"After I gave you a wonderful job -- gave it to you despite no experience as a housemother, I might add, because Mr. McKee gave you such a sterling recommendation -- I find it practically impossible to credit your behavior."
Violet was unable to open her mouth to protest or ask for an explanation before Miss Settle continued.
"I was never easy over that business with Mr. Randolph."
"It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't ordered me not to post a quarantine sign."
But the truth clearly wasn't going to sway Miss Settle from the course she had decided to take.
"I didn't want to believe the things Clara Rabin told me about you. I know her daughter is jealous of the Randolph twins. But I had no choice when you started shirking your duties," Miss Settle continued.
"When did I do that?" Violet asked, shocked at such an accusation after she'd worked so hard.
"Time and time again I was forced to find someone to do your work while you were off chasing Mr. Randolph."
"I never chased him."
"You went to his house, his office, his sister-in-law's home. You even talked the twins' mother into arranging this rodeo so you could see more of him."
"She asked me to--"
"Then you ran off," Miss Settle interrupted, "and spent the whole evening waiting for Mrs. Randolph's baby, like you were a member of the family."
"Madison asked me to help. He said he'd talk to you."
"See. There you go. That's exactly what I mean, referring to your betters by their first names."
"When you're surrounded by five men and four women, all named Randolph, you have to use first names."
"Then there's your shameless behavior at the ball."
Violet didn't know why she asked. It wasn't going to make any difference, but she couldn't stop herself. "What shameless behavior?"
"Don't think you're going to slip anything by me. Clara Rabin told me all about how you threw yourself at every man there. She also told me about your inexcusably rude behavior when she tried to hint, ever so gently, that you might not be making the kind of impression that would reflect favorably on the school. Then there is the matter of your not coming in until the morning after the ball."
"Would you like to know where I spent the night and why?"
"Clara Rabin gave me sufficient information to guess."
Violet took deep breath. "I don't expect you to believe me, but Clara Rabin is a liar. She has spent the last weeks spreading rumors about me. I don't know why. She can't possibly think I can do anything to harm her."
"Mrs. Rabin is a leader of Denver society," Miss Settle announced, red anger spots flaming her in powder-white cheeks. "She doesn't like seeing people attempt to climb above their station."
Violet was getting very angry. She was sick and tired of being blamed for everything that happened. "Everybody in Denver society is above their station. They were nothing but dirt farmers, shopkeepers, and grubby miners until they got rich on gold. They're lucky people like the Randolphs even talk to them."
"Miss Goodwin! I will not have you--"
Violet lost her temper. "Save your breath. Now that I see the kind of person you are, the kind of person you admire, I wouldn't stay here if you doubled my salary. But allow me to give you a piece of advice. I wouldn't tie my star too closely to the Rabins. There are quite a few people in Denver who have a very poor opinion of them."
Miss Settle rose from her chair, swelling like a puff toad. "How dare you presume to give me advice. Miss Nicholson, I want you to bear witness to her presumption."
"There's no need for anybody to bear witness to anything," Violet said, her temper once again under control. "I will see to it that our paths never cross again. Now I would like my full wages."
"You will get what I decide to give you. Under the circumstances--"
"Under the circumstances, you have broken the contract. If necessary, the Randolphs will bear witness to the fact that you approved my absences. The rest of your reasons are pure spite. They would not stand up in court."
"You wouldn't dare sue."
"Deny me my wages, and you'll have a suit on your desk before noon tomorrow. When I finish, this school will be a thing of the past."
"What can you say?"
Violet couldn't help but smirk. She knew she shouldn't, but she couldn't resist. "You and Clara Rabin have made things up. So can I."
Miss Settle glared at Violet, as though trying to weigh her determination. "You wouldn't dare."
"If you believe I have any influence over Harvey McKee, believe I'll hire him to handle my case. If you believe I have any influence over Jeff Randolph, believe I'll call upon his family to back every statement I make."
Miss Settle looked aghast, but she also looked uncertain. Violet knew she had never gotten over Harvey insisting she be the one to take Miss Settle's place.
"See that she's paid, Miss Nicholson. Immediately. I want her off the grounds within the hour."
Chapter Twenty-four
"She's not here," Beth said.
"When do you expect her back?" Jeff asked. He had stayed away for three days, but he couldn't stand it any longer. Violet may not want to see him, but he had to see her. He couldn't sleep, eat, or work. His life was falling apart, and all because of a copper-headed sorceress from New England.
"She's not coming back."
"What do you mean?" Jeff asked.
"Miss Settle fired her. She's gone."
Jeff was dazed. He hadn't anticipated anything like this. He was caught between anger at Miss Settle and worry over Violet. "When did she leave?"
"The day after the ball."
She had been gone for a whole day, and he hadn't known it. He could have kicked himself. She didn't have any money, anywhere to go. She might have gone back to Massachusetts. Jolted by shock and anger, he stormed out of the building, along the path, and into the main building. Classes must have been changing. Young girls seemed to be everywhere, all hurrying in different directions.
"Where's Miss Settle's office?" he demanded of one.
"There," the girl said, pointing to a closed door at the back of the hall before dashing away. Jeff burst into the office without knocking. He strode past an open-mouthed secretary. He flung open the inner door to find Clara Rabin and Miss Settle in deep conversation. They broke off abruptly.
Ignoring Clara, he walked up to Miss Settle's desk, planting himself right in front of her. "Where's Violet Goodwin, and why the hell did you fire her?"
Miss Settle stared at him, her mouth open. Clara recovered more quickly, the glitter in her eyes belying the smile on her lips.
"I can't believe you're interested in the whereabouts of an ordinary housemother," she said, her smiled arched and false. "Not after the way she turned her back on you at the ball."
"Get out, Clara," Jeff growled. "I came to talk to Miss Settle, not listen to your poison."
"I was here first," Clara said. "I don't intend to leave until I'm done."
"You'll walk or I'll drag you, but you'll leave now."
"Mr. Randolph!" Miss Settle exclaimed, half rising from her chair, "you can't come in here and--"
"Sit down!" Jeff roared. He slammed his open palm on the desk to punctuate his command.
Miss Settle sat.
"Get out, Clara," Jeff repeated. "And if I find you had anything to do with this, you'll have a lot more to worry about than an unfinished conversation."
Clara Rabin glared at him, hatred in her eyes, but Jeff saw fear as well. Just as he suspected. Clara had dipped her poisonous tongue into this.
"I'll be back to see you later, Eleanor," Clara said to Miss Settle in an attempt to exit with as much grace as possible. "Maybe we won't be interrupted then."
Jeff's gaze hurried Clara's departure. Then he turned his fury on Miss Settle. "Now," he said, bending forward over her desk until their faces were only inches apart, "I want to know why Miss Goodwin was fired."
"Her work was not satisfactory."
> "How?"
"On more than one occasion she failed to attend to her responsibilities."
"When?"
"S-several times."
"When?" Jeff snapped, the open palm slapping the desk once again.
"She didn't return with the twins."
"My brother's wife went into premature labor. As the only nurse present, surely you would have expected Violet to do anything she could to help."
"But she didn't come back."
"She had to help with the operation. The doctor said she was the only one who knew enough."
Miss Settle's smile was brittle. "I'm sure there are many others who--"
Jeff's gaze narrowed. "Do I understand you to be setting your medical opinion against that of an expert brought in all the way from Boston?"
"N-no," Miss Settle stammered.
"When else?"
"There were several other times," Miss settle said vaguely.
"I assume you don't mean the time she spent two days in the hotel after being locked up with those girls in quarantine, or the time my brother made special arrangements, or the times she accompanied my nieces to visit their aunt."
"That was quite a number of times."
"All approved by you. What else? There's got to be more."
Miss Settle looked very uncomfortable. "She didn't come back until the morning after the ball."
Jeff felt something inside him squeeze until it hurt. That had been eating at him for days, but wasn't going to let Miss Settle know it.
"Did you ask her where she had gone?"
"Certainly not. I don't--"
"So you condemned her without a shred of evidence."
"Clara said--"
"But you had no evidence."
"She didn't deny it," Miss Settle said.
"Would you have believed her if she had?"
He had doubted her, and he was in love with her. How could he expect more of Miss Settle?
"There has been some talk among the parents," Miss Settle managed to say. "Many of them are displeased with Miss Goodwin's behavior."
"In what way?"
"She's been encroaching above her station."
"Who says?"
"Several people."
"Name them!"
"Clara Rabin, for one," Miss Settle said, driven to the wall. "And Violet was extremely rude to me when I called her in."
"You pompous old fool! Don't you realize Clara Rabin is using you to get to me through Violet? She hates me. Betty Sue hates the twins. They've turned on Violet because they think she's helpless. You were the one who insisted she go to the ball even though she told you she didn't want to go. She can't help it if men would rather dance with a pretty woman those a pinched faced crone like Clara."
Miss Settle was white-faced with consternation. "Mrs. Rabin said--"
"Clara is a liar -- always has been -- and you're a fool to believe her. You're an even bigger fool if you think Clara will lift a finger to help you when you find yourself out of a job."
Miss Settle's complexion turned ashen. "What do you mean? You wouldn't dare--"
"If I find any harm has come to Violet, you'd better not be here when I get back. Now where is she?"
"I don't know. I don't concern myself with people who fail in their jobs. Nor do I provide references."
"You'd better hope the Board feels differently about you."
Miss Settle's courage collapsed like an undercooked souffle.
"Where does she live?" Jeff demanded.
"I told you, I don't know."
"Who does?"
"Miss Nicholson ought to have a record--"
Jeff left without waiting to hear the rest of her sentence. Clara Rabin waited outside the door, her chin tiled defiantly when she saw Jeff.
He approached her slowly, and Clara quailed before his rage. "You'd better hope nothing has happened to Violet," he said, his voice tight and rasping. "If she has suffered even the slightest mishap, I'm liable to ignore a lifetime's habit and do violence to a woman."
* * * * *
"She left most of her things in the attic," Beth told him. "She said she'd be back for them."
"Did she say where she was going?"
"No."
"Do you have any idea?"
"No."
"Is there anybody in town she might have gone to?"
"Not that I know of. She doesn't know anybody but that lawyer."
"What lawyer?"
"The one who took her to the ball."
* * * * *
"I have no idea where she went," Harvey told Jeff. "I haven't seen her since the night of the ball."
"The day after," Jeff corrected.
The space between the two men was charged with powerful emotional energy. The looks they exchanged were openly unfriendly.
"She saw your carriage pull up before the school," Harvey said. "She didn't want to see you. I took her where she wanted to go. I didn't see her again until the next day." Harvey waited, expectant. "Aren't you going to ask where she went?"
"No," Jeff said, tightly controlling his own doubts and stampeding curiosity. He would have faith in Violet. For once in his life, he wouldn't jump to a conclusion.
Harvey looked displeased with Jeff's answer.
"You realize she loves you, don't you?"
Jeff's heart leapt into this throat. "How would you know that?"
"She told me. After the brutal way you treated her, she had to talk to someone. We stopped to give her time to pull herself together. That's why you reached the school before we did. I did everything I could to cut you out, but she won't have me." Harvey gave a rueful smile. "I don't think it'll do you much good though. She swears she's never going to come within a thousand miles of you again."
Jeff wasn't pleased Violet had confided in Harvey, but he pushed his own pride aside. "I've got to find her, to explain."
"You'd do better to start by begging her forgiveness."
"Don't tell me what to do!"
"Somebody ought to. You can't seem to figure out even simple things by yourself."
Jeff struggled to hold his temper in check. It was pointless to get angry just because Harvey had spoken the truth. Besides, it wouldn't help him find Violet. "Do you know where she could have gone?"
"No."
"Does she know anybody else in town?"
"Not that I know of. She had an uncle who died before she reached Denver, but he wasn't married. I'm handling her claim on his mine."
"What mine?"
"The Little Johnny. He left it to Violet, but it's in dispute."
So that's where she hoped to get her money. Poor girl. She had no idea what a tangle things were in. Jeff got to his feet. "Then that's where she's gone?"
"To Leadville?" Harvey exclaimed. "Don't be crazy. I've told her she can't go there. It's probably the most dangerous town in Colorado right now."
"That's why I've got to leave immediately."
* * * * *
Leadville was a carbuncle on the virgin purity of the Rocky Mountains. Jeff entered from the south on the Denver and Rio Grand Railroad. The tracks paralleled the Arkansas River as it traveled toward its source a few miles north of Leadville. Thrown up overnight in a valley at the oxygen-sparse altitude of 10,152 feet, Leadville clung to the mineral-rich slopes of the Mosquito Range, their snow-clad peaks towering four thousand feet over the town. Across the valley, the even more impressive Sawatch Range had flung itself up against the sky, the peaks of Mount Massive and Mount Elbert the highest in Colorado.
About five miles below Leadville, the narrow valley of the Arkansas widened into a beautiful, grassy valley three miles wide and at least ten miles long. Seen against this pristine beauty, the flow of effluent from Leadville's mines was like puss from a suppurating wound.
The hillsides, stripped of their trees, lay exposed to the weather, their flanks pockmarked by what looked like huge prairie dog mounds, piles of waste, and hastily constructed buildings. Leadville's wide streets were mud
dy, choked with wagons and pedestrian traffic, seemingly all male, filthy, and exhausted. The streets were lined with wood-frame buildings, half of them saloons, advertizing anything that could be brought over the mountains by train, wagon, or on foot, for sale at prices several times higher than the same items would have brought in Denver.
Jeff went straight to the Clarenden Hotel, the newest hotel in Leadville. It didn't compare to anything in Denver, but a panoramic view of the ravaged mountainsides could be obtained from its upper windows. "My name is Jeff Randolph. I want to know if you have a Miss Violet Goodwin staying here."
The clerk stared at him like he had lost his mind.
"I have traveled all night," Jeff said in a dangerously quiet voice. "I'm tired, I'm dirty, and I'm out of patience. Answer my question!"
"I can't t-tell you t-that," the clerk stammered fearfully.
Jeff grasped the boy by the collar, pulled him across the desk, and deposited him on the floor. A second frightened clerk ran off, presumably to fetch the manager. Jeff spun the guest book around so he could read the names. Violet wasn't listed there.
"If a woman were to come into town, where would she be most likely to stay?" Jeff asked the clerk as he got to his feet.
Giving Jeff a wide berth, the clerk scrambled back behind the counter. He seemed tongue-tied.
"Speak up, man."
"There's no w-women in town," the clerk said, taking care to keep out of Jeff's reach. "Leastways, not the kind a man like you'd be interested in."
"If a woman I would be interested had come to town, where would she stay?" Jeff said, speaking to the boy slowly and distinctly.
"Nowheres. Every hotel, lodging house, and back room is full. We got people sleeping three to a bed in shifts. We can hardly get the sheets changed. There's people sleeping in the streets cause they can't find nowhere else."
Jeff felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He hoped Violet had found some kind of lodging. He couldn't bear to think of her having spent the night in the streets or in a communal bed.
"Give me a list of every place in town that lets rooms."
The clerk goggled at him. "You might as well ask for a list of every building in Leadville," he said, regarding Jeff as though he were crazy. "People rent anything they got, even sheds. It ain't safe on the street. People are getting killed all the time."
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