and most inviting.
The moment ended far too quickly. Her whole body
went rigid in nothing short of rage. She jerked her head from side
to side, trying to break free from my hold. I pulled back, but kept
her arms pinned against the wall as a deep chuckle escaped my
throat. In one swift movement, I pressed my forearm against her arm
and grabbed my pistol from my belt then placed the end of the
barrel against her cheek. She went completely still, all but the
rise and fall of her chest.
As I stepped back, I released her but kept the
pistol against her cheek. The rigidity of her body assured me that
she did not doubt that I would use the pistol. As I backed to the
door and pushed it fully open with my boot, it creaked on its
hinges as moonlight flooded into the room. The light was against my
back, but it illuminated her. She took a cautious step toward me,
but stopped when I held up the Levitas dagger in the moonlight. As
her mouth parted; her anger was so full that it heated the cold
room.
Pleasure coursed through me at besting the woman.
Backing out of the house, I threw her a mocking kiss on my fingers
and slammed the door. Down the alley, I ran, leaping over the
sewage puddles. Light appeared through the second floor window, and
a voice started to shout.
Leo met me at the entrance to the alley and as we
ran from the houses; I questioned Leo about the woman in white, but
he assured me that he saw no one enter the alley. When we met up
with Levi, he said the same.
How had she gotten past them unseen?
After we had separated from Levi at his apothecary
shop, Leo and I moved toward home, and I could not wipe the smile
from my lips.
“That woman could have been a phantom the way she
sneaks around,” Leo said from beside me. It was a disconcerting
thought, but it gave me an idea.
“That is what we will call her.” Leo stopped to look
at me. “She is now the white phantom.”
Chapter 6
Jack
27 May 1816
S tanding
between my mother and Bess, we greeted the arriving guests at the
foot of the stairs. It appeared that all of Philadelphian society
would turn out for Bess’ ball. Nearly every family had an
unattached son in tow who begged for the honor of a dance with
Bess. When my good friend Dudley Stanton had learned that we were
home, he had hurried to the house yesterday to beg Bess for the
first dance, and since she had no previous offers, she accepted. I
saw Dudley pushing his way through the throng of well-dressed
persons.
Dudley Stanton was the epitome of a fashionable man
from his light brown hair arranged artfully messy in a windswept
style to his black tight-fitting coat. He was the kind of man who
would never stir out of doors if his cravat was not tied precisely
to his liking. When he bowed, I heard the sound of creaking, which
caused me to bite the inside of my lip to keep from laughing. Dud
insisted upon wearing a corset beneath his too-tight clothing. It
was a fashion from days gone by, but as Dud was both short and
plump, it was for the best. Over the last year when we were not on
a mission, I had gone into society a few times with Dudley.
I glanced at my sister, and she, too, was trying to
control her laughter. When Dud greeted Bess, a look of such longing
came into his eyes that Bess glanced at me in a plea for help.
Dudley had been in love with Bess from the time we first met him
upon moving to Philadelphia, but his feelings were unrequited. She
liked him well enough, but what Dud refused to acknowledge was that
Bess saw him as another brother.
When Dud looked as if he would remain at her side, I
stepped in and moved him away.
We made our way toward the drawing room, bumping
into others that were also trying to make their way through the
crowded foyer. Dud was telling me that it was finally his time;
that he would win my sister and how her beauty grew each time he
saw her. When she moved home three months ago, Dud had nearly lived
on our doorstep. He was at the house every day, until we
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