Written on the Wind, page 16
She finally laughed. He loved the sound because Natalia’s laughter was a hard-won prize, and he hauled her back into his arms.
The odds were stacked against them, but there was no one else he’d rather walk into battle with than Natalia Blackstone. The future ahead was daunting. His title was worth something, but when news of its revocation reached American shores, it was anyone’s guess how the public would respond, which meant he needed to collect allies quickly.
He leaned down, touching his forehead to hers. “Please, Natalia,” he said in a rough voice, all hint of teasing gone. “I need your help.”
She sighed, then pulled back a few inches to look up at him. “All right,” she said. “Tomorrow morning we’ll go see Admiral McNally and pray he can lead us to the right people.”
21
The following morning, Natalia was still baffled by her own behavior outside the carriage house. She had never been so furious and entranced at the same time. Dimitri had kissed her as if his life depended on it, all in view of the carriage driver, but it had been the most alive moment of her life. Embarrassment rained down at the memory, but she needed to ignore it and get down to business.
She postponed her original meeting and instead arranged for a ten o’clock appointment with Admiral McNally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She met Dimitri at the porte cochere behind her father’s house, where he paced impatiently.
“Why are you dressed like that?” he asked as she descended from the cab she’d hired. He seemed annoyed, but she looked exactly as she always did. Her slim-fitting suit was of the finest indigo wool, trimmed with velvet piping and completed with an ivory lace jabot at her throat. Her hat was trimmed with a matching ribbon band.
“I am dressed in a clean and respectful manner to meet an officer at the navy yard.” There would be no rending of garments or tearing hair free or passionate kisses in the dark. A shame, but today was about business.
Without warning, Dimitri leaned over and lifted the hem of her skirt, then tutted. “Those boots are completely inadequate for walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.”
She yanked her skirt free and took a step back. “Why would we do that?”
“I told you my first day here that this was important to me.” His eyes glinted with challenge while looking down his long, aristocratic nose at her. His ridiculous assumption that she had nothing better to do than take him sightseeing was exasperating and charming at the same time. They needed to cross the bridge anyway, but they didn’t have much time before the meeting.
“We can walk over the bridge after our meeting with Admiral McNally,” she said. She was proud of that awe-inspiring bridge and wanted to see it through his eyes.
It took almost an hour to get to the navy yard, a sprawling complex of dry docks, warehouses, and assembly yards facing the East River. Two tiers of cannons lined the riverbank, a memento of a time when the city’s greatest danger was a naval invasion.
Admiral McNally’s office had a commanding view of the shipyard, but the other three walls were blanketed by world maps and military accolades. A Turkish carpet covered the floor, and the bookshelf featured Greek pottery and jade carvings she suspected came from his many years as a military attaché at various postings throughout the Ottoman Empire.
Although the admiral was her godfather, he was her father’s friend, not hers. After she introduced Dimitri and explained his role on the Trans-Siberian project, Admiral McNally tersely consulted his pocket watch before gesturing for them to sit.
“I’m glad my secretary was able to squeeze you in,” he said after taking a seat behind his desk. “This week is dense with budget meetings, but I can spare a few minutes for my favorite goddaughter.”
It was a polite order to get directly to the point, and she complied. “I remember listening to your tales of when you were a military attaché during the Ottoman wars. You said the military still has men all over the world, watching and gathering information about other countries. Dimitri saw some terrible things along the Russian border with China, but it does not appear that news of this atrocity has reached American shores.”
Admiral McNally quirked a brow and turned his attention to Dimitri. All hint of impatience vanished as he listened to Dimitri describe the expulsion of the ethnic Chinese across the river and how an exodus turned into a stampede and then a slaughter.
Natalia clenched her fists beneath the table and asked the all-important question. “Did the Americans have any military observers in that part of the world last year?”
Admiral McNally shook his head. “Not that I am aware of. Your best bet is to hunt down a fellow named Dr. Louis Seaman. He works as a medical observer on behalf of the surgeon general. Last year he was stationed in Japan to study how they handle sanitation issues. He reported rumors of atrocities he’d heard from Russian soldiers who deserted the army, and yes, they were near the Amur River.”
“What sort of atrocities?” Dimitri demanded.
Admiral McNally held up his hands. “I don’t know the details, but I witnessed Dr. Seaman arguing with the Russian ambassador at a State Department reception, and it got heated. Dr. Seaman wanted the ambassador to answer for the rumors, and the ambassador accused Dr. Seaman of being a mouthpiece for Japan. He threatened retaliation against Dr. Seaman if he continued carrying tales. That’s the last I heard of it.”
Dimitri shifted uncomfortably. “It does not surprise me that the ambassador is hostile to Japan. There is no love lost between the two nations.”
“Apparently Count Cassini feels the same,” Admiral McNally said. “He warned Dr. Seaman against—”
“Count Cassini?” Dimitri interrupted, his voice full of appalled wonder. “Arthur Cassini is the Russian ambassador?”
“Indeed,” Admiral McNally said. “Do you know him? He seems a rather imperious sort.”
Dimitri shook his head. “I don’t know him personally, but I know who he is. I thought he was the ambassador to China, but now he has turned up in the United States?” His expression darkened. “This can’t be good.”
“Why?” she asked.
Dimitri shot off the bench and began pacing. “Count Cassini is uncomfortably close to the czar and wickedly clever. He speaks half a dozen languages. People in Moscow consider him a wizard for how far and how fast he has risen at court. His family is Italian, but they have made their home in Russia for generations. Somehow he wrangled a title out of the czar, but he is not to be trusted.”
Natalia glanced at Admiral McNally. “What do you know about Count Cassini?”
A flush darkened the older man’s face. “It is not a proper topic to discuss in front of ladies.”
“Don’t be absurd,” she said, batting his concerns away. “Piles of dead bodies in the Amur River aren’t proper either, so this isn’t the time to worry about delicate sensibilities.”
“Very well,” the admiral said. “Count Cassini is an unmarried gentleman and has brought his niece to Washington to serve as his official hostess. She is a teenaged girl barely out of the schoolhouse but has acquired a rather notorious reputation. He insists that she be referred to as Countess Cassini, although it is rumored she is neither a countess nor a Cassini.”
Natalia raised a brow at the unsavory implications, but of more concern was what Admiral McNally relayed about the ambassador’s activities in Washington.
“Dr. Seaman despises Count Cassini. He suspects the Russian ambassador is trying to drive a wedge between America and Japan. A constant stream of diplomats and businessmen come and go from the Russian embassy. Ever since Count Cassini arrived in Washington, parties at the Russian embassy have become one of the most sought-after invitations in the city.”
“He’s gathering allies,” Dimitri said, his tone dark. “My guess is that Count Cassini will do everything possible to discredit Dr. Seaman’s report about what happened at the Amur.”
It sounded like Count Cassini had a head start in shaping opinions in Washington, but if they could find Dr. Seaman, they might have their first powerful ally.
At long last, Dimitri had his chance to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but he’d lost his interest in the engineering marvel. Instead of admiring the towering pillars or the webbing of steel wire that stretched for more than a mile across the East River, he argued with Natalia.
“We must go to Washington immediately,” he said. “We cannot underestimate Count Cassini. Even as we walk, I can feel him cozying up to the Americans and discrediting anyone who dares to come forward with the truth. He is months ahead of me. I must find this Dr. Seaman and tell him what I witnessed.”
He had to raise his voice to be heard over the stiff breeze coming off the river. Perhaps Natalia mistook his shouting for anger, because she was certainly digging in her heels.
“I just got back to the city,” she said. “I can’t leave again so quickly. I have responsibilities here.”
It had been nine months since he witnessed the massacre, and for most of that time, he’d been helpless and wandering like a nomad. Meanwhile, the czar and his allies were burying whatever evidence was left of the atrocity, and Dimitri needed to sound the alarm immediately.
“Natalia, you must come with me to Washington, and it must happen quickly. If word of my supposed cowardice hits American shores before I get my story out, all the doors will slam in my face. You are correct. I do not understand American politics and need your help. I realize I am asking a great deal of you, but it is like in the beginning of War and Peace. Prince Andrei didn’t want to go to war, but it was his duty. His sacred—”
“I told you that’s a horrible novel, and it won’t persuade me to do anything.” She twitched as she strode along the bridge. It was crowded today, requiring them to angle around others walking and riding bicycles on the boardwalk.
“War and Peace is a timeless masterpiece of love and sacrifice. Now is your opportunity to fight for a valiant cause.” He grabbed her shoulders and turned her toward him. “Natalia, I know you better than anyone, and you will regret it forever if you do not come with me because of some mundane meetings at a bank.”
She wilted a little. “It’s more than the bank. I need to repair my house. The plaster, the water. I’ll probably need a new floor in the washroom.”
“Shh,” he said, laying a fingertip on her lips. “Let me hire someone to do the repairs. You are not a plumber or a carpenter. You are one of the few people in the world who knows both the situation along the Trans-Siberian route and how to navigate American high society. I am a stranger here. I need your help. My three hundred years of aristocratic entitlement are begging you to come with me.”
She looked up at him with wistful resignation. “I wish you didn’t know how to get the better of me.”
“It is a gift,” he said, relief trickling through him. She would come. His darling Natalia would always come through for him.
They stood in the pedestrian walkway, and unmannerly people were giving them sidelong looks, so he pulled her to the metal railing where they could be out of the way. The city of Manhattan was straight ahead of them, an impressive view of towering buildings huddled on a narrow strip of land. Natalia was a woman of that city. She loved it, just as he loved Russia. He clasped her hand while they looked toward the Manhattan skyline.
“I wish you could love New York as much as I do,” she said, and he looked at her in surprise.
“Did I say that I don’t?”
She smiled and leaned against him. “You don’t have to say anything. I can tell.”
He closed his arms around her and looked over her shoulder toward the city. She was right. He didn’t belong here. In a perfect world, he could sweep her away to Russia, where she could be Countess Sokolova and they would rule at Mirosa, his wild, rustic kingdom.
But for today, they needed to plan how to conquer Washington, DC.
Natalia had been blessed with a forward-thinking father who opened doors for her in the world of banking, but even Oscar was going to resist letting her travel with Dimitri to Washington.
After returning to Manhattan, she went straight to his office. It would be better to make her appeal at the bank rather than at home, where Poppy eavesdropped whenever Natalia tried to be alone with her father.
After making an appointment with his secretary, she retreated to the ladies’ washroom to splash cool water on her face and tidy her hair. This washroom had been built for her alone. When she started working here nine years ago, she was the only female on the entire staff, and her father had spared no expense to ensure her comfort. Other women soon joined the bank in clerical roles, but to this day, she was the only female business analyst in all of New York City.
At three o’clock on the nose, she was shown into her father’s office for their meeting. To her surprise, he had her baby brother propped up on his desk, wearing a navy-blue suit complete with a checkered vest and a red bow tie. The spiffy look was marred by the baggy trousers cut to accommodate a diaper, but he certainly looked dandy.
She laughed. “Isn’t he a little young for a clerkship?”
The baby squealed when he recognized her and nearly toppled over in delight as he waved a toy duck at her.
“Never,” Oscar insisted with pride. “I’ve decided to bring him to the office for a few hours each week so he can feel at home here. Come inside and say hello to him. It looks like he wants you to pick him up.”
Alexander’s nanny and a footman were in the sitting area of the office, but there was no sign of Poppy, which wasn’t a surprise. Poppy rarely showed much interest in the baby except when there was an audience, but Oscar couldn’t get enough of the boy.
Natalia wasn’t jealous. She remembered coming to the bank when she was a child too, although she was eight or nine before Oscar began bringing her. She used to sit in the corner of his office, reading her schoolbooks while he met with his clerks and secretaries. Hopefully Alexander would grow to love the bank as much as she always had.
Alexander lifted his arms as she approached. He was a hefty baby, and it took some jostling to get him situated over her shoulder. Would she ever have a child of her own? It could never happen with Dimitri, but she pushed the disagreeable thought away as she patted Alexander’s back, loving the way he babbled in happy contentment. It was a brief respite, and this conversation was about to get awkward.
“Can we speak alone?” she asked, and with a brisk nod, Oscar directed the servants to step outside. Natalia kept pacing, nervously patting the baby as she walked. This was not going to be an easy request.
“Well?” Oscar asked once the door closed behind the nanny and footman.
“There is a man in Washington, DC, who might be able to verify Dimitri’s story about what happened at the Amur River. He’s a doctor who was stationed in Japan and has spoken with credible witnesses to the event. The Russian ambassador is trying to discredit Dr. Seaman. Dimitri is heading to Washington in hopes of supporting the doctor’s cause before it’s too late.”
Oscar shrugged. “By all means, I think he should go.”
“I want to go with him.”
“Absolutely not!” Oscar’s voice cracked across the office like a shot, and Alexander began to cry.
She rocked the boy a little more vigorously and met her father’s gaze squarely. “Dimitri doesn’t understand American politics.”
“Then I’ll send someone down with him. It seems to me you are already too deeply entangled with this man. Are you?”
Lying to her father was impossible, so she kept pacing with the baby. She was more than entangled with Dimitri. He had a piece of her heart she could never get back. Her longing for a child might someday drive them apart, but for now she needed to see this mission through.
“I feel compelled to go,” she said. “For three years I have considered the Trans-Siberian to be my finest accomplishment, and now it is in danger. Not because of finance or engineering problems, but because an evil incident has stained what should be a monumental accomplishment. We need to expose that evil so it can’t happen again.”
Oscar shook his head. “If you call attention to the massacre, it will embarrass not only the Russians but the bank as well.”
“I understand. That’s why it is important for us to be part of solving the problem. It will prove we haven’t turned a blind eye to the massacre.”
Oscar’s hands clenched, and his face turned pensive. He took an unusually long time to ponder before finally speaking. “You may go, provided Poppy accompanies you as chaperone.”
Natalia almost dropped the baby. “Poppy?” Having that woman latched to her side during this difficult trip would be unbearable. “The only place Poppy would like to escort me is over the side of a cliff.”
Oscar heard the veiled contempt and narrowed his eyes. “Poppy may not be the kindest of women or the best mother. She isn’t an interesting conversationalist or a skilled hostess, but by all that’s holy, she has been an excellent wife to me, and you need to sheathe your claws.”
“This isn’t about Poppy,” she retorted. “The Russian ambassador is as canny as a wizard, and she will embarrass us.”
Oscar pushed himself to his feet in growing annoyance. “You are about to walk a tightrope while trying to pull off a diplomatic coup. You! An unmarried, twenty-eight-year-old woman traveling with a single man who is an outrageous flirt. You need Poppy. We are fortunate news of your cross-country travel from San Francisco has not leaked out, but you can’t roll the dice again, so Poppy is going with you, and that’s the end of the discussion. My bigger concern is the railroad. I took a risk by letting you manage the project, and for three years I have defended you against critics who think I lost my mind. If scandal from this massacre taints the railroad, it will taint us as well, and I will have no choice but to remove you from all duties in the bank. Is that clear?”
The words landed like a fist in her gut. No other bank in the world would hire a female business analyst, especially one with a tainted reputation.
“I understand.” No matter how uncomfortable, she would swallow her pride and make peace with Poppy for as long as the trip to Washington lasted.
The odds were stacked against them, but there was no one else he’d rather walk into battle with than Natalia Blackstone. The future ahead was daunting. His title was worth something, but when news of its revocation reached American shores, it was anyone’s guess how the public would respond, which meant he needed to collect allies quickly.
He leaned down, touching his forehead to hers. “Please, Natalia,” he said in a rough voice, all hint of teasing gone. “I need your help.”
She sighed, then pulled back a few inches to look up at him. “All right,” she said. “Tomorrow morning we’ll go see Admiral McNally and pray he can lead us to the right people.”
21
The following morning, Natalia was still baffled by her own behavior outside the carriage house. She had never been so furious and entranced at the same time. Dimitri had kissed her as if his life depended on it, all in view of the carriage driver, but it had been the most alive moment of her life. Embarrassment rained down at the memory, but she needed to ignore it and get down to business.
She postponed her original meeting and instead arranged for a ten o’clock appointment with Admiral McNally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. She met Dimitri at the porte cochere behind her father’s house, where he paced impatiently.
“Why are you dressed like that?” he asked as she descended from the cab she’d hired. He seemed annoyed, but she looked exactly as she always did. Her slim-fitting suit was of the finest indigo wool, trimmed with velvet piping and completed with an ivory lace jabot at her throat. Her hat was trimmed with a matching ribbon band.
“I am dressed in a clean and respectful manner to meet an officer at the navy yard.” There would be no rending of garments or tearing hair free or passionate kisses in the dark. A shame, but today was about business.
Without warning, Dimitri leaned over and lifted the hem of her skirt, then tutted. “Those boots are completely inadequate for walking across the Brooklyn Bridge.”
She yanked her skirt free and took a step back. “Why would we do that?”
“I told you my first day here that this was important to me.” His eyes glinted with challenge while looking down his long, aristocratic nose at her. His ridiculous assumption that she had nothing better to do than take him sightseeing was exasperating and charming at the same time. They needed to cross the bridge anyway, but they didn’t have much time before the meeting.
“We can walk over the bridge after our meeting with Admiral McNally,” she said. She was proud of that awe-inspiring bridge and wanted to see it through his eyes.
It took almost an hour to get to the navy yard, a sprawling complex of dry docks, warehouses, and assembly yards facing the East River. Two tiers of cannons lined the riverbank, a memento of a time when the city’s greatest danger was a naval invasion.
Admiral McNally’s office had a commanding view of the shipyard, but the other three walls were blanketed by world maps and military accolades. A Turkish carpet covered the floor, and the bookshelf featured Greek pottery and jade carvings she suspected came from his many years as a military attaché at various postings throughout the Ottoman Empire.
Although the admiral was her godfather, he was her father’s friend, not hers. After she introduced Dimitri and explained his role on the Trans-Siberian project, Admiral McNally tersely consulted his pocket watch before gesturing for them to sit.
“I’m glad my secretary was able to squeeze you in,” he said after taking a seat behind his desk. “This week is dense with budget meetings, but I can spare a few minutes for my favorite goddaughter.”
It was a polite order to get directly to the point, and she complied. “I remember listening to your tales of when you were a military attaché during the Ottoman wars. You said the military still has men all over the world, watching and gathering information about other countries. Dimitri saw some terrible things along the Russian border with China, but it does not appear that news of this atrocity has reached American shores.”
Admiral McNally quirked a brow and turned his attention to Dimitri. All hint of impatience vanished as he listened to Dimitri describe the expulsion of the ethnic Chinese across the river and how an exodus turned into a stampede and then a slaughter.
Natalia clenched her fists beneath the table and asked the all-important question. “Did the Americans have any military observers in that part of the world last year?”
Admiral McNally shook his head. “Not that I am aware of. Your best bet is to hunt down a fellow named Dr. Louis Seaman. He works as a medical observer on behalf of the surgeon general. Last year he was stationed in Japan to study how they handle sanitation issues. He reported rumors of atrocities he’d heard from Russian soldiers who deserted the army, and yes, they were near the Amur River.”
“What sort of atrocities?” Dimitri demanded.
Admiral McNally held up his hands. “I don’t know the details, but I witnessed Dr. Seaman arguing with the Russian ambassador at a State Department reception, and it got heated. Dr. Seaman wanted the ambassador to answer for the rumors, and the ambassador accused Dr. Seaman of being a mouthpiece for Japan. He threatened retaliation against Dr. Seaman if he continued carrying tales. That’s the last I heard of it.”
Dimitri shifted uncomfortably. “It does not surprise me that the ambassador is hostile to Japan. There is no love lost between the two nations.”
“Apparently Count Cassini feels the same,” Admiral McNally said. “He warned Dr. Seaman against—”
“Count Cassini?” Dimitri interrupted, his voice full of appalled wonder. “Arthur Cassini is the Russian ambassador?”
“Indeed,” Admiral McNally said. “Do you know him? He seems a rather imperious sort.”
Dimitri shook his head. “I don’t know him personally, but I know who he is. I thought he was the ambassador to China, but now he has turned up in the United States?” His expression darkened. “This can’t be good.”
“Why?” she asked.
Dimitri shot off the bench and began pacing. “Count Cassini is uncomfortably close to the czar and wickedly clever. He speaks half a dozen languages. People in Moscow consider him a wizard for how far and how fast he has risen at court. His family is Italian, but they have made their home in Russia for generations. Somehow he wrangled a title out of the czar, but he is not to be trusted.”
Natalia glanced at Admiral McNally. “What do you know about Count Cassini?”
A flush darkened the older man’s face. “It is not a proper topic to discuss in front of ladies.”
“Don’t be absurd,” she said, batting his concerns away. “Piles of dead bodies in the Amur River aren’t proper either, so this isn’t the time to worry about delicate sensibilities.”
“Very well,” the admiral said. “Count Cassini is an unmarried gentleman and has brought his niece to Washington to serve as his official hostess. She is a teenaged girl barely out of the schoolhouse but has acquired a rather notorious reputation. He insists that she be referred to as Countess Cassini, although it is rumored she is neither a countess nor a Cassini.”
Natalia raised a brow at the unsavory implications, but of more concern was what Admiral McNally relayed about the ambassador’s activities in Washington.
“Dr. Seaman despises Count Cassini. He suspects the Russian ambassador is trying to drive a wedge between America and Japan. A constant stream of diplomats and businessmen come and go from the Russian embassy. Ever since Count Cassini arrived in Washington, parties at the Russian embassy have become one of the most sought-after invitations in the city.”
“He’s gathering allies,” Dimitri said, his tone dark. “My guess is that Count Cassini will do everything possible to discredit Dr. Seaman’s report about what happened at the Amur.”
It sounded like Count Cassini had a head start in shaping opinions in Washington, but if they could find Dr. Seaman, they might have their first powerful ally.
At long last, Dimitri had his chance to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but he’d lost his interest in the engineering marvel. Instead of admiring the towering pillars or the webbing of steel wire that stretched for more than a mile across the East River, he argued with Natalia.
“We must go to Washington immediately,” he said. “We cannot underestimate Count Cassini. Even as we walk, I can feel him cozying up to the Americans and discrediting anyone who dares to come forward with the truth. He is months ahead of me. I must find this Dr. Seaman and tell him what I witnessed.”
He had to raise his voice to be heard over the stiff breeze coming off the river. Perhaps Natalia mistook his shouting for anger, because she was certainly digging in her heels.
“I just got back to the city,” she said. “I can’t leave again so quickly. I have responsibilities here.”
It had been nine months since he witnessed the massacre, and for most of that time, he’d been helpless and wandering like a nomad. Meanwhile, the czar and his allies were burying whatever evidence was left of the atrocity, and Dimitri needed to sound the alarm immediately.
“Natalia, you must come with me to Washington, and it must happen quickly. If word of my supposed cowardice hits American shores before I get my story out, all the doors will slam in my face. You are correct. I do not understand American politics and need your help. I realize I am asking a great deal of you, but it is like in the beginning of War and Peace. Prince Andrei didn’t want to go to war, but it was his duty. His sacred—”
“I told you that’s a horrible novel, and it won’t persuade me to do anything.” She twitched as she strode along the bridge. It was crowded today, requiring them to angle around others walking and riding bicycles on the boardwalk.
“War and Peace is a timeless masterpiece of love and sacrifice. Now is your opportunity to fight for a valiant cause.” He grabbed her shoulders and turned her toward him. “Natalia, I know you better than anyone, and you will regret it forever if you do not come with me because of some mundane meetings at a bank.”
She wilted a little. “It’s more than the bank. I need to repair my house. The plaster, the water. I’ll probably need a new floor in the washroom.”
“Shh,” he said, laying a fingertip on her lips. “Let me hire someone to do the repairs. You are not a plumber or a carpenter. You are one of the few people in the world who knows both the situation along the Trans-Siberian route and how to navigate American high society. I am a stranger here. I need your help. My three hundred years of aristocratic entitlement are begging you to come with me.”
She looked up at him with wistful resignation. “I wish you didn’t know how to get the better of me.”
“It is a gift,” he said, relief trickling through him. She would come. His darling Natalia would always come through for him.
They stood in the pedestrian walkway, and unmannerly people were giving them sidelong looks, so he pulled her to the metal railing where they could be out of the way. The city of Manhattan was straight ahead of them, an impressive view of towering buildings huddled on a narrow strip of land. Natalia was a woman of that city. She loved it, just as he loved Russia. He clasped her hand while they looked toward the Manhattan skyline.
“I wish you could love New York as much as I do,” she said, and he looked at her in surprise.
“Did I say that I don’t?”
She smiled and leaned against him. “You don’t have to say anything. I can tell.”
He closed his arms around her and looked over her shoulder toward the city. She was right. He didn’t belong here. In a perfect world, he could sweep her away to Russia, where she could be Countess Sokolova and they would rule at Mirosa, his wild, rustic kingdom.
But for today, they needed to plan how to conquer Washington, DC.
Natalia had been blessed with a forward-thinking father who opened doors for her in the world of banking, but even Oscar was going to resist letting her travel with Dimitri to Washington.
After returning to Manhattan, she went straight to his office. It would be better to make her appeal at the bank rather than at home, where Poppy eavesdropped whenever Natalia tried to be alone with her father.
After making an appointment with his secretary, she retreated to the ladies’ washroom to splash cool water on her face and tidy her hair. This washroom had been built for her alone. When she started working here nine years ago, she was the only female on the entire staff, and her father had spared no expense to ensure her comfort. Other women soon joined the bank in clerical roles, but to this day, she was the only female business analyst in all of New York City.
At three o’clock on the nose, she was shown into her father’s office for their meeting. To her surprise, he had her baby brother propped up on his desk, wearing a navy-blue suit complete with a checkered vest and a red bow tie. The spiffy look was marred by the baggy trousers cut to accommodate a diaper, but he certainly looked dandy.
She laughed. “Isn’t he a little young for a clerkship?”
The baby squealed when he recognized her and nearly toppled over in delight as he waved a toy duck at her.
“Never,” Oscar insisted with pride. “I’ve decided to bring him to the office for a few hours each week so he can feel at home here. Come inside and say hello to him. It looks like he wants you to pick him up.”
Alexander’s nanny and a footman were in the sitting area of the office, but there was no sign of Poppy, which wasn’t a surprise. Poppy rarely showed much interest in the baby except when there was an audience, but Oscar couldn’t get enough of the boy.
Natalia wasn’t jealous. She remembered coming to the bank when she was a child too, although she was eight or nine before Oscar began bringing her. She used to sit in the corner of his office, reading her schoolbooks while he met with his clerks and secretaries. Hopefully Alexander would grow to love the bank as much as she always had.
Alexander lifted his arms as she approached. He was a hefty baby, and it took some jostling to get him situated over her shoulder. Would she ever have a child of her own? It could never happen with Dimitri, but she pushed the disagreeable thought away as she patted Alexander’s back, loving the way he babbled in happy contentment. It was a brief respite, and this conversation was about to get awkward.
“Can we speak alone?” she asked, and with a brisk nod, Oscar directed the servants to step outside. Natalia kept pacing, nervously patting the baby as she walked. This was not going to be an easy request.
“Well?” Oscar asked once the door closed behind the nanny and footman.
“There is a man in Washington, DC, who might be able to verify Dimitri’s story about what happened at the Amur River. He’s a doctor who was stationed in Japan and has spoken with credible witnesses to the event. The Russian ambassador is trying to discredit Dr. Seaman. Dimitri is heading to Washington in hopes of supporting the doctor’s cause before it’s too late.”
Oscar shrugged. “By all means, I think he should go.”
“I want to go with him.”
“Absolutely not!” Oscar’s voice cracked across the office like a shot, and Alexander began to cry.
She rocked the boy a little more vigorously and met her father’s gaze squarely. “Dimitri doesn’t understand American politics.”
“Then I’ll send someone down with him. It seems to me you are already too deeply entangled with this man. Are you?”
Lying to her father was impossible, so she kept pacing with the baby. She was more than entangled with Dimitri. He had a piece of her heart she could never get back. Her longing for a child might someday drive them apart, but for now she needed to see this mission through.
“I feel compelled to go,” she said. “For three years I have considered the Trans-Siberian to be my finest accomplishment, and now it is in danger. Not because of finance or engineering problems, but because an evil incident has stained what should be a monumental accomplishment. We need to expose that evil so it can’t happen again.”
Oscar shook his head. “If you call attention to the massacre, it will embarrass not only the Russians but the bank as well.”
“I understand. That’s why it is important for us to be part of solving the problem. It will prove we haven’t turned a blind eye to the massacre.”
Oscar’s hands clenched, and his face turned pensive. He took an unusually long time to ponder before finally speaking. “You may go, provided Poppy accompanies you as chaperone.”
Natalia almost dropped the baby. “Poppy?” Having that woman latched to her side during this difficult trip would be unbearable. “The only place Poppy would like to escort me is over the side of a cliff.”
Oscar heard the veiled contempt and narrowed his eyes. “Poppy may not be the kindest of women or the best mother. She isn’t an interesting conversationalist or a skilled hostess, but by all that’s holy, she has been an excellent wife to me, and you need to sheathe your claws.”
“This isn’t about Poppy,” she retorted. “The Russian ambassador is as canny as a wizard, and she will embarrass us.”
Oscar pushed himself to his feet in growing annoyance. “You are about to walk a tightrope while trying to pull off a diplomatic coup. You! An unmarried, twenty-eight-year-old woman traveling with a single man who is an outrageous flirt. You need Poppy. We are fortunate news of your cross-country travel from San Francisco has not leaked out, but you can’t roll the dice again, so Poppy is going with you, and that’s the end of the discussion. My bigger concern is the railroad. I took a risk by letting you manage the project, and for three years I have defended you against critics who think I lost my mind. If scandal from this massacre taints the railroad, it will taint us as well, and I will have no choice but to remove you from all duties in the bank. Is that clear?”
The words landed like a fist in her gut. No other bank in the world would hire a female business analyst, especially one with a tainted reputation.
“I understand.” No matter how uncomfortable, she would swallow her pride and make peace with Poppy for as long as the trip to Washington lasted.
