Tenacious Love (Banished Saga, Book Four): Banished Saga, Book Four (36 page)

* * *

Z
ylphia stood
on the promenade overlooking the Charles River, a warm May breeze hinting at summer ruffling her hair and jacket. She leaned forward, resting the top portion of her body against the metal railing. The scene from last night with Teddy played through her mind, but each time she edited it so that he was forced to listen to her. After a month of waiting, of hoping to see him, of a growing anger as each letter was returned unopened, a restless purpose filled her. Determined to remain inactive no longer, she turned for home on nearby Marlborough Street, with a plan forming. “If he refuses my letters, I’ll invade his lab,” she muttered to herself, the thought putting a small spring in her step for the first time since she had last left Teddy’s private study.

She arrived home, smiling at the eager welcome of their butler, Jimmy. She stopped at the small mound of mail on the front hallstand, picking up a few pieces addressed to her. She came to an abrupt halt when she saw Teddy’s distinctive, brusque handwriting.

After ascending the stairs, she entered her studio, closing the door behind her. She curled onto the red velvet chaise and ripped open the letter.

May 17, 1914

Miss McLeod,

Please forgive me for causing you any further distress by writing. I realize now, after your blunt refusal to envision a future with me and knowing that no consequences came from our foolish behavior, that I must move on. That any hope I held for you was a fantasy I had built from my own imaginings.

I fear you might feel uncomfortable, worrying we might pass each other on the street or meet at a ball at a mutual friend’s house. I would like to alleviate such a concern. Although I had planned to remain in Boston, working on my inventions, my grandfather is ill. By the time you read this, I will have sailed for England, with no plans to return until at least the fall.

I know you envision an independent life. One where you are free to determine what you want, moment by moment. Where you decide who and what you need. My hope is that you do not come to realize how lonely such a life can be.

I loved you. I love you still.

Theodore Goff

She reread the letter over and over, tears coursing down her cheeks. She traced the words telling her how he loved her, only stopping when she feared she’d smudge them. After carefully folding the letter, she rose, placing it in her keepsake rosewood box on a bookshelf corner. She returned to the chaise longue, curling on her side as she succumbed to tears.

“
Z
ee
!”

Zylphia swiveled, dropped her bag, turning to where she heard her name. She raised a hand, then bent to lift her bag again and rushed toward the crowd on the platform. “Jeremy,” she said, leaning into his embrace. “I can’t believe I’m finally here.”

“How was your journey?” he asked, taking her day bag before leading her toward the side of the railway station. He spoke with a porter for a moment, and then moved toward a horse and wagon. “I imagine you don’t mind stretching your legs after days on the train. If we wait a few minutes, they’ll bring out your trunks.” He nodded to the young woman trailing after Zee, and shared a rueful smile with Zylphia.

“You wouldn’t expect my father to allow me to travel alone?” She rolled her eyes. “She’s intended to be my maid, but I’ll find something else of use for her to do here.” She smiled as Jeremy laughed.

Zylphia arched her back as she stretched out her body, long cramped by her travels. She looked at the distant mountains and hills, shimmering a golden green as the recent heat burned off the spring’s moisture. “It’s beautiful here.”

“Yes, in its way,” Jeremy said. “It’s much smaller than what you’re used to in Boston.”

“How far away is Butte?” Zylphia asked.

Jeremy pointed toward a canyon in the direction she’d just arrived from. “About one hundred miles that way. I’m sure you passed through it on your way here.”

“I fell asleep for a good portion of the latter part of my journey and missed a few of the stops.” Zylphia smiled at the porter as he emerged with her two trunks and her maid’s trunk. After Jeremy and the porter loaded the trunks, Jeremy helped Zylphia and her maid climb into the horse-drawn wagon, and they began the short journey to his house.

“I thought you’d have an automobile by now,” Zylphia teased.

“We do, but it’s always breaking down or getting stuck in the muddied roads after a rain or the snowmelt. A horse is reliable.” Jeremy nodded to his left and a large brick building spanning half a city block. “That there’s the Merc. Anything you need, you can buy at the Merc, or they’ll find a way to have it shipped here for you.”

The wagon clattered over a bridge, and they crossed into a newer section of town. Jeremy turned left, then right, easing the wagon to a halt behind a large house with a wide wraparound porch, multiple gables and a large turret. “Who gets the turret room?” Zylphia asked.

Jeremy laughed. “Melly. She says it makes her feel like a princess.”

“I can see why. What a glorious house.” Zylphia accepted his help from the wagon and followed him inside. Her maid trailed behind her.

A shriek heralded their arrival, and a girl on the cusp of womanhood threw herself in Zylphia’s arms. “Zee! You’re finally here!” she proclaimed.

“Melly,” Zylphia murmured as she held her cousin close. “You’ve grown so much since I last saw you.”

“Come. I can’t wait to show you our house.” She grabbed Zylphia’s hand, intent on towing her from room to room. She stilled her movement at her father’s clearing of his throat.

“Let me see your mother first, and then I’d love a tour,” Zylphia soothed, running a hand over her blond curls. She looked behind her and smiled her welcome to her young companion, inviting her silently to join them.

Melly dragged Zylphia into an informal sitting room, filled with potted plants and comfortable furniture.

“Zee,” Savannah exclaimed, rising to hug her. “I’m thankful you’ve arrived safe and sound.” She noted the woman hovering in the doorway. “I beg your pardon. I’m Savannah McLeod, Zylphia’s cousin.” She reached her hand out to shake the young woman’s hand.

The woman bobbed a quick curtsy as she shook Savannah’s hand. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am. I’m Charlotte, Lottie, McGivens.”

Zylphia shared a long look with Savannah and turned away to roam the room. “My companion for my journey out here.”

“I’m to be a maid to Miss Zylphia,” Lottie said.

Savannah smothered a laugh as she beheld Zylphia’s disgruntled look. “I see. Why don’t you ask Jeremy to show you to a room so you can rest from your travels?” Lottie backed from the room, giving another half curtsy as she left. Savannah bit back a chuckle as Zylphia collapsed into a comfortable, tufted chair across from her. “Why must she curtsy me?”

“She thinks it’s proper to curtsy everyone.” Zylphia sighed and reached a hand out to Savannah. “Thank you for welcoming her.”

Savannah shrugged. “Please forgive me for not traveling to the station. Rissa and I had work to do this morning, canvassing for the vote, and we lost track of time.”

“How are Rissa and Gabe?” Zylphia asked, absently noting Jeremy passing by the sitting room door with one of her trunks.

“Much better. Clarissa is ecstatic you are joining us here to help us earn the right to vote.” Savannah beamed at her.

“It was Sophie’s idea.”

“Most outrageous ideas are Sophie’s,” Jeremy said, poking his head into the room.

“I wouldn’t call having your cousin visit us in Montana as outrageous,” Savannah protested.

“No, but, if I know anything about that woman, there’s more to this story than we’ve been told.” He winked at them before moving toward the back door for her second trunk.

“I’m afraid I won’t be here long, Sav. I was advised I had to travel to Butte to discuss my role with the women leading the campaign.”

“Never fear, Rissa and I will travel with you. Rissa likes any excuse she can find to travel to Butte to see her brother Patrick. Besides, I’d like a few new clothes. We’ll have fun.” Savannah smiled. “Besides, there’s no chance I’m letting them convince you to canvass in another part of the state. You must work with Rissa and me here in Missoula and the valley.”

Zylphia sighed her agreement. “Thank goodness. I was afraid all Sophie’s planning would be for nothing, and I’d be relegated to the backwaters of the state.”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll visit some rather rural areas, but we’ll be together.” Savannah’s expression became determined. “I promised your father in a recent letter that you would always be with family while here.”

“My father is very protective,” Zylphia grumbled.

“He might be protective, but he’s earned that right. You’re his only daughter, and you’re precious to him.”

“I was shocked when he forced poor Charlotte to leave Boston and travel with me,” Zylphia said.

“I’m sure it was better to travel with her than alone,” Savannah said.

“Then you’d be wrong. From the minute the train departed Minneapolis, all she discussed was the possibility of an Indian raid and how we’d survive, and what would we do if they attacked a group of unarmed women.” She speared Savannah with a glare as Savannah giggled. “As though that could possibly occur in 1914!”

“It appears she has an overactive imagination,” Savannah murmured.

“And no sense of current affairs,” Zylphia said, her glower transforming into giggles. “Oh, it was awful. I think I feigned sleep for a thousand miles so as not to listen to her.”

Savannah smiled as she caught Melinda hiding in the doorway. “Come here, Melly. You should be a part of this discussion as you will most likely travel with us.”

“Will I?” Melinda asked, unable to hide her glee.

“Yes, school’s about to end, and I think it’s important you realize what women, citizens of this country, must do to obtain their proposed objectives.”

A door opened and slammed shut, with heels clicking rapidly on the wooden floors. “Zee!” Clarissa exclaimed, rushing forward to clasp her cousin in an exuberant hug. “You’re finally here.”

“Sit, Rissa,” Savannah said. “Zee needs to travel to Butte.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful. I haven’t seen Patrick in too long.” She frowned as she beheld Zylphia. “You’re not working with the others, Zee. You’ll be assigned to Sav and me.”

Zylphia laughed. “I know. I feel badly for whatever group would dare to deny the two of you what you wanted.”

* * *

T
hree days
later Zylphia found herself on another train, this one heading east toward Butte. Lottie had remained in Missoula to help Araminta with her duties. Upon their arrival, the women checked into their rooms at the Finlen but decided to postpone their meeting with the leaders of the women’s suffrage committee for another day. “Let’s explore,” Rissa said.

“What could we possibly find here?” Zylphia asked, glancing out a window at the smokestacks spewing ash into the sky and the mountains barren of vegetation.

“You haven’t been to Hennessy’s,” Savannah said with glee. She grabbed her purse, tilted her hat at a jaunty angle and grabbed Zylphia’s arm. “We have the right to one afternoon of shopping before spending the next months going door-to-door, convincing the males of this state that we are worthy of the right to vote.”

They walked down Broadway to Main Street before turning up the hill. Zylphia glanced around with avid interest. “They’re dressed as well here as in Boston,” she whispered to Clarissa, who walked arm in arm with her.

Clarissa nodded with a broad smile, paused outside the large glass doors on the corner of Granite Street, waiting for Savannah and Melinda to catch up to them. They entered the front doors, the floor sparkling from the prism glass over the doors, lit by the afternoon sun.

Zylphia stopped, glancing around the large store.

“Everything you could ever imagine wanting is here,” Savannah said as she led them to the second floor and the dress department.

They sat in comfortable chairs, perusing the latest women’s fashion plates before Savannah decided on a teal dress for her. Clarissa chose a sky-blue dress with matching jacket. Zylphia demurred, her trunks filled to bursting with clothes from Boston. They then descended to the accessories department to purchase gloves, hats and handkerchiefs to match their new dresses.

“Come. I’m exhausted from all this shopping,” Clarissa said.

They departed to a nearby café that advertised booths for ladies. They settled in for a cup of tea.

“Don’t eat much, if anything. We’re meeting Patrick for dinner tonight, and they like to serve large portions in Butte.”

“I never realized you had another brother,” Zylphia said as she sipped her tea.

“He left home precipitously around the time Gabriel left Boston.” Clarissa shared a long look with Savannah.

“I imagine that was quite difficult for you,” Zylphia murmured, frowning at the unspoken undercurrents.

“It was. I thought he had died, since we never heard from him after that. However, he’s alive and well, and, even if we can’t—yet—convince him to move to Missoula, I couldn’t be more delighted he’s returned to us,” Clarissa said.

“As am I,” Savannah murmured. “He’s my cousin too.”

“And my brother!” Melly said with glee before frowning. “Although he doesn’t like me much.”

“He likes you just fine,” Clarissa said on a rush. “I think he’s simply adjusting to being part of a large family again after so many years of estrangement.”

As Savannah stroked an arm down Melinda’s arm to soothe her, Zylphia adroitly changed the subject. “Could you tell me a little more about the people we’ll meet with tomorrow?”

“I’m not certain who you’ll see. I doubt Miss Rankin will be here,” Clarissa said. “She’s the head of the committee and of the movement for women to obtain the vote. We’ve yet to meet her, although she’s from Missoula. She’s always away canvassing.”

“We read about her in the paper frequently,” Savannah said, raising her eyebrows.

“She encourages all of us to travel to each homestead, each farm, to speak with the women and the men about the reasons for voting for enfranchisement,” Clarissa said before taking a sip of tea. “That’s raised quite a furor among some of the women in Missoula, who’d rather not expend such energy.” She shared an amused glance with Savannah as she thought about the meddling sisters in Missoula.

“That must take a tremendous amount of time in a state so large,” Zylphia said. “I can’t imagine such an endeavor.”

“Well, if we’re successful, it will be because of actions like the ones Miss Rankin has encouraged us to take. It’s shown the residents of Montana that all are important, not just the ones in the big cities like Butte.”

“I’d like to meet her,” Zylphia said. “I’m sure she’d have ideas for the Massachusetts campaign.”

“Whether you meet her or not, you’ll learn plenty,” Savannah said with a wry smile.