Deadly Proof: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery
Page 34
Thinking of the envelopes, he suddenly panicked. Where was Tim? Besides the gratuities, he had the rings, which Nate had spent much of yesterday buying and getting engraved. He looked back down the stairs and saw the tall Swede, appearing unusually elegant in his top hat and tails, standing with his lovely Irish wife, Lydia, talking to Kitty Blaine and Ned Goodwin. Seth Timmons stood quietly behind them in the doorway to the parlor. Nate wasn’t surprised that Laura invited him...or that he’d come...but it did make him relieved his parents weren’t here.
Waving to Tim, who nodded and started to make his way to the stairs, Nate thought about the solution that Laura had come up with regarding his parents. Friday night, Nate and Annie were still sitting in the kitchen making plans with an excited Mrs. O’Rourke and Kathleen when Laura came in from her celebration with her friends. When she heard the news about moving the wedding up to Sunday and Annie’s concerns about his parents not being able to make the ceremony, she’d said, “Why don’t you go visit them for your wedding trip, instead? This is the perfect time, in the lull before fall round-up, and Mother would be so pleased.”
Annie embraced the idea, but later, just before he left the boarding house, Nate told her for the first time about his dream of taking her on a two-week trip down to Los Angeles so she could visit her mother’s grave. She hugged him and told him what a sweet idea it was, but then she’d said something that had simply melted his heart.
“I will always have my mother with me...I don’t need to see her grave to keep that memory alive. But I want to start our new life together looking forward. You are the reason I can let go of the past, with all its sadness. And I can’t think of any better way to start that life than to spend some time getting to know and love the new family I am getting with this marriage.”
“Well, old man,” Tim said, coming up on the landing and vigorously shaking his hand. “How are you doing? Don’t look nearly as nervous as I felt on my wedding day.”
“What scared me the most was that this day would never come. This is the first time you’ve been here, isn’t it? Sorry I never was able to get the four of us together before.”
“I know. I haven’t even met the bride-to-be yet. I told Lydia I’d begun to think you were making her up. But if the spread I saw laid out for supper in the parlor is a sample of what your Mrs. O’Rourke can produce on such short notice, then you can expect us to cadge dinner invitations weekly. Make up for all those Saturdays you used to spend with us in your bachelor days.”
Nate smiled and said, trying to keep from sounding too anxious, “You bet. Now you do have the rings, don’t you?”
Tim laughed. “There—those are the nerves you are supposed to have. Yes, I have the rings and the gratuities. And I’ve got your train tickets for tomorrow and the carriage ordered for seven this evening. The Palace Hotel, eh? Pretty fancy. Mrs. Sullivan’s anonymous benefactor must have been pretty darn happy with the way you resolved the case.”
Nate said something about how Tim’s article had helped a good deal, but what he was thinking about was the surprise for Annie. She thought they were going to take the last train to San Jose tonight, getting them to his parents’ ranch very late. But as much as a present for himself, he’d booked one of the best suites in the Palace Hotel for tonight, with a midmorning train ride, so they’d have plenty of time to...
“Nathaniel Dawson, you dog. There’s your blushing bride, and isn’t she stunning?”
Nate looked up, and for a moment all he saw was his sister Laura, who was Annie’s maid of honor, lightly running down the stairs to the landing. Then he saw Annie on the arm of Mr. Stein.
She looked like a queen, with pearls threaded through her fiery blond curls, a stiff ruff of silk the color of sapphires that framed her long neck and plunged down to hint at more treasures than he deserved, and a dress of ivory and blue that shimmered in the afternoon light. She caught his eyes, gave him the secret smile he felt was for him alone, and swept down to join her life to his.
The End
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my appreciation to all the family and friends who gave their support during the research and writing of this book. I am particularly indebted to the numerous fans of the series whose encouragement was invaluable throughout the long writing process. As always, my beta readers have made this a better book than I could have achieved on my own, so thanks to Neil Brooks, Jim Brown, DeAnn Christian, Ann Elwood, Micheline Golden, Sally Hawkins, and Joy Sobel. I want to give special thanks to Michelle Huffaker who continues to produce such wonderful covers, and my editor, Jessica Meigs, who has the eye for detail I lack.
I feel I also need to single out one particular resource that was of absolutely invaluable help in the research and writing of this book, Roger Leveson’s Women in Printing: Northern California, 1857-1890 (Capra Press, 1994), with thanks to my dissertation advisor of long ago, Thomas Dublin, for pointing out this book to me early on in my research.
Finally, this book, as always, wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my loving husband Jim, and my daughter Ashley and her family, who provide me the motivation to keep on writing.
About the Author
M. Louisa Locke, a retired professor of U.S. and Women’s history, has embarked on a new career with her best-selling Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, which is based on Dr. Locke's doctoral research on late 19th-century working women. Maids of Misfortune, the first in this series, features domestic service, and Uneasy Spirits, the sequel, explores women and 19th century Spiritualism. Her third book, Bloody Lessons, focuses on teachers working in the San Francisco public schools in 1880. She has also written four short stories that are based on characters from the novels, and they can be found in this collection, Victorian San Francisco Stories.
Go to http://mlouisalocke.com/ for more about M. Louisa Locke and her work, including information about the historical research behind these books.
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