Butterfly Palace

by Coble, Colleen

  Emily blinked. “Not well. He’s been coming around the house for about six months with his eye on marrying Miss Belle. She’s not interested, but her uncle is pressing her. Vesters is filthy rich, and he is an avid butterfly collector just like Mr. Marshall. They belong to some kind of butterfly organization called Novo. It’s Latin for ‘change,’ and it uses a butterfly as its logo.”

  Lily shuddered. “The butterfly conservatory is creepy. I don’t like going in there. All those beautiful butterflies pinned into display cases . . . Why does Mr. Marshall do it?”

  Her friend shrugged. “He thinks they’re beautiful.”

  “They are when they’re alive.”

  “Why are you asking about Mr. Vesters anyway? If you’re hoping he’ll attract Miss Belle away from Mr. Hawkes, you’re quite wrong.”

  Lily shook her head. “I believe he may have had something to do with my father’s death.”

  Emily’s eyes widened. “Your father was in Austin?”

  How much should Lily reveal? If she told Emily about the possible counterfeiting, there would be more questions. Questions that might lead to Drew’s interest in the man. “Our fathers were killed in a fire. He heard a rumor it was set and one of Vesters’s accomplices did the deed.”

  Emily’s spoon clattered into her empty bowl. “I didn’t want to speak ill of anyone, but I did see something the other day.”

  Lily’s pulse stuttered, and she leaned forward. “About Mr. Vesters?”

  Emily nodded. “He had a stack of money, and he threw it in the fire.”

  “He burned money?”

  “Quite strange, isn’t it? He stirred the fire until the bills were ashes.”

  Counterfeit money? She needed to let Drew know. “How much money did he burn?”

  Emily held her fingers about two inches apart. “A stack like that.”

  “Did you see the money? Was there something odd about it?”

  “I wasn’t close enough to see any details. Just the bills.” Emily lowered her voice. “Do you think it was fake money?”

  “It seems likely. Who would burn real money?”

  “What if it was stolen, and he was afraid he’d be caught with it?”

  Lily paused at the thought, then shook her head. “Why not just hide it until it was safe to use? I bet there was something wrong with the money. This was in the parlor? Where were the Marshalls?”

  “They hadn’t arrived yet from a lunch engagement, and Mr. Vesters dropped by unannounced. I put him in the parlor and told him he could wait.”

  “He probably wants to marry Belle for the money. If he’s desperate enough for that, he might be willing to step across the law to save his estate too. Did he see you watching?”

  Emily shook her head. “I saw him in the hall mirror. It reflected his behavior clearly. I’m sure he has no idea he was seen.”

  Lily tried to hide her rising excitement. “Still, it seems odd he would burn it in our parlor. Why not take care of it at home rather than where his actions might be discovered?”

  “It’s strange, I admit.”

  Lily’s attention was caught by a tall figure striding her way, determination stamped on his face. Drew motioned to her, then vanished behind a shrub. Though she told herself the heat in her cheeks was from the warm day, Lily couldn’t explain away the throb of her pulse in her throat as she took her leave from Emily. It was several minutes before Emily finally let her go.

  THIRTEEN

  The wind stiffened as dark clouds began to gather overhead. The days were getting short, and the clouds brought an even earlier dusk. Lily glanced behind the tree and along the side of the storefront but didn’t see Drew. A boy on a bicycle saw her and waved, so she approached him. “Can I help you?”

  He had a smudge of black on his upturned nose, and his hair didn’t look like it had been combed in days. “Are you Miss Lily? The gentleman gave me a quarter to tell you to meet him in St. David’s Episcopal Church.” He pointed to the steeple. “In the garden.”

  Lily thanked him and hurried toward the church. The moonlight tower wasn’t on this early, though it was dark enough that its illumination would have helped. The church was on the corner of Eighth and San Jacinto. No one was about when she made her way across the grounds to the garden. At least Drew had the sense to talk to her in a private setting. Someone would have been sure to notice their conversation at the candy store.

  She paused near a bank of roses. “Drew?” The hair prickled on the back of her neck. The silence pressed in on her, and she peered into the gloom. She retreated a few feet. “Who’s there?” Her voice trembled even though she knew there was nothing to fear here in the steeple’s shadow.

  She started to whirl at a footfall behind her, but a hard hand came down over her mouth and dragged her off the path and behind a line of shrubs.

  He crushed her against his chest and kept her from turning her head. She caught a glimpse of something shiny and stilled. A knife blade. The cold metal touched her under the chin.

  “So beautiful,” the man crooned.

  Lily’s throat closed. This man intended to kill her. Had he been watching her? She quit struggling. Maybe he would loosen his grip. Her bag was still in her hand. Was there something she could use as a weapon? Her hand touched the hard clasp. It was sharp on one end.

  She waited for her opportunity as the man dragged her farther into the shadows. His grip loosened on her right arm, and she brought the bag up with the point toward him. She hit his face with all her strength. She felt the protrusion sink into skin, and her fingers touched hair.

  He swore viciously, and his hand left her arm. She wrenched herself out of his grip and ran toward the garden gate. A shriek burst from her chest, and she heard an answering shout past the arbor. Help was coming.

  Footsteps went the other direction. She spared a glance over her shoulder and saw a bulky form hurtling over the trimmed hedge like a track and field runner. Her strength left her, and she sank to her knees on the grass. Could Drew have lured her here on purpose? She rejected the notion, but it kept insinuating itself into her thoughts.

  What did she really know about the man he’d become? Her presence in Austin may have made him fearful she would ruin whatever plans he was pursuing. She wasn’t sure she believed he was with the Secret Service. Could he have fed her all those lies to make her trust him?

  A policeman arrived and helped her to her feet. “Are you all right, miss?”

  She burst into tears and nodded. “A man—he had a knife.” She gestured toward the garden. Another policeman arrived, and he ran into the garden where the hedge had been disturbed.

  The policeman guided her to a bench at the front of the church property. “Can you describe him?”

  “I didn’t see him very well. Taller than me and muscular. Maybe five ten. He could have been anyone though. It was too dark to see clearly, and he attacked me from behind.”

  “You’re very lucky. I’ll escort you home. Where do you live?”

  “I’m a lady’s maid for Mr. Everett Marshall’s niece.”

  He straightened and looked at her with respect in his eyes. “Ah, the Butterfly Palace. I know it. Mr. Marshall is well liked in the city.”

  Lily managed a watery smile. “Thank you for your assistance. I feel quite shaken.”

  Several people approached from across the street, and Emily hurried toward her. The sight of her friend nearly made Lily cry again.

  Emily’s cheeks were pink when she reached them. “Lily, are you all right? What happened?”

  “I was attacked.” Lily shook her head quickly when she saw Emily’s expression. “N-Not that kind of attack. He held a knife to my throat. If I hadn’t hit him with my bag, he would have killed me.” She held up her flimsy purse and laughed. “It doesn’t look like much of a weapon, but I used the clasp.”

  The policeman looked it over. “Would he carry a wound from this, miss?”

  “I believe so. I felt it sink into his skin.” For the fi
rst time she was hopeful they might find her attacker. “I think it hit his scalp.”

  “I’ll let the men know to be looking for someone injured that way.” He stared at Lily. “And what were you doing in the church garden?”

  The acceptable answer would be to say she was praying. She didn’t dare tell him she was meeting Drew.

  Emily glanced at her and shrugged. “What does anyone do at a church, Officer? That’s a silly question.”

  He reddened. “Can you escort your friend home? I’d like to help search.”

  “Of course.” Emily held up her purse. “We are both armed and dangerous.”

  Drew was only inside the store a moment, but he was beginning to think he must have missed Lily when he stepped inside for a drink of water. Or else she’d ignored his request to speak to her. He sat on a stone wall in the alley and watched for her familiar form. When she hadn’t come fifteen minutes later, he rose and stretched. Might as well head back to the Butterfly Palace.

  There seemed to be a commotion near the church as he walked that direction. The rain began to fall, fat drops that soaked his coat and shoes and left a tang in the air. He pulled up his collar and hurried faster. As he drew abreast of the church, he squinted at the two women exiting the grounds. His pulse kicked when he recognized Lily. What was she doing here? And why were policemen roaming around looking grim?

  He ran after them and caught at Lily’s arm. “What’s happened?”

  She shook off his hand. “Why didn’t you meet me?”

  “What? You never showed up.”

  Rain sluiced over her soaked hair and face. “I got your message to come to the church, but you left me to be attacked by some maniac! Did you purposely lure me there, Drew?”

  He held up his hand. “Wait, I never told you to meet me at the church. I was waiting where I motioned you to. Why would you think I wanted to meet at the church?”

  Her eyes widened and she took a step back. “A boy said you’d asked him to give me a message. I had no reason to disbelieve him.”

  “You were attacked here?” There was a red mark on her neck, and she flinched when he reached out to touch it.

  “I’m fine.”

  Emily smiled and held up her bag. “He’ll know better than to try to hurt this one again. She had a lethal purse.”

  Lily’s cheeks reddened. “I got lucky, Emily.”

  Emily still smiled inanely as she swung her purse around. Drew bit his lip to keep from laughing with her, even though the thought of Lily facing an attacker with only her bag was enough to make him quake in his boots.

  He took her arm. “Let’s get you home.”

  She pulled away again. “I’d rather you didn’t escort me.”

  Emily nodded. “If Belle sees her, she’s out on the streets. I’ll get her home.”

  The rain tapered off to a drizzle. He willed her to look at him. “You believe me, don’t you? You know I’d never do anything to hurt you.”

  Her lush lashes swept to her cheeks, then back up again. Her eyes blazed out of her white face as she studied him. “I don’t know what to believe anymore, Drew. It was all very . . . convenient.”

  His chest tightened, and he curled his fingers into his palms. If she wanted to think so poorly of him, he couldn’t blame her. What had he done to deserve her trust?

  She wiped the water from her face with the back of her sleeve. “I must go. I’m quite chilled.”

  “Of course.” He knew his formal tone hurt her when she bit her lip and turned away.

  As soon as she was out of sight, he went to speak to the police still milling around the church grounds. “I’m a friend of the young woman who was attacked. Did you find the culprit?”

  The policeman was young, around twenty-five, with a pimply complexion. He shook his head, but his gray eyes studied Drew. “We recovered his knife where he dropped it as he jumped over the hedge. It was a nasty one, sharp as the dickens. She’s a lucky girl.”

  Drew suppressed a shudder. He didn’t like to think of Lily terrorized and hurt. “Could I see it? I might be able to identify it.”

  “You some kind of metalsmith?” The policeman motioned for Drew to follow.

  The knife lay on the steps to the church. It glinted in the sunlight beginning to shine through the clouds. The thing was easily eight inches long. He’d seen something like it before, but he couldn’t quite remember where.

  The policeman picked it up. “It’s an uncommon piece. Real whalebone handle.”

  Whalebone. Ballard carved whalebone, and that’s where Drew had seen a knife like this. But Ballard didn’t know Lily was here. Did he?

  It was Emily’s turn to take up Drew’s breakfast, but when she heard Lily needed to talk to him the next morning, Emily quickly traded days with her. Lily didn’t want to do this, but Jane needed help. Seeing Drew grew more painful every time she heard his voice.

  He was at the table with his Bible again. She set his tray on the table in front of him. “I need to speak with you a moment, if you don’t mind.”

  His gaze went to her neck. “You still have a mark. Does it hurt?”

  She touched her neck. “Not really. There’s much more to worry about than this.”

  He put down his fork. “Like what?”

  “I took Jane a few items for the baby. She wants our help to extricate Nathan from his association with Vesters. According to Jane, Vesters is forcing him to do something he doesn’t want to do. Nathan is afraid of him.”

  “What’s he afraid of? Did Jane say?”

  She shook her head. “She also told me something else very disconcerting. Vesters is the father of her baby.”

  He rose and took her by the shoulders. “I don’t want you involved in this. The tentacles are spreading everywhere. Let me handle it.”

  She lifted her chin. “Jane is my friend. I’m not going to desert her.”

  His gaze searched hers. “It’s wonderful how you want to help her. In the old days, we were both pretty selfish. I love the way you help other people.” His hands fell away, and he turned back to the table. “What does she want me to do?” He sounded resigned.

  “She’s going to try to talk Nathan into working with you. He’ll feed you information, and you can gather the evidence to put Vesters behind bars.”

  He picked up the fork. “I must say that seems rather odd she would want Hannah’s father in jail.”

  “I thought of that but didn’t want to ask too many questions.”

  She watched him eat for a moment and allowed herself to imagine them eating breakfast together at a cozy nook in their own home. Such a silly schoolgirl dream, yet she’d never successfully quashed it.

  “Did the police come by last night to ask for more information?” he asked.

  “No, but I was glad. I didn’t want to talk about it.” She fingered the soreness at her throat. She’d been very lucky the man hadn’t cut her more deeply.

  “If you can talk about it this morning, I’d like to hear more. What did he look like?”

  “I didn’t see him well. It was much too dark. He grabbed me from behind.”

  “Did he say anything?”

  Her face heated. “Just two words. ‘So beautiful.’ ”

  Drew’s gaze heated. “He was right. I don’t think you realize how beautiful you are.” He stood and stepped toward her. His hand touched her hair. “Your hair is as soft as down. I’ve never seen another woman with eyes as dark blue as yours.” He thumbed the skin on her cheek. “Your skin is so soft.”

  Her pulse raced in her neck, and she knew she should step away but couldn’t. Not while he was touching her. Not while his chestnut eyes were staring into her soul with what looked like love.

  He ran his thumb over her lower lip as if testing its softness. As if measuring how it would feel to kiss her. Her eyelids drifted shut of their own accord, and she lifted her face toward him. His breath touched her face, and she smelled the mint from his tooth tonic. Her heart felt as if it would burst from
her chest as she waited for the touch of his mouth on hers. It had been so long.

  She heard him swallow and felt cold. She opened her eyes to find he’d stepped away.

  “I find it so hard to resist you, but I must,” he whispered.

  “Lily?”

  Emily’s voice shocked her out of her stupor at Drew’s words. She backed away so fast she nearly fell.

  “Miss Belle just rang for you. You know how she is.”

  “Of course, I’ll go right now.” Lily turned and flew down the hall toward Belle’s room.

  It was only when she was standing outside the door that she remembered she hadn’t gone to the kitchen for Belle’s breakfast.

  FOURTEEN

  Belle’s aquamarine dress shimmered in the sunlight as she entered the state capitol, a temporary structure until the new building was completed. She clung to her uncle’s arm and smiled at the gaping man who opened the door for them. His admiration raised her spirits immensely after being ditched by Drew the day before. She was still smarting over how quickly he had made his excuses.

  “You can wait in my office while I attend to a bit of business,” her uncle said. “Since it’s Saturday there won’t be hardly anyone here.”

  She nodded and stepped through the door into his office. He had promised to take her shopping after his brief meeting. She settled in his chair behind his gleaming walnut desk and picked up a book, but it was a boring law manual so she tossed it back onto the desk. Maybe she should have stayed home until he was done. No telling how long this might take.

  Voices muttered on the other side of the wall. She paid no mind until someone cried out. Alarmed, she leaped up and pressed her ear against the wall.

  A female voice sobbed, “You’re hurting me.”

  “I’ll do more than inflict a bruise if you don’t do what I’m telling you.” The male voice was harsh and grating. “He should have been dead by now. We can’t wait any longer. Take this gun. He’ll be exiting his meeting in a few minutes. You can hide around the corner by the side door. You’ll have a clear shot.”