by Zina Abbott
Delphinia turned and again studied the man who had queried her. “Do you by chance know where she typically stays when she comes to town? I should like to visit with her if she will arrive soon.”
“At Howard’s. I’d be happy to see you there. Name’s Archie Long. I work at the Prosperity Mine, evening shift, but I got a week off to go back to Kansas to get my mother buried and settle her affairs. And you are, if you don’t mind telling…”
So, Howard’s Boarding House it was. However, Delphinia felt uneasy at the knowing grin the man shot her way. “Sarah Brown. Thank you, Mr. Long, but I’m sure the porter will know how to summon a carriage or wagon to transport me and my trunks.”
“It’s no problem, Miss Brown. Besides, this town ain’t that big, and there’s no one who hangs around the station on the chance some passenger needs luggage hauled. Getting a wagon to haul your things means walking the block to Johnny B.’s livery and renting something, then driving it around the block to Howard’s. I’d be happy to do that for you, Miss Brown. Shame you didn’t come in on the train Friday. Bet Mr. Bainbridge would have been happy to toss your stuff on the wagon with what he’s hauling for the brides coming in.”
“Unfortunately my schedule brought me in today. You seem to know quite a bit about the situation with brides arriving, Mr. Long. Is one of them intended for you?”
“No. When the offer was made, I wasn’t sure I’d want a wife. Now I see how it’s turning out, if the Bainbridge brothers build more company houses and take sign-ups for brides, I may put my name in. So, did you want me to get a wagon for you and help you with your things? I have time before I have to get to work.”
Delphinia sighed. So, here was a man who might be interested in a wife, but not right away, because he’s waiting for some houses to be built first. She felt void of disappointment. Mr. Archie Long seemed like a nice enough man, but for some reason he did not appeal to her. She would wait and hopefully meet some of the miners who already had a house built for them and try her luck with them. “Thank you, Mr. Long. I appreciate your assistance getting me and my two trunks to the boarding house you mentioned. How much will you require?”
“Just enough to rent the small buckboard, is all I figure you’ll need for two trunks and your carpetbag. As for me, all I ask is one dance with you at the harvest dance this Saturday.”
So, there was going to be a dance this Saturday, no doubt part of welcoming the new brides. It sounded like a good event for her to attend in order to meet the available men in this town. She smiled at Archie Long as she reached into her reticule for money for the livery. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate your help. I look forward to dancing with you this Saturday.”
Delphinia came to the conclusion men in the west did not expect to be tipped for their services, at least not at the rate she had been accustomed to in New York. The young man at the train station Archie Long recruited to help with her trunks seemed overjoyed at the coin she offered him. At the Howard Boarding House, Daniel Howard refused a tip, saying as the owner, it was part of the service. As for Mr. Long, he once again reminded her of the promise of a dance.
The room Delphinia was shown to was nice in a homespun sort of way. She noticed the braided rag rug on the floor—a far cry from the Persian rugs in her home or what would be found in the nicest New York hotels. The small chest of drawers and dressing table with its bowl and pitcher were made of smooth pine with a varnished finish. However, the white counterpane on the bed with its iron head and footboards, and the homemade quilt with splashes of color on a white muslin background made for a pleasant room—something she pictured in Annie’s attic bedroom back in her parents’ house.
That evening Delphinia found herself enduring another new experience. Unlike private dining in the restaurants of New York, the residents of Howard Boarding House ate at a communal dining table. Although the food prepared by Clara Howard proved to be excellent in taste and quantity, it took the better part of the meal for Delphinia to become somewhat comfortable with the personal questions directed towards her and the general bantering of the conversation among those who evidently were more permanent residents.
Delphinia continued to introduce herself as Sarah Brown.
What will they think when they learn I’m known to some here as Delia Brownlee?
It had not taken her long to figure out Jubilee Springs was a relatively small town where almost everyone knew each other. Although she did plan to make herself known as Delia Brownlee to Mrs. Millard of the bridal agency once the woman arrived, she felt certain the gossip mill was such everyone in town would soon know of her. Any use of the name with which her father was familiar would quickly be on the lips of the telegraph operator and railroad employees, the first people with whom a detective her father would send would check. No, until she found someone to marry, she needed to keep her identity hidden.
The talk turned to the new brides for the miners coming in on Friday. Exhibiting an air of detachment, Delphinia continued to eat as though the subject held no interest for her. However, she eagerly absorbed every word of the conversation. She only needed to wait two more days, and she could meet with Mrs. Millard and arrange to join the ranks of those brides. Until then, she would do a little detective work of her own and find out what kind of men were available.
One of her first stops would be the mercantile where Aaron Brinks lived with his parents. Hopefully, he was still unmarried, and would still consider her after he learned why she had been forced to stop writing to him.
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CHAPTER 9
~o0o~
Bennett grabbed two fistfuls of hair as he gritted his teeth. The figures he had been working on swam before his eyes. He knew he had an invoice for walnut boards he had ordered at least two weeks prior, and he needed it in order to figure the cost of the most recent sideboard he had been working on, but the paper eluded him. It had to be somewhere in the oversized closet he used as an office. Somewhere. But not where he could find it. He had searched through every paper on the table that served as his desk three times, and still no invoice—not the one he needed. Only the sound of the bell tinkling on the front door of his shop signaling someone had entered his showroom interrupted his impulse to grab a handful of receipts and invoices and fling them across the room.
Bennett patted his hair down in what he hoped was a semblance of order as he stepped towards the door. Today, being interrupted by someone like the miner Harvey would be a welcome distraction from the nightmare that was his financial organization. Or, more to the point, his lack of it. He quietly eased the latch of the doorknob of his office in place as he searched for whoever entered the store.
Over the top of a double stack of chest of drawers he spotted a woman’s dove gray felt hat with a navy grosgrain ribbon, and a ribbon rosette that affixed two upright feathers to the left side of the hat. The brown hair beneath appeared to be styled in a matter to make the hat tip high in the back while it tilted down across the top of the forehead in front. Bennett realized that to see as much of the hairstyle and hat as he was able to, the woman to whom they belonged must be tall, at least as tall than he was at five foot eight. He was grateful that he had at least put on his waistcoat and had fully buttoned it against the cold air that filled most of the building in spite of the wood stove in the back outside the office door.
He rounded a six drawer high bedroom chest with two side tables, one stacked on the other, next to it and a headboard propped against the other side. He self-consciously brushed back a lock of his too-long hair as for the first time he saw the full length of Delphinia Blakewell, better known as Sarah Brown to those to whom she had introduced herself in Jubilee Springs. His eyes traveled from the top of her gray feathers standing at attention straighter than a West Point cadet down to her button up boots with two inch high heels. She wore a close-fitting teal blue jacket with navy blue and dark gray vertical stripes that did nothing to hide her well-formed bosom
. It came down to below her waist and flared out to drape along the top of her skirt until it gathered into the bustle in back. The narrow stand-up collar was edged in navy piping rather than lace, and pewter buttons closed the blouse in front. The skirt of a navy blue color, free of pleats, ruffles, lace or ruched trim, fell in soft folds to the tops of her boots. Bennett didn’t know much about women’s fashions. However, he knew enough to know this woman’s outfit, although not elaborate or dripping in frills, was quality—the kind of quality purchased by those who were well off financially.
Bennett raised his eyes from her boots with their two inch high heels to her face only to discover her attention had focused on him. “Good morning, ma’am. May I help you with something?”
“It’s miss. This store has some lovely pieces. Too bad your employer has not required you to better maintain the showroom. These sets would be far more appealing to potential buyers if they were arranged by wood type and style in a manner that would allow a person to visualize them in a home setting. And although I’ve noticed there is an inordinate amount of dust in this town, perhaps more frequent use of a broom and dusting cloth would also help.”
Bennett tipped his head and raised an eyebrow as he watched her once again focus on a dining room sideboard made of walnut and stained dark. He knew all these things. He had been painfully aware of every failing she had mentioned, especially once Gerald Shumaker had warned him he would be bringing in his wife to look at dining sets in the next few days. However, who did this woman he had never seen around town until now think she was, waltzing into his store and telling him how to manage this showroom?
“I’m not the clerk; I’m the owner, Bennett Nighy. Your observations are well noted. I’m working on it.” Bennett watched her jerk her head back to study him. Perhaps his annoyance had bled into his response. What he knew for sure was he wished he had put on his coat before leaving his office and had not put off his haircut and beard trim an extra week. He stepped forward. “May I be of service, Miss….”
“Blak…um, Brown. Miss Sarah Brown.” In an effort to cover her faux pas, Delphinia stepped forward and extended her hand sheathed in a gray kidskin glove. “So nice to meet you, Mr. Nighy.”
Not used to a woman initiating a handshake, Bennett reached his hand forward and took hers, all the while wondering what she had started to say before she caught herself. “The pleasure is mine, Miss Brown. Is there something I can show you? I’m aware things are a little disorganized right now, but I know where everything is if there is something specific you wish to see.”
“Nothing specific at this time, Mr. Nighy. I’m just looking around.”
“Are you new here, Miss Brown? I don’t mean to pry, but Jubilee Springs is a small town and we don’t have many women as residents. Other than the new brides coming in to marry some of the men who work at the Prosperity Mine, I’ve pretty much seen almost everyone who lives in Jubilee Springs.”
Bennett noticed the woman seemed to stiffen at the mention of the brides for the miners. Was she one of them? Somehow he could not picture this woman who looked like a fashion plate that had stepped out of a Godey’s magazine coming to be a bride to one of the miners. “My apologies, Miss Brown, I don’t mean to pry. However, you do sound like you come from back east. Not New England, and certainly not the South. Atlantic Seaboard, maybe? New York or Philadelphia?”
“Back east will do nicely, Mr. Nighy.”
Bennett didn’t know why Sarah Brown was in Jubilee Springs, but he knew she was hiding something. “Either way, if I can help you with anything, please let me know.”
“I think I’ll be fine, Mr. Nighy. I’m currently here on some personal business and don’t know if I’ll be staying only a few days or…longer. If I find I have need of furnishings, I will return.” Delphinia fixed an intent stare on Bennett. “I mean no offence, Mr. Nighy, for I realize this is a small frontier town. However, at the very least, you really should have your clerk sweep out the dust.”
Bennett bit his tongue and took a breath before he dare allow himself to respond. “There is no clerk. I’m afraid I do everything, and most weeks there is not enough time for it all.” He forced a smile. “However, if you would like to tell me ahead of time when you plan to visit again, I will make a point to have the floor swept and the furniture dusted.”
The bell over the door tinkled and in walked a middle-aged man in a brown business suit and derby. At the sight of Delphinia, he doffed his hat before he turned towards Bennett. “If you’re busy, Ben, I can come back. Actually, all I wished to do was warn you I’ll be bringing in the missus about eleven-thirty tomorrow morning. She’s got her heart set on a walnut dining room with a light finish, and is excited to see what you can do.”
“See you then, Mr. Shumaker.” As he nodded his farewell, Bennett suppressed the sinking feeling at the thought of all the work he needed to do to prepare his showroom for a visit from the banker’s wife.
Only instead of leaving, Gerald turned towards Delphinia. “Gerald Shumaker, Miss. I own the Arkansas Valley Bank. If there is anything I can do to be of assistance, please come to the bank which is the next block over on the corner of River Road and Main Street. Please be sure to ask for me by name. And you are….”
Bennett raised an eyebrow at the exchange. Gerald Shumaker recognized the signs of money and connections in the woman’s clothing too. He didn’t offer to just anyone in Jubilee Springs an invitation to come to the bank and ask for him personally by name.
Delphinia nodded her head. “Thank you, Mr. Shumaker. My name is Sarah Brown. I may do just that.”
“Then you plan to be here for some time? It’s not often we have the pleasure of visitors from—is it a New York accent I detect? You speak just like my assistant manager.”
~o0o~
His assistant manager at the bank? Surely New York was a large enough city that the chances of the assistant manager being someone she knew were miniscule. Then again, the ranks of the financial elite in New York did not include that many families. She would need to make a point to avoid going near the bank, at least until she settled her personal situation satisfactorily.
Delphinia plastered the most dazzling smile she could manage on her face, hoping all her time spent learning proper social graces would now pay off. “Back east will do. I’m here on personal business, Mr. Shumaker, and I’m unsure of how long I will stay.”
“I assume you can be reached at the River Valley Inn, then?”
Uncertainty washed over Delphinia. Maybe she should not have taken Archie Long’s advice. Perhaps she should have taken a room at the more expensive hotel. Then again, her purpose was to connect with Mrs. Millard of the Colorado Bridal Agency, and Mrs. Millard brought her brides to the boarding house. “Actually, I took the advice of an associate and took a room at Howard Boarding House. I’ll know within the week if my business will keep me here longer or if I will be leaving.”
“A good choice, Miss Brown. I hope your business here is successful and we may keep you longer.”
“I hope the same, Mr. Shumaker, but we shall see.” Delphinia turned her attention to the sideboard she had been studying before. She hoped the bank owner would take the hint and leave. Between him and Mr. Nighy, they were asking too many uncomfortable questions, questions she had not decided on how to answer after what she had discovered earlier that day.
During her trip to the mercantile that morning, Delphinia had learned Aaron Brinks had married one of the brides that came in July. She had even met his wife, a quiet young woman who seemed to be the polar opposite of Delphinia. As much as she may wish to curse her parents for depriving her of the opportunity to come in July to meet him and possibly have been the woman he chose, the fact of the matter was he had made a choice and was settled. She now needed to figure out her course of action. She needed to build a plan for this point forward before she allowed herself to be subjected to too many more probing questions.
Only after she heard the bell over the door so
und once more did Delphinia turn to Bennett. “Mr. Nighy, I will be here at ten-thirty in the morning. You will have the showroom cleaned up by then, correct?”
“Excuse me?”
Delphinia sighed with exasperation. “Did you not say earlier that if I told you in advance when I would be coming, you would make a point to have all this mess cleaned up before I arrive?”
“Yes, I did, Miss Brown. However, you gave no indication it would be that soon.”
Delphinia waved away his objection. “You need to have everything in proper order for when the banker’s wife arrives anyway, so you might as well see to it everything is taken care of an hour earlier. Now, you have some lovely pieces, Mr. Nighy, but you do not have them shown at their best advantage. You need to group your oak pieces with the same finish together, same with your cherry wood, your walnut, maple and apple wood. Golden walnut is very popular right now, so if you have it in a dining room ensemble, you need to set up a mock dining room of your best pieces here in front of your left window where it will get good lighting. Put the sideboard or china cabinet against the wall.”
Delphinia used both hands held out flat and vertical to show where she meant. “If you don’t have a complete set in golden walnut, set up your best set in another quality finish of about the same shade, maybe oak, to showcase your work. She can always order it in walnut if she likes it.” Delphinia turned and used her hands in the same manner to indicate a space on the other side of the building. “Set up a complete bedroom set over here with the headboard against the side wall, once again, where it will get good light. Thankfully, he wishes to bring her in close to noon and the sun will be coming in from the south. If you do not have a set in golden walnut, use this lovely oak set. However…” Delphinia turned to Bennett with her hands on her hips. “Do not stack the side tables on top of each other as you have here. Put them on each side of the headboard. And you need a dressing table or washstand with a mirror. The mirror opposite the window will help add light to the setting.”
