But he’d yearned for more. As the years passed, he grew accustomed to his overnight shift, but he wanted more out of life than black-and-white newsprint. He wanted color and art and beauty. By the time he was eighteen, he’d saved enough money to take art classes while Molly was in school, but it played havoc with his ability to sleep. He grabbed a few hours here and there, but it seemed he never had enough.

And in the end, Molly paid the price.

“Find someone else for the job,” Nathaniel stressed. “I’ll never be a bodyguard.”

“You’re not a bodyguard, you’re a detective. You’ve already spotted a potential security flaw with the first lady’s secretary, but we’ll need to keep the investigation quiet. The Delacroixs are a powerful family.”

“What can you tell me about them?” Nathaniel had limited experience with high society, but Wilkie mingled with ease.

“They are one of the first families in Virginia society. Old money and old roots. Her elder brother is the leader of the family. Gray Delacroix lives like a monk, but the younger brother is a scoundrel. I think he and Caroline are twins. The pair of them used to be the toast of the town. They lived fast and dangerous. She mostly outgrew it, but he never did. Luke Delacroix is the sort who eventually gets kicked to the curb, blackballed, or wears out his welcome.”

Possibly the sort who would need a criminal attorney, but no self-respecting man would use his sister to handle his legal problems. “Where can I find him?”

“If he has a job, I’ve never heard of it,” Wilkie said.

That meant Nathaniel now had two people to spy on. Caroline and her brother Luke . . . if he could be found.

There wasn’t much room to get dressed in the dormitory, and Caroline needed help from Ludmila to get into her formal gown of peacock blue draped with black lace. She’d had it sent from her family’s townhouse for this evening’s state dinner. She only had room for a few gowns in the women’s dormitory, but she kept others at home, and Ida even let her store a few in her generous closets, because Caroline needed a huge range of clothing for her various duties. She would only attend tonight’s dinner if the first lady fell ill at the last moment, but Caroline always dressed in case she was needed.

The small tabletop mirror in the dormitory wasn’t adequate, but Ida had a full-length mirror in her dressing room, and it was time to go attend to her.

Caroline gasped when she saw the first lady dressed in a splendid gown of mauve satin and a diamond choker. Ida looked spectacular, but her hair ornament was a problem.

“Let’s see what else might work better with that gown,” Caroline said diplomatically.