The Letter (10 page)

Would it be so bad to take what she wanted, just this once? Would it be so detestable to be intimate with a man who thrilled her with nothing more than a glance?

She had never once understood what the preacher was talking about in his Sunday sermons when he spoke of sins of the flesh. Now, she understood those carnal transgressions with complete clarity. Desire and temptation surely did make one’s will very weak.

But even knowing it was an immoral iniquity, she was going to consider his offer.

The questions was, how long would he wait for an answer? She touched one of the delicate rose buds. He didn’t seem a patient man.

Later that morning dressed in her remaining clean, lavender calico dress topped with her straw hat, decorated with a matching violet bow, for a day of thinking and sightseeing, she went down to the front desk to find a telegram from Mandy.

Got Money. Stop.

So wonderful. Stop.

Just in time. No food in house. Stop.

Enough for so much. Stop.

So wonderful. Stop.

Miss you. Stop.

Oh sweet Mandy! She could almost see her sister’s beautiful, shining face. Bittersweet tears formed and overflowed down her cheeks.

They had done without for so long, yet Mandy never complained. And now, Mandy didn’t question why or how the money had arrived, accepting the vague reasons that accompanied the wire. Victoria re-read Mandy’s telegram several times to glean and savor the obvious joy that reached out and clutched her from the flat page.

Also contained in Mandy’s exuberant but guileless telegram was the stark realization that they would be well taken care of if Victoria made a deal with William.

As he knew it would.

Victoria folded the page and put it into her bag.

How could he use Mandy as an opprobrious persuasive weapon against her?

Unfortunately, his devious plan was incisive in compelling her. The Victoria Riley that left Fort Worth little more than a day ago would never consider the bold epicurean offer that she now contemplated with shocking ease.

Her weakness was him. He was a prince of sensual magic presiding over an enchanted kingdom called San Francisco. If she were home again, away from his carnal wizardry she would be her normal self. Right now, she would welcome Preacher Brown’s sententious preaching, because perhaps it would save her.

I must leave. If I leave right now, he and his lecherous propositions will not tempt me into this disgraceful fall! If I get right on that train….tonight….I can forget Worthington and all the ribald temptations he has put before me.

Her heart pounded the words through her veins….
I must run…I must run….I must run….as fast as I can…to save myself.

Victoria sprung from her chair, adrenaline pouring through her.

She jerked her valise from under the bed and plopped in on the chair. Heedlessly, she moved around the room in a frenzied dance, indiscriminately throwing her few belongings into the worn musty satchel that had belonged to her mother.

Within mere minutes, Victoria was madly bounding down the steps to the hotel lobby.

Stopping at the front desk, she hastily checked out of the hotel under the shocked and disapproving spectacles of the man who had checked her in when she arrived.

“
Leaving so soon?”

“
Yes, it is most urgent,” she said before hastily retreating.

Out on the street, the door puzzled attendant assisted her into the hotel carriage. She didn’t allow herself even a glance at William’s hulking bank building across the street. Still, she felt it looming and mocking her as the carriage pulled away under the lengthening shadow of a late evening sun. Closing her eyes she sat stiffly among her trembling limbs as she moved slowly through the streets toward the train station.

When she had been deposited at the train station, the sense of urgency consumed her as she approached the attendant seated behind the small window to turn in her voucher for the return trip.

“
I am sorry Miss Riley, the 6:00 p.m. train to Fort Worth is filled, gotta wait for the 12:00 midnight train.” The elderly man with sympathetic brown eyes told her from behind the window.

“
No, no. That can’t be right. I simply have to leave on the 6:00 p.m. train. I must leave
now
.”

“
I am sorry miss, filled up it is….not much I can do….but the next one is coming…in just a few hours.”

With no other option, Victoria turned from the window in frustration holding her 12:00 midnight ticket and willing herself to stay calm. She could wait and she would….she most certainly would wait for the midnight train. The urgency to leave this minute was a silly notion….born from her impetuous nature. What difference were a few hours after all? It was a simple matter of patience in waiting for the next train. Then she would get herself home and forget any of this had ever happened to her. She would figure something out regarding she and Mandy, surely she would.

Hours later, she still sat there. Trains came and went, but midnight was still a long way away while the thoughts of William surrounded her closely…his tempting offer echoing over and over in the silence of the train station.

***

“
You are afraid and you are running from me I think.”

Victoria jumped from her cramped and troubled slumber taken on the hard wooden seat to find William staring at her earnestly with those shimmering silver eyes.

“
No, no it isn’t that…it is just…” Victoria started, her face shading pink, unable to choke out a lie, but unwilling to admit the humiliating truth.

“
You just enjoy the scenery and comforts of a train station I gather? Yet, I cannot imagine it is more comfortable here than the hotel,” he said setting aside his crystal-handled walking stick etched with his initials.

“
Please…do not ask me to explain anything…I just want to go home.” She blinked the last bit of drowsiness from her eyes.

“
Can I sit with you for a while?” William asked in a low gentle voice his gloved hand moved to rest next to her thigh.

“
Of course, after all this is a public place.”

“
I am deeply saddened you have decided to leave and you were not even going to say goodbye.”

He was startlingly handsome in the bleak loneliness of the train station. His Burgundy wool frock coat and black John Bull hat made Victoria aware of her crumpled dress. She felt the disarray of her hair, but refused to touch it or even attempt adjustments under his assessing gaze.

“
How did you know I was here?” she asked, moving slightly away from him on the hard wooden bench.

“
I have my ways. But the better question is why you are running away in the middle of the night? Surely you realized that this was not necessary. You are free to go any time you wish.”

Victoria’s heart pounded hard. “Yes, I know, it was just...just that I...I suppose it was an impulse.”

“
I am deeply troubled to have caused you to flee from me rather than us discussing our options in a mature fashion.” His eyes penetrated her being.

Victoria stared at his silk gray vest contemplating her response. What to say? She
was
running. “My options are limited only to what you have framed for me so there is little to discuss.”

Her gaze skidded away from his chest past his pin striped pants to the floor. “Considering the situation, I think you might guess why I would want to go home,” she whispered.

“
What will you do when you get there?”

“
I haven’t really considered exactly what I will do when I get there.”

“
Perhaps I have pushed you too quickly. I thought you understood that you could take all the time you need to consider my offer.”

“
I don’t know what I think. This is just very difficult.”

“
I understand.”

“
No, you don’t. To you this is simple.”

“
Tell me what is complicated? Tell me what upsets you most and we will work out your worries together.”

Victoria blushed hot. Her eyes flashed into his and she shifted under his potent presence and gently spoken words. “For one thing, my mother and father would be completely and utterly disappointed in me if they knew that I was even considering such a thing.”

“
Yes, I can see that would be a concern. However, since neither of them is here to approve or disapprove, I don’t see why that is relevant.”

“
I would be dishonoring them…dishonoring their memory.”

“
No, Victoria, that is only in your mind. They are not here to be dishonored.”

Victoria’s breathing quickened under another hot blush. “Well I believe in the afterlife Mr. Worthington, as every good Christian should.

“
In the afterlife I doubt such petty things matter.”

“
What about my own honor in this life?”

“
You think spending time with me intimately would destroy your honor? That is an utterly limited way of thinking. You do not want marriage, you said so yourself, so you would forgo ever knowing a man then? You would never know what it is to be loved by a man just because of some silly sense of honor? What a terrible waste that would be, surely you can see that? What joy will you ever have in life? You will only work and take care of your sister until she marries?” His gently spoken words held a harsh reality that stroked her worst fears.

Victoria searched for words to argue with his stark lonely summary of her life, but before she could summon her points he took her hand into his. Even through both of their gloved hands she felt the spark of his touch.

“
Tell me you do not feel any desire for me at all.”

“
You are very arrogant and sure of yourself,” Victoria whispered while she looked nervously around the empty train station for witnesses to their scandalous conversation.

“
No, it is that you tell me every time I touch you. I feel the same, so why deny it?”

“
I don’t know, I am just confused, I think.”

“
It will be a time of adventure, of pleasure, a life free of worry and filled with beautiful things, experiences unlike anything you have imagined. When it is over, you will never have to worry about money again. The store will be yours and you will know what it is to find pleasure with a man. I am not so terrible am I Victoria?” He whispered thickly while he gently toyed with her fingers in a fashion that set her to shivers of reluctant delight.

She closed her eyes against his sparkling, compelling gaze and attempted to assemble her befuddled thoughts.

What William had suggested really was totally out of the question — unconscionable and absurd. Yet, not only did his proposition appear to be the best option, she truly did desire him.

Her chances, or desire, for marriage were absolutely zero. So, it wasn’t as if she were saving herself for marriage or any other man…especially now that she had met him.

As fate would so have it, at the ripe age of 25, she had met the only man she ever yearned to be with and probably already loved, if she was honest in her musings.

If she stayed with him now, she would have an opportunity to be with him, at least for a time. It would also be a time in her life free of worry, a time for excitement and adventure. She could be with the man of her dreams. When it was over, she could go home to the store and Mandy, taking her memories with her.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the store would be theirs. Making a deal with Worthington was the sensible course of action. She was a grown woman who could and would decide her own destiny.

Perhaps she was, in fact, using Worthington more than he would be using her.

Can I really do this?

“
I just do not know,” she said, opening her eyes to find him watching her closely.

“
I understand this is a very difficult decision, but perhaps you should think on it with a clear head and not decide on an impulse. Why not let me escort you back to the hotel and you can think on this after a good night’s sleep? What is one more day after all?”

He was Lucifer, surely he was.

“
Let me stay here for a while and think about it.”

“
Of course,” he said standing and donning his hat. “However, you not need to run away from me Victoria, I am a patient man and I would never force you.”

“
You could give me the store and forget that we ever met.”

His lids dropped sensually over his smoky eyes. “That, sweetheart is something I cannot do.” He picked up his walking stick and strolled out of the train station.

***

“
She did just like you said she would, a few hours later, she got up and went back to the hotel.” Jack Little, his private investigator said.

“
Did they give her the larger room and take care of the other gifts I sent?” William asked, quelling the unfamiliar pang of guilt that edged into his mind.

Little nodded. “Of course.”

“
Very good. Very good work.”