“Do you think we’re ready, dear?” Lorelie settled in the seat beside Ophelia.
“As ready as we’re ever going to be.”
Even the opera house was ready, the finishing touches essentially complete, the seats installed, the curtains hung. It wasn’t a huge building, no match for the theaters of Denver or Kansas City, but it was a nice opera house nonetheless.
“I do hope so.” A nervous note sounded in Lorelie’s voice. “Why, Jack’s ceremony is the day after tomorrow.”
“It will certainly be something to remember.” Ophelia cast the older woman a confident smile belying the pang of regret shooting through her. She wouldn’t be around to see Lorelie take the stage for her reading of Kate’s “husband” speech from The Taming of the Shrew. Lorelie was one of the better actresses in the group.
Lorelie leaned closer as if to impart a secret. “I do believe I’m experiencing a good deal of stage fright.”
“You’ll be fine.”
There was every possibility Lorelie wouldn’t perform anyway. Ophelia planned to sneak herself and Jenny on the afternoon train tomorrow. Word of her disappearance probably wouldn’t get around town until the Queen’s man arrived for Big Jack’s celebration. Then the truth would come out.
Lorelie sighed. “I would so hate for Jack to be disappointed in my performance.”
“You needn’t worry. I’m certain he’ll love it.”
It was bad enough that they’d all know she wasn’t a real countess. They’d also realize she wasn’t even a very good thief. She’d only managed to get a minimal amount of her money out of Randolph’s bank, and hadn’t won nearly as much from the Cultural Society as she’d expected. All in all, she’d leave Dead End with a pathetic amount, compared to what she could have gotten, of barely more than eight hundred dollars. Of course, it was considerably better than thirty-two dollars and seventeen cents, and she’d never had this much money in her life, but it didn’t come close to what she wanted or needed. And it scarcely seemed worth the effort.
Lorelie brightened. “Well, he does love me, and I suppose that will make a bit of a difference.”
“I suspect love might make a difference,” Ophelia murmured.
She’d even failed at her plan to seduce Tye. Certainly, the man was around every evening, but she could never seem to get him alone. She still wasn’t sure exactly what to do with him or about him. Thank goodness he hadn’t brought up that marriage nonsense again. Marriage, and/or love, was not in her future. No matter what Tye knew, suspected or believed, the complete truth in all its deceitful glory was certain to destroy any feelings he had for her. It would be bad enough if that happened before they wed, but after would be disastrous. No, the only person Ophelia could count on was herself. She was not interested in marriage, and regardless of the suspiciously sentimental thoughts she had about Tye, she was not interested in love.
“I do have a confession to make to you, Ophelia.”
Ophelia curved her lips upward in a tolerant smile. “What kind of confession could you possibly have, Lorelie?”
“I shall very much miss you when you leave.”
“What?” Ophelia widened her eyes in surprise and forced herself to remain calm. “What do you mean?”
A puzzled frown drew Lorelie’s brows together. “Why, nothing at all. Except you’ve extended your visit much longer than you originally intended.” She studied her thoughtfully. “Have you ever considered staying here permanently?”
“Living in Dead End?”
“No, dear, living in Empire City.”
“No, Lorelie.” Ophelia laughed, a slight, unexpected shade of bitterness in the sound that echoed the odd pang inside her. “I’m afraid that wouldn’t be possible.”
“Why not? You have nothing left to return to England for. This would be the perfect place to start a new life.”
“It is a nice town,” Ophelia said softly.
“With very nice people.” Lorelie nodded firmly. “And many of those nice people are men who need wives.”
“I believe you mentioned that before.” A wry note sounded in Ophelia’s voice.
“Did I?” Lorelie’s eyes were innocent, her manner vague. “Well, then, obviously if I’m bringing it up again, there must be a great deal of merit to the idea.”
Ophelia chuckled in spite of herself. “I have no intention of remarrying.”
Lorelie rolled her eyes heavenward. “My dear, you simply must cease your mourning for Alcazar—”
“Ambrose,” Ophelia said without thinking.
“Addison?”
Ophelia drew a deep breath and glanced up into Tye’s amused gaze. “No,” she said firmly. “Ambrose.”
“My mistake.” He grinned.
“Tyler.” Lorelie raised a brow. “What are you doing here? Surely you’ve not come to offer your services? Although I daresay we could use a male presence. Anna Rose’s mustache is the most virile thing in this presentation. Still, we are sadly lacking for someone to play…oh, say, Romeo.”
“Romeo?” He sank down in the seat next to Ophelia. “Sounds perfect for me.”
“Perfect is not precisely the word I’d use,” Ophelia said.
“Ouch.” Tyler winced and clasped his hand over his heart in a theatrical manner. “You wound me, fair lady. Why dost thou cast such aspersions upon my innocent person?”
“Innocent?” A laugh slipped through Ophelia’s restraint. “Romeo was an innocent, a mere child. I scarcely think anyone in their right mind would cast you in that role.”
“Hah! I’d be wonderful! Magnificent! None better.” He leapt from his seat and vaulted onto the stage, halting Anna Rose in mid-word. “If the charming Titania will forgive me.”
He caught her hand in his, brushed his lips across it, then swept a dramatic bow. “I need your enchanted land, my queen, for the barest of moments if that is indeed your pleasure.”
Anna Rose stared stunned; then an odd giggle squeaked out like a rusty hinge stiff from lack of use. She bobbed a stilted curtsy, too-black curls bouncing around her head. “Of course…my lord.”
“Now, let’s see.” Tye’s eyes gleamed with a teasing light that clenched Ophelia’s teeth. What was he up to now? “It was Romeo you asked for, I believe.”
“I didn’t ask for anything.” Ophelia rose from her seat.
“Romeo would be wonderful, Tyler,” Lorelie said. Ophelia cast her an exasperated glance. “Well, it would.”
“Mr. Matthews. Tye.” Ophelia said with a glare. “Get down here right now.”
He shook his head. “Alas, dear lady, you asked for Romeo and you shall have him.”
“I didn’t ask—”
“A grave? O, no! A lantern, slaughtered youth, for here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes this vault a feasting presence full of light….”
Astonishment widened her eyes. She’d expected Tye to go for the obvious, the balcony scene with its sweet, yearning romance. Instead, the man was reciting Romeo’s speech when he finds Juliet dead.
His voice rang through the theater with a resonance she hadn’t expected. “O my love, my wife! Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath no power yet upon thy beauty….”
This was quite enough. She should have known he’d get the word “wife” in there somehow. Her patience snapped. “Tye!”
“Hush,” Lorelie said under her breath.
Ophelia stared at the older woman. Lorelie’s gaze was fixed on Tyler with a rapt attention as if she’d never seen him before. Ophelia’s gaze skimmed over the dozen or so women gathered in the opera house. Each and every one was caught in the heart-stopping sorrow of young love foiled by death.
“…and, lips, O you the doors of breath, seal with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death.”
Reluctantly, she had to admit he was good. Quite good. He would have made an excellent actor. The stage door would have been jammed with women seeking his notice. Even though she didn’t consider him at all handsome, some wo
men might very well find the combination of a tall, hard body, golden hair and chocolate eyes appealing for something beyond a simple night of passion. Ophelia was not, however, one of those women.
“…here’s to my love! O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.”
Silence hung in the theater for a long moment. Then, applause and excited chatter erupted.
“Why, Tyler Matthews I never dreamed—”
“—you could have gone on the stage, I do—”
“—even in Denver I never saw—”
He leapt from the stage and grinned at Ophelia. “Well?”
She favored him with a benevolent smile. “Satisfactory, nothing more.”
“You were wonderful,” Lorelie said stoutly.
Ophelia shrugged. “Adequate, really quite adequate.”
Tye heaved a heartfelt sigh. “Critics.”
“What are you doing here anyway, dear?” Lorelie asked him.
Ophelia crossed her arms over her chest. “We do need to get back to work, so if you don’t mind…”
“Oh, but I do, Countess.” Humor and desire sparked in his eyes. Was she the only one who noticed? “I’ve come to take you away from all this.”
Ophelia narrowed her eyes. “Take me away…where?”
“I had Alma pack us a basket. I thought we’d ride to a favorite spot of mine and enjoy the rest of this beautiful day.”
“Ride?” Dear Lord, not on horses.
“I have that silly little carriage of Lorelie’s outside.” Tye leaned closer and whispered in her ear. “I just thought after spending every day for a week with the dear ladies of Dead End doing their best to slaughter Shakespeare every morning, and do whatever silly, female thing they do every afternoon, you needed a break. What do you say?”
She stared at him, then nodded abruptly, her decision made. This was her chance, possibly her only chance, to be alone with him. Excitement and fear shivered through her.
“Good.” He exhaled as if relieved at her agreement. “Aunt Lorelie, I’m kidnapping the countess for the afternoon.”
“Rescuing would be a more appropriate term,” Lorelie murmured.
“Did you say something?” Tye frowned at his aunt.
“No, no, dear, you two run along.” Lorelie waved her hands as if to shoo them away.
“If you’re sure you don’t need me?” Ophelia cast her an uncertain glance.
“We’ll manage to muddle along without you. I suspect what we need most of right now is simply practice.” Lorelie leaned toward her and lowered her voice. “I do believe you’ve done all you can, and we’re very grateful.” Lorelie studied her for a moment, then clasped Ophelia’s hand in her own. “I have become quite fond of you, you know. We all have. We very much feel as if you are one of us.”
“Thank you.” Ophelia tried to swallow past the aching knot in her throat. Why hadn’t she noticed before now? She liked these women a great deal. They’d welcomed her as one of their own. It would be far harder than she imagined to leave. They were, after all, such very nice people. She made a silent vow never, ever to take advantage of very nice people again. One way or another, the price one paid was apparently much too high.
“Shall we go.” Tye quirked a brow and offered his arm.
She hooked her hand through his elbow. “Lead on.”
He escorted her toward the door and said under his breath, “I was excellent, you know.”
“You were awful,” she said softly.
“I would have made a magnificent Romeo.” A smug note sounded in his voice.
She laughed. “You would have made a passable Bottom.”
“Bottom?” He furrowed his brows together and opened the door for her.
Satisfaction surged through her. Finally, she’d stumbled across a reference he didn’t pick up on at once. “Surely you remember Bottom? From A Midsummer Night’s Dream?”
Tye’s expression cleared, and a warning growled in his voice. “Ophelia.”
She tossed him an innocent smile. “He was the one dressed like an ass.”
“This is it,” Lorelie murmured.
“Are you sure?” Henrietta perched on the seat beside her, the rest of the ladies gathering around them.
“Oh, you can always tell.”
Two more women nodded sagely to each other.
“I couldn’t tell.” Anna Rose drew her thick black brows together until they paralleled the ridge of hair above her lips. “How can you tell?”
“Even you can’t be that oblivious to your surroundings, Anna Rose,” a rancher’s wife chided.
Maize sighed. “I think it’s romantic.”
“How can you tell?” Frustration colored Anna Rose’s voice.
“Terribly romantic.” The women exchanged dreamy glances.
“He’s so wonderfully handsome and she’s so very pretty, why it’s—”
“—it’s like a fairy tale come to—”
“—to life. The Countess and the Mayor.” A wave of sentimental sighs washed around the room.
“How can you tell!” Anna Rose stomped her sturdy foot and glared.
“You can tell by the look in their eyes.” Lorelie’s voice was patient. “She’s excited and apprehensive at the same time.”
The married women in the gathering nodded wisely.
“And he is more than a touch nervous and just a smidge uncertain.”
Again the ladies nodded their understanding.
“And you all know what that means?” Lorelie cast her gaze over the gathering.
“No.” Anna Rose said helplessly.
“It means,” Henrietta said with a grin, “Lorelie will soon have a countess in the family.”
“Well, of course she will,” Anna Rose said sharply. “When Jack becomes a count Lorelie will…” Understanding dawned on her face. “Oh, I see. Tyler and the countess.”
“I knew you’d catch on sooner or later, dear.” Lorelie smiled.
“But are you certain about all this?”
Lorelie laughed. “Have you ever seen two people as, well, ready to burst as these two? I’ve thrown them together and kept them from doing anything about it. And when a man can’t satisfy his baser urges, he starts thinking about more civilized methods of getting what he wants.”
“Marriage.” Henrietta grinned.
“And knowing my nephew as I do, I’m confident his thoughts have turned to matrimony. Aside from that”—Lorelie shrugged—“they’re in love.”
Anna Rose rolled her eyes heavenward as if already regretting what she was about to say. “How can you tell?”
The gathering heaved a collective sigh and burst into a flurry of explanation.
“It’s the way he stares at her, as if she’s—”
“—dessert and he’s a hungry man or—”
“—the way she wants to be stern with him but—”
“—can’t seem to keep the smile from her face or—”
“—how he talks to you but his eyes are trained on her or—”
“—the way everything about her seems to soften when he’s in the room and—”
“—how he’s exactly the same when she’s around.”
“The truly amazing part about all of this, ladies,” Lorelie said with an incredulous look around the gathering, “is that their feelings for each other are so obvious.”
The merchant’s sister nodded. “We can certainly see it.”
Lorelie shook her head. “But they can’t see what’s right in front of their eyes.”
“Where are we going?”
This was it. Ophelia struggled to keep her voice unconcerned, but her stomach fluttered uncontrollably. She could well sympathize with Lorelie right now. Ophelia too had something suspiciously like stage fright.
“I think it’s about time you saw the prettiest spot in the territory, maybe in the world.” The casual tone in Tye’s voice matched her own. “There’s a creek that runs through—”
“Where your father
taught you to fish?”
He grinned. “You remember.”
“I remember.” How could she forget that night? How the moon spread a touch of magic with its beams. Or the look on his face when he talked about family and land and home. Or the way he’d kissed her for the first time.
“I promised to take you there.” He paused as if selecting his words carefully. “With Jack’s ceremony the day after tomorrow, I thought this would be the only opportunity. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” Of course she didn’t mind. The moment she’d agreed to come she’d realized this was her last chance to finally be in his arms. To know what it was to be with a man completely and fully. To be with this man. “Not at all.”
“Great.” He smiled, and silence settled between them.
Gad, she was nervous. Of course she’d never seduced a man before, and wasn’t quite certain how to go about it. No doubt all she’d have to do was set it all in motion and Tye would take his cue from her. But what if he didn’t? What if she had to carry the flirtatious act she’d practiced on him before to a greater extreme? And the man thought she was a widow. A woman of experience. What would he expect from such a woman? And dear Lord, what if she did it wrong?
With every turn of the carriage wheel, her apprehension grew. Goodness, if this was what every woman went through prior to sacrificing her virtue, well, it was astonishing the virgin population wasn’t far greater than it was.
She cast him a surreptitious glance. What if he brought up the topic of marriage again? And his vision of the mayor’s wife? She’d just have to distract him, that’s all. Divert him away from any noble intentions regarding marriage, and appeal to the lustier side of his character. A side she had already sampled in the most intriguing manner. A side she was fully prepared to explore in a most thorough and satisfying way.
No, she was determined to enjoy this afternoon in the arms of the man she loved—no—wanted. Tomorrow at this time she’d be on the train out of town. Leaving Dead End and Tyler Matthews forever. It was a good plan. Damn near a perfect plan. And she really had no other logical choice.
The Emperor's New Clothes Page 22