Читать книгу Dearest Enemy - Nan Ryan, Nan Ryan - Страница 15

Suzanna had inherited uncommon strength, inflexible will and great charm from her father. She would need all three in the endeavor in which she was about to engage. She had volunteered for a thankless ongoing task that would be both distasteful and dangerous. But she never for a moment considered changing her mind and backing out.

This was war and she had enlisted.

Now, as the carriage rolled down Connecticut Avenue, then past the White House, Suzanna gazed out at the stately residence and thought of the sallow-faced president who lived there. Was Lincoln half as sorry as she that the nation was bitterly divided? Could he hear, from inside the White House, the low pounding of distant artillery and an occasional crackle of musket fire?

When the war broke out, Washington, D.C. had immediately turned into a training ground, arsenal and supply depot. In the well-fortified city, streets constantly reverberated under the wheels of heavy cannons. Sacks of flour, stacked against a siege, surrounded the U.S. Treasury, and the Union Army had built a ring of earthen fortifications around the city.

Sadness swamped Suzanna as she stared at the unfinished dome of the Capitol. She had passed this place so many times in all the different seasons. Now it was the center of the Northern Union! This was no longer her country, but the enemy's. Suzanna looked away, more resolved than ever to make the Yankees pay.

Soon the carriage turned into the circular drive of Mattie Kirkendal's palatial, well-lit residence. Suzanna had arrived fashionably late for Mattie's glittering reception. She had planned it that way. She wanted to attract as much attention as possible when she made her entrance.

She succeeded.

Once a servant had taken her wrap and directed her down the wide central corridor to the ballroom, Suzanna paused just outside the open double doors. Male voices, music, laughter and the clink of champagne glasses reached her. She swallowed anxiously, then nervously smoothed her yellow skirts and swept her loose red hair back off her shoulders. She took a deep breath that made her full breasts swell above the top of her low-cut bodice.

She almost weakened. She wanted to turn and run.

She closed her eyes and thought of Ty.

She opened her eyes and confidently stepped forward.

Utilizing the strongest ammunition in her arsenal—her youthful beauty and charm—Suzanna plunged headlong into battle, taking the ramparts, coolly sizing up the enemy. For a moment that seemed like an hour, she stood framed in the arched doorway, calmly awaiting her hostess.

Guests quickly caught sight of the flame-haired young woman in the shimmering yellow dress. Laughter lulled. Conversations stopped. Heads snapped around. Men stared. Women frowned.

Suzanna didn't flinch under the scrutiny. Beautifully gowned and groomed, she exhibited a cool facade of self-assurance, although inwardly she churned with anxiety and doubt. Could she really go through with this? Could she convince these Union officers that she found them charming and fun and romantic, when actually she despised them all?

“Ah, there you are now,” trilled Mattie Kirkendal, finally coming forward to greet Suzanna. Leaning close, the older woman said, “I did it on purpose, you know. Left you standing here alone. I wanted to give all the gentlemen ample opportunity to notice you.”

“And have they?” Suzanna asked.

Mattie's reply was the pursing of her lips and the twinkling of her eyes. “Now, come, I'll introduce you around.”

“I can hardly wait,” Suzanna said.

At once she was the center of attention. As she entered the brilliantly lit ballroom there were audible gasps at her youth and proud bearing, her shimmering yellow gown with its off-the-shoulder sleeves and low-cut bodice, her lustrous mass of flaming hair framing her fair, flawless face.

With the beaming Mattie at her side, Suzanna moved among the guests, nodding, smiling and offering her hand.

“And I've been waiting all evening for the opportunity to dance with you, Miss LeGrande,” said a pudgy, ruddy-cheeked, heavily bearded Union officer who was a good six inches shorter than the tall, willowy Suzanna.

The gala was finally beginning to wind down as the hour of midnight fast approached. Throughout the trying evening Suzanna had talked and laughed and danced with at least a dozen officers. She was tired and sleepy and could hardly wait to get home.

But no one would have guessed as much by watching her.

“Why, Captain Rood, I'm flattered,” she said now, and favored the short, rotund captain with a dazzling smile. “I kept hoping that you would ask me.” She lowered her lashes seductively.

“You did?” he said, his small, dark eyes widening with disbelief, his mouth stretching into a foolish grin.

“Why yes,” she lied. “Shall we?”

Captain Rood swallowed convulsively, took her hand and led her onto the floor. In his arms, Suzanna fought the revulsion she felt at having his bristly beard tickle her bare throat as he turned his face toward hers. That and the way he breathed, like a steam engine puffing to pull uphill. His hands were clammy and the brass buttons on his uniform blouse were pressing against her stomach. And, not surprisingly, he was a terrible dancer, totally without grace. He stepped on her toes at every turn.

But Suzanna endured the ordeal with aplomb and listened attentively as the Yankee captain, in an attempt to impress her, spoke freely of the Union's latest deployment of troops.

“Why, Captain, I'm afraid I've been a bit too sheltered. What exactly does ‘deployment' mean? And when and where will it happen?”

His wet, fleshy lips now grazing her throat, the captain cheerfully did his part to educate her. And to set her mind at ease. “You have no need to worry, my dear, we greatly outnumber the Rebs.”

“I'm relieved to hear that, Captain,” Suzanna said. “So, if there should ever be a battle in or around Washington proper, we townspeople wouldn't be in danger?”

Captain Rood laughed merrily. “Ah, how charmingly innocent you are, Miss LeGrande. The truth is, you couldn't be in a safer place than right here in this heavily fortified Union city.”

Suzanna nodded and bit the inside of her bottom lip. She could well remember the first days of the war, when Ty and Matthew had optimistically predicted that “we'll make Washington the new capital of the Confederacy.”

When at last the music mercifully ended, Suzanna gave no indication of her troubled thoughts. She was glowing, as she had been all evening, her enormous blue eyes flashing with gaiety and good health. The talkative captain was left with the impression that this beautiful young woman found him quite interesting.

That idea was solidified when a young major stepped forward to claim Suzanna for the next dance. Suzanna playfully winked at Captain Rood over her partner's shoulder. Then she quickly turned her full attention to the man in whose arms she now found herself.

Suzanna charmed everyone.

The enchanted officers laughed at her bold comments and saucy frankness. She could be wickedly funny and highly entertaining. She found it incredibly easy to dominate these would-be warriors and convince them to confide in her.

But it was tiring, and she was glad when the evening was finally over.

“What a fantastic performance!” praised Mattie Kirkendal when the last of the guests had gone and only she and Suzanna remained. “You were absolutely superb, my dear. Thank heavens you're on the right side of this!”

“But I learned nothing of value,” Suzanna said with a weary yawn.

“Don't be so impatient, Suzanna,” Mattie gently scolded. “Go on along home now and get some well-deserved rest. I'm planning a wine supper for Tuesday next. May I count on you to attend?”

“I'll be here.”