Read By the Light of the Silvery Moon for Free Online Page B

needs.”
    As his father conversed with the steward and Arnold, Damien walked to the desk. A note sat on the marble top. His name was written in perfect script on the envelope. Who could it be from? One of his father’s friends sending an invitation for supper?
    He picked up the envelope. The scent of a woman’s perfume wafted up to his nose. He knew that scent, and with the whiff of it came a dozen memories of the dark-haired beauty in his arms as they twirled around the dance floors of East Coast estates. In his arms as they kissed in the gardens of English castles. His heartbeat quickened, but he told himself not to get excited. The woman who wrote this note was everything his flesh desired, and for that very reason she did not meet his father’s approval.
    Swallowing down desire, Damien slipped the piece of monogrammed paper from the envelope.
    Damien, imagine my excitement to discover we are on this grand adventure together. I’ll meet you at supper. I’ll be the one in red.
    Love, Dorothea.
     
    He didn’t know whether to smile or to wince as he read the note. Dorothea was one of the most eligible women on this ship—of “old money,” his friends reminded him, which meant that her prestige was accompanied by social graces. His friends often forgot he was “new money,” which meant their means came from their own hard work rather than investments and inheritances. Though Damien had worked hard to ensure that they forget. So diligently he’d strived to make his manner fit with those who’d been trained to live elegantly, nobly since birth.
    Yet for the first time, it didn’t bother him that his friends and his father disagreed. It didn’t bother him that he’d most likely have to fend off Dorothea’s advances. As much as the woman’s beauty and allure interested him, there had to be someone else out there who could be his companion in life.
    Dorothea was beautiful, yes, but she was painfully spoiled. She expected the best and received it. She was kind … most of the time, but her favor could turn at any moment. Did a woman exist who had a pure heart and good intentions? Someone like his mother.
    His father told him often that the right woman was out there, but as the years passed, he’d questioned if such a thing was true. That was why he’d found Dorothea in his arms more often than not. When one felt lonely, the companionship of another was like balm to an aching soul. His only concern was that she took their relationship more seriously than he. The note she’d left on his desk proved that fact.
    Damien moved to his trunk that had been delivered to the room and pulled out the jacket he’d picked up from the tailor in London. The fit and style favored him, the tailor had exclaimed.
    As he hung the jacket in the wardrobe, he again thought of the blond woman on the deck. Perhaps she was someone worth getting to know. After traveling the same circles for so long, a new face was always a welcome sight.
    He removed his hat and placed it on an ornate hook on the wall, glancing at the crystal chandelier. His emotions over returning to the States were mixed. He was eager to return to their fine estate, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he carried the burden of his father’s pain. They’d traveled to London for business, but more than once Damien had overheard his father’s command to the servants. “Please, while you go about your tasks, be on the lookout for my son.”
    Damien sighed and finger-combed his hair as he looked into the gilded mirror. His father hadn’t been the same since Quentin’s departure. Yet Damien was glad they were returning to America without him. Quin had been a fool. He’d demanded what he had no right to receive—and walked away from all he knew—trampling their father’s heart with each step. His father’s fortune, though they lived well, had never quite recovered from being cut in half. Quentin’s greed insured those left behind would have to watch their own