Beloved Secrets, Book 3 Page 18
“My dear,” said Claymore, “was it not the responsibility of those who own the ship to see to proper and reliable lifeboats?”
“That too,” Abigail agreed, ‘but once aboard, the captain must have seen the condition and should himself have refused to sail.”
Claymore frowned, “We know not what the captain did or did not notice. I think...”
“What of the election?” Blair interrupted. “Do you favor Mr. Roosevelt or President Taft?”
“Taft,” Cameron answered. “If the British and the Germans go to war, ‘tis prudent to have a president who already knows what he is about.”
“Yet, Roosevelt is a good man,” David countered.
Abigail rolled her eyes. “I care not who wins. I have always thought the President holds far too much power for any country’s sake.”
Claymore was astonished, “And this from a woman who not so very long ago demanded the right to vote?”
So far, Cathleen stayed out of most of the discussions. Instead, something in Blair’s demeanor seemed a bit odd and it wasn’t long before she noticed what it was. She watched the way Blair looked across the table at David, and how he seemed to avoid returning her admiration. Cathleen considered what it might mean and then asked, “Mr. Steele, where shall you get off to now that you are back in America?”
“I am needed in Chicago,” David answered.
Cathleen watched Blair bow her head. “Darlin’ Blair, everyone shall be delighted to have you home again.”
Blair kept her head bowed and did not quickly answer. “I am eager to see them as well.”
At last, David cleared his throat and looked directly at Cameron. “Mr. MacGreagor, I humbly ask permission to marry your daughter.”
Cameron’s jaw dropped and his voice began to rise. “What?” Never had the wrinkle in Cameron’s brow been deeper. “Marry her? I hired you to protect her not to marry her!” There was alarm in Blair’s eyes when he finally looked at her, but her father ignored it.
David added, “I love Blair and I assure you I shall do all I can to make her happy.”
Blair’s alarm quickly turned to the fondest of smiles directed at David.
Her father, on the other hand, was anything but impressed. “You cannae make her happy. You are a Pinkerton Agent!”
“What has that to do with it?” Blair asked.
“I agree with your father,” Claymore interfered. “Do you not remember the bloody gold miner’s strike we were forced to endure at Cripple Creek?” He paused to think. “When was that?”
“1903,” Cameron answered.
“Yes, 1903 it was,” Claymore continued. “I lost good men at the hands of the Pinkerton Agents, and it took two years for the town to recover. I dare say there was no hope of recovering for the wives who lost husbands.”
“I was not there,” David said in his defense.
Claymore’s temper was rising too. “But you shall be when next the owners hire Pinkertons to infiltrate, to intimidate, and to beat workers who want nothing more than tolerable wages and a reasonable measure of safety.”
“But do Pinkerton Agents not also capture bank robbers and outlaws?” Blair tried.
“My dear,” said Claymore, “their accomplishments do not outweigh the harm they impose. Mr. Steele needs to find a new occupation, for that one will likely do him in.” When Claymore noticed the way Abigail was shaking her head at him, he realized his interference and calmed himself. “Forgive me.”
Slowly and intentionally, Cameron stood up. He waited until David also stood, and then glared down at the much shorter young man who dared seek Blair’s hand. “Hear me well. No daughter of mine shall marry a Pinkerton Agent. I shall not allow it under any circumstances.”
For a long moment, David stared directly into Cameron’s eyes. Then he dropped his gaze, excused himself and started for the door. He had barely opened it when Blair rushed from her seat at the table and grabbed his arm.
“You are not leavin’?” Blair asked.
He turned back to face her and then lovingly touched the side of her face. “I cannot come between you and your family. They would hate me for it and someday you would hate me as well.” He took a deep breath and kissed her on the forehead. “Did I not tell you it was impossible?”
“Aye, but...”
“I do love you, but I cannot marry you.” He abruptly walked out and let the door close behind him.
The room was deadly silent. All eyes were on her, but for a long moment Blair simply stared at the closed door. No tears clouded her vision, no heavy breath did she take, and it was not until she slightly slumped her squared shoulders that she moved at all. When at length she turned around, she bore no expression, not even one of anger toward her father.
Instead, she said, “Did he not give up more quickly than he should have?” Their eyes were wide, and their mouths fully prepared to say words of comfort, but no one answered, nor did she want them too. Blair slowly returned to the dinner table, but she did not sit down. Instead, she said, “If you will excuse me, I wish to be alone.” She calmly picked up her evening bag and left the room.
It was only after Cameron retook his seat that he saw the fury in his wife’s eyes. “You disagree?”
“Have you gone daft?” Cathleen asked. “Blair is in love with him. Did you not see the way they looked at each other over dinner?”
Cameron was surprised. “I saw nothin’ unusual in their behavior and I see not what upsets you so. I only did that which is right and proper for our daughter.”
Cathleen closed her eyes and took a moment to calm herself. “I have never known you to be so unfeelin’. From the moment she got off the ship it was apparent there was somethin’ between them.”
Cameron shook his head. “Perhaps, but I expected them to be friends, and why not, for I repeatedly threw them together.”
“True enough,” said Claymore, “But I confess, I would have reacted the same way to a Pinkerton Agent, and blundered it equally as abominably.”
Still staring at her husband, Cathleen said, “You might have asked Blair what she wanted.”
Cameron leaned back in his chair. “She is little more than a child. How is she to make that sort of decision?”
“She is older than I when we fell in love,” Cathleen pointed out. “Are you sayin’ I knew not what I was doin’?”
“Of course not,” said Cameron. “But consider what my brother did when he too hastily married the woman who bore Blair. Have we not all suffered from the wild escapades of his duchess these many years?” He reached for her hand, but Cathleen pulled it away. “Do not fret so, my love. I have done the right thing and someday she shall thank me for it.”
“And if she does not?” Cathleen asked.
At last, Abigail spoke up, “I suspect there is more to be concerned about than what Cameron has just done. I am troubled by Blair’s unfeeling reaction. If my father had denied Claymore, I would have burst into tears.”
“Your father truly would have denied me,” Claymore dared say, “if I had been a Pinkerton Agent.”
Abigail was having none of that. “Oh, Claymore, you miss the point completely. What happened here tonight surely broke our dear Blair’s heart, yet she remained unusually calm. It is not natural, not natural at all.”
“Perhaps I should go talk to her,” Cameron said, starting to stand up.
Cathleen quickly put her hand on his arm. “Nay, leave her be. As deplorably as you handled it, ‘twas David who broke her heart. What could you possibly say to her?”
“Nothin’ I suppose, save that I love her.”
“She knows you do.”
“On the other hand,” said Abigail, “I found David’s reluctance to come between Blair and her family quite remarkable. He is to be credited with that, at least.”
“I doubt Blair thinks it remarkable,” Cathleen said. “My heart aches for her. How very devastated she must truly be.”
“We should take her shopping tomorrow,” Abig
ail suggested. “Shopping always brightens my mood.”
Claymore raised his eyes to the heavens, “How well I know.”
End of sample chapter.
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About the Author
Marti Talbott (www.martitalbott.com) is the author of over 40 books, all of which are written without profanity and sex scenes. She lives in Seattle, is retired and has two children, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The MacGreagor family saga begins with The Viking Series and continues in Marti Talbott’s Highlander’s Series, Marblestone Mansion, the Scandalous Duchess series, and ends with The Lost MacGreagor books. Her mystery books include Seattle Quake 9.2, Missing Heiress, Greed and a Mistress, The Locked Room, and The Dead Letters. Other books include The Promise and Broken Pledge.
Read more at Marti Talbott’s site.