The Key to Yesterday

A close race at Churchill Downs loses its hold on a stranger when he notices a young woman beside the track. His admission that he wants to paint her offers an awkward explanation for his staring, and their exchange turns on attraction, embarrassment and wounded pride. Charles Neville Buck sets this romance in motion among cheering spectators and betting crowds, giving a chance encounter the pressure of a public scene.

Ocean travel brings a different kind of tension. Aboard the City of Rio, one passenger concentrates on a love letter while Rodman arranges a secret meeting between steamers. His search for a disguised political organizer connects the voyage with plans to change the government at Puerto Frio and with powerful financial interests. Readers interested in romance alongside political intrigue will find private feelings sharing space with concealed purposes, as close attention to conversation sits beside the movements of ships and conspirators.