‘What the hell …’ Josh Nelson began as Kitty marched to the centre of the stage and stood, facing the audience, her hands on her hips.
‘I want you all to know what’s going on!’ she announced in a voice that still managed to remain throatily enticing. ‘I want Miss Hobson as a personal maid and I’m prepared to stump up a handsome pay-off for her. If any of you gents make it difficult for me, none of you will ever step across the threshold of the Gold Nugget or the Mother-Lode ever again!’
‘I’ll make it difficult for you!’ The Pig roared, dragging a terrified Edie to her feet by her arm. ‘A thousand dollars, Nelson! See if Goolidge’s tart is willing to top that!’
‘If she does you won’t be able to outbid her!’ Saskatchewan Stan roared, barrelling across the stage towards him.
‘A thousand and five dollars,’ Kitty said, reading Stan’s intentions exactly.
‘A thousand and …’ The Pig began.
He didn’t get any further. Saskatchewan Stan drew back his fist and then rocketed it at The Pig’s jaw. The shouts and cheers and stamping feet, shook the walls.
‘And now this little lady is coming with me,’ Kitty said to an outraged Josh Nelson.
Hiding his fury with difficulty, Josh made a show of shrugging his shoulders and smiling. Kitty wasn’t fooled. She’d made an enemy but she didn’t care. She’d had enough of men to last her a lifetime. None of them were worth a cent. Not even Lucky Jack.
As The Pig’s cohorts dragged him away by his heels she led Edie by the hand to where Marietta was waiting and where Saskatchewan Stan shortly joined them, Josh Nelson regained control of the proceedings yet again.
‘We’re having quite an evening, aren’t we, boys? Two brides out of the running and only three to go!’ Maliciously he strode towards Susan’s chair. No-one would be fighting to put an end to the bidding for Miss Bumby, that was for sure! ‘And now we have a lady who knows all about living in the Yukon! A lady so refined the man marrying her will find himself hob-nobbing with Commissioners and Governors! Now boys, who will start of the bidding? Have we to start it at a thousand dollars?’
‘You’d do better starting it at five hundred and decreasing till you get a taker,’ someone shouted coarsely occasioning a storm of laughter.
‘Now, boys. Let’s have a little gallantry please. A thousand dollars. Am I bid a thousand dollars?’
He was not. To his utter astonishment, and to the disbelief of his audience, he was bid five thousand dollars. It was the entire wealth at the bidder’s command and if he had had more, he would have bid more. Not because such a bid was necessary in order for him to be assured of gaining Miss Bumby as his bride, but because in his eyes she was a pearl without price; because it was his way of showing her how much he respected and honoured and loved her.
‘Sweet saints’alive!’ It’s the new minister!’ someone shouted.
As the Reverend Mr Jenkinson approached the stage, the laughter and cat-calling reached new heights. Lilli doubted if either he, or Susan, heard any of it.
With tears of happiness streaming down her face Susan had risen to her feet. With a dignity that wrung Lilli’s heart the Reverend Mr Jenkinson mounted the stage and walked towards her.
‘My dear Miss Bumby,’ he said, taking both her hands in his, ‘I would be so proud … so honoured … if you would agree to become my wife.’
The tears that had glittered on Lilli’s lashes when Lord Lister had lifted Kate in his arms, now blurred her vision altogether. Part of the nightmare was over, thank God. Kate was safe and secure, loved by the man she loved with all her heart. As was Susan. Only she, herself, had not been claimed by the man she had believed loved her.
Her eyes no longer even roamed the sea of faces, looking for him. He wasn’t going to come. She knew it just as surely as she knew she had never truly loved him; that she had merely been foolishly and girlishly infatuated with him, intoxicated by his surface glamour and Greek god good looks.
‘And now for a little bit of real business!’ Josh Nelson was announcing. ‘This little lady,’ he stood behind Lettie’s chair, resting his hands on her shoulders, ‘this little lady has come North to find herself a husband. She’s darn pretty and worth her weight in gold. Now, belly up boys and let the best man win.’
Lilli looked across to Lettie in anguish. Lettie did look pretty. Her dishwater-blonde hair was brushed until it shone, twisted high into an elegant chignon. Her raspberry-pink dress shimmered in the lamplight. Her composure was total. With her hands clasped in her lap, her knees and feet primly together, her back straight, she looked for all the world as if she were in a church, not a tawdry, sawdust-floored dance-hall.
As the bidding grew heated and frenzied Lilli reflected that at least Lettie wasn’t being humiliated in quite the way Susan had been humiliated. Men aplenty wanted her as a wife. And Lettie wanted to be a wife. She wanted the respectability she believed it would bring; a home of her own; a new beginning in a raw, wild country she found healingly clean and pure.
‘Fifteen thousand!’
‘Sixteen thousand’
The clamour was a physical assault on the ear-drums. What would happen when it was her turn? Would Kitty Dufresne perhaps come to her rescue? Through the smoky haze she could see Kitty, one arm still protectively around Edie’s shoulders, Marietta and Saskatchewan Stan standing close by. She wondered if Edie would eventually marry Saskatchewan Stan. She wondered how she could ever have been so romantically foolish, so idiotically unrealistic, to have ever believed that becoming a mail-order bride was a solution to the problem of making a home for Leo and Lottie.
The clamour had become a barrage of sound. A young man was striding towards Lettie’s chair. An auburn-haired clean-shaven young man with broad shoulders and slim hips. As he stood a little awkwardly in front of Lettie, Lilli could see that his eyes were brown. Brown as pecans with blunt black lashes. His nose was straight as a knife. His mouth well-shaped.
Lilli felt relief almost swamp her. If he had ridden on stage on a white horse he couldn’t have filled the bill as a rescuing knight more perfectly.
‘Pleased to meet you, ma’am,’ he was saying in a honey-dark voice to Lettie. ‘My name’s Will Bennett and I’m a New Foundlander, heading out to Nome. I reckon I could provide real well for you, ma’am. I’m not much good with words, but I think you’re pretty as a picture and I’d be right proud to have you as my wife.’
Cheers rang the rafters, hats were thrown into the air. Despite their rough-hewn appearance and manners it seemed that the audience possessed a strong, sentimental streak.
‘And now boys!’ Josh Nelson was hollering, ‘Now we come to the last, but by no means the least, of the brides looking for husbands tonight.’ He rested his sweaty palms on Lilli’s shoulders and she wrenched herself out of his grasp. Fresh cheers went up. Smiling as though Lilli’s reaction had been part of a pre-arranged joke, Josh Nelson continued, ‘It isn’t often we get such a beauty east of the Chilkoot and such an opportunity might never come again! She has a kid brother and sister in her care but that shouldn’t be much of a disadvantage to all you men itching to get hitched. So come on, don’t be shy, give me your bids!’
Dimly Lilli was aware that somewhere, someone had begun to cry. It wasn’t herself. She was far, far beyond tears. Who was it then? Was it Susan? Kate? She thought how ironical it was that out of all her friends she, alone, was not going to have a happy ending. Perhaps, if it hadn’t been for Lucky Jack, she might have had a happy ending. If it hadn’t been for his promise to spare her from this debacle, her certainty that even if he hadn’t succeeded in paying Josh Nelson off for her he would have been here, outbidding every man in Dawson for her, she would never have crossed the Phoenix’s threshold. She would have tried to raise the money to pay Josh Nelson off. Even if it had taken her the rest of her life to pay off the debt it would have been worth it. She would have worked as a maid or a dance-hall girl. She would have done anything, anything at all …’
> ‘Seventeen thousand dollars!’
‘Eighteen thousand dollars!’
Nauseously she realised that she was bringing in the highest bids of the evening. Who were the men making them? Was it the man clutching his poke of gold fiercely in his right hand, his cloth cap, a little too small for him, perched squarely across his bullet head? Was it the square-faced, sombre-eyed man, with a thickly knitted tie, heavy boots, and shapeless, high-waisted trousers?
‘Going! Going! Go …’
‘Twenty-five thousand dollars!’
Lilli gripped onto the hard seat of her chair. She knew that voice. She would have known it anywhere.
There were no topping bids and he began to shoulder his way through to the front of the audience, his thick red hair, springy as heather, gleaming copper-gold beneath the light of the Phoenix’s oil-lamps.
Something very like hysteria bubbled up in her throat. Ringan wasn’t a gold-rich prospector. How could he even begin to pay Josh Nelson twenty-five thousand dollars? And why should he even be prepared to? Unless … unless … The breath was tight in her chest as she thought of the reason Ringan Cameron might think twenty-five thousand dollars well spent.
With her emotions in tumult, dizzy with relief, she watched him vault on to the stage, his big body as limber as a cat’s.
‘I hope you dinna object to this arrangement,’ he said seconds later, looking down at her his grey eyes dark with concern. ‘But it would seem to be the only way of getting ye out of this hell-hole.’
To a storm of hurrahs he stretched a large hand out towards her. It was like being offered a lifeline. Her hand slid into his and as he drew her to her feet she swayed against him, so great was her relief.
‘Hst, now,’ he said comfortingly, his arm going round her waist to support her, ‘It’s all over now. Ye’ve nothing more to trouble yourself about.’
‘And now we’ll have a twenty minute break, boys, before the weddings!’ Josh Nelson was announcing, giving the lie to Ringan’s words. ‘Just long enough for the ladies to prink themselves up and put on their bridal gowns.’
If Ringan’s arm hadn’t been very firmly around her waist, Lilli would have fallen. ‘Surely the weddings aren’t going to take place here, in a dance-hall?’ she said incredulously.
‘Sure are, ma’am,’ a man busy clearing the stage of chairs said, ‘That’s what folks come here for. To see lots of purty brides gittin themselves hitched.’
Ringan sprang off the stage. ‘Have ye got a bridal gown?’ he asked, reaching up to her, circling her waist with his hands, lifting her down to the saw-dusted floor.
‘No … I … Are we really going to get married?’
He stood very still, his hands still around her waist, his thumbs and fingers almost meeting. ‘As I understand it, it’s part of the contract,’ he said at last. ‘If we renege on what Mr Nelson chooses to term the “entertainment part of the agreement” he might well consider my bid null and void.’
At the thought of what would then happen to her, Lilli shuddered. She didn’t want to stand on the stage behind her, ever again. And she didn’t want Ringan to remove his hands from her waist. They were standing so close that her nose was a smidgeon’s distance from fitting comfortably into the small hollow at the centre of his chest. If he had wanted, he could quite easily have rested his chin on the top of her head. She was a tall girl and it was an odd sensation to have someone tower over her in such a masterful way. Odd and profoundly pleasurable. ‘I think,’ she said, not trusting herself to meet his eyes, ‘that I would prefer it if we didn’t renege on the agreement.’
He was silent for several beats of time. What his expression was she didn’t know. Her eyes were still fixed very firmly on his chest. People were milling all around them but all she was aware of was the opened buttons of his green plaid shirt, the strong tendons of his neck, the smell of his shaving soap.
‘Then I think, if ye dinna mind, I’d like to spruce up for the event,’ he said, the very timbre of his voice sending tingles down her spine. ‘Will ye excuse me for a wee while?’
‘Yes,’ she said, still not lifting her face to his, not daring to in case he should read her emotions in her eyes. Sweet saints’alive! Was it happening to her all over again? Was she falling heedlessly, intoxicatedly in love with man she barely knew?
As he removed his hands from her waist and turned, once again shouldering his way through the mass of humanity crammed into the Phoenix, she felt as if a giant fist had slammed into her solar plexus. Yes, she was falling heedlessly and intoxicatedly in love, but it wasn’t with a man she barely knew. She knew he was brave, for she had see him dive into the mid-Pacific to save Leo’s life. She knew he was dependable because always, when he had been needed, he had been there. She knew he was compassionate, for she had witnessed his compassion in the Indian camp when he had brought Nana’s mother’s child into the world. And she knew he was tender, for she had seen it in his eyes, felt it in his hands.
She watched him disappear through the throng. ‘How could I have been so blind? So unaware?’ she asked herself, breathlessly.
‘Lilli!’ Marietta threw her arms around her, hugging her joyously. ‘Wasn’t Mr Cameron absolutely splendid? What will happen now? When Lucky Jack gets here will he reimburse him for the cost of his bid? I wonder what on earth is delaying him? Will …’
‘Mr Jenkinson is going to perform our marriage ceremony,’ Kate said radiantly, interrupting her. ‘Perry asked him if he would do so because the minister due to perform the marriages is half-drunk, and Mr Jenkinson instantly agreed.’
‘Am I getting married?’ Edie suddenly asked. ‘Am I getting married to Mr Saskatchewan Stan? I’d like to be married to Mr Saskatchewan Stan. He makes me laugh and he makes me feel safe.’
‘Wasn’t it wonderful when Lord Lister strode up on to the stage and swept Kate in his arms?’ Marietta said, her voice fizzing with happiness at the way everything had worked out. ‘And wasn’t Mr Jenkinson brave? I’m sure merely coming into the Phoenix was the hardest thing he’s ever done!’
‘I have my bridal dress in my travel-bag,’ Susan said, her heavy-featured face beautiful with happiness. ‘Has anyone else got one? What are you all going to wear? Has …’
‘Perry’s rushed off to buy me a wedding gown,’ Kate said, her eyes glowing. ‘Apparently you can buy anything you want in Dawson, twenty-four hours a day, if you have the money.’
‘I’m going to get married just as I am,’ Lettie said, smoothing her hand over the skirt of her raspberry-pink gown. ‘Ever since Kate gave me this gown, I’ve been lucky and happy. I’m going to keep it for always. I’m going to wear it when my children are christened and when it’s my fiftieth wedding anniversary.’
‘Land’s sakes!’ Kitty exclaimed, her voice thick with throaty laughter. If you can still get into it then you’ll be the luckiest woman in Christendom!’
‘Can I marry Mr Saskatchewan Stan?’ Edie asked again, tugging on Marietta’s arm to gain her attention. ‘I really would like to, Marietta. Truly.’
‘I’m not sure you’re ready for marriage yet,’ Marietta said gently, ‘Not even to Saskatchewan Stan.’
‘You may be wrong there,’ Kitty said thoughtfully. ‘I know Stan well. ‘He wouldn’t rush Edie’s fences. He’d be just as patient and understanding as was necessarry.’
‘Then I think we should talk to him,’ Susan said, putting her seal of approval on the idea. ‘I think we should find out what his feelings are.’
Lilli stood a little apart from them all. She knew what her feelings were. She knew she didn’t want Lucky Jack finally remembering about her and re-paying Ringan the amount he had bid for her. She no longer wanted to marry Lucky Jack. She wanted to marry Ringan Cameron. She wanted to marry a man she could depend on. A man who would never let her down. A man who was honourable in every sense of the word.
‘I’ll talk to Stan,’ Kitty said, more relieved than she liked to admit at the thought of not having Edie as he
r personal maid. ‘And I’ll get Nelson to bring a little order to the proceedings. We don’t want any barracking and cat-calling and we don’t want any unsuitable music. If that organist of his refuses to play something dignified I’ll play the darn thing myself!’
The minute they entered the parlour-like room with its tawdry drapes and tacky atmosphere Lottie rushed to greet them. ‘What happened?’ she demanded near hysterically, ‘Did Ringan get there in time? Why are Susan and Kate looking so happy? What’s happened?’
‘What’s happened,’ Marietta said as Lottie threw her arms around Lilli, ‘is that you’re going to be a bridesmaid four times over, possibly five, so you’d better let me re-do your braids and find some ribbon for them.’
There was a knock at the door and a member of Nelson’s bar staff handed over a gold beribboned dress-box.’
‘For Miss Salway,’ he said unnecessarily.
‘I’ll have the ribboning for Lottie’s hair,’ Marietta said, well-pleased at such unexpected bounty. ‘There’s yards of it! Enough for a sash as well!’
Ten minutes later there was another brief knock and Kitty entered, her arms full of a swirl of white satin and lace.
‘Stan knows the situation perfectly,’ she said to the room at large. ‘He says he’d cut off his hands rather than fright Edie. And he wants to marry her.’ A dancing smiled dimpled her cheeks. ‘He says she’s the only young woman he’s ever met who doesn’t make him feel jittery! He says she makes him feel safe and makes him laugh! Looks like it’s a match made in heaven, doesn’t it.’
‘I’m going to be married?’ Edie asked in breathless wonder. ‘I’m going to marry Mr Saskatchewan Stan and live happy ever after?’
‘You sure are, sweetie,’ Kitty said, laying her billowing cargo down on a chair. ‘And what’s more, you’re going to wear a London-made ball gown for a wedding-dress.’
Forget-Me-Not Bride Page 25