Her justification for her omissions had been that everyone back home would be distressed if she described the poverty she lived amidst, and be worried for her safety if she was a little more frank about Heaney’s. But now she was seeing all those people she cared about in her mind’s eye, she felt they would be even more alarmed by the changes in her and Sam than by how they lived.
They certainly wouldn’t approve of her flaunting herself in scarlet satin, or that she had a few tots of rum most nights she played at Heaney’s. They’d be appalled that she’d made friends with a whore, and that the man she wanted was a womanizer.
As for Sam, they’d be shocked that he stayed out all night, and planned to have his own gambling house. Mrs Bruce would be opening her bottle of smelling salts!
It made Beth sad to think she was leading the kind of life her old friends would never approve of, yet she had no intention of returning to being an overworked but virtuous laundry maid. Every time she got up on that stage she felt like a bird being set free from a cage, and she loved being admired and applauded.
The only part of her old life she really missed was Molly.
That was a dull ache inside her which never went away. Yet at the same time she was very glad her little sister was safe in England for this was no place for a small child.
Beth turned away from the window and looked objectively at the room. It struck her that the decorative touches she’d added to it represented how things really were. The blue counterpane which acted as a curtain between hers and Sam’s beds was tied back for now with a red velvet ribbon to give it a semblance of elegance; the theatre posters hid the stained walls; the brightly coloured dresses she wore in Heaney’s were a decoration too, and every week she bought a bunch of flowers to make the room seem more homely.
But these were like the veneer in her letters home. They only masked the fact that the place was grim.
It struck her that Sam, with his sensitive nature, had probably been aware of this from the day they moved in. Maybe that was why he was so dead set on becoming rich, so that they wouldn’t have to pretend any more or be ashamed of anything.
Beth didn’t hanker after very much more than she had now, just a quieter place, a room of her own and a real bath. But then, she did want to go home one day to see Molly, and she certainly didn’t want to go back like a poor relation. So maybe she ought to start thinking ahead and planning, like Sam was doing.
That night she played better than she’d ever played before. Her whole body seemed to be overtaken by the music, and she danced around the stage, whipping up the crowd to a near frenzy. The applause was deafening, no one wanted her to stop, and Pat Heaney had to get up on the stage to bring it to an end.
‘Ain’t our little gypsy swell?’ he shouted out to the crowd. ‘She’ll be back on Monday night for you again, so make sure you don’t miss her.’
He came out into the back room to bring her money as she was mopping the sweat from her face and neck. ‘You were great tonight,’ he said with far more warmth than he usually displayed. ‘You’ve come on a treat since you started here.’
He held out her money and she saw that it was around seven dollars. But she had seen dozens of dollar bills fluttering into the hat.
‘I think then that’s it’s time you began paying me better,’ she said impulsively. ‘Or at least give me the hat to count up the money myself.’
His smile vanished and Beth felt a pang of fear.
‘Why, you ungrateful little bitch!’ he exclaimed. ‘Are you saying I’m cheating you? I took you on when no one else would.’
Beth knew this was a decisive moment. She must either back down or fight back. She was very afraid; his cold eyes and that fearsome scar told her that he was too dangerous to take chances with. But she had played her heart out and something deep inside her told her she must stick up for herself or go under his heel.
‘You were the first person I approached to play,’ she said defiantly. ‘And right from the first night here there were plenty of others who’d take me on. As for cheating me, well, I know you’ve done that from the start. You never give me half of what’s in the hat.’
‘I did you a favour,’ he roared at her.
‘No you didn’t, you did yourself one,’ she said, sticking her chin out. ‘More people come in when I’m playing, and they stay and get drunk. It doesn’t cost you a dime to have me here, and the customers put that money in the hat for me because they have enjoyed my music. So you’re cheating them too by keeping it.’
‘Do you know what happens to people who cross me?’ he said, pushing his face right up to hers, so close she could smell his whisky breath.
‘I haven’t crossed you,’ she said. ‘But if you call leaving here and going to work in another saloon crossing you, then I shall do that unless I get what I’m due.’
She could see he was tempted to strike her, his hand holding her money was tightening into a fist, but she stood her ground even though she was afraid.
He let out a foul stream of expletives, but Beth reached for her coat and put it on. ‘You’ve got just one minute to make that up to fifteen dollars,’ she said, looking at the money still in his hand. ‘Or I walk out and never come back.’
‘I won’t keep your brother on if you do that,’ he said, his eyes narrowing like a snake’s.
‘Then you’re a bigger fool than I took you for,’ she said tartly. ‘Where are you going to get another honest barman like him?’
His fist came up, but Beth was growing so angry now that she slapped it away. ‘You hit me and I’ll go and work in the saloon right next door just to spite you,’ she hissed at him. ‘Sam would never work for you again either. Your minute is up now. Either give me the fifteen dollars or step out of my way.’
She knew she had won when he reached into his pocket, brought out a roll of bills and peeled some off for her. In a strange way she was disappointed, for he had just proved how valuable she was to him, and now she couldn’t walk out and work for someone else she would like and trust.
‘I want to count the hat money myself from now on,’ she warned him. ‘I’ll give you half because that’s what I agreed, but try to cheat me again and I’m off.’
She flounced past him into the bar and made her way over to Sam. ‘Be careful what you say to him tonight,’ she whispered. ‘I’ve just had a spat with him.’
Sam looked worried and glanced over towards the back room. ‘He wants me to stay late for cards. Is he going to get you a cab?’
‘I’ll see she gets home,’ a familiar voice spoke up just behind her. ‘That is, of course, if Beth’s agreeable!’
Beth spun round. ‘Theo!’ she exclaimed, unable to hide her joy.
As the cab jogged home to Houston Street, Beth told Theo the bare bones of what had been said.
‘Of course you were right to stand up for yourself,’ he said. ‘And very brave. But Heaney is a vindictive man, Beth, I’ve heard many stories about him.’
‘He won’t hurt Sam, will he?’ she asked fearfully.
‘I don’t think so, he needs him. I doubt he’d dare try to do anything to you either, there are too many customers who would string him up if he did. But both of you must be on your guard with him. It would be as well to try to butter him up a bit when you work next.’
‘I’m not doing that,’ she said indignantly.
‘My dear,’ Theo sighed, ‘take a tip from me. Always disarm your enemies with charm, it works far better than fists, guns or knives.’
As the cab drew up to Beth’s house, Theo took her hand. ‘I’m going back there now, but may I take you out somewhere tomorrow?’
Beth beamed, her altercation with Heaney all but wiped out by Theo’s request.
‘I’d love that,’ she said.
‘Then I’ll be round for you at one,’ he said. ‘Now, how about one of those lovely kisses?’
It was pitch dark on the stairs as always. The only gas light was by the front door, and that had been turned o
ff long ago. Beth felt as though she’d been bewitched as she groped her way up the four flights. She was on fire from Theo’s kiss, her heart racing, and out of breath from the climb. She stumbled several times when she missed her footing, but the excitement she felt because she would be seeing Theo the following day banished any thought of the scene earlier with Heaney.
Once in her room and the oil lamp lit, she slumped down on her bed, still panting. Theo wanted her, and that was all that mattered.
‘You look very lovely, Beth,’ Theo said as he jumped out of his cab to greet her the following day. ‘I hope you haven’t been waiting out here in the cold for long?’
‘Oh no, I only came downstairs just now,’ she lied. She had in fact been waiting on the doorstep for over twenty minutes, too afraid to stay upstairs in case he walked into the house through the ever open front door and saw, heard and smelled how grubby, noisy and smelly the place was.
She wished she’d had more notice that he was going to take her out, because then she could have got something new to wear from Ira’s shop. As it was, she had to wear the same old brown coat, but she had borrowed a fox fur collar and hat from Amy to give it a lift. The dress beneath it was a dark violet-coloured creépe with a wide cream lace collar and cuffs, but it wasn’t very fashionable for it had been a hand-me-down from Mrs Langworthy.
‘I thought I’d take you up to Central Park,’ Theo said as he helped her into the cab. ‘The trees should be beautiful in their autumn colours, and later we’ll go to a restaurant I know near there.’
Beth hadn’t been to Central Park since August, when the grass was brown from lack of rain. That day even the leaves of the trees had hung limply with a coating of dust. But it looked beautiful again now, the grass a lush green and the trees a blaze of yellow, russet, gold and brown in the sunshine.
Arm in arm, they walked around the lake, and Theo told her he’d had a big win the previous night at Heaney’s. ‘I won’t be going back there for a while,’ he said. ‘Heaney’s a nasty piece of work and I wouldn’t put it past him to pay someone to attack and rob me as I leave his place. He knows I took you home last night too, so if he asks you anything about me, just say you hardly know me, that we only met once on the ship coming here.’
‘That is all I could say,’ she said impishly. ‘I don’t know anything much about you.’
He laughed. ‘And I intend to rectify that today. Now, what would you like to know?’
They sat on a bench by the lake and he told her about his parents, older brother, two younger sisters and their home.
Beth had a picture in her mind of a mansion surrounded by farmland with a tree-lined avenue leading up to it. He’d been educated first at home with a governess, later at boarding school. His father ran the farm himself and Theo described him as a bluff, opinionated and selfish man who had no time for anyone who wasn’t as strong, or didn’t ride or shoot as well, as he did.
‘It was fortunate I could ride and shoot as well, if not better, than him,’ Theo said with a grin. ‘But that didn’t make up for my lack of interest in farming, and my reputation as a ladies’ man. He blamed Mother for both, but then he blamed her for almost everything.’
He said his mother was a loving but rather fragile woman who was unable to stand up to her overbearing husband. His older brother was like his father and Theo felt he had nothing in common with either of them. He did have a great deal of affection for his younger sisters, but said despairingly that they were like their mother, indecisive, weak and without any opinions of their own, so he thought they were destined to marry men just like his father.
‘I’m the odd one out,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I always wanted more than was offered — excitement, colour and new experiences. The thought of living the kind of sedate life my father approved of, which inevitably would mean marrying someone appropriate, filled me with horror. I want adventure, and when I marry it will be an adventure too, to someone with a mind of her own, passionate, with a sense of fun. I never want my children to suffer the kind of chilly formality I grew up in.’
Beth secretly thought that woman sounded like her, but she kept that opinion to herself and told him instead how she had been destined to be the dutiful stay-at-home daughter, until her parents’ deaths pushed her into a different kind of servitude.
She said her father had a heart attack and that her mother died in childbirth with Molly, but passed on quickly to how she went to work for the Langworthys, lightening the story by making it clear how good her mistress was to her.
‘My heart wasn’t really in leaving England,’ she admitted. ‘But it was for the best, and Mrs Langworthy writes every few weeks to tell me how Molly is getting on.’
‘You’re a very courageous girl,’ Theo said thoughtfully.
‘Not many could cope with so much while so young. I’m sure your parents would have been very proud of you.’
Beth laughed. ‘I’m not so sure they’d have approved of me playing my fiddle in a saloon.’
‘You are using a God-given talent, and you are making a great many people happy by doing so. To me that is commendable.’
‘I used to dream of playing the piano in a smart hotel lounge,’ she admitted. ‘I certainly didn’t think I’d end up living in a stinking tenement, or working for a thug.’
Theo shook his head in amusement. ‘You’ll be moving on upwards soon. Sam told me last night of his plans to work in gambling houses. I believe he can do it too — he’s sharp, he’s got charm and he’s got you beside him. I’d bet on you two making a fortune.’
‘You need money to begin.’ Beth sighed.
‘Not always.’ Theo smiled and tickled her under the chin.
‘Charm and a good idea will always get backers. I have a disreputable uncle who it is said I take after. He told me once, never put your own money into a business venture. He has lived by that and amassed a fortune.’
‘What are your plans?’ she asked.
‘For now, to see how much money I can win in New York, while I keep my ears open for a whisper about the next boom town.’
‘Boom town?’ Beth exclaimed. ‘What do you mean?’
Theo sucked in his cheeks. ‘Like San Francisco in ’49, for instance. It was a small fishing village until gold was found nearby. Then tens of thousands stampeded to get there, and fortunes were made.’
‘Not many of them found gold,’ Beth said, remembering that from a history lesson.
‘The smart people don’t go for whatever has created the stampede, be that gold, diamonds or silver,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘It’s always very hard work, and only a few strike it rich. The really clever people, the ones like you and me, go there to offer services, shops, saloons, hotels, restaurants, dance and music halls.’
Beth giggled. ‘And I play the fiddle in one of these places and they toss gold nuggets at me?’
‘Exactly.’ He smiled. ‘It certainly wouldn’t be any fun for them being rich unless they can spend it wildly.’
‘But surely all the gold, diamonds and silver have been found now?’ Beth said.
‘Not necessarily. Parts of America are still virtual wilderness, and who knows what’s under the ground? But boom towns can spring up for other reasons too. The railway, for instance — wherever that goes people will want houses, shops and the rest.’
‘And gambling houses?’ she asked, raising one eyebrow quizzically.
He smiled, a hint of mischief in his dark eyes. ‘And gambling houses.’
‘Well, if you get word of one of these boom towns, you make sure you tell Sam and me. We’d be glad to tag along.’
Theo had been sitting with his arm along the back of the seat, and he suddenly moved it to her shoulders. ‘I can’t think of two people better suited to join me,’ he said. ‘Sam promises to be a force to reckon with because he’s so determined. As for you, with your fiddle, you’d be an asset anywhere.’
Beth thought he was going to kiss her, but he must’ve remembered it wasn’t don
e to embrace a young woman in public, for Theo suddenly said it was getting cold and it was time they found a coffee shop and got warmed up.
As they walked out of the park, Beth thought how perfect he was — handsome, a gentleman and so entertaining too.
Jack had been fun to be with, but in comparison to Theo he was just a boy, with no finesse or education. When he took her hand it was awkwardly, he lunged at her for a kiss, and he certainly didn’t have the ability to say or do things which would make a girl tremble and shiver.
When Theo took her hand his thumb would caress hers; if he put his hand on her waist he gave it a little squeeze. They found a little coffee shop just across the road from the park and once they had sat down he took her hand and lifted her fingers to his mouth, not just to kiss them, but to give each one a delicate lick with the tip of his tongue.
‘I want to kiss your mouth but this will have to do for now,’ he whispered.
It was the unexpectedness of his little touches and compliments which made them so thrilling.
He was talking about the plight of some immigrants who hadn’t been able to find anywhere to live and had been caught a few days earlier trying to camp out under the bushes in Central Park, but he suddenly broke off to smooth away a strand of hair escaping from beneath her hat. ‘Your eyes are like deep forest pools,’ he said, then carried on with what he’d been talking about before.
He slid one finger up under the sleeve of her coat, as if to feel her pulse, and the intimacy of it made her blush. ‘Your skin is as soft and smooth as a baby’s,’ he whispered. When she dropped her teaspoon to the floor because he made her flustered, he reached down to get it and he put his hand on her leg, just above her ankle boot.