“Yes I can feed her?”
“Yes, you can stay. You can be her father.” She couldn’t look at him, but he stepped close, putting his arms around both of them. “But only on one condition.”
“I have a feeling I’m not going to like this.”
“You’re not grounded. I have uses for that airplane, sir. I’ll need to track the buffalo, maybe fly into Butte and check on the family paper. The Chronicle needs a good editor out here.”
“Please don’t suggest wing walking.” He curled his hand behind her neck. “I love you, Lilly Hoyt. From the minute you walked into my life and hitched a ride. I’ve never stopped loving you.” He smiled then kissed her, his lips warm and soft and perfect, so familiar, so right, and she tasted everything they’d had, everything they would have.
In his arms, yes, she could fly.
When he released her she smiled into his eyes. In his reflection she saw a woman, her dark hair tousled, a baby on her shoulder, a smile in her eyes. A woman she finally recognized.
A woman in the embrace of her God.
Epilogue
Here, in Hollywood, Rosie could glitter again. She stood in front of a shop window, staring at the dress, the shiny fringes along the bodice and hem, the feathered headband, the long gloves, and saw herself sliding into it. Saw herself sashaying onto stage, maybe singing something smoky into a microphone. But more, she saw her name on one of those playbills, perhaps even on a movie poster.
She would change it, of course. Not Rosie. Not Red. Roxy maybe. Roxy Price.
She’d reinvent herself in Hollywood and Cesar’s men would never find her. Or her daughter.
Lilly’s daughter.
Rosie had to train herself to think this way now. Lilly’s daughter. She never had a daughter, was never married to Guthrie Storme.
She’d already taken off her ring, hanging it on a gold chain around her neck. She’d hide it after she got settled. After she found a place to secrete it where she’d never accidentally run across it to tear her asunder.
Yes, she’d erase her past. Erase her memory of New York society, a mother who had loved her despite her sins, a stepfather who filled in for the father she’d lost, a little brother who had allowed her to love again.
She’d forget her older brother, sever his memory that lingered like a noose around her neck.
Yes, here in Hollywood, she’d walk into the world reinvented.
Hollywood thrummed with an energy unfamiliar in New York City. Everything seemed alive and new, from the pavement on the Boulevard to the shaggy palm trees, to the fancy women wearing their furs on the sidewalk at the height of the morning. Men in straw boaters and suits hustled by, Ford Model Ts, motorcycles, and trolleybuses motored down the road. Everyone seemed in a hurry, as if life might leave them behind. The place even smelled fresh, a fragrance of sunshine, the ocean on the breeze.
She’d spotted the Knickerbocker Hotel from blocks away, the grand letters rising above the massive building like a map. Now, seeing it across the street, the fringed canopy waving in the wind, the bellhop by the door, she pressed her hands to her stomach, thankful that she’d lost more of her pregnancy weight on the three-day trip down to Los Angeles. Another week of tea and crackers and she might fit into that dress in the store window.
Still, her stomach roiled. She closed her eyes, reached past the last four years to the woman she’d been years ago, in Paris. The woman who knew how to put on a smile, play games. The woman who could reel in everything she wanted.
That woman entered the cool interior of the Knickerbocker, walked past the gilded walls, the gold brocade divans, the gleaming chandeliers, to the elevator. “Eighth floor,” she said, not even looking at the operator. He got in behind her, looking sharp in his red jacket and his white gloves, and pushed the button.
This would be her world. Attended by others. Royalty. Like Sarah Bernhardt.
She stepped off the elevator and onto the smooth red carpet that lined the hall. She didn’t stop until she reached the far door, the suite of rooms behind 806.
Then, she knocked.
Pasted on the right smile.
Raised her chin.
Betrayed nothing but cool expectation as the door opened.
“Rosie. What a surprise! What are you doing here?” Dashielle wore a blue cardigan, a white collared shirt, an ascot at his neck, a pair of linen trousers. His onyx black-hair gelled back, he sported a tan. He already looked born and bred in California.
She patted his face with her hand then pushed past him into the suite, her heart nearly in her throat. But desperation didn’t become a starlet. She dropped her handbag on the long white curved sofa, took in the view of Hollywood from his paladin windows, and then turned, tugging off her gloves, one finger at a time. “Blanche told me where to find you.”
He wore an enigmatic smile, as if he didn’t know quite what to do with her. “Did she?” He closed the door, his smoky eyes bearing an old twinkle.
“Umm-hmm.”
“And why did she do that?”
She dropped the gloves on her handbag. Came close to him, and only felt a slight burn in her throat when she pressed her hand to his chest, right by his heart. “Because, Dashielle, things have changed. It’s time for you to make me a star.”
Baroness Questions
1. At the beginning of the novel, both Lilly and Rosie are restless. What do they each want? At the end of the novel, did they get what they wanted? Have you ever felt a restlessness and didn’t exactly know why?
2. Lilly is easily wooed into a dangerous life that gets her into trouble. Why did this happen? Have you ever been wooed into something you knew wasn’t healthy? What happened?
3. Rosie is enthralled by Sarah Bernhardt and her legacy. Why is this appealing to Rosie? Why does she want what Sarah had?
4. Lilly arrives home to a tragedy and makes a snap decision that changes her life. What is that tragedy, and why does she leave and head west? What would you have done in Lilly’s position?
5. Rosie lands a job she believes will make her a star, but it comes with sacrifices and compromises. Will our dreams always cause us to make sacrifices? Compromises? Are they worth the outcome?
6. Lilly discovers a flying circus and escapes with them rather than go home to New York. How does this affect how she sees herself? Have you ever been in a situation that causes you to become a person you didn’t realize you were? Braver? Stronger? Smarter?
7. Oliver travels to Wyoming to rescue Lilly and helps her see the truth about Truman. Is it the truth? What does Lilly believe about her marriage that sends her back to New York? Have you ever made a decision about a relationship based on a lie?
8. Rosie escapes New York and marries Guthrie. Three years later, we find her happy and living in Chicago even though she’s not a star. Why? What do you think Rosie really wanted? Have you ever received something opposite of what you dreamed, only to realize it is what you really wanted?
9. Lilly is in New York, working at the paper, but she still isn’t happy. Why not? What does Oliver recommend her to do? Why? In what ways does Oliver show that he loves Lilly? How do his actions resemble the actions of God toward us?
10. What does Lilly realize when she goes to Paris that changes her thinking about her future? Why do you think Oliver goes to find Truman? Have you ever tried to “fix” a decision you made long ago? What happened?
11. Rosie returns to New York only to have her past find her. When she returns home for help, what kind of reception does she expect? What does she receive? Have you ever received a different homecoming than you expected?
12. Lilly helps Rosie escape New York and ends up taking care of Rosie’s child. Why is this Lilly’s destiny? Standing where you are today, is it what you expected for your life, or not? Why or why not? What do you think the statement, “Don’t forget your name, and where you belong,” means for your life?
Bonus: What do you think will happen with Rosie? What do you want to happen with R
osie?
Author’s Note
Times haven’t changed so much from the Roaring Twenties—a decade where young people peered into the lives of their parents and said, We want something different. They just didn’t know what that difference was…so they went searching. The Twenties embodied a time of great turbulence and change—from the flappers who went on to be showgirls and even Hollywood stars, to the authors who gave us books like The Great Gatsby, and The Sun Also Rises, to the pioneers in aviation and technology—they explored life and tried to find a home for their restlessness, tried to figure out where they belonged.
Into this world, I inserted Lilly and Rosie, two very different women seeking the same things—a conviction that they were loved and a place to belong. Lilly believes her place is on the plains of Montana; Rosie believes hers is under glittery lights, surrounded by the adoration of the masses. Both of them come to know the truth: knowing your place comes from knowing who you are and where you belong. The answer is found here:
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39, KJV).
No matter how far we run, how many “lives” we try on, we will never find ourselves outside of God’s love for us. More than that, understanding His relentless love for us—not unlike Oliver’s love for Lilly—changes us. Turning around and embracing God’s love for us helps us to become the people we long to be. I love what Esme says to Lilly—her birthright, so to speak: Don’t forget your name and where you belong.
Our name is Beloved, and we belong to the One who loves us. How does that change us? We don’t have to thirst for meaning, or identity, or even love—or let that thirst control us. We have all those things, and as long as we hold onto God and let Him work out His good purposes in our lives, we’ll become the people we hope to be, one day at a time.
I pray that you know God’s relentless love in your life.
Thank you for reading Baroness. Will Rosie find her way back to love, to her family, to being a daughter of fortune? Stay tuned for the next chapter of the journey in Duchess, Rosie’s story.
All the best,
Susie May
About the Author
SUSAN MAY WARREN is the best-selling author of more than thirty novels whose compelling plots and unforgettable characters have earned her acclaim from readers and reviewers alike. She is a winner of the ACFW Carol Award, the RITA Award, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award and a nominee for the Christy Award. She loves to write and to help other writers find their voices through her work with My Book Therapy (www.mybooktherapy.com), a writing craft and coaching community she founded.
Susan and her husband of more than twenty years have four children. Former missionaries to Russia, they now live in a small Minnesota town on the shore of beautiful Lake Superior, where they are active in their local church. Find her online at www.susanmaywarren.com.
Baroness Page 33