Part 20 (1/2)

”Why didn't you simply ask Caroline to marry you before all this happened?”

”I have my reasons, but they are somewhat moot under the circ.u.mstances. Liam is interested in you, of that I have no doubt. How interested will be the measure of our success or failure.”

They looked at each other in perfect understanding, and Perry wondered how it was that he felt he'd known Miss MacKenzie beforea”as if he'd always suspected her existence somewhere in the world.

The existence of a woman who would be Liam's match.

”Then all we need is a plan,” Miss MacKenzie said. ”Frankly, that's what I don't have. This isn't mya city.”

”But it is mine,” Perry said. ”We must see to it that Liam doesn't dismiss you. You must remain in his sight, his consciousness. He must be compelled to admit he wants you, and not Caroline.”

”That's a pretty big job,” she said in a small voice.

”Losing your confidence already?” he chided.

”Come. You are clearly a woman of courage. If you fail in your convictiona””

Her chin jerked up. ”I won't fail. I have more commitment to this than you can possibly understand.”

More of Miss Mackenzie's mysteries, it seemed. But Perry was content to let those mysteries standa”for now.

”Very well,” he said. ”The matter seems simple enough. In order to be near Liam, you must be introduced to the social circle of which Caroline is a part.” He looked Miss MacKenzie over, frowning thoughtfully. ”If I'm not mistaken, you have not spent a great deal of time in society, have you?”

”There isn't too much of that in the jungle,” she said. ”I have no illusions. I don't pretend to be the high-society type. In fact, I don't even own a dress. But I can learn to get around here, with your help.”

Perry nodded. ”I shall present you as my American cousin from some lost branch of the family. Backward missionary's daughter deprived of the benefits of society, thrown on the mercy of a distant relative, and only now making her debut. That ought to account for a few peculiarities of behavior, don't you think?”

”But how do you propose to get us near Caroline?” she asked. ”Liam won't let you just resume your courts.h.i.+p.”

”You may leave that to me.”

”I guess I'll have to.” She squared her shoulders. ”All right. Let's do it.”

”Then it seems we are allies, Miss MacKenzie. Shall we shake to seal our partners.h.i.+p?”

He waited, as was proper, for her to offer her hand first. ”We might as well drop the formality,” she said. ”You can call mea”” He would have sworn a grimace crossed her face. ”Call me Rose.”

Rose, indeed. A most unlikely namea”and he suspected this Rose had thorns. ”My friends call me Perry,” he said.

”What next, Perry?” she asked, releasing his hand.

”I have a plan to set in motion, but I'll be in contact shortly.” He reached into his waistcoat pocket for a card and went to the desk in search of a pen. ”This is my address, should you need to reach me. Have you funds?”

”Not a dime.”

He emptied his pockets of coins and laid several on the dressing table. ”This should provide for any necessities for the time being.”

She opened her mouth as if to ask for details and then thought better of it. ”I hope you know what you're doing.”

”Always, Rose. Have no fear of that.”

He left her with a handful of rea.s.surances and walked out the door feeling considerably better than when he'd first arrived in Liam's company.

Who would have thought it? The trap Liam had set had turned to Perry's advantage. An advantage Perry could not have imagined in his wildest dreams.

Liam had found himself a woman in the jungle. A woman utterly unlike Caroline. And therein lay the chance of victory.

Perry met Liam's guard in the hallway as he paused by the elevator. A few quiet words brought a nod and sly grin from the man, who found another excuse to leave his post.

The sky was growing dark when Perry emerged onto Market Street. He swung his cane as he walked the short distance to his boardinghouse, tipping his hat to the ladies he pa.s.sed.

The ladies. Rose MacKenzie might not be one of them, but she had something most of them didn't have. Something an ordinary man might not appreciate.

As Liam did not appreciate Caroline.

Perry started up the stairs to his second-floor apartments, staring at the worn carpet runner under his feet. Strange how untroubled he felt, considering the day's startling events. The shock of Liam's abrupt return, followed by the guilta”an emotional weakness Perry thought had pa.s.sed the Sinclairs by long ago. Guilt was a thoroughly useless burden.

But perhaps love had made him vulnerable. If so, it was the least price he would pay to save Caroline.

Friends.h.i.+p he had already sacrificed. Yet he recalled the good days Liam had invoked in the Palace Hotel room. Two men from vastly different backgrounds had fallen together in their search for something intangible: Liam, never satisfied with what he had, for a purpose beyond his acc.u.mulated wealth and hard-won success; Perry, aimless and jaded after too long in a business that leeched the life from anyone it touched, for some reason to live.

It had been Liam who'd made Perry feel again, rediscover the challenge in living itself. And Perry had forced Liam from his sh.e.l.l of isolation and hidden bitterness. They'd found common ground in jungle mud and desert sands, in ancient ruins and the thrill of discovery. Their partners.h.i.+p had taken them halfway around the world and back again. Danger had bound them as brothers.

Until Liam brought Perry back to San Francisco to meet his young ward. Caroline Gresham, fresh, vibrant, pa.s.sionate.

And no more than a duty to Liam, a valuable object he'd sworn to protect, a child he would never recognize as the budding woman she was becoming. Just as he had not seen her today, when she'd tried so hard and with so little success to make Liam notice her.

But Perry saw what Liam did not. He found in Caroline the youth and careless joy so long missing from his life, a joy remarkable in a girl who'd known so little love of the kind she deserved.

Love. What a very odd thing it was. Perry paused to sift his pocket for the keys to his suite, remembering. He'd certainly never expected to discover that tender emotion so late in his checkered career. Love had been rare enough in his ancient, cold, patrician family.

But what had begun as mild flirtation with a young woman eager to hear his tales of adventure had blossomed into something far deeper. And it was Liam's doing. He'd given Perry an immeasurable gift, and now he obliged his friend to betray him. For Caroline's sake.

For she needed room to grow, to explore, to know what she wanted of lifea”all the freedoms Liam would never permit her.

Perry reached his door, shaking his head. Ah, Liam, you blind fool. Love was what Caroline needed, what she must havea”the one thing her father's money could never provide.

G.o.d help him, Caroline believed that what she wanted was Liam's lovea”that he would love her as a woman. Value her for herself, not an oath fulfilled or some cardboard figurine of a perfect lady. She was too naive to see that was something Liam could never give.

Perry turned the key in the door and walked into his suite. He dropped his gloves on the sideboard in the front sitting room and tossed his hat behind them, nearly covering the photograph that he'd been meaning to put away.

The photograph. Taken in better days, four years ago: two men in the jungle, content in their freedom. The same photograph Rose inexplicably had in her possession.

No. Not the same. And the explanation hardly mattered now. Perry's attempts to make Liam see reason had failed, but he'd been given another chance. There would be no more room for sentiment. Or clemency.

Perry retrieved a gla.s.s and decanter from the sideboard and poured himself a drink, lifting it in a toast.