It is 1879, and a great dream is about to come true for France. It has been decided that a canal should be built between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans in Panama. No one is more excited about the adventure than Charles de Corneau, a handsome, upper-class engineer who has no idea of the world he is about to be thrown into in just a few months. But first, he must somehow attempt to tame his wild desires for Monique de Chesgne, the beauty who has unwittingly drawn him into her soul. After finally winning the battle for her affections, Charles marries Monique, who naively follows him to Panama, where neither has any idea of the challenges they are about to encounter. Driven by the rapture of their passionate, unbridled love, Charles and Monique happily begin their new life together during construction of the canal—unaware that a mysterious rogue hides in the shadows, waiting to satisfy his desires and conquer Monique. In this vivid historical tale, those who have sacrificed so much to help build a monumental canal must summon the greatest courage to survive overwhelming peril and loss—and surrender to the love that will ultimately decide their destinies. Flowers on Stone By Nora E. Milner iUniverse, Inc. Copyright © 2013 Nora E. Milner All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4759-6769-2 CHAPTER 1 The rain lost itself along the cobblestone streets and downinto the gutters as Charles hurried home, energy unbridled andalmost unaware of the water filling his top boots. It was simply toowonderful to be true! He took steps that normally would have lefthim off balance. But today, he could not hurry enough. Late April in Paris was normally a sunny, kind time of year,trees in full bloom and flowers along the boulevards dressed forcoming summer days. It had rained on and off for the past fewdays, but today it seemed that Charles was not even aware of hissurroundings. The world was changing! So much had happened atthe Societe de Geographie today. The thoughts of it all filled hishead with comings and goings of the future ahead. And, think, he,Charles, would be a part, an important part, of it all! As he turned the corner onto the Rue de Madeline, he lookedup for the first time, aware that he had been so distracted. He hadbeen in such a hurry to get home that he had decided to walk ratherthan wait for the carriage to arrive. There, at #113 stood the cityapartment of the family de Corneau, filled with Persian rugs, fineLouis XV furniture and exquisite art objects. And always the housesmelled of good food. Even now, late in the afternoon, Charles couldrecall earlier days as a child arriving home to the pungent aromaof meats and soups that the servants would have cooking on thestoves. The family had several homes, but the city apartment was wherethey lived during Charles' school days and his father's flourishingbusiness deals which generally took them through the fall andwinter to early summer. Opening the door, he realized for the first time that his bootswere full of water and that his umbrella had hardly kept out muchof the rain. He shook himself and emptied his boots, much to thekeen displeasure of Charlotte, the family's downstairs maid andchief cook. She had always taken a rather dim view of the children'sactivities in the house, especially disliking any dirt on their valuablerugs. Of course, today was no exception, as she scolded Charles asif he were still ten years old. "Monsieur Charles! You know you should not get these rugsso wet! You are totally soaked! Upstairs with you and get intosomething dry at once!" "No time, Charlotte. Where is Mama?" "Upstairs in the drawing room. I believe MademoiselleCharbonne is still with her. They are having afternoon tea and I'msure that they will be some time still." "No time to wait," he called back to her as he took the steps, twoat a time, looking back just long enough to see Charlotte shake herhead in disgust and reach down to pick up the soggy baggage thathe had deposited at the front door. Almost unaware of his wet condition, Charles knocked on thedoor, but did not wait for a response. Bursting in upon his motherand her company, he stood there waiting for them to look up andstop their conversation. His mother looked up, somewhat chagrined at her son who hadentered unannounced, seeming to have forgotten his manners. "Charles! What a nice surprise! You know Mademoiselle Charbonne,of course." Barely acknowledging the elderly woman's presence, Charlesnodded and started talking at a fast clip about the day's events. Hewanted so much for her to know how he felt, to share his excitement.However, it became immediately clear that the two women were stillin somewhat of a daze about his curt entrance and were unpreparedfor anything of substance he had to say. Realizing the two women were not even listening to him,Charles said in an exasperated tone, "Mama, please excuse me,forget it," stuttering and turning on his heels to leave the room asquickly as he had entered. No matt