Kathleen Y'Barbo (33 page)

“Your father wishes a word with you,” he said, his expression unreadable.

“Thank you,” she said now, though it was a response made by habit rather than with any meaning.

Her appearance in the dining room went unnoticed for a moment, such was the intensity of the conversation between Father and the heiress. The topic completely slipped past Millie, though that was intentional. She absolutely did not care what either had to say. She remained in place a moment longer, determining that should she continue to be ignored by the occupants of the dining room, she would count that as her permission to leave.

“Mildred, darling!” Mrs. Ward-Wiggins exclaimed just then. “Do join us.”

Millie gathered her handbag closer and fixed her eyes on Mama’s silver coffee server on the sideboard. “Thank you, but I cannot. I am on my way out.”

“You look as if you haven’t slept at all, my dear. Is she always in such a hurry, Silas?” When he ignored the question in favor of an overlarge bite of scrambled eggs, she returned her attention to Millie. “Well, then. I will just share our good news and let you go on with your day. Your father has saved your reputation, Mildred,” she said with far too much enthusiasm for this early hour, “and you will want to thank him for it.”

Father continued to salt his eggs as if neither of them were in the room. One of the maids stood just beyond the door, her eyes downcast, though Millie knew for certain she would not miss a word that was spoken. Nor would those in the kitchen, who likely knew Millie hadn’t slept nor spent a moment longer in her room than it took her to exchange yesterday’s dress for today’s.

Millie returned her attention to Mrs. Ward-Wiggins. “Perhaps you can tell me all about it another time.”

“I will tell you now.” The ferocity of her statement must have surprised both of them, for it took a moment before she continued. “Had my darling Silas not handled the situation with the press, your disaster of a postponed wedding might have been...well, a disaster.”

She smiled at what she must have thought her cleverness and then snickered. Apparently she was waiting for Millie to offer a comment.

Only in the interest of a quick escape did she oblige. “I see,” was the best she could manage with Father now watching.

“So, its really just the most brilliant thing. I am in awe of the man, truly. Why, when he sets his mind to something, there is just no stopping him from—”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Freda,” Father interjected as his fork clattered to the table, leaving a yellow streak on Mama’s best Battenberg lace tablecloth. “I called in a favor. This morning’s paper will announce our wedding.”

“Your
wedding
?” Millie’s fingers clutched the strap of her handbag tighter. “Congratulations, but how does your marriage help my reputation?”

“Always the selfish one,” Father said. “Never did know how to think of anyone but her own precious—”

“Now, Silas,” the new Mrs. Cope said. “I think a bit more explanation is required.”

When he did not move to make that explanation, she leaned forward and held out her hand toward Millie. A ring that looked suspiciously like Sir William’s emerald engagement gift glittered under the electric lights.

“You and your Englishman provided just the diversion Silas and I needed to carry out our secret wedding without anyone noticing.” She smiled widely. “That’s what your father told the newspaperman. Is that not just the most clever thing?”

Millie shook her head and met her father’s eyes. “Do you really think people will believe that my engagement was to draw attention away from your marriage?”

“It is an unfortunate truth that people will believe what the newspaper tells them to believe. And that is what today’s edition will read. Freda and I wanted our privacy, and you and your young man were kind enough to provide it by pretending to plan a wedding. That, of course, would put off suspicion that Freda and I would marry. Your wedding to Sir William, however, will go on at a date to be named later. Or some such nonsense.”

Resisting the urge to comment on the likelihood she would ever wed anyone, much less the liar Trueck, Millie elected to remain silent. With a glance at the door, she decided it was time to go.

Her new stepmother rested bejeweled fingers on her father’s shoulder. “Oh, darling, do you think the newspaper has been delivered yet?” She turned her attention toward Millie. “Be a lamb and fetch it, would you?”

Any excuse to leave was a good one, Millie decided as she turned to hurry outside. Sure enough, the newspaper was waiting on the porch.

She stepped over it and kept walking.

Nineteen

January 22, 1889

Memphis

K
yle walked up to the front door of the Cope home and knocked as if he had not made his prior entrances by virtue of a third-floor window. When no one answered, he tried again.

Finally, an older fellow dressed in formal livery opened the door with an appraising glance and a bland greeting.

“Are you expected, sir?” he asked when Kyle had stated his business.

“No, but I’m certain Miss Cope will see me.”

The longer she kept him waiting, however, the less Kyle believed his statement. When the door to the parlor finally opened, he rose expectantly.

A woman dressed in servant attire and well past middle age greeted him with a smile. “I expect you were hoping to see Miss Millie,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “She isn’t home at present, so I wonder if I might help you.”

“You could tell me when she is expected.” He softened his expression. “It is of some importance that I speak to her as soon as possible.”

“I see. Shall I tell her that or is there another message you would like me to give her?” She paused a moment, and then asked, “Or are you leaving soon?”

“Actually, I am,” he said with no small measure of surprise. “Very soon. And no, that message will suffice.”

“And she doesn’t know this? That you are leaving, I mean.”

“Yes, she knows.” He thought for a moment and then said, “I would appreciate it very much if you would tell her that Kyle has changed his mind. She knows how to reach me and will understand what that means.”

“Changed your mind, have you? That might take Miss Millie by surprise, but it doesn’t surprise me a bit. I knew that would happen.”

He waited for her to elaborate and then decided she was just saying what she thought he wanted to hear. In his experience, servants had a penchant for that, especially ones who wanted to remain in the household and not cause any trouble. And from the looks of this one, she had been at the game for decades.

“You’re not going to ask me how I know?” She smiled. “I will tell you anyway.”

“All right,” he said with a chuckle. “Go ahead.”

“I knew you would be back here for Miss Millie just as soon as I saw you making off with that bundle little Bridget threw out the window last night.”

“You saw me?”

“I knew it was bound to happen. If you want to catch Miss Millie, I suggest you head downtown for that. She stepped out of here about an hour ago and wasn’t looking too happy, what with last night’s bonfire and then learning she had a new stepmama and all. She may not come back, that one. You just never know.”

So Silas Cope had married again. Lucas would need to add the new Mrs. Cope to his dossier.

“And whom did you say Mr. Cope married?”

“I didn’t.” She shook her head. “But she has already buried two other husbands. One a Ward and the other a Wiggins.”

“Thank you for that. You said Miss Cope was headed downtown, then?” he asked as he pressed past her. “Could you be more specific?”

“I could, yes, but I believe the Lord will handle the details. You just go on with your plans, son, and wait and see. There she’ll be.”

“You will tell her, then?” he said as he moved toward the door. “Time is of the essence.”

“You have my word, young man. And I wonder if there’s a reason you haven’t asked me about that Trueck fellow.”

Kyle stopped and turned around to face her. “All right. I am asking now. What do you know about him?”

“Just that he is not who he claims to be. Miss Millie, she figured out enough of it to tell him just what he could do with that engagement ring he never bothered to get fixed to fit her. Sitting on Mr. Silas’s new wife’s finger now, that emerald is.”

“And where is Sir William?”

“Don’t know, except that he hasn’t shown himself around here since Miss Millie broke off the engagement. Mr. Silas, he thinks that man hung the moon, so maybe you will find him up at the Cotton Exchange where Mr. Silas has his office, or he might be over to the warehouses since he and Mr. Silas have been doing business together.” She shrugged. “Other than that, I couldn’t say.”

“Thank you again,” he said as he turned back toward the door. “You have been a great help.

“Glad to do it.”

After a search of downtown Memphis turned up no sign of Millie, Kyle returned to the Peabody to report in to Lucas.

But his friend was out, forcing Kyle to leave a detailed message with the information he had gleaned from the woman in Silas Cope’s employ.

Back downstairs, he arranged to have his crates delivered to the steamboat
Virginia Anne
, and then he confirmed with the employee at the desk that no messages had been received. He was left to hope that the servant who assured him the Lord would handle the details knew what she was talking about. For right now the detail of getting Millie Cope onto the steamboat to New Orleans seemed impossible to resolve. But God had done the impossible more than once, and he was living proof of the fact.

“Just one more time, please,” he whispered as he gathered up his satchel and bid Memphis and the Peabody Hotel goodbye.

Millie walked into the Peabody as if she owned the place. It was something she had learned from Mama and, until today, had never once attempted.

Though she left her home with only her handbag, Millie had placed quite a large order of clothing with a favored dressmaker, taking what fit and putting the balance of the substantial cost on her father’s account. From there she went across Second Street to purchase two trunks to hold her clothing and then had them sent to the dressmaker to be packed and delivered to the Peabody.

Just to be sure, she took a sizeable draft from Father’s personal account at the Union & Planters Bank with the explanation that she would be traveling and in need of funds for the duration of her stay. By the time the news got back to her father, she hoped to be well on her way to New Orleans.

What she would do once she arrived there was a matter yet to be decided, though her intention was to go straight to the relatives Cook had only just told her existed. The thought excited and terrified her in equal measure.

Whether the home still stood on Royal Street or Mrs. Koch, the woman who was her last living link to Grandmother Cope, still lived, Millie had complete faith that her steps were being ordered by the Lord. Why else would He allow her to lose absolutely everything of value to her only to have hope returned?

She smiled. Indeed God was ordering her steps. If only He would give her just a little hint of where she was actually going. In the meantime, she had one last errand to do. One last goodbye she hoped was only temporary.