Arizona Gold
Page 33
“Such as the name of my travelling companion?” Thea asked. And if it’s some dried-up old duenna, you can put me and my luggage off the train right here and now, she added to herself.
“Yes.” There was a subdued chuckle. “A good way of putting it. Travelling companion. You have the same way with words as you do with decorating, my dear.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
“Although I cannot name a name as yet, I can tell you that your…helpmeet will be male.”
Thea wasn’t sure if it was the train that lurched suddenly or her heart. Was she crazy? Were they all crazy? What was she doing here anyway? The very idea. Run on down to Mexico like a good girl, Thea, and eavesdrop in the German Embassy. And, oh, by the way, we’re pairing you off with a man, only we can’t tell you his name yet. Would Ida Tarbell love to get her hands on this!
But through her rush of disbelief, anger and shock, whimsy was starting to poke its way to the surface and her natural curiosity was sparked. Young? Old? Dishonorable? Well-bred? What? Thea was a normal woman with a healthy regard toward men and she was intrigued by the mechanics of the male-female relationship. The natural distaste she’d felt at the thought of snooping on people—even if they were Germans—receded into the background.
“Well, Theodosia, we’ll be in St. Louis in another hour or two. Have you made your decision?”
“What happens to me when we reach St. Louis?” Thea knew she was being exasperating, but she liked things spelled out in black and white. Muddy philosophies and half-truths didn’t suit her and certainly didn’t belong on an assignment like this.
“You will be escorted off the train by Colonel Miles and taken to the Jefferson Hotel. Mrs. Miles is already there, and the three of you will have a few days to enjoy the Exposition and do some sightseeing and shopping. When word is received that everything in San Antonio has been finalized, you’ll be put on the Katy and Major Donovan will meet you at the other end. That will be your jumping-off spot.”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “From the Menger Hotel?”
“That will be your ultimate destination, but I think you’ll like the first stop, since it’s at the home of mutual friends of ours. My former supply officer from Cuba and his new bride,” Roosevelt said as Thea finally turned around, a smile lighting up her face and relief flooding her before he even said a name. The President allowed himself-a small sigh. “I’ll never understand why the son of a United States senator decided his aim in life was to found a woman’s specialty store in Texas.”
“But Morgan Browne has made a thriving success out of it,” she countered, “and five months ago he married Admiral Dalton’s daughter, Angela. If my stopover in San Antonio had meant I couldn’t see them, I would have told you to go find someone else for this job. You know what great pals Nela and I are, and I haven’t seen them since their wedding in San Francisco in April. You and Mrs. Roosevelt sent a wonderful telegram and a very handsome gift.”
“Does that tip the scales in our favor?”
“Why me, Mr. President? Why me?” She took a theatrical tone, meaning to be funny, but Theodore Roosevelt took her seriously.
“You’ve shown great discretion and tact in handling the other assignments you’ve had. The people you’ve helped avoid scandal and the ambassadors you’ve dealt with, speak well of you, and Admiral Dalton recommends you highly. I trust Bruce Dalton. His European intelligence reports have proved as invaluable to me as they were to my predecessors, and will no doubt be to my successors, and his past two years in China were fruitful beyond our original expectations.”
“Admiral Dalton and his new son-in-law are Democrats,” Thea reminded him, unable to resist a bit of fun. “So am I, for all the good it does. Do you mind?”
“That is why I trust all of you. You have nothing to kowtow for. My dear, Europe is a time-bomb ticking quietly away, and we need all the information we can get before the explosion occurs. The Kaiser is turning his beady eyes on us, and Panama, now that we’re going ahead with the canal. We’re certain he’d like to cause trouble for us, either in the canal area or along the Mexican-American border. Once you start moving in the Embassy set in Mexico City, any information you can pass on will help us.”
Thea reached behind her and grasped the ledge of the window with her hands, bracing her slim body against it. “I’ll do it,” she said recklessly. “It’s worth a try, and the worst 1 can do is come up empty-handed.”
The President looked at her, outlined against the window, the sun glinting on her hair. He thought for a minute of Saint Joan, ready to do battle, but immediately rejected the idea. This was a modern woman. The woman of 1904. Brave and forthright and ready to shoulder her own responsibility.
Thea moved away from the window, coming into the gloom again, her pale blue linen dress a pencil-slim streak of color. She held out her hand. “Shall we shake on it?”
Theodore Roosevelt took her hand and pumped it enthusiastically. “Bully,” he said heartily, a great smile breaking across his face. “Just bully.”
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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Arizona Gold
Copyright © 2014 by Maggie James
ISBN: 978-1-61921-848-2
Edited by Heather Osborn
Cover by Kim Killion
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Publication by Signet Books: August 2000
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2014
www.samhainpublishing.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
About the Author
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