Leather and Lace (Gold Sky Series Book 5)

by Rebel Carter

  Today would be a wonderful day, she would begin her plan with Alex and manage to avoid having her breath stolen by her corset stays. The boning in her corset always left her skin tender, the stays digging painfully and making her gasp in a mixture of pain and relief once she was finally able to remove the garment.

  When she was finished dressing Mary went to the window and glanced out to see the sky just beginning to turn pink with the dawn’s first light. She put a hand up and leaned against the window frame with a sigh. Her plan was to spot the newspaper delivery and make her move to intercept it before any in the boarding house were the wiser. She would have to keep a keen eye and a sharp ear out as the boarding house staff were known to be early risers and were quick to take in the morning news for their own enjoyment. There was still some time to go before the morning’s edition of the Gold Sky Gazette was printed and--

  A figure appeared on the avenue and she leaned close to the window, pressing her nose to the glass trying to see who was out at this hour. Her eyes widened when she saw they had a satchel over their shoulder and were delivering newspapers to each business.

  “Oh my stars,” she breathed. It appeared the news was early today, and she had no complaints at the pleasant surprise. They were only two doors away now and she turned, rushing to her door as quietly as she was able. She had to get to the front door before anyone else and making a racket would do her no favors. Mary took in a deep calming breath. She held it in for a moment before letting it out slowly.

  “Stay calm, stay calm. It’s all going to happen. It will all work. You’ll see,” she whispered and took in another deep breath. Thank heavens she had the extra room in her dress to breathe comfortably. If her mother had done her up that morning she would have fainted by now. Slowly and carefully she unlocked her door and peered down the hallway. It was empty and quiet. The morning light showed her the faint outlines of the furniture and doorways and she crept into the silent hallway with another furtive glance.

  Mary winced with every creak and groan the floorboards made beneath her feet but finally she was at the front door and not a moment too soon. She had just begun to peer through the curtained window when the silhouette of the newspaper delivery boy appeared at the bottom of the steps. He had hardly set a foot on the bottom step when Mary threw open the door and burst from the boarding house.

  “Good morning!” she greeted and then clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized she had nearly shouted her hello. The newspaper boy yelped and fell onto his back in surprise.

  “M-morning miss,” he managed, shoving himself up onto his knees.

  “I’m so sorry,” Mary whispered, she glanced behind her, glad the house remained silent. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” she told him coming down the stairs and extending a hand. “Here, let me help you.”

  “Thank you, miss.” He gave her a grateful if confused smile. “Eager for a bit of news, hmm?” he asked, rummaging through his satchel.

  “Ah, yes, I am quite the voracious reader…” she clasped her hands and gave him a quick nod, her eyes on the paper he was fumbling for. Finally he handed it to her and Mary swore she had never held anything more precious.

  This was her ticket out of her current folly. Her salvation and hopes for tomorrow. She cradled it close and laughed, the sound bubbling out of her before she could stop it. Not that she cared to.

  “Well, have a good morning, miss.” She opened her eyes to see the delivery boy giving her a confused look, but that didn’t matter. He could think her as silly as he liked, because today everything changed. Mary waved happily at him and bid him goodbye before she turned and hurried back to her room. The journey back was significantly less fraught, and she was smiling ear-to-ear as she slipped back into her room and locked the door behind her.

  “Let us see, let us see,” she murmured, placing the newspaper onto the small window side table she normally did her needlepoint at. Opening the paper she frowned when she didn’t immediately see the marriage adverts, but then here it was, right near the end and then bold as you please. Mary saw Alex’s advert immediately.

  The script was not as small as the rest, this was larger and bolder taking up nearly a quarter of the page and she laughed at how large it was.

  Her mother would notice that the advert was no doubt pricier to place than the rest. Sarah James would quite enjoy that, as she would the contents of the marriage advert. There was no way anyone interested in securing a profitable match would dislike it.

  Wealthy Investor Seeks Bride

  Wealthy farmer seeks well educated lady as a wife. Farmer in possession of 2000 acre homestead with steady income. Young lady must be agreeable, adept at organizing and entertaining affluent business partners, and eager to start a family immediately. Looking for a speedy introduction with nuptials to follow. Young lady will be added to all banking and store accounts upon marriage.

  Contact immediately through Gold Sky Gazette.

  --Alex Pierce

  Mary whistled in appreciation. She could almost see her mother’s eager face when she presented her with the advert. Sarah James would practically demand she write her response immediately and hand deliver it to the newspaper office. There would be no ifs, ands, or buts, before the day was out Mary would have written to Alex and all with her mother’s encouragement.

  She turned when she heard a door open in the hallway. The house was slowly coming to life and overhead more telltale steps were heard as the other boarders awoke and began their morning ministrations.

  Mary folded the newspaper and began to pace the length of the room. The advert was good, very good in fact, there was no way her mother wouldn’t be interested in it but how would Mary broach the subject. Perhaps she would be able to convince her mother that the fair had ignited a need for her to be proactive in her search for a husband?

  That could work. She had after all always tried to fulfill her role as a dutiful daughter for as long as she had been aware of the role. Sarah James might be suspicious of it but the fact that Alex’s advert was nearly perfect would cause her mother to overlook any misgivings. She would be beside herself with excitement and that was where Mary would find her way to freedom.

  A rap at the door alerted her to her mother’s presence. Every morning the pair went to breakfast together. What her mother thought might happen to her between her room and the dining room Mary had no idea, but she opened the door with a sunny smile all the same.

  “Good morning, mother.”

  “Good morning, dear. You look…” Sarah James leaned back and considered her daughter. “Well rested, for once.”

  “Ah, yes, the fair was just the thing I needed. Fresh air is good for the constitution,” Mary told her mother conversationally. “Why, I even awoke early this morning and fetched the newspaper for a bit of light reading and you’ll never guess what I happened upon.”

  “What was that?” Sarah James asked. They were now in the dining room and Mary handed her mother the mail order adverts with a hopeful smile.

  “I think I found the solution to our problems. Look there at Alex Pierce’s listing.”

  Sarah James took the paper with a delicate sniff and took her time unfolding it. “Hmmm,” her mother hummed, glancing at it before she folded it once more and crossed to the made up breakfast table.

  Mary stared after her in shock. Why was she not more interested? She had been so sure her mother would take the bait immediately. She hadn’t counted on this.

  “Are you not going to read it?” Mary asked nervously. She came forward haltingly and stopped when her mother pursed her lips glancing at her.

  “Is it imperative that I read it before breakfast?”

  “Well, no but there is a bit of exciting news to be had in there and if we dally, I’m worried we may miss out on--”

  “The ink is hardly dry on the paper. I do not see how we can miss out on whatever news is to be had.”

  “Ah, yes, mother. You are quite right,” she agreed with a fake smile.
Mary took her seat and bit her lip, watching as her mother placed the newspaper on the table next to her plate. The boarding house staff came through serving them their breakfast of toast and tea. It was simple fare, but the women were on a budget after all and Sarah James had opted to save their remaining fortune for more important things like “letting your dresses out to hide our inconvenience.”

  Mary’s breakfast tasted like ash in her mouth as she chewed. Normally their breakfasts were quiet, unless Sarah James was particularly motivated on a certain matter, which was more often than not as her mother was keen to be riled, but this morning her mother seemed content to drink her tea and eat her toast in silence with a smile on her face.

  Mary considered her mother carefully. There was something odd about her. Her eyes widened when she realized her mother was smiling. It was not a wide sunny thing but more of a sly expression a satisfied cat might display and that had Mary paying close attention. Whenever her mother had such a look it meant there was a new scheme being planned.

  But what?

  Mary’s breakfast went untouched, her hands stirring at her tea absentmindedly as she continued to watch for any sign of subterfuge, but she could find none. It was only when Sarah James had finished her toast and picked back up the newspaper that Mary’s focus shifted. There would be plenty of time to figure out what her mother was up to but now she had a part to play. She worked to look natural and sipped at her tepid tea as her mother scanned the page, she could tell the exact moment she read Alex’s advert, there was an audible snap of paper and a small gasp that demanded Mary look up at her mother.

  “Why did you not tell me this was here?” Her mother snapped with an angry glare. “Do you know what time we have lost by you sitting there as if you have forgotten to speak?”

  “But I did try to tell you,” Mary protested. “You said--”

  “Do not tell me what I said, you foolish girl. Now get up and get to your room at once! You must write this Mister Pierce at once. I want to look over what you write, in fact, I shall dictate your response. Fetch the paper and come back. Move, Mary for heaven’s sake!”

  Mary bobbed her head in a nod, scrambling towards the door and rushed for her desk. She kept a bundle of paper to write along with a pencil out of habit. She had once written to her friends, but it hadn’t taken long for the rumors of her pregnancy to cause their letters to stop entirely. Associating with her was hardly fashionable. She didn’t blame her old friends even if it did hurt her to realize they had abandoned her. She snatched the paper up, happy to have a reason to use it especially when that reason would get her closer to her goal of having a happy home and life.

  She rushed back into the dining room and resumed her seat across from her mother. Sarah James was looking over the paper intently as if parsing out the words for clues. There was no hidden meaning or fancy language to consider in Alex’s message and Mary nearly sighed at her mother's dramatics. Instead she smiled serenely at her and took up her pencil.

  “What shall I write?” she asked.

  “Begin as such,” Sarah James said, head still bowed over the paper, “I am an educated, attractive and family oriented young lady. My name is Mary Sophia James and I have just arrived via San Antonio. You sound like a capable and diligent man. I find the terms of courtship agreeable and look forward to receiving your next correspondence. Forever yours, Mary Sophia.”

  Mary bit her lip at her mother’s use of her full name. She never used it except for when her mother was determined to put on airs. She supposed responding to Alex was one such occasion, even if her letter bordered on a business transaction. There was none of the softness and infatuation she felt in her when she looked upon Alex. She was...soft when it came to the woman, drawn like a moth to a flame but this letter was clinical in approach and thin in substance.

  No matter if it was not a letter professing adoration. Alex was guaranteed to reply no matter its contents. When she was finished she held it up with a wave.

  “I’m all done.”

  “Do stop waving it about. You’ll wrinkle the paper, Mary.” Sarah James flicked a finger at the door looking for all the world as if she were a queen. “Now run it to the newspaper office immediately. If we are lucky no other respectable woman has seen it yet and we will have staked our claim first. We shall see how quickly the sir intends to marry and approach the courtship thusly.”

  She stood from her chair with a satisfied nod. “Now, I am off to do business.”

  “What kind of business?” Mary paused in the doorway and looked at her mother. “I mean, I didn’t know we had any affairs in play here,” she added when her other gave her a sharp look.

  “If you must know, I am off to see Mr. Rutherford and I will do my best to find out if this Alex Pierce is truthful in their assertions or not. It always does well to do a bit of snooping when it comes to a man’s fortune. No matter what they make claims to possess, the real truth is in the gossip. Remember that, Mary.”

  “Yes, mother,” Mary chimed, nodding at her mother and making for the door once more. She was smiling when she left the boarding house. For all her mother’s snooping she would only find what Alex had already asked the townspeople to say, and that heartened Mary some. There was nothing to worry over, she must simply keep her head and stick to their plan.

  All would be well. She was sure of it.

  “You shall never believe what I heard today?” Sarah James entered her room with scarcely a knock. Mary sat up in her seat by the window, the needlepoint she had been working on clattering to the floor in surprise.

  “Pardon?” she choked out, trying to calm her beating heart as her mother began to move about her room.

  “Oh, Mary, do get your nerves under control. I have come with good tidings, my dear!” Her mother was practically skipping as she said this, and Mary knew Alex had done well in her advisement of the townspeople.

  Her mother was not simply interested in the marriage advert, she was downright glowing. Ecstatic in her joy at the prospect of a wealthy savior.

  “What good tidings might those be?” Mary asked, though she already knew.

  “That your Mister Alex Pierce is a well and truly landed gentleman. He hails from New York, my dear. Old Money. Old money, indeed, and is even well connected enough to be in business with the Baptiste family.”

  Mary blinked at that. In business with Julian Baptiste? She hadn’t known that, now had she?

  “Oh, he is, is he?” she asked, and wondered why Alex had not told her. The connection was curious and for Mary served as a notable given Alex’s offer to help her.

  Julian Baptiste and his wife Violet were kind people, and if they were doing business of any sort with Alex it was just one more example to recommend her character. Mary frowned and wrung her hands together. She was marrying a good person with a good heart and selfless intentions, and yet, here she was scrambling to save herself behind her mother’s back.

  Selfish is how Mary felt, not selfless. However would they make their arrangement work when she was terrified of ruining it.

  “Mary, where is your head at?” Her mother clapped her hands sharply, startling Mary from her thoughts. “Did you hear anything I said?”

  She blushed and ducked her head. “No, mama. I’m sorry. I was, ah, it’s just that--”

  “Your mind was abuzz with all the advantages of marrying this desperate Mister Pierce, wasn’t it?” Her mother tittered and wagged a finger at her with a wink. “You are your mother’s daughter after all. I know that keen look in your eyes as well as any. I can’t fault you for daydreaming, dear, but do keep on task with me, hmm?”

  Mary swallowed and gave her mother a quick nod. “Yes, mama.”

  Sarah James gave her a satisfied smirk. Mary pursed her lips at the sunny expression on her mother’s face. It was so unlike the cold and unfeeling smiles she was accustomed to, she had always reserved these warm expressions for her father, or really anyone she was of mind to use. The look gave Mary a nervous feeling an
d she looked away quickly.

  “Now then, I have gone through the savings we have, and I estimate we will be able to purchase a wedding dress for you, but we must work quickly. It should be tasteful, yet simple. Nothing like the garment the Baptiste bride wore, but it will do, it will do,” her mother sniffed, looking put out at the thought of anyone wearing a dress finer than she could provide. “I think a nice simple, modestly cut dress trimmed in lace will suffice, don’t you?”

  Mary nodded. She didn’t care if she had to wear burlap and denim to the chapel so long as she was able to marry Alex.

  “Yes, understated, and ah, frugal. Mister Pierce seems to be a man inclined to value a frugal woman. It can be seen as an asset rather than a shortcoming,” Mary said, and her mother lit up with an excited clap of her hands.

  “That is right! Too true, Mary, too true. Now you are thinking, and to think I lamented sending you to all the fine schools we could. It seems now you are earning back every penny of your tuition. We will make it seem as if it were a choice and not a matter of circumstance, because I do have another glad tiding to share with you, my dear.”

  Mary fought against the flutter of panic in her chest. She hated it when her mother brought news to her, it was never pleasant, at least never for Mary. As Sarah James’s daughter she had never been in a position that her mother thought her useful or valuable, she had always been ordered to do this or that without niceties or pleasantries.

  But now here was that smile. Mary shifted uncomfortably and forced her attention on her mother.

  “What is it?” she asked. “What happy news do you have?”

  Her mother shot her a coquettish smile. “You didn’t think this happy season was all about you, now did you? Your mother has her own bit of happiness to share as well.”

  “No, I didn’t think it was--”

  “Mister Rutherford has asked to marry me!” Her mother announced, throwing her arms out wide. She crossed the room to grasp her daughter’s hands excitedly. “We will announce a double wedding and the whole affair shall be quite fetching.”