Free Pale Moon Stalker (The Nymph Trilogy) by Shirl Henke Page B

seems like ages," Sky responded.
    Soon the women were off, riding astride in split skirts, their gleaming hair and faces bare beneath the hot summer sun. The arbiters of St. Louis' highest social circles were scandalized by such behavior, but no longer surprised by it. Delilah Daniels had come to town as a professional gambler and then married a former bordello owner. She and Clint had first spent a summer making their fortune in the Fort Benton river trade. They did not require social approval, but lived as they pleased.
    Sky, the daughter of a Sioux Indian chief, had found even less acceptance. She was not only of mixed blood but also Clint Daniels' adopted sister, a most unnatural female. University educated, she'd even read law under one of the most successful attorneys in the city.
    The two friends set out on the warm breezy morning, riding two fine geldings from Clint's large stable of prime horseflesh. Patting the neck of the paint she rode, Sky said, "Max once had a beauty like this one. Named him Rembrandt."
    "Rembrandt the paint instead of the painter. I like that. Your husband has quite a sense of humor. I like him, too." Delilah reached over and squeezed Sky's hand. "I confess I was worried when we received your wire about the marriage. After...well, after all the tragedy you've endured, I just want you to be happy. Now that we've met Max—a peer of the realm, no less—Clint and I are reassured…you are happy, aren't you, Sky?"
    "His being the infamous Limey doesn't worry you?" Sky asked, evading the question.
    "It did when Clint first had him investigated, but when he learned that you were in route to England, that the Stanhope name was so highly respected, well, that put a different light on matters. I know it's none of my business, Sky, but why did an English nobleman come to America and become a bounty hunter?"
    Sky wished she knew the answer to that very question herself. She could only extrapolate and hope to convince Delilah. "He was a soldier in Africa. He doesn't want to talk about it, just as Clint never wanted to talk about what happened to him during the war of the rebellion," Sky added, knowing how bitter her brother's experiences, first as a Confederate, then as a galvanized Yankee, had been.
    "So, he came to America to start over. Did his family approve?"
    "He wasn't a remittance man, if that's what you mean."
    Delilah smiled at Sky's knee-jerk defense of Max, finding it a good sign. "No, that isn't what I meant." But there's something not quite right about your relationship. "It's difficult to envision such a charming Englishman tracking killers through the wilderness for a livelihood," she said, fishing. "Considering Clint's past, I'm scarcely in a position to cast the first stone, Sky, but Max is so...please forgive me for saying this, but he's so utterly different from Will."
    "Yes, he is," Sky replied at length. She'd anticipated that deceiving her family would be very difficult, but she'd never realized just how painful. Swallowing for courage, she said, "I suppose opposites attract. You and Clint certainly started out with nothing in common. At least Max and I already agree about the West. He prefers America to England." That much was true. She desperately did not want to lie to her best friend.
    Delilah kept her reservations to herself. It was obvious that Sky did not wish to discuss her hasty marriage and unlikely bridegroom. She was not with child, for which Delilah thanked heavens. Most marriages made because of pregnancy did not do well. But she had an intuition that there was something amiss between the baron and his lady. Not a lack of physical attraction. The sexual tension hummed between them like a tuning fork hitting high C. No, it was something she could not put a name to...yet.
    The sharp crack of a shot instantly put an end to her troubling reverie. A bullet tore through the sleeve of Sky's windblown shirt, leaving a smear of red on the pristine white cotton. Both women ducked