Paulette lay on the corn husk mat that was covered with an enormous bear skin as she watched Manley move about the hut. They were locked in together for three days with an occasional visit from Adahy or one of the other male leaders of the village. From Elsa’s whisperings through the cracks in the walls, they would remain together until it was certain that she was with child.Their first coupling proved to be a horrendous ordeal. Although accustomed to being used for stud service, never had Manley been asked to plant his seed in a mistress of society. His fear of the repercussions he would encounter from the plantation owners, should he ever break free from the Indian’s captivity, far outweighed his fear of what Adahy and his friends might do to him.  He blatantly refused to perform.When the village’s old women examined Paulette the following morning and discovered her virginity was still intact, Adahy went wild with rage. One did

Elizabeth’s hands ached from her nervously ringing them while she paced the sitting area of her suite while watching out the window for Sara to return from her trip to town. Things were a mess and she needed a woman to confide in. Since her relationship with Sara grew stronger with every day she remained in their care and she felt no woman alive could match the good woman’s clear head and sense of right and wrong, she felt privileged to have Lady Sara Caldwell available at such a time.Herald sat in the corner of the room and watched his sister through lowered lids. To the onlooker who did not know him well, one would have assumed the young man had closed himself off to his sister’s obvious despair and decided to take a nap. Elizabeth knew better. Her brother was an astute young man who developed the uncanny skill of not missing a thing that went on around him.  This was true even if his eyelids were all but closed. It proved handy on more than one occa

Stephen looked over his shoulder as he watched half of Arthur’s posse disappear in the direction from which he came. They pressed hard since early that morning after stumbling upon a tradesman who rode Paulette’s mare. When questioned, the man told them that although he purchased the mare at auction up the river he had it from the best authority that the mare was brought to the auction by Cherokees from a nearby village.Giving the man a fair price for the return of the steed, they rode with him to a nearby town where he could replace his mount and provide them with a map of the area to assist them in locating the Cherokee village more swiftly. When the man learned that they intended to enter the village to save Paulette, he did his best to dissuade them. The Indians of that village were hostile toward white people and only interacted when necessary. He was positive that, by now, they either killed or sold Paulette and impressed upon them the fact that walking int

Bringing Paulette to the safety of the Caldwell plantation was not as easy as Stephen hoped. Since he worked his horse as much as he dared and she still did not regained consciousness, he settled her in front of one of the other men on her own horse and then later on with another whose horse suffered the stress of their journey favorably and was still strong enough to carry them both in the intense heat of the day. It was shortly after this last transition that she awoke and went into a frightful screaming fit. This caused the horse to rear and for her to fall off.As if her disorientation was not bad enough, Paulette landed on her arm and it snapped like a dry twig. Stephen seized a flask containing their emergency brandy and took a long drink to steady his nerves. The stress and challenges he endured over the last few months was building within him to such a height he was certain his frustrations would cause him to burst from the inside out.It took the considerable

Margaret Moore stepped out of the carriage in front of the Caldwell plantation house and gaped in awe at its magnificent beauty. She heard whispers of the wealth the Caldwells possessed through conversations at one of the many social parties she attended, but she had not pictured it to be as such. She was told that Sir Caldwell’s wealth was surpassed by few. He was even able to work free darkies on his plantation; something that was rare indeed amongst the plantation owners of Georgia who petitioned fervently to have slavery reinstated during its temporary abolishment because their plantations would not survive without it. Sir Caldwell was one of the very few in political societies who did not support such reinstatement.She heard their mansion was equal to that of a king, sporting thirteen guest rooms and marble flooring adorned with plush carpet with unique designs woven into it. Both were ordered from India. The marble lion’s heads on either side of the grand s