“Mrs. Parker . . .” Ruby tried to still the conversation, but the older woman would not be stopped.
“We don’t have time on our side. I want you to look at William as a possible future husband. You will give him heirs, and in turn your life will be comfortable. You will have everything you desire. What more could a young girl want?”
“I desire to be on the stage,” Ruby said in a strong voice.
Alice seemed amused. “Onstage now, yes. But in ten years? Twenty years? What then? Your looks will fade. And another young beauty will take your place.”
Ruby looked down at her shabby gloves and dress. She felt out of place, and the words shocked her. King’s mother wanted her to contemplate marriage. She would be the breeding mare to the stallion, yet the wife lay upstairs somewhere in a large bed, wasting away.
“I really don’t think this is the time to speak of such things. As you said, ma’am, Caroline is ill. But miracles do happen.”
“Not in New York they don’t,” Alice said.
“I should go,” Ruby said softly. “Thank you for the tea.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you, Ruby. Just to lay the facts before you. Caroline will die and soon. You could take her place and in doing so have an easy life. Open your heart to my son.”
Ruby shivered as she made her way out of the mansion. Alice Parker’s daughter-in-law lay dying, but all she saw was the future—a future where Caroline was already dead. It horrified Ruby.
Ruby waited outside the mansion for a taxicab, and when one pulled up, she rushed inside it just as a man was exiting.
“Ruby!”
She heard Ford’s voice and turned to him.
“Are you ill?” he asked, seeing her pale face.
“No. No, I’m not,” she said, a little disjointed.
“I was to meet King in ten minutes, but I’ll see you safely home first. Drive on,” he directed the driver. “What has happened? Why are you here?”
Ruby shook her head. She looked at Ford’s handsome face. The face she loved.
“I hardly know where to begin,” she said.
“Tell me, or I’ll think the worst.”
She quickly relayed the invitation to tea and the bizarre conversation that had just occurred.
“Well. It seems as if you’ve caught the eye of King Parker and in doing so, that of his mother.”
“Do you know about her?” Ruby asked.
“There isn’t that much to know. She came from a wealthy family in Rhode Island and brought money to the marriage. King’s father was weak and liked to drink. When he died, she poured all of her energy into King, her only child.”
“And Caroline?”
“Almost the same story. An heiress. I’m not sure if she came from Boston or someplace else. Sickly. Or so I’ve heard.”
“I didn’t even know what to say to her, Ford. King has said nothing to me, yet she seems to want me married and bedded already,” she flushed as she said the words.
“She is what she is. A meddling woman who wants grandchildren. Pay her no mind.” Ford took her hands in his, and she closed her eyes.
She could feel his warmth seep into her cold hands, and she was comforted by him.
“I should have refused the invitation, but I didn’t think it wise. He’s doing so much for the show,” she explained. “He’s financing our tour to London.”
“The show, Ruby. Not you. You don’t owe him anything,” Ford told her.