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Jessie once again thought of the lovely Chinese girl she’d seen in the window of the crib this morning. She could still feel the girl’s shame inside her heart.
Trying to force her thoughts to more pleasant things, since she knew that at any moment someone could come up to speak to her, Jessie straightened her back and squared her shoulders.
She could tell that Reginald was a man who enjoyed giving grand parties and showing off his magnificent house. He moved from person to person, talking and laughing despite his constant wheezing.
The music room had been cleared of all furniture but the grand piano and a wide oak table on the opposite side of the room.
On that table his guests could choose from such delicacies as capers, plover’s eggs, green olives, truffles, mushrooms, and meringues. There were also platters heaped with roasted prairie chicken, broiled antelope steaks, and smoked elk meat.
The drinks offered were sherry, burgundy, champagne, and Reginald’s favorite wine—Château Lagrange.
Jessie’s attention was drawn to several women who had gone to the piano and were now standing around it, admiring it. They looked over at Jessie and beckoned her nearer, smiling.
“Can you play?” asked one of the smaller women, who was dressed in a low-necked, floor-length, blue velvet dress.
“Yes, I can play,” Jessie said, then stiffened when she saw Reginald give her a sour glance as he heard her reply.
She still didn’t know why he had warned her away from the piano, but she knew she must not play it. He had made that perfectly clear!
“Will you play for us?” one of the ladies asked.
“I haven’t practiced for some time, so I would feel more comfortable not playing the piano tonight,” Jessie said, again feeling Reginald’s eyes on her.
“My, my, how disappointing,” one of the women said in a strange sort of squawking voice.
“Very,” another woman said stiffly. Then all of them turned with a whirl of skirts and left Jessie standing alone again.
Feeling uncomfortable since Reginald had gone back to ignoring h
er, Jessie lifted the hem of her skirt and hurried from the room through French doors that led outside to a veranda.
She stepped up to the rail and placed her hands there, sighing at how out of place she felt. Again she wished that she was anywhere but there.
When Reginald had first written to her, he’d made her feel as though she was truly wanted. She had thought coming to live with him would be the answer to her problems. She had envisioned them going horseback riding together often as they had as young children.
Jessie felt anything but welcome now, even though she was supposed to be the guest of honor at this party. Reginald had not taken the time to introduce her to anyone, and the guests ignored her. She felt so uncomfortable that more than once she had wanted to flee to the privacy of her bedroom.
But standing out there in the night air, where the slight sliver of moon hung in the sky and the stars were sparkling against the black backdrop of the heavens, was much better than being cooped up in a bedroom. Although it was furnished lavishly and should please any woman, she did not feel comfortable there. From the very first moment she had entered Reginald’s house, she knew that this was not going to be a place where she would feel loved, wanted, or needed.
Coyote calls echoed off the distant butte, startling her. She had noticed earlier that coyotes howled here even in broad daylight.
She shivered and placed a hand on her belly.
When should she tell Reginald about the child? He certainly didn’t seem the sort who would want children around.
It would be a while before she began showing, so she would wait and hope that she could find the right moment to tell him. If she was lucky, he would not go into a rage when he discovered that he had not only taken in a lonely woman, but also a child.
“Here you are,” Reginald said, stepping out into the night air on the veranda next to Jessie. “Why are you out here all alone? Cousin, this party is being held in your honor. You should be a part of it.”
“I just got so tired suddenly,” Jessie murmured, looking past his thick-lensed glasses into his beady eyes. Her heart turned cold when she saw their unfriendly gaze.
“Well, let’s see what we can do about that,” Reginald said, taking her by an elbow. “Let’s get some food in you. Did you see the various local dishes that Jade cooked up for us? She is a marvel, that one. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
Recalling Jade’s hidden bruises, and guessing just how unhappy and afraid Jade must be with her situation, Jessie stiffened. She had to wonder if she, herself, would ever be a recipient of blows that could cause such bruises.
That possibility made her almost sick to her stomach.
“Here’s our guest of honor,” Reginald announced as he took Jessie to the center of the floor, where everyone gathered around them. “Isn’t my cousin a beauty?” He laughed. “As you see, it runs in the family.”
