Blind Trust by Susannah Bamford

squarely as she acknowledged the introduction. “And did you have a pleasant trip up, Mr. Finn?”
    â€œOh, yes,” Tavish answered. “It’s beautiful country up here. I had my nose pressed to the window during the entire journey.”
    â€œYou’ve never been to the Hudson Valley?” Darcy asked, and while they traded the usual observances on the river and the landscape she felt Claude beside her, not saying a word, but watching. Was he seeing her confusion? There was something in the air suddenly, some charge between her and Tavish Finn. Was it merely from the fact that they shared a secret? Try as she might she could not seem to act normally. Surely Claude would see it.
    Tavish Finn was a danger to her; he could ruin her father once more with this business scheme. Edward had told her it involved buying up a bankrupt shipping line and refitting it in order to compete with Jay Gould and Collis Huntington’s Pacific Mail Steamship Company, which held California transport in a stranglehold. But was there such a company, and was the scheme feasible? She didn’t know, and she feared another collapse for her father. It sounded like another of the many schemes he’d invested in and then lost his money.
    She had so many reasons to dislike the man, and even more to fear him. And yet her heart had lifted at the sight of him! What is happening to me? Darcy wondered crazily.
    Tavish began to talk to Claude, who answered grudgingly, his full, wet lips pursed with distaste. Tavish continued to chat amiably. Occasionally, his eyes flickered over to her. Each time, Darcy would steel herself not to drop her own gaze.
    Cora called them to lunch. Darcy knew she should eat, she knew Claude would notice her full plate, her untouched glass of wine, but she could not choke anything down her constricted throat. She spoke, she nodded and laughed, and she could have wept with joy when lunch was over and, pleading a headache, she had an excuse to escape to the privacy of her room.
    She followed the chattering and laughing women from the table. They stopped as Maud Valentine paused to throw a last gay remark at Ambrose Hartley. Her heart beating, Darcy felt Tavish behind her, close, closer than he should be. A wrapped package was pressed into her hand. She had to take it, or run the risk of dropping it and having the others see. Her fingers curled around it, and she hid it among the folds of her dress.
    When she reached her room, she unwrapped it eagerly. Leaves of Grass . Smiling, she ran her fingers over the leather. The forbidden, enticing book seemed to burn against her skin, reminding her of the danger of her rebellious heart.
    Tavish waited until Ned and Claude had entered the carriage. Then he hesitated, his hand on the door.
    â€œGentlemen, I hope you don’t mind. But I had a sudden vision of Miss Valentine shrieking her way down a toboggan slide, and I believe I’ve made the wrong choice for the afternoon after all.”
    â€œMaud Valentine, eh?” Ned Van Cormandt laughed. “Don’t blame you a bit, Mr. Finn. It’s a much more delightful prospect than Mr. Statton, myself, and a consultation about a piece of property near the river.”
    Tavish grinned and touched his hat to hide the foreboding he felt as he waved them off. He’d expected Claude Statton to scowl, or perhaps to urge him to accompany them anyway. But those yellow cat eyes had merely sent him the briefest of messages: I am watching you , Mr. Finn .
    Tavish knew the man had seen his interest in his wife. That was unfortunate. Not only did he not want to arouse Claude’s suspicions for any reason, he didn’t want to make things difficult for Darcy.
    He had maybe twenty minutes or so to nose around Ned Van Cormandt’s papers before there was a chance he would be discovered. Darcy was in her room with a headache and Columbine’s copy of Whitman. The rest of the party, with much protesting