know better than to think a man like Monteigne would be pleased about getting married. It was rather obvious Mr. Monteigne's interest hadn't been captured by Bessie's brains.
But didn't Daniel's secret agent have lots of women? Perhaps if Monteigne wasn't Pecos Martin, he was leading a double life. That would be vastly entertaining.
A rustle of silk in the second floor hall caught Evie's attention. Not wishing to be seen spying, she started toward the third floor as the lobby door closed on Bessie. Glancing down the hall as she passed it, Evie saw a woman in a walking dress more elegant than her own leaving one of the rooms.
She heard the unmistakable tread of a man's boots on the stairs. Curiosity was a terrible thing, right up there next to imagination. Evie hesitated on the top landing, almost certain now of the scene about to unfold. Amusement curled her lips as she heard the soft, coaxing voice of the woman in the hall below as the man approached. If this were a dime novel, she knew what would happen next.
"There you are, Tyler!" the elegant lady cried. "I was so worried. I've left Timothy. I know you told me it would be foolish, but I can't help it. I want to go with you to St. Louis. I'll hire a lawyer and see about a divorce as soon as we're there, and then we can be together as much as we like. Tell me you're happy for me, Tyler."
Mr. Monteigne ran his hand through his hair and hid any dismay as he looked down on the petite female in silk holding out a beseeching palm. Looking for an avenue of retreat, his gaze caught on Evie peering from around the corner.
She knew a trapped man when she saw one. Laughing at his predicament, Evie demurely turned in his direction. "Why, Mr. Monteigne! I didn't know you were married. I thought I heard something about you being betrothed..."
She let the sentence dangle insinuatingly before turning to the lady. "I am so sorry, Mrs. Monteigne. I had no idea I would be taking your husband away like this. Travel to Texas is so uncertain in these times, you know, and he offered to escort my brother and myself. You see, my brother is only eighteen and his leg was dreadfully maimed in a carriage accident, and he tries so hard to be responsible for me, but we both felt we would be much safer in Mr. Monteigne's care. You do understand, don't you? I wouldn't want you to be too hard on your husband for his generous ways."
Evie flashed a winning smile in Tyler's direction. "I'll let you two lovebirds have this chance alone. Just ask the clerk for my direction when you have a chance. We need to discuss details."
Triumphantly, Evie swept toward the stairs. Tyler Monteigne was not only a rotten cad, he was a two-timing son-of-a-female dog, but she would have the last word yet. Daniel wanted an escort to Texas, and he was going to have one. Bessie and Miss Priss back there would see to that for her. If she were writing this adventure, she would have provided a more honorable hero, someone more like Ivanhoe, but a spurious Pecos Martin would have to do. She didn't have the time or resources to locate anyone else.
Miss Priss was talking almost as loudly as Bessie by the time Evie reached her room. She predicted that Mr. Tyler Monteigne would be pounding up here sometime in the very near future. Unless, of course, he persuaded Miss Priss into some compromising situation before he sent her home to her husband. There was always that possibility. He was an indecently good-looking man, and secret agents did that kind of thing.
That thought brought a frown to her brow, but Evie wiped it away before she entered the room.
The boy resting against the headboard looked up from his book and grinned at her appearance. "Did you find him? Was he at the Green Door like the books said?"
Evangeline Peyton Howell swept off her lacy fragment of a hat and tossed it to the dresser. "Of course. Did you have any doubt?" she asked.
"Tee-rrific! What's he like? Is he like the book? Does he have narrowed eyes and a lantern jaw and a hand that lingers near his holster?"
"Daniel Mulloney! Do you think I would get within ten miles of a man like that? Why didn't you tell me that was what he was