“He gets a wife.”
Mac’s eyebrows flew up in surprise. “A wife.”
“Yes. James asked me to marry him.”
“I – I must say that I’m surprised. I didn’t think he was the marrying type.”
Alyth grinned. “Perhaps he hadn’t met the right woman yet.”
Mac gave a laugh. “Maybe so. I hope you are happy with him, dear sister.”
“I know he wasn’t at all what I expected him to be. Instead, he is something more. He believes in me. So much in fact, he is leaving the family social hall to move outside of New York and start our own business.”
“I can’t believe that.”
“Believe it, Mac,” James said. Entering the room, he held out his hand. Mac shook it and slapped James on the back.
“I hear I’ll be calling you brother soon.”
“Yes. I couldn’t be happier. I expect you’ll be following suit soon. First Lance, now me. How much longer will it be before you take a wife.”
“I doubt I’ll get married. I’ve been spoiled and I don’t think a wife will live up to my expectations of her. It wouldn’t be fair to her or me.”
“Are you thinking about Shannon?”
Mac shrugged. “It is hard not to. I spent three wonderful weeks with her and then she disappeared without a trace. I don’t know what happened. I was going to ask her to marry me once we got back home. But now…” Mac sat down at the desk and ran his fingers through his hair. “Now I just don’t know. I realized I may never marry. I’m thinking of taking a ship to the orient to look at the silk houses over there. I hope by the time I return the war will have blown over and we can go about our regular business.”
“Or you could come out to Essex with us?” James offered.
“That is forty miles away.”
“Yes. But it is away from the city and all this talk of war. I think retreating to the country home is a fine idea. I talked to my father about purchasing our home out there.”
“I’ll think about it. I would like to stay here, though. At least for a while.” Mac was hoping that he might run into Lady Shannon. He had asked around in society’s circles, but no one had heard of or seen her.
“Mac, I should probably tell you…”
Mac looked up at his friend. James was standing behind Alyth with his hand on her shoulder.
“Tell me what?”
“I ran into Shannon the last day you saw her. In fact, I purposely sought her out.”
“Whatever for?”
“I was seeing how attached you were becoming to her, and I thought it would be best to end it swiftly and painlessly.”
“Painlessly? For whom?”
“I doubted that she loved you. I thought she might be simply playing with your emotions and hoping to snag a rich husband.”
“Whatever would give you that idea?”
“Did you not wonder why you could never escort her to her room? Why she appeared in the afternoon, but not before? That she sometimes would race from dinner?”
“Perhaps she had other engagements.”
“She wasn’t on the first-class manifest.”
“I know. She was in the second-class. Not everyone can afford first.” James shook his head. He noticed Alyth was looking around the room and shifting in her chair. “What is it?”
“She was from steerage. I saw her with that woman she called her lady maid several times on the lower deck.”
“Steerage? That is where the indentured…” Mac felt the color drain from his face.
James shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mac. I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t looking for a man who could buy her way out of servitude. But when I saw you two together, I realized how wrong I was and that I shouldn’t have interfered. Can you forgive me?”
Mac was torn between wanting to jump over the table and pound James into the ground, and laughing because he felt like a fool. He turned to his sister. “You knew about this, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know what James had done until after we were off the ship.”
“And you still agreed to marry him?”
“You don’t choose who you love, Mac. It was very apparent that there was something special about Shannon. I loved dressing her up and I loved the way she made you look.”
“The way I looked?”
“Like you were happy. I have never seen you that happy.”
“Well, I guess I was.”
“I am truly sorry, Mac. If I could find her for you, I would.”
“I forgive you, James. But don’t ever interfere in my life like that again. Do you understand?”
James nodded. “I promise.”
“Good. Now let’s talk about this business of yours. I assume you have some prototypes that you can share?”
Alyth nodded her head. “I took a dress to Mrs. Siedman’s shop. She is going to put it in her window this weekend. She wanted all the noise with the Irish brigade to die down.”
“Yes. They are causing quite the ruckus.”
“They want to belong. I think it is admirable that they want to fight.”
“Which dress?” Mac started making a list of the shop owners he knew in the area. If he could help Alyth get her dresses in front of more people, he would certainly use his connections.” Alyth gazed around the room again. “Alyth?”
“It was the dress with the brown bodice and green skirt. I finally finished sewing all the layers.”
“Which brown and green dress?” Mac asked, although he already knew the answer. “The one Shannon wore that night at dinner?”
Alyth nodded.
Before Mac could respond, the door to his office pushed open. “Son, I need to talk to you.”
“I’ll talk to you soon,” Mac said dismissing Alyth and James. He waited until his sibling and best friend left, then Mac turned to his father. “What is it?”
“I need you to step up and take your place. There is an uprising at the factory, and I need you to quell it.”
“Father,” Mac said, steepling his fingers together. “We discussed this. I have no desire to overtake operations. It is your factory. You have men that run it.”
“Then why are my workers leaving? They know I can call in their debts, but they leave anyway. Why are so many of them going off to fight in this God-forsaken war? There is no reason to.”
Mac sighed. “What’s going on at the factory?”
His father sat down in the chair across from the desk. Oliver Wardsworth had aged significantly in the six months that Mac was gone. When Mac returned, he found out that Oliver had turned over the running of the factor to several men that were known to rule with their tempers.
“There is a rebellion in the factory. The men are leaving, and the women are starting to make demands.”
“You can quell that yourself. I can’t imagine you being pushed around by a group of women.”
“You don’t understand. There is a leader. She gets everyone riled up
“Then sack her. Once she has a hard time finding another job, her attitude will change.”
“And lose my money?”
“You aren’t making any money on her if the workers aren’t working.”
“I paid for her. She’s mine for the next seven years.”
“You paid for her?” Mac’s thoughts froze. How could his father buy a worker?
“She’s mine for the next seven years. Unless I increase her interest rate and she can’t pay back her loan.”
“What loan?”
“Why, the cost of her transportation on the vessel over here. The cost of her food. The cost of her apartment. She, actually her father because women can’t enter contracts, signed on her behalf that she would work for seven years.”
Mac felt sick to his stomach. “How many workers are in this same position?”
“All of them.” Oliver looked at Mac and grimaced. “Don’t look at me that way. It is how we can keep up with production.”
“How do they live?”
<
br /> “Not my problem. They get a fair wage and then eighty-five percent of it goes to pay back their debts.”
“Eighty-five percent?” Mac pulled out a notebook from his desk. “How much do they make?” Mac was dreading hearing the answer.
“They make $6 a week.”
Mac scribbled on some paper. “And you take $5.10 out of that pay. That leaves them a $.90 to live on. No wonder they are rebelling. If their husbands, brothers or sons are going to fight, then that leaves those women and children nothing to live on.”
“That’s not my problem. I run a business, not a charity.”
“Father, look around this room. How much do you think all this stuff cost? How many people would all of this feed, clothe, or give shelter to?” Mac leaned back in his chair. “Are all factories like this?”
Oliver nodded.
“I’ll go talk to this rebellious woman and listen to what she has to say. You need to trust me and let me do the right thing, or I will simply leave and go help Alyth in her garment making business.”
Oliver grumbled. “I can’t believe you and James are encouraging her.”
“She’s very intelligent. She has momma’s eye for what makes a good form. I think she will do very well.”
“I’ll be waiting for your report.” Mac watched his father leave and then went to get his walking jacket and hat to head to the factory.
He took a horse-bus down to the center of town, getting off at the merchant district. He walked past the row of shops – butcher shops, a bookstore, several bakeries, general goods and a grocer until he found the shop he was looking for.
He walked inside and a bell rang announcing his arrival. A short woman with a sharp nose and dark hair held high in a bun came out. “Oh,” she said spying Mac. “We don’t have many gentlemen callers into the shop. How can I help you? Do you need something for your wife?”
“In a way,” Mac said. He described the dress he was looking for.
“I’ve not put it out yet. It is lovely. In fact, I was thinking of taking orders for it and not selling the sample. I don’t think I’ll have any problem selling it.”
“No, you won’t,” he said, pulling out his wallet. “I want to buy it now. You see, I saw the first woman wear that dress and I think it should remain a one-of-a-kind.” Mac pulled out several banknotes. “That should be more than enough to cover the cost of the dress.”
Mrs. Siedman’s eyes opened wide. “That is more than enough.”
“I trust you can wrap the dress, and have it delivered to my house?”
“Of course.” Mac handed her a business card.
“But that is the address of –”
“My sister,” he finished. “Yes. She designed the dress for a very special woman.”
“She’s a lucky woman indeed to have you.”
Mac tipped his hat and took his leave from the shop and headed towards the garment factory.
The Wards Garment Factory was in the center of the industrial district. It was a large brick building, the size of at least three city blocks. Mac could see the large smokestacks huffing as he rounded the block to where the factory was.
He opened the door to where the machines should have been humming as women were sewing. Instead, there was silence and he heard shouting coming from the other room.
“Mr. Mac,” a man said, running towards him. “There is a total uprising in the other room.”
“I can hear,” Mac said. He looked around the empty floor of the factory. “Is everyone in there?”
“Everyone that is left. Most of the men left to join that Irish Brigade.”
“I saw their signs as I was walking.”
“Seems they are recruiting everyone to their cause. Imagine that. A whole brigade of Irish troops. Next, it will be the Scots. Or even the Chinese. Now that woman, Shay O’Donnell has the nerve to demand that the women need to be paid better and treated fairly or else they won’t work anymore.” The man snorted. “I think I’ll let Mr. Manning deal with her. She won’t be so high and mighty once he’s done with her.”
Mac resisted the urge to pummel the man into the ground. Manning had a reputation for carrying a whip on his belt and he didn’t hesitate to use it.
Instead, Mac held the man with an icy stare. “If any of these workers are hurt in any way, I’ll take it from your hide. Do you understand me?”
The man visibly paled. “Y-yes, sir.”
“Let me go deal with this,” Mac said walking towards the door. As he walked across the floor, he noticed the shouting had subsided. The door where the women were meeting opened wide and workers started pouring out.
Mac stood to the side to allow the women to pass. As the group thinned out, Mac moved to walk into the room. A woman who was calling over her shoulder ran straight into him. Mac held out his hands to steady her.
“My apologies, sir,” the woman said. She looked up and both she and Mac gasped at the same time. It was Lady Shannon’s maid. “Aofie?” he said.
Aofie looked around the room and screamed before slumping to the floor. “Aofie!” a woman cried and ran from the front of the room over to where Aofie was lying slumped on the floor.
Mac watched her kneel beside Aofie and slap her cheeks several times. When Aofie’s eyes finally opened, the woman stood and turned to look at Mac.
Mac’s eyes flew open as he stared into the face of the woman who hadn’t left his thoughts in five weeks. A huge grin broke out on his face and he moved to take Shannon in his arms.
Before he could, her fist cracked against his cheek and she said to him, through clenched teeth. “It’s you!”
Shay watched as Mac held the wet cloth to his chin. She couldn’t believe that he was standing in the door as she ran over to help Aofie who had fainted to the ground.
Once Shay got over her shock, she did the first thing that came to her mind. She winced as she saw the beginnings of a bruise on Mac’s flawless cheek.
“You should be a pugilist, not a garment maker.”
“So, you are Mr. Ward? Did you know that I worked for you?” Shay threw up her hands and started to pace the room. “I should have known what a fool I was. You seemed too good to be true. And now I know why. You earn your living on the backs of those that are less fortunate than you.”
“I was too good to be true?” Mac said.
Shay stopped pacing and looked at him. “Out of everything I just said, that is what you heard?”
“I heard that you want a better wage for the work you are doing. A percentage of the contract. Help for these women who are going to be alone. Proper food for them to eat. A place they can school their children. Fewer hours so they spend time together as a family.” Shay’s mouth fell open. He did hear her as she told him everything the workers needed. “And I will work to get you everything you need. My father’s name is Wardsworth. He went by Ward, so it made sense to just shorten his name. My mother’s last name is Macalister. I was given her name as my first, and folks just call me Mac. My sister took the Macalister name when she left for boarding school. She didn’t want to be known as Oliver Wardsworth’s daughter.” Mac looked down at Shay once more. She watched his brown eyes soften as he looked at her. “My father asked me to take over the factory operations. I came to see what I could find out. And I found you. The women look up to you. I will need a partner in this, Shannon. What do you say?”
Shay couldn’t think. His words were spinning around in her brain. He was so close. If she moved closer, his scent would wash over her. She inhaled deeply; the memories of being held in his arms as they danced, flooded back to her.
She tilted her head and whispered, “Shay. Everyone calls me Shay. Shannon is my proper name.”
Mac stood up and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulder. “You’ll always be Shannon to me. Lady Shannon.”
“I ain’t no lady,” she scoffed.
“You are to me. I heard you say that you thought I was too good to be true. I think it is a miracle that I fo
und you again. We can turn this factory around and increase production over all the other factories in New York. I’ll meet all of your requests if you meet one of mine.”
Shay looked at him as if trying to ascertain if he was lying to her. “What would that request be?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
Mac’s face broke out in a grin. “I said I need a partner.”
“I’ll help you any way I can.”
“No. I want you to be my wife, Shannon. Please say you’ll marry me. I was miserable for the past two weeks without you.”
“The only way you’ll grant me requests if’in I marry you?”
“No,” Mac said, cupping her chin. “I’ll still grant you the requests. It makes good business sense for the factory. I want you to marry me because you love me just the way I love you.”
Shay released a sob. “I do love you, Mac.”
“Be my wife.”
“Yes. Yes, I will.”
Mac lifted Shay’s chin and brushed his lips lightly over hers. “I love you, my Irish lass,” he said, before his lips claimed hers.
Epilogue
July 1861, Essex, New York
Mac watched as Shay took in the entire ceremony in front of her. When the preacher announced that the groom could kiss his wife, he noticed Shay wipe away a tear.
Mac turned his attention back to his best friend, Lance as he leaned down to kiss his now wife, Amy. The Army had finally decided where to send him and Lance was going to be leaving in the morning for a little town called Manassas, Virginia.
“What a beautiful wedding,” Shay whispered, leaning into Mac. He tightened his arm around her, enjoying the feel of her head tucked under his chin.
“Almost as beautiful as ours,” he said softly.
They had been married two days after rediscovering each other. Mac didn’t want to wait. When Shay insisted that she had nothing to wear, Mac pulled out the brown and green dress. Shay cried when she saw it and kissed Mac passionately.
Alyth and James stood as attendants, and Shay was thrilled to find out that they were engaged to be married. James asked for Shay’s forgiveness and she embraced him, saying she couldn’t hold a grudge against a brother.
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