Home of the Brave (11 page)

“And his wife found out but
he couldn’t divorce her because it would end his
career.”

“How did you
know?”

“It’s an old, sad, and often
repeated story.”

Anna pushed her hair back
with both hands. “How could I be so stupid?”

“You’re asking the wrong
person.”

Anna looked at her in
surprise. “You’re not pregnant, are you?”

“No. But that’s only because
your brother’s a gentleman.”

Anna giggled.

“It’s not funny,” Jane said
with a grin. “I must be in heat. I’d be ashamed to admit how often
I have impure thoughts.”

“Are you
Catholic?”

“No. I’m not even a
Christian but I went to Catholic school when I was little and
sometimes I use words I learned from the nuns. Are you
religious?”

Anna was about to answer
when they heard someone stamping their feet on the front
porch.

“Speaking of the devil,”
Jane said. “That’s your brother.”

“Should I tell him that
you’ve invited me to stay here?”

“I’m going to let you take
the lead. I’ll try to stay out of the conversation.”

“Jane?” Thomas called from
the entry hall.

“I’m in the kitchen,” she
shouted, “and we have a guest.”

Thomas came in the kitchen
door. “Anna. What in the world are you doing here?”

“I came to tell you that if
you don’t marry Jane immediately, I’m going to borrow Father’s
fowling gun and hunt you down.”

“That won’t be necessary,”
he said, producing a small, velvet covered box. “I sailed up to
Brooklyn and bought this.” He opened the box, removed an engagement
ring and held it toward Jane. “Will you marry me?”

“Yes.” She offered her
hand.

Thomas slipped the ring onto
her finger and bent to kiss her on the lips.

“And,” Anna said, “I’m
pregnant and moving in with Jane.”

February
1, 1829

Washington, District of
Columbia

Marina stopped at the
entrance doors to allow a man carrying a trunk to come out, and
then she smiled at the white-haired woman who was following him.
“You must be Annabelle.”

The woman laughed. “And
you’re Marina. We meet at last.”

“Can you have a cup of tea
with me or do you need to go with your things?”

“I’d love a cup of tea. Just
let me tell the movers to go ahead without me.”

“I’ll wait for you in the
lobby.”

Annabelle nodded then
hurried to catch the man who was moving her things.

Carlotta Ramirez was in the
lobby, watching as Marina came in. “So is that the ‘other
woman’?”

Marina chuckled. “Yes. I’d
never met her before today. I invited her for tea. Is the kitchen
still in order?”

“To make tea, yes; anything
else, no. Your tenants were unhappy with losing the lease and they
made rather a mess.” She led the way toward the dining room.
“What’s your husband going to think about all this?”

“Stop worrying about John. I
can handle him.”

“I don’t want you to have to
handle him on my account.” She looked over her shoulder as the
front door opened and Annabelle hurried to catch up with
them.

“Have you met Carlotta?”
Marina asked Annabelle.

“Yes.” Annabelle smiled.
“She was telling me about her new business.”

“When she told me that it
involves whips and chains, I begged her not to tell me more,”
Marina giggled.

“I’m a bit concerned about
the legality,” Annabelle replied. “Have you checked with a lawyer?”
she asked Carlotta.

Carlotta nodded. “There
should be no problems, as long as we don’t create a public
disturbance. I intend to put a guard on the door and to keep a low
profile.”

“What are you calling it?”
Marina asked.

“Doña Carlotta’s. I’ll just
put a tasteful, little brass sign next to the door like the fancy
hotels; nothing ostentatious.”

Marina cocked her head,
listening to the church bells. “Lord. I’ve lost track of the time.
Forgive me but I must run or I’ll miss the boat.” She kissed
Carlotta on the cheek and offered her hand to Annabelle. “Please
come and visit us any time.”

“Thank you,” Annabelle
replied. “I might do that.”

February 9, 1829

Montauk Point, New
York

Marina ran the stallion flat
out with her cheek against his neck until they drew abreast of the
house then she stood up and gently slowed the horse to canter and
finally walked him to the fence. “It’s like flying.” She laughed
then slipped off the horse.

Jane and Anna were sitting
on the top rail of the fence. Jane hopped down to take the reins.
“You ride very well. Better than anyone I’ve ever seen, except
maybe Mr. Van Winkler.”

Marina fixed her hair. “I
used to tame wild horses in my former life.”

“Really?” Anna said. “You
never mentioned that.”

“You’ve always been very put
off when I talked about my past.”

Anna shrugged. “I may have
been too judgmental.”

Marina gave her a shocked
look. “Be careful. You almost admitted to having been
wrong.”

“Your face is all wind
burned,” Jane said to Marina. “Why don’t you and Anna go to the
house and warm up while I take care of this fellow?”

Marina nodded. “Does he have
a name?”

“Yes,” Jane said. “But it’s
Arabic and I can’t read it.”

Marina patted the big
horse’s neck. “He’s certainly a beauty. Too bad you can’t take him
to Texas with you to cross-breed with the wild
mustangs.”

“He’d die on the trip,” Jane
replied.

“The British take their
warhorses from England to India on ships,” Marina said. “Talk to my
husband about it. Or, better yet, to Abraham. Abraham knows more
about horses than horses know about themselves.”

Jane nodded.

“Come along, Mother,” Anna
insisted. “It’s cold out here.” She took Marina’s hand and pulled
her toward the house.

“I like that girl,” Marina
said.

“Me too.”

“You?” Marina laughed. “You
hate everyone.”

“That’s not true. It’s me
that I hate, so I make everybody else miserable.”

Marina gave her a strange
look. “What’s come over you?”

“Nothing. I’ll be back to my
usual bitchy self before you know it.”

“Then let me savor every
moment.”

“Mother?”

“Yes?”

“I’d like to stay here for a
while.”

“That’s fine with me, but
I’m warning you that people will talk.”

“About what?”

“They’ll say that Paul has a
new child mistress and tell filthy stories about you, Jane and Paul
in a ménage à trois.”

“In a what?”

“It’s French
meaning
household of
three
. The implication being, three people
having sexual relations and occupying the same
household.”

Anna wrinkled her nose.
“They have a term for that?”

“Yes. And my point is that
you’ll become the target of those kinds of remarks.”

“I don’t care, if you
don’t.”

“When did you think you’d
move?”

“Right away.”

“Don’t forget that you’ll be
alone with Paul when Thomas and Jane are on their
honeymoon.”

“Do you think he’ll seduce
me, Mother?” Anna giggled.

“No, Dear. I just wanted to
be sure that you’d thought of it.”

February 15,
1829

Montauk Point, New
York

Paul Van Winkler was sitting
in an overstuffed chair in front of the fireplace with an open book
in his hands, but his gaze was on the fire and not the
book.

“You’re really going to miss
Jane, aren’t you,” Anna said, as she came into the room.

“Yes,” he said. “I miss her
now and I know she’ll be back in a week. I can’t imagine how it
will feel when she’s in Texas.”

Anna held her hands toward
the fire. “Why haven’t you ever told her that you’re her
father?”

He jumped as if he’d been
stabbed. “What?”

“You have the same eyes, and
the same smile.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Okay.”

“That’s an annoying habit,
Anna.”

“What is?”

“Saying OK all the
time.”

“Why don’t you come to Texas
with us?” she asked, ignoring the comment.

“What?”

“It makes perfect sense,”
she replied. “Thomas knows almost nothing about ranching and you
manage the biggest ranch in the United States.”

“It’s the oldest, not the
biggest, and I’m too old for an adventure like that.”

“You’re no older than my
father and he goes all over, killing people merrily wherever he
goes.”

“It wouldn’t
work.”

“Why not?”

“I’d rather not discuss
it.”

“You’re a very difficult man
to converse with. I open a topic and you close it.”

“It may have something to do
with your topic selection.”

She looked around the room.
“Of course you can’t take all these books.”

“I can’t take them
where?”

“To Texas. But my Uncle
Thomas has an empty barn where you can store them until we have a
ranch house.”

He thought for a moment.
“Well, I might go to Texas at that. But not this year, maybe next
year. If I had someone to go with me.”

“Oh no you don’t. I’m going
with Thomas and Jane this spring, not next spring.”

“It’s very dangerous for a
woman in your condition.”

“My mother made almost the
same trip when she was carrying Jack.”

“By next year they’ll have
steamboats that could take us from New York harbor to the Rio
Grande in less than a month and your baby will be up to the trip by
that time.”

“You just want me as your
replacement housekeeper for a year.”

“I can’t fool you, can
I?”

“If they go and I stay alone
with you, people will talk.”

“They already talk. They
always talk.”

“I suppose that’s true. Let
me think about it until the honeymooners get back.”

“Can you cook?”

“No. And I don’t clean
either. But I have money so I’ll hire some Montauks to do it for
us.”

“That’s the pioneer
spirit.”

“If you don’t tell her I
will.”

“What?”

“Jane should know her
father.”

“That’s none of your
business.”

“You’re right. But I’m still
going to tell her if you don’t.”

He glowered at
her.

“You really have no
choice.”

“I could murder
you.”

“Probably, but I doubt you
will.”

“Listen to me. Jane thinks
her father was a great man.”

“She thinks nothing of the
kind.”

“Her mother told her that
Alexander Hamilton was her father.”

“I know. And Jane doesn’t
believe it.”

“She might say that she
doesn’t, but it gives her a sense of pride.”

“She’d be far prouder if she
knew you are her father. She loves you like a father
already.”

He shook his
head.

“Okay.” Anna gave him a
shrug. “If that’s what you want, I’ll tell her then.”

March 1, 1829

Montauk Point, New
York

“No, Jane,” Thomas insisted.
“We’ll take no furniture or fancy china. We’ll take only weapons,
ammunition, tools and the most basic essentials for cooking and
housekeeping.”

“I should hope that I can
bring my clothes,” she pouted.

“I should rather you rode
bare like Lady Godiva.”

“So the whole world can see
me undressed?”

“I’m told that the Indians
in the far west wear no clothing.”

She started to answer but
stopped as Mr. Van Winkler knocked on the doorjamb.

“Do you have a moment,
Jane?” he asked.

“Of course, sir.” She stood
up.

“Do you need me to step
outside, sir?” Thomas asked.

Van Winkler considered and
then shook his head. “This will take but a moment.” He faced Jane,
took a deep breath and said, “I am your father. I have always
believed it best for you to think otherwise. Anna disagrees and has
threatened to tell you if I do not.” He turned and walked back out
of the room.