“Excellent,” Mrs. Coulter
replied. “All right Jessie, let’s pack
these up.” She went to the window and
rapped briskly on the window at the boy, who hurried around to come in.
“I need for you to run to the
shop and bring my staff back to help carry all of this.” She directed him.
“Senora, I will leave these
underthings here—oh yes, I have a nice nightdress here too. It will be long but that won’t matter if you
are sleeping in it.
‘Here, boy, run along!” Gilbert ran out the door.
“Shall I help you put on the
pretty skirt before I leave?” Mrs.
Coulter wanted to know.
“No, thank you, Mrs.
Coulter. I will change myself. If you would only step across the hall and
tell Mr. Slade I will be ready in fifteen or twenty minutes.”
“Of course, ma’am. I will send you a note around tomorrow with
the other things.” As the door swung shut behind her Ellen saw
Mrs. Coulter raising her hand to knock on Slade’s door.
Ellen took her new clothes and went
into the bedroom. She quickly dressed in
the shirtwaist and skirt. She went to the mirror to fix her hair and gasped in
surprise when she saw what Jessie had done with her hair. The sides had been swept up into a cluster of
curls on top of her head and the rest of it left fall into waves and curls at
the back. She liked it and thought that
with a few pins she might duplicate the work.
She turned away and walked back
into the sitting room leaving it as it was.
She was thankful that they didn’t have to leave the building as the dusk
fell. She had nothing except her old
coat and it would be a shame to put the ugly thing on over her pretty outfit.
There was a knock on the door and when she opened it expecting George, there
stood Slade.
The shock on each face was
reflected by that in the other’s. Slade
could not believe the change in Ellen.
He had always thought her beautiful but her hair and the dress took his
breath away!
Ellen saw a new Slade. She had never seen him in anything but his
everyday clothes rough and baggy. The Slade standing before her now was a
different man. First he had gone to have
a haircut and a shave. Now his hair was
clipped smooth and lay lightly above his collar. But what surprised her most
was his clothing. He wore a black suit
that had been pressed and fit smoothly across his broad shoulders. The pants hung crisply in a sharp crease at
the front. He looked every inch the grandee that her husband had when he
took occasion to dress up, except Slade dressed in the American style instead
of the Spanish.
Tears filled Ellen’s eyes.
Slade stepped into the room and
stood looking at her.
“I’m sorry. I know the amount of wealth doesn’t matter to
you. You have always come from those circumstances. Yet you lived in my house like anyone
would. You cooked, you cleaned and never
once did I hear about the Aguilar wealth.
It made no difference to you.
“It only made a difference to me.
“I’m sorry, Ellie. Forgive me. I love you.
I brought these clothes along to surprise you for our wedding, but I
thought I’d get them out now. The hotel
laundry pressed them for me. Let me take
a bath there, too. I wanted you to be
proud of me.”
Ellen slid her arms around his
neck and looked up into his face. “I was
already proud of you. Now I’m astounded at
how handsome you are! And there is
nothing to forgive. Not at all.” She pulled his head down to kiss him.
Slade laughed. “I can be a foolish man sometimes.”
Ellen led him to the little
sofa. “Let’s sit a little while and I’ll
tell you about my new clothes.”
For a short half hour they sat
and, between shared endearments and caresses, talked about Mrs. Coulter and her
new clothes and what had to be done tomorrow and where they should go to be
married. Then they made their way to the
dining room to have their dinner. Before
they left, Ellen walked to the table and took several silver coins from the
box. She put them in Slade’s reluctant
hand.
“In about 24 hours I will be your
wife. Everything I have will be
yours. This is just part of that.”
“I’m not marrying you for your
money, lady!” he exclaimed. “And we have money already. I may not be as rich as the Aguilars but we
lived frugally for a lot of years--me ‘n’ Jacob ‘n’ Madeline. We have a nice nest egg and I don’t know if
Jacob is ever coming back. So ‘we’ can
afford it.”
“But we had better not let this,”
he picked up the box, “sit on the table all out in the open. I think maybe we
should put it across the hall. Who would
look for the lady’s money in the bodyguard’s room?”
He picked up his coat and draped
it over the box cradled in his arm. With
his other hand he took his Ellie’s elbow and led her out into the empty hall. He left her standing there for a minute while
he took the box into his room and put it amid the stack of blankets and boxes
he’d moved there from the wagon while she was with Mrs. Coulter. When he was sure it was hidden safely, he
returned to Ellen putting on his jacket. They went down to dinner.
The dining room was pleasant and
quiet. There was even music playing, two men in the corner with guitars. When
they sat down, Slade placed Ellen with her back to the room so he could watch
the room.
He was uncomfortable with the
proceedings at the bank. How would
anyone know that Ellen was ‘deceased?’
Who would even know that the ranch would be up for grabs? Why should the bank president be so reluctant
to even consider Ellen’s offer to provide identification? There were too many inconsistencies in the
picture to let Slade be comfortable with the situation. He was anxious for Ellen’s safety. As they ate the pleasant dinner Slade watched
those who came and went in the room and in the lobby beyond them.
By the time they were ready to
return to their rooms Ellen was dragging.
She had been through a lot during the day. The ride and the cold from the day before,
the night camping, the early morning drive and then all of the turmoil involved
in proving her identity, even Mrs. Coulter’s voluble kindness, all had worn her
out.
Slade insisted on checking her
rooms before he left her. There were two
bedrooms and a sitting room. All of them
had doors connecting to the hall. Slade
made sure the outer doors were all locked.
Without telling her, he placed a chair firmly under the doorknob of the
empty room. He also checked the lock on
the servant door in Ellen’s bedroom. He
would have been happier if he could have bolted the doors but they only had
simple key locks.
He started to leave her but at
the last minute said, “Wait. I’ll be
right back.”
When Slade returned he brought
with him the shotgun she had practiced with when he had to leave her alone to
check his cattle. He broke it open and
showed her that it was loaded.
“Put it by you on the bed, will
you? I am worried that someone will try
to hurt you. The Aguilar lands and the
bank deposits are worth killing for. And
there have been too many questionable dealings involved with it.”
“Eli, this is the hotel I’ve
always stayed in! I’ll be all right. You checked the doors. They’re all
locked. Don’t worry about me.”
“Just keep it beside you.
Please? If I could I’d stay in here
with you,” he stopped. “This is the first night I’ve not been close to you
since you came to the house…It makes me nervous.” He grinned sheepishly. “Please.
Keep the shotgun.”
“I’ll sleep with it.” Ellen
promised. Slade hugged her tightly and kissed the top of her head as he had so
many times. He hated to leave her
alone. “Be safe.” He gave her a quick kiss and left her. He
waited until he heard the key turn in the lock before he went to his own bed.
Slade took his good clothes off
and hung them neatly on the rack provided for suits. He started to lie down in his underwear but
then got up again. He put on his everyday pants and a shirt. He lay down on top of the spread and left his
stocking feet propped on the footboard of the bed. He was too long to fit comfortably.
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