and in the end she wouldn't have anychoice but to answer them honestly. By the time they sat across from each other at dinner tonight, she wouldn't have a scrap of pride or a remnant of illusion left to hide behind. If there was a God and He was indeed benevolent, Stennett wouldn't finish shredding the already tattered facade of the MacPhaull public appearances. If God didn't intervene, then she'd have to. And if she failed … No, failure simply wasn't an option.
“Got your course plotted?”
Her pulse quickened, but whether from Stennett having so accurately guessed the nature of her thoughts or from the way his easy, amused drawl strummed her senses, she couldn't tell. It didn't matter, she assured herself, meeting his gaze. She couldn't afford to back away long enough to figure it out. Lindsay offered him what she hoped passed for a confident smile. “It happens that I do.”
“Would you care to share it with me?”
“No, not particularly.”
The corners of his mouth slowly inched upward and an intense light glimmered in his eyes. “Fair enough. I figure I have a pretty good idea what it's going to be anyway. So tell me how come your housekeeper has only one arm. I gather by her ability to compensate that she lost it quite a while back.”
“She was in a horrible carriage accident. It's a miracle that she lived at all.”
He nodded and then cocked a brow to ask, “And how did Richard Patterson end up in a wheeled chair?”
“A carriage accident.”
“Same one as Mrs. Beechum?”
“Yes.”
“Now in Texas,” he drawled, “a housekeeper and the head of the company together in a carriage wouldn't turn a head or even be cause for a blink. But I haven't always lived in Texas and I'm thinking that New York tongues wagged for weeks when they caught wind of the situation.”
His intelligence clearly went beyond business matters. Lindsay considered her options and decided that frankness was the best choice. “Actually, the tongues wagged for
years
, not that it was any of their business. Frankly, I don'tsee that it's any of yours either, but in the interest of keeping you from inadvertently putting your foot in it and creating an awkward situation, I'll tell you the story.”
His smile was appreciative and perhaps just a bit apologetic. “She's a very nice lady. I like her.”
“Abigail is a good person and I'm very thankful she came into my life. I wouldn't hurt her for anything in the world. I expect you to keep what I'm about to tell you a closely guarded secret. And please don't let her know that I've spoken of it with you. She'd be mortified.”
“I'll take it to the grave with me.”
Lindsay studied him and decided that he hadn't made the promise lightly, that he could be trusted. “She was married to a Mr. Elijah Beechum, a banker well known for his miserly ways, both in terms of his affections and his money keeping. I was no more than five when the accident happened, just eight when I asked my father about it and he told me what he knew. I don't know how Richard and Abigail met; no one's ever said. And no one's ever said how or why they came to be in the carriage together that day. Assumptions, however, were made.”
“That they were having an affair.”
Lindsay nodded. “Abigail was hovering on the edge of death when her husband divorced her, leaving her penniless and homeless. She went away for a year or so; to convalesce at a distant cousin's home in New Jersey. Some have gone so far as to suggest that she gave birth to Richard's child while away, but I think that's just a vicious, groundless rumor. My father claimed to have made discreet inquiries into the matter and he found no proof of a child.
“Regardless, from all accounts, she was only grudgingly welcomed at her cousin's home and she was asked to leave as soon as she was physically able. Richard, once he'd recovered as fully as he could, begged my mother to take Abigail in and at least give her a roof over her head and
“Got your course plotted?”
Her pulse quickened, but whether from Stennett having so accurately guessed the nature of her thoughts or from the way his easy, amused drawl strummed her senses, she couldn't tell. It didn't matter, she assured herself, meeting his gaze. She couldn't afford to back away long enough to figure it out. Lindsay offered him what she hoped passed for a confident smile. “It happens that I do.”
“Would you care to share it with me?”
“No, not particularly.”
The corners of his mouth slowly inched upward and an intense light glimmered in his eyes. “Fair enough. I figure I have a pretty good idea what it's going to be anyway. So tell me how come your housekeeper has only one arm. I gather by her ability to compensate that she lost it quite a while back.”
“She was in a horrible carriage accident. It's a miracle that she lived at all.”
He nodded and then cocked a brow to ask, “And how did Richard Patterson end up in a wheeled chair?”
“A carriage accident.”
“Same one as Mrs. Beechum?”
“Yes.”
“Now in Texas,” he drawled, “a housekeeper and the head of the company together in a carriage wouldn't turn a head or even be cause for a blink. But I haven't always lived in Texas and I'm thinking that New York tongues wagged for weeks when they caught wind of the situation.”
His intelligence clearly went beyond business matters. Lindsay considered her options and decided that frankness was the best choice. “Actually, the tongues wagged for
years
, not that it was any of their business. Frankly, I don'tsee that it's any of yours either, but in the interest of keeping you from inadvertently putting your foot in it and creating an awkward situation, I'll tell you the story.”
His smile was appreciative and perhaps just a bit apologetic. “She's a very nice lady. I like her.”
“Abigail is a good person and I'm very thankful she came into my life. I wouldn't hurt her for anything in the world. I expect you to keep what I'm about to tell you a closely guarded secret. And please don't let her know that I've spoken of it with you. She'd be mortified.”
“I'll take it to the grave with me.”
Lindsay studied him and decided that he hadn't made the promise lightly, that he could be trusted. “She was married to a Mr. Elijah Beechum, a banker well known for his miserly ways, both in terms of his affections and his money keeping. I was no more than five when the accident happened, just eight when I asked my father about it and he told me what he knew. I don't know how Richard and Abigail met; no one's ever said. And no one's ever said how or why they came to be in the carriage together that day. Assumptions, however, were made.”
“That they were having an affair.”
Lindsay nodded. “Abigail was hovering on the edge of death when her husband divorced her, leaving her penniless and homeless. She went away for a year or so; to convalesce at a distant cousin's home in New Jersey. Some have gone so far as to suggest that she gave birth to Richard's child while away, but I think that's just a vicious, groundless rumor. My father claimed to have made discreet inquiries into the matter and he found no proof of a child.
“Regardless, from all accounts, she was only grudgingly welcomed at her cousin's home and she was asked to leave as soon as she was physically able. Richard, once he'd recovered as fully as he could, begged my mother to take Abigail in and at least give her a roof over her head and
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