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PROLOGUE

New Orleans 1840

"There is nothing wrong with Codalena said She sat upon the settee in the grand parlor of her father’s great-columned plantation house in the city of New Orleans Her feet were firht

Watching his only child, Jason Montgohed and shook his head sadly He hated to hurt her, but the hurt was necessary In fact, seeing her there, her rich dark hair with its glistening hint of red piled atop her head, only a few delicate tendrils escaping, he felt a sudden shudder of fear He h a father’s prejudiced eyes, but she was beautiful She had the classic perfection of face and figure that belonged to legends Her soft skin was as s hazel-gold She had incredible dignity, a will of steel, and a startling intelligence, yet she had the grace of a gazelle, her every uarded moments, she could appear as soft and tender and sweetly seductive as the , i; she was his daughter, his heiress, and she omery, was ruler of all that surrounded him here in their plantation world, and he was respected by all men in Louisiana, men ere now Americans--be their ancestry French or British He was a wise man, a learned ive his daughter all of the things that ainst him

"You do not like the codalena accused her father with quiet reproach

"I do not like the comte, not because he is French, but because he is--" Jason broke off just in ti him a madman, he would have her respect his opinion and his dictates because he was her father

"I have chosen to live in this place where my associates are most likely to be French!" he sputtered

Yes, he had chosen this place for just such a reason There were men and women here of Colonial American descent; there were the French, the British There were the islanders, the Creoles There were people of er, powerful dusky beauties who knewabout the darkness

This would not do He raised a fist before hihter "I aain I have decided that you will marry Robert Canady and that you will do so in the next few ed"

"No!" Magdalena cried, leaping to her feet Passion and fury filled her eyes The beauty and grace of her ry like this "I’ll not do it, Father" Suddenly she was choking, sobbing "You have never treated ht !" Jason cried "If you were thinking, you would wonder about this man, Comte Alec DeVereaux You would want to know his parents, you would want proof of who he is, of where he has co like such an arrogant fool!" Magdalena exclaimed "Listen to yourself! You have told me that this is now the United States of Aes his own destiny--"

"And silly girls still swoon overtitles!"

"Papa, I airl, I have never swooned, and I am not impressed with titles Why, h for rew serious "You don’t know him, Father Alec is so well read, Father! He opens the world to me He makes me see faraway places, he s that have been, and things that will come I aasped

"I am in love with him because he is brave, because he is sometimes so serious Because he can be fierce and so tender Because--"

"He seeks to seduce you!"

"Papa, he is an honest man, he wishes to marry me"

"Never!" Jason vowed staunchly "Never, do you hear hter to her roo his voice to call the servant who hovered unhappily in the hallway, listening to the argument Tyrone was an extraordinary black man, born in the bayou country, a free man His parents had hailed from the islands, and before that, his ancestors had come from the far south section of Africa He stood well over six feet tall and was pure sleek dalena sadly "I adalena stared into the handsoht-hand man Tyrone’s one fault was his absolute loyalty to her father He would carry her bodily upstairs if need be

She turned back to her father, still unable to believe his unwavering hatred for the young s, no queens, Father! No all-powerful men or women to command us, this is America I will not bend down to another’s will!"

She spun fiercely about, heading for the stairith Tyrone close behind her

"Magdalena!" her father called

He was her father Before this, her darling, her best friend She turned back

"What about love, child? Would you bow to my will because it comes with a father’s love?"