Duncan gave a heavy sigh. “That’s all I can ask. Houston, tell me, have you always wanted money so badly? Have you considered your life in this house one of poverty?”
“Is his money one of the other reasons you think I’m marrying him?”
“Of course.” He looked surprised. “Why else would you marry the great ugly thing? If it weren’t for his money, no one would speak to him. He’d be just another coal miner like the rest of his family and no one would give him the time of day.”
“Would he be just another miner?” she asked. “He started as a stable boy but he’s earned millions. No one gave it to him. Perhaps what I like is the man inside, the one who can pull himself up from the stable filth to achieve something in life. All I’ve ever done is learn how to dress properly.” And he needs that knowledge, she thought, feeling a little thrill run through her body.
“What else should a lady know?” Duncan asked.
“Women today are writing books, are—.” She stopped, waving her hand to dismiss the subject. “I wonder why no one is asking why a man of Mr. Taggert’s wealth is marrying a woman from the Colorado mountains? He could have a princess.”
“You are a princess,” Duncan snapped.
Houston smiled at him as she moved toward the door. “I must go. I have to visit Mr. Bagly and choose a wardrobe for my future husband, then I must order a second wedding dress identical to the first one. I’m sure Blair hasn’t thought to do it.”
“I doubt she has either,” Duncan said, reaching into his pocket. “The bank president came by yesterday with this.” He handed her a piece of paper.
It was a depos
it slip stating that two hundred and fifty thousand dollars had been deposited in her name.
Houston’s hand on the doorknob trembled a bit. “Thank you,” she murmured. “Thank you for everything and I shall do as you ask.” With a smile, she left the room.
She was on the stairs before she could breathe again. She stopped and looked again at the deposit slip. He said he was going to deposit “some” money for her. Whatever faults he had, lack of generosity was not one of them. Repressing the urge to laugh with delight, she hurried up the stairs to dress for the day’s outing.
An hour later, she sat inside Mr. Bagly’s little shop, fabric samples all about her. One of the things she’d learned in finishing school was how to dress a man—if for no other reason than so she could argue with her husband’s valet.
“He’ll need a dozen business suits,” she was saying to Mr. Bagly as a clerk wrote furiously. “This light-colored wool, the Oxford gray check, the Angola, and that heavy blue Scottish wool . . . for now.”
“And for evening?” Mr. Bagly asked.
“The black worsted with a white marseilles vest. Now, for riding.”
She chose clothes for sports, pausing at, then rejecting, the golfing knickers and clothes for afternoon receptions. For his own wedding, she chose a black cutaway, then shirts, scarves, gloves. She then chose a large supply of underwear of lisle, linen handkerchiefs, and balbriggan socks.
“Shall we leave the hats until later?”
“Yes,” Houston answered. “And the canes.” She looked at the little gold watch pinned to her breast. “I must go now. May I have the completed suit?”
When Mr. Bagly had brought the new suit and a complete set of accessories, including shoes, from a storage room, Houston made arrangements for him to measure Edan for clothes for the wedding. “Good luck,” he called after her, as Houston sped away in her elegant new carriage. “You’ll need it,” he muttered under his breath.
Two hours later, Houston was dressed for the garden party, wearing a formfitting gown of dotted white mousseline de soie over yellow satin, a wide yellow ribbon across the bodice, tying in a bow on her hip. Somehow, this morning, Susan had managed to pull Houston’s corset a full three-quarters of an inch tighter. Breathing was done only in the upper half of her lungs, but what did a little discomfort matter? She wanted to look her best for her first official outing with her fiancé.
Sighing as she parked before the Taggert house, she realized she must hire servants soon. Now, she needed someone to help her from the carriage. Looking around to make sure no one was about, she pulled her dress up almost to the knees and stepped down.
A low whistle came from her left. “Prettiest thing I’ve seen all day,” said Kane, walking around the side of the house. “In fact you got better legs ’n a dancer I seen in New Orleans.”
Houston tried to control her blush. “I brought your suit, and you just have time to get ready.”
“Ready for what?”
She still wasn’t used to seeing him without his beard. His face was bristly this morning with dark, unshaven whiskers, but they didn’t hide his extraordinary good looks. How fortunate, she thought, to agree to marry a grizzly bear and have him turn into a handsome prince.
“For the garden party at two,” she answered.
“Oh, that,” he said over his shoulder as he started toward the door, leaving her standing.
“Yes, that.” She picked up her skirts and followed him inside and toward his office. “I thought perhaps we’d have time for a few lessons before we went, just enough so you’d feel comfortable, and of course you’ll want time to dress.”