Scandal in the Wind

by K T Grant

  Giving her cheeks a pinch and tugging down her bodice, she made her way into the hotel. The footman who opened the door for her nodded and gave her chest a quick perusal. She smiled and sauntered in, her hips purposely swaying. Men loitering in the lobby tipped their hats to her as she made her way up to the front desk. The various reactions from the gentlemen gave her hope Beau would do the same and he would end this foolishness and come home.

  When the man behind the desk smiled at her, she lifted her chin. “Good afternoon. I’m here to see my husband, Beau Odell. He’s staying in one of your rooms and he neglected to tell me his room number.”

  Before the young man could reply, an older man came up behind him. Lily recognized him as the manager.

  “Hello Mrs. Odell. It is always a pleasure to see you here at the Marelton.”

  Lily smiled and nodded. “And the same to you, Foster. My husband has decided to stay here for a few days since he’s working such long hours and the hotel is closer to his office than our home. He forgot to notify me of his room number. If you could tell me where his room is, I can go up and see him.” She crossed her fingers behind her back over her fib.

  Foster gave her an awkward stare. “Oh yes. Mr. Odell has informed us he’ll be staying here indefinitely, for work and all.” Foster walked around the desk and over to her. She followed him off to the side as he glanced around and lowered his voice. “Unfortunately I cannot give you Mr. Odell’s room number. He left explicit instructions no one be told unless they’re on our approved list.” Foster pulled on his collar. “You’re not on the list, Mrs. Odell.”

  Lily’s jaw dropped. Shaking her head in astonishment, she slapped her reticule against her hip where the document from Beau’s lawyer lay. “There must be some mistake. Let me see this list.”

  “Now Mrs. Odell you know I can’t,” Foster said in a calm voice. “Our guests’ privacy is of the utmost importance.”

  A red haze covered her eyes. “But this concerns my husband. Nothing is private between a husband and a wife, wouldn’t you agree?” she asked in a biting tone.

  “If you like, you may write a note and we’ll make sure Mr. Odell receives it,” Foster replied, folding his hands behind his back as he stared down at her.

  Lily wanted to scream. How could Beau deny her like this? These childish actions of his had become tedious. She went to cross her arms as was her habit when she brooded but didn’t want to give Foster even more fodder for gossip. She could only imagine what he had heard about her and Beau.

  “Very well,” Lily said, a congenial smile spreading over face. “If you have stationary, I’ll leave Mr. Odell a note. It probably slipped his mind. I mean what man wouldn’t put his wife on a list privy to his room number?”

  The sympathetic nod Foster gave her made her mood darken even more. He held out his hand. “I’ll find paper and a writing implement.”

  After Foster gave her the items, she sat in a corner and in a sweeping script informed Beau that she needed to see him at his earliest convenience. When she finished, she gave the message to Foster, who promised her he would deliver the note to Beau himself.

  Now what should I do? Lily squeezed her reticule tighter. She had nowhere to go. Her once beloved home was more like an empty tomb filled with too many harsh memories.

  A woman’s laugh came from the side and she faced the lounge. Aha! She wanted to clap. Beau would surely come down from his room sometime soon. She would sit in the lounge and watch for him. Then she would confront him. She would even swallow her pride and explain for what had to be the umpteenth time that she didn’t have any feelings for Wyatt Ashford, and the only man she ever loved and wanted in her bed was him.

  Feeling as if a weight had been lifted away, she entered the lounge and sat in the corner facing the lobby and waited.

  * * * *

  The last time she had been to the Marelton Chambers, Rose had met with a client who wanted one of her girls to travel with him for an extended period of time while he was abroad. She enjoyed doing business at the hotel and, on occasion, had spent a night in one of their hotel rooms.

  This time she wouldn’t be spending the night, or enjoying a romp in one of the beds. She planned to meet with Beau, preferably in his room, or so she had been told from one of her spies she paid to keep her informed of the coming and goings of Charleston’s upper crust.

  Two of which included the recently separated Mr. and Mrs. Odell.

  Rose walked across the marble floor, her focus on the two men behind the front desk even as her eyes darted around the foyer. Soft piano music came from within the lounge off to the side and she smiled when a man and woman sitting close together held hands and stared dotingly at one another as if they were the only ones in the room.

  The man gave the woman a soft kiss on her cheek, which made the woman blush adorably. Rose couldn’t remember the last time she had such a tender moment with anyone, man or woman, and suddenly weariness settled in her chest and down her back.

  That feeling of despondency vanished when she noticed Lily Odell in the back corner with a pot of tea and drinking from a cup. Lily’s hand shook as she set the cup back down on the saucer and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

  She looks like she could use a stiff drink. Rose tapped her chin in contemplation and changed her course. She walked into the lounge and headed straight for her.

  “Fancy seeing you here, Mrs. Odell.” Rose didn’t wait for an invitation and pulled out a chair to sit down.

  Lily blinked, as if in a daze. “Hello, Mrs. Ware. Meeting a client here?”

  Rose held back a laugh by Lily’s blunt question. Lily exhaled noisily, pushing her hair away from her forehead.

  “Not today. Actually I’m here to see your husband,” Rose replied, waiting for Lily’s reaction.

  Lily rubbed her nose and wiggled it. “Get in line. I’m waiting for the bastard myself.”

  Rose crossed her legs. “Would you mind if I join you for a real drink? I’m parched from my ride over here,” she inquired as she removed her chocolate brown faille that complimented her flowered chintz Dolly Varden dress.

  Lily shrugged. “But they don’t serve alcohol to ladies here.”

  “I’m no lady and I’m buying,” she said, and snapped her fingers at the bartender, who bought her a bottle of wine and two glasses without even having to ask.

  “Hello Mrs. Ware. You’re looking well this fine afternoon,” the bartender said as he placed everything down on the table.

  “Thank you, Harold.” Rose nodded in approval. “I assume there won’t be too much of a problem if my friend and I share a glass or two of the hotel’s superb vintage?”

  “Not at all, Mrs. Ware. You’re one of our most privileged guests. Enjoy your wine,” Harold replied and walked back behind the bar.

  Rose slid one of the glasses over to Lily. “I’ve drank here before when I’ve…conducted business.”

  Lily lifted the glass up to her mouth. “I guess it would be impolite for me to refuse then. Everyone has deserted me. I can’t do any more damage to my reputation if I have a drink with a.…”

  “A whore?”

  “Do you want me to apologize? Have I offended you?” Lily asked as she traced a nail around the rim of her glass.

  Rose took her time pouring the wine. She then lifted up her full glass and took a sniff before she took a sip. “Not at all. I am indeed a whore. I must say I’m surprised you haven’t left in a huff, insulted that a fallen woman like myself with a heart full of sin would dare to speak to you in public.”

  “I may not be a whore but I’ve become a fallen woman like you.” Lily’s lips trembled as she drank her wine. “Charleston knows Beau has left me. They all think it’s because I had an affair with Wyatt Ashford. Beau and I had a horrible row about it and he left. He’s done it before, walked out on me when we fought, but he always came back. But now.…”

  “Now he hasn’t,” Rose interjected as she sat back, drinking her wine.

  Lil
y sniffed and pulled out a handkerchief from her reticule. Wiping under her eyes she shook her head. “He-he sent me papers, or rather I should say his lawyer did, where I have five days to leave my house. He’s selling it right from under me without any warning. I came here to talk to him about it, but I’m not on his damned approved list. He has denied me, his own wife!”

  Rose reached across the table and laid her hand on the back of Lily’s hand. When she didn’t pull away, Rose gave her a squeeze. “Beau’s hurting right now. I’ve known the man for a long time and sometimes he acts before he thinks. Give him time. He’ll come back to you. Hasn’t he always? Didn’t he almost die trying to find you after the war ended?” she asked in a pacifying voice.

  Lily nodded and tucked her chin into her chest. “He said he would have gone to hell and back to be with me. I thought he was going to be hanged by the Yankees then. But the slick bastard got away before they could find him and stayed in hiding until it was safe for him.” A dreamy look came over Lily’s face. “The day after the South surrendered and you sent me a note telling me where Beau could be found was one of the happiest days of my life. We celebrated being alive.” A blush sprouted on her cheeks. “He asked me to marry him then and I gladly accepted.”

  “You two have been through so much.” Rose squeezed Lily’s wrist and hid the regret in her voice. She wished she could experience the depth of feelings Lily and Beau had for one another. In all likelihood, she never would. Mentally shaking away those depressing musings, she got back to the business in front of her. “Those months Beau stayed hidden in Rose’s Delights is where I saw how much he loved you. He had such an intense need to be with you, to make certain you were safe.”

  “Thank you for keeping Beau out of harm’s way.” Lily turned her palm up and held her fingers in a tight grip. Rose longed to caress the inside of Lily’s palm…for comfort and something deeper building inside of her. Now was not the time to define it, but whatever it was, it whispered in her ear like an annoying gnat she couldn’t shoo away.

  “I’m glad,” Rose cleared her throat to remove the unpleasant lump forming there. “You didn’t turn your back on me or acted as if I didn’t exist when you married Beau and took your place in society as his wife.”

  “I never had a true place in society. I was barely accepted out of respect for Beau.” Sighing, Lily tapped her finger against the side of her glass. “Most of the time the wives of Beau’s business associates barely said more than a few words to me. On top of that, their husbands would ogle me.” She grimaced. “Beau would tell me to ignore them and I did…the best I could under the circumstances. But it was still an insult I couldn’t get past.”

  “What about Mr. and Mrs. Ashford? If I’m not mistaken, you were close with them,” Rose inquired smoothly, wondering how familiar Lily was with Mr. Ashford, and if Beau’s jealously only got the better of him, or perhaps there was some fact to the accusations he accused Lily of.

  “We are…were very close friends,” Lily said in a whisper. “I’ve known Wyatt and Mary since I was a child. Wyatt’s land bordered my family’s property, while Mary is…was my best friend.”

  “And now you only have Wyatt,” Rose said softly. And you have me if you need another friend.

  Lily gave Rose a weak smile. “Do I? I don’t know anymore. Wyatt is away on some sort of business. Who knows when he’ll return? He probably has no idea about me and Beau. A good thing I guess, since Beau would confront Wyatt and hurl those ugly accusations at him like he did to me.”

  Rose tapped her front teeth with her tongue, the urge to ask Lily if Beau’s accusations were true. But she didn’t. She had to tread lightly with the emotional Lily.

  “So here you sit, waiting for Beau and drinking your sorrows away. I must say I’m surprised to see you acting this way. The Lily I know would tell Beau to go to hell and have him wait for you to see him, not the other way around.”

  “Perhaps the Lily you know is no longer there,” Lily said, barely in a whisper as she finished her glass and went to pour another.

  Before she could do so, Rose moved the bottle away. “Drinking yourself into oblivion is not going to solve your problems. And at the rate you’re going, by the time Beau comes down from his room, even if he is up there, you’ll be a mess. He’ll still turn away from you in disgust and you’ll end up embarrassing yourself even more.”

  Lily’s eyes went wide and Rose couldn’t help but notice what a lovely shade of violet they were, to match her porcelain skin. She traced her finger on the table top and waited for Lily to hurl some sort of cutting insult back at her, but she never did. What she asked instead gave Rose an unpleasant jolt.

  “Is that what Beau was like when you were together?”

  Rose lightly coughed into her hand. She needed a moment, or rather millions of moments to come up with the correct response. Lily stared at her as she drank her wine and fiddled with one of her buttons on her bodice.

  Finally, Rose found her voice. “Beau came into my life when I needed him. He told me right from the start what our relationship entailed. But still, that didn’t stop me from wanting give up everything to be with him. But Beau couldn’t commit to just one woman. After a long bout of tears and getting roaring drunk one night, where the next day I was hunched over a pail casting up my accounts, I realized it was better I let him go.” Rose wiped away the condensation off her glass. “If I had done anything I could to keep him, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today.”

  “And then he found me. And we…I thought we would be together forever. But what a fool I’ve been. No one stays with me forever. Not Beau, not my family, not Mary—”

  When Lily went silent, Rose looked at her in distress. Tears for the first time fell down Lily’s face and her shoulders shook as she dropped her head down. Rose got up from her chair and sat down next to Lily, wrapping an arm around her and brushing her hair back with her fingers.

  “Hush, Lily. You’ll make yourself sick. The wine has made you weepy and maudlin,” Rose crooned into her ear.

  “I want things to go back to the way they were before,” Lily said in a hoarse whisper as she hid her face into Rose’s chest.

  I need to get her out of here and soon. Rose could feel the eyes of everyone in the room starring at them. Some things were just not done in public and having a crying fit like Lily was a perfect example.

  “Chin up now. You know as well as I do that crying doesn’t solve anything. And do you really want Beau to come upon you crying like a water pot?” Rose tipped up Lily’s chin. “He’s immune to a woman’s tears.”

  When Lily moved away from her, Rose felt as if she’d lost something special. The need to pull Lily back into her embrace escalated. Before she could even think of doing so, Lily patted her eyes and sniffed loudly.

  “You’re right. Beau could see through my tears every time,” Lily explained and blew her nose softly.

  Rose took a sip of her wine and fixed the front of her dress so she had something to do with her hands. She didn’t think Lily would allow her to stroke her flushed cheeks. “I only cried once in front of Beau when I found out…” She didn’t finish, cursing herself for almost admitting something unsettling in her past with Beau that would probably bring forth more tears from his wife.

  “Aren’t you going to finish?” Lily asked, her voice going cold.

  “It’s probably best if I don’t. You’re already out of sorts and—”

  “Did you and Beau ever have intimate relations while we were married?”

  Rose should have expected the question. She’d been waiting for it for so long. She cleared her throat and tugged on a curl resting against her neck. “No. Our relationship ended far before you two were married.” Rose reached out and took Lily’s hand in hers. “I promise on the grave of my dead mother that Beau and I have only been friends. I do hope you believe me.”

  When Lily didn’t pull away, Rose sat back against the cushion of the booth. She waited for a response. Finally when Lily took
her hand back, she lifted her glass and drank.

  “I believe you.” Lily glanced down at the table and blinked away her tears. “You and Beau have a great deal of history together. Why would you go out of your way to be…friends with me when you can be with Beau instead and support him during this rough time?”

  Rose smoothed away a few strands of hair behind Lily’s ear. “I believe Beau is in the wrong in this matter and you’ve always been kind to me. You never snubbed me when we’ve been at the same places and always went out of your way to make me feel welcome. I’m returning the favor now.”

  When Lily’s eyes filled with tears again, Rose’s chest clenched.

  “Thank you. You opinion means a great deal to me,” Lily said and dropped her hand away from Rose’s clasp.

  Rose’s fingers twitched as she held back from joining their fingers together. Lily’s hands were smooth, her fingers long and almost bony with perfectly manicured nails, unlike hers, which were wrinkling with age and rough around the edges. She’d always hated her hands. They reminded her of her mother’s roughened ones from hours of cleaning house and cooking meals.

  She sat there contemplating the woman who bore and raised her, something she hadn’t done in a long time. A pang of melancholy hit her. Shaking her head slightly, as if she could push away those sorrowful feelings, she turned her attention back to Lily who was drinking again.

  Lily burped lightly into her fist and gave her a droopy smile. And when she almost tilted to the side, Rose hooked an arm around the inebriated woman.

  “I think you’ve had enough to drink for today. Why don’t I find a carriage to take you home?” Rose offered in a gentle voice.

  Giving her a pout, Lily rolled her head back and forth against the booth. “I don’t want to go home. My house is so lonely and empty.”

  Lily’s slurred, husky groan hit Rose embarrassingly low in her gut. She now had a good indication of what Lily sounded like in the throes of passion.