floor as Jamie stepped firmly between Tess and Clara.
"That's enough!" Jamie stated flatly.
"Clara, I don't know what got you going tonight, but you've no right to
judge this girl, none at all. You owe her an apology, and I damned well
mean it." He paused. Tess realized that he was looking across the crowd.
Looking straight at Eliza. And there was something about her eyes that
told all, even if she tried to stare at Jamie with a look of pure
innocence.
She had stirred up the people. Jamie had left her on the dance floor,
and dear Miss. Eliza had made the rounds, talking to those most
vulnerable.
"But what if it is true, Lieutenant? What if Miss. Stuart was seeing
things?
Then the Comanche or some other tribe is on the warpath, and if so,
we've got to start fighting back!" "I'll find out," Jamie said.
"I promise you, I'll find out." There was a gasp from the crowd. The
sound had come from Eliza, Tess realized. Her plan had backfired. Tess
wasn't sure what victory she felt. Whatever move Jamie made, he made
because he had been forced into it, a gentleman caught by circumstance
into defending a lady's honor.
"I'm going to escort Miss. Stuart to her home, and I'll look into things
there. And I will find out the truth."
By then Jon Red Feather had come to stand next to his friend. It was a
casual but defensive gesture. They were shoulder to shoulder. If any
fighting had erupted, the handsome half-breed would have been ready. But
maybe he had come for more than that. He edged forward, taking Clara's
hands.
"Give Jamie time," he told her.
The little woman looked up at Jon.
"Oh, Jon! I didn't mean you."
"I know," he said, grinning.
"I'm only half savage and heathen and barbarian."
She flushed brilliantly.
"Jon ..."
"It's all right, Clara. Heaven help us, if the Sioux Nation went to war
now, I'm not at all sure where I would be at times." He raised his
voice.
"Every single one of you has, at one time or another, seen some savage
injustice done to the Indians!. You've been with commanders who think
nothing of the murder of women and infants! How in hell can you possibly
doubt this story!"
There were murmurs, then the crowd began to clear. Clara started to cry
softly.
"I'll take her home," Jon told Jamie.
Jamie nodded. He and Tess watched as Jon escorted her through the
alehouse.
"Well, damn it, it's just exactly what you wanted, isn't it?"
He was a far different man from the one who had kissed her with such
staggering heat. She stiffened, wishing she could wash the taste of his
lips from her own, trying to wipe the taste away with the back of her
hand.
"What I wanted!
No! I never wanted to be called' any of those things, Lieutenant, and I
certainly never wanted to see an old woman in pain, nor did I ever
particularly want to be threatened with being tarred and feathered!"
"You wanted me to go to war with your von Heusen."
"All right, yes! I wanted someone else to stand up against him."
She was backed against the pillar still. Her hands slipped behind her to
reach for it for support. He turned on her, coming closer, leaning his
hands upon the beam and bringing his face very close to hers. She was
trapped by his arms, by the prison of his body.
"And now," he said softly, "it's my battle."
"You're the damned cavalry, aren't you? You spent time enough telling me
that the day that you dragged me into the dirt!"
"I dragged you into the dirt! Why, you little hellion! You're the one
who came after me like a bat out of hell!"
It was there again, that feeling of something entirely combustible
between them, of static charging the air, of 77 lightning on a still
night. She had to fight back, and quickly and hard, or she would lose
everything.
"I was frightened out of my wits," she retorted, "not that you probably
weren't worthy of everything I did!"
"Oh? Is that a fact? And have you taken to judging me, Miss. Stuart?"
"Why the hell not? You're determined to judge me." They were silent for
a moment, and in that moment, they both heard a throat being cleared.
Jamie swung around again. Sergeant Monahan was standing there,
red-faced.
"Excuse me, Lieutenant."
"What is it, Monahah?"
"The, uh, the colonel wants to see you."
"Right after I escort Miss. Stuart to her house."
"Er, pardon me, sir, but no, sir. The colonel says that I'm to escort
her and that you're to see him immediately. About this business of your
going to Wiltshire." Jamie frowned, started to protest, then sighed. He
cast Tess a warning glare, although she wasn't at all sure of what the
warning was about.
She was still trembling, she realized, still holding hard to the pillar.
Jamie bowed to her.
"Good night, Miss. Stuart. We'll leave as soon as possible."
He walked away with long, angry strides. Tess looked at Monaham Monahan
was watching Jamie go.
"Well, that might be one heck of a confrontation," he muttered. "Why?"
Tess asked.
"what? Oh?" Monahan flushed, as if he had just realized she was there.
"Why, nothing, miss ..."
"Monahah!"
"Well, the colonel may try to stop him from going."
"What do you mean, might try? The colonel outranks him, doesn't he? Or
am I missing something?"
"No, no, but Jamie is up for reenlistment.
Technically, he could have walked away from the cavalry a month ago.
Paperwork gets slow out here sometimes."
"But why would the colonel want to stop him from going?"
"Oh, the colonel probably wouldn't. Not by himself, that " Monahah, you
are near to frustrating me to tears! What are you talking about?"
Now Monahah was a brilliant red. He stuttered, then started again.
"Miss. Eliza is the one who might mind."
"Eliza Worthingham."
"Monahah!"
"Oh, you don't know! Why, miss, Eliza is Colonel Worthingham's
daughter."
"Oh!" Tess cried, startled.
"Tarnation, I didn't mean to upset you none. Don't you worry. The
lieutenant ain't nobody's fool, and he ain't about to have his life run
by a skirt, even if Miss. Eliza is a pretty piece of fluff. Ah, hell,
not that you're not every bit as pretty--prettier!--but you see my
point? He ain't ever gonna have his mind made up by a woman. Not any
woman.
Oh, dear, this ain't getting' no better, not one wit! Come on, Miss.
Stuart, let me do one duty fight and get you home for the night!"
"Ah, yes, thank you, I think that I am quite ready to retire," Tess told
him, He walked her through the now empty alehouse and she thought of how
disastrously the evening had ended. Then she found that her fingers were
fluttering to her lips and that she couldn't forget the way Jamie had
kissed her.
She would never forget the way he had kissed her. Not if she never-saw
him again, not if she lived to be a hundred and two.
He wouldn't ever let himself be run by a woman. That was what Monahah
had said. But if he came with her, he would feel he had been trapped
into doing it. He had been forced to say he would come with her to calm
down Clara.
But if he stayed. Then it might be worse, because if he stayed after he
had stated he would go, it would be because he had been ordered to
stay--because of Eliza.
He's torn between the two of us, Tess thought. And which one of us will
win?
They had come to the Casey house. Monahah opened her door and lit a
lantern for her, then looked around the small building.
"Seems clear," he said.
"Why, Lieutenant, this is a cavalry outpost! What would I be afraid of