Part 3

Months passed. Julia did well in her new job and one night as she came home from the gambling parlor, Julia saw a light on in her apartment from the street below. She knew that she hadn't left a light on-she went to work at three in the afternoon, so she cautiously opened the door and joy flooded her; Ben Cartwright was sitting in the large chair in her room and he rose to meet her as Julia flung herself into his arms.

"Oh, Julia, Julia," Ben whispered as he kissed her hair and her neck and held her to him. She cried, she was so happy. And their bodies, so close together in the embrace, longed for each other and so, yearning with desire, they spent what was left of the night in each other's arms.

In the darkness, they talked, Ben telling her how eager he was to sign on with his new captain and how glad he was to have found her again. He had gone to the seaside bar and the bartender told him that she was now working in the grandest gambling salon in New Orleans but that she still lived upstairs and so he let Ben into her room to wait. Ben said that he had been tempted to go to the Palais de la Chance but knew that they wouldn't let in a mere sailor. But had he not known where she stayed, he would have braved it and although he was certain that he would have been forcibly ejected, at least he would have seen her and she would know that he was there, waiting for her. But his fear, he revealed to her in a low voice, was that since he had been away, she had found another man, someone else whom she loved.

Julia raised herself on one elbow to look down into his honest eyes and swore to Ben that she would love him eternally; there would never, could never, be another man to take his place in her heart. And Ben pulled her down to him and kissed her deeply and his heart was content in the security of their love.

Every morning brought a new day to Ben and Julia and they reveled in their youthful love, in the pleasures of the body and the soul. One morning, after they had lain together, Julia teased Ben about the hair curling around his ears and the nape of his neck.

"You look like a small boy whose mother doesn't want to lose her darling's curls." She ran her fingers through the curly dark hair, almost black but even as young as he was, already beginning to show strands of grey.

"I suppose," Ben said, looking down at her and caressing her cheek, "that I should visit a barber before my new captain orders me to look more like a man and less like a boy." Ben didn't want yet to reveal that New Orleans was not going to be a usual stop for the ship; they were based in Boston and that is where he would be spending most of his time off the ship. He hoped that before he had to leave, he could convince Julia to head for Boston; there they could start their life before they married and traveled out west to the brave new world. Perhaps, she would even marry him before he left New Orleans.

"Here," Julia said, rising from the bed and putting on a thin wrapper. "Come out onto the balcony and I'll cut your hair."

"You?" Ben asked incredulously.

"Yes," Julia said, laughing. "Better I cut your hair than you be scalped by one of your Indians in the west or a native on some foreign soil-they may take your whole beautiful head and shrink it! I don't know why you talk about going out there, to the west. Here in New Orleans is where life is. Everything here has a glow, a patina to it that exists nowhere else. This is where we can make our life together, Ben. Here in this city." Ben remained silent. "Now, put on your pants and bring the vanity chair with you," Julia said, grabbing up her scissors, a comb, a towel and opening the French doors that led to the balcony with its wrought iron railing.

Ben sat down and Julia draped the towel about his shoulders. As she clipped Ben's hair, they laughed as the light breeze blew the cut hair in the air and over the railing and moved the chimes she had hanging on her porch.

Julia cut one lock and handed it to Ben. "Hold this for me," she said. "I want it for my locket, to wear next to my heart." Ben turned and looked up at her and she bent down and quickly kissed him and laughed. Ben smiled up at her and Julia felt that his heart-shaped face exposed completely the love in the heart in his chest.

"Hopefully, you'll end up with more of me than just a lock of hair," he said. And Julia hoped she would as well. She had been considering how she would tell Ben of her plans and although she knew that Ben would be against them at first, if he loved her, if Ben loved her as much as he proclaimed, he would agree.

Julia enjoyed playing house with Ben and he enjoyed the time that she wasn't working and was at home. On her day off, they went to the shops and Ben purchased new gowns for Julia; she was reluctant to accept the finery from him but Ben insisted; he wanted her to wear clothing that was worthy of being on her lovely body. So Julia went into work the next day wearing a gown of watered blue silk and her teardrop pearl earrings. Ben had admired her before she left the apartment, telling her that as usual, he would be waiting outside to walk her home when her day was complete.

Julia was working at her faro table. She had become adept at cards, drawing a doublet more times than normal odds allowed and thereby winning half the stakes back for the house. Julia had won the admiration of Franz and most importantly, of D'Arcy himself. She had found that there was a trick to working with D'Arcy; he was constantly watching her and giving her an approving nod. But once she was out from behind the oval table, he would pat her on the rear or find a way to rub up against her. The trick was to ignore him and not to take him seriously, but now he was becoming more forward, more aggressive and Julia began to worry. Just yesterday, he had pinched her breast and when she impulsively slapped his hand away, he raised his chin and told her that she would not keep her position if she ever raised her hand to him again and then he walked away and was soon laughing with a group of men at one of his gambling tables within a time of perhaps half a minute. But Julia knew that he meant what he had said. She had considered telling Ben but she knew that if she did, Ben would confront D'Arcy and her position would be lost. D'Arcy wouldn't tolerate being confronted by her lover.

Julia was learning more at the gambling parlor than just how to deal faro or how to change the luck of a man who was winning far too much money. Julia's great beauty could distract a man so that he would not notice the change of a card and she knew just how to bend so that a man's gaze would stay riveted on her while his mind wandered to possibilities and make him forget his bets. And she also enjoyed the money that men gave her as a tip after they had won, never as much as they had hoped to win, but enough to be generous to the beautiful dealer. So when D'Arcy called her into his office and offered to give her a portion of the house's take, her heart began to pound; her dreams were manifesting. The only thing D'Arcy asked was that Julia be his mistress. Yes or no; he demanded an answer then and there. If no, he said, as he sat at his desk, she could continue to deal faro but he reminded her that she had a chance at greater things. He would never make the offer again, he said.

Julia stood perfectly still, her logical mind quickly considering the choices. Ben was shipping out in another two days and she would not see him for many months. He had told her of Boston being the home port and had been trying to convince her to move north; he would send her more money, he said. Julia wanted to go but somehow, she knew that she wouldn't belong in Boston; those people were not hers. Julia made up her mind and raised her hand to touch the locket that held a lock of Ben Cartwright's hair. "Forgive me, Ben," she said silently to herself. She smiled and D'Arcy smiled back. Then Julia pulled her dress off over her head, wordlessly giving D'Arcy her answer.