Mardi Gras Madness (Carnival of Love)

Chapter Seven

Frank and Joe were waiting impatiently for them in front of the St. Charles Hotel. There were two other couples with them, and Frank mumbled their names to Barbara as she shook hands with them all.

One of the girls was a tiny slip of a thing, coming only to Barbara’s shoulder, with a defiantly snub nose and delightfully blue eyes. It seemed that her name was Trixie, and it was evident that she was very much in love with a tall man, slender almost to the point of emaciation, with deep-set, glittering eyes and a bony, hooked nose. Barbara laughed aloud when Frank introduced him under the name of Tiny.

He wore a devil’s costume, and he frowned portentously at Barbara as she laughed. “They call me Tiny,” he said hoarsely. “But I’ve always had an idea they do it to kid me. What do you think?”

“I think that you and Trixie should have a private telephone line arranged to talk over,” Barbara laughed. “Seems to me she’d wear her voice out trying to communicate with you over that vast distance.”

“That’s an idea,” he told her gravely. “But suppose someone should tap the wire?”

Frank drew her aside just then to introduce her to the other couple. Jenny and Carl Lind. Barbara noted there was no wedding ring on Jenny’s plump hand, but she determined quickly that she mustn’t notice such things as missing wedding rings.

Jenny and Carl were older than the others. Barbara thought Jenny was thirty, and Carl seemed much older. His gray hair was thin at the temples, and the skin on his brow was tight and yellowed. But his cheeks were ruddy, and his full lips had an unnatural flush. His hand was moistly warm as he squeezed Barbara’s fingers an unnecessarily long time, and his protuberant eyes flickered hopefully as they traveled boldly down the length of her body.

Barbara disliked Carl at once, and she was glad when he released her hand to let her speak to Jenny.

“I’m awfully glad to meet you.” Jenny’s voice was flowing and warm. She sounded sincere. “Frank’s been raving about you for the past hour,” she went on in a lowered voice. “He’s said so much that I think he’s put ideas in Carl’s head.”

Barbara laughed nervously. Jenny was full-breasted and buxom. “Suppose I trust you to take care of any ideas Carl gets?” Barbara suggested in a voice so low that only Jenny heard her.

A long glance of understanding passed between them. Barbara knew she had found a friend. Jenny’s look told her that Carl was easily taken in by a pretty face and an alluring figure, and it asked Barbara to keep him at arm’s length. A compact was created between them with that single glance.

Jenny smiled impulsively and patted her shoulder. “Okay,” she said lightly. “I’ll do my part if you’ll do yours. But...” She hesitated and glanced about to see that none overheard. “... don’t trust Carl in a dark corner... especially after he’s had a couple of highballs.”

“I’ll positively shun all dark corners,” Barbara told her laughingly.

There was no opportunity for further conversation just then. They were surrounded by the others as they moved toward two cars at the curb. It seemed that they were all going to Frank’s house where they would be joined by others during the course of the evening.

Barbara found herself in the front seat of Frank’s car, with Trixie and Tiny in the back seat. The other two couples followed in Carl Lind’s automobile. She leaned back against the seat and smiled quickly at Frank as he drove away into the stream of traffic.

“You look tired,” he commented. “Have you and Ethel been trying to take in all of Mardi Gras in a few hours?”

“Something like that,” she admitted with a sigh. “I was lifted to the heights all morning... now a sort of reaction has set in. I feel funny inside.”

“Too much excitement in one day,” Frank told her firmly. “You need to rest and relax. You can do that when we get home,” he went on quietly. “I’ll bundle you into bed in a dark room where you can rest and forget Mardi Gras for a few hours.”

“Be careful, child,” Trixie gurgled from the back seat. “Frank’s beds in dark rooms have a certain reputation. I warn you that you’re not likely to get much rest.”

“Be careful,” Frank warned her laughingly. “Tiny’s likely to get ideas if you betray too intimate a knowledge of my beds and what goes on there.”

“That’s all right,” Trixie called back gayly. “Tiny knows all the dirt. He admits that it’s a part of every girl’s education to spend at least one night with you. Don’t you, Tiny?”

“I admit that one may as well face the facts,” Tiny admitted lugubriously. “It’s a fact that the girls in New Orleans can be divided in two classifications. Virgins... and those who have slept at Frank’s.”

“Slept at?” Frank protested. “What do you mean by that?”

Barbara was very careful to hold a smile on her lips during the entire conversation. Her soul protested that she should be shocked, but her mind accepted the new order. She was an alien, and she must embrace this new faith so long as she remained with these new friends. This was all a part of Mardi Gras. And she wanted, desperately, to hug it to her bosom.

She wondered fleetingly about the incident just passed. The apartment, the wine, and Frankie and Johnny. Was that, too, a legitimate part of Mardi Gras? Ethel had accepted it calmly. She wondered if Ethel had known what the girls wanted when she suggested they accept the invitation. What was it Ethel had said? “Mark it down to experience!”

She leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes. Her little world had crashed asunder. She had no foundation left. Nothing by which she could judge this new mode of thought. All her standards were useless now. Everything that was safe and secure had been swept away from beneath her feet.

She wondered what Frank would say if she told him about Frankie. The similarity of the names struck her with sudden force, and she found herself chuckling weakly. This surprised and heartened her. She had felt that she would never be able to chuckle about the awful thing that had happened.

She opened her eyes and found Frank regarding her curiously. “Let me in on the joke,” he urged. “It sounds too good to keep all to yourself.”

“You wouldn’t appreciate it,” she told him demurely.

“How do you know I wouldn’t?” Frank drove skillfully, with occasional side glances at her.

“You were part of it,” Barbara confessed.

“Well, I’m proud I had a part in making you chuckle so happily. But I do wish you’d tell me the rest.”

“Perhaps I will.” Barbara closed her eyes again. “Given a dark corner and an opportunity,” she ended softly.

“You shall have both,” Frank assured her.

His home was in the northwest section. A beautiful colonial type house, set in the midst of stately trees near the West End Country Club. There was a long curving drive which led in from the street to a side entrance.

Barbara opened her eyes when the car stopped. Then she sat up with a start.

“We’re here,” Frank said briefly. “All out for Dupree corners.”

The other car swept up the drive behind them just then, and the four couples converged in a merry group to run up the front steps and storm the front door. A grizzled darky admitted them with a smile which seemed to split his black face from ear to ear.

“Yassuh, Mistuh Frank,” he beamed. “Dey’s all de res’ in deh now. Dey sho bin callin’ fo’ mint juleps powehful fas’.”

“I hope they haven’t called in vain,” Frank said laughingly as they moved to the high-ceilinged parlor. “But I guess I needn’t worry about that,” he added as a blast of music and merriment came through the portières. “The party seems to be pretty well organized.”

He held tightly to Barbara’s arm as they stepped into the parlor. She received a kaleidoscopic impression of many couples dancing on a cleared space in the center of the room, and many more couples more or less intimately draped together in chairs and lounges set back against the walls. All were in costume, and all seemed to be the merrier for the mint juleps they had consumed while awaiting the arrival of their host.

There was a huge punch bowl on a side table about which a number swarmed. Shouts of greeting went up as the newcomers were recognized. Staying close to Frank, Barbara was introduced in a helter-skelter manner to all who could crowd close. Her most vivid impression was the air of unforced happiness which seemed so much a part of the gathering.

It was all so gay and merry that she could not help falling into the mood which prevailed. The punch was pungent and cold. With a strangely exotic savor which she could not identify. But it leaped happily through her veins while she laughed and danced and listened to fervid protestations of love from all the men who could get close enough to her for an interval of thirty seconds.

An hour passed, and the wild hilarity grew more unrestrained. She was dancing with Carl, and he insisted on fastening his lips at the point where her neck joined her shoulder, and holding them there as he danced. She didn’t like it because Carl’s lips were blubbery. She was wondering how she was going to get away from him when she saw Frank coming to her rescue.

He bumped into them purposefully, and swung Barbara away from him. “Sorry,” he called mockingly over his shoulder as he danced away with Barbara.

Then he smiled down at her. “You mustn’t mind Carl,” he said comfortingly.

Barbara shuddered. “I tried not to,” she confessed. “And I got along all right until he started licking me with his tongue. Ugh!” She expressed her repugnance with a grimace.

“It’s all right.” Frank danced toward the wide doors leading out to the veranda. “Shall we get some fresh air?” he suggested.

“Oh yes!” Barbara clung to him weakly as they danced onto the wide porch. “It’s so stuffy in there,” she sighed.

“We’ll sit this one out,” he proposed, disengaging his arm and leading her toward a lounge which stood in the dark shadow of a climbing rose on the trellis.

“Oh! It’s wonderful out here,” Barbara murmured. She sank down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’m afraid I can’t stand the pace,” she said woefully. “All I want to do is sit quietly and rest.”

“That’s a crazy gang,” Frank muttered. His arm was tightly about her waist. “And this is just the beginning,” he warned. “They’ll keep this up for hours till they all pass out. That’s their idea of having a good time.”

“What’s yours?” she questioned softly.

“This,” he returned. His arm pressed her closer. His voice flowed evenly. “After all’s said and done... it takes just two in perfect harmony to constitute a good time.”

“Two... of the opposite sex?” she asked queerly.

“Why... yes.” Frank hesitated. His lips brushed across her hair. “Unless... of course...” He hesitated again.

“Unless what?” she asked breathlessly.

“Unless... well... it’s abnormal if there’s not the desire for the opposite sex.”

“Sexual desire?” Barbara’s voice was faint. Her daring frightened her. But she nerved herself to go on. “Is that what you mean?”

“It all gravitates to that.” Frank spoke grudgingly. “Every strong desire in life springs from the sexual impulse... sublimated or otherwise.”

“Then... this is sexual desire... my enjoyment of lying quietly in your arms?” Barbara’s body was tense.

“Yes,” Frank said evenly. “Subconsciously... whether you realize it or not.”

“I don’t realize it,” Barbara cried desperately. “That’s what frightens me. Perhaps I’m not normal. Perhaps it’s because you are of the opposite sex!” There. It was out. She relaxed and drew in her breath sharply. Had she said too much? Would Frank understand... or would he despise her?

He laughed quietly. “Don’t worry about that,” he reassured her. “I’m quite certain your impulses are normal.”

“I’m not sure,” she said relentlessly.

“Would you like to discover beyond a shadow of doubt?” Frank’s voice was light. But she felt the muscles in his body tighten, and he seemed to poise as he awaited her reply.

“Yes,” she said faintly. “But... didn’t you mention... a dark room?”

“I did,” he returned promptly. “But I had an idea Trixie queered that in the car.”

“Have you... had so many women?” Barbara asked unevenly.

Frank hesitated. “Suppose I said yes?” he asked.

“Then I’d be glad,” Barbara told him simply. “I’d say it was a good thing one of us had experience. I’m so woefully ignorant,” she wailed.

“I know,” he said quietly. Then he stood up and pulled at her arm. “Get up,” he commanded.

Barbara trembled as she stood before him. “What... what are you going to do?” she queried faintly.

“I’m going to look for that dark room,” he told her. He took both her hands in his and led her toward a dark entrance. She followed him confidingly. The sounds of merriment from within came to her faintly. All the others seemed far away... as though they were in another world.

There were only she and Frank. In a dimly lit hallway, thickly carpeted and with paneled walls. He led her gently to a door and stopped before it with his finger on his lips. They listened intently but could hear no sound from within.

He smiled as he turned the knob to enter. “One never knows what one will run into during a party like this,” he muttered. “It’s always best to make sure before venturing into a dark bedroom.”

He turned on the switch as he spoke... then uttered a quick exclamation as he switched the light off again abruptly. Barbara caught only a blurred impression of the scene within the room as his exclamation was echoed by a shrill shriek from the corner.

Frank pulled her from the room and shut the door firmly. “Damn fools!” he ejaculated, wiping the perspiration from his brow. “They ought to have sense enough to lock the door.”

Barbara smiled faintly as she followed him down the hall to a stairway. In her heart was the knowledge that yesterday she would have fainted had she turned on the light to see such a scene. But yesterday seemed so far away. She found that she wasn’t a bit shocked now. Only amused. It seemed so much a part of this strange new life she was being introduced to.

At the top of the stairs Frank made an abrupt turn to the right. “We’ll go in my room,” he said. “It’s locked and I know we won’t be disturbed.”

Barbara waited quietly while he inserted a key in the lock and opened the door. Then she entered behind him while he turned on a top light. It was a large room. Magnificently decorated in somber browns, and furnished with massive oak chairs, tables, and huge four-poster bed.

Frank stepped into a closet while she stood in the center of the floor with a peculiar smile on her lips. He carried a silk robe over his arm when he reappeared.

“You’ll want to take that tight thing off,” he suggested. He handed her the robe, and smiled as she looked at it doubtfully. “I’ll go in the other room and get into something else while you change,” he said tactfully. “The bathroom’s right there,” he added as she smiled her thanks.

Barbara carried the robe to the bed and laid it there carefully. Then she sat down and stared at the floor. A faint voice persisted in whispering that this was not Barbara Dorn. This could not be Barbara Dorn! Sitting on a huge bed in a man’s room... preparing to disrobe in anticipation of his return. It was preposterous to think of Barbara Dorn doing that!

Of course it was not she. Another soul had slipped into her physical body and taken full possession. This was no more Barbara Dorn than were any of the girls who danced and laughed downstairs. This girl who sat upon the bed was merely a chip tossed up by the swirling madness which was Mardi Gras. This bit of flotsam had no connection whatsoever with Barbara Dorn.

Her mind played with the fantasy as she kicked off her shoes and drew down her stockings. She felt giddy and shaken as she stood up to pull the Quaker costume off over her head. She looked at this stranger as she dropped the costume to the floor. The body was the same. Of course! She nodded emphatically at the reflection in the mirror. The physical envelope was unchanged.

The only change was within. Her eyes gave evidence of that. They were grave and serene. Barbara Dorn would be frightened and furtive in a like situation. But this stranger who inhabited her body was not frightened.

Barbara slipped the robe over her shoulders and threw back the covers on the bed. Frank came through the door as she stretched out comfortably. She smiled a welcome at him as he switched out the light. He had changed to a fanciful lounging robe. She felt quite certain he wore nothing beneath the robe.

He sat on the edge of the bed gently, and touched her brow with his fingertips. An indescribable thrill enveloped her. She took his hand and moved it down to her lips so she might kiss it passionately... then downward to the tip of her bosom which ached for his caresses.

Frank murmured endearments as he kissed her eyes... and her lips. She let the robe fall back from her body. It seemed that her soul floated off in a vaporous mist as his lips touched her shoulders, her neck, the swell of her breast.

Twenty-two years of unspent passion arose to assail her. Her breasts throbbed, and she clutched his head to her roughly.

It was more than she could stand. Frank knew so well what must be done. She writhed and her desire tormented her. It was menacing. She shrank from the shameful implication. An accusing finger was pointed at her scornfully in the dark room.

Then she expired. The livingness that had been Barbara Dorn fled into the night and left the shell of her body. Her muscles relaxed as she drew in a breath shudderingly. Then she was limp.

Frank hesitated. He lifted his head and spoke softly. “My dear?”

She did not reply.

“Barbara!” He shook her slightly. Her form moved limply at his touch.

“My God!” Frank moved to lay his cheek over her heart. He was choking with a strange fear.

Her heart beat irregularly. He shook her shoulder and covered her face with kisses. She lay quiescent, only her faint breathing attesting that she lived.

“My God!” he muttered again. “She’s passed out like a ship going over the horizon,” he said aloud.

Speaking his thoughts aloud seemed to arouse him to the necessity of the moment. He jumped up and ran to turn on the light. Then he hesitated and turned back to look at Barbara before opening the door. She lay upon her back with arms outstretched. Her eyes were closed, her face dead-white, but strangely composed.

He ran back to the bed and drew the covers over her. Then hurried from the room pursued by the phantom of fear.

He found Ethel at once, and sent her to Barbara while he called a physician.

Barbara was in the front seat of Frank’s car when she returned to consciousness. She sighed audibly, yawned, and sat erect. “Where am I?” she asked quickly.

Ethel sat beside her in the front seat. Frank was driving. “You poor lamb,” Ethel muttered. “You’ve been in a hell of a shape.”

“What happened?” Barbara looked about wildly. They were driving slowly along a tree-shadowed lane. Barbara was fully dressed.

“We’re out driving in an effort to sober you up before we took you home,” Ethel told her quickly. “How much do you remember?” she asked curiously.

“Oh! I don’t know.” Barbara shuddered again. “Everything’s mixed up,” she said brokenly. “Crazy dreams with what’s really happened. I’m afraid I can’t really separate the real from the dreams. I don’t remember anything clearly since this afternoon in that apartment on Rampart Street. What time is it, and what’s happened?”

“It’s about one o’clock in the morning, and plenty’s happened,” Ethel told her succinctly. “You broke up the party when you played dead. We had a doctor out and everything. Lord God! I thought you were a goner. But he said it was just overexcitement and too much wine and punch. We’ve been driving with you for an hour.”

“Thank God you’re all right,” Frank said fervently. He drew in a deep breath and squared his shoulders.

Barbara looked at him quickly. “You’re all mixed up in my dream,” she told him. “You’ll have to help me straighten it all out.”

“Gladly,” he said humbly. “But let’s wait until to-morrow. I’m going to take you home now and have Ethel put you to bed. If my hair doesn’t turn gray over this night’s episode I’ll be surprised.”

“I’m sorry I caused so much trouble,” Barbara murmured pitiably.

“Don’t you worry about that, honey.” Ethel patted her shoulder comfortingly. “We hit too fast a pace for you. All my fault. Don’t worry your head about it one moment. Everything’s all right that ends all right.”

“But it must have been a terrible experience for you,” Barbara protested. “I’m terribly ashamed of breaking up the party.”

“To hell with the party,” Frank interrupted. “It needed to be broken up. You just sit quietly and I’ll have you home in a jiffy. We’ll all laugh about it tomorrow, but I’m still too frightened to do much laughing.”

All three were silent as he drove on toward the Brinkley home. Frank was wondering how much Barbara remembered: and Ethel was wondering exactly what had taken place in his room before he called her: and Barbara was wondering how much of her confused memories were reality.

None of them spoke again until the car stopped in front of Ethel’s home. Ethel leaped out quickly with a great sigh. “The perfect end to a hectic evening,” she murmured. She took Barbara’s hand to help her alight.

Frank came around the car quickly. “Do you feel faint?” he asked tenderly. “Can you stand all right?” He slipped his arm about her waist.

“I feel fine,” Barbara assured him. “I’ve always thought I’d feel terrible after doing this for the first time... but I don’t... really. I’m not a bit ashamed.”

“I’m so glad,” Frank said quickly. “I’d never cease calling myself a dog if you did feel badly about what happened.” The three of them moved slowly to the gate.

Barbara stopped there and turned to Frank with uplifted arms. “Kiss me,” she said. “I want to thank you for being kind and... and for — everything.”

She clasped her arms about his neck and he kissed her tenderly. “This is only the beginning,” he told her quietly. “You were too drunk to-night. But another day it’ll be different.”

“Well, come on!” Ethel called impatiently. “You two have done plenty for one night.”

“All right.” Frank laughed exultantly. He was just coming to a realization of how much Barbara meant to him. “You need plenty of sleep after to-night,” he said to Barbara. “Good night... and I’ll be seeing you.”

“Good night,” she called after him softly. Then she turned to Ethel as Frank’s car roared off into the night.

None of the three had noticed the dark figure of a man hidden by the shadow of the hedge. A figure which stumbled away uncertainly as the door closed behind Barbara and Ethel.