“He didn’t want to know,” Elizabeth said.
The Old Man nodded. “The rest of the rifles don’t exist,” he told Gideon.
This time Gideon frowned. “But Thornton bought thousands of rifles in the past week.”
“Yes, I know. Rifles that don’t exist. He bought them from, uh, some friends of mine. Oh, we rounded up a few hundred to show him, but the rest of them were just boxes in warehouses.” He turned to Mrs. Bates. “I’m sure this is distressing to you, but we had to make sure Thornton was completely penniless so he wouldn’t have the resources to come after Lizzie again if he ever figured out what really happened.”
“I’m not a bit distressed to hear that Oscar Thornton has been justly punished,” Mrs. Bates said.
“I’m very glad to hear it,” the Old Man said, and he really looked like he was. How nice that he was concerned with the good opinion of her future mother-in-law.
“So that’s how it worked,” Gideon said. “Not at all what I’d imagined. Very clever.”
“Thank you, son,” the Old Man said. He looked extremely pleased with himself.
“But what happens now?” Mrs. Bates asked. “With Thornton, I mean. What if he finds out Elizabeth isn’t really dead? Or, heaven forbid, happens to see her in the street someday?”
“Thornton will soon be completely bankrupt,” the Old Man assured her. “Then he will be dunned by bill collectors—some of them real and some of them in my employ—who will drive him from the city. He’ll never dare return here again.”
Mrs. Bates rewarded him with a beatific smile. “How very clever.”
“Why, thank you, dear lady.” The Old Man looked genuinely touched.
“Oh my, I’m afraid we’ve completely forgotten about supper in all the excitement,” Mrs. Bates said quickly, as if to fill an awkward silence. “Elizabeth has dismissed our servants for the evening, but I’m sure I can find something in the kitchen, even if it’s just sandwiches. Would you stay and eat with us, Gen . . . uh, I mean Mr. Sterling?”
“It’s Miles, actually, and I’d be delighted.”
“I’ll help you, Mrs. Bates,” Anna said, giving Elizabeth a wink.
“And so will I,” the Old Man said. “I’ve learned a thing or two about the kitchen in my years as a bachelor.” He gave Gideon a wink as he followed the two women out.
Gideon turned to her. “You’re not really leaving, are you?”
“I think I’d better,” she said with a grin. “I don’t think I can be trusted to resist temptation if you’re close.”
He sighed. “Then you’d better break your engagement with David tomorrow so we can set a wedding date.”
“Of course. And we can get married right away. I won’t even need to have a trousseau made, with all those clothes I got in Washington.”
“What? Do you mean those clothes weren’t yours?”
“Of course not. I told you I’d never even stayed in that hotel.”
“You mean you . . . stole them?”
“Stole” was such an ugly word. “I got them from a very unpleasant woman who was being rude to the bellboy, which is why he carried them out for me. I’m sure her husband replaced them immediately, though. He looked quite rich.”
“Are you going to keep them?”
This time she sighed. “This is what I was afraid of. You’re already trying to save me.”
He raised his hands in surrender. “No, I’m not. I won’t say another word about it.”
But he’d always know she’d stolen the clothes, and so would she. For some reason, and for the very first time in her life, the thought made her uncomfortable. “I’ll send them back. There was an address in the trunks. It’ll be a good excuse to get all new clothes anyway.”
“You don’t have to,” he said. “I really won’t—”
“I know, but I will. I want to start a new life with you, Gideon, and show you I can be a little bit good at least.” Although she definitely wouldn’t tell him where the money came from.
For some reason, he didn’t look pleased, though. “I hope this doesn’t mean you’re going to be boring.”
She laughed at that. “I promise I will never be boring. I will be the most interesting woman you’ve ever met.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Like many women, I was only vaguely aware of the story of the “suffragettes,” and I had no idea what they had suffered to win women the vote. When I started reading more about it, I realized that, when my own mother was born, women weren’t allowed to vote! Somehow understanding how recently this had occurred brought the issue home to me in a new way, and I wanted to tell their story.
Elizabeth’s experiences with the suffragists are based on the true story of the women who demonstrated in front of the White House every day during 1917. They were indeed arrested on November 13 and sentenced to the Occoquan Workhouse. Everything I describe actually happened, including the awful events of their arrival at the workhouse, which became known as the Night of Terror. I condensed some of the events for dramatic purposes, but many of the individuals Elizabeth meets there were real people. The women did stage a hunger strike and were force-fed as I describe. Mr. O’Brien and others did spend days trying to locate a deputy to serve the writ on Warden Whittaker, but without the help of Oscar Thornton, I’m afraid. The deputies had really been instructed to hide, so no one was available to serve the writ. The courtroom scenes I describe really happened, and the women did refuse bail for the same reason I have Gideon explain to Elizabeth. In reality, they were transferred to the D.C. jail for a few more days until they were released because the jail could not accommodate so many women on hunger strike. Although the House of Representatives passed a suffrage amendment a month after this book ends, in January 1918, it would be almost two years before it passed both houses of Congress and yet another year until the amendment was ratified by enough states, in August 1919, and became law.
The con that Elizabeth and Jake run on Oscar Thornton is a classic “big con” and is known as the rag. Elaborate cons like this fell out of fashion by the middle of the twentieth century, although con men continue to create new ways to swindle the public.
Please let me know how you liked this book. You may follow me on Facebook at Victoria.Thompson.Author and on Twitter @gaslightvt and visit my website at victoriathompson.com to sign up for my newsletter.
Readers Guide for
CITY OF LIES
Discussion Questions
Throughout the course of the novel, Elizabeth learns a great deal about herself and who she really is. Have you had experiences in your life that have changed the way you think about yourself?
The women Elizabeth encounter are marching for the right to vote. Have you ever felt strongly enough about something to join a protest? What methods did you use to engage others in your cause?
Elizabeth and her friends’ experiences following their arrest at the White House are based in fact. Did their experiences change your impression of the women’s suffrage movement? Were you familiar with the Night of Terror and the hunger strikes the women endured as they fought for the right to vote?
At times Elizabeth must deceive her friends as she navigates her new life. Do you agree with the choices she makes in regards to Anna and Mrs. Bates? Have you ever had to lie to people you care about out of necessity?
Elizabeth’s new found suffragist friends create strong bonds while they are in prison. Do you think they would have become so close under different circumstances? How did their shared experiences strengthen the ties that formed between them?
When we meet Elizabeth, she is running an elaborate con on a cut-throat entrepreneur and takes on a different identity. Do you feel you play certain roles in your everyday life? How does your personality differ when you are at work, with friends, or with famil
y?
Gideon and Elizabeth deal with several obstacles as they get to know one another. How did you feel as they were facing these challenges? Did any of them seem insurmountable to you? What kinds of challenges have you had to face when pursuing a friendship or relationship?
Gideon has a strong moral compass. Do you feel he was sometimes a bit too inflexible or was he right on the mark? Do you think that honesty really is the only policy or do certain situations call for a measure of duplicity?
Thornton is a particularly odious villain, a brutal man with little or no conscience. What are his motivations? What seems to be important to him? Do you ever see him as a victim? Do you think he sees himself that way?
Elizabeth isn’t the only character who transforms throughout the course of the novel. In what ways does Anna evolve? Do you feel her family is accepting of her journey? What do you think are the defining moments of her friendship with Elizabeth?
About the Author
Victoria Thompson is the Edgar® and Agatha award-nominated author of the Gaslight Mysteries and twenty additional historical novels. She lives in Illinois with her family and a very spoiled little dog.
Visit her online at victoriathompson.com and facebook.com/Victoria.Thompson.Author.
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