CHAPTER
35 
Conning Lyman and Rosemond was more difficult than I had anticipated, especially since Kindle took my advice to heart and said little. Lyman seemed to find Kindle’s taciturn demeanor amusing, but being the student of human nature he was, knew better than to rib Kindle directly. Instead, he slowed our pace so we fell behind and aimed his barbs at me.
“I do hope he is paying you handsomely. What torture it must be for a woman like you to be with a stick in the mud such as him.”
“He has his charms. You don’t mind that Rosemond prefers him to you?”
“Not when I have you as consolation.”
“Do you know her well?”
“We have a history.”
“Should I be worried?”
“That she will steal your John? I suppose it depends on how well you are satisfying our swain.”
I wasn’t about to be pulled into a conversation about having sex with Kindle, even if it was playacting. “I am sure he would detest being called a swain.”
“He probably doesn’t know what it means.”
I glanced up a street in Cape Girardeau. It was moderately better than the small towns I had passed through in Texas, owning to the river business, no doubt. The streets were muddy, though these false-front buildings were bricked and somewhat had a sense of permanence. “What is your business in town? We’ve almost run out of street.”
“I need a new hat.”
His derby was perfectly fine. “What is wrong with your hat?”
He stopped and took it off. “It’s not mine. I won it from a man. Your friend, as a matter of fact.”
“What friend?”
One corner of Lyman’s mouth curled up. “Of course. My mistake. I won this from a man named Henry Pope.” Lyman flipped the hat onto his head and grinned. Kindle and Rosemond had turned back and were walking toward us. “Ryan, come help me buy a hat.”
“No, thank you.”
“You’d rather stay out here with the women?” Kindle narrowed his eye at Lyman and didn’t reply. Lyman threw his arm around Kindle’s shoulder. Kindle visibly stiffened. “Come now. It will be worth your while. I promise.” Kindle went with him and Lyman called back, “You two ladies go have lunch. We will meet you in an hour.”
A bell rang over the door of the haberdashery shop as they entered, and they disappeared.
“They aren’t going to buy a hat, are they?” I said.
“No. There’s a poker game that’s been going on in the back of the store for three years.”
“You’re joking.”
“No. I played in it once. They kicked me out after an hour.”
“You were winning that much?”
She shrugged noncommittally. “Do you play?”
“Are you any good?”
“I won more than I lost.”
“Hmm. Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Me, neither.” She put her arm through mine and pulled me along. “Let’s go for a walk.”
We walked down an alley and through the backstreets until we were out of town and at the start of a trail that wound through the woods and disappeared. I slowed and tried to turn back. “Should we go so far away?”
“It isn’t far.” She released my arm and appraised me. “Don’t you trust me?”
“No.”
Rosemond laughed and put her arm through mine again. “As well you shouldn’t.”
Her eyes were a deep brown, the same color as her hair. A generous amount of powder covered the smallpox scars dotting her face, an adequate disguise in low light, but obscene in the bright light of day. Her features were pleasant enough, but what made her striking were her clothes and her confident carriage.
“You’re staring,” she said, but kept her eyes forward.
“How long have you known William?”
“Five years, I suppose. Sometime after the war. And, you?”
“We met a week ago, when he obtained my services.”
“Hmm.” She pulled her arm from mine and pushed a low-hanging tree limb out of the way for me to pass through. It was like walking into a different world.
Large lily pads with white flowers rimmed a small pond. Frogs splashed into the water, and the ducks, which had been serenely floating in the middle, took flight at our arrival. Pine trees fenced the pond in from the rest of the world and shrank the sky to a jagged blue circle dotted with clouds shaped like bolls of cotton. The scent of pinesap, moss, and mud mingled in the air. It was an enchanting place. I turned to say so to Rosemond, but the comment died on my lips at her expression.
“Let’s cut the bullshit, Sophia. You aren’t in the trade any more than I’m related to an English lord.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
She stepped close and stared at me levelly. We were of the same height and build. “If Kindle had wanted a paid companion in Saint Louis, he would have come to me.”
The jab hurt because I knew the truth in it.
“Which leads me to believe you’re the woman he threw his career away for. The Murderess who was supposed to have died in Indian Territory.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You’re a serviceable liar, but you’re no match for me.”
I glared at Rosemond. She knew who I was. The charade was up and I could treat her with all the hatred and disdain I wanted. “Kindle won’t need your services ever again.”
Rosemond laughed. “Don’t fool yourself. Most of my customers are married men, unhappy with their wives. After last night he should be satisfied for a while, at least. Lay with him whenever he asks and he might not stray too often. He’s more honorable than most.”
My breathing turned shallow and I hated my body for betraying my mortification and anger. I kept my voice level and said, “Thank you. I will give the advice of a whore all of the merit and consideration it deserves.”
She smirked. “I have more experience pleasing men than you do.”
“Yes, but very little in getting a man to the altar.” Her smirk faded. “Was Kindle one of your targets? A dashing young officer with a plantation in Maryland. I imagine landing him as a regular was quite a coup for a pockmarked whore such as you. You must indeed have hidden talents. Or was it your personality and conversation that secured him?”
“You’d be careful to not alienate me.”
“Or what? You’ll turn me in? I imagine you will regardless. Turn me in and you can have Kindle yourself, yes?”
“I can offer him something you cannot.”
I crossed my arms. “Oh, this should be rich.”
“His name.” She raised a thick, but expertly groomed, eyebrow at my reaction. “I’ve serviced enough officers at Jefferson Barracks that it would be easy to get his desertion charge dismissed. Or a dishonorable discharge, at the least.”
I turned away and thought of our argument at the orphanage, when Kindle had detailed everything he’d given up for me. His name had been at the top of the list.
“What do you offer, Sophia? Or should I call you Catherine?” I looked over my shoulder at her.
“I prefer Laura.”
“Laura. I followed your story quite closely. I admired you. You accomplished so much. As much as I hate to admit it, I still admire you.” Rosemond walked around and stopped in front of me. She laughed. “Don’t look so terrified. I don’t want Kindle.”
My head jerked up. “Then why offer this?”
“I like him enough I don’t want to see him wasting his life running from the law for you. If you truly loved him, you wouldn’t either.”
It was my turn to laugh. “You expect me to believe you’ve got only Kindle’s best interests at heart? I’ve known my share of prostitutes and few do anything out of the goodness of their hearts. What do you want, Rosie?”
“Five hundred dollars.”
“I don’t have five hundred dollars.”
“You either give me five hundred dollars in cash or I turn you in for the money.”
“Kindle would never forgive you.”
“Kindle would get down on his knees and thank me for freeing him from you.”
“What’s Lyman’s role in this?”
“What?”
“Lyman. Is he in on your little scam?”
“No, and you better hope he doesn’t figure out who you are.”
“Why?”
“Lyman is a snake. I wouldn’t trust him with a plugged nickel.”
The limb blocking the trail was brushed aside and the topic of our conversation walked through. “Now, Rosemond, that hurts my feelings. After all we’ve meant to each other.”
Rosemond’s initial shock at Lyman’s appearance turned into a coy smile. “Lyman, you know better than to eavesdrop on women’s private conversation.”
Lyman walked forward and put his arm around my waist. “Don’t believe her, Sophia. She’s jealous.”
“I can’t imagine of what,” I said, trying to disentangle myself from Lyman without seeming to. He tightened his grip on my waist.
“Of you, of course. She and I had a—what would you call it, Rosemond?”
“Business arrangement.”
“Oh, it was more than that.”
“Maybe to you,” Rosemond said.
Lyman grinned, but dropped the subject. “Come, Sophia, I have a business proposition for you.” He held the bough back and I walked through, but not before glancing back at Rosemond, who shook her head at me in warning.
“Where’s Mr. Ryan?”
“I left him at the game with a full house and a jug of whisky. There was room for only one player and I graciously gave him my seat.”
“How kind of you.”
“I thought so.” Lyman placed his hand over my hand, which was resting in the crook of his arm. “I have a proposition for you.”
“Mr. Ryan has paid for my services for the entire trip. I couldn’t possibly go back on our arrangement.”
“I wouldn’t dream of asking you to.”
“Then what are you asking?”
He stopped at a curve in the trail and pulled me close. “For a few hours.”
I tried to twist away but his grip tightened. “Mr. Lyman, really.”
“Why are you fighting, Sophia? You’re a professional. I would think you’d be anxious to make a bit of extra money. Ryan never need know. I’m sure Rosemond won’t mind keeping him occupied for a few hours.”
I stopped struggling and stared up into Lyman’s eyes. They were calculating, prescient, and teasing. He was testing me. Did he merely suspect I wasn’t a working woman or did he suspect I was Catherine Bennett? Kindle hadn’t acted like he knew Lyman, but if Lyman’d been working the river for years, and in Saint Louis, there was a possibility he’d known of Kindle. I glanced back the way we came. Rosemond and Lyman shared a history. What were the chances she’d told him about a former client who’d been the subject of Pope’s article?
I lifted one corner of my mouth and ran my fingers up and down the lapels of his coat. “You make an excellent point.”
Lyman didn’t try to mask his surprise as he bent his head to kiss me. I turned away. “We should talk numbers. You might not be able to afford me.”
“Oh, I’m sure I can.”
“Three hundred dollars.”
Lyman laughed. “Don’t be absurd.”
“If Ryan finds out he will put me off the boat at the next port without the other half of my fee. You have to make the chance worth my while.”
“A hundred dollars an hour?”
“Trust me, I’m worth it.” I almost gagged on the words, at the proposition I was making this man. Instead, I thought of Camille, how she would react, manipulate him into doing precisely what she wanted.
“What’s your specialty?”
My specialty? “Whatever you want.”
He removed the combs from my hair, running his hands through it. “Do you pretend to be a boy?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“And, you’ll let me bugger you?”
I swallowed my disgust. “It’ll cost double.”
“Deal.”
I leaned away from Lyman and held out my hand between us to shake on the deal. Lyman smiled and said, “A kiss would be more appropriate, don’t you think?”
I wanted to argue, was readying to, when I realized I couldn’t if I wanted to get out of this forest without arousing Lyman’s suspicious. I leaned forward and kissed him. He gathered me closer, dashing my hope of a quick kiss. I shuddered in disgust, though Lyman responded as if it was from desire. With great subtlety and skill, Lyman coaxed my mouth open and deepened the kiss before I realized what was happening.
The sound of a gun’s hammer being cocked stopped us.
“Get your hands off my whore or I’m gonna put a bullet in your head.”
I tried to get free of Lyman’s grasp but he held me close. I could see only the left side of Kindle’s face and couldn’t read his expression. His voice, controlled and quiet, told of the depth of his anger. “Come, now, Ryan. It was an innocent kiss.”
“There was nothing innocent in what I saw.”
“How did you find us?”
“I’ve brought him back here,” Rosemond said.
Now she shows up.
“Let me go, please.”
Lyman released me and I walked to Kindle. I smoothed my mussed hair. Kindle’s jaw was clenched so tight the muscle in his cheek pulsed.
The gambler faced Kindle with a smile. “She’s something else.” He wiped the corners of his mouth, which I was mortified to discover were damp. “And, game. Why don’t we share her? She might be willing to do us at the same time.”
Kindle punched Lyman in the nose with the butt of his gun. The crack from the cartilage breaking was quickly covered by his scream. Kindle grabbed my hand and dragged me down the trail, as Rosemond moved to help her former, and I suspected current, business partner.
I knew better than to speak, and let Kindle pull me through town, up the gangway, and down the hallway to our room. As he opened the door, the idea I might not leave the room alive flashed through my mind. He pushed me through the door and slammed it behind us.
“Did you enjoy it?” Kindle said.
“Enjoy what?”
“Laura.”
I cleared my throat and glanced away. I’d never been able to lie to Kindle, but I knew the honest truth would not serve me well. “Lyman seemed to know what he was doing.”
“Why were you kissing him?”
“He was testing me. A paid companion would have no objection to the proposition, would she? So thank you for telling such a stupid lie that you compromised me with a snake like Lyman.”
“What proposition?”
“He wants me to service him on the side—pretend to be a boy, specifically, with all that entails. I can make six hundred dollars for three hours. We’d be able to pay Rosemond off and be one hundred dollars in the clear. She’s figured out who I am, by the way.”
Kindle moved forward and towered over me. “You are not servicing Lyman.”
“Why not? It’s no less a sacrifice than you spending the night with Rosemond, is it? You did that to protect me, right?” The thought of Rosemond’s taunt about pleasing Kindle emboldened me. “Did you fuck Rosemond last night?”
“I told you what happened.”
“Why should I believe you?”
He dipped his head as if to kiss me, but I turned my head away.
“Because I’m your husband and I said a vow I intend to keep.”
I glared at him. “It’s a simple yes-or-no question.”
His hand went to my hip and slowly pulled up my skirt until he found the waist of my bloomers. He slid his hand beneath the soft cotton and onto my bare skin.
I grabbed his wrist to stop him, my desire for him warring with my dislike of his patriarchal attitude, just as my need to carry every argument contradicted the thrill I felt when Kindle wouldn’t back down.
“Does knowing that another man wants me excite you?” My breathing quickened in anticipation. “Or does it scare you?”
He jerked my bloomers down and lifted me onto the edge of the dresser. His mouth found mine as his hand moved between my legs. I opened up for him, gasping as his fingers plunged deep inside me.
I pushed his shoulders back. He stared at me, eye hooded with desire. “Swear to me you didn’t fuck Rosemond.”
“I swear.”