Scarlet Devices by Delphine Dryden Read Free Book Online Page A

besides, they’re all older, and you’re so . . .” He looked miserable but determined, and for a heartbeat Eliza felt pity for Matthew.
    â€œSo . . . ?”
    He gestured toward her, then vaguely at the rest of the vast hangar. “So . . . well, dammit, you’re the only one I know!”
    Something stayed her automatic response, which would have been to snap at him. After a moment, Eliza said, “Part of me truly appreciates your obviously genuine feeling on this matter, Matthew. Truly.”
    â€œHowever . . .” Dexter murmured. Both of them glared at him, and he shrugged with an unrepentant look.
    Eliza turned back to Matthew. “It is the same small part that will enable me to maintain a sportsmanlike demeanor when I accept your congratulations on my win a few weeks from now.”
    â€œIf that should occur, Eliza, no one will be more relieved than I.”
    With a stiff little bow, Matthew turned and stalked away, leaving Eliza feeling slightly embarrassed.
    â€œHe’s behaving as though I’d deliberately set out to hurt his feelings,” she told Dexter with a frustrated sigh. “I can’t even enjoy a little competitive banter.”
    â€œDon’t let it spoil the win for you.”
    â€œDo you think I have a chance to win?” She knew Dexter would tell her the truth, which was probably why she had resisted asking him this question until now.
    He leaned back against the fender, making no effort to hide his scrutiny of the other competitors. Seventeen steam cars, each as brilliantly turned out as the Hardison entry. Competitors from the American Dominions, England and Scotland, France and Germany and a handful of other countries. Eliza knew she was by far the youngest driver in the field.
    â€œIf it came down to skill at driving a steam car and dealing with any emergency maintenance that arises,” Dexter finally said, “I’d give you an unqualified yes. Charlotte says you’re a natural with the dirigible too. Nobody is a better judge of that than Charlotte, so I think your skills will serve you well in that leg of the race. And of course I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t think you had a chance. But there’s more to the rally than driving and flying.”
    â€œTrue.” She leaned next to him, echoing his posture, arms folded across her chest. “You don’t think I rate as well at navigation and so on?” Her mind flew to the case of maps, the compass and other equipment she planned to rely on to get her safely across the continent.
    â€œYou’re just fine at navigation. No, I’d say if you have a weakness, it’s the intangible part. You’re determined to win, but you’re not interested in your competition. Well, not in
most
of your competition.”
    â€œWhat’s that supposed to mean?”
    He rolled his eyes. “Pence wasn’t wrong. You have sixteen other people to outdrive
and
outsmart, Eliza. Not just Matthew. Most of these drivers won’t even make it to San Francisco. They’ll be lucky to reach Colorado Springs. Car problems, illness, exhaustion, those mythical poisonous gas clouds or snow monsters in the Sierras, any number of things might happen. But until they fall by the wayside, you still have an entire field to contend with. You might not have studied their weaknesses, but they’ve certainly studied yours. Psychology plays a large role in a race like this. You do have one advantage though.”
    She frowned at him. “What is that?”
    Dexter tapped her nose, giving her an unusually impudent grin and suddenly looking like a young boy, for all his size. “You’re an unknown quantity and they’re almost certainly underestimating you, just like Matthew.” He uncrossed his arms and fiddled with his socket wrench. “You know, your race against him really begins on the last day, assuming you