The Last Honest Seamstress (37 page)

"Your good name has been tarnished because of me. The paper won't stop reminding people who and what I am until I'm back where I belong."

"Where you belong! You belong here. You're not the girl you were. Those who know us know the truth. My reputation speaks for itself, as does yours. If I ever find out who the source is—"

"Fayth, I've lost the fight. That's the third article they've printed in two weeks. If I leave, they'll leave you alone."

"I'm begging you to stay. If you leave, they've won and you've lost everything." Fayth walked over to her and took one of her hands. "Coral, please reconsider."

Coral shook her head. The sound of a carriage coming up the drive caught their attention. Fayth went to the window in time to see Lou descend from her carriage, aided by her driver. Coral didn't wait for a knock, but opened the door and called her greeting.
 

Lou swept in and took Coral in her arms, leading her toward the door. "I must thank you for taking such good care of our girl, Fayth. You gave it a good try."

Lou ordered the driver to load Coral's things. She wished Fayth good day and ushered Coral out the door. Coral looked back as she descended the doorstep. "Come visit me. Don't desert me. Forgive me." The last words were a mere whisper.

Fayth watched them from the window until the carriage was loaded and they drove out of sight.
 

Later that afternoon, Fayth's mind was heavy with worry as she went up the walk to Lou Gramm's parlor house. Fayth had been to the newspaper office and confronted them, demanding to know their source for the damaging articles. The reporter she talked to had given nothing away, except to say that a man had submitted the information, demanding they publish it for the public good. Dead ends, always dead ends.

Several men waited on the porch to be let in. They gave Fayth odd looks, and coughed self-consciously. Well blast them anyway! She didn't care two hoots what they, or anyone else, thought. She meant to drag Coral back.
 

Maddie opened the door. The men tumbled in and disappeared. "Mrs. O'Neill?"

"I'm here to see Coral."

"No disrespect to you, Mrs. O'Neill, but she's under Lou's care now. I must ask you to leave."

Lou's bouncer, Rusty, hovered nearby.

"I'm not here to cause a scene. I'm worried about Coral. I've helped Lou out when she needed me. Now she owes me the favor of letting me talk to Coral."

Maddie sighed, and motioned for Rusty to get Coral. "Follow me. I'll show you where you may wait for her." At the door of a small room, Maddie extended her arm, indicating Fayth should enter. "I wouldn't worry about Coral, Mrs. O'Neill. Lou will take good care of her. I'm thinking her problem is a gentleman. Miss Coral was always romantic."

Maddie surprised Fayth with her sympathy. "I'm inclined to agree with you." She thought back to the thumping and moaning she had nearly walked in on months ago.

"Some man jilted her, poor thing, or I miss my guess. I've seen it happen before, seen girls come running back. Lou is like a mama to them, nurses their wounds."

"But who is he, Maddie?"

"Doesn't matter who. Any gentleman will do. Those that come to the House like their pleasure, but they aren't about to upset their society and standing by marrying one of our lady boarders. I've seen my share of girls fall in love, but in all my days working for Miss Gramm, in San Francisco and now here, I've never seen one of the gentlemen marry one. It isn't done."

"Such a cruel fact of fate."

"A fact all the same. The girls are well aware of the rarity of such doings when they enter the business."

"Yes, but who can hold back where the heart is concerned? Who couldn't help but hope?" Fayth was as much a fool as any of Lou's girls, at least where the Captain was concerned, and Drew, when she'd be younger.

"You sound like Miss Coral. Make yourself comfortable." Maddie left her.

Coral appeared minutes later, a telltale puffiness surrounded her eyes, hinting of tears.

"Fayth." Coral's voice was as dull as her eyes. She hugged Fayth without enthusiasm. "Why did you come?"

"I'm not happy with the explanation you gave."

"The newspaper." Coral stared at the floor. "Your customers will be returning by the dozens now that I've gone."

"Profit has never been the motive for my life." It was hard not to sound fierce because Fayth certainly felt it, railing inside at the injustice in the world.

"Maybe it should be." Coral's laugh was wretched and eerily hollow. Heavens, was she using opium again already?
 

"Lou says I can raise my fees. Isn't infamy wonderful? I'll be making more money than I ever thought possible."

"Stop it!" Fayth wanted to shake her. "I don't need the business of sanctimonious biddies, and you don't need the patronage of those, those—men!" She softened her tone and pleaded. "I do need you to be all right. You were my first friend in town. Don't give up on yourself."

"I need some fresh air. Let's take a walk." Coral turned on her heel and strode to the door, leaving Fayth no option but to follow her.

They walked to the waterfront without speaking and stared in silence out across the water. Coral rocked herself in silence with arms folded protectively across her chest. Fayth stood calmly, waiting.

"I'm pregnant." The confession stole Coral's agitation. She stopped rocking.

Fayth went numb. She should have suspected. She kept her tone sympathetic and soft. The last thing Coral needed was judgment. "How far along?" The pregnancy explained so much.

Coral turned to face her with tears brimming. "You don't seem surprised?"

"No." Fayth paused. "I should have suspected. It's a wonder I didn't. I came home early one day. I may be naive, but I know what you were doing. I didn't want to confront you. I tried to warn you against such behavior." Fayth paused delicately. "Who is the father, Coral?"

"Think about the business I'm in Fayth. How would I know?"

Without thinking, Fayth gasped.
 

"I'm sorry, that was thoughtless." Fayth's words tumbled out. "I just . . . I thought that maybe . . . maybe the man at the house was someone special—"

"You didn't think I would ply the trade in your house? Sorry to disillusion you, Fayth. Once a whore, always a whore." The words exploded into the gentle sounds of lapping of water and soft breeze.

Coral looked suddenly contrite. "I'm sorry. My nerves are jangled."

"Mine, too."
 

Coral trembled, and her eyes were glassy and dazed. Opium, certainly. Fayth had to get her out of Lou's. "Do the rest of the girls know? Does Lou?"

"Lou, no one else. If the other girls knew they'd think I was silly, a baby." Coral lost her bravado. Suddenly, she looked like the scared sixteen-year-old girl she was.

"Why is that?" Fayth's kept her tone gentle.

"Because to them the solution is simple—abort."

"And what do you think?" Fayth feared the answer, but the question had to be asked.

"I can't." She clutched Fayth's arm, her eyes wild. Fayth exhaled too loudly. "I'm afraid. If it's not done right, it could kill me. Besides I . . ."

Fayth waited for her to continue her thought, but she didn't. "What did Lou say?"

"The decision is mine. If I want to keep it, I can work until my condition's evident, then I have to leave. I can come back when I've delivered and gotten my figure back. But not with the child. If I want to abort, she knows a competent doctor." Coral's shoulders shook, tears flowed down her cheeks. Fayth pulled her into a hug. "I can't raise a child. I'm not ready. I have no way to support it, other than . . .
 

“A baby shouldn't be raised in a brothel."

Elizabeth came to mind. "What if I could arrange an adoption?"

Coral shook her head. "It's no good, who wants a whore's baby?"

"Coral—"

"And I can't afford the time off. I have to buy new clothes, not to mention perfume and rouge. And I still owe Lou money from before. I'm in too much debt to quit."

"I can help you with the clothes. I can sew for you at cost. As for the rest—how much more do you owe?" Fayth should have known, but she was too tired to calculate it.

Coral pulled out of her embrace and stepped back. "I know what you're thinking Fayth, but it's more than you can afford."

Fayth rested her hand on Coral's arm. Coral was right. It would take months just to recoup from the business she lost because of the scandal surrounding Coral, and she had her own debts. "You didn't answer my question before—how far along are you?"

Coral took a minute answering. Fayth assumed she was counting the weeks. "Less than three months."

Fayth sighed. "We still have some time before you start showing. Maybe we can find a solution."

"Maybe." Coral started rocking again and turned her gaze to the water.

"Come home with me, Coral. Come home and let me take care of you."

"No!"

"Please. The Captain is home now. Between the two of us we'll manage. We both love you so much."

"Nothing you can say will convince me. You're better off without me, both of you. I need to be where I am. It's the only safe place." Coral's face was set, her words puzzling. Lou's safe? But what could Fayth do? She couldn't force her.

"Any time you want to come home, just come."

Coral nodded, but her expression said she wouldn't.

"In the meantime, give me time. I know someone who's always wanted a baby. Maybe I can arrange something. Just promise me you'll take care of yourself. Start eating. The baby needs food. Give me your word you won't do anything until I've had time to work things out."

"What would I do?"

Lou sat opposite Con in her burgundy leather chair, her back straight, her deportment that of a refined woman. She wore a lavender gown, low cut in front to display ample cleavage, a bow at bust's peak. Lace covered the upper dress from the shoulders to just below the bottom of her hips where a ribbon of deep purple bisected the dress to the floor. It was unbustled, loosely short-sleeved to cover large upper arms and there was no indentation where a waist should have been. Lou was past her prime, but the dress was becoming. Its designer knew how to flatter a woman's shape. Con recognized it as one of Fayth's. Saw in it the passion of the woman who created it.

Con often wondered what sort of woman lay beneath Fayth's proper exterior. Did she, in her dressmaking for these women of easy virtue, release her own fantasies? Reveal her truly expressive self? He longed to see her curves draped in a dress as revealing as Lou's—loose, free flowing.
 

"Well Con, just a few more payments and you're done with me. I can hardly bear the thought. You're one of the few men who interests me. I always look forward to hearing your opinion on matters of the day. Most men are too caught up by the demands of the bulge in their pants to pay attention to the world."

"Isn't that how you make your money?" He smiled.

Lou laughed. "Even so, it can be damned tiresome. But perhaps you'll find another venture to pursue and borrow my money again?"

"I hope not, Lou. Your rates are too high. The banks have more appeal."

"Ah, but for those the bank has refused . . ." Lou shrugged her shoulders delicately. "What can they do? And what can I do when I take on such extra risk?"

"Even still, I don't foresee any new ventures in the near future."

"You're content with your lot? Surely a bigger boat, or a new warehouse will catch your eye one day soon?"

Con shook his head. "Afraid not. In fact, I'm considering leaving the business."

"Getting out? You can't mean leaving the sea? What would you be—a land-locked farmer?" Lou laughed.
 

Con was solemn. "I'm considering selling." It was a relief to confide in someone. "There's an outfit based out of San Francisco that's had their eye on the
Aurnia
, and me, for some time. They've offered to buy her and my wharf interests here in Seattle if I'll take on the job of captaining their new ocean liner. She'll be a brand new beauty, state of the art. She's under construction now.

"The pay they're offering isn't pennies. I'd have no headaches of ownership and I'd be out on the open waters again."

"But what of your Seattle interests?"

Con exhaled deeply. There was no use holding anything back from Lou. She was not judgmental and her discretion was well-known. "Business has not rebounded as it should have since the fire. I've never been interested in the actual business dealings of my company before, it's the sea that I love, but even such a meager business mind as mine can't ignore the signs. If I don't find the source of the problem, or a way to turn things around soon, I'll go under."

"Selling is the easy way out."

"It may be the only way out."

Lou adjusted herself in her chair. "I was speaking of your other Seattle interest—Fayth. Will she want to relocate?"

Con put his guard up. It was one thing to reveal one's faults in business matters. It was another to reveal faults of the heart. "Could be she wouldn't. Sometimes it takes a man to own up to his defeat, his mistakes. I shouldn't have married Fayth believing I could make her love me. There are some games good sportsmanship can't win."