He hardly knew what part of her tirade to address first. He stood, walking around the desk that he might pull out a chair. “Please, have a seat. Is there anything I can get for you?”
She remained in place, hands folded before her. “You can get me the truth,” she insisted. A stubborn one. He saw where Cate got it from.
“It is a rather long story, and I would feel better if you took a seat before I began it. Please, I can explain everything.”
To say she was suspicious would be a great understatement, yet she took the chair he offered and sat ramrod straight, her eyes never leaving his for a moment. This was a woman who could only be described as formidable, and he understood now why Cate had been concerned about her most of all.
He sat across from her, more nervous than he would have liked to admit. “How did you know who I was? I might have been any man about to head into the bank.”
“It seems another of my sisters was aware of this arrangement you have with Cate, and she mentioned your name.”
“Then you knew. You came here, questioning me, when you knew all along. I would imagine Phoebe told you all of it.”
She stiffened. “You might refer to her as Mrs. Connelly,” she murmured.
He winced at his clumsiness. “Pardon me, of course. It is only that Cate so often speaks of all of you, I have come to think of you by your first names.”
Molly sniffed, unimpressed. “She speaks of us? I must admit, that comes as a surprise. It is rare that Cate thinks of anyone but herself.”
“With respect, madam, I do not believe you give her the credit she is due.”
“With respect, sir, you don’t know what you’re talking about. I have known my sister her entire life, and this situation, while appalling, is nothing I would ever put past her.”
He sized her up, using the same instincts which had always served him well in business. While on the surface she was hard, even cold, he sensed a deep well of concern. Love, though he suspected she would have been loath to admit it to a stranger.
He called to mind what Cate had told him about her family up to this point. The passing of both parents, the way her sisters banded together to support themselves upon the loss of their mother. Molly was the oldest and would, therefore, have taken on the role of a mother figure to the rest.
He suspected that were Cate one of his sisters and were he responsible for her well-being, he would be driven to distraction as well.
With this in mind, he took another tack. “The responsibility falls entirely on me. Your sister came to the bank to seek funds for a theater she wished to open.”
Molly rolled her eyes. “Yes, I am aware of this.”
He did wish she would hold her tongue. It must have been a family trait, the inability to allow a man to finish a story. “As I was saying, I happened to be present, and I felt sorry for her. She was so earnest and poised in spite of the derision she faced from the bank’s president. Perhaps if she had come to me first instead of attracting his notice, I could have handled her more gently. He laughed at her, and she left. I followed her out, both wanting to comfort her and wanting to know just how serious she was about obtaining this funding. You see, I have more than enough at my disposal, and I was desperately in need of help.”
“It is that help, as you call it, that I wish to discuss. Is it true that you married her?”
There was no avoiding the truth. “Yes. We were married by the Justice of the Peace, and as I promised, the marriage will be annulled just as soon as possible. I wanted our union to be legitimate.”
“This is all in service of hiding the fact that your daughter was born…” She shifted in her chair, suddenly uncomfortable. She’d been raised as a lady, after all, and as such would be uncomfortable speaking of such matters.
He, on the other hand, was no lady. He was hardly even a gentleman, considering all he had already done. “Yes, my daughter’s mother bore her while I was traveling for business. She left her with me, then ran away. As I told Cate, I would have gladly made things right by marrying the girl, but she gave me no choice. She fled before we could make plans. That is the truth.” Even so, he grimaced when he remembered the woman who had looked so much like Ida watching him from across the street that morning.
Molly’s eyes were just a sharp as her sister’s. “What are you not telling me? Come, now. I believe a brother and sister-in-law we should have no secrets.”
Was it his imagination, or was there a note of enjoyment in her voice? As if she was having fun with this against her better judgment?
“You see, I did not speak to Cate of this, but I saw a woman who looked very much like Violet’s mother just before entering the bank this morning. She appeared to be watching me, my mother and Cate on the sidewalk. Perhaps this is nothing more than an overreaction on my part. After all, Ida’s appearance would ruin everything. My parents already adore your sister, just as they love Violet, and while it is one thing to break their hearts when they believe we have divorced, it would be entirely another to admit this was a lie along.”
Molly frowned, her brows knitting together just as Cate’s did when she was disturbed. “What is her name? The girl, I mean.”
“Ida Thomas. She lived on a farm outside of town, and I can only imagine she went back there if she did in fact return. Her family was quite poor, I know that much, though she possessed a great deal of intelligence and poise and seemed to wish to rise above her station. At least, that was what I told myself about her. Why I’d share any of this with you now is a mystery, but I suppose there is something to be said for having someone to confide in. As I said, I did not wish to upset your sister with this. She is already strained enough.”
“This has been difficult for her?”
“For both of us. She doesn’t wish to lie any more than I do. But you see, my mother has already experienced such disappointment is life. Her health has not been good in the last several years, and I did not wish to make things worse for her.”
Molly raised an eyebrow. “Nor for your father, the powerful senator. You did not wish to cause a scandal for him.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? Do not speak of it as if I’m in the wrong for wishing to spare them the pain.”
“No, you’re not in the wrong. I only wish you had not chosen my sister for this. You took advantage of her, and I do not find that easy to forgive. Nor will any of the rest of our sisters, nor our brothers-in-law.”
He grimaced at the memory of the man who’d stormed into his house. “I have already met one of them, and I have no doubt he would take pleasure in pummeling me, if given the chance.”
“Frankly, if Cate had had sense in her head, she would have refused you flat-out.”
This, he could not stand. “Once again, I must contradict you. I believe you do her a disservice by underestimating her. She is quite keenly intelligent, eager to be of help. She has done beautifully with my daughter. In that respect, I know I could not have found a more suitable partner in this scheme. I trust her with Violet, which I cannot say about just anyone. She has gone out her way to please my parents, and to make this a success. Perhaps if you had not dismissed her out of hand so many times, she would not have seen fit to venture into a bank where she must have known she would not be wanted or respected. Perhaps she spent so much of her life being disrespected that she supposed this would be just one more instance for her to suffer. I could not say. But you were all too hard on her, and it does not surprise me in the least that she would resort to extreme measures when granted so little understanding by the people who are supposed to understand her best.”
He shouldn’t have said it. It was rude, disrespectful, but he could not help himself. He’d had just about enough of listening to his wife being underestimated. And someone had to defend her.
Molly was quiet for a long moment, her eyes moving back and forth over his face. When she spoke, he was surprised to find her tone softer than it had been before. After all, he had expected her to shoot up from her
chair and deliver a brutal tongue-lashing after he’d spoken so freely.
“It appears as though I owe you an apology. While I still feel you have been foolish involving her in this, you appear to understand her. Perhaps even better than I do. It is not easy for the eldest sister to think of the youngest as anything more than a child. You have helped me understand how wrong I might have been. Though I cannot take responsibility for what she has done, for that was entirely her choice. I did not drive her to anything.”
He had participated in enough negotiations to know when it was time to compromise. “That is fair.”
“Perhaps I misjudged you both. It is a terrible situation you found yourself in. Both you and the young woman in question. If you wish, I might be of service.”
Now, this was a surprise. “And just how would you do that?”
“What you have said about your… friend, Ida, got me thinking. I believe there is someone we can call into the service to help us determine whether she has truly returned to Carson City, and what she might have returned for.”
He could hardly believe his ears. “Are you suggesting working with us on this?”
“So long as you promise not to tell Cate that I’m aware of what is going on. I don’t want her to believe I approve of any of this. And I don’t,” she was quick to add. “But I do wish to make this easier on both of you if I can. The sooner this is finished, the better for all of us.”
“I heartily agree.” He half-stood, extending one arm across the desk in hopes of shaking her hand. She was a woman of good sense, and he respected that. He also respected the way she so fiercely protected her sister, even if she did not agree with her methods.
After the briefest hesitation, she shook his hand with a firm grip. It seemed the person Cate most worried about learning of their plan was to be their staunchest ally.
Perhaps they could make a success of this, after all.
20
“Mrs. Davis will be staying with us tonight, which means you will have the chance to enjoy our company after supper.”
Cate cast a worried look Landon’s way. “Why does that not make me feel better?”
He fastened her mother’s string of pearls around her neck, his hands lingering perhaps a bit longer than necessary on her shoulders. “I thought you would be pleased. It will mean less work for you.”
He was trying so hard to be of help. It warmed her heart, just as the touch of his hands on her shoulders did.
Of course, this also worried her greatly. It would not do for them to form an attachment, though she suspected that she had already done so, which was the one thing she should have guarded herself against.
How could she help herself? Looking at his reflection above her own, his encouraging smile, knowing the faith he had in her. No one had ever had faith in her before.
No one had ever expected anything of her before.
How was she supposed to avoid falling in love with a handsome, kind, gentle man who believed in her?
Violet fussed in her crib, sending him across the room to check what was the matter. He was an attentive father when given the opportunity to be one. In other words, when he was not running about in a panic, doing everything in his power to solve little emergencies as they popped up here and there.
He bent over his daughter, whispering to her, and Cate wondered what the men at the bank would think if they knew how sweet and charming he was.
Oh, how they both tugged at her heart.
This is not the way she had expected things to turn out. She could never have fathomed sitting here, at the dressing table, smiling with loving fondness as her husband did everything in his power to soothe their baby.
No, not their baby. His baby.
It was the same as having a bucket of cold water dumped over her head.
She had no place here, not really. No marriage license, no ring, would make her truly part of this world.
And that was as it should be, was it not?
“Promise me something,” she whispered.
“Anything.” He glanced her way, one eyebrow quirked.
Promise me you’ll be good to her. Promise you won’t forget me when this is over. That once it comes time to build my theater, you won’t give the work to someone else to manage in your stead. Promise you’ll let me visit from time to time.
How could she hope to share what he’d brought to life inside her? Something far deeper than anything she’d ever read or seen on stage. Something real, something that hurt and thrilled her all at once. Whenever he looked at her with his crooked little smile, as he did at that moment while lifting Violet into his arms—in spite of his fine evening suit of clothes and the damage the baby might do—Cate simply forgot to breathe.
No, there was no chance of sharing her conflicted feelings. Not if she wished to avoid making him uncomfortable, perhaps even making him resent her. She couldn’t stand that.
“Do not make me perform tonight. Please, no recitations. My nerves simply couldn’t take it.” She rubbed her trembling hands together, her distress nearly too much to bear.
He left the baby then, going to her and sinking to one knee. “Cate, that was all in fun. I would never ask you to do anything that would cause you such distress. The last thing I wish to do is to distress you.”
What he did not know was that the entire situation distressed her, from beginning to end, and that falling to one knee before her was both the best and worst thing he could have done, for now, she longed to fall into his arms.
There was so much more than that, as if her feelings for him weren’t enough. She admired and respected his mother and disgusted herself by wearing the ring which had previously been worn in love. Knowing this was nothing more than a sham, really, disrespectful toward true marriage. Toward true love.
A creeping suspicion which made itself evident to her as he took her hands gazed deep into her eyes. The suspicion as she stared into their blue depths that she wished this was real.
How terribly unfortunate for her soon-to-be-disappointed heart.
He knew none of this as he tried to bolster her. “You have done tremendously up to this point, and I have nothing but faith that you will continue to perform admirably. Just think of all the practice you’ve had now, all of the experience to apply toward the many roles you will play once your theater is complete.”
She knew this was supposed to comfort her, that it was intended to remind her of why she’d embarked upon this in the first place. Yet it did little to soothe the ache in her chest, nor did it make smaller the lump in her throat.
There was nothing to be done but to remind herself that this was, in fact, a part she was playing. Not only was she performing for his parents, but she was performing for him, as well. She put on a brilliant smile as she stood, going to the crib to remove Violet from it once again. “Your grandmother will wish to see you,” she murmured to the baby, who smiled so charmingly and embedded herself more firmly in Cate’s affections.
“You look lovely tonight,” Landon observed with an approving smile.
“Thank you. I thought it would be nice to impress your parents a bit.” She held her free arm out to the side, turning slowly in place that he might admire her in detail. Blue watered silk, nearly the same shade as his eyes, cut fashionably low in the front and high in the back, the collar standing straight up.
“You are the very image of beauty,” he murmured, and there was a depth in his voice which had not been there before. An intimacy. She could feel her blood racing, could hear the thumping in her chest grow stronger when he drew nearer.
“Thank you,” she managed to choke out.
“Standing there, holding the baby…” He let out a long sigh, his brow furrowing. “I wish…”
What he wished, she never found out.
For a cry from the first floor sent them both running from the room.
“Mother?” Landon shouted on his way down, and Cate followed him to the parlor where his mother appeared to be having
a fit.
“What is this?” Cate asked, aghast, wondering for a moment if this was the nature of Hermione’s illness. She wept violently, hands over her face, shaking from head to toe.
Landon did not appear to understand any better than she did. He turned to his father, who stood off to the side, and to his credit, he appeared stricken at the sight of his wife’s distress. “What happened? Why is she upset?”
Oliver handed him a telegram. “This just came. An emergency in Washington. They need me back there immediately.”
Cate didn’t know whether to cheer or weep right alongside Hermione. “Oh, my goodness,” she whispered, holding Violet close while Landon attempted to comfort his mother.
This was it, then. The end. So soon.
And she should have been glad. She should have rejoiced. There was no longer anything to worry about—she could even go home and no longer fear for her sisters or the ranch.
And she would have her theater, for good and for all. Finally.
Why, then, did her tears fall on Violet’s lace-trimmed gown? Why did she want to hold the baby tighter than ever?
Rather than do this, she went to Hermione. “Why don’t you hold her?” she asked, sitting beside her. “Spend time with her while you can. I will help get your things together if that makes things easier.”
Hermione lowered her hands, her face tear-stained and swollen. “Oh, my dear,” she whimpered. “How did you know just the right thing to say?”
She bit her lip to hold back a broken cry. “Because that is what I would want more than anything,” she admitted, placing a hand on the woman’s back in what she hoped was a comforting manner.
A Bargain For A Bride (Westward Hearts Book 8) Page 14
