Buch lesen: «Illusion»

Chapter One

Yonkers, New York—September, 1865

“Did anyone ever tell you, you’re a mighty stubborn woman, Sophy van Houten?”

Taking several deep breaths to choke back the sobs that were threatening to well up in her throat, Sophy focused very hard on the street scene outside the window. She was not one of the indomitable van Houtens for nothing. She would give a good account of herself if she had to. Resist as long as she was able.

The van Houtens had always been proud. Their lineage could be traced to the settlement of Manhattan. As the only child of a wealthy industrialist, she had been given every material advantage, but she was not spoiled.

During the dreadful years of the war, she had put her talents to good use. She was not one of those women who had never faced anything more momentous in her life than a decision of accepting or refusing a proposal of marriage.

Sophy van Houten was known to be extremely fastidious. She had danced and dined her way through New York society without once having been tempted to wed. Now, circumstances beyond her control dictated that she marry, and with no further tarrying.

Her face darkened. “Why should I be forced into a marriage I do not want? They freed the slaves, but not the women!”

“Sophy!”

Shoulders stiff and squared, Sophy wrapped her arms protectively around herself. It was a posture she often adopted when she was upset. “Money! Money! It is not the ‘root of all evil,’ it is the cause of all distraction and worry! I hate men!”

“Nonsense!”

There was a tight feeling in the region of her heart. “It’s true. They’re all the same. Wanting to get their hands on me—or my money.”

“Sophy!”

She scowled. “I have no wish to be a social butterfly, nor am I cut out for constant charitable works. I want to be gainfully employed, using my God-given talents, though I am sure the stuffy old-fashioned financiers in Wall Street would not give me a job,” she added darkly.

Turning, she shot her companion a quick, questioning glance and then smiled crookedly. “A woman must know when to bend, or else she will surely break. I really have no alternative, do I?” Her chin rose defiantly. “I’ll get married, Aunt Ella, but it will be on my terms.”

“Sophy!” The other woman, perched like a nervous bird on the edge of a large wing chair, admonished her again in breathless apprehension. “Even though your father tolerated your idiosyncrasies, and understood your natural reluctance, he still wanted you to marry. The trustees are only doing their duty.”

Sophy spun impatiently and strode toward a large mahogany desk on the other side of the comfortably furnished room, which was lined with books and showed every evidence of luxury and wealth.

“Their idea of duty leads to constraint, and constraint stifles compassion. Have I no duty to myself? Why should I sacrifice my independence, be snared like a silly bird by that reptile word duty?”

Picking up an embossed letterhead, she marched across the Persian rug toward her aunt and ground out between set teeth, “Listen to this hogwash! ‘After due care and consideration of your proposition, the trustees do not consider your request for funds to be either expedient or for a worthy cause.’ What a load of drivel!”

“Now, Sophy, that is a wicked way to talk.” Ella van Houten could scarcely gasp the words. “Try not to be so...so passionate, dear.” Putting her hand against her chest, as if she feared she might have a heart attack, she said faintly, “You know that your uncle Schuyler and my dear brother, Heinrich, act only in your best interests.”

“Aunt Ella, it’s ridiculous. My uncles’ living will controls Father’s dead one. I am bound hand and foot by invisible threads, a conspiracy of those who profess to love me. You know I always looked after Father’s investments. He trusted me to make good any cash given to ‘worthy causes.’”

“I agree, Sophy, and you never once failed your dear father’s trust,” Ella van Houten replied wearily. Knitting her brow, the elderly woman continued, “Nicholas believed that whatsoever a man sows, that also is what he reaps, for the reaper and the plowman are one.”

Sophy crouched and added a log to the fireplace. “Don’t go all cryptic on me now, Aunt Ella. I know it’s vulgar to talk about money, but you know none of the men who offer for me so ardently would be at all keen if I were not a wealthy heiress,” she retorted, trying to keep her tone light. “I have rejected so many offers I have lost count, but not one heartbroken suitor was among them!”

Her aunt smiled pensively, feeling a tug of affection and appreciation for Sophy’s prosaic attitude. Rich, beautiful, witty but stubborn to a fault, naturally she had admirers in plenty, but so far she had refused to marry any of them. She had never said so, but Ella knew that her niece had hoped to marry for love.

It was a shame that women were so bound and restricted by custom and the laws of society. With her secret core of romance and color, and a lack of convention that distressed only the unimaginative, Sophy had much to offer.

Ella’s eyes softened. Sophy did seem very slender and frail in the firelight. The mass of shining hair, looped in a fashionable swirl, seemed too heavy for the finely molded head.

Yet there was something vital and vibrant in the contours of the face, the straight little nose, the arched eyebrows and generous lips. And the large eyes, dark gray with somehow a tinge of purple in them, were bright and intelligent.

“In that case, there is no reason for you not to marry one of them. Surely you will now take your trustees’ advice as to the eligibility of suitors?” Ella questioned dryly.

“Oh, but I have a plan!” Sophy rose to her feet and danced across the room, merriment in her eyes. The decision made, her spirits rose like bubbles in champagne, sparkling, invigorating.

“Those chauvinistic fuddy-duddies are kindhearted and well-meaning, but they are pigheaded, and confuse logic and emotion. What I intend to do is to have them approve someone I choose!”

Her aunt’s expression of patient disgust changed to one of suspicion. “What’s going on inside that head of yours, Sophy? What scheme are you cooking up now?”

“I shall travel to New York City tomorrow. If I tell Mr. Tyson that I will transfer the van Houten funds to Pierpont Morgan’s bank when I come of age if he doesn’t cooperate, he will soon produce a desirable suitor.”

Sophy spoke so violently that her aunt winced. Her niece was small and fragile, yet she was stalking the room and snarling like a tigress after its prey.

Ella realized the great mistake Sophy would make if she were allowed to pursue her fantastic scheme. A rare spirit, cursed with a strange uneasy restlessness, difficult to manage at times and unpractical to a degree, the girl needed an outlet for her pent-up passions.

She hesitated, then said in a low voice, “You have always said you had no wish to marry. A man whom you do not know, a fortune hunter, the type who would accept a bribe to marry a girl he has never seen, sounds a terrible risk.”

“Oh, he will be no problem, merely a trifling drawback. I mean to be rid of him,” Sophy replied airily.

“Divorce is not condoned by the church! Would you jeopardize your soul for a whim, Sophy?”

Sophy grinned wickedly, then sighed. “No, Aunt Ella, I would not.” She spoke in the quiet, unhurried tone her aunt was used to hearing. “The idea of being married to a man who wants me only for my money is like living in hell. It betrays everything I believe in, all my dreams, all my ambitions, all the things that I have lived for these past five years.”

She fell on her knees beside her aunt. “But, Aunt, the alternative is even more mortifying.” She smiled a rather wistful smile. “Having a fortune carries a moral obligation to others, and so many people out there need help.”

Ella stared at her niece. “Maybe if you suggest to Mr. Tyson that your preferences lie with someone in need, then he will be more sympathetic.”

Sophy’s head came up and the calculating look reentered her eyes. “Aunt Ella. How clever of you! What a brilliant idea!”

Aunt Ella groaned.

“Marry Sophy van Houten!”

The man staring blindly into the rainwashed darkness gave no indication that he had heard the banker’s theatrical statement. Forehead crinkled in thought, he seemed oblivious to his surroundings.

Matt Tyson watched his client’s profile for a moment, took in the tension around the eyes, the grim, set mouth with deep lines at the corners. The sort of face, young yet old, to which he had grown accustomed in the four long years since the start of the War between the States. The genuine concern he felt for his friend gave him courage. He decided to push the point.

“Marry Sophy van Houten! That’s the answer! You’d get voting rights to her railroad stock, plus a wife who’d be no trouble at all. Always dutiful. Pretty manners. Good family.”

The silence in the room was more thunderous than sound. Seth Weston’s face was an unreadable mask; only the angry muscle flexing at the jaw admonished the banker. Minutes lengthened.

Matt tapped the desktop with his fingertips, brows creased in growing consternation. Finally, he sighed and continued. “I’ve known Sophy van Houten for years. Bright girl, no problem to her father. Old Nicholas used to keep her busy looking after...”

Marry Sophy van Houten! The words ringing in his ears, Seth Weston swallowed hard and tightly clenched his jaw to prevent an outflow of sarcastic words. Outwardly, his calm demeanor showed none of the disquiet he felt. The truth was he felt more than a little disgruntled. He felt off-balance. Marriage! Hell, he’d sooner roast in hell, or face a firing squad, than marry!

True, he could not remember ever having met Sophy van Houten, but the last thing on earth he wanted was a wife. If he needed a woman, he only had to take himself off to Greene Street. No need to saddle himself with a permanent fixture. A wife would demand more of him than he could give.

The war had turned him topsy-turvy. He was drained, an empty vessel. No, not empty. Filled with bitterness, like sour wine. Women were shrews anyway. He had yet to meet a woman who was loyal and loving, tolerant and resourceful, who was neither cold nor subject to fits of jealousy. There was no such creature.

Seth became aware, slowly, that the banker was still talking.

“—and Cornelius Vanderbilt would pay handsomely for that stock. Marry Sophy van Houten and you can clear the mortgage on the factory and introduce those innovations....”

Marry Sophy van Houten! Seth sucked a strangled breath through his teeth, made an impatient movement of his hand and slowly turned away from the window. With a quick, uneven step he made his way to one of the bentwood chairs flanking the banker’s desk.

“Vanderbilt already has control of the New York and Harlem Railroad,” he cut in curtly. “Moreover, I imagine Miss van Houten would have something to say about marriage to a broken crock of a man who plans to immediately sell off her stock. And besides—” he paused on the excuse of placing his long ebony cane on the desk and lowering himself into a chair “—I don’t think she and I would suit.”

Matt Tyson leaned forward, his face frowning and intent, rested his elbows on the polished mahogany surface and raised an eyebrow. “Why ever not? Told you, Sophy’s a nice girl, sensible, intelligent... and she has lots of other attraction.” He jerked his head meaningfully toward the iron door of the bank’s strong room.

“I’ve nothing against Sophy van Houten,” Seth hastened to assure the banker, a coolness in his voice. “She’s probably all you say, and charming company for a social evening. I simply do not wish to be married.”

Matt gave Seth a considering look. “Don’t misunderstand me, Seth.” He picked up a pen and rolled it round in his fingers. “You need the money Sophy can bring you. Marry her and you’ll retain your empire and your dream. A man with brains could come out of this mess richer than Midas.”

Seth winced, stretched out his legs and wearily leaned his head against the fanned back of his chair. “I know,” he said with a sigh.

The banker moved his head in a gesture of disbelief, and the skeptical look congealed into a baffled frown. “Hell, man, use your gray matter! I’ve known you since school. What’s happened to you?”

“Four years of a damn war that has divided this country so’s I don’t know how the scars’ll ever mend, a factory that leaks profits like a sieve, and a leg that is useless. That’s what’s happened.”

Matt could hear the edge to his friend’s voice, hard and sudden, like fine-honed steel. He knew Seth Weston was consumed with a deep anger. He also knew Seth Weston was no fool.

“You can’t turn back the clock, Seth. Count your blessings and you’ll find you still have more than most. The war’s over. We must repair the fabric of this nation. Even without Lincoln at the helm, I’m confident that Andrew Johnson can create a new and stronger Union.”

Seth’s mouth twisted faintly. “If he doesn’t fall out with Congress first. If he does he’ll limit his tactical choices for reconstruction.”

“At least you’ve got a choice.” Matt straightened up, his brown eyes serious. “I’m going to lay it on the line, my friend, and this is as painful for me to say as it is for you to hear. If you’re mule-stubborn enough to ignore my advice to marry Sophy van Houten, then the bank will be forced to foreclose on your mortgage.”

Seth stared. “What?” He had heard, but he didn’t believe his ears.

“No more credit, Seth. You’re overextended. Hard cash is what you need right now. There’s an heiress in Yonkers ripe for the plucking. Take her, or you’ll have to liquidate half your holding. You might not be poor, but it’ll be a long crawl back to where you are now.”

Seth heard the finality in the banker’s calm statement and repressed a shiver of rage. Without a word, he slowly uncoiled his vast length from the chair. He walked toward the door, gait slightly uneven. He was still three feet from it when he turned, leaning heavily on his cane. He could feel himself trembling as his mouth compressed with bitter fury. Danger simmered in the depths of his eyes, but his voice, when he spoke, was cool and controlled.

“I’ll call on Miss van Houten in the morning.”

As the door closed behind his friend and client, Matt Tyson leaned back and grinned. Seth Weston’s wrath was terrifyingly splendid. Such a man, seasoned to war, to hardship—and yes, even to women—was just what Sophy needed.

Over to you, Miss Sophy van Houten. Challenge an old dog, would you? Sophy deserved what was going to happen to her. Did she really think she could get away with blackmailing him? She needed to be taught a lesson. And Seth Weston was just the man to give it to her.

The door opened slowly to reveal a short, plump, middle-aged woman dressed in a plain gray gown with a white starched apron. In the middle of the room sat Sophy, dark head bent, lips slightly parted, writing. The scratching of pen on paper was the only sound to be heard as she entered a total on her inventory sheet with a flourish.

“What is it, Tessa?” Her voice was soft and calm, but sable eyebrows rose at the interruption.

Smoothing her apron with a reproachful gesture, the older woman set a vexed mouth, before she offered dourly, “Sorry to disturb ye, Miss Sophy, but there’s a gentleman downstairs says he’d like to see ye.”

Sophy van Houten lowered her head again to her journal, sighed and laid her pen aside.

“I’d hoped to finish my accounts this morning. He didn’t say what he wanted, I suppose?”

“No, I never asked.” Tessa’s voice was severe as she continued, “Ye’ll ruin your eyes with all that book work.”

Sophy’s smile was brilliant and an imp of mischief glinted in the gray eyes. “How old must I get, Tessa, before you will realize that I am no longer a green girl?”

Tessa’s round face shone with indignation as she remained standing close by the door. “None of your lip, young woman. Ye’ll always be a bairn to me. Shall I tell him to come back later, Miss Sophy? No respectable person comes visiting at this hour, or in this weather! It’s only ten minutes past the hour of nine! Positively indecent!”

A small smile touched Sophy’s lips at the servant’s impertinence. Tessa Fraser had a bad habit of thinking Sophy still needed a nursemaid. It came with twenty years of loving and caring.

“Don’t fuss, Tessa. I am not about to be ravished in my own house. This is 1865, after all. Show the gentlemen into the parlor, please. I’ll be down in a moment.”

Sophy’s thoughts spun round in her head like windmills as she carefully wiped the nib of her pen, closed the journal and slipped both into a drawer. Perhaps Mr. Tyson had sent someone? He had seemed quite certain after their little talk two days ago that he would be able to find a suitable prospect.

Since then, she had discovered several flaws in her plan. She touched her lip with the tip of her tongue. Perhaps it was not too late to back out of her hastily conceived strategy?

Needing a moment to consider how she could squash her rash scheme, Sophy unlatched the French window, and stepped outside. Droplets clung to the ironwork balustrade. The view below was flat and uninspiring. A dark canyon of street, and stark black elms outlined against the dull gray sky. Sophy grimaced. Winter was early this year. A wind slanted the rain, blowing a mist into the room.

It reminded her of the gray mist in Mr. Tyson’s banking chambers two days earlier. He had sat there, the smoke from his cigar veiling his eyes, and listened to her. She was sure his brown eyes had been alight with mischief when she had carefully explained what she wanted. But he had been very polite.

Of course, while she had not told any direct lies, she had not been exactly truthful either. She had just let Mr. Tyson assume she was fulfilling her father’s wish that she wed a man who needed her. Where was the line between lie and truth?

It was a little late to issue warnings to herself. Fastening the window latch, Sophy straightened her back, tilted her head proudly and headed for the parlor.

Only nine-twenty! Staring into the face of an ornate ormolu clock on the mantelpiece, Seth Weston asked himself for the hundredth time why he had allowed his ungovernable temper to trap him into traveling all the way to Yonkers.

For what? Dismissal? Ridicule? He’d heard Sophy van Houten had rejected so many suitors her father had laughingly declared she would die an old maid..

Within weeks of Lincoln’s assassination, her father, returning home on the Sultana after arranging the return of Union soldiers from Southern prisons, had been killed when the steamer exploded on the Mississippi. Now she was left quite alone, the old maid her father had predicted, before she was twenty. Also a very wealthy one.

Seth shivered, bent and poked the ashes in the grate with the silver tip of his walking stick. No warmth there. Cold. Cold as last year’s love. Probably as cold and frigid as the van Houten woman. Another shiver ran through him. Hell, it was chilly even for October. He should leave now, before he made a fool of himself.

Instead, he removed his hat and gloves, drew the collar of his jacket higher about his neck, straightened his shoulders and faced the door to await his nemesis.

Small sounds indicated her arrival, light footsteps crossing the hall, a soft musical voice requesting coffee, the rustle of fabric. Dark against the open doorway appeared the shape of a woman dressed in black. She was small. He doubted she reached five feet.

She stood there, perfectly still, a dark shape around whose head the lamplight fashioned a halo of flashing daggers that pierced him with unease. Seth heard her soft exclamation. For a moment she stood there, hand gripping the doorknob as though it were a iifeline. Then, with another exclamation, she swept toward him.

Entering the parlor, Sophy gave an involuntary gasp of surprise and stopped in confusion. Here was a new type, someone she had never seen before. Her heart was in her throat, pounding.

The lean, darkly powerful man who stood aggressively across the room from her was handsome, but there was an uncompromising severity about his dark eyebrows and the hard, controlled line of his mouth. A long, straight nose and firm chin added strength to his features.

Some interesting lines marked his finely chiseled face, giving it an elegant maturity. It was the face of a man who had stood at the doors of hell. Sophy looked at the tall length of him, the splendid breadth of his shoulders, the stiff-legged stance and ebony walking stick.

Stunned, her hand tightened on the doorknob to prevent it from going out to him. Eyes of brilliant blue met hers with some indefinable expression in their depths. Hard. Calculating.

A ruthless man, Sophy decided, and a relentless one. He would go where he wished to go, do what he wanted to do, with implacable will and drive. Her stomach lurched, and for a moment a strange, unfamiliar sense of dizziness almost overwhelmed her.

Sophy was looking for something in life; she did not know what. All the men she had met she could rule. None of her would-be husbands had made her feel as this one did!

She tore her eyes from his assessing gaze with a distinct effort, directing them toward the empty grate. For a moment, she battled with an odd uncertainty. Then she began to breathe again and coherent thought replaced the drumbeat in her head.

Sophy strode forward, hand outstretched. Her slender body moved quickly, and she walked with a purposefulness that few women possessed.

“Good morning. I’m Sophy van Houten. What can I do for you?”

The words were no more than a whisper, and seemed to come out in an exasperated rush. Her heart was pounding so hard, she could scarcely breathe. She looked up at him, but not as far as his eyes. She avoided his eyes. Instead she looked at the slant of his jaw, the wide, uncompromisingly masculine mouth, the curve of his upper lip.

Hell, she couldn’t even look him in the face! All he could see was a swirl of black hair, shiny as a raven’s wing, concealing most of her face. Seth wondered why he felt a vague sense of disappointment. His mouth tightened. Surely she had been aware of his disability when she put forward her audacious proposal to Matt Tyson? Or was this some trick?

His suspicion was a weakness, momentary and unwelcome. But he could not stop the thoughts that buzzed round in his head as he accepted the hand waving vaguely in his direction.

The instant pressure, warm and firm, was like a bolt of electricity to his system. Her head jerked up. Around its edge glowed a shimmering halo. Seth jerked, released himself and fumbled with the collar of his jacket, which, for some reason, suddenly seemed too tight. Even his voice sounded hoarse, as though he had a sore throat.

“Seth Weston. I called to... that is, I was at the bank yesterday going over my affairs with...”

Sophy’s eyes widened at the deep, well-modulated voice, which clipped the words with the precision of an executioner. It was a voice that carried the authority and menace of a master. It would seldom need to be raised.

She rubbed her hand against her skirt to rid it of the nerve-tingling sensation his cold flesh had generated. The tingle grew, radiating out to encompass her entire body.

Face aflame, Sophy feared she looked ridiculous. Breathing raggedly, a strange knot deep in her throat, she blurted, “You’re freezing! Come upstairs. I have a fire going in my drawing room. We can talk there.”

Seth Weston just stood there for a moment, as though he didn’t understand the language she spoke. Sophy knew she was gabbling, but she had to do something to dispel the tension. She shrugged, trying to appear calm and disdainfully unconcerned.

Doubt crossed Seth’s face, but only for a moment. In a strange kind of elfin way, she seemed timid and embarrassed, yet he knew she was playing a game. A dangerous game.

Not only was she flirting with her looks, she was dangling her money as bait. She was even breaking conventions and inviting him to her private drawing room. He thought he saw her game. It was incredible what a wealthy woman would do for amusement.

He quickly weighed his chances of backing out and laughing the whole mess off as a joke, yet something stopped him. Looking down at her, he realized Sophy van Houten interested him. His probing gaze burned into her tense features.

She had a little pointed face and her eyes were huge with some carefully concealed emotion, as if it took an astonishing amount of nerve to confront him. For the first time in months, genuine amusement flared in his blue eyes.

Sophy took a step forward, about to take his hat and gloves, just as Seth shifted his weight to one hip. In her haste, she accidentally pressed against him. For some reason, this seemed to knock him off-balance, and he grabbed her shoulder to right himself. Sophy’s eyes flew to meet his. Both went rigid with shock.

The clock ticked in the silent room.