Sadie's Secret: 3 (The Secret Lives of Will Tucker) (28 page)

“It’s time, miss,” Julia said when she returned with Sadie’s slippers and then helped her down the stairs and out into the carriage.

“How is the new girl working out?” Mama asked absently as her finger traced the edges of her filigree bracelet.

“Very well,” she said as she watched the girl in question walk back inside and close the door.

As the carriage pulled away to head down Saint Charles Avenue, Sadie glanced back at the double gallery house where she had spent snatches of her childhood. The city house, as Mama called it, was a lovely two-story home with columns and arched doorways that would later find echoes in the big house out at Callum Plantation.

The home had once belonged to Mama’s parents, but now it sat empty unless used by the Callum family on one of the rare occasions when they
did not return home at the end of a day in New Orleans. Sadie’s favorite childhood memory involved dancing beneath the splashing water of the fountain situated in the center of the back courtyard.

Mama had not been amused, but Daddy waited until she went back inside to hoist Sadie back into the warm water and allow her to play to her heart’s content. To her recollection, that had been the last time her father stood up to her mother and allowed Sadie to have her way.

“You’re woolgathering,” Mama said. “Or was that expression meant to be pouting?”

Sadie swung her attention back to her mother. “I am far too old to pout. I was just thinking about the courtyard and the fountain.”

“A noisy thing, that awful fountain. I never did understand why my grandmother insisted on it. She would say it disguised the sound of carriages going up and down St. Charles Street, but I am here to tell you it did no such thing, although I promise it drew mosquitos.”

Mama muttered on about the inconveniences of city life, all the time looking as if she might bolt from the carriage the moment it arrived at their destination. As for Sadie, when the time came to alight from their conveyance, she did so carefully and with great trepidation. This evening was something merely to endure rather than enjoy. One more evening placating Mama and then she could make good her escape.

The lights of the second-floor ballroom beckoned, and Mama quickly allowed the crowd to swallow her whole. Sadie kept a slower pace, first offering her evening wrap to the butler and then scanning the crowd with purpose and, at the same time, a practiced air of indifference.

In these situations her Pinkerton training automatically kicked in. From one side of the expansive room to the other, she made a mental note of whom she saw, with whom they were speaking, and what sort of expressions they wore.

Next she found all of the windows, doors, and other means of escape. Finally, she reached to slide her hand over the Remington pistol hidden in her skirt, and then she was ready to make her arrival known.

Several of the gentlemen who had happened to be home when she and Mama paid their calls glanced her way. Sadie was certain their interest was due to conversations between Mama and their mothers.

What she did not know was how many of the others whose names she did not know failed to make the cut. Or perhaps they were new to the city and had not yet been noticed by Mama’s network of matrimonial spies.

“Miss Callum, what a pleasure to see you.”

She turned to see Gabriel execute a perfect bow. When he lifted his head once more, merriment was in his eyes.

“Are you here to dance or shop?” he asked as he offered her his arm.

She took it knowing full well he might get the wrong impression. And yet it behooved her to arrive on the arm of a fellow rather than alone.

“Apparently, it is to be both,” she said as she leaned toward him in order to be heard above the orchestra. “I am required to dance while my mother shops among my dancing partners for just the right man to marry me.”

His lips turned up in a smile, and yet Sadie thought she caught the slightest sense of disappointment about him. “A pity she did not judge me adequate for the task.”

“Oh, she did. In fact, I would wager a guess that you were her first choice.”

“But not yours?”

“I thought we were clear about that, Gabriel,” she said gently. “You are a friend of many, many years. The boy with whom I caught polliwogs and climbed trees, for goodness’ sake. How can I forget that and look at you differently now that we are both grown?”

“And yet I had hoped…”

She was just about to try to rescue the conversation when he began to snicker. He was teasing her. The cad.

Jabbing him with her elbow, Sadie once again leaned close. “All right. Now that you understand and realize no offense is intended, I need you to tell me who some of these men are. Mama had them rotating through the parlor so quickly that I’ve lost track of names and relationships to her friends.”

Gabriel happily complied until the orchestra struck up the first dance of the evening. “And this is where I lose you,” he said as he nodded toward a man heading her way. “Alphonse has boasted he has your first dance, and so it appears he does. However, I have carefully positioned my own name on your card to be used as rest or for dancing. The choice is up to you.”

She gave Gabriel a grateful smile and then allowed the planter’s son to escort her onto the dance floor. Just when she thought she could not stand another stomping upon her toes, the music ended and he handed her off to the next swain whose name was listed on her card.

And so the hour went until finally the band rested and so did Sadie. Refreshments were served in the parlor, but she took the opportunity to escape the confines of the crowded ballroom for the more sedate atmosphere on the wide porch that surrounded the genteel home.

Ferns drooped over iron rails to cascade down to a courtyard not so different from the one at their home on St. Charles Avenue. The fountain, painted deepest black and completely invisible except when the moon peeked out from thick clouds, gurgled and splashed. Somewhere out in the garden soft voices murmured.

Owing to the pale color of her gown, Sadie knew she was easily visible standing at the black iron rail. And yet she made no move to hide, nor did the couple that strolled down the path and out into the dark abyss of the thick foliage of the formal back garden.

“There you are.” Mama glided up beside her and handed Sadie a cool drink. “You certainly looked as if you were enjoying yourself.”

“I was. Mostly.”

In truth, she was bored out of her mind with the small talk and smiles that passing for socially adept required. Bored even more with the idea of spending the rest of her life in such numbing pursuits.

Then there were her aching feet. Perhaps she should suggest that Kyle Russell’s next invention be a pair of dancing slippers that prevented men from trouncing on toes.

She took a sip of the sweet punch and then looked up at the dusting of stars teasing the edges of the dark spring sky beyond a bank of heavy clouds. The moon peeking out was just past full, with only a small sliver missing from its perfectly round shape. The scent of rain filled the air, and tree branches hung low as if already bending beneath the weight of the raindrops that would eventually fall.

“This thick night air is ruining my hair,” Mama said. “Do listen for the sound of the orchestra returning. If I recall correctly, you’ve arranged for several very nice young men to dance with you in this set, and I do not wish for you to miss any of these opportunities.”

Her use of the word “opportunities” was quite telling. Indeed, to her
mother, the sons of friends and business associates were very much opportunities for her daughter to secure her station in life. To be set, as Mama liked to say.

And perhaps she was correct. With any of the males who filled Sadie’s dance card, there would be no need to concern herself with anything other than keeping a fashionable house and considering what to name the children.

That was her mother’s life, however, and not one that Sadie planned for herself. Not now. Or at least not yet.

“You arranged them, Mama,” she corrected, albeit gently. “And I will not disappoint.”

“No,” she said with what appeared to be her first genuine smile of the evening. “You never have disappointed.” And then she was gone, slipping back into the ballroom as if she hadn’t just given a very nice and yet exceedingly rare compliment.

Buoyed by that, Sadie took another sip of punch and then looked around for a place to leave the cup.

“I’ll take that for you.”

Turning quickly to see the source of the statement, Sadie lost all ability to respond. The man stepping out of the shadows was Jefferson Tucker.

Or was it John?

Twenty-One

T
he moonlight painted all it touched a pale silver, including the handsome man standing before her. Sadie handed him her glass, and he set it aside.

He was tall, taller than she recalled, and he wore his expertly tailored formal attire with the same casual air as his prison garb. The difference, she noted with a smile, was in the scent of him, which was an exquisite blend of soap and warm spices.

A recollection of the diversionary tactics that had resulted in a pair of memorable kisses threatened. She pushed them away with determination not to allow them to return and instead gave thanks that the man whom she would have been forced to find had found her.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” she said as she continued to search his features for the clue that would tell her which Tucker he was.

“No, I didn’t suppose you would.” His smile was dazzling. “I had business in the city and thought tonight’s soiree might prove interesting.”

“Business? Would that be the sort of business you were working on when last we met?”

He dipped his head slightly. “It would be, yes. But enough of that. What brings you to the city?”

“My mother, although I must warn you that she’s on the prowl for a husband for me, so you’re in danger of falling into her trap if you even pretend you know me.”

“Is that so? Then I will have to choose carefully whether to make her acquaintance or not.” He glanced over in the direction she had gone only moments before his arrival. “She’s a lovely woman, by the way.”

“Don’t even think of it. My mother needs no encouragement, and I highly doubt she would understand that you are merely toying with her.”

He reached for the dance card tied to her wrist. “What is this? Oh, my. You are the popular one, aren’t you, Miss Callum?”

“It’s merely an indication that the opening salvo on the war to wed Sadie off has been fired tonight in the form of a laundry list of eligible suitors.”

“Have you found any who might be husband material?”

“Do not be ridiculous. It is my mother who is shopping, not me.”

“And yet you may find you have an interest in purchasing.”

“You do not know me very well, Mr. Tucker. I am committed to other interests at the moment.”

“I see. So you’re one of those ladies who wishes to forego marriage and family in favor of a more exciting life of adventure? And I thought yours was a life you could not recommend.”

“I prefer to think I am wishing only to delay rather than forego.” She shook her head, ignoring the remainder of his comment. “Anyway, enough of that. I am more interested in hearing how you fared in Mobile.”

“I fared quite well. Now, unless I miss my guess, the orchestra has taken their seats and will begin the next set. Who is the lucky fellow?”