A Bride So Fair, page 20
part #3 of A Fair to Remember Series
A sense of anticipation and freedom filled him at the prospect of a new beginning. He could use the knowledge he’d gained in building up this business to start over and…
Realization struck him full force. He didn’t have to do that. He had enough to his name to allow him to go anywhere he chose and settle down to life as a wealthy gentleman, without a secret side he had to keep hidden from public view.
The notion appealed to him. Maybe the very thing intended to bring him down would turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to him. He could have a fine life wherever he decided to go. He could see it now. He would buy a suitable house—no, build one, a home to fill his every desire and inspire envy among the gentry, the perfect setting for a gentleman of means.
He smoothed his jacket, checking for any telltale lumps or bulges that might give away his intention to cut and run. He would find a woman—a decent one this time—maybe even marry her and settle down to a life of respectability and ease. He reached for his hat and his walking stick. He could see it now… Ian McGinty, family man.
His hand froze in the act of reaching for the doorknob. Instead, he drew out his wallet and removed several bills. He replaced the wallet and folded the cash in his hand. Then he opened the door and called for Mort.
He had one last job for the man to do.
19
“You have to be joking.” Stephen’s dark eyebrows drew together, daring her to disagree.
Emily jutted out her chin and planted her hands on her hips. “I most certainly am not. I told Adam I would take him to ride on the elevated railway, and I intend to keep my promise. It’s bad enough that I had to put him off after we found that evidence in his collar, but I told him then we’d go on my next day off—which is today. Just because you have to attend a meeting and can’t go with us, I don’t intend to put him off again.”
“I didn’t plan for things to go this way.” Stephen kept his tone even, but she could see the frustration that blazed in his eyes. “My uncle and his partners are meeting with a client today, and he wants me to be there so I can begin doing some preliminary work on the project before the fair ends. That way, I’ll have some momentum built up by the time I’m ready to start working at his firm full-time.”
He ran his fingers through his hair. “I admire the fact that you always want to do the right thing, but you need to think again about what the right thing is in this case. We sent evidence to the district attorney that could bring McGinty down once and for all. Do you have any idea what a man like that is capable of doing when he’s been crossed?”
He took one step toward her, bridging the gap between them. “Do you have any idea how many people who angered him have just disappeared? This is not a good time for the two of you to go about in public.”
Emily stood her ground, although she had to tilt her head back in order to look up into his face. “I don’t see that there’s going to be any good time to take Adam out if we’re going to do it according to Ian McGinty’s pleasure. Just when would that be, do you suppose? We’ve been keeping Adam hidden away most of the time, anyway, and a child can’t be cooped up forever. I know what it’s like not to have a chance to play outside and do things like a normal child.”
She moved over beside the hall tree to put some distance between them. “I don’t see that it makes any difference. McGinty knows Adam is with me, and he knows where we live. And as you keep reminding me, he has his spies everywhere. So what does it matter where we are at any given time?” She flung her arms out to her sides. “He’ll know it anyway. We can’t live our lives cowering behind locked doors, afraid of what might happen.”
Stephen set his bowler atop his head and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not asking you to spend the rest of your life in hiding. I’m only asking you to put off Adam’s excursion a little while longer.” This time he used the softer tone that usually turned her legs to butter. “Surely you can understand my concerns.”
Emily swallowed. “I understand.”
He smiled and bent to press a quick kiss on her lips before he trotted down the front steps and climbed into his uncle’s carriage.
Emily leaned back against the doorjamb and watched the carriage set off north along Blackstone Avenue, her swelling with love for this man who cared so much about her safety. She knew his request didn’t stem from a desire to control but from a desire to protect her and Adam.
She thought back to the day she’d told Adam she would have to go off with Stephen to run an errand instead of taking him to the fair as planned. He had straightened his little shoulders stoically and tried to be brave, but she’d seen the way his lower lip quivered.
Emily knew what it was like to live with disappointment day after day. She couldn’t bear to do that to him again.
What if… Emily brightened as a thought took form in her mind. She calculated rapidly, accounting for the time it would require for Stephen to travel to his uncle’s office and back and the time he would be involved in the meeting.
She nodded, feeling like giving a victory whoop. Even if the meeting proved to be a short one, it would still give her plenty of time. She and Adam could go to the fair, take the promised ride on the elevated train, maybe even take in a few of the other sights, and still be back before Stephen even knew they’d been gone.
A flicker of guilt stirred. Was this another one of those half-truths that had gotten her into trouble before? Emily mulled it over a moment, then she smiled. No, she’d only said she understood his position. She never said she agreed with it. Her alternate plan hadn’t come to mind until after he left, so she hadn’t deliberately misled him.
In any case, she would rather face Stephen’s irritation than hurt Adam again.
With her mind made up, Emily closed the front door and hurried into the house to get Adam ready to go.
Stephen tried to pull his mind back to thoughts of architecture instead of dwelling on the mental image of a young woman with stormy green eyes. The conversation he’d just had with Emily was the first one that came near to being an argument, and he couldn’t say he’d enjoyed the experience.
Nor could he say he’d come out the clear victor, either. Emily might have accepted his reasoning, but he could tell she didn’t like it. If this meeting weren’t so important to his future, he gladly would have skipped it to spend time with her and Adam.
The horses’ hooves beat in quick rhythm as they clopped along, bearing him toward his uncle’s office. He hoped everything would go well. Though he said otherwise, Stephen’s uncle had stretched his neck out a bit by giving this job to someone fresh out of college. If Stephen could prove himself with this first project, he could reassure his uncle he had made the right decision and demonstrate to the partners that he owed his hiring to something more than nepotism. A success now would smooth the way for the future, bringing the day closer when he could ask Emily to be his wife.
Once the situation with McGinty was resolved. He sighed, remembering Seth’s advice.
Still, he felt encouraged to know he was getting his house set in order to be ready when the time came. And the moment that happened, he meant to lay his heart at Emily Ralston’s feet and ask for her hand in marriage.
Would their life together include many more discussions of the kind they’d had today? The question brought a chuckle. He wouldn’t doubt it. Not too far below that sweet surface lay the heart of a spitfire. He leaned back against the tufted cushions and smiled. Ah well. Life with Emily would never be dull.
The carriage pulled to a stop before the imposing brick structure that housed the architectural firm of Bridger, Caldwell, and Morrison. The driver waited at the curb while Stephen mounted the front steps and made his way to his uncle’s spacious office.
“Ah, there you are, my boy. I sent a messenger to try to intercept you, but he said he couldn’t find you at home.”
Stephen warmed under his uncle’s shrewd gaze. “I asked the driver to stop by Emily’s boarding house for just a moment. I hope that was all right.” He looked around, puzzled when he didn’t see any of the other partners. “I’m not late, am I?”
A smile creased Uncle Charles’s round face. “To the contrary. I was trying to get in touch with you to let you know our client took ill in the early morning hours. He sent word that we would have to postpone the meeting.”
Stephen’s shoulders slumped. If only he had known, he could have accompanied Emily and Adam to the fair and spared their altercation. Then he brightened. He had the rest of the day ahead of him. There was no reason they couldn’t still do as they’d planned.
“I’ll take my leave, then.” He started toward the door then paused. “Would you mind if I borrowed your carriage to take me back to Emily’s? We had to alter our plans for the day, and I may be able to salvage them after all.”
Uncle Charles laughed and clapped him on the back. “I’ll go you one better. Have my driver take you to pick up the young lady and then consider him at your disposal for the rest of the day. That’s a fine girl you’ve got, and I’m happy to do whatever I can to help further this romance of yours.”
Stephen thanked him and hurried back to the carriage. He ordered the driver to return to Blackstone Avenue and then settled back in the seat, letting happy images of the afternoon ahead play through his mind. He could picture Emily’s pleasure and Adam’s delight when he showed up at the boarding house and told them they could go ride the train after all.
He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, wishing he could make the horses go faster.
“Up there!” Adam pointed to a platform high overhead.
Emily started to let him pull her along to the steps leading to the elevated railway station but stopped when she realized the train had already departed. It would be several minutes before another came along, and she didn’t think Adam would be able to contain his pent-up excitement during a period of forced inactivity.
“The train just left. Why don’t we go look at some of the other exhibits?” When Adam’s face fell, she pointed east toward the other side of the fairgrounds. “Would you like to go see an aquarium with some big fish? Then maybe we’ll go out by the lake and look at the Viking ship.” Detecting a spark of enthusiasm, she set off across the plaza that fronted the Illinois Building before Adam lost interest.
Their adventure wasn’t turning out to be as much fun as she’d hoped. First there was the guilty sense of letting Stephen down, though he had no idea she had circumvented his request to forego the outing until a later date.
Second… Emily looked back over her shoulder and felt the skin between her shoulder blades tighten. Stephen’s concern had left her with a sense of foreboding she hadn’t been able to shake.
They passed the Merchant Tailors Building and walked across the bridge that spanned the waterway connecting the North Pond with the lagoon.
“There!” she announced, her voice far brighter than her mood.
Adam eyed her dubiously. “Where’s the fish?”
“In here.” She led him to one of the circular pavilions that flanked the main Fisheries Building and went inside.
The boy’s reaction was everything she had imagined, boosting her spirits for the first time since they had hurried away from Mrs. Purvis’s house. He walked up to one of the heavy glass panels and stared raptly as gar and rainbow trout swam by. The designer’s ingenious use of lighting made it seem as if they were part of that underwater world. Emily could almost pretend she and Adam were walking along the ocean floor as they passed by displays of sheepshead and striped sea anemones.
Adam’s interest was short-lived, though. After one brief circuit, he turned back to Emily with a hopeful smile. “Can we ride the train now?”
Emily knew determination when she saw it. “All right. Let’s go find the nearest station.” They walked out onto the Fisheries porch and paused while she got her bearings.
Adam quickly became fascinated by the decorated columns covered with bas-relief representations of marine life. Grateful for the distraction, Emily let him slip free of her grasp and watched as he circled a column covered with rows of starfish.
“Emily!”
She gave a guilty start. Stephen must have changed his mind about the meeting and somehow caught up with them. She turned, braced for his reprimand, and flinched when she saw Raymond Simmons approaching.
She swallowed hard. “Good afternoon, Mr. Simmons.” She put all the frostiness she could into her tone.
The aggravating man didn’t seem to notice. He continued walking toward her, swinging his walking stick with a jaunty air. “How nice to see you here… alone.” His smile was in marked contrast to the scowl he’d worn the last time she’d seen him, the night she and Stephen had walked across the bridge from the Wooded Island.
Emily had to make an effort not to stamp her foot. This was supposed to be her day to enjoy the fair with Adam, but everything seemed to be conspiring against her. She moved aside while a chattering group of fairgoers mounted the steps to the porch and continued on into the Fisheries Building. “Hardly alone, in the midst of a crowd like this.”
Raymond came closer, and Emily had to steel herself to keep from taking a step back. “I think you know very well what I mean.” He gave her a tight smile. “It’s unusual to see you anywhere without that Columbian Guard who seems to persist in showering you with his attentions.”
“At least Mr. Bridger has had the courtesy to find out first whether his attentions would be welcome,” Emily retorted. “He does not—”
“When can we ride the train?” Adam, satisfied with his examination of the starfish, emerged from behind the column and took hold of Emily’s hand.
She squeezed his fingers and smiled down at him. “In just a moment.” Looking back at Raymond, she continued, “He does not insist on accosting me at every turn.”
Adam tugged at her hand. A broad grin covered his face. “Let’s ride the train now. Come on, Mama!”
Emily ruffled his hair, laughing at the way he had slipped a second time and called her by his mother’s name.
One look back at Raymond’s face told her he didn’t find Adam’s misstatement amusing in the least. His pale features stiffened, and he took a step back. “Now I understand.”
Emily started. “Excuse me?”
Raymond’s nostrils pinched together as if he had encountered a nasty smell. “No wonder you didn’t want to go out with me. Or was your coy behavior part of a plan to entrap me? Perhaps I should be grateful you kept putting me off so I didn’t wind up entangled in your snare.”
Emily stared at him, wondering if he had lost his mind.
He pointed to Adam. “Who is his father? That guard of yours?” His strident tone attracted the notice of people passing by.
Emily fought to maintain her composure. “Please lower your—”
“Or does he even know you have this child?” Raymond’s voice rose higher with every word. “Does he know you’re nothing more than a strumpet?”
The rest of his words faded into a blur. Emily darted a glance from side to side, praying no one else was paying any attention. Hope died when she saw the shocked gazes riveted upon the little drama being played out on the Fisheries porch. Several women pulled their skirts aside and hurried away as if afraid they would be contaminated by breathing the same air as a fallen woman.
Raymond spun on his heel and stalked away. Emily stared at the disapproving faces around her and opened her mouth to make a response, but what could she say? Instead, she gripped Adam’s hand. “Come on.”
She hurried down the porch steps and plunged blindly down the nearest walkway, wanting to put as much distance as possible between herself and the judgmental crowd of witnesses.
To her right stood the Swedish Building. Emily skirted one of the round towers at the nearest corner and ducked behind it, where a stand of trees screened her from the view of passersby. She leaned back against the ornamental brickwork, her arms wrapped tight across her chest, and rocked back and forth. Her breath came in shuddering gasps, and she shut her eyes as though by doing so she could block out the memory of Raymond’s accusation.
What a hateful, odious man! How dare he make such insinuations! Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she dashed them away.
“Miss Em’ly?”
She looked down to see Adam looking up at her, his face crinkled with worry. Having gained her attention, he shook his head solemnly. “He’s a bad man, isn’t he?”
Emily stooped to wrap him in her arms and hold him close, breathing in his little-boy scent and letting his presence wash away the ugliness of Raymond’s words.
A wave of sympathy for Adam’s mother washed over her when she thought of the scorn Rosalee Sawyer must have endured being known as “McGinty’s woman.” Whatever benefit she had derived from their arrangement, it couldn’t have been enough. No amount of material goods could ever erase that sense of degradation and shame. Emily had just received a taste of it, though totally undeserved. The idea of living with that from day to day—no, it just couldn’t be borne.
“That fellow was pretty hard on you back there.” The voice came from just inside the cluster of trees.
Emily released Adam and rose to her feet. A man stood between the building and the tree on the end, blocking her escape. She took a closer look at him and felt her mouth go dry. It was the man who had come to the Children's Building looking for a lost little boy.
The one who claimed to be Adam’s uncle.
20
“She did what?”
Seeing the stunned look on Mrs. Purvis’s face, Stephen attempted to bring his voice from a roar to a more reasonable tone. He swiped at his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bellow at you like that. I’m just concerned for their safety. How long ago did she and Adam leave?”
Mrs. Purvis took a moment to think. “Let’s see. He’d managed to get into some jam, and he had it smeared all over the front of his shirt. She had to take time to change his clothes and try to do something about that stain on the fabric. I’d say it was at least thirty minutes after you left.”
