one

St. Louis, Missouri, December 14, 1885

He should’ve known she was hiding something. From the moment Sam Mackenzie had asked Yvette Adelman to marry him, something had been wrong. Only he’d been too besotted by her beauty to want to dig any deeper, which compounded his foolishness.

Sam tilted his head toward the conversation in the next room and considered the old adage about eavesdroppers never hearing any good about themselves. If that wasn’t the plain truth. He blew out a breath and wondered at which point he should push the door open and confront his fiancée and her mother. Maybe he’d best listen a little more and make sure he had heard right.

“I won’t have any trouble. Sam Mackenzie is an absolute sheep and too dumb to realize it.” Yvette’s lyrical tones belied the insulting words.

Sam’s mouth twisted, and his chest felt hollow.

“He’s loaded. That’s all that matters.” Hortense Adelman’s voice carried across the drawing room and through the inch-wide gap in the pocket doors. For a tiny woman, she sure had a powerful speaking voice. He hadn’t been at all sorry at the thought of leaving his soon-to-be mother-in-law behind in a few days.

“He adores me.” Yvette laughed. “I’ve only to mention that I want something, and he’s around here with it in a trice. And he’s eager. I barely had to suggest moving the wedding date up, and he pounced on the idea. In two days I’ll be Mrs. Sam Mackenzie, we’ll be on a train for Colorado, and I’ll be rich. A few weeks in the Mackenzie mansion in Martin City—doesn’t that sound like a dreadful frontier hamlet?—then I’ll tell him how homesick I am for St. Louis, how much I need my mother. I’ll be back here by Easter. Once I’m in the city, I can put off returning to Colorado indefinitely. I’ll have money to burn. By next fall, things will be settled, and I’m sure I can be back in St. Louis society with no one the wiser.”

“What about Anthony? You won’t see him anymore, will you? That would ruin everything. If Sam caught you two together, everything would explode.”

“Oh pooh, I could explain Anthony to Sam. Sam would believe whatever I told him.”

Sam’s neck muscles knotted, and his throat tightened. The bouquet he held shook, and his thumb made a crease in the foil cover of the chocolate box. He eased them onto the table beside the door.

“I’m still amazed at him appearing in our hour of need, Yvette.”

“I told you things would work out fine. I just needed to find the right man to come along. And soon.”

Her laugh, one of the things that had first drawn Sam’s attention, lilted like music. How could something that looked and sounded so good be such a sham? He squared his shoulders and pushed open the pocket doors. “Good afternoon, Yvette, Hortense.”

The way they both jumped would’ve been comical if he hadn’t known what they were up to. Yvette got to her feet, graceful and fluid as always. Sunshine from the bank of windows shone and raced along the fiery ringlets on her cheeks. Her skin, usually white and cool as marble, now showed a hint of color. She widened her sapphire eyes and flicked her lashes. “Why, Sam, I didn’t expect you so early.” She crossed the room and held out her hands, raising her face for his customary kiss. When he failed to oblige, she pulled back and ducked her chin. “What’s this? You’re not getting shy practically on the eve of our wedding?” She batted his arm.

“Shy?” He shook his head. “A sheep like me?” Turning from her, he took the chair beside the fireplace. “That is what you called me, isn’t it?”

Yvette shot a glance at her mother and then shrugged. “You’ve been eavesdropping. Darling, you misunderstood. Whatever you thought you heard has been misconstrued.” She pursed her lips into a bow and blinked at him, the picture of innocence. From her auburn curls to her kid slippers, everything about her was perfect. The white, frothy dress with blue flowers just the color of her eyes, the cameo threaded on a ribbon around her slender neck, her long, delicate fingers ending in perfectly rounded nails—everything calculated to please a man’s eye. She put her hands behind her back in an appealing gesture, one he’d fallen for too many times.

“I don’t believe I misunderstood. I believe I understand for the first time.” He shook his head. “You’ve been deceiving me from the minute I met you.”

She spread her hands, palms up. “Sam, I can explain.”

He looked at Hortense, who sat frozen in her chair, her skin mottled and her mouth slack. “I don’t need to hear any more of your lies. This farce of an engagement is over. You’ll have to find yourself some other idiot.”

Yvette’s mouth opened, and a little squeak came out. She shook her lovely head. “No, Sam, you don’t mean that. You love me.”

A rueful chuckle escaped him. “I sure thought I did. I feel almost as much of a fool as you made me out to be. Suckered by your looks and your pretty talk. I think I was in love with the idea of you, flattered that someone so beautiful would fall for the likes of me. I let you manipulate me, talk me into a short engagement.” He shook his head. “I should’ve known. Something’s been off about our relationship from the start. You had me measured up for a matrimonial noose the minute we were introduced.”

Hortense gave a strangled cry. “Don’t do this to my girl. You’ll ruin everything.”

“Mother, please leave us alone. I know we can sort this out if we can just be alone for a little while.”

Hortense scuttled out of the room as if her hem were on fire. She threw one last desperate glance over her shoulder before closing the doors behind her.

Two perfect tears squeezed out of Yvette’s eyes. “Sam, please, I beg you not to do this. Let me explain.” She stepped toward him, but he rose and rounded the chair, putting it between him and his ex-fiancée.

“No, it wouldn’t be the truth. I think being truthful is beyond your capabilities. You’ve traded on your looks and gotten favors from men for so long, it’s become a habit. You say whatever you think they want to hear. You lie when it suits you, and you deny the truth when confronted.” He sighed, giving free rein to all the doubts that had been building over the past month. “This isn’t the first time I’ve caught you lying, but I believed your explanations because I wanted to believe.”

Yvette’s face crumpled. “Please Sam, say you don’t mean the engagement is off. I’ll apologize if something I said hurt your feelings. I don’t really think you’re a sheep. I love you, and I know you love me.” She edged around the chair and stroked his arm.

His guts roiled. Where once he had eagerly anticipated her touch, now it felt akin to a snake slithering across his skin. He jerked back. “No. It’s over. They say there’s a sucker born every minute. Well, I’m all done being your sucker. I used to believe in love. I think that’s why I fell for you so quickly in the first place. I wanted to fall in love. But being with you has cured me of that notion for good.”

Yvette dissolved into sobs, though he noted how controlled and perfect her crying appeared and how every few seconds she glanced reproachfully at him, as if she were gauging his response for signs of capitulation. More games, more lies.

Sam brushed past her and shoved the doors open.

Hortense jumped aside and pressed against the wall opposite the doors, her hand on her chest.

He grabbed his hat and the flowers and chocolates. Jamming his hat on his head, he couldn’t resist one last jab. “Baa!”

❧

Eldora Carter kept her chin up and refused to cry, though the tears burning the backs of her eyes demanded release. Staring straight ahead, hands clasped in front of her, she tried to be brave in the face of the tirade coming from her employer.

“I will not stand for this impertinence.” Mrs. Gamble’s bulk nearly overwhelmed the chair. She placed her pen into its holder and leaned back. “You will apologize to my son, and you will remember your place in this household.” She crossed her arms under her broad bosom and contemplated the pelmet. “This is what I get for my charity. I told Mr. Korbin I wanted someone who would know her place, do her work, and not cause me any trouble. And he sends me you.” Her hand waved in a dismissive gesture. “Dressed like a scarecrow, eyes like saucers, and no sense of what being a domestic requires.”

Eldora adjusted her shawl, crossing it over her chest like armor. Her hands stung from the hours of scrubbing she’d already put in today, and her lower back ached from her time over the washtubs.

“You’ve been here three weeks, and this is the third time I’ve had to reprimand you.” Mrs. Gamble’s eyes looked small in her puffy face. Like a colt, she had fine whiskers around her lips that quivered when she was angry. They quivered now. “I don’t know what they taught you at that orphanage, and I suppose I should’ve expected no better, but for you to try to entice my son is beyond the scope of common decency.”

Beau Gamble hadn’t even had the courage to own up to what he had done. Was the red mark of her hand still evident on his cheek? She hoped so. The lout. She swallowed against the lump in her throat and returned her attention to Mrs. Gamble.

“I will not tolerate such behavior under my roof. If you want to comport yourself as a common trollop, you will do so elsewhere. You will apologize to my son and give me your promise you will behave yourself, or I’ll send you straight back to the orphanage, and Conrad can deal with you.”

Eldora said nothing. She shifted her weight, trying to ease the discomfort on the bottom of her right foot where the sole of her boot had worn through. She’d stepped on a sharp stone on her way to the grocery for the cook this morning, and the resulting bruise throbbed.

“Well, are you going to apologize?”

She finally looked her employer in the eye. Though her mouth was dry, she refused to back down. “No ma’am, I am not. I have nothing to apologize for.”

Mrs. Gamble blinked and gasped. Her mouth slacked, and for a moment the whiskers stopped trembling. “What do you call throwing yourself at my son like a tart?”

“I did no such thing. Your son is the one to blame.” Even as she said it, Eldora knew it was useless to protest her innocence. Mrs. Gamble would never believe her precious son could be lascivious. Any trouble would always be the fault of the girl. But she refused to be accused any longer without standing up for herself.

“Your son is the most disgusting man I’ve ever met. I couldn’t walk from my room to the basement laundry without him accosting me. His suggestions and comments were filthy. Why do you think you have such trouble keeping help in this house? It’s your awful son. He tried several times to kiss me, but I managed to evade him. Today, I’d finally had enough. He deserves worse than a slap across his horrible face, and if you don’t put a stop to his actions he’ll go on until he finally ruins some poor girl. Well, I refuse to be that girl.”

Mrs. Gamble’s eyes glittered like a snake’s. “You lie. All you servant girls are alike. You try to capture a man, and when he rebuffs you, you make wild accusations.” She levered herself up and stood toe-to-toe with Eldora.

Though Eldora’s insides quaked, she refused to show fear. She might be about to be turned out into the cold, but she would not cower before this tyrant. “It is you who is lying to yourself, Mrs. Gamble. I may only be an orphan, and not very pretty. And I have nothing of my own but my dignity and my virtue. But I will give neither to you or your son. I quit.”

Mrs. Gamble looked like she might strangle on all she wanted to say.

Before the woman unscrambled her thoughts, Eldora walked out of the sumptuous room. She marched up three flights to her attic bedroom, stuffed her nightgown and comb into her small bag, and headed downstairs. Since she didn’t own a coat, her shawl would have to suffice on the long walk.

Beau waited on the landing, his handsome face sneering. She stopped, instantly wary, though taking small satisfaction that the outline of her fingers still showed on his cheekbone. “Leaving? Too bad. I would’ve liked the chance to tame that feisty temper.”

“Let me pass.”

“Not without a kiss good-bye.”

“You’re a rogue and a rake, Beau Gamble. If you touch me I’ll scream this house right down.”

“Can I carry your bag for you, miss?” The houseman stood at the foot of the steps. His face seemed carved from granite. Relief washed through Eldora even as disappointment flashed in Beau’s eyes.

“Yes, please.” She edged by Beau and hurried to the first floor.

Jimson took her bag and her elbow. “I’m sorry you’re leaving us, miss.” The older man tugged her arm when she would’ve turned to go to the back door. “You’ll go out the front, like a lady.” He kept looking straight ahead, but his expression softened somewhat from its usual sternness. Bowing slightly, he held the door for her and handed her the parcel she’d given him. “Godspeed, miss.”

“Thank you, Jimson.” She smiled and squeezed his arm. It was the first time in her three weeks in the Gamble house that she’d called the man by his name. When he closed the door, she headed down the gravel horseshoe drive toward the street to begin the long walk back to the orphanage.

She stopped when she got to the street and looked back at the mansion. How could something so beautiful on the outside be so rotten on the inside?