Quicksilver Passion (108 page)

More than anything, she needs a companion. I’m mostly busy with running the Palace and don’t have time for her.”

Mothers who care can always take the time,” Silver said without thinking.

The Duchess glared at her coldly.
Let’s get one thing straight, Miss Jones. I love my daughter because she is all I have to remember of the great love of my life. I’m not the motherly type. Besides, business is very competitive and Big Ed Chase and his saloon, the Arcadia are my biggest competition in every way. He thinks he can run me out because I’m a woman.”

It is hard to survive in a man’s world, isn’t it?”

Especially in my case,” the Duchess said.
I know what they whisper behind my back, but I assure you I’m of the Spanish nobility. I came here during the first boom days of late fall of ’58 with two hundred and fifty dollars, and I opened the Palace.”

Silver thought the Duchess had the hardest eyes she had ever seen. Here was a woman who would let nothing stop her from getting what she wanted.
You seem to have been very successful.”

The other woman played with her rings.
I’ve struggled and fought my way to the top, no matter what I had to do to get there. My daughter will be able to move up and do and be what I never could. Someday Waanibe will move in the best circles if she’s properly trained and my hard-earned money will see that she gets there!”

I’ll do the very best I can.” Silver suddenly felt very sorry for the little girl. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about the hard, ambitious mother. She reminded Silver a little of her own mother, reliving her own dreams through a child.

I believe you would.” The Duchess looked at her a long moment, turning her expensive rings over and over on her brown fingers.
If you would like the job, it’s yours. The salary is twice what I’m told I should expect to pay a governess and you have a very nice room down the hall from the nursery.”

Silver hesitated. She didn’t want to worry about some drunken cowboy or soldier coming along the upstairs hall, mistaking her for one of the whores.
Are the girls on that wing?”

The Duchess glared at her.
Of course not! I don’t want my daughter associated with them. That’s why as soon as she’s old enough, I’m going to send her away to school. But of course, if the war continues for many years, that may be a problem. The girls are on the opposite end of the hall. My daughter thinks they are just dancers and entertainers, which in a sense, they are.” She smiled thinly as she stood up.
Now would you like to meet your new charge?”