***
Ramon de la Guerra took a drink of his sangria, savoring the taste of the rich red wine blended with the sweet-tart flavor of oranges and limes. Across the patio, Fletcher Austin introduced his niece to yet another group of Anglos, some of them neighbors, most of them friends who had traveled from Yerba Buena—San Francisco, it was now called.
There was no denying Austin’s niece was a lovely girl, ivory-skinned and fiery-haired, with an oval face delicately boned and a small cleft on her chin—kissed by angels, he’d heard it called. She was petite but not frail, with ripe full breasts and an incredibly tiny waist.
For a moment after they had met, he’d thought she might be different than he had imagined, that she might exude a warmth and charm her uncle did not have. All too soon she had proved to be nothing but the pampered sophisticate he had expected, acting instead of feeling, cool and aloof and full of pretense.
After her return from the house, he had asked her to dance, but she had refused him, her manner carefully distant and pointedly removed. A few moments later, she had danced again with Vincent Bannister. Why not? he thought. Bannister had far more money, and money was always what a woman like that was looking for.
Ramon had known a number of such women. They came to Madrid during the season, traveling on their husbands’ money, looking for excitement in a strange foreign land, easy prey for a man like him… or perhaps it was the other way around.
In the moonlight, Ramon caught a glimpse of flame-bright hair, saw the flash of emerald eyes the color of her gown, and thought of another such woman. Lillian Schofield. Lily, with big blue eyes and pale blond hair. Lily—the woman he had almost come to love.
He looked again at Fletcher Austin’s niece. This one was younger than Lily, but in time she would turn out the same… if she wasn’t that way already. Still, it might be interesting to bed her. She was certainly a temptation, and the small measure of revenge against her uncle would make the taking all the sweeter.
Ah, but Austin was a powerful man, and in times like these it was far too dangerous. And there were others he must consider.
He watched the girl talking to Royston Wardell, another of her uncle’s wealthy friends. She smiled up at him through her long dark-auburn lashes then laughed softly at something Wardell said. Yes, she was more than tempting. Perhaps he would wait and see.…
“Buenas noches,Don Ramon.”
He glanced up to see Isabel Montoya standing right beside him. It surprised him that he had not heard her approach.
“Good evening, Senorita Montoya. I hope you are enjoying the festivities.”
Full red lips turned down in a pretty pout. “Withmi novioaway on business, I do not find it so much fun. It is sometimes difficult to entertain oneself, no?”
He smiled. “Si,senorita. It is always painful when a loved one is away.”
Isabel smiled softly. She was black haired and dark eyed, young but flawlessly beautiful. “I wondered… I thought… perhaps… since you were also alone this eve we might entertain each other.”
He frowned. “I do not think your betrothed would approve of such a notion. Besides, you are hardly alone. Your father and mother, your sister and brother are also here, as well as yourduena,Louisa.”
Big dark eyes ran over his face. Beneath her white lace mantilla, she looked even younger than her sixteen years. “Surely you are not afraid of my father… or even Don Carlos.” Her fingers moved along his lapel, brushing lightly, her eyes running over his face, unmistakable in their invitation. “I have heard it said that when it comes to the ladies, you—”
He caught her wrist, stilling her words. “You are forgetting, senorita, Don Carlos Ramirez—your betrothed—is my friend. I will do nothing to impose upon that friendship.” He turned her around and gave her a gentle shove in the opposite direction.“And in the future, senorita, should I hear of such behavior as I have seen this night, you may be certain that I will inform your father. Perhaps a willow switch will entertain you well enough.”
She spun to face him, her slender spine stiff and her dark eyes flashing fire. He stopped her before she could speak.
“One more word,niña,and I will do it now.”
“You—you arenota gentleman.”
“And you,chica,are hardly behaving like a lady. Go now, and next time think before you speak.”
Tears gathered in her pretty dark eyes. She turned and raced away.
Ramon watched her go, thinking perhaps he should have proceeded with a little more restraint. “Women,” he muttered into the darkness. He pondered Isabel’s behavior and wondered if her father’s friendship with a growing number of Anglos was the reason she had dared to behave so boldly.
He saw her brother, Alfredo, approaching and hoped that nothing else would go wrong. But it was not Alfredo’s words that broke the silence; it was the sound of pounding hooves, thrumming hard against the earth. A rider burst through the high back gate of the sprawling hacienda, shouting and waving his dusty brown felt hat in the air.
“What is it?” Alfredo asked, starting in that direction. “What do you think has happened?”
“I do not know,” Ramon said. Hurriedly, they walked toward the stable, where the man had jerked his horse to a sliding halt; and Fletcher Austin, William Bannister, and Royston Wardell fell in beside them.
“What’s happened?” Austin called to the mounted man, who turned and rode toward them on his weary, lathered black horse.
“The Spanish Dragon,” he said, sounding as short of breath as the horse, “that bastard El Dragón hit the Overland whereit crosses the Hollingworth spread. Robbed a shipment of gold coming back this way from the San Francisco mint.”