by Delia Parr
“I’ve brought some papers along we need to review, perhaps after supper,” he suggested.
“As a matter of fact, supper is ready now,” she announced in response, not quite certain if she was more disappointed or relieved that he had interpreted her alleged invitation to supper as nothing more than an invitation based on their professional relationship.
Fortunately, there seemed to be little interest in discussing the topics of matchmaking or courtship during supper, although Emma noted that Anson Kirk had eyes only for Mother Garrett, and Reverend Glenn was being particularly attentive to Aunt Frances. Everyone was too interested in listening to Zachary Breckenwith as he recounted the most recent news from town about the efforts to restore Candlewood back to rights while they dined on Mother Garrett’s chicken vegetable soup and pumpernickel bread still warm from the oven.
While Liesel and Ditty cleared away the dessert dishes, Solomon shared his news about the plans to locate and eliminate the panther and the danger the animal presented to the townspeople. “Mayor Calloway divided the town and the outlying areas both east and west of the canal for a good five miles or so into sectors and assigned one to each group of volunteers,” he announced.
John Ammond, the elder of the two brothers, nodded. “We’ll all be meeting Monday down at Gray’s Tavern at dawn. The groups assigned to the outlying areas will be setting traps.”
“We can’t do that in town, of course, so we’ll just take turns in pairs patrolling the streets, just to make sure everyone is safe until we catch that animal,” his brother Micah noted.
When Judith’s gaze grew worried, Solomon smiled at his wife. “Don’t worry. We’ll catch it.”
“Patrolling about town while the panther is free could be dangerous.”
“Not as dangerous as ignoring the problem,” John offered.
“We didn’t see hide nor tail of the panther when we went to town, so we never did have to use our umbrellas to chase it off. If you ask me, it’s long gone,” Aunt Frances suggested.
“Besides, Monday I’ll be right here helping Mr. Kirk and Steven to build a new pen for the chickens, remember?” Solomon reminded his wife.
“And by Tuesday, we’ll probably have caught the panther,” Mother Garrett offered, “and everything will be back to normal.”
“That’s true enough, especially with the bounty being offered,” Mr. Breckenwith said.
“There’s a bounty?” Emma asked.
“Actually, there are two,” Solomon explained. “The mayor posted a five-dollar bounty to the man or men who kill the panther. Gray offered ten.”
“Why did Mr. Gray offer one?” Judith asked.
Zachary cleared his throat. “Apparently Gray thinks chaining the animal up in the yard in front of the tavern for a spell would be good for business, so he’s offered a ten-dollar bounty to anyone who can catch the panther alive and deliver it to him.”
Reverend Glenn let out a sigh. “There’s no excuse for mistreating an animal. Any animal. Even a dangerous, wild one.”
“Let’s hope common sense eventually prevails,” Zachary suggested. “I tried to convince Gray that having men risk being mauled to death to capture the animal alive or chaining it up for other folks to view is an invitation to disaster we can ill afford at any time. Unfortunately, he turned a deaf ear. He may yet change his mind, even if that only happens later, assuming the animal is actually delivered to him.”
“If anyone can convince him to act reasonably and responsibly, I’m sure you can, Mr. Breckenwith,” Mother Garrett offered with a smile.
“And with that in mind,” Emma suggested as she rose from her seat, “I hope you will all excuse us. Apparently I need to meet with my lawyer in my office to discuss some pressing matters. Shall we take a look at the papers you brought with you, Mr. Breckenwith?”
He nodded, rose from his seat, and walked around the table to escort her from the room. When he took her arm and smiled at her, any and all thoughts of discussing her legal affairs with him scattered like snowflakes caught in a whirlwind.
The moment they reached her office, he took several papers from his coat pocket and handed them to her. “I’ve taken the liberty of writing down the names of several men I think would suit your needs.”
She cocked a brow, tightened her hold on the papers, and took her seat behind the desk, urging him to sit down in one of the two chairs facing her. “I’m afraid I don’t recall asking for such a list,” she ventured and set the papers down on top of the desk. “The last time we talked about my situation, you mentioned that I should be looking for another property, in the event that I’m not able to keep Hill House. I was even hoping we might discuss the matter tonight. May I assume these are the names of men, perhaps, who have property for sale that you think might interest me?”
He drew in a long breath and locked his gaze with hers. “No, they’re not. The men on that list are all lawyers, and they’re all right here in Candlewood.”
She furrowed her brow. “Lawyers? But why would I need—”
“Because in all honesty, Widow Garrett, I don’t believe I can or should continue to be your lawyer.”
17
ZACHARY BRECKENWITH LOOKED straight into Emma’s eyes and restated his words, as if repeating them might evoke some response from her. “Although it’s no longer feasible for me to be your lawyer, I’m quite certain you’ll find adequate counsel with any of the five men I’ve included on the list you’re holding in your hands.”
Dumbfounded, Emma stared back at him for several long moments. She could feel the heat slowly rising up her neck to her cheeks. Her heartbeat skipped straight to triple time, and she could feel her pulse in the tips of her fingers. Given their long-standing professional relationship, she was shocked by his statement, but she was also incredibly embarrassed that she had thought he might have been interested in having a more personal relationship with her, since he seemed to be dismissing her outright. Apparently she, as well as Mother Garrett, had misconstrued his intentions toward her, and she was grateful he had no idea that either of them had been so very wrong.
She drew in a long breath and prayed she might somehow retain a modicum of dignity during the next few very awkward moments. Drawing on her years of experience as a businesswoman, she set aside her embarrassment and disappointment to focus on the impact his decision would have on her legal affairs instead of her personal life.
After clearing the lump in her throat, she glanced down at the list before folding it in half again. Her fingers trembled as she laid the paper on top of the desk, but her voice was steady when she spoke. “Given my long professional relationship with your uncle before his passing and the five years you’ve been handling my legal and financial affairs, I must admit that I find your decision to no longer represent me a surprise. To do so now, when my legal affairs are in such disarray, is more than problematic. To my mind, it’s unconscionable and unprofessional,” she noted calmly. “And yet, in the past, you’ve never proven to be a man driven by self-interest or questionable ethics.”
When he attempted to speak, she silenced him with a shake of her head. “No, please. I . . .I have no intention of arguing the point with you. If you no longer wish to work on my behalf, even now, when I am relying on your professional help more than ever, then so be it. But I do believe I’m entitled to some sort of explanation—one that makes sense to me, one that does justice to the man of principle and solid character I’ve come to know you to be. Now that your aunt has passed on, are you . . .are you moving back to New York City permanently to practice law there, perhaps?” she prompted, asking the most obvious of the questions creating a logjam in her mind.
He let out a long sigh. “I’ll be making a number of trips to New York City in the coming months, but no,” he replied. “I’m not planning to move back there permanently, at least not at this juncture. It’s just that I’m—”
“You’re angry with me for not actively seeking out other business opportunities, just i
n case I’m unable to purchase Hill House again. Angry enough to simply sever our professional relationship?”
He cocked a brow as he sat back in his seat. “To be angry with you would imply that I expected you to follow my advice,” he noted gently. “It seems to me that anger would be both inappropriate and unwarranted. I’m neither surprised nor concerned that you haven’t begun to look at alternative opportunities. During the five years I’ve represented you, I’ve come to know you well enough to expect that you’d ignore my advice as often as you’d follow it.”
She grimaced, although his assessment of her was fair and accurate, then stared at the list for a moment. “I suppose you haven’t failed to mention that I’m a difficult client to the men you’ve recruited to consider representing me, either.”
He stiffened. “Recruited? Hardly,” he argued. “I would never, ever approach another lawyer to ask him to consider representing one of my clients without speaking to that client first.”
“Which you’re doing now,” she murmured. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you had been unethical or unprofessional.”
He grinned. “You didn’t imply that at all. By your own words, you said so and also assumed I had already spoken to those men,” he noted with just a bit of a twinkle in his eyes.
“And you have the annoying habit of playing lawyer and engaging in verbal warfare whenever we launch into a . . .a discussion,” she countered. Yet in spite of herself she smiled as memories of their professional association flashed through her mind’s eye.
“Perhaps a better way to say it,” he suggested, “is that I often argue . . .semantics.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s not how I remember our very first discussion, which concerned how to settle the account books at the General Store.”
He laughed out loud. “You’re right. That was definitely verbal warfare. Semantically speaking, there’s not much room to argue the differences between forgiving a debt and collecting one or deciding which debtors deserved one or the other action. You were rather adamant about forgiving most of them and quite convincing . . .in the end,” he said, his gaze softening. “I must admit I’d never represented anyone in business in New York City as forgiving as you are—then or now.”
She smiled. The memory of her victory that day was still sweet. “If I’m not mistaken, that was our first meeting together after you took over your uncle’s practice when he fell too ill to continue.”
“Even with his favorite client, which you were.”
“Indeed?”
He nodded. “His affection for you was something I kept in the forefront of my mind even after he passed on, especially on those occasions when you dug in your heels and absolutely refused to listen to reason, if not my professional advice.”
“You’re no doubt referring to when I sold the General Store and bought Hill House,” she whispered and swallowed hard.
“In point of fact, I was actually thinking about the time you decided to sell one of your very valuable parcels of land some miles from town to a rather unpopular young couple . . .Sampson . . .Simpson . . .”
“Simmons. Matthew and Lily Simmons,” she offered, nearly grinning when she thought about her victory that day. “Despite the fact that I expected you to do as I instructed without question in the matter, which you rarely ever did anyway, once you were able to convince me that you considered lawyer–client privilege to be inviolable, I seem to recall I shared my reasons with you for wanting to help the Simmonses.”
“Adding generosity to the list of your qualities and a good dose of humility to mine,” he concluded.
Emma realized that their reminiscing had taken them far afield from his stated purpose for their meeting today. She folded her hands on her lap and locked her gaze with his. “Before we go further astray, perhaps we should set aside the colorful aspects of our professional relationship in the past to concentrate, more appropriately, on the present. Can you at least tell me exactly why you’re no longer willing to be my lawyer? With the issues surrounding Hill House still unresolved, I think you’ll agree I deserve to know why.”
He sat up a bit straighter but held her gaze. “To be frank, it’s a matter of being pragmatic. On the one hand, as I suggested earlier, I have professional obligations in New York City that will require me to travel back and forth between Candlewood and the city from now to the end of April.
“Unfortunately,” he added as his gaze softened, “these are obligations I cannot avoid, which means I could be away and unable to be of any assistance to you should the legal owner of Hill House arrive during that time. I feel duty bound to make sure you have guaranteed access to the legal advice you’ll need. By Wednesday, when I’ll be leaving, you should have chosen one of the men I suggested to represent you.”
She dropped her gaze for a moment, took a deep breath, and looked up at him again. “And on the other hand?”
He cleared his throat and moistened his lips. “On the other hand, your mother-in-law’s matchmaking efforts today came just a tad too late. You see, I had been wrestling with the idea of courting you for some time, but unfortunately—”
“Wrestling? Did you say you’d been wrestling with the idea?” she blurted, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she had the wherewithal to stop them. “Forgive me, Mr. Breckenwith, but regardless of Mother Garrett’s meddling, which has been beyond my control now for a good three decades, I sincerely doubt I have ever considered that a man would openly admit to me that he found the notion of courting me so difficult that he had to wrestle with the very prospect.” She huffed and sat ramrod straight in her seat.
He chuckled. “I’m quite certain Mr. Langhorne had no such dilemma last summer and fall. He was quite committed from the start to courting you for the very—”
“For the very despicable goal of taking control of my fortune,” she snapped. “At least he had the decency to pretend to be interested in marrying me. Without any equivocation, I might add.”
“And you spurned his offer rather forcefully,” he noted smugly. “Or so I’ve been told.”
“Absolutely. But before—”
“Before you launch into exploring another of your one-sided, misguided assumptions and wind up regretting it, perhaps you’d consider letting me finish one of my statements before interrupting me,” he cautioned.
Emma clenched her jaw. If he wanted to explain why he had had to wrestle with the idea of courting her and ultimately reject it, only to decide to sever their professional relationship, as well, then she would let him—before she shoved his list back into his hands and showed him to the door. “Please continue.”
“As I was trying to explain,” he began, “I had been considering the idea of asking to court you when Mr. Langhorne suddenly appeared in Candlewood and set his sights on you. Once I was convinced you were astute enough to see his proposal for what it was, you were knee-deep in solving the problem with the Leonards and grappling with the very disturbing news that you did not have legal title to Hill House.”
Zachary paused, took a deep breath, and smiled. “While I do have legitimate business in New York City that will require my presence there for the better part of the next few months, I have a more pragmatic reason for asking you to have another lawyer represent your interests, although I will leave the decision as to whether or not I will continue to represent you in any capacity in the future entirely up to you.”
Emma nodded for him to continue, although she was afraid she might not be able to hear him because her heart was pounding so hard.
“Widow Garrett, I don’t believe it is either ethical or practical to court a woman who is my client. To be frank, after my wife died, I never thought I’d be interested in marrying again. And I hadn’t been . . .until I came to know you.”
“Oh?” she managed, having heard him quite well despite the accelerated beat of her heart.
“Given the opportunity to choose between continuing to represent you on a professional basis or having the honor and
privilege of courting you—with the express purpose of marrying you, should you find it within your heart to be able to share any sincere affection with me—I very much wish to court you.”
“Oh,” she repeated, and her heart skipped one beat and then another before beginning to race again.
“Naturally, that would mean arranging for you to have new legal counsel, at least in the interim. Given my obligations for the next few months, any serious consideration about beginning a courtship, however, would probably have to wait. But do you . . .do you think you would be willing to discuss the idea more seriously over the next few months when I manage to get back to Candlewood from time to time?”
Unable to find her voice, she blinked several times and tried to swallow the lump of emotion that swelled in her throat. He wanted to court her.
He wanted to court her?
Her mind struggled with the concept that he did, indeed, want to develop a very personal relationship with her.
He wanted to court her!
“You’re surprised?” he asked.
Emma nodded, still unable to find her voice and battling a swell of tears that blurred her vision.
“But not offended that I’ve taken the liberty to suggest that you might want to consider the idea, I hope.”
She shook her head so fast she nearly spilled a few tears before blinking them back. She cleared her throat. “At the moment, I . . .I’m not sure what to say or do. I haven’t been in this position for quite some time, and I never actually thought I’d ever seriously have to consider being courted or to actually marry again before . . .before now. Before you,” she admitted, taking a leap of faith and following his lead by being as honest with him as he had been with her.
“Then say yes. Say you’ll spend some time with me over the course of the next few months when I’m in Candlewood to discuss the prospect that we might begin an official courtship and marry. I will defer to you, of course, in the matter of how private or how ‘personal’ you would want our association to be.”