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Back A Gilded Lady
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. Half Title Page
  3. Books by Elizabeth Camden
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Twenty-Seven
  33. Twenty-Eight
  34. Twenty-Nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-One
  37. Thirty-Two
  38. Thirty-Three
  39. Thirty-Four
  40. Thirty-Five
  41. Thirty-Six
  42. Thirty-Seven
  43. Thirty-Eight
  44. Thirty-Nine
  45. Historical Note
  46. Questions for Discussion
  47. In 2021, look for Luke Delacroix’s story in
  48. About the Author
  49. Back Ads
  50. Back Cover

But Luke always said he was invincible whenever he was afraid. It was what he’d said after getting expelled from the Naval Academy, and again after their father died and responsibility for managing the family’s fortune landed in his lap while Gray traveled home from across the globe. It didn’t surprise her that Luke would try to put a brave face on things, even as the waters were closing over his head and he was drowning.

Most worrisome was his handwriting, for it was sloppy and uneven. His earlier letters hadn’t been like that, and it worried her. If his health was beginning to fail, could she really wait for a presidential pardon?

It was time to see her lawyer again and get the process moving.

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Caroline made an appointment with Mr. Alphonse, prepared to pay him a fortune to expedite the request for Luke’s presidential pardon. Now that the election was safely behind him, perhaps President McKinley would be quietly willing to help.

Except her lawyer’s skepticism about winning a pardon for treasonous activity remained high. He didn’t even want to accept an appointment with her, but she insisted.

“Please tell me you’re not here hoping to speed up your case for a pardon,” he said as he gestured her to a seat across from his desk.

“Indeed I am,” she replied crisply. “And I want to move quickly. No more delays.”

“You have almost no chance of success,” Mr. Alphonse replied. “Why are you dumping a fortune on a hopeless cause?”

She squared her shoulders. If she worried about the magnitude of the problem, she’d have given up long ago, but something about the challenge in Mr. Alphonse’s gaze caught her by surprise.

“What are my options?” she asked.

Instead of answering, he went to open his office door, looked both ways, then closed it again. Rather than return to his desk, he drew a chair close beside her and lowered his voice.

“What I’m about to propose is for hypothetical purposes only. I can’t suggest anything that might abuse the legal process, but there are ways that aren’t entirely aboveboard that have a better shot of getting your brother out of hot water than an unlikely presidential pardon.”

“Tell me.”

As he outlined the plan, her eyes grew wide. A combination of hope and dread mingled as she considered the suggestion, because it might work. It would break her heart, but it might work. Luke would have to cooperate, and it would be difficult, but it had a good shot at succeeding.