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formalities. Your brother was sneaking around next to one of those curtains, listening to the noises, trying to get close enough to peek inside. "
    "No!" The blood drained from Maddie's face; even her lips were pale. She was shocked to hear herself exclaim, "You're lying!"
    "The hell I am. Listen, lady, I've been as polite as I know how to be about this! I was only trying to help, but if you're going to insult me, I'm more than happy to go. There are a dozen places I'd rather be than here."
    "All in the badlands, I surmise!" she accused, infuriated, numb with shock. How could this be happening?
    "Not that it's any of your business, but yes! I'm thirty-two, not nine, and if I want to indulge in a few pleasures of the flesh, that's my choice. So, if you're done attacking my character..."
    Madeleine felt as if she were drowning in a sea of unreality. Her mother... dear Lord, what would her mother say or think if she knew how her little son was passing his time? How could Maddie hope to control him in this wicked town, short of locking him in the house? A sense of powerlessness surged through her, taking with it the last vestiges of her strength. She felt cold in the July sunshine, then dizzy and weak.
    Fox noticed the beautiful burnished lights of Maddie's hair when she tipped her head down, and then he heard the rustle of her taffeta gown as her knees gave way. Startled, he realized that she was fainting—and managed to catch her just before she tumbled into the mud.
    Cradling her slim yet satisfyingly curved body against his broad chest, Fox couldn't suppress a wry smile. It looked like he was going inside her clean and proper house after all....

 
     
     
    Chapter 3

     
    July 7, 1876
     
    "Gramma Susan, come quick!" Benjamin shouted as he clattered down the stairs. "That man—that awful man is carrying Maddie! Maybe she's dead! Maybe he killed her!"
    Susan came into the parlor, calmly wiping her hands on her long, snowy apron. "Benjamin Franklin Avery, have you been spying out of windows again?"
    "Well, you wouldn't watch, and someone had to make sure that Maddie didn't get hurt!" The little boy's hands and face were newly scrubbed, but his hair still stuck up in cowlicks. "Gramma, hurry!"
    Unperturbed, Susan opened the door just as Fox reached it, his arms filled with Madeleine's still body. "My goodness! What's become of our Maddie?"
    "She seems to have fainted," Fox replied. "Where would you like me to put her?"
    Susan led the way into the downstairs bedroom and gestured to the big bed Stephen now shared with his son. Gently Fox laid Maddie on the blue-and-white quilt, then stepped back to admire the beauty of her features in repose.
    "What's wrong with her?" Benjamin demanded loudly.
    Madeleine stirred slightly as her grandmother pressed a damp cloth to her brow. Fox, meanwhile, gave the boy an ominous look. "Actually, I believe that you are the cause of your sister's distress."
    "How could I be? I wasn't even there! You probably did something to her, just like you pulled me up on your horse when I told you to leave me alone!"
    "Benjamin, be silent!" Susan said sharply. Leaning down, she gazed into his petulant little face. "I won't allow such rudeness, especially toward your elders."
    "Gramma..." Maddie whispered, opening her eyes with an effort.
    "Darling, you're all worn out." The old woman gave her a loving smile and kissed her cheek. "Just rest for a few minutes, then I'll bring you some soup and we'll talk."
    When Madeleine obeyed, closing her eyes, Susan ushered Fox and Benjamin out of the bedroom. She shut the door, then turned first to her grandson.
    "Young man, I want you to go upstairs and lie down on my bed. Keep your eyes and ears to yourself until I call you."
    Benjamin gave Fox a narrow look, but he obeyed, mounting the steps loudly and slowly, as if he were en route to the gallows. When he was out of sight and the upper floor fell silent, Susan turned to the tall, roughly attractive stranger.
    "I don't