Marblestone Mansion, Book 5 Read online

  The waiter quickly picked up her plate, “Perhaps ham in a light cream sauce?”

  “Aye,” Leesil answered. She was certain that was the last word she would be allowed to utter the entire evening, but she was wrong.

  “And you, Mrs. MacGreagor,” Maude asked finally making direct eye contact with Leesil, “do you know where Olivia is?”

  “Aye, we buried her in the rose garden behind our mansion.”

  The captain roared with laughter, Maude nearly spilled her drink, Thorndike grinned and Hannish squeezed her hand under the table.

  Pretending to look a little worried, Leesil continued, “We gave her a proper burial, I assure you, although a headstone would be far more than we MacGreagors are willin’ to pay for the likes of her.”

  “I quite approve,” Maude forced herself to say. “You live in a mansion?”

  “Aye, all sixty-seven rooms, some of which I have only seen once.”

  “Sixty-seven,” Thorndike repeated. “Maude, the MacGreagors have nearly outdone us. We have but ninety-three.”

  Finding Leesil delightful, the captain asked, “Have you any other bodies buried in the rose garden?”

  “None save the duchess, but we have ample room for more.”

  Leesil’s implication was not lost on Maude, but she ignored it. “The duchess, I had forgotten you were once a duke, Hannish, darling.”

  “I doubt you forgot it for a moment.” Hannish shot back. “You know very well my brother, Cameron, is Duke of Glenartair now.”

  Maude sweetly smiled as if to flirt with him. “I believe I did know that. Do you like his new wife? I hear she is a sad little creature who can hardly speak the King’s English.”

  “Where have you heard that?” Leesil asked, forcing Maude to again deal with her directly.

  “I have a good many acquaintances, my dear. Everyone says she is painfully shy with little to recommend her.”

  “I find a touch of shyness a good quality in a wife,” Hannish said, trying to calm his wife. Leesil was gripping his hand tighter and he feared what was coming.

  “As do I,” Thorndike put in.

  “Since you asked,” Leesil said, “I do like her. In fact, I love her. I do hope, Lady Okerman, that you dinna intentionally mean to offend me – but I suspect you did.” She abruptly stood up, glared at Maude and tossed her napkin in her plate. “I have lost my appetite.”

  Hannish quickly got to his feet as well, “I do not blame you.” He threw his napkin down, took her arm, and escorted his wife out of the dining room.

  Shocked, the Captain barely had time to stand up before they were gone. He motioned for the waiter and then sat down. “See that the MacGreagors are served in their room.”

  “Yes, Captain,” said the waiter, quickly clearing the plates away.

  “What do you suppose irked her?” Maude asked.

  “Perhaps she does not care to hear about her husband’s first wife,” Thorndike sneered. “You can be quite callous when you want to be, my dear. Quite callous indeed.”

  Maude seemed surprised. “She did not get truly upset until I mentioned her sister-in-law.”

  “My dear, that sad little creature, who is now a duchess and far out ranks either of us, is Mrs. MacGreagor’s sister.”

  “Oh, no,” Maude groaned. “I have done it this time.”

  Clearly annoyed, Thorndike glared at his wife. “You’ll be hard pressed to get any of the MacGreagors to come to a ball now.”

  *

  By the time they got back to their room, Leesil was so mad she was almost in tears. Thankfully, Justin wanted to be held and that distracted her while she calmed down. A few minutes later, a waiter brought fresh dinners, and stayed to personally serve them.

  “I say we do not tell my brother,” Hannish said after several minutes of silence.

  Leesil nodded. “Cathleen would be so hurt if she knew what they say about her.”

  “Which is why we best keep it to ourselves.”

  “I agree, but I do hope we can avoid Lady Okerman for the remainder of the voyage…and the rest of our lives.”

  Between bites, he said, “I am proud of you, by the way.”

  “Proud of me?”

  “Aye, you set her down quite soundly. I’d not be surprised if ‘tis she who avoids us.”

  “I do hope so.” Leesil had just finished her last bite of ham when someone knocked on the door. As soon as Hannish nodded, the waiter opened it, and let Thorndike enter.

  “I have come to apologize for my shameful wife and her constant prying, Mrs. MacGreagor. I do hope you shall find it in your heart to forgive me.”

  “As I recall, Lord Okerman, you were a perfect gentleman. Therefore, you are forgiven.”

  “Then I have your permission to take your husband to the smoking room?”

  “He hardly needs my permission, but I shall not mind.”

  “Are you sure?” Hannish asked, wiping his mouth with his napkin.

  “Quite sure. I mean to let Justin eat the rest of my pudding and then put him to bed.” She smiled, lifted her face so he could kiss her and watched him go out the door.

  *

  “An edict meant only for Scotland? Not for Ireland, Australia or New Zealand?” an incredulous Hannish asked too loudly. He was seated at a small table across from Thorndike Okerman in the ship’s smoking room.

  Thorndike puffed on his cigar and let the smoke slowly escape his mouth. MacGreagor’s outburst caught the attention of the other men in the room and most of them had stopped talking. “My boy, I hardly think the Irish would admit to harboring prostitutes, and surely such a thing does not exist in the lands down under.” Thorndike’s comment got the round of laughter he was hoping for. Some men stood along the walls, but most sat at tables, smoking, drinking tea with a bit of port added, or abiding other cordials.

  Hannish couldn’t help but smile too. “Well, when you put it like that. They call it The Immoral Traffic Act, do they?”

  “It has not yet been passed by Parliament or given royal assent, mind you, but there will be no stopping it now. You see, it is deemed quite improper for a man, or a lad, as you call them in Scotland, to knowingly live on income gained by virtue of prostitution. Furthermore, no lad can solicit or importune a prostitute in a public place. Behind the barn is apparently acceptable, just not in front of a bank or on the street…any street.”

  Hannish waited for the laughter to die down before he asked, “What is to be the lad’s punishment?”

  “Three months hard labor, depending on his class, I assume. For some of us, hard labor constitutes a wife not being invited to this season’s balls.” Again, the other men laughed.

  “A grievance indeed,” Hannish muttered. He had forgotten how riled he could become when he felt the Scots were being treated unfairly, and reminded himself to remain calm.

  “Speaking of places of ill-repute,” Thorndike continued, “is it true they sport some one hundred fifty saloons and as many prostitutes in Cripple Creek?”

  “Only one hundred and fifty?” a much calmer Hannish asked, “I thought the count much higher. You need not mention this to my wife, you understand. If she hears, she’ll demand a morality act of her own.”

  Thorndike chuckled. “I give you my word.”

  “We hear gold lies on the ground begging to be picked up,” one of the other men said.

  Hannish grinned. “If there were, I assure you men would not have dug so many mines. Lately the place looks a bit like Swiss cheese and gold minin’ is hard work. Of course, once a lad ends his day in the mine, he seeks a bath and a bit of entertainment. With some 500 mines and thousands of men to work them, ‘tis only right they should have saloons, dance halls, and accommodatin’ hotels. I hesitate to add for fear my wife shall hear, but there are more than enough prostitutes to keep all the men short of pay. But ‘tis not all unseemly. There are respectable restaurants and shops for the wives, should the wives fancy livin’ there.”

  “Five hundred mines?”
a young man whistled. “Are they for sale?”

  “Some, if you’ve the price, but be mindful of union strikes. If the men refuse to work, the railcars go unloaded, the smelters shut down, a lad draws no wages, the wife cannot feed the children, and the general stores cannot sell their goods. A union strike is more explosive than dynamite, which the workers can easily get their hands on.”

  The young man raised both his eyebrows, and said to three others at his table, “Perhaps I shall save my fortune.”

  “It sounds rather like the Boer wars, which I might add the Scots and their bagpipes managed to help the British win, finally,” said Thorndike.

  “You flatter us, kind Sir,” Hannish said, giving a curt half-bow.

  “Good, then you shall forgive my wife’s impertinence earlier?”

  “‘Tis not so easily done. The mistake of marryin’ Olivia was mine, and I do not care to see my wife pay the price.”

  “Of course not, but I doubt I can prevent Maude’s meddling. If she is determined to find Olivia, there is little I can do to stop her.”

  “Finding her shant be all that difficult. Maude need only check the beds of all the nobles, and not just those who call the Kingdom home.”

  Thorndike laughed. “I see. Well, that should keep my wife busy for a time and a little solitude is just what I need.”

  When he heard shouts and groans coming from an adjoining room, it piqued Hannish’s interest.

  “A game of poker, no doubt,” Thorndike explained. “Hopefully, Lady Okerman is not among them; she’s not so very good at the game these days.” Thorndike nodded when the waiter offered to refill his drink. “What did happen to your first marriage?”

  Hannish had heard all he cared to on the subject, and quickly downed the rest of his drink. “Surely, you do not ask me to spoil all of Lady Okerman’s fun.” Hannish set his drink down, checked his pocket watch against the time on the gold-rimmed wall clock, and stood up. “If you will allow me, I’ve a wife awaiting my return. Goodnight, Lord Okerman.”

  *

  Keeping little Justin entertained on the voyage was a full time job for Egan. He stayed close, and allowed Justin to run up and down the deck as fast as his little legs would carry him. When Justin tired of that, Egan tried to teach him how to throw a ball. It would be a while before the toddler got good at that, but it kept him entertained. At last, Justin stopped to watch an older boy, who was learning to juggle two balls.

  Egan had not seen her since they boarded the ship, and raised an eyebrow when he noticed Ann Sutherland walking toward him. “You have not fallen overboard after all?”

  She turned to face his same direction so they could both keep an eye on Justin. “It is good to see you again, too. How are you getting on with no newspapers to read?”

  Egan put the back of his hand to his forehead and sighed. “I can hardly bear it. I am forced to be content with only a dreary book or two.”

  “I did hear something newsworthy you will find of interest.”

  “What?”

  “The wreck of the SS Camorta has been found.”

  “Truly? Where?” he asked, still not taking his eyes off the toddler.

  “The laundry maid said it was found in fifteen fathoms of water, with the ship’s masts still sticking six feet above the water.”

  “It must have landed flat on the bottom. I wonder if they shall try to recover her.”

  “I doubt they know how.” Ann turned to look out over the wavy water. Dark, gloomy clouds on the horizon threatened to overtake them, but for now the sunshine made the water glisten. The aft wind was indeed speeding the voyage, but it also kept the ladies and the gentlemen from wearing their favorite hats without having to hold them on. For that reason, she left hers inside, yet the only way to keep her chestnut hair out of her eyes was to face the wind. “Can you imagine being lost at sea?”

  “I care not to think of such things, not now, not when I am about to see my beloved Scotland.”

  “I feel the same about England. I’ll be happy to see her again, too.”

  “You have said very little about your life before we met on the train. Are you up to something, Miss Sutherland?”

  She turned, saw Justin start to run to her and leaned down just in time to pick him up. Having spent only a little time with Justin, she was surprise he came to her, but pleasantly so. “What books are you reading? I do not have nearly enough to do either.”

  “You have made no friends aboard ship?”

  “Not any I care to keep for life. Have you found a friend?”

  “I dinna care to either.” Egan folded his arms and leaned his back against the railing.

  “I understand they dance a jig in the lower quarters each night.”

  “Do they? Then perhaps tonight I should see if they have it right.”

  “I think you should, and I shall expect a full report in the morning.”

  Egan watched Justin lay his tired little head on Ann’s shoulder. “He needs a nap, but ‘tis a bit early.”

  “I suspect the time change will ruin that a time or two.”

  “I had not thought of that.”

  “Do you miss Colorado?”

  “I do. Half the family is in Scotland and half in America. What about you, have you a family?”

  Ann giggled, “Of course I do. I have a father, a step-mother and three ugly step-sisters.”

  “Feelin’ a little like a Cinderella, are you?”

  “A little.”

  So far, she managed to avoid answering his questions, but he wasn’t about to give up. “Why were you cryin’ when I happened upon you on the train?”

  She bowed her head for a moment. “Do you promise not to tell?”

  Egan crossed his heart. “I give you my most solemn pledge.”

  “Very well then, I was sent by my father to California where I met the handsomest of men. Leastwise, I thought he was handsome in the beginning. I agreed to marry him, but then he wished to know where I was at all times. Not only that, he constantly asked what I was thinking. I am perhaps quite odd, but I sometimes do not have complete thoughts, and when I do, I do not care to share them with anyone. I soon found him exasperating, so I ran away.”

  “Running away made you cry?”

  “It was not as simple as that. We were at the church, you see, when I knew I could not go through with the wedding.”

  “Ah, you left him at the altar.”

  She nodded. “My intended began to chase me. I knew I could not outrun him, so I grabbed my bag and stole his horse.”

  Egan’s mouth dropped. “Aye, that would make me cry too, especially if the horse was mine.”

  “Yes, well, I was terrified of getting caught and did not stop until I reached the train station. I pinned a note to the horse’s halter, and got on the first train going west.”

  “Yet, you waited until days later to shed your tears?”

  “It was then I realized I was truly a horse thief, and I could go to prison if they caught me.”

  Egan looked her in the eye for a long moment. “So when I came along, you agreed to come to the Pullman and we unwittingly hid you.”

  “I do hope you can forgive me? I imagined all sorts of wanted posters being brought aboard the train at every stop.”

  This time he looked at her sideways, “You dinna think the train could outrun the posters?”

  “Egan, they have printers all over America. One telephone call and…”

  “I see. Well, since I was hidin’ you, you might have let me win a hand or two at poker. You should have been born a Scot, you have the spirit for it.”

  Ann giggled. “I shall take that as a compliment.” She kissed Justin’s cheek and then turned so Egan could see the child’s face. “Is he asleep?”

  “Aye, I best take him to bed.” He gently lifted Justin out of her arms, turned him around and let him continue to sleep on his strong shoulder.

  “I must go. Perhaps we shall meet again.”

  “Perhaps.”
He watched with new admiration, as Ann disappeared through the doorway into the ship. “Left the letch at the altar,” he muttered. “Would that I were there to see that!”

  *

  When Egan arrived at the door of their stateroom, Leesil was waiting. “I was just comin’ to find the two of you. Put him to bed and I shall stay with him. I could use a rest myself.”

  Egan carefully laid Justin on the small cot and covered him with a blanket. “I have seen Miss Sutherland and she is well.”

  “I was not worried; she strikes me as the kind who can care for herself. Be gone with you, and have a little time to yourself.”

  “I shall, thank you, Miss Leesil.”

  He decided to go back on deck and enjoy his second favorite sport – people watching. At first, none were particularly interesting. Couples walked the decks, getting their exercise for the day, hats blew off in the wind, one of which he caught just in time, and young ladies seemed to gather in groups to gossip about this and that. He was too far away to hear, but one couple appeared to be arguing and he recognized them both. Egan picked up a book someone left on a deck chair, opened it and pretended to be reading as he sauntered closer.

  “I expect you to apologize, Maude. I know it is beneath you, but in this case you must,” said Thorndike.

  “Why must I?” Maude asked, holding her yellow hat on her head with a gloved hand. Had she noticed no other hats on the deck, she might have felt foolish, but she didn’t notice.

  “Because if you do not set things right with Mrs. MacGreagor, the Duke of Glenartair will not come to the balls. Things are tedious enough between the English and the Scots, and you know how our society likes Hannish and Cameron. What will they think if both the Duke and his brother refuse your invitations?”

  “Cameron MacGreagor will think of some plausible excuse for them not to come.”

  “And if he does not? If he says you have insulted his wife? You, my dear, may well become far less sought after than you are presently.”

  “And that would humiliate you?”

  “To the nth degree. We made an agreement in the beginning of our marriage – I let you spend all you like, and you are not to humiliate me in front of our society. So far, we have both lived up to our agreement. Do not let it slip away now.”