When the shadow fell across the steaming teapot, she knew she had him. Now she only had to dispatch the criminal before dear Henry came for tea. It was a difficult job, but not above the exceptional skills of Mae Winslow, Woman of the West.
First, however, she must check on the cookies.
The ride back to Leadville was much less memorable. When Mr. Beck pulled the buggy to a halt in front of the Clarendon, Gennie felt as if she"d walked up the mountain and back, rather than ridden.
Leaning on Mr. Beck"s arm, Gennie allowed him to help her inside and seat her at a table in the dining room he"d chosen for them. A uniformed waiter soon brought a gla.s.s of water.
"No, thank you," Gennie said, resting her elbows on the table. As she cradled her chin to keep her head up, she had the absurd thought that Mama would be horrified that she"d committed yet another breach of manners.
"Drink it," Daniel countered in a surprisingly no-nonsense tone. "You"ll feel better."
A beautiful young woman with stunning eyes and exquisite taste in clothing moved toward them through the maze of tables. She leaned toward Mr. Beck with what Gennie recognized as the practiced air of a coquette.
"You get her drunk too early in the evening, Danny Boy?"
"Mind your manners," he said with a chuckle that jolted Gennie wide awake. "It"s alt.i.tude sickness."
"Isn"t that funny?" The powdered and pampered female helped herself to the seat next to Mr. Beck, then leaned toward him, her expensive fur-a ludicrous garment to wear in July-slipping to reveal a nearly bare shoulder. "I thought she might have Daniel Beck disease. All the bad girls get it."
"Behave." One word, yet Gennie couldn"t decide if it was a dare or a demand.
"Me? Misbehave?" The woman offered Mr. Beck a dazzling smile, then b.u.mped shoulders with him. "Not in public."
"That"s enough, Mrs. Doe."
"Call me Baby," she said.
Baby? Of all the nerve. What sort of man flirted with a beautiful woman in front of his...
His daughter"s governess. That"s all she was, and all she should be.
After all, she had a perfectly suitable and reliable banker awaiting her return. Likely he"d already made a trip to Tiffany and Company for a diamond solitaire in that new style that was all the rage.
Except that when she looked at Mr. Beck, she forgot all about aqua-colored boxes and glittering diamonds. For the first time since stepping onto Colorado soil, Gennie wondered if Daniel Beck just might be her Wild West adventure.
She tried not to frown, but exhaustion kept her from succeeding.
"Look there," the woman said in a singsong voice. "Your girl"s waking up."
"I"m not his girl," Gennie said as she attempted to stand. She got four steps from the table before returning to land in her chair once more. "I just don"t feel so well." She looked at the beautiful woman, beyond caring about propriety. "You can have him, you know. I"m just the governess."
The woman"s attention darted to the lone male at the table, who seemed aggravatingly smug at the jousting going on between the females. "What are you smiling at, Daniel Beck? Are you going to let this woman continue to believe she"s just the governess?"
Mr. Beck"s smile disappeared, and he suddenly looked as if he might bolt and run at any moment. Meanwhile, Gennie wished she could.
"Don"t worry, Governess. I don"t want your man." She rose with a wink. "I"ve already got one. I would love to get to know you better. You look like you"d be a lot of fun." She paused. "Well, after you kick this alt.i.tude sickness, that is."
Gennie managed a smile. Maybe this woman wasn"t so bad, after all. "I"m Gennie," she said. "Gennie Cooper."
"Pleased to meet you, Gennie Cooper." The woman leaned over to shake her hand. "My friends call me Baby. Baby Doe. It"s been a pleasure, Gennie. Danny Boy."
Taking a sip of water, Gennie watched Baby Doe glide from the room. Mr. Beck, however, was watching Gennie.
"I"m fine," she said.
He offered a weak smile. "I don"t suppose the two of us will ever manage a picnic."
"We don"t have much luck at that, do we?"
His expression grew serious. "It"s probably for the best. I"m not certain being alone with you is a good idea." Before Gennie could comment, he continued. "Look, I must confess the real purpose for taking that buggy ride today was not to have a picnic." He paused. "I"ve spoken to Ira Stegman."
Another sip of water, and Gennie began to feel closer to normal. "Oh?" She set the gla.s.s down. "Why?"
"He thinks this whole thing will blow over if you promise never to return to Leadville."
"Never? That"s so"-she paused-"permanent."
Mr. Beck shrugged. "I doubt they"d enforce it after a few years if you decided to come back for a visit."
Gennie tried to imagine returning to Leadville with Chandler, but the image wouldn"t come.
"No," she said, "I don"t think that would be much of a hardship. How and to whom do I make this promise?"
He looked a bit sheepish. "There"s more."
"More?" She gave him a sideways look. "How much more?"
"Ira seems to think that if you admit you staged everything to try and trap me..." He froze. "No, I"ll not have a woman take the fall for me."
He pushed away from the table and stalked out of the dining room. Still somewhat unsteady on her feet, Gennie nonetheless managed to catch up to him before he reached the street. "Where are you going?"
" To call a meeting of the Greater Leadville Beautification and Improvement Society." He stopped on the sidewalk to shake his head. "No, wait."
"What?"
"I"m not going to dignify their petty complaints. Until we get on that train back to Denver, it"s business as usual." He started walking again and glanced at her over his shoulder. "If you need me, I"ll be at the mine office."
Gennie watched him for a moment, then turned to go back inside. She"d almost made it to the lobby stairs when someone called her name. Turning, she saw a group of women waiting near the door, and her heart sank. The only one she recognized was Mary Stegman.
"Might we have a moment of your time, Miss Cooper?" Mrs. Stegman said. "We"d like to speak to you regarding last night"s incident."
Squaring her shoulders, Gennie exhaled slowly. "Anything you want to say to me, you can say here."
Another woman stepped forward. "I don"t think you want us to do that, dear." She gave the lobby a cursory glance. "What with the Clarendon being such a busy place."
"All right, then," Gennie said. "I"ll invite you upstairs, but I warn you I"ve charge of a ten-year-old girl. I don"t want her to overhear something she doesn"t need to know about."
"I"d say it"s too late for that," a woman in a blue dress said. Several others snickered.
Without bothering to respond, Gennie led the women upstairs. The group stepped into the hotel room she shared with Charlotte, and Sam quickly slipped out.
As soon as Charlotte had been given a book to read, Gennie addressed the group. "I"m willing to listen," she said, "but please understand I am just the governess."
And only a temporary one, at that.
"Then I"ll get right to the point," Mary Stegman said. "If Daniel Beck doesn"t do right by you, then we"ve got a serious problem in Leadville."
"Mrs. Stegman," Gennie said carefully, "any action Mr. Beck does or does not take will hardly affect the city of Leadville." She stopped to turn her attention to each of the women in turn before continuing. "I am his employee, nothing more. I"m certainly not looking to capture him for a husband." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Charlotte take notice. "If you"ll excuse me, I"d like to get back to doing my job."
"I"m not satisfied that this has been handled properly," said a woman in a green summer frock and matching hat. "I saw her walk inside looking faint. How do we know she"s not, well, you know you know?"
Gennie recoiled in horror at the woman"s insinuations. "I demand an apology," she said. "You"re not only making an unsubstantiated accusation, but you are doing so in a public forum. Were I back home in New York, you would certainly be hearing from my lawyers."
A twitter of laughter rippled across the well-dressed crowd.
"You know what you are?" Gennie continued, her anger building. "You"re a bunch of bullies. Neither Daniel nor I have done anything wrong, unless perhaps you would fault us both for caring for Charlotte too much."
""Daniel," is it?" someone toward the back said.
"Of course she"s on a first-name basis with the man," another said. "After all, they"re-"
"Hush now," Mrs. Stegman said, "and mind there"s an innocent child present."
Having heard her name, Charlotte set the book aside and came to stand by Gennie. "Is Papa in trouble?"
Gennie gathered the girl into her arms. "No. Your papa"s a good man who is doing the right thing."
"Why don"t we let him decide that." Mrs. Stegman said.
"Decide what?" Gennie asked.
"Let him decide if he will do the right thing." The older woman"s eyes narrowed. "Is there a reason you wouldn"t want to come with us to pay a visit to Mr. Beck and settle this once and for all?"
"If it will end this silly situation, then yes, I"ll come." She squeezed Charlotte"s hand. "You stay and finish your book, and I"ll have Sam come back and stay with you."
In no time, Gennie found herself in a wagon with half a dozen smirking women. Along the way to the Beck mine, their party was joined by a handful of men, some of whom she recognized, who appeared even less happy to be in the parade than she.
By the time the wagon rolled to a stop in front of the mine, Gennie had begun to wonder whether agreeing to come here with them was a good idea after all.
"Uh-oh." Hiram looked out the window of the mine"s small front office, then back at Daniel. "I knew the women were on the warpath, but I didn"t expect they"d come all the way out here." He paused. "And they"ve got Miss Cooper with them."
"They do?" Daniel stalked to the window, then bit back the choice words he longed to say. "Well, it had to come to this, I suppose. Go and let them in."
Hiram barely managed to sidestep the stampede as the doors opened. Calico and cross looks seemed the order of the day, though Miss Cooper did her best to stand away from the crowd. That is, until Ira"s wife took her by the elbow and thrust her forward.
"Mr. Beck, I trust you know why we"ve come to see you today."
Daniel looked past the riled-up females to the five or six shamefaced men leaning against the back wall. "Ira, you letting your wife speak for you today?" he called.
"I reckon I"ll wait my turn," the other man responded.
"Fair enough." Daniel nodded to Mrs. Stegman. " To answer your question, ma"am, I figure I"m going to hear about it anyway, so why don"t you tell me why you"re here."
"I"m here because you"ve violated a sacred oath, Mr. Beck." Mrs. Stegman"s voice rose an octave as she said his name. "And as such I...no, we we demand you right this wrong and make this girl an honest woman." demand you right this wrong and make this girl an honest woman."
He allowed his gaze to slide across the crowd to collide with the blue eyes of the woman in question. "An honest woman?" Daniel pretended to think as he scratched his head. "Miss Cooper, what have you been telling these ladies about me?"
Before she could respond, Mary stepped between them and pointed her finger at Daniel. "Don"t you make light of these proceedings. You"ve a serious charge leveled against you, sir."
"A serious charge?" He shook his head. "Oh, my dear Mrs. Stegman. There"s been nothing serious about Eugenia Cooper since she moved into my home. Lest you think me wrong, ask her about her ultimatum to remove herself or my chicken." His chuckle was carefully scripted to punctuate the jest without causing offense.
It failed miserably.
A moment later, all six women were shouting at once. Only Gennie Cooper and the men kept their silence. The commotion continued until a shrill whistle pierced the air.
In an instant, silence reigned. Ira stepped to the front of the stunned crowd.
"Daniel, while I"m not saying the ladies don"t have a point, I will admit you"ve not shown me anything other than that you"re a good man." He studied his palms, then swung his attention back to Daniel. "You signed the same declaration we did," he continued, "and I thought you shared the same purpose we had in clearing Leadville of undesirables."
"Of course I do, Ira," Daniel said. "And in our conversation of yesterday afternoon we agreed this was an issue that had run its course and would be considered no longer. Am I mistaken in believing you"re satisfied with my explanation of the unfortunate series of events?"
Ira seemed to consider his statement. "All right, then. Ladies, I believe your work here is done."
"But it"s not done at all," Mrs. Stegman said. "It won"t be done until this man-"
"It"s my turn now," Ira said firmly. "And I"d appreciate it if you"d not interrupt." He turned to Daniel. "If you don"t mind, I"d like to consult with the rest of the committee and get back to you on what we think would be the best solution to this problem." He paused. "I would hate to see Beck Mines suffer for what appears to be a simply repaired situation."
"I beg your pardon?" For the first time since the females barged in, concern replaced Daniel"s irritation. "Ira, are you threatening me?"
Ira met his stare. "I don"t threaten, though I"ll tell you right now there"s a list of things you should be concerned about."
"Such as?"
"Such as the decency proclamation we all agreed to over at the opera house. I"m just as bound by it as you," he added. "Were I to partic.i.p.ate in any unsavory activities, my business could be taken, just like yours."
"Now see here. No one"s taking Beck Mines from me, so banish that thought from your heads."
Ira shook his head. "Daniel, I"m going to give you a chance here and now to explain yourself."
Daniel straightened his spine and narrowed his eyes. "Ira," he said slowly, "I am a man of honor. You know this." When Ira did not respond, Daniel began to get worried. "Ira?"
"Look," the other man continued, "we"ve said what we came to say. Now it"s up to you to do the right thing and clear this mess up once and for all."
"How can I do that?"
"You can start by formally answering to the committee for the charges against you, then pledging to correct them."