“Exactly. And the Hugheses…” She shook her head, turned his palm over between hers, and wove their fingers together. “The thought of them knowing set alarm bells ringing. Perhaps I always knew they protected their ambitions above all, and they might think me a threat to them if they realized.”
So they didn’t know. Lucien hadn’t, and neither did Dev. But Walker would, growing up with her. That was why he had asked her to help with the signs. Why she never fumbled with them.
And she had told him. She made a definite choice to by reading as she had just done. Made him one of a select few who knew the depths of her mind.
And here he was, determined not to kiss her. Why, again, was that the wise course?
She glanced up at him. “But I could help you more. You see that, don’t you? If you show me all you’re working with, I can help.”
If she didn’t look so resigned to failure even as she asked it, he may have suspected her motives. He still did, in part. He drew in a long breath. “Is that why you just told me this? To try to get me to bring you into this business?”
The lightning-lit surprise in her eyes couldn’t have been feigned. “No. I just…trust you. You’ve become a…”
“Friend?”
“Not the word I was looking for.” She raised their joined hands and kissed his. Who knew such a light touch could make his stomach go so tight? “But I suppose it will do.”
Heaven help him. “I can’t put you in any more danger, Yetta. I can’t. But…Hughes is involved in something important. I think the orders came straight from Richmond. So if you hear anything…”
She nodded, a hint of fresh life sparking in her eyes. “I’ll be listening. Though he hasn’t been over much.”
“Yeah.” Hearing footsteps scurrying along the hall, he removed his hands back to his own lap and rested them on the book again. “I can’t say I mind his absence.”
Especially given her smile as she whispered, “Me neither.”
Twenty-Seven
Marietta stood at the library window and watched the merrymakers in the street with a catch in her throat. Church bells tolled all over the city, and even with darkness falling, riotous laughter still drifted in through the open window.
Richmond, the Confederate capital, had fallen. This day, the third of April, marked victory. Triumph for the Union, and part of her thrilled at that. But she had to wonder at the cost.
In the falling darkness, Dev trudged from his carriage. His fortnight of distance would end tonight, she knew. He would want comfort, and he would turn to her. Hence the cloud of dread hovering over her.
“I think I will retire early.” Mother Hughes’s voice pulled Marietta around to face the room with its other two occupants. Since the news had come earlier that day, her mother-in-law had been nearly silent. Seeing now how she faltered as she rose, Marietta prayed her health wouldn’t slip again. “When Devereaux arrives, would you please ask him to visit with me for a few moments?”
“Of course.” She hurried over to her Mother Hughes’s side and slipped an arm around her waist. “Barbara, could you fetch Jess?”
Barbara smiled and slipped a ribbon into the book of medicine she had been reading. “Certainly. I will be but a moment.”
Waiting until her friend had hurried out, Marietta leaned close. “Mother, you needn’t pretend for my sake. I know your family will be mourning today as mine celebrates. I know you must mourn with them. I do not begrudge you that.”
Tears clouded her sky-blue eyes. “I have had to deny them so long. But today…”
“I understand.” Marietta leaned in for a gentle embrace. “Be free to grieve within this house, please. You are safe here.”
A sob caught in Mother Hughes’s throat and she hugged Marietta back. “It is a wonder, isn’t it, that I made it through these years of martial law without being deported across the Potomac?”
Marietta breathed a low laugh. “No, it is no wonder. Not when your sons are president of the most important railroad in the Union.”
The matron eased away. “The more I hear of the destruction down South, the more I want to go home. Silly, I know.”
“I think I would feel the same way.”
Their gazes held for a moment before Mother Hughes looked away. “They are Devereaux’s family too. Not that blood determined loyalties for many in this war, but…if he seems conflicted tonight…”
Oh, she didn’t think he would be conflicted at all. He would be furious and crushed, plain and simple. But Barbara was returning with Jess, so Marietta said nothing of his loyalties. “You needn’t worry. I well understand that too.”
Mother Hughes frowned even as Jess lumbered to her side. “It pains me to see you two at odds lately, Mari. Whatever has come between you, he loves you. Please, handle his heart gently.”
A nod seemed the wisest answer. She added a strained smile and stepped away to let Jess into her place. Once those two had left the library, she sank onto the couch beside Barbara.