This Fierce Splendor by Iris Johansen

sported silk ties and high-necked fine linen shirts she could have seen on any street in Edinburgh.
    She felt a swift surge of relief as she glimpsed one or two women sitting at the tables. In that first glance she had thought she would be the only woman in the room. The women had painted faces and lowcut satin gowns that revealed a shocking expanse of flesh. Hetaeras? she wondered with sudden interest.
    Perhaps she could get closer to one of them and ask them a few tactful questions regarding their profession. It was seldom that a scholar of her sex was offered such an opportunity. A golden-haired young woman at the bar who was laughing with a man who looked as though he might be a prospector appeared to be approachable. Elspeth took an impulsive step forward and then skidded to an abrupt stop. Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. The prospector had plunged his big hand into the woman’s gaping bodice and was fondling her breast. She didn’t appear offended. If anything, she laughed harder. Still it might be better to wait until the saloon girl was less … busy, Elspeth decided.
    “Miss MacGregor, what the hell are you doing here?”
    She turned to see the square, ugly face of Ben Travis. It looked beautiful to her at that moment in spite of his scowl. “Oh, Mr. Travis, I’m so glad to see you.”
    “Well, I’m not glad to see you. You just sashay out of here before you get into trouble.”
    “I don’t mean to make trouble. If you would just find me somewhere to sit down, I’ll be very quiet and no bother to anyone.”
    He made a sound halfway between a grunt and a growl. “The hell you say. There’ll be trouble aplenty without you even lifting a finger. Now, you go back where you belong.”
    “I can’t do that.” She met his gaze with determination. “I have to stay here for a short time. Will you help me?”
    “Goddammit, you can’t—” Travis broke off, his eyes narrowing shrewdly on her face. “Dominic Delaney? I’ve heard you’ve been trailing around after him like a calf does its mama. Is that why you’re here?”
    “He
is
here tonight, isn’t he?” she asked, a touch of apprehension in her voice. It would be awful if she had suffered this situation for no reason.
    Travis nodded toward a table in the corner of the saloon. “Over there. He hasn’t seen you yet. He ain’t going to be happy when he does, you know. You’ve been making things pretty uncomfortable for him.”
    “I know.” She moistened her lips with her tongue. “It’s not as if I’m a difficult woman, Mr. Travis. What I’m doing is necessary.”
    “Why?” he asked bluntly.
    “I’m afraid that’s a private matter between Mr. Delaney and myself.”
    He was silent a moment, glaring at her. “That uproar you caused at Rina’s place wasn’t so damn private. Come to your senses and get out of here.”
    She slowly shook her head.
    He turned on his heel and strode to a table a few feet away occupied by two men. “Sam, you and Hiram belly up to the bar and let the lady sit down.”
    “Let her sit on my lap,” the man named Sam said with a grin. “I’m not selfish about—” He broke off as his gaze traveled past Travis’s brawny shoulder to Elspeth standing by the door. “Christ, it’s the shadow!” He shot a look to the corner of the room and his grin became slyly malicious. “Sure, Ben, we’ll be glad to let the lady have our table. Come on, Hiram.” The two men rose, grabbed their foam-crested glasses, and strolled toward the crowded bar.
    Ben held out a chair, motioning for Elspeth to sit down. “Well, if you want Dominic to know you’re here, you won’t have long to wait. Sam and Hiram will be sharing the joke with everyone at the bar.”
    “Thank you, Mr. Travis.” Elspeth sat down and clasped her gloved hands together on the scarred surface of the table. She smiled tremulously. “I told Mr. Judkins, at the hotel, he had no reason to worryabout me. I knew I’d find someone as kind as you