Scandal in the Wind Read online

  But then again, from what she knew about the outspoken Mrs. Odell, there was no doubt in her mind she would rise above it. And she wanted to be there to witness it.

  First she would finish her breakfast then throw Margaret out of her bed and find more information about the destruction of the Odell’s marriage.

  * * * *

  The Marelton Chambers Hotel was the second most expensive in Charleston. Beau had taken Lily there many times for dinner and to meet clients. Sometimes, they even stayed overnight. It made perfect sense to her that Beau would reside there until he found more permanent lodgings.

  She stood outside, perfectly coifed and wearing a walking dress in emerald green, Beau’s favorite color on her. She planned on seeing her husband in his room and making him explain his cruel actions.

  After giving her cheeks a pinch and tugging down her bodice, she made her way into the hotel. The footman who opened the door for her nodded and gave her chest a quick perusal. She smiled and sauntered inside, her hips purposely swaying. Men loitering in the lobby tipped their hats to her as she made her way to the front desk. The various reactions from the gentlemen left her with hope Beau would end this foolishness and come home.

  When the man behind the desk smiled at her, she lifted her chin. “Good afternoon. I’m here to see my husband, Beau Odell. He’s staying in one of your rooms, and he neglected to tell me his room number.”

  Before the young man could reply, an older man came up behind him. She recognized him as the manager.

  “Hello, Mrs. Odell. It is always a pleasure to see you here at the Marelton.”

  She smiled and nodded. “And the same to you, Foster. My husband has decided to stay here for a few days since he’s working such long hours and the hotel is closer to his office than our home. He forgot to notify me of his room number. If you could tell me where his room is, I can go up and see him.” She crossed her fingers behind her back over her fib.

  He gave her an awkward stare. “Oh yes. Mr. Odell has informed us he’ll be staying here indefinitely, for work and all.” He walked around the desk and approached her. She followed him off to the side and he lowered his voice. “Unfortunately, I can’t give you his room number. He left explicit instructions no one be told unless they’re on our approved list.” He tugged on his collar. “You’re not on the list, Mrs. Odell.”

  Her jaw dropped. Shaking her head in astonishment, she slapped her reticule on her hip where the document from Beau’s lawyer lay. “There must be some mistake. Let me see this list.”

  “Now, Mrs. Odell, you know I can’t,” Foster soothed. “Our guests’ privacy is of the utmost importance.”

  A red haze covered her eyes. “But this concerns my husband. Nothing is private between a husband and a wife, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “If you like, you may write a note, and we’ll make sure Mr. Odell receives it.” He folded his hands behind his back.

  She wanted to scream. How could Beau deny her like this? These childish actions of his had become tedious. She went to cross her arms as was her habit when she brooded, but she didn’t want to give Foster even more fodder for gossip. She could only imagine what he’d heard about her and Beau.

  “Very well.” A congenial smile spread over his face. “If you have stationery, I’ll leave Mr. Odell a note. It probably slipped his mind. I mean, what man wouldn’t put his wife on a list privy to his room number?”

  His sympathetic nod made her mood darken even more. “I'll find paper and a writing implement.”

  After he gave her the items, she sat in a corner and, in a sweeping script, informed Beau that she needed to see him at his earliest convenience. When she finished writing her message, Foster promised he would deliver the note to Beau himself.

  Now, what should I do? She squeezed her reticule tighter. She had nowhere to go. Her once beloved home was more like an empty tomb filled with too many harsh memories.

  A woman’s laugh came from the lounge. Aha! She wanted to clap. Beau would surely leave his room sometime soon. She would sit in the Ladies’ Ordinary near the lounge and wait for him to make an appearance. She would even swallow her pride and explain for what had to be the umpteenth time that she didn’t have any feelings for Wyatt Ashford, and the only man she ever wanted in her bed was him.

  * * * *

  The last time she had been to the Marelton Chambers, Rose had met with a client who wanted one of her girls to travel abroad with him for an extended period of time. She enjoyed doing business at the hotel and, on occasion, had spent a night in one of their rooms.

  This time she wouldn’t be spending the night, or enjoying a romp in one of the beds. She planned to meet with Beau, preferably in his room, or so one of her spies told her. The information she received also included details about the recently separated Mr. and Mrs. Odell.

  She walked across the marble floor, her focus on the two men behind the front desk. Soft piano music came from within the lounge, and she smiled at a man and woman holding hands who stared dotingly at one another as if they were the only ones in the room.

  The man kissed the woman’s cheek, and she blushed adorably. Rose couldn’t remember the last time she had such a tender moment with anyone, man or woman. Suddenly, weariness settled in her chest and down her back.

  That feeling of despondency vanished when she noticed Lily Odell in the Ladies’ Ordinary alone with a pot of tea. Lily’s hand shook as she set her cup on the saucer and wiped her mouth with a napkin.

  She looks like she could use a stiff drink. Rose tapped her chin in contemplation then headed straight for her.

  “Fancy seeing you here, Mrs. Odell.” She sat down without waiting for an invitation.

  Lily blinked, as if in a daze. “Hello, Mrs. Ware. Meeting a client here?”

  She held back a laugh at Lily’s blunt question.

  “Not today. Actually, I’m here to see your husband,” she replied, waiting for Lily’s reaction.

  “Get in line. I’m waiting for the bastard myself.”

  “Would you mind if I join you for a real drink? I’m parched from my ride.” She removed the chocolate-brown faille that complemented her flowered-chintz Dolly Varden dress.

  Lily shrugged. “But they don’t serve alcohol to ladies here.”

  “I’m no lady, and I’m buying.” She snapped her fingers at one of the servers, who rushed over with a bottle of wine and two glasses without even having to ask.

  “Hello, Mrs. Ware. You’re looking well this fine afternoon.” The male server placed everything on the table.

  “Thank you, Harold.” She nodded in approval. “I assume there won’t be too much of a problem if my friend and I share a glass or two of the hotel’s superb vintage?”

  “Not at all, Mrs. Ware. You’re one of our most privileged guests. Enjoy your wine,” he replied and returned behind the bar.

  She slid one of the glasses to Lily. “I’ve drunk here before when I’ve…conducted business.”

  Lily lifted the glass to her mouth. “I guess it would be impolite for me to refuse, then. Everyone has deserted me. I can’t do any more damage to my reputation if I have a drink with a.…”

  “A whore?”

  “Do you want me to apologize? Have I offended you?” Lily traced the rim of her glass.

  Rose took her time pouring the wine. She then raised her full glass and sniffed before taking a sip. “Not at all. I am indeed a whore. I must say I’m surprised you haven’t left in a huff, insulted that a fallen woman like myself with a heart full of sin would dare to speak to you in public.”

  “I may not be a whore, but I’ve become a fallen woman like you.” Lily’s lips trembled as she drank her wine. “Charleston knows Beau has left me. They all think it’s because I had an affair with Wyatt Ashford. We had a horrible row about it, and he left. He’s done it before, walked out on me when we fought, but he always came back. Now.…”

  “Now he hasn’t,” she interjected as she sat back, drinking her wine.

>   Lily sniffed and pulled a handkerchief from her reticule. Wiping under her eyes, she shook her head. “He-he sent me papers, or rather I should say his lawyer did, giving me five days to leave my house. He’s selling it right from under me without any warning. I came here to talk to him about it, but I’m not on his damned approved list. He has denied me, his own wife!”

  She reached across the table and laid her hand on Lily’s. When she didn’t pull away, Rose gave her a squeeze. “He’s hurting right now. I’ve known the man for a long time, and sometimes he acts before he thinks. Give him time. He’ll come back to you. Hasn’t he always? Didn’t he almost die trying to find you after the war ended?” she asked in a pacifying voice.

  Lily nodded and tucked her chin to her chest. “He said he would have gone to hell and back to be with me. I thought he was going to be hanged by the Yankees then. But the slick bastard got away before they found him and stayed in hiding until it was safe for him.” A dreamy look came over her face. “The day after we surrendered, when you sent me the note telling me where Beau could be found, was one of the happiest days of my life. We celebrated being alive after losing so much.” A blush sprouted on her cheeks. “He asked me to marry him then, and I gladly accepted.”

  “You two have been through a great deal.” She squeezed Lily’s wrist and hid her regret. She wished she could experience the depth of feeling Lily and Beau had for one another. In all likelihood, she never would. Mentally shaking away those depressing musings, she got back to the business in front of her. “Those months he stayed hidden in Rose’s Delights was when I saw how much he loved you. He had such an intense need to be with you, to make certain you were safe.”

  “Thank you for keeping him out of harm’s way.” Lily turned her palm up and held her fingers in a tight grip. She longed to caress the inside of Lily’s palm…for comfort and something deeper building inside of her. Now was not the time to define it, but whatever it was, it whispered in her ear like an annoying gnat she couldn’t shoo away.

  “I’m glad.” She cleared her throat to remove the unpleasant lump forming there. “You didn’t turn your back on me or act as if I didn’t exist when you married Beau and took your place in society as his wife.”

  “I never had a true place in society. I was barely accepted out of respect for Beau.” Sighing, Lily tapped her finger on the side of her glass. “Most of the time, the wives of his business associates barely said more than a few words to me. On top of that, their husbands ogled me.” She grimaced. “Beau told me to ignore them, and I did…the best actions under the circumstances. But it was still an insult I couldn’t get past.”

  “What about Mr. and Mrs. Ashford? If I’m not mistaken, you were close with them,” she inquired smoothly, wondering how familiar Lily was with Mr. Ashford, and if Beau’s jealousy got the better of him, or perhaps there was some fact to his.

  “We are…were very dear friends,” Lily said. “I’ve known Wyatt and Mary since I was a child. Wyatt’s land bordered my family’s property, while Mary is…was my best friend.”

  “And now you only have Wyatt,” Rose replied softly. And me if you need another friend.

  Lily gave her a weak smile. “Do I? I don’t know anymore. Wyatt is away on some sort of business. Who knows when he’ll return? He probably has no idea about me and Beau. A good thing I guess, since Beau would confront Wyatt and hurl those ugly accusations at him like he did to me.”

  She tapped her front teeth with her tongue, wanting to ask if Beau’s accusations were true. But she didn’t. She had to tread lightly with the emotional Lily.

  “So here you sit, waiting for your wayward husband and drinking your sorrows away. I must say I’m surprised to see you acting this way. The Lily I know would tell Beau to go to hell and have him wait for you to see him, not the other way around.”

  “Perhaps the Lily you know is no longer here.” She finished her glass and went to pour another.

  Rose moved the bottle away. “Drinking yourself into oblivion is not going to solve your problems. And at the rate you’re going, by the time Beau comes down from his room, even if he is up there, you’ll be a mess. He’ll turn away from you in disgust, and you’ll end up embarrassing yourself even more.”

  Lily’s eyes widened, and Rose couldn’t help but notice what a lovely shade of violet they were, to complement her porcelain skin. She traced her finger on the tabletop and waited for Lily to hurl some sort of cutting insult at her, but she never did. What she asked instead gave Rose an unpleasant jolt.

  “Is that what Beau was like when you were together?”

  She lightly coughed into her hand. She needed a moment, or rather millions of them, to come up with the correct response. Lily stared at her as she drank her wine and fiddled with one of her buttons on her bodice.

  Finally, Rose found her voice. “Beau entered my life right when I needed him. He told me from the start what our relationship entailed. But it didn’t stop me from wanting give up everything to be with him. He couldn’t commit to just one woman. After a long bout of tears and getting roaring drunk one night, I spent the next day hunched over a pail, casting up my accounts, and realized it was better I let him go.” She wiped the condensation off her glass. “If I had done anything I could to keep him, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today.”

  “And then he found me. And we…I thought we would be together forever. But what a fool I’ve been. No one stays with me forever. Not Beau, not my family, not Mary—”

  When Lily went silent, Rose looked at her in distress. Tears fell down Lily’s face, and her shoulders shook as she dropped her head down. She got up and sat next to Lily, wrapping an arm around her and brushing her hair back with her fingers.

  “Hush, Lily. You’ll make yourself sick. The wine has made you weepy and maudlin,” she crooned.

  “I want things to go back to the way they were before.” She hid her face in Rose’s chest.

  I need to get her out of here and soon. Everyone in the room stared at them. Some things were just not done in public, like a crying fit from the emotional lady next to her.

  “Chin up now. You know as well as I do this doesn’t solve anything. Do you really want Beau to come upon you crying like a water pot?” She tipped up Lily’s chin. “He’s immune to a woman’s tears.”

  When Lily moved away from her, Rose felt as if she’d lost something special. The need to pull her into her embrace escalated. But Lily patted her eyes and sniffed loudly.

  “You’re right. He saw through my tears every time.” Lily blew her nose softly.

  She sipped her wine and fixed the front of her dress so she had something to do with her hands. She didn’t think Lily would allow her to stroke her flushed cheeks. “I only cried once in front of Beau when I found out….” She didn’t finish, cursing herself for almost admitting something unsettling in her past with him that would probably bring forth more tears from his wife.

  “Aren’t you going to finish?” Lily asked, her voice going cold.

  “It’s probably best if I don’t. You’re already out of sorts and—”

  “Did you and Beau ever have intimate relations while we were married?”

  She should have expected the question. She’d been waiting for it so long. Rose cleared her throat and tugged on a curl resting on her neck. “No. Our relationship ended long before you two were married.” She took Lily’s hand in hers. “I promise on the grave of my dead mother that Beau and I have only been friends. I do hope you believe me.”

  When Lily didn’t pull away, she sat against the cushion of the booth and waited for a response. Finally, when Lily took her hand back, she drank.

  “I believe you.” Lily blinked away her tears. “You both have a great deal of history together. Why would you go out of your way to be…friends with me when you can be with him instead and support him during this rough time?”

  She smoothed a few strands of hair behind Lily’s ear. “I believe he is wrong in this matter, and you’ve always bee
n kind to me. You’ve never snubbed me when we’ve been at the same places and always went out of your way to make me feel welcome. I’m returning the favor now.”

  When Lily’s eyes filled with tears again, her chest clenched.

  “Thank you. Your opinion means a great deal to me.”

  Her fingers twitched as she held back from joining their fingers together. Lily’s hands were smooth, her fingers long and almost bony with perfectly manicured nails, unlike hers, which were wrinkling with age and rough around the edges. She’d always hated her hands. They reminded her of her mother’s, roughened from hours of cleaning house and cooking meals.

  She sat there contemplating the woman who born and raised her, something she hadn’t done in a long time. A pang of melancholy hit her. Shaking her head slightly, as if she could push away those sorrowful feelings, she turned her attention to Lily who drank again.

  Lily burped lightly and gave her a droopy smile. When she almost tilted to the side, Rose hooked an arm around the inebriated woman.

  “I think you’ve had enough to drink for today. Why don’t I find a carriage to take you home?” she offered in a gentle voice.

  Giving her a pout, Lily rolled her head on the seat back. “I don’t want to go home. My house is so lonely.”

  Lily’s slurred, husky groan hit her embarrassingly low in her gut. She now had a good indication of what Lily sounded like in the throes of passion.

  This is not the time to think of such things! She wanted to feel shame at her reaction, but she had never been the type to do so and wouldn’t start now. When Lily rested her head on her shoulder and a soft snore escaped her, that unsettling yearning changed to an emotion a more protective nature.

  After shaking Lily awake, she moved out of the booth and helped the troubled woman to her feet. Lily blinked at her tiredly and swayed. Rose caught her around the hips and shuffled forward.

  “Keep your head up as we leave the hotel. We wouldn’t want word to get back to Beau that you drank yourself into a stupor,” she whispered in Lily’s ear.