Free Kary, Elizabeth by Let No Man Divide Page B

her engagement to Lucas Hale. Hayes would not scoff at
her need to do something to ease the suffering the war would bring; he would
understand her disappointment at being refused a chance to use her skills. But
as soon as the idea formed, she rejected it. No woman who considered herself a
lady could seek a man out at his hotel. And even if she were foolish enough to
go there, it was entirely possible that Hayes Banister would refuse to see her.
Instead, feeling lost and disappointed, Leigh made her way back to where she
had left Jeb and the carriage.
    They
had traversed a good part of the city when she heard someone call her name. At
her signal, Jeb pulled the buggy to a halt at the curb as a tall, uniformed
horseman appeared from the dimness of the tree-shaded cross street. Smiling
broadly, he rode toward her and doffed his hat in greeting.
    "Good
day to you, Miss Pennington."
    "And
to you, Major Crawford," she returned pleasantly though with an effort,
eyeing the man who, in spite of his politics, was one of her mother's favorite
callers. Nor was it difficult to discern the reason for his popularity with
women of her mother's milieu. Major Aaron Crawford was a man in the prime of
his life, as evidenced by his impressive physique; his rugged, sun-bronzed
countenance; and his raven-dark hair and sweeping hussar's moustache
dramatically tinged with silver. He was neither too old to escape a maiden's
notice nor too young and inexperienced to bore those same maidens' mothers.
Though Leigh knew the gossip was unfit for her ears, she had heard his name
linked with several of the city's wealthy matrons in the scant year since he
had come to St. Louis. And no wonder, Leigh found herself thinking as she
watched the horse- man beside her. Wherever he went, Aaron Crawford cut a fine
figure: impeccably dressed, unfailingly polite, handsome in the classical
sense, but with a military man's toughness and swagger. Yet, in spite of his
many attributes, Leigh did not like him, though she was at a loss to explain
her strange aversion.
    As
she sat back against the open carriage's plush upholstery, she was
uncomfortably aware of his intense, slate-gray eyes moving over her, taking in
everything from the flush in her cheeks to the fit of her new apple-green gown.
    "You're
looking lovely this afternoon, Miss Pennington," he observed coolly,
"though I question the wisdom of being out alone after what's happened.
How have you and your family fared in these last few days? We did have some
reports of looting and vandalism out your way, though I've had no time to ride
over and check on them myself."
    "I
thank you for your concern, Major Crawford, but we've been quite safe. There
are certain advantages to living in 'a house divided,' " she observed
ruefully. "Neither side considers us their enemies. However, Father and
some of our men did chase rioters from the Hale property next door."
    She
saw his eyes gleam with quick intelligence and could have bitten her tongue for
her unintentional disclosure about the state of things at the Hale home. For
whatever else he might seem to be, Crawford was still the provost marshal and,
as such, wielded substantial power now that martial law was in effect.
    "Oh,
have the Hale boys gone south, then?" he probed, though it was disguised
as a polite observation.
    "I—I'm
not sure just where they are," Leigh lied, unwilling to volunteer any more
than she had already unwittingly revealed.
    "They
were among the prisoners from Camp Jackson, though," he reasoned aloud,
obviously hoping to glean more information from her, "so they both must
have disregarded their sworn oath of allegiance to the Union and set out to
join the Confederates."
    "I
don't have any idea where they've gone," she repeated with greater
conviction. "Perhaps they refuged along with so many of the other Southern
sympathizers."
    Crawford
frowned. "It's possible, but unlikely. You realize, don't you, Miss
Pennington, that if Lucas and Brandon Hale bear arms