The Nanny Solution (21 page)

Light squeezed out from under the closed door of her uncle's study. A flickering light, with a shadow passing in front of it. Her aunt, searching for something? She should see her. Victoria pushed open the door.

Clyde was rifling through some paperwork and lifted his head at the interruption.

“You're up.”

Victoria felt her mouth thin. “What are you doing here?”

“With Walter dead, I need to see to his business affairs. His will and such.”

The hairs on her neck rose. “This late in the evening? Can it not wait until morning?”

“No. It needs to be done by midnight.”

That made no sense. “What needs to be done?”

Clyde paused his search. “Where is the agreement?”

“What agreement?”

“The papers to conclude the sale of MacLeod's mineral rights.”

Bristling at Clyde's sharp tone, Victoria stepped in toward the center of the room. “They were destroyed in the stampede. Whatever was left of them blew away.”

“So MacLeod did sign the rights over to Walter?”

Don't answer.
The two words sparked in her head. She stiffened her shoulders. “Whatever belonged to Walter, be it in this room or in any personal contracts, would be willed to Aunt Louise or Rachel.”

Victoria paused. She was sure Mitchell had sold the rights to Uncle Walter, not to the bank. The reason had nagged at Victoria. Had it been done to stop Uncle Walter from having to share the rewards with Clyde? Why was Uncle Walter conspiring behind Clyde's back?

“I know what an honest man MacLeod is,” he said. “He won't renege on an agreement, even if the paperwork has been destroyed.”

Her thoughts raced. She was running on instinct alone and that instinct reminded her to stay silent. But what if Walter had willed the bank to Clyde? It was unlikely, as Walter hadn't appeared to like his business partner enough to will everything to him.

But Walter had been frustrated by his family's disrespect of him. Had he planned to punish them after his death?

Clyde returned to his search.

“What are you looking for?”

“Walter took our copy of the mortgage MacLeod had taken out on his ranch. I know he brought it home. He would need it in case MacLeod didn't sign those sale papers.” Clyde looked up. “MacLeod has less than an hour to make his mortgage payment or else he's in default.”

Victoria raced forward. “You can't be serious! After all that happened, you don't have the decency to stop work for a day?”

“Ha! If you only knew. Do you think I'd risk losing this valuable opportunity?”

“What valuable opportunity? The ranch? His herd is who knows where, and his best pasture nothing but a burned-out field.” She gasped. “You want the mineral rights, don't you? You're as bad as Uncle Walter.”

Clyde chuckled.

Victoria gasped as she suddenly realized something. “Uncle Walter was doing your bidding? He was your puppet. You're the one who has been pulling the strings all along, yet Uncle Walter was trying to double-cross you.”

Spying a set of papers, Clyde grabbed them before lifting his gaze to her. “Very astute. Oh, I'm not after just mineral rights. If MacLeod signed them once, he'll sign them again. There is much more at stake than them.”

“Such as?”

“My bank holds the mortgages on most of the land and businesses here. Of course, some are thriving and will pay off what they owe in due time. The bank will get its share. But I will get the bank and eventually, I'll own most of Proud Bend.”

Victoria frowned. What about Aunt Louise and Rachel? Had Walter willed everything to Clyde?

No. Something else was amiss.

Clyde stopped rifling through the papers he'd found. “But back to the issue at hand. I have a proposition for you, Victoria. Do you want MacLeod to stay on his land, free of debt?”

“Of course.”

Clyde consulted his pocket watch. His expression showed mock worry. “He has only forty minutes to make his payment.”

She rushed forward a few steps. “You can't expect that, not after what has happened! Do you even know where Mitchell is? He's probably seeing to his herd, even this late. They stampeded.”

Clyde shook his head. “Ha! Rather, being relieved of the burden of your presence, he's probably celebrating down at the saloon. He's been there before, you know.”

Victoria felt her face heat. “Only to escort Rachel as she did ministry work with the women.”

“Rachel is a fool.” His gaze turned cunning, licentious. “You on the other hand, are quite a prize. I'm more than willing to relinquish my right to call in the loan on one small ranch. You see, you represent something far more valuable, whereas others, like Louise, are a waste.” He looked thoughtful. “Although, I was always surprised at how much she knew of Walter's business dealings. She is quite intelligent. It's too bad really that...”

“That what? What are you saying?”

Tucking the papers he'd found into his jacket, Clyde smiled. It was wide enough to see the gaps where his teeth were missing.

“In about half an hour, I will go to MacLeod's ranch and begin foreclosure proceedings on it.” Clyde shook his head. “He'll have to move away. I heard that one large ranch in Texas is looking for good, reliable ranch hands.”

“And the children?”

“He'll soon learn that he can't keep them.” Clyde shrugged. “The boys can be shipped to various farms. The girls shoved into an orphanage, even the illegitimate brat. Oh, yes, I know about her. It doesn't take a doctor to figure out that MacLeod isn't her father. Ironic, really. The brat's mother had hoped that by willing her share of the ranch to the baby, she'd be cared for, but now, the exact opposite will happen.” He laughed again, then sobered. “Of course, all this could be avoided if you marry me, Victoria. I'll forgive the mortgage on MacLeod's ranch.”

He sounded so calm, as if this was a simple business transaction.

“I'm not that valuable.”

“Don't pretend to be modest. It doesn't become you. You're too much like your uncle, too proud.”

Victoria stepped back. She didn't understand, nor did she care. All she could think about was Mitchell. Losing everything he'd worked for, and worse than that, losing his children. Even Emily.

Please, Lord, let it not be!

She had the answer. Suddenly she understood, in a small way, true sacrifice. How the evil of pride was stripped away and that in Jesus there was only sacrificial love.

She knew, oh, so humbly, that her sacrifice would never compare to her Lord's, but if it kept the family she loved together, she would do it.

“If I agree to marry you, will you give me those mortgage papers and fully forgive his loan? Right away?”

“Well, not quite that quickly. You see, I don't trust you. We will marry first thing in the morning.”

“But I want my mother here.”

“That's not possible. Besides, if she cares about her brother, she'll be in mourning and so shocked that you're marrying so soon after a death, she'll have to be medicated, too.”

Victoria didn't understand. Who else would have to be medicated? Clyde's words made no sense.

He continued. “I'll make the arrangements and you will tell your pastor you are more than happy to marry me with no coercion on anyone's part. Once we're married, I'll give you the papers.”

Victoria had witnessed enough arranged marriages to know that while Brahmin men valued honor, that didn't always extend to others. She knew how her mother had handled those arrangements. Victoria's expression was as cool as Clyde's was false when she said, “In that case, we will have a neutral party hold the papers until the wedding is over. And I also reserve the right to examine the papers before they are handed over to said neutral party. That person will then be one of our witnesses. He will be instructed to hand those papers over to me as soon as the ceremony is completed.”

Clyde shook his head in awe, obviously pleased. “You're going to make me a fine wife, Victoria.”

“I doubt that.” She continued her cool look. “I also demand that you leave my family alone. And Mitchell's.”

Clyde lifted his bushy brows, the effect lining his forehead with half a dozen wrinkles. “Acceptable.”

“Now, who to trust?” Victoria's stale smile broadened. “The sheriff, of course.”

Clyde's smug expression fell. Then grew again. “A cunning woman, a refreshing change from my first wife.” He walked closer. “Fine. We have a deal, then. We should find the sheriff and, in the morning, the pastor. Victoria, I'm thrilled beyond words that you have agreed to become my bride. You'll never know how thrilled.”

He leaned forward to steal a kiss, but Victoria turned her head away in time. Then, from the corner of her eye, she spied movement in the open doorway.

Her heart dropped. Mitchell was standing there, and his hurt expression stabbed like a knife into her heart.

Chapter Twenty-Four

M
itch had found the front door open. When he'd called out to the silence, he'd heard nothing and simply walked in.

Late last night, when Victoria had collapsed as soon as her feet touched the broken slag and gravel beneath her, he'd carried her up to her room. A young maid took over. He'd sent for the doctor before meeting briefly with Louise and Rachel. Abernathy had been there in that front parlor, the excuse of his missing coupe had kept him lingering, no doubt.

The excuse didn't hold water anymore, but still the old man had stuck around.

Mitch had given the ladies the briefest of explanations of Walter's death. While Louise had remained stoic, Rachel had shed tears. And Abernathy... Well, Mitch didn't care how he reacted.

After the doctor had arrived, Mitch had headed to the pastor's house. Rachel would want the spiritual comforts the pastor and his wife could offer. His actions had been wooden, done by rote, as if he was in some terrible dream.

He'd spent all day Monday rounding up his cattle and dealing with the sheriff. He'd taken several breaks to go to the bank to ask for an extension, only to find the place each time in an uproar with Abernathy missing and Walter dead. Adding to the mess were the men who'd purchased his heifers. With his best dead or lame, all they'd wanted was their money back.

Now, late Monday night, Mitch had returned to the Smith house to check on Victoria. Surely, she would be up, unable to sleep.

She'd been up, all right, up and accepting a proposal that no decent man would have offered at such a time as this. But Victoria succumbed to the desperation instead of trying to figure things out. The idea wrenched his heart.

He'd also come to the Smith house to tell her that he was going to fight to keep his ranch and that he was going to ask her to stay in Proud Bend for a while, in case she felt the need to dash away now that her benefactor had died. Her aunt and cousin would need her, he'd been prepared to argue.

He
needed her.

Well, all that was draining from him, like a heavy rain on the hard pan of a dry summer, rolling away between the stalks of parched grass on the high pasture, on its way to the Proud River.

Now Mitch couldn't believe the scene he'd just witnessed. All he could do was stalk away. If Victoria had called out his name as he stormed away, he hadn't heard it.

His heart squeezed. She'd been accepting Clyde's proposal of marriage. She didn't love the man, Mitch knew that, but she loved her lifestyle and had been too desperate to see any other option. If the only way she could deal with it was to marry a gap-toothed old man whose scruples were on par with her uncle's, then so be it.

He shouldn't blame her. Frontier life was rough, even living at the Smith house would be considered difficult for someone used to Boston with all its finery and access to whatever new inventions that made life easier.

Forget her. He wasn't going to fight anymore. He would return to his family home in Michigan to help his aging father on the farm, to introduce his children to their grandparents and to ask them to help him raise his family. This was his only choice now. His parents were good, loving people, but their farm had been their dream. He'd always wanted his own life, something he could say he'd built all by himself.

“Mitchell!”

He stopped at the open front door, torn between wanting to turn and allowing his pride to fuel his flight from this house. In that moment, he hated himself. If he turned, he was sure he would acquiesce to whatever she said. His pride railed against it. Pride was trying to stop him from turning.

He shoved that pride away and spun on his heel.

Victoria rushed up to him. She seemed breathless. “What did you hear?”

“I heard you accepting Abernathy's proposal. What do you think I heard?”

“Allow me to explain.”

“There isn't any need. I'm not an idiot.”

She grabbed his arm, propelled him out the front door and shut it behind them. Mitch wondered if she would have ever done that back in Boston. How she had changed.

The truth dawned on him—he knew she'd changed. He'd known it for a while. So why accept Abernathy's proposal if that was so?

For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Finally, she said, quietly, “Why are you here?”

He pulled in a deep breath. Should he say “I came here to see you”?

“I just woke up. Let me ask you something. What are you going to do about the ranch? You've missed your payment.”

“Only by a day because the bank was in an uproar. But that doesn't make any difference. I don't have the money. If the bank wants my ranch, it can have it.” He shrugged. “I'll start again. I've done it before, and I can do it again.”

“And the children? Would you give them up?”

He frowned and shook his head. “Of course not! Why should I?”

“Who will take care of them?”

“I'll go back east to my parents' farm. My mother would like to have a crack at educating them, I'm sure.”

Mitch watched Victoria swallow. Then she whispered, “You'll keep the ranch, Mitch. You'll see.”

How would she know that? “Maybe, but I've already lost some good heifers and I may lose more livestock in the coming days. The herd has been spooked and there is a good chance that the heifers I'm left with will lose their calves. It can happen when they're under stress. They will be more so because the best pasture I had is now burned.”

“Is there any other place you can let them graze?”

“No. The neighboring ranchers are angry that I fenced in my pasture land. But I did it because it's my land and because I didn't want your uncle trying to sneak on it and start some kind of illegal mining operation.” He sagged. “It's over for me, but at least you get what you want. All the wealth and comforts of Boston, without the humidity in the summer and the dampness in winter.”

She stepped closer and for that moment, he was tempted to reach out for her. But she belonged to another now, even though he couldn't deny the temptation. But it wasn't right to want what belonged to another man.

In the dull light from the lamp above them, Victoria's eyes glistened. “Neither of us is getting what we want.”

As Mitch opened his mouth to contradict her, furious footfalls tore up the driveway toward them. They both turned.

Mitch recognized Rosa Carrera from the saloon. The young woman from down south rushed up to them, her heavy shawl blowing in the wind. Mitch had met her when he'd escorted Rachel to minister to the women a while back.

“Mitch! I'm glad I found you. Where's Rachel?”

* * *

Victoria stared at the woman. She knew Rachel was doing ministry at the saloon, but to hear a young, unfortunate woman speak of her cousin as though she were a
confidante
... How was that possible?

It was because Rachel would cultivate a relationship of trust.

“She must be inside,” Mitchell said after introducing the women. “There has been a death in the family.”

Victoria glanced at him for a moment, forgetting about Uncle Walter. She had been trying to tell him that his ranch was safe, that he could continue on, but with what? A compromised herd? It would take years to rebuild it.

At least he had the ranch and the herd to rebuild.

The young woman was shaking her head. “I know. She sent a message saying what had happened, and that she would still come tonight.”

“I'm sure the doctor has given her a sleeping draught.” Victoria took the woman's arm. “Let us walk you back.”

Rosa wrenched her arm free. “No! Rachel said she would never take a draught! She said she would come! We were going to talk about that man Mark who knew Jesus. I wanted to tell her that—” The girl faltered a moment, her accent increasing. “Well, I remember learning about Jesus as a child, but I understand now and well, I wanted to tell Rachel I was ready.”

Mitchell asked, “For what?”

Victoria knew. Rosa wanted to give her life to the Lord.

She then gasped as yet another realization dawned. “Mitchell, something
is
wrong! I remember Rachel telling me that nothing would take her away from her evening activities.”

“Surely not tonight!”

“But, yes, Mitch,” Rosa cried. “I have her note.” She pulled from a small pocket a crinkled sheet of paper. “She said she would come.”

Victoria gripped Mitchell's arm tighter. “We have to find her. I have a terrible feeling that Clyde has done something.” She spun and threw open the door, yelling behind her, “Rosa, go get the doctor.”

With Mitchell in tow, Victoria raced to Walter's study, but found it empty. Where was Clyde?

“He's gone. I didn't realize what Clyde was saying to me tonight, but now I know.” She pushed off from the doorjamb and tore upstairs to her aunt's room, the first on the right. She could hear Mitchell behind her. Once inside the fussy and crowded bedroom, Victoria raced to the bed. In her night clothes, Louise lay still, on her stomach, her face turned into her pillow.

Yanking hard to put her aunt on her back, she pulled the woman free of the smothering effects of the soft pillow. Her aunt drew in a deep breath, but didn't stir. She seemed deeply unconscious. Drugged, even.

“Rachel!” Victoria rushed out and down the hall to her cousin's room. Mitchell pushed past her and barreled inside. Rachel was face down on the bed, fully dressed, her head pressed into the pillow.

Mitch rolled her over to face the door. He leaned over and smelled her breath. “She's had a sleeping draught. I bet it had laudanum in it. They mix it with honey and whiskey.” He looked up, his face a mask of worry. “Look at the bruising around her neck. I think it's been forced into her. Rachel would never willingly take laudanum. She told me once that it's an insidious drug and that she has seen several women brought to ruin with it. And the way both your aunt and cousin were turned into their pillows, it's as if they were meant to suffocate.”

Victoria began to cry. “They would have, too. I wonder if it was Clyde's movements upstairs here that awoke me. He could have waited until the draughts took hold before he moved them onto their stomachs. Is there anything we can do for them now?”

“I don't think it was too long ago that they took it. What made you suspicious?”

“Clyde said something curious. He called Rachel a fool and Aunt Louise a waste. It was very odd. He talked about drugging my mother if she came.” She swallowed hard as she sought to figure out what he meant. “Clyde was searching for your deed tonight. I think I understand what he was saying. He only wanted me because if Aunt Louise and Rachel die, Walter's share of the bank would fall to my mother.”

Victoria put her hand to her mouth. “If my mother chose not to come out here, Clyde would have control. If she came out here, he could easily end her life as he was trying to end Rachel's and Aunt Louise's. A laudanum overdose wouldn't be unheard of when a woman has suffered a tragedy, and he hinted that my mother might suffer the same fate as Aunt Louise and Rachel. I didn't realize what he meant until now.”

Mitchell took Victoria into his arms and held her there. “It's all right,” he finally said. “The doctor will be here soon.”

A commotion started downstairs. Both Mitchell and Victoria hurried out into the hall. The housekeeper, now roused, had stopped Rosa from bolting up the stairs, but Victoria could see a middle-aged man push past them.

Mitchell tugged her to one side. “That's the doctor.” He gave the man a brief explanation.

“If it hasn't been too long, I will be able to revive them,” he said. “Charcoal does well in the stomach, but I'll need some water and a large basin first. This will be very messy.” He barked out a few instructions to the housekeeper before looking over at Victoria. “You're pale. You had best lie down.”

Mitchell took her into her room, directed there by Victoria. As she lay down, she grabbed Mitchell. “We have to stop Clyde!”

“I will. He won't get far.”

She clung to him. “Mitchell, I am so sorry for all I've done. But you must understand. Clyde was planning to go to your ranch and begin foreclosure proceedings and I was afraid you'd be forced to give up your children. The boys would be sent to farms and the girls to an orphanage. But Clyde promised me he'd forgive your mortgage if I married him. You can rebuild your herd, Mitchell. I wanted what was best for you, and to keep your family together. But now, it's overshadowed by all of this and Clyde still has the mortgage papers. He'll follow through with his threat.”

Mitchell's mouth fell open. “You were going to marry him to save my family? I came here tonight to see if you were all right, but also to ask you if you would stay. If you like, we could start again someplace. I can't give you all you deserve, but I can give you my love. And my name.”

“Deserve? I deserve nothing! Oh, Mitchell, what a fool I've been with my pride. Even my pride in my foolish and simple accomplishments. To think, I believed I knew everything about running a house after one lesson.” She leaned forward, a watery smile forming. “Are you proposing to me?”

He nodded as a smile took over his face. “I love you, Victoria. I want to marry you.”

Her smile echoed his. “I love you, too.”

“It won't be an easy life, but I can tell you that my pride would be a far worse companion. It was a sin against God and you, and I am glad to say I'm rid of it. It was my love for you that conquered it. Just now, I knew I needed to let it go to turn around and face you.”

He paused, and Victoria's expression fell. “What about Clyde?”

“No need to worry. The sheriff will stop him. He'll have to pay for what he's done.” He pulled her close. “And I can tell you for certain that Pastor Wyseman would not have performed the ceremony if he thought for a moment that you were being blackmailed.”