The Wedding Dress(57)

“Phillip? The one engaged to your gal?” Alex whispered far too loud, rising up, craning his neck to see. “So that’s Emily? No wonder you’re lovesick, chum. I’m sick for you.”

“That’s not Emily.” Daniel shoved his wineglass out of the way, reaching for his water goblet. His mouth was a desert and his heartbeat shoved his nerves to the edge.

“Are you sure that’s Phillip? You said you never met him.” Ross glanced again at the door.

“Not in person, no.” Daniel pressed his hands on the table and stood. “But that’s him.” The linguini had cemented in his belly so all of his movements felt slow and stiff, but he’d not let Saltonstall get away with his deceit. “And it’s high time I did.”

“What are you going to do?” Ross said.

“I don’t know.” Daniel maneuvered through the check-clothed tables and long, thin candlelight.

Across the front of the restaurant, the ma?tre d’ led Phillip and the woman through the low shadows. For a moment Daniel considered giving Phillip the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps the woman from the street was indeed a cousin or a friend. Yet the intimate position of his hand on her hip told him otherwise. Drawing close, Daniel cleared his throat.

“Paul! Excuse me, Paul. It’s me, Daniel.”

Phillip drew up, glanced back, moving his hand to caress the woman’s bare shoulder.

“Paul, don’t you remember me?” Daniel smiled large and offered his hand.

“I’m afraid I don’t. You confuse me with my brother.” Phillip shook Daniel’s hand in one hard clasp.

“Yes, of course, Phillip. Begging your pardon. I’m Daniel Ludlow.”

“The ballplayer with the Barons. I’ve seen you pitch.”

“Have you now?” Any other time, he’d be flattered. But not tonight. “Shall I bow in triumph or shrink away in shame?” Daniel hooked his thumbs into his vest pockets, bowing toward the woman. She was beautiful, willowy, and fair, with crystal blue eyes and ruby red lips.

“Take a bow. You pitched a no-hitter,” Phillip said with a trumpet of admiration.

“Then it was a good game.” He turned to the woman. “Sorry to have disturbed you, miss.”

“Not at all,” she said with refined Yankee diction. “Phillip and Paul do favor one another. They’re both so handsome.” She snuggled into Phillip and Daniel expected to see him stiffen or move away, but he only drew her in closer.

“Come along, my dear.” Phillip turned her toward the waiting ma?tre d’ and the open door of a private side room. “We’ve a table waiting.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Daniel reached for her fingers, bowing to kiss her hand. “Miss . . .”

“Graves. Emmeline Graves.”

Emmeline. “I hope to make your acquaintance again sometime.”

“Of course, Phillip, maybe he could join us?” She giggled as Phillip squeezed her and inched her toward their private room, protesting her suggestion with a husky whisper.

Back at his table, Daniel yanked out his chair so the legs rattled against the stone floor. The band played a slow dance number.

Alex looked up from reading the dessert menu. “Is she a vision up close?”

“Quite becoming.” Daniel peeked back to the spot where he’d met Phillip and Emmeline. “He, however, is a prig.”

“So, what are you going to do, chum?” Ross’s expression matched the shadows in the room. “Sit there and grumble?”

“You have to tell her. Emily, I mean.” Alex hammered the table with his fist. “Be her hero. Win her back. Let her know what a scoundrel she’s marrying.”

“She already knows.”

“She knows? Then why is she with him?” Alex spoke too loud, gesturing to the waiter as he passed by. “Three slices of chocolate layer cake please.”

“I saw him with her on the corner of 19th a few months back, getting a little cozy. In broad daylight, mind you. Then I ran into Emily. Turns out she saw him too. She asked me if Phillip had a mistress and I said yes. Then she called me a liar.” Daniel surveyed his friends. “So I tell her about tonight? She doesn’t want to know. Besides, it’ll humiliate her and gain me no favor. ‘Hello, Emily, I was out with Ross and Alex last night and saw Phillip with a strikingly beautiful woman named Emmeline. Would you like to go to the Strand for a picture show?’” Daniel shook his head, running his fingers over his curls. “No, I can’t do it.”

But he had to do something. Lord, what am I to do?

“I suppose you’re right. Can’t win there, can you?” Ross said.

“Not one iota.” Daniel was trapped. Darned if he did. Darned if he didn’t. “I can just hope she finds out, right?”

“More like pray she finds out,” Alex said.

Daniel sat back, considering the evening, a sudden, warm smile tapping his soul. If he’d had his way, he’d have stayed home tonight and read a book. But instead, he yielded to Ross’s insistence that he get out, have some fun. Daniel clapped his friend on the back. “I owe you, chum. For making me come out tonight.”

Sometimes luck put a man in the right place at the right time. Sometimes, a good friend. But more often than not, Daniel mused, it was the providence of God and His never-ending grace.