The Dollhouse Society Volume IV: Lucky (Includes Lady Luck, House of Dolls, The Reluctant Bride, A Woman on Top, plus a bonus story!) (3 page)

“
You’re going to borrow money from a moneylender in order to pay back a moneylender?”

I lifted my chin proudly. “I’m merely…delaying the debt.”

Tiberius sighed and sat resting his chin on his hand for a long moment as he watched me.

“
All I need is a small loan to begin,” I begged, standing up and wobbling on my unsteady feet. “That and guidance in running the mill. My father was very lenient with me, but the one thing he insisted upon was keeping me from the mill. He said it was too dangerous for me, so I never learned its day-to-day operations. But I assure you, I learn quickly…and then, well, you needn’t be bothered by these affairs for very long. Of course, I will offer you a percentage of profits as remuneration…”

“
I don’t want your money, Lucky,” Tiberius said.

I stopped and just looked at him. “Well, then, what can I offer you as compensation?”

He glanced down at the book. “You have kept these books for your father?”

“
Yes.”

“
You keep good notations. I could use an assistant in my own business dealings, someone to balance my books for me.”

“
I could do that,” I said. “I would be more than happy to do that. But would it be enough? Clerks do not make the kind of salary I would need to pay you back for such a loan. It would take years…perhaps even decades.”

“
I’m aware of that. That’s why I wish to employ your services elsewhere as well.”

“
Such as?” I could not imagine what use he had for my limited skills with horses and guns.

Tiberius looked me over again in that languid way he had. “I am currently seeking the services of a courtesan.”

***

Charlotte sensed that something was amiss the following morning when I caught the hem of my morning dress with my heel while descending the stairs and ripped the fabric soundly up the side. “Dear, what’s wrong?” Charlotte asked as she helped me into a new morning dress in my room. She put her hand on my arm.

“
What makes you think anything is wrong?”

“
Your bad luck is particularly prominent today, and that only happens when you’re especially nervous.”

“
Oh, Charlotte. It’s not luck. It’s simple clumsiness.”

Charlotte stifled a smile as we stood together before my mother’s oval floor mirror with the gilded flowers around the edges. I looked at the beautiful mirror, but now all I ever saw was how much money I could potentially get for something at auction. In the mirror, I saw the two of us, Charlotte tall and queenly, and me standing beside her, small and tomboyish, with my drab blonde hair and grey eyes and the little pale scars on my cheeks and hands from my various accidents over the years. “Well, yes, you are that.”

“
Oh Charlotte!”

“
Don’t take offense! After all, none of this was your doing!” she said. “It was that terrible witch!” Charlotte was loyal to a fault. “Did the Ogre refuse to help you last evening?”

I thought about telling Charlotte everything that had happened, and under normal circumstances, I would have. But somehow I just couldn’t bring myself to tell her this. Tiberius’s proposition was simply too shameful, and as I, once again, paled at the very thought of being his courtesan, his kept woman, Charlotte guided me to my mother’s nearby fainting couch and made me sit down and put my head between my knees until she knew I wouldn’t pass out.

Charlotte touched my shoulder with concern. “I know your situation is dire, Lucky, and you should know that I spoke to Darcy about it.”

“
You did not!”

“
I assure you that what was said was said in full confidence, dear. We both agree that should things not work out, you absolutely must come to live with us in the city.”

I looked up at my friend and felt my heart swell with both love and sadness. “I simply cannot. You have a tiny house, and twins, there would be no room!”

“
Such nonsense. I would make room.”

“
I cannot, Charlotte. It would be too…too shameful.” I touched her hand touching my shoulder. “I simply cannot live off your generosity, as wonderful as it is. You would come to resent me in time. I would sooner…I would sooner work as a doxy.”

Charlotte clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “Well, if you must earn your keep, you could always see after the twins for me.”

I thought about her offer, really thought about it. But then I remembered my bad luck. I would likely burn Charlotte’s house to the ground. But I didn’t want to immediately dissuade her, not until I’d had time to contemplate Tiberius’s offer, so I said, “I shall think on it.”

She squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

Breakfast was a dismal affair at which hardly anyone spoke. Afterward, Mr. Smit dropped by, as was his almost daily habit these days, to inform me of the details of the next auction. He noticed my missing locket, but I chose not to elaborate. After that depressing fiasco, I decided to take Pepper and go riding for an hour, just to clear my head.

I usually stayed to the trails through the timber woods surrounding the estate, but my dark mood pushed me onward, beyond the trails, and soon I found myself back near the ravine where I had murdered the old fox. I had begun feeling very badly about that as well. A fox was vermin, true, but he had every right to eat, the same as us. He could not be held responsible for his behavior. I looked morbidly down upon the ravine and wondered if murdering the fox had redoubled my already bad luck. It certainly felt like it was working overtime these last few days.

I was so lost in thought that I almost didn’t hear the horses cutting through the woods behind me, but when I turned, I immediately recognized Mr. Van Tassel and his associate, a large Chinaman that he employed to extract payment from particularly difficult customers. Mr. Van Tassel was a small, shrewd, balding man, but his associate was as huge as Tiberius, and covered in arcane tattoos that made him seem that much more frightening.

“
Miss Van der Meer, what a pleasant surprise,” Mr. Van Tassel said, grinning like the shark he was.

“
I would say not. What are you doing here? This is private property.”

Mr. Van Tassel settled in his saddle and said, “I’m simply looking in during this most difficult time. You have my deepest sympathies regarding your father…”

“
I don’t have your money,” I told him, cutting him off. “But I will.”

He dropped all pretences of niceties then and glared at me. “I certainly hope so. It would be another terrible tragedy, should the news of your father’s debts get out to the general public.”

“
Do not threaten me, Mr. Van Tassel,” I told him, my anger boiling over. “I said I would have your money. And besides all that, half the town is aware of my financial state. It wouldn’t take much of a mathematician to put two and two together.”

Mr. Van Tassel nodded. “Perhaps you are right. Then consider what I offer to be a service of protection.”

“
I don’t understand.”

He glanced over at the hulking Chinaman, who grinned at me with rotting teeth. “It would be a dreadful tragedy, should your beautiful mare go over the edge of this ravine, for instance. With you perhaps upon her back. So I’ll make it my personal duty to see to it that that doesn’t happen…”

I stared at the two men in aghast horror as my blood began to run cold in my veins. I couldn’t believe what they were implying! But before I could answer, I spotted the giant grey Suffolk that we normally used for draft labor in the fields around the house as he and his rider broke through the tree line. Tiberius was riding Gunmetal with great proficiency up the steep incline to the top of the ravine. I watched the smooth movement of the thick muscles in his thighs through his riding breeches as he approached, his narrow eyes centered on the two men who were addressing me. Mr. Van Tassel, spotting the big, scarred ogre of a man, immediately turned his horse’s head and he, along with the Chinaman, began to canter posthaste back down the ravine trail, away from Tiberius.

Tiberius came alongside Pepper, and as the two horses greeted each other, he tilted his hat in greeting toward me, though his attention stayed centered on the backs of the two retreating men. “Nellie said I might find you here.”

“
Well, as you can see, I’m here,” I said, trying not to sound as depressed as I felt.

“
That would be Mr. Van Tassel, then,” he said darkly. “A pity he did not stay around so we might become better acquainted.” He looked me over, as was his way. It was a very intimate look. Very…possessive. “Are you all right, Lucky?”

“
I’m fine,” I said primly.

“
Have you given much thought to my offer?”

“
Really, must you be so direct?”

“
I must,” he answered, “seeing how I shan’t be here much longer.”

“
Business in Boston?”

“
Something like that, yes.”

“
Something…or someone?”

He offered me a shrewd look. “If you mean, shall I be continuing my quest for a courtesan…then yes. I hear the city women of Boston are more accommodating than the country women of Smithtown.”

“
How dare you?” I cried. It was all too much, suddenly. I felt positively ambushed by predators. “How dare you belittle your proposal to me?”

I was used to my cousin Rupert shrinking when I used such a tone of voice on him. But Tiberius only narrowed his eyes in insult. “I assure you, Lucky, I belittle no such thing. I gave great thought to my proposal to you last evening. It was not some random romantic notion.”

“
I don’t understand you at all! I have nothing to offer you, Mr. Sloan. I am not some metropolitan woman.”

“
Neither was your mother, and yet she serviced your father admirably all through the years…”

I reached out and slapped him.

He looked at me, surprised.

“
Do not besmirch my mother’s name, Mr. Sloan.”

He touched his cheek with a gloved hand. “I take it your father never explained about your mother…how they met?”

“
They met in church.”

Mr. Sloan smiled sadly, like a man with a secret. “Yes, of course.”

“
I still don’t understand you,” I told him, feeling hostile. “A man your age should consider taking a wife, not some harlot for a companion.”

Mr. Sloan laughed at that. “I’m afraid my wife hunting days ended with this,” he said, running a finger down the scarred half of his life. “And besides all that, I am not seeking a harlot. A harlot I can get anywhere. I am seeking a
courtesan
, a woman who can stimulate me intellectually as well as…other ways.”

“
I am aware of what a courtesan is,” I said, and looked away toward the valley full of shiny, silvery firs glistening in the early morning dew so he would not see me blushing. “What makes you think I should have any experience in matters of…stimulation?”

“
A filly needs no instructions in order to submit to her stallion.”

“
Mr. Sloan!” I cried, appalled by his speech.

“
Yes,” he answered. “Continue to call me that. I should like it if you do. It puts our positions in a better light.”

“
I’ll have no positions with you! And, further, I am not that type of woman at all!”

“
It doesn’t matter to me if you are. You’re an intelligent woman, Lucky. You frequently speak your mind, and more often than not, you speak out of turn. If there is anything you do not know about pleasing a man, I should be honored to teach you.”

“
Such nonsense,” I told him. “I should slap you again.”

He looked at me as if such a concept was not entirely to his dislike. “Why don’t we let fate decide what your future holds?” he asked.

“
Fate cannot be trusted,” I told him. “I know all too well how fickle fate is, thank you.” But when he remained silent a long moment, I finally turned my horse’s head and said, “What do you mean?”

“
I’ll race you back to the house, Lucky. If you beat me, I shall give you the startup you require in exchange for your services only as my clerk. But if you lose…” He smiled at me like the rogue he was and left things at that. Then he took off at a full gallop, spurring his horse for the trees.

I had one moment to consider Charlotte and Darcy’s offer. Then I realized I could not possibly impinge upon them that way, and I kicked Pepper into action. She snorted and took off at a full canter down the hill, and soon I was following within yards of Gunmetal. Darkness ensnared us as we entered the timber woods, and then Pepper and I were tearing through the trees at a modest gallop. Up ahead, I could hear the frantic beating of the Suffolk’s hooves as they churned up the earth, and I could feel the exhilaration of the wind ripping through my formerly coiffured hair.

I did not hurry at first. I had something of an advantage, you see. Pepper was a young mare, and I a small woman. Together we equaled perhaps half the weight of our competitor. In mere seconds, I overtook Tiberius. I offered him an arrogant smile as I flashed past him and through a patch of particularly dense conifers. I even took my riding hat off and waved at him, the long veil trialing after as Pepper and I leapt over a narrow stream, the house just in sight up ahead through the breaks in the trees.

I was almost to the clearing around the edges of the manor grounds when my bad luck kicked in again. I felt a thick tree branch snag my sleeve, ripping it ingloriously. Then I felt a backwards rush of air as it lifted me off Pepper’s back and deposited me in a pile of pine needles on the forest floor. I dropped like a sack of flour, letting out a great guffaw of breath, and felt a stirring of wind as Tiberius and Gunmetal rushed past me and charged out onto the grounds.

Sometime later, I limped home and found Tiberius standing at the stables, Pepper’s reigns gathered in one gloved hand. He looked very lordly standing there. Despite my bedraggled appearance, he looked me over as if I were an entry on the dinner menu. “I’ll see you later tonight, my filly.” Smiling, he walked away.