“I am going down for dinner,” Lilah said, turning and resting her hands on the cool marble top of a turtle-backed table near the window. She stared out at the treetops until she was sure the high color she didn’t want Emily to notice had left her face.
“You do know your father has invited Mr. Stanton to dinner?”
Lilah nodded and delayed turning around. That worried her. But with almost a day to think about it, and from what she considered careful questioning of Ching and Dinah, she had concluded that only a twist of fate had brought Tabor Stanton to Damon House. She had immediately recognized him and assumed he knew her too. Fortunately she had been wrong. He had no idea the genteel Lilah Damon was in fact the woman who had left him unconscious and jailed in Yuba City. How could he?
Why her father was being friendly to one of the men who had injured him was also perplexing. Still another troublesome thought hit her as she at last turned around. How had he gotten out of jail? That fool Walsh Peregrine had promised Delilah that Stanton would spend the good part of a year behind bars.
She sighed resolutely. He was out and there was no help for it. She was quite certain he hadn’t recognized her yesterday, but how long could she count on her luck to hold? She dreaded joining her father and Mr. Stanton for dinner. But she needed to know how long Tabor would be in San Francisco. And she needed to assure herself he actually did not realize who she was.
Her dread vanished as her lips curled into a smug smile. If he didn’t know she and the nefarious Delilah were one and the same, she could make sure he never did. If necessary, she would instigate a plan to hasten his departure from the city. She would play the pampered banker’s daughter role so cleverly Tabor would never guess who she was. After all, she was Lilah Damon, rich, soft-spoken, the perfect lady. Delilah, with her brazen, seductive ways, was only a disguise—one soon to be discarded forever.
Dinah fortunately had never seen Stanton and had never been told the names of the six men on Delilah’s list. Given her addled state of mind lately, Lilah decided not to tell her tonight’s dinner guest was one of those men. Loo was still away visiting friends in Chinatown. Lilah, however, had no doubt she could handle Mr. Stanton alone. Hadn’t she done so once before?
Emily, alarmed by Lilah’s evident distraction, came up to her niece and placed an arm around her waist. “You seem too stimulated, dear. Perhaps you should rest a little longer if you plan to be up all evening.”
Lilah straightened her shoulders and brightened her face. She surprised her aunt by agreeing. “I will,” she said softly. “Since we’re having a guest, I definitely want to look and feel my best.”
Emily left Lilah’s room smiling to herself. She believed her niece had been affected by Mr. Stanton, even if she did deny it. In high spirits, Emily entered Dinah’s sitting room. She had promised the younger girl to help her learn some new embroidery stitches. Emily was glad Dinah learned quickly and the lesson wouldn’t take long. Lilah wasn’t the only one who wanted to look her best for Mr. Stanton.
Dinah put away the square of white linen she had been working on and got out her practice sampler when Emily came in. “Is Lilah better?” she asked. Dinah had her straight red hair smoothed back and fashioned into a large bun on the back of her head. The severe style made her look all of eighteen, which was exactly what Dinah wanted.
“Your sister is fine,” Emily told her, seating herself in a biscuit tufted chair and reaching for the sewing basket she had left beside it earlier. She took out cloth and needles and selected the silk threads she wanted. “Lilah isn’t actually engaged to Barrett Fenton, is she?” Emily asked, deftly executing a French knot in her sampler.
“She’s as good as,” Dinah said, and followed with a squeal of pain as she pricked her finger making a stitch.
Emily, who missed having her chatty London friends at teatime, lowered her voice as she would delivering a tidbit of gossip to that group of ladies. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the engagement never occurred.”
Dinah lost interest in her stitching and dropped her sampler into her sewing basket without even anchoring the needle. The green of her eyes deepened. “Why do you think so?”
Emily looked up. “Yesterday when I was giving her smelling salts, she said Mr. Stanton’s given name several times.”
“Oh,” Dinah remarked.
Emily nodded. “So I think Lilah is smitten with Mr. Stanton and doesn’t realize it. Why, when I met Mr. Dearborn I had almost the same reaction. He was so dashing and handsome in his cavalry uniform, it absolutely took my breath and made me quite giddy, as I remember. I fell in love with him that very minute.”
“Did he feel the same?” Dinah’s eyes glowed brightly. Aunt Emily had planted the seed of a remarkable idea in her head.
“Not as dramatically.” Emily smiled and gazed into the distance, remembering Giles Dearborn as he had looked that day. She had loved him deeply and known when he died she could never give her heart to another. With a sigh she went on. “Men don’t. But he proposed only a few weeks later. So you see, my feelings were right from the first.”
For a moment Dinah deliberated on what Emily had said. If Lilah did fall in love with this Tabor Stanton, it would solve all her problems. She tapped her chin with her forefinger. “You said you knew you loved Uncle Giles the moment you saw him. Has Lilah said she loves Mr. Stanton?”
“No, no, dear,” Emily said indulgently. She didn’t really expect someone as young as Dinah to understand these things. “Your sister is much too reserved. If she did have feelings for Mr. Stanton, she would deny them to herself and everyone else.” Emily folded her stitching in her lap and smiled to herself. “I imagine I’m being fanciful. Mr. Stanton reminded me a little of Giles and put romantic notions in my head. Why, we don’t know a thing about the man except that he’s handsome. Here it’s very difficult to know a man’s background.”
“Papa must like him,” Dinah said encouragingly.
“Oh, Clement. What does he know about such things?” Emily sighed as she considered the enormity of the problem. “There’s really no order at all in America. Mr. Stanton may very well be a...a cowpoke.” The term was one she had heard bandied about by the men on the ship. Emily had no idea what a cowpoke was, but it sounded to her like a man of low station. She laughed lightly. “And here I am matching him with your sister.”
Dinah laughed too as she retrieved her sampler from her sewing basket. “Show me the feather stitch again, Aunt Emily. I’m not satisfied with the way mine looks.”
* * *
Lilah dressed for dinner with exceeding care, choosing tiny pearl ear studs, a simple gown of white lawn with only a touch of lace at the throat. She pinned Marie Damon’s cameo just below the high collar and ordered Bess to style her hair simply. She wanted to look prim and innocent for Mr. Stanton. There must be nothing about her to remind him of Delilah.
“Bring me that bottle of lemon scent, Bess,” she requested of the Irish maid, one of the few servants at Damon House who was not Chinese. Bess had been Lilah and Dinah’s maid in London and had traveled to San Francisco with the sisters when they returned to their father.
“Why, Miss Damon,” Bess responded in surprise. “You’ve always said you didn’t like that perfume.”
“Oh, I know, Bess.” Lilah dabbed the scent behind her ears and on her wrists. “I’m simply in the mood for something different tonight.”
“I declare you look almost like you did as a little girl,” Bess told her, stepping back and taking a good look.
Lilah laughed, pleased at Bess’s assessment. It assured her she had successfully created the illusion she wanted. “Is Papa in the library?”
“Wan said he was just before I came in to do your hair.” She made a circle around Lilah, looking carefully at her mistress’s trim waist. “I haven’t laced your corset too tight tonight, have I? I wouldn’t have you fainting again.”
“No, it’s fine. I have bundles of room. And thank you, Bess, for taking such good care of
me. You run along now. I’m going down early. I haven’t seen Papa in a whole day.”
Bess left and Lilah allowed a smug smile to steal onto her face. She believed she was actually going to enjoy tangling with Tabor Stanton again. He might have gotten away from Walsh Peregrine, but tonight she would learn enough about him to find a way to put him behind bars for good. Flushed with excitement, Lilah started for the stairs. Tabor Stanton wasn’t due for another hour. She hoped to feel her father out on his interest in the man.
She found the library excessively warm. Clement sat in his chair before a small fire. Poor circulation in his legs often caused him to feel chilled, and when that occurred he ordered a fire on even the warmest of days. Ching, eyes closed, sat in a Louis XV chair in the corner. Lilah didn’t delude herself the Chinese was actually asleep. She knew that somehow he watched through those closed lids as she tiptoed up behind her father and surprised him with a hug.
Clement spun his chair around to look at her. “I see my princess is well and fit again.”
“I feel wonderful, Papa. I hope you didn’t worry about me.” She gave him a series of kisses on the face.
“I certainly did,” Clement responded as if offended. “You give me so little opportunity to worry, I indulge myself when the opportunity arises.”
“Papa! You’re impossible!” Lilah cried in a girlish voice. “I think you would like it if I swooned and fretted and fussed constantly.”
“I most certainly would not.” Clement laughed freely. “I like my daughters just the way they are. Don’t change one bit.”
“I won’t, Papa.” Lilah pulled a chair close to her father’s. “Tell me about Mr. Stanton,” she said, hoping her voice sounded natural. “I like to know just a little about our dinner guests before they’re at the table.”
Clement winked at his daughter. “So you want to know all about Mr. Stanton, do you? He’s attractive, unmarried...”
Lilah blushed, more out of exasperation than embarrassment. She already knew those things about Tabor Stanton. “You know that isn’t what I mean.”
“Do I?” Clement raised his brows.
“Have...have you known Mr. Stanton long?” Surely her father hadn’t forgotten Tabor Stanton was one of the men responsible for crippling him. She couldn’t understand why the man had even been allowed in the house.
Clement shook his head. He never spoke of the accident. Lilah had suffered nightmares about it for years afterwards, and he didn’t want to reawaken the memory.
“I met Mr. Stanton for the first time yesterday.” He made a conscious effort to keep his expression cheerful. “A long time ago I knew his father. Stan died a few months back and left a letter to be delivered to me—a sort of payment for an old debt. The young Mr. Stanton came here to deliver the letter and carry out one of his father’s last requests.”
Lilah fell back in her chair and gasped softly. Tabor Stanton was the wrong man. His father, dead even before her encounter with Tabor, was the guilty one. Her pulse fluttered wildly. How could she have made such a mistake? Dear heaven! How could she make up to Tabor Stanton what she had done?
“Lilah...” Clement’s voice carried concern. “Are you feeling faint again? You’ve turned pale.” He wheeled about, ready to call Ching to attend her.
Lilah caught his arm. “I’m all right, Papa,” she said weakly. “It’s too warm in here with the fire.”
“Oh,” Clement said, relieved. “Is that it? I’ll have Ching put it out.” He looked around at Ching and nodded. “Stanton’s a likeable young man. Sounds like he really knows horses. If he does, I’m thinking about offering him a job. You know Gus is leaving next month and I’ll be without a trainer.” Seeing Lilah’s face blanch even more, he stopped. “Lilah...”
She rose quickly. “I’m going out for some air, Papa. I’ll see you at dinner.” Trembling uncontrollably, she hurried out, aware both her father’s and Ching’s eyes followed her every step.
In the downstairs parlor Lilah rang for tea and paced from window to window until it arrived. With shaking fingers she took the cup the servant poured, finding some solace in sipping the warm, fragrant brew.
What a grand mess she had created. And all for nothing where Tabor Stanton was concerned. Her father was thinking of offering him a job. Her mind jumped from thought to thought. How could she allow that? Maybe he wouldn’t take it. What if he did? She couldn’t let that happen even if she had wronged him.
If he saw that stallion...Lilah shuddered as the ugly consequences reared their heads. She had to make sure Tabor didn’t go near the stables.
By hell’s fire! She gulped her tea. The stallion was Tabor’s. But how could she possibly take back the horse she had presented her father? She couldn’t. What she could do was make sure Tabor Stanton left Damon House tonight and never came back. Later she could find a way to pay him for the animal and to compensate him for the time spent in jail.
Her chaotic mind raced on. She only needed to get his address, and the money could be sent anonymously with a note explaining a mistake had been made. That should satisfy him. The thought calmed her a little. Now she only had to think of a way to make him leave. That was the solution. If she simply kept her head, she could straighten everything out.
Whatever the cost, she couldn’t allow her father to find out how she got that horse or that she was Delilah. Since her return from the tour, her father’s doctor had confided his concern that Clement’s heart had weakened. He was not to become overly excited. She couldn’t possibly let him learn the daughters he valued above everything else had danced and cavorted in saloons throughout California. Or that his elder one had entertained men in her hotel rooms. It would be too much for him. Lilah clamped her teeth and clenched her small fists. Somehow she would make sure Tabor Stanton’s visit tonight was his last to Damon House.
Her eyes narrowed as she remembered the way Tabor had lured her to the bed that night in Yuba City, pretending to be asleep. She remembered how he had pressed his advances on her, covered her face and breasts with kisses, touched her in forbidden places. A warm and wicked shiver rippled through her flesh. She could almost feel his hands and lips touching her again. No. Lilah stiffened her spine. She refused to admit that she liked his touch or that her mounting excitement had anything to do with a desire to see him again.
Her only interest in Tabor was to get him away from the Damon family, permanently. She rubbed her hands together thoughtfully. She knew the perfect way. As attracted as he was to loose women like Delilah, he wouldn’t know what to make of one who was virtuous and respectable and had her cap set on marriage.
Lilah’s sly smile belonged on Delilah’s face. Tabor Stanton would turn tail and run the minute he realized a woman had singled him out for matrimony. Her brows curved wickedly. Especially one who would lose her fortune by doing so. She would give him a strong dose of that bitter medicine tonight.
When the door chime sounded and Wan showed Tabor into the drawing room where Lilah waited with her father, Dinah, and Aunt Emily, she was quite ready for the next melee.
Dinah wore a deep-cut gown of bottle green, and dangling emerald earrings. Emily was dressed in blue taffeta set off by a sapphire-and-diamond brooch. In her high-necked, long-sleeved gown of pristine white lawn fashioned with a modest bustle, Lilah looked subdued beside them. If she could have managed to appear mousy without arousing suspicion, it would have suited her better. Subdued, however, would have to do.
Clement introduced the women properly, since all had met Tabor in awkward circumstances the first time around.
“This is Emily Dearborn, Lilah and Dinah’s aunt from London,” he said to Tabor. “My daughters lived in London with Emily for ten years. I must credit her with forming them into the lovely creatures they are.”
Tabor smiled at the small-boned blond lady, whose mannerisms were typically English. She looked like a pleasant woman and he detected a keen mind behind her proper face.
He kissed Emily’s hand. Lilah couldn�
��t help fuming as she recalled he had once casually done the same to her.
“You must have been little more than a girl yourself ten years ago,” Tabor said, releasing Emily’s hand.
Emily blushed. “What wonderful flatterers you Americans are.”
“And this,” Clement went on, rolling closer to Dinah, who stood nearest him, “is my younger and sometimes quite impulsive daughter, Dinah.”
Tabor smiled at Dinah Damon, a lovely green-eyed girl with hair a brighter, deeper color than her sister’s. Clement seemed to treat her as if she were a child but she looked almost as old as Lilah.
“If you are referring to the interruption when we were in your library, I found it a charming distraction.” Tabor nodded to Clement. “Miss Damon,” he said, lifting Dinah’s hand to his lips. “This time is also a pleasure.”
“Are you French?” Dinah asked, her eyes glittering with interest. He was attractive, in some ways more than Barrett. How could Lilah help but be drawn to him?
“A little, perhaps, back along the line,” Tabor answered, his eyes lingering on Dinah in the way of a man who knows how to enchant women. “Actually I’m second-generation American. I did live in Paris a year. I adopted some of the customs I most admired.”
Lilah’s brows flickered. Mr. Stanton was more worldly than she had realized. It really didn’t matter, though. She knew his suave manners did not run deep. Underneath was an insolent boor. He did have a certain manly appeal some women might find attractive. Devoid of his tan and dressed in a tailored suit, he might be able to pass himself off as a gentleman. She, however, found his rugged looks offensive. Barrett, fair-skinned and slim, was by far the more attractive man.
Of course Barrett didn’t cause her heart to lurch, or goose bumps to form on her skin. But why should he? she questioned as Tabor stepped closer. Barrett hadn’t placed her entire family in jeopardy.
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