going well?
She unfolded the pages. “I won’t read you the whole letter, just the pertinent part.”
What did she mean by pertinent? “Please do go on.”
She read from the letter, “I left a considerable deposit at his hotel yesterday. Garth is leaving for Boston tomorrow with his own gold shipment, and has kindly offered to take mine, too.”
She dropped the pages to her lap and skewered him with a probing gaze. “Well, Mr. Morgan?”
Outrageous. He, the most honest and trustworthy of men, had just been accused of stealing by this audacious female. But he must stay calm. He’d learned long ago never to let his emotions show. Several moments went by before he trusted himself to speak in a reasonable manner. “Do you honestly think I kept your brother’s gold for myself?”
“I don’t know what to think.” With great precision, she folded the letter and tucked it back in her reticule. “I was hoping you’d come up with a reasonable answer but apparently not.”
How dare she? A curse, which he caught just in time, nearly fell from his mouth. “I did not steal from Charles, Miss Tinsley. That you would think so is not only insulting, it’s beyond my comprehension why you would make such a ridiculous accusation.”
She bit her lip, obviously uncomfortable but not the least deterred. “Among his possessions, I also found his diary. The last few pages had been ripped out. Why was that, do you suppose?”
“I have no idea.” He was close to shouting. He made an effort to calm himself, but his heart raced totally out of his control, and his face had heated and no doubt turned red. “Where is this diary you speak of?”
“I don’t have it with me, but if you care to pay us a visit, I’d be happy to show you.”
“Are you implying…? Do you honestly think I have something to do with Charles’s death?”
“No, I don’t, but the rest I’m not so sure about.”
He was beyond fury. All he wanted was to get this woman out of his library, out of his house. He stood, walked to the door, opened it wide, and glared across the room to where she sat. “Please leave. You and I have nothing further to discuss.”
Other than a slight flinch of surprise, she gave no indication of distress. With great deliberation, she picked up her reticule. As she arose from the armchair, her skirt raised enough to reveal small feet shod in blue satin slippers and shapely ankles above. Taking her time, she crossed the library to the door and looked up at him. “I’m sorry I’ve made you angry. I didn’t come here to accuse you. I came hoping you could give me a reasonable explanation as to what happened to the gold Charles said he gave you for safekeeping. Obviously you cannot, so what am I to believe?”
“Good day, Miss Tinsley.” Get out of my house, Miss Tinsley. He caught a whiff of lavender as she exited with her shoulders back and nose in the air. When he heard the front door close, he headed for his desk where he flopped in his chair and tried to bring his breathing back to normal. My God. Never had he been accused of such dishonesty. If a man had made such an accusation, he would have been bodily tossed out on the street.
For a long while, he sat quietly, waiting for his pulse to return to normal. Was that a lingering whiff of lavender he smelled? Must be his imagination. Those trim ankles…that line of tiny buttons curving over her bosom…
For God’s sake, forget about that awful woman and get on with your day.
* * * *
That night at dinner, Letty made a pretense of eating, but her anger at Garth Morgan had killed her appetite, and she could hardly manage a bite. She didn’t want to talk about it, but her family was full of questions.
“Why was Mr. Morgan so rude?” Millicent asked. “Were you not being polite?”
“I was the very soul of politeness, as well as fair and reasonable, but he just wouldn’t listen and threw me out.”
Mother clucked with sympathy. “How absolutely dreadful. Do you really think he took Charles’s gold?”
Letty nodded emphatically. “Of course he did. Why else wouldn’t he allow a reasonable discussion?”
Her little brother had been listening with rapt attention. “Were you hurt when he threw you out? Did you land on your head?”
She had to smile. “He didn’t literally throw me out, William. That’s a figure of speech. He demanded that I leave, though, and that’s just as bad.”
“What does he look like?” Millicent asked. “I picture him as fat and bald with thin lips and beady, mean little eyes.”
“Not exactly.”
Her family needn’t know how her heart had taken a little leap that first moment when she walked into the library and laid eyes on Garth Morgan. What a gorgeous man. Tall, with a powerful build, he had great wide shoulders and dark hair that curled carelessly around his collar. He had straight, white teeth that contrasted with his olive skin, and eyes of the deepest sky blue. As if that weren’t enough, when he smiled, two captivating dimples appeared in his cheeks. Altogether, he was just so handsome, so strongly masculine that she had been nearly overwhelmed and had to steady herself before she could open her mouth to speak to him.
“Actually, he’s not so bad looking, but what do looks matter? The man is arrogant, conceited, and heartless.”
“Pretty is as pretty does,” her mother said, dipping into her vast collection of pithy sayings. With a furrowed brow she continued, “I don’t know, Letty. It’s all so hopeless, really. We can’t make Garth Morgan give the gold back. If that map Charles sent us is accurate, a fortune awaits us, but it’s three thousand miles away, and we have no way of getting there. That’s the sad part. We have no man to help us, so we’re totally powerless.”
Letty secretly bristled as she always did when confronted with the limits of her gender. Born with a streak of independence, she preferred to think she could manage her own affairs quite nicely, without the help of a man. “I suppose you’re right, Mother. There’s nothing we can do.”
“Are we going to be poor now?” William asked.
“Maybe a little, but don’t worry. We won’t be so poor that you’ll have to give up your school.” Letty made herself sound more positive than she felt. Mr. Winslow had said they’d have to cut back “a little.” Such a kind man, no doubt trying to break the news gently that the Tinsleys would soon be poverty-stricken.
William’s bright eyes gazed into hers. “Why don’t you go to California?”
Everyone laughed, including Molly, the maid, who was serving dinner. Even surly Elfreda, who’d just come from the kitchen, had a smirk on her face. Only Letty refrained from laughter. The idea wasn’t all that funny. “Why do you say that, William? Don’t you know I’m only a woman?”
“That has nothing to do with it,” her brother stoutly declared. “You’re strong and as smart as any man. I think if anyone can find out what happened to Charles, you could. You’ve got that map. After you find out about Charles, you could look for the gold. You would find heaps and heaps of it. Then we’d be
