THE Prairie DREAMS Trilogy Read online

Elise shook off the thoughts and went to the large room down the hall designated as Lady Anne’s wardrobe. The room was filled with racks of gowns and petticoats. Cupboards along one wall held shoes, lingerie, and tools of the lady’s maid’s trade. Elise fetched a bundle of tissue paper and carried it to her room. She had a valise in her armoire, but she’d have to get a trunk down from the attic. Too bad she hadn’t thought of getting out the trunks before all the menservants left. Perhaps she and Patsy could manage.

  She put the clothing from her dresser into the valise and nestled the gown on top. The rest of her dresses and other clothing would go into her trunk.

  Of course Lady Anne hadn’t instructed her to pack, but what else could she expect? The earl was dead, and Anne would inherit nothing but the meager fund her father had set up for her. He’d expected his only daughter to marry a rich man before he died, and failing that, to have her two uncles to depend on.

  Tears spilled over. David, David, why did you leave us? And now John was gone, too. And the earl—Anne’s father and the eldest of the three brothers—had succumbed to pneumonia three months past, and Anne was alone. But Elise was alone as well—and perhaps in a worse predicament. She snatched a handkerchief from her dressing table and blotted her cheeks carefully before reaching for her rouge pot. She would not feel sorry for herself.

  A quick tap on her door stayed her hand, and she turned toward it, recognizing Lady Anne’s method of announcing herself when she was in a hurry, rather than using the bell pull in her chamber. So close they’d become that this seemed normal. Elise would have to get used to new ways and a new mistress, one who would probably not be so lenient and informal as Lady Anne.

  She opened the door. “What is it, my lady?”

  Anne stood in the doorway, her chin high. Her eyes gleamed, though the whites were reddened from her recent weeping and her eyelids puffier than usual.

  “Elise, I need your help.”

  “Anything, my lady.”

  Lady Anne’s gaze lit on the piles of garments scattered over the bed and Elise’s open valise. “What are you doing?”

  “Packing. I assumed….” Elise faltered to a stop.

  “But…You can’t leave me now!”

  “Of course not, my lady. I’ll stay with you for as long as you wish.”

  Lady Anne sobbed and lurched forward into Elise’s arms.

  “There, there, my dear.” Elise patted her heaving shoulders. “I shan’t leave you unless I have to. Nothing would please me more than to stay with you. I only assumed….”

  Lady Anne sniffed and pulled away, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “You assumed I’d toss you out? I should hope not.”

  Elise grabbed one of her daintiest lawn handkerchiefs from the stack on the dressing table and held it out to her. “I’m sorry. I know things will be difficult for you, and I didn’t want you to feel guilty if you couldn’t keep me on.”

  “Not keep you on? Elise, I should die without you. How would I live?”

  It was true, Lady Anne depended on her lady’s maid a great deal—perhaps overmuch. The thought of the twenty-year-old, pampered girl facing the harsh world alone made Elise shudder. Yet she hadn’t dared hope Lady Anne would find a way to support them both, let alone maintain the lifestyle she’d lived since birth.

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” Elise murmured. “Should I unpack, then?”

  Lady Anne sighed and wiped the tear streaks from her cheeks. “I wish I could say yes, but you heard what Mr. Conrad said. Though we throw in our fates together, we cannot stay here. I’m afraid my income won’t stretch to cover the coal and servants’ wages.”

  “Yes, I suspected that.” Elise frowned. “What do you suggest, then?”

  “Let’s go down to the little drawing room, shall we? I think a cup of tea would do us both good, and I shall tell you what is on my mind.”

  “That sounds most practical, my lady. I’ve told Patsy to have tea ready about now.”

  “Ah, so Patsy hasn’t left us yet?”

  “No, she’s out in the kitchen, alone and frightened about to death. She asked me if she ought to give her notice, too. I counseled her not to ignore any opportunities that came her way. Perhaps I spoke amiss.”

  Lady Anne sighed. “I wish I could keep her, though she’s clumsy. She has a good heart. But I fear she’d be better off if I give her a referral. And Michael is going to the Blithes.”

  “He’s spoken to you?” Elise asked.

  “Yes, he came in a few minutes ago and asked to see me. Hemmed and hawed, and I told him to speak up. I gave him his wages and a sovereign extra. I’m glad he’s found a place.”

  Elise nodded. Michael would be happy with the Blithes. The viscount was fond of racing and owned several blood horses. It seemed all the Stones’ domestics were landing on their feet, and she was glad.

  A few minutes later, Elise and her mistress sat opposite each other on rosewood chairs before a very small coal fire, each sipping tea from a delicate china cup. Elise was thankful for both the tea and the coal, and for the fact that she hadn’t been forced to make the tea herself.

  Lady Anne set her cup and saucer on the side table with a gentle sigh. “Elise, the thought that you might leave me terrified me.”

  “I shall stay at your side as long as you want me, my dear.”

  “Thank you. I believe you and I may continue to dwell together—quite frugally of course.” She waved a hand, encompassing the elegant room. “We’d have none of this, but we could take a small house together, and I believe we’d have enough to get by, just the two of us.”

  Relief washed through Elise. Security was high on her list of life goals. “But would you have to give up your place in society, my lady?”

  Lady Anne shrugged. “We shall see. I suppose some of my friends will invite me to house parties and such, but maybe not, now that Father is gone. I may have to wear this year’s gowns for several seasons.” She gave Elise a rueful smile. “Perhaps I shall learn now who are my true friends.”

  “To be sure.” The idea of setting out as two independent, if impoverished, women, had a certain appeal that bolstered Elise’s stifled longing for adventure. That side of her nature seldom stood up and spoke to her, but she felt almost as excited as she had twenty-four years ago when she’d boarded the ship that brought her here from Germany to enter domestic service at Stoneford. And Elise had often been certain that Anne longed to defy convention and try an adventure of her own. Life with Lady Anne, outside the strict confines of high society, might be rather fun.

  “There’s another, more pressing matter,” Lady Anne said.

  “Oh?” Elise watched her over the rim of her cup as she sipped her tea.

  “Yes. You know the situation Mr. Conrad detailed to me today, and you are aware that my father had two brothers.”

  “Yes.” Elise hoped she wouldn’t flush at the mention of Lady Anne’s uncles. So unseemly.

  “Since my uncle John died last summer—”

  “That awful battle in the Crimea. So tragic.”

  Lady Anne nodded. “So that leaves David.”

  Now the telltale blush crept into Elise’s cheeks. She could feel it spread upward and quickly raised her cup again.

  “David is now the earl of Stoneford,” Anne said. “At least he is if he can be found.”

  “Ah. But David Stone hasn’t set foot in England, so far as we know, for twenty years.” Elise set the cup back on the pink-and-white saucer with a slight clatter. “It was my impression that Mr. Conrad intended not to expend further energy looking for your uncle.”

  “That is true.” Anne looked down at her cup, as though studying the bits of tea leaves as they settled in the bottom, to seek her future there. “And yet, so many lives are affected by his existence—or lack of it.”

  Elise swallowed with difficulty. Throughout these twenty years, she’d pined for David. For Anne it was perhaps a more academic matter, since she was an infant when David sailed for America. O
f course she’d heard stories of her dashing young uncle, then third in line for the earldom. But Elise had known him personally, had thrilled to the timbre of his voice, had delighted in every glimpse of him when he came to his brother’s house. Her lip quivered, and she thought it best to remain silent.

  “Perhaps I’m not thinking clearly,” Lady Anne said, “but I see only one course of action.”

  That caught Elise’s attention. The young mistress had considered her options and had already made a decision. A cottage in some small village, no doubt. They could be quite cozy together, as Lady Anne had said.

  “What course is that, my lady?” she dared to ask.

  Lady Anne raised her chin and looked Elise in the eye. “We must find him, of course. Elise, you and I are bound for America.”

  CHAPTER 2

  March 1855

  St. Louis, Missouri

  Elise held to the railing as she moved down the gangplank from the crowded riverboat. After the jolting, plunging river crossing, her gratitude on landing dwarfed all else.

  “Elise?”

  Lady Anne’s wail brought her up short before her feet touched dry land. She turned and peered up the gangplank. Her mistress stood at the top, clutching the railing. The cold wind tossed the young woman’s light veil and fluttered the decorative capes on her overcoat.

  “Come along, my—my dear. It’s perfectly safe.”

  Lady Anne’s face held remnants of the terror she’d expressed on the ocean voyage. Elise shifted her valise to her other hand and hurried back up the ramp. With her large skirt, distended by six stiff petticoats and whalebone hoops, Lady Anne had effectively blocked all the other passengers’ exit from the river steamer.

  “Take my hand, dear.” After a week’s practice, Elise could still barely restrain her tongue from uttering “my lady” each time she addressed Anne. But the behavior they’d experienced in New York had made it clear that they’d be wise to travel as friends, not titled lady and servant. People who perceived that Anne was wealthy—something Elise would debate, depending on the definition of wealth—did their utmost to extract her fortune from her. As just plain Miss Anne Stone, she was less likely to be extorted.

  Elise reached out and pried Anne’s gloved fingers from the rail. “It’s all right,” she said softly. “Just a few steps and we’ll be on good, solid earth again. Don’t look over the side.” She tugged gently on Anne’s hand.

  Anne took one mechanical step.

  “That’s good. Let’s go.” Elise tucked her hand firmly under Anne’s elbow and threw an apologetic glance at the couple standing behind them. She couldn’t help but notice the man behind them in line. He was staring at her, and Elise shivered. She’d seen him on the train yesterday, and again on the steamboat that brought them across the Mississippi. He seemed to lurk wherever she and Anne went on the steamer—in the cabin or up on deck, it didn’t matter. He was always there: a thin man with an equally thin mustache. He hadn’t approached them, but his presence made her uneasy. The best thing she could do was get Anne off the gangplank and into a hackney.

  “Come along now, dear.” Each step took an effort on Anne’s part and constant praise from Elise, but at last their shoes—sturdy walking shoes Elise had insisted upon, but fine quality—touched the ground.

  “Good day, ladies.” One of the ship’s stewards stood at the foot of the ramp, for all the good he’d done.

  Elise nodded to him and pulled her mistress hastily to one side so that the other passengers could disembark. The couple bustled on toward a liveried coachman waiting with an open carriage. The thin man who’d watched them strode on and disappeared in the crowd. Elise hoped she’d never see him again.

  “We’re finally here.” Anne looked about the busy wharf.

  “Indeed, we are. St. Louis, Missouri.” Elise noted that most of the passengers climbed into carriages, some of which appeared to be hackneys. “Come. I think we can find transportation.”

  A disembarking gentleman spoke to the steward, and the steward hurried out among the conveyances and returned a moment later.

  “Right over there, sir. The team of black horses.”

  The gentleman passed him a coin.

  “Thank you, sir. Have a good journey.” The steward smiled as he tucked away the coin.

  Elise opened her reticule. “Pardon me, but my companion and I shall need a hack that can take us and our luggage to a suitable hostelry.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Wait right here, and I’ll fetch someone for you.”

  While he was gone, Elise fingered her available coins. She was still getting used to the American currency. The train trip from New York to the Mississippi had given her a quick if spotty education, and she selected a quarter dollar. She would have to give the fellow who loaded the luggage even more. When they reached their hotel, she must ask Lady Anne for more pocket money so that she could continue dealing with the laborers they found necessary to their journey.

  “Here you go, ma’am. This fellow will take you in his cab to any hotel you please.”

  “Thank you.” Elise slipped the quarter into the steward’s hand, and he promptly pocketed it and abandoned her.

  The newcomer, a short, lithe man of indeterminate age dressed in a rough jacket and trousers, whipped off his shapeless cloth cap, exposing a head of thick, dark hair.

  “Afternoon, ma’am. At your service.”

  “Thank you.” Elise pulled Anne forward. “This lady and I want you to collect our baggage and drive us to a decent hotel. Not the most expensive in the city, you understand, but a nice one.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I understand perfectly. You got trunks?”

  “Er—yes.” Elise peered down the wharf to where the stevedores were unloading luggage from the hold of the steamer. “Perhaps we could put the lady into your cab first? Then I could go with you to claim our things.”

  He nodded. “That’s it right there, with the horses tied to the lamppost.”

  Elise lowered her voice. “Would the lady be safe if we left her there?”

  “I think so.”

  “I’m feeling much better now,” Anne said. Her face still looked pale, but she managed a smile. She’d always been a sturdy, healthy girl. Who would have thought she’d have gone all green about the gills as soon as they left the dock in England?

  Elise had waited on her constantly for a week before Anne had gotten her sea legs, and they’d thought all was well. The voyage could have been worse, though they were always cold, and the ship’s plunging still sent Anne to her berth on occasion. After landing in New York, they’d endured a jolting, smoke-filled journey on the train to the bank of the Mississippi and spent a night in a marginally clean hotel in the riverside town. But when they’d embarked on the river steamer that morning, Anne’s queasiness had returned in full force.

  Elise took her elbow. “Let’s get you into the hackney.”

  She and the cabby put Anne in his coach and ventured onto the pier. The wind seemed to grow stronger as they got farther from shore, pulling at Elise’s full skirts. She was grateful for the hatpins that securely anchored her chapeau.

  The cab driver set a brisk pace to where the travelers’ chests were piled. Elise pointed out her own steamer trunk and Anne’s three. From another pile, she collected four smaller bags. The driver eyed the heap askance.

  “I’ll have to get a handcart. Are you sure this is everything?”

  Elise almost thought he was joking. “Quite.”

  He nodded. “You go get in my cab. I’ll be there shortly.”

  Elise didn’t wait to see what heroics he’d have to perform to get a cart and load their trunks. She thrust a dollar into his hand and hurried back down the wharf.

  Reaching the cab, she opened the door and gathered her skirts as best she could. She placed her foot on the step. The hoops in the hems of her petticoats eased through the doorway. She thought she was safe when she stumbled and catapulted into the coach, landing unceremoniously across Anne’s lap.r />
  Anne gasped. “Are you all right?”

  “I believe so. Let’s close the door so that I can bear my humiliation in relative privacy.”

  Anne giggled. “I’m sorry, but you did look funny.” She managed to grab the door handle and swing it closed. The absence of wind immediately brought a comforting sense of warmth.

  “Elise.” Anne frowned and stared out the window.

  “What is it, my lady?”

  “Aside from the fact that you’re not supposed to call me that, did you notice that man?”

  “What man?”

  “I thought I saw that annoying gentleman from the train—the one who ogled us so rudely.”

  Elise hesitated. She’d hoped Anne hadn’t noticed him on the steamer. “What about him?”

  “I thought I saw him just now—across the way. He was talking to another man—a tall, gangly fellow.”

  Elise leaned forward and peered from the side of the window opening.

  “He’s gone,” Anne said.

  Leaning back against the seat, Elise tried to breathe calmly. She’d told herself not to be suspicious when she saw the man on the steamer. Many people probably took the same train they had and then crossed the river to St. Louis. But this man had lingered about the docks while their luggage was being fetched.

  “I expect it’s nothing,” she murmured, but her chest felt tight.

  Wheels rattled nearby over the cobbles. The carriage swayed, and she grabbed the edge of the seat.

  “Up, up,” said a man’s voice outside. “Heavy, ain’t it?”

  Elise caught her breath. Anne’s eyes were wide with alarm.

  “That’s our cabby,” Elise said. “He’s loading our trunks, I’m sure.”

  “Of course.” Anne took off her hat and smoothed her hair. “I admit I’m tired of traveling.”

  “We should be able to stay in St. Louis a few days,” Elise said. “We’ll rest this evening and put out inquiries for your uncle tomorrow.”

  All indicators pointed to David having left St. Louis several years ago, but it was their only clue. Had he gone back to the Atlantic coast, where business might be brisker? Or had he pushed on, into the western frontier?