Marblestone Mansion, Book 3 Page 3

  CHAPTER 2

  The motion of the carriage soon put Blair to sleep, so Cameron took off his jacket and spread it over her. She was such a beautiful child, and far too little to be unloved by both her mothers. For the better part of half an hour, as they rode back to the Bayington mansion, both Cameron and Edward silently stared out the carriage windows.

  “I admit to being somewhat disappointed,” Lord Bayington confessed finally. When Blair began to stir, he put his hand on her back to comfort her, and soon the child was fast asleep again.

  “She might still be yours. Perhaps the deformity has been married out by now.”

  “I suppose that is possible. Were she anyone’s daughter but the duchess, I would gladly take her, blood relative or not. But how do I ask it of Lady Bayington after all the misery the duchess has caused?”

  “Yet Blair must have a home.” Cameron looked once more at the face of the sleeping child. “You’ll not send her to an orphanage, will you?”

  “Not an orphanage…I could not do that.”

  “What will you do then? Tell the duchess to come get her?”

  Lord Bayington rolled his eyes. “How much would that cost me? Let’s see, travel expenses, a place for them to live, a monthly allowance, schools, servants, clothes, a carriage…my good man, the list is unending.”

  They were both quiet again, trying to think of an answer. Finally Cameron said, “‘Tis best the child never knows her mother.”

  “I agree. Do you know anyone who might take her?”

  “Perhaps, but what do we tell them? Love her, care for her, but do not let her mother know where she is? Nay, ‘tis best if we take her.”

  “We? Are you saying you would take her?” Edward asked.

  “Why not? I have no family, not in the kingdom leastwise. ‘Tis possible I need Blair as much as she needs a home…more perhaps.”

  “Are you not sailing to America soon?”

  “Aye, in just a few days. I made reservations for three and I am taking James, the lad from the orphanage who grew up with Leesil and Cathleen. That leaves another ticket bought and paid for.”

  Lord Bayington studied the look on his friend’s face. “Blair will need a governess, if you can find one willing to sail with you on such short notice.”

  “I’ve a cousin who might be willin’.”

  “Cameron, are you seriously considering this?”

  “Have you a better idea?”

  “No, I don’t. In fact, I can think of no better father than you. What if the duchess finds out? What will you do then?”

  “She would never dare come to the castle and you shall be the only one who knows where Blair is.”

  “True, and I shall take the secret to my grave. The duchess thinks she is clever, but she will never guess you have her daughter…that is, if she even cares.”

  “Then it is settled?” Cameron asked.

  Lord Bayington reached out to shake Cameron’s hand. “It is settled. Blair MacGreagor will have a good home; the best home love and money can buy.”

  *

  Caring for a child on the train ride back to Scotland was a new experience for Cameron. Blair was wide-awake, on her knees, looking out the window and loving every moment of it. He kept a hand ready to catch her should the train suddenly stop, and tried to answer her steady stream of questions.

  “What’s that?”

  “‘Tis a barn.”

  “What’s that?” When he didn’t quickly answer, she turned to look at him.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Do you not know ‘tis a cottage?”

  “I might know,” Blair answered, turning to look back out the window.

  “I wager you do. Have you no books?”

  She giggled. “I am not old enough for books.”

  “I see. Well, we shall get you some anyway…just in case you want to look at them.”

  Her eyes lit up, she shoved a lock of uncombed hair out of her eyes, turned around and plopped down beside him. “With pictures?”

  “Aye, with pictures.”

  “Mr. Greagor, where are we going?”

  “To your new home?”

  “Where did the other man go?”

  “He went to his home.”

  “I like him, he is warm.”

  Cameron wrinkled his brow. “Are you cold?” When she nodded, he took his jacket off again, put it around her, set her in his lap and tucked the material around her bare feet. It felt good to be holding her. The touch of another human being was something he sorely missed. When she rested her head against him, he was certain if anyone could heal his broken heart, Blair could.

  “Mr. Greagor, have you any children?”

  “Nay, you are my only one.”

  She shot her head up and looked at him. “I am yours?”

  “You are now. Does it please you?”

  She tightly clasped her hands together and gave that considerable thought. First, she wrinkled her brow, then she squished her eyes, and then she looked up at the ceiling. “I suppose I could be yours, if Mr. Sinclair will not mind. Will he mind, Mr. Greagor?”

  “I dinna think he will.”

  “They put him in a box, you know.”

  He was surprised Blair was allowed to see it, but then, all families had their own way of doing things. “Are you sad about that?”

  Blair vigorously nodded. “Mrs. Sinclair said Mr. Sinclair is never coming back. Do you know why?”

  “He cannae come back, he has gone to heaven.”

  Blair wrinkled her brow again. “Mrs. Sinclair says he has gone to hell.”

  Cameron drew in a long breath. “I say he is in heaven, what do you say?”

  “I like heaven better.”

  “So do I.” He smiled and settled her against his chest again. That lasted only a few seconds before she sat up and decided she wanted to look out the window again. It made Cameron smile. “Are you hungry?”

  “Of course I am. I am always hungry.”

  *

  After three days of frantic shopping for clothes, new shoes and one very special doll, Cameron took James and his new daughter aboard a ship bound for America. He couldn’t help but remember the one he boarded with his beloved Flora just one short year ago, but he pushed those memories aside. Blair wanted to see everything, had another thousand questions and kept him too busy to dwell on the past.

  Safe in her new father’s arms and tightly clutching her porcelain doll, Blair happily waved goodbye to the people on the shore, none of whom she would ever know. Next to Cameron, the redheaded, freckled face James stood watching the people.

  Like Leesil and Cathleen, James had been abandoned on the doorstep of the orphanage in England. He remembered the man who left him there, and even years later, still looked for that face in a crowd. Alas, he recognized none of them, although he tipped his new, black top hat a time or two, just the way Cameron showed him. He was dressed as splendidly as any young gentleman, and still could not get over his luck at being rescued and then given a position in Cameron’s shop.

  As soon as the tugboats got the ship far enough away from shore, the two triple blade propellers began to turn. The massive RMS Campania was 622 feet in length, had 12 double-ended Scotch boilers, 102 furnaces, two five-cylinder triple expansion engines, and at top speed, she could run 23.5 knots. Some 600 passengers shared first class accommodation, with 400 in second and a full load of 1000 in third. To keep all the passengers happy, the ship carried a crew of 424.

  Mechanically inclined, James found the running of the ship fascinating and vowed to see every nook and cranny. First, however, Cameron insisted they find their staterooms and took them inside.

  Much like the other ships, first class was decorated in English Victorian green and gold. James got a room of his own, and because Cameron had not managed to find a governess on such short notice, he requested a bed brought into his stateroom for Blair. Thankfully, there would be plenty of maids to help with the delicate little girl things like styling her hair. That
left one room unoccupied, but the captain soon put it to good use.

  At dinner, in the expensively decorated first class dining room, it didn’t take long for Blair to charm more than one of the women passengers. The very next day, a woman in her thirties insisted on watching Blair so Cameron and James could discover what they could of the engine rooms. Once they had seen all they were allowed to of the ships lower interior, Cameron and James stood near the bow and watched the waters of the Atlantic Ocean rush past. They hoped to see dolphins racing the vessel, but they were disappointed.

  As dinnertime approached, they wandered back to the decks and found Blair right where they last saw her – sitting in a deck chair with her eyes glued to a shuffleboard match between two elder men. What the game was all about puzzled her, but she had not yet given up trying to learn. She had a definite thirst for knowledge and had practically memorized her copy of a Snow White already. Instead of just one, this time Blair was in the company of four young ladies, each happy to see Cameron when he came into sight. He politely tipped his hat to each and then leaned his back against the railing several feet away. He crossed his feet at the ankles and then folded his arms.

  “They fancy you, Mr. Cameron,” James whispered, carefully copying Cameron’s exact stance.

  Cameron rolled his eyes. “They fancy our charming little Blair.”

  “You are wrong, they fancy you. You’ve got ‘em clamoring to help Blair, just to impress you. Will you teach me how to do it? I’ll be needing a wife soon.”

  Cameron looked sideways at his charge. “You’ll not be needin’ a wife for a good many years yet, you are too young.”

  “I’ll be fourteen soon.”

  “Not that soon.”

  James shrugged. “I will die without a wife.”

  “You shall not die, you shall survive the way all MacGreagors survive…by hard work. Work keeps a lad’s mind on other things.”

  “I’d rather have a wife.”

  Cameron smiled. He remembered those feelings all too well.

  James was near starvation and no more fit than Cathleen the day Cameron took him from the orphanage and gave him a job in his shop. At first, he insisted James live in the castle and only work half a day so he could build his strength. James was more than grateful, but he was also eager to become the man he thought he should be. Even so, more than once Cameron found him crying for want of seeing the sisters again.

  James fretted over Leesil and Cathleen constantly, and no matter how hard Cameron tried to assure him they were well, it could not be done. At last, Cameron took to passing McKenna’s letter on, so James could see for himself. The day McKenna wrote that Cathleen was gaining weight was the day James finally believed they were safe.

  Now, James had decided to become a fine gentleman and for that, he carefully watched Cameron’s every move, including his table manners. Cameron found it delightful.

  Blair seemed very happy for a child who had been so swiftly removed from the only home she had ever known. She did mention Mr. Sinclair often and cried a couple of times. Helping her through her grief seemed to help Cameron through his as well, and as each nautical mile took them closer to the new land, their smiles began to outnumber their expressions of sadness. It was a new beginning for both of them, a new and far more exciting beginning than even Cameron could have imagined.

  *

  Considered a handsome man by the women in town who admired his masculine face and dark brown eyes, Judge Nicholas Mitchel stood at the window of his second floor courthouse chambers and sighed. Colorado Springs enjoyed an odd sort of weather pattern that no one seemed able to explain. Storms often dumped a foot or two of snow on Denver to the north, passed over Colorado Springs and left another two feet on the ground in Pueblo to the south. Thus, the mild winter allowed for a lot of changes to take place in Judge Mitchel’s life…and not all of them were good.

  The house across the street, the one that used to be his, was now a hardware store, a new barbershop and the workshop of a new tailor. For Christmas, Hannish MacGreagor bought the judge and his wife, McKenna, the largest house in downtown Colorado Springs. It was located three blocks away, faced the park and was just two doors down from Banker Goodwin and his wife, Maude.

  Hannish also gave McKenna a considerable amount of money, some of which she used to decorate and furnish the three-story, six-bedroom home. The top floor held the servant’s quarters where Butler Prescot, his wife Millie, and housekeeper Doreen now lived – another gift from Hannish MacGreagor, who insisted on also paying their wages.

  Judge Mitchel loved his wife, there was no doubt about that, but he had not expected marriage to change his life so dramatically. At length, he sighed again. “I am convinced McKenna does not love me.”

  Seated at his desk on the other side of the room, his secretary, Glenn, put the cap back on his fountain pen. “I am shocked, Your Honor. Why do you think that?”

  “She does not say she loves me, unless I say it first. She is not joyful to see me when I come home…and I get the feeling she would be glad to have her own bedroom.”

  Glen thought to mention snoring or hogging the covers, but wisely decided against it.

  “She is unhappy and so am I,” the judge continued. He abruptly turned away from the window and folded his arms. “I think I might get a haircut today; that seems to be the only thing I am allowed to pay for these days.”

  “I agree with you there…not that you need another haircut, but that your brother-in-law has been overzealous in his gifts. Why not talk to him about it?”

  “Because it might drive McKenna farther away.”

  Glen scratched his clean-shaven chin. “That is a possibility.”

  “I can’t help wondering if she still loves the man she left in Scotland. Am I merely the next best thing?”

  Glenn didn’t like what he was hearing. When Judge Mitchel got upset, everyone in his courtroom held their breaths. He was always a careful and fair minded judge, but he would not put up with much when he was distressed, and sometimes a lawyer had a hard time getting a word in before the judge shut him down.

  “Your honor, your wife is not a foolish woman,” said Glenn. “She is certainly not the kind who would give herself to a man she did not love. Besides, she had her choice of men long before you came along. If something is wrong, ask her what it is. On the other hand, if she says she doesn’t know, don’t insist she give you an answer. You’ll regret it if you do.”

  “How do I find out then?” When Glenn didn’t quickly answer, Judge Mitchel took an exasperated breath. “Prescot, Millie and Doreen seem to be happy with us and McKenna likes having them there. Can you believe it, Prescot helps me dress. I do not need help dressing, but McKenna says to let him so he will feel useful.” Judge Mitchel’s voice began to rise. “I am the one who does not feel useful. Prescot brings what we eat, what we drink, and when I am finished reading the newspaper, he folds it and puts it away. Just once, I would like to be the one who opens the door for my wife!”

  “That must be it then.”

  “That must be what?”

  “McKenna sees you are unhappy and she doesn’t know what to do about it. She is caught between her brother, the servants she loves and the husband she loves.”

  Judge Mitchel finally sat down, put his elbows on his desk, his head in his hands and lowered his voice. “I admit I am not good at hiding my feelings.”

  “Welcome to the world of husbands,” said Glenn a little too sarcastically. He was a bit shorter than most men, yet well built with thinning light brown hair and green eyes. Most of the time, he wore wire-framed spectacles, which he often took off to see things farther away. Just now, Glenn had his spectacles off. “Women sense these things. They know something is wrong before we do. Sometimes they are wrong about something being wrong, but they will convince you they are right. So, you must think of something - just to satisfy them. Naturally, your guess is not what she suspected and then…I tell you, you are in for a rough spell.”<
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  Judge Mitchel peeked between his fingers. “Do I detect a slight tear in your perfect marriage?”

  “More like a bullet hole, Your Honor.”

  “You guessed wrong, I take it,” the judge said, finally sitting back and folding his arms again.

  “I guessed the wallpaper, she meant the sofa. She loves the wallpaper. It took hours to convince her I like it too, but she would not be satisfied until I told her she was right, and a new sofa to match the wallpaper was the answer.”

  “Ah, then it is resolved.”

  “You think so, do you? How little you know about women, Your Honor.” Glenn shook his head and went back to the pile of papers on his desk awaiting his attention.

  “Glenn, if I know so little, please enlighten me.”

  “Time, Your Honor.” He took his pocket watch out and looked at it. “She has now had nearly four hours to contemplate, to fuss and to change her mind. You see, I can’t take back what I said. I like the wallpaper, I truly do. It is far better than the yellows and greens the women in this town seem to be outrageously fond of, but now I’ve said I don’t care for it and I’m stuck. Do you know what that means?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “It means we shall soon have a new sofa and new wallpaper. I’ll have to hang the paper, but I’ll pretend to be positively delighted to do it - anything for this king to have peace in his own castle.” Glenn barely paused long enough to take a breath. “Your honor, I need a raise.”

  At last, Judge Mitchel smiled. “Draw up a request and I will sign it.” A raise might solve Glenn’s problems, but it did nothing for the judge and he thought about it for several minutes before he spoke again. “We meant to take our honeymoon in California this spring, but McKenna is pregnant and we have postponed it.”

  “You could take her to Denver, or even Kansas City. She might enjoy that and it would give you time to be alone with her.”

  “What about the baby?”

  “Pregnant women are stronger than you think and if McKenna is against it, she will tell you. That way, should something go wrong, the decision does not rest on your shoulders alone. Who knows, she might want to get away as badly as you do. At least if you go, you could open doors for her.”