like that at all," he protested vehemently, his hands leaving the reins
to grasp Rogue's arm and make her look him in the eye. "I'll admit that's
what I wanted to do, but once my family made me go through with the wedding
to Belladonna, I realized I couldn't stand living the rest of my life with
her...so I took off. I ran away, and I wrote to your father--"
"Asking
for a place to temporarily hide out from your wife and her family, am Ah
right?" Rogue finished for him, her voice dripping with heavy scorn and
contempt.
"Quite
frankly, yes--I doubt that for those first several days of my absence,
my estranged wife wished for anything less than my miserable death...please
understand, I had to get away from our marriage," Remy spoke bluntly.
He then clasped her hands in his, his red-tinted black eyes meeting her
own olive-green ones in an earnest gaze as he added sincerely, "What I
never expected was to fall in love with a girl whom I should have married
all along."
"Remy,
Ah--" Rogue's eyes began to mist, before she swallowed back her tears and
abruptly withdrew her hands from his. "Ah don't need this from you! Not
if you have a wife! Ah can't believe you would commit such a perfidy against
me, especially when Ah mistook you for nothing less than a gentleman!"
Hurt flashed across Remy's face, and he leaned back as though stunned before
quickly defending himself, "I never meant to deliberately breach your faith!
What could I do; I didn't expect to fall for someone during my visit, and
when I found out that I was, what could I do when Belladonna was coming
to take me back to New Orleans?" Rogue glared steadily at him.
"Maybe,"
she gritted out harshly, "you should have packed up and left and gotten
out of mah life! Now, if you please, Mr. LeBeau, let go of mah horse so
Ah can return to my home, Ah don't believe Ah want to speak any more to
you." Remy made no motion of dropping the reins, continuing only to stare
up frozenly at her, as though disbelieving the words she'd just said. Rogue
made an impatient noise in her throat, before angrily dismounting and declaring,
"Fine, if you won't let go, then Ah'll just have to walk home. Ah wish
you and your estranged wife only wedded bliss, Mr. LeBeau." Those words
seemed to snap Remy out of his daze, as he quickly reached out and took
her arm, drawing her toward him before she could run away.
"You
can't just give up and abandon me like this now that Belle's come to Mississippi,"
he told her. "I'm beginning to doubt whether you cared about me as much
as I still do about you if you're going to give up and walk away so easily."
Rogue's angry posture slackened, and she allowed herself to be held comfortingly
in Remy's arms as she finally let the tears she'd been holding in so stubbornly
since morning to fall down her cheeks.
"You
don't understand," she sobbed emotionally. "Ah do care about you--more
than anything in the world. But after your perfidy, Ah'm afraid Ah just
don't know if Ah can trust you again...and even if Ah do, it still doesn't
change the fact that you're married. So why should Ah forgive you, and
why should you throw your life and your marriage away over me?"
"Because,"
Remy said quietly, "you're my dream come true, and I'll do anything to
prevent this dream from vanishing with the coming of morning." And with
that, he tilted her chin toward him and kissed her.
Rogue
was too shocked at first to react, and when the initial surprise wore off
she couldn't do anything but give herself up to the feeling and return
the kiss.
"We
can get married and I'll never have to let you go," Remy was saying between
kisses. "I'll get a divorce from Belladonna..." Those words brought Rogue
crashing back to reality, and she abruptly drew back and slapped Remy with
all the strength she had in her right arm.
"You
dirty skunk, get away from me!" she cried angrily, backing away from Remy
while remembering Miss Ororo's emphasis on never letting a boy kiss her
unless he was her husband. "And as for your estranged wife, go ahead and
have a happy life with her! Be the noble Romeo and stop the feuding between
your families, just never bother me again!" Remy's face twisted up in confusion
at her harsh words, as one hand instinctively drew up to the red mark that
was slowly beginning to appear on his cheek.
"But
I can get a divorce from Belladonna, and then we can get married," he repeated,
causing Rogue's features to contort into an ugly mask of scorn and hurt.
"Don't
you know anything about honor?" she snapped contemptuously at him. "My
entire family are devout Roman Catholics. We would never even think of
marrying men who have been divorced in their lives!" She turned around
and tried to storm off, but the raging emotions of anger and hurt and a
longing to be in Remy's arms despite the arsenal of venomous words she'd
just fired off at him, coupled with her corset that was laced far too tightly,
finally took their toll on her body, and for the first time in her life,
Rogue fainted, a mere ten steps away from the startled Remy.
