Read Emerald Ecstasy for Free Online Page B

Spanish town had once belonged to the French, but little evidence of that nation remained in the new architectural style of iron lace balconies which clung to the sides of peach and white houses and gateways with matching grillwork which enclosed the courtyards and shielded the inhabitants from the curious gazes of the passersby. Yet a French flavor revealed itself when Lianne caught the lyrical accents of her native tongue. She suddenly felt as if she were in Paris and Madrid at once.
    Maria stayed protectively near as they hunted for a place to stay. Night was falling, and they were tired, the baby cranky. Many times Lianne suspected she’d have trouble with the landlords if Maria hadn’t stood stoically by her side, glaring at them when they ogled her young friend. None of the rooms were satisfactory. If children were allowed, the rooms were too small.
    They turned onto a side street and noticed a house with a room to let. Because it was growing darker by the minute and both Lianne and Maria felt they couldn’t take another step, they rang the bell.
    The landlady grudgingly showed the room to them and immediately they took it because it was clean and an escape from the sudden rainstorm which pounded upon the roof. When they were settled and Désirée had fallen asleep across Lianne’s shoulder and Maria had long since begun snoring, Lianne decided they would move once she obtained a position with the opera company. The walls were cracked, and she swore she heard the scurrying sounds of mice within them.
    A feeling of hopelessness swept over her. Maria’s money was almost gone, and she was the reason the woman had used it. For the time being, they had escaped de Lovis’s men whom she felt sure would scour the world to find her and bring her to justice.
    She wanted more for her child than just survival or escape. She needed the love of her mother’s friend, and she must find her. While she gazed at her child’s angelic face, she realized she needed some connection to her family, her past, something which had been denied her since the day the peasants stormed the gates of Chateau de la Varre.

    Three days later with Lianne holding the baby and Maria in tow, the Flanders butler helped them from their rented carriage. Lianne hoped she looked her best and purposely chose a gown of pale golden silk for her meeting with her godmother. The color highlighted her hair and set off her cat-like eyes.
    She surveyed Green Meadows in long, appreciative glances. In many ways the elegant white house, supported by stone columns, reminded her of Chateau de la Varre, which was gone forever. How she envied her godmother and her family! Surely they must love sitting on the upstairs balcony on warm, summer nights and listening to the locusts hidden in the tall grasses or the slow movement of the river nearby.
    A sense of peace filled her. If only she could share such serenity with one man. The stranger’s face rose unbidden to her mind, and she smiled a too bright smile when the front door was thrown open.
    Lianne handed the baby to Maria and was barely up the steps before a woman who smelled like spring flowers on a rainy afternoon embraced her.
    â€œLianne, let me look at you,” Dera Flanders said and held her goddaughter at arm’s length. “You resemble your mother, but you kept your papa’s hair color. What a lovable tyrant that Michel Chevalier was!”
    Lianne laughed and dimpled. She liked Dera immediately. Instead of the overweight matron with gray hair she had expected, she found Dera to be slender, full-bosomed and tiny-waisted. Her hair was still dark but streaked with gray in places, and her eyes reminded Lianne of the wild purple blooms which grew on the mountainsides of France. For a woman near fifty, Dera was still incredibly beautiful.
    â€œI was stunned to receive your note announcing your visit,” Dera continued in her lilting Irish accent which Lianne found