“Do you think it’s easy for me, constantly walking a fine line between factions that are out for blood? And I do not mean just a figurative manner of speech, but a literal one as well. Steve Morgan is one of the most ruthless men I’ve ever met in my life, and God only knows what drives him to do the things he does, or why Virginia keeps coming back to him. Christ, after that debacle two years ago, then the rumors that nearly ruined me before, in San Francisco with her Russian prince…I do what I have to do to survive, my dear, as you should appreciate instead of condemn.”

Sonya shuddered lightly and turned back to the window. Rain slid down glass panes, tiny rivulets like crystal, forming spidery tracks. She thought of the Beaudine plantation that she had inherited from her first husband, wild and impetuous Raoul, whom she had loved so much. She could hardly bear to go there anymore. There were too many memories, first of Raoul, then of Steve Morgan, the young Union captain who had taken what she’d so freely given, hating herself at the time but unable to resist the urges of her own body.

Yes, she had told William she hated Steve Morgan and she thought she must. He had humiliated her, preferring a quadroon girl to her, even fighting a duel over the girl! And then, even worse, he had married her stepdaughter so that she could never be completely free of him.

So why did it suddenly matter to her that Ginny not go to Mexico? Why should she care if the girl endangered herself?

Perhaps because, despite their differences and the frequent times she didn’t even like Ginny, she recognized in her a resilience and courage that was to be admired. It was a grudging admiration, for after all that had happened to her over the years, Ginny had survived. Some of the stories of her past were too horrible to contemplate, the indignities she’d endured far more humiliating than anything imaginable. Yet Ginny didn’t surrender. She kept her head up and her eyes on the future.

It was, in a strange way, inspiring.

Some of the despair of the past weeks began to lift, and Sonya turned away from the window. Even after William had fallen asleep beside her, she could not sleep for the restless thoughts spinning in her head. Memories of the last time Ginny had been in New Orleans summoned all too familiar premonitions.

Something terrible was going to happen. It always did when Steve Morgan was involved. If only Ginny had stayed safely in London with her children. Disaster loomed, and there was nothing Sonya could do to prevent it….