Free Scandal on Rincon Hill by Shirley Tallman

pieces!”
    With an inward sigh, I realized I could expect no substantive work from the lad after Fanny's doughnuts, and now visions of tall ships sailing the seven seas. Extracting a promise that he would arrive at my office no later than eight o'clock sharp the following morning, I released Eddie from today's lesson.
    He was still grinning from ear to ear as he hopped aboard his brougham, and clicked his patient dappled-gray horse toward Market Street to begin his day's work as a cabbie.
    “You realize, of course, that he will give me no peace until you've made good on your promise,” I told Pierce, as we watched Eddie's departing carriage.
    Pierce laughed. “Thank you for the warning, but I meant what I said. I'll be happy to allow the lad onboard. I haven't forgotten my excitement as a boy when my father and uncle allowed my brother and me to board their ships.” His look grew serious. “Speaking of Leonard, I have to meet with him shortly. Perhaps you would afford me the pleasure of dining with me tomorrow evening? That way we'll have the leisure to catch up on the events of the past few months.”
    I experienced a brief panic, then remembered that I had a perfectly valid reason for refusing his invitation. “I'm sorry, but my sister-in-law is holding a dinner party at our house tomorrow night.”
    “Tonight then,” he said, seeming not in the least put off by my refusal. “Don't tell me your sister-in-law is holding a dinner party tonight, as well?”
    My panic returned, before common sense exerted itself. Surely a casual dinner between friends was perfectly innocent. It did not mean I had to marry the man! And I could not deny that I was eager to hear of his recent adventures in the Far East.
    “All right, Mr. Godfrey,” I agreed, trying to ignore my racing heart. “That would be quite pleasant.”
    “Excellent. But tell me, why have I suddenly become Mr. Godfrey?”
    There was that familiar gleam in his dark eyes again, a look I remembered all too well from when we'd first met some six months ago. Just thinking back to that fateful evening still caused me to shudder. In all fairness, however, I could not allow the spate of murders which followed our initial meeting to influence our current friendship.
    “Well?” he persisted, in that tone of voice I still found altogether too smooth and self-assured. “If I didn't know better, Sarah, I'd say that you were frightened of me.”
    I felt blood creep up my neck until it warmed my cheeks.“Don't be ridiculous,” I countered, realizing even as I spoke that my reddened face bespoke the lie. “We are on a public street. It is only decent that we observe proper decorum.”
    To my consternation, these simple words caused him to laugh aloud.
    “What do you find so amusing?” I demanded, irked and embarrassed by this show of disrespect.
    “I apologize,” he said, making an obvious attempt to rein in his laughter. My anger was further stoked when he could manage nothing better than an amused chuckle. “But really, Sarah, that excuse is akin to the pot calling the kettle black. You pay remarkably little attention to decorum when you're defending a client, or out hunting a murderer. Leonard wrote to me in Hong Kong describing your recent adventures battling ghosts and goblins. I found the entire affair intriguing, if difficult to comprehend.”
    He referred, of course, to my last case involving a Russian psychic and a series of murders following a séance conducted at San Francisco's Cliff House.
    “Your brother was not privy to the particulars of the situation, so he can only report the drivel he read in the newspapers. I assure you, Pierce, those articles fell well short of what actually happened.”
    “Finally! you're back to using my given name. That's more like the feisty, determined young woman I have come to admire.”
    “you're impossible!” I declared, my anger turning inward as I belatedly realized how easily I had allowed him to bait my