Texas Tiger TH3 (7 page)

He could feel just a hint of hope. Ideas swarmed through Daniel's mind as his gaze lingered on the expensive equipment. "There're rooms to spare. Do you think there's enough light inside Mulloney's to get a picture?"

"With that big chandelier overhead? Why not?"

"Do you think you could take pictures inside the store without getting thrown out? There are big clocks behind every counter. It would be interesting to catch one clerk in front of that clock when she came in at eight and again just before she left for home at six. People could see her standing up and know she's been on her feet for nine or ten hours."

Georgina nodded eagerly. "Peter will just think I have a silly new hobby. How about a picture of his office with the fancy carpeting and big desks? Then a picture of where the clerks live? I bet one of their houses would fit inside that office."

Daniel's eyes gleamed with approval, but his words were ones of caution. "We'll have to find a place to display them, a very public place. And you'll have to practice. I've used the dry plates before. They're very sensitive. You'll ruin your first batches until you get the exposure right."

Georgina grinned. She was going to have a career. Even if she didn't know anything about photography other than the basics learned in one morning, she knew she could do it. And even if the man showing her where to set up her darkroom thought she was a tool in his employ, she would show the world that she was more than that. Then let Peter and her father pretend she was a useless piece of fluff.

Although she couldn't begin her photography assignment until the next day, Georgina took her camera with her when she left. Mr. Martin had been preoccupied with his work and not much interested in entertaining her once they had decided on a plan of action. She felt slightly insulted that he didn't feel called upon to entertain her, but she reminded herself that this was a business relationship, not a social one. She would just have to grow accustomed to the manners of the working class.

She was quite certain there was a story to be had at her father's factory if she only knew how to fnd it. But her father had made it clear that she wasn't to be caught in this neighborhood again.

But the lumpy unglamorous old buildings and the wagons and the unfashionably dressed people fascinated her, and she couldn't resist viewing them through the eye of her new toy. It wouldn't hurt to take a picture or two for practice. Anything was better than returning to the house and her mother's wedding preparations.

Daniel found her there when he came down at the end of the day. He watched in amusement as Georgina beguiled a scruffy little boy and his dog into posing for her while a small crowd gathered around them. Her animated chatter kept the onlookers spellbound, and he thought she could make a fortune as a carnival barker should she ever need the money. As it was, he was quite certain these people would spend their last pennies to have their pictures taken by her.

She was smiling and laughing when he walked up, but that disappeared as soon as she saw him. She glanced worriedly at the stream of people leaving the factory as the church tower chimed six, took note of the long shadows indicating dusk was not far off, and hastily began packing her camera into its box.

"I think I had better escort you home, Miss Hanover. It's a little late for you to be wandering the streets." It was more than a little late, and Daniel didn't think she could possibly walk the distance to her home, but he wasn't certain he could find a hired cab in this district either.

"I don't know. My father's carriage will be here soon, but he's told me to stay away. Perhaps I could persuade Blucher to pretend I was just returning from town." Nervously, she dusted off her gown and placed her camera over her shoulder, giving it a worried look.

Daniel knew the meaning of that look. Her father didn't know about the camera. No amount of lies and semitruths would hide it. He took the strap from her shoulder and placed it over his. "I'll bring it to you at Mulloney's in the morning. What direction will the carriage come from? We can stop him before he reaches the plant."

Georgina directed him, but while they waited, she spied the pretty woman from her father's factory, the one she had seen Mr. Martin talking to earlier. She tugged on his sleeve and nodded in her direction. "Can you tell me who she is? She doesn't seem to like me very much, but I'd like to talk to her."

Daniel looked up and saw Janice frowning and about to cross the street to avoid him. He had met her younger brother on his first night in town. Her family was practically the only one he knew. And he knew women well enough to know the source of her frown. He took a step in Janice's direction and made it apparent he wished to talk. Her frown deepened, but she hesitated just long enough for him to speak.

"I'll walk you home as soon as I see Miss Hanover into her carriage. Janice, do you know Georgina Hanover? Miss Hanover, may I introduce Janice Harrison? Her famly has been gracious enough to welcome a stranger like me."

Janice stood stiffly at his side, a glare of defiance in her eyes. Georgina smiled and offered her hand.

"I'm so glad I finally have a chance to be properly introduced. I'm not very good with pen and pencil, but I thought sometime you might let me take your photograph. Your looks are very striking, and I'm certain they would turn out well on paper."

Georgina's open flattery left no room for insult. Janice's defiance wavered, but she remained stubbornly aloof. "I don't have time for such things. I've got to go home and fix supper. You needn't see me home, Daniel."

Georgina gave him an inquisitive glance at this use of a name she hadn't known, but Daniel smoothly intervened. "Janice has a younger sister who has just started working at Mulloney's. We might begin our interviews there."

The carriage rattled around the corner then, and Daniel flagged it down, helping a frustrated Georgina into its interior before she could ask too many questions. Janice was already hurrying down the street before he had time to get back to her.

Women. Daniel gave Janice's back a look of disgust as he loped after her. There wasn't any pleasing them. It was easy enough to make friends with a man. You had a few beers, told a few jokes, and they didn't get huffy if you talked to someone else. It would be much simpler if he could confine his acquaintance to men. Unfortunately, he rather enjoyed the company of women when they were being pleasant.

Maybe if he made them understand that marriage was the farthest thing from his mind, they would relax and learn to be friends instead of competitors. He'd have to write Evie and ask about that one.

* * *

"Georgina! What is all this nonsense? I've been told you've been here all day with this paraphernalia." Peter strode down the aisle between women's hosiery and the jewelry counter, his gaze fixed disapprovingly on Georgina as she perched on a stepladder and balanced the camera on a higher rung.

Georgina glanced up and beamed. "Not all day. I came this morning and left again. I just got back a little while ago. The light is different at this hour. See how it comes through that window and lights up the rubies? Besides, I thought you would be happy to see me."

"I might if I thought I was the reason you were here. Climb down before you kill yourself." Peter held the ladder with one hand to steady it and caught her waist with the other, supporting her as she descended.

Georgina tried to feel properly delighted with his concern and protection, but mostly she felt irritated. She decided against stepping on his foot, however. Peter brought out the absolute worst in her, but she wouldn't give into childish whims. She climbed down and stood toe to toe with him, favoring him with a brilliant smile.

"I'm honored that you are so concerned. Would you like to escort me home or shall I wait for Blucher?"

She decided that although Mr. Martin appeared taller than Peter, he probably wasn't. It was just that Peter's shoulders were so broad they negated the effect of height. She was rather frightened of the strength she sensed in Peter's grasp. She didn't like knowing that he could overcome her physically. But when he released her and ran his fingers through his thick curls, he looked more like the boy she used to know, and she relaxed.

"My father is holding a meeting over at the mill, and I'm already late. Let me see if Blucher has arrived yet, and I'll see you to the carriage."

She'd already learned today that Mr. Mulloney owned the steel mill and the gaslight company and that his other sons held positions in those places. Gossiping with store clerks could be very enlightening. She took pity on Peter and patted his arm reassuringly.

"You go on. I'll just take a few more pictures before Blucher arrives. The nice man at the door will tell me when he's here."

Peter looked relieved, and after a hasty farewell left her with the admonishment not to touch another stepladder. Georgina hummed softly to herself as she set up her next shot. The poor man had no clue, after all. It was his own fault, though. He should never underestimate the power of a woman.

Georgina found Mr. Martin leaning against a lamppost and reading a newspaper when she came out. She gave him a big grin and took his elbow, leading him toward the waiting carriage, much to the disapproval of Blucher, who looked on.

"I could go in there every day and do whatever I like and no one would think twice about it. I've already talked to half the clerks for you, but I couldn't take notes or it would raise too many suspicions. So you'll have to rely on my memory. I'll write it all down tonight."

Mr. Martin handed her into the carriage. "Give me your plates and I'll develop them. If we're taking shots of the women at home, we will have to do it on Sunday. I can't take you to those neighborhoods in the evening."

"It seems to me if you can go there, I can go there," she pointed out, knowing the impracticality of the protest. She couldn't go anywhere without a proper escort in the evening. And she had the feeling that her father wouldn't consider this man a proper escort.

Daniel gave her a grin that was impossible to argue with. "I want to issue my first edition on Wednesday. Hurry up with those notes. I can have the piece written before we go visiting on Sunday. Then all I'll have to do is lay it out and set the type. Be nice to that boyfriend of yours."

Georgina stuck her tongue out at him and signaled BIucher to pull away.

Be nice to Peter, indeed. After next Wednesday she doubted if he would ever speak to her again.

Unless Mr. Martin had some devious plan for protecting her from his wrath. And the more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that he had. He looked entirely too sure of himself.

Chapter 6

"You've just come home from church, Georgina. I don't understand why you have to go out again. You know we are to be at the Higgins's for dinner, and we're to attend the church social afterward. You should be lying down and resting so you'll look your best instead of dashing off with that"—Dolly Hanover gave the camera in her daughter's hand a horrified look—"that dangerous piece of equipment."

Had her mother chastised her in the normal tone of an angry parent, Georgina could have brushed it off without a qualm. Instead, her mother was worrying at the beads around her high-necked dress and whispering in a tone of dread, an almost certain prelude to another "episode."

It was a form of emotional blackmail that Georgina recognized easily now that she had returned from an extended absence. When she was younger, she had always succumbed at the first sign that her mother was on the verge of a "spell." She resisted now, but not without pangs of guilt. When her mother retreated to her room and pulled the shades, her father was desolate, and Georgina always carried the knowledge that it was all her fault.

And it was going to be her fault again this time, but her shoulders were wider now. If her parents wanted to dump the blame on her, let them. She had other things to do, and saving her future was one of them.

Gently, she kissed her mother's paper-thin cheek. "I shall sleep in the carriage, Mama, and I will be back in plenty of time for you to help me find the right gown. Peter will be there this evening, and I shall want to look my best."

Her mother looked only slightly mollified, but she raised no other objection as Georgina hurried off. Dolly Hanover never raised real objections, never protested, never got angry. She simply accepted whatever came her way and retired to her room when she could no longer deal with it. Georgina supposed she ought to feel sorry for her mother. Mostly, she felt fury. That wasn't the kind of life she meant to lead.