Wishes (Montgomery/Taggert 14)

“How awful for you,” Louisa said. “Surely Nellie would believe her own sister over the word of a stranger.”

“If Mr. Montgomery told me the sky was purple, I’d believe him, and nothing my sisters could say would change my mind,” Mae said. When the others glared at her, she glared right back.

“Mae is right,” Terel said. “You all saw Nellie last night. She believes herself in love with the scoundrel. She’ll never believe anything I say.” She looked over her hankie at the women and waited. Idiots, she thought. Use what limited brainpower you have.

“I shall tell Nellie he also kissed me,” Charlene said, looking for all the world like a martyr about to die for a true cause.

“And so shall I,” Louisa said with just as much pride.

“I shall say I am carrying his child,” Mae whispered, then opened her eyes. “All right. Just one kiss.”

“You are such good, dear friends, and someday Nellie will appreciate what you’re doing for her.”

“We are Nellie’s friends, too, and we’ll do anything we can to help, but Terel, I was wondering—just because we might need to know, in case Nellie should ask—what was Mr. Montgomery’s kiss like?” Charlene asked.

“Yes, purely for the sake of research, perhaps you should tell us,” Louisa said.

“Well,” Terel began, “just for research, I’d say it was divine. He is a very strong man, and he pulled me quite close to him, and—oh, heavens! I think Mae has fainted.”

Chapter Nine

Jace didn’t come to visit her the day after the ball, and Nellie tried not to be disappointed. She told herself she was expecting too much, and that perhaps he had business elsewhere. By the second day, when she still hadn’t seen him, she decided to make a trip to Randolph’s Grocery and perhaps stop by her father’s offices to see if Jace was there. She baked six dozen oatmeal-raisin cookies to take to her father’s employees.

After what Terel had said about Nellie’s conduct the night of the ball, Nellie hadn’t ventured out of the house. She was afraid people might look at her oddly, might question her behavior of that night. She knew that seeking out Jace was probably the worst thing she could do for her reputation, but it had been so long since she’d seen him. Also, she wanted to stop by her dressmaker’s and see about having a new dress made. For some reason her old dresses didn’t seem to fit.

The moment she stepped onto the boardwalk she knew her worst fears had come true. A couple of young men passed her, tipped their hats, then leered at her. Nellie turned away. She waved to three young women across the street, but they pointedly looked away, refusing to acknowledge Nellie’s existence.

It is worse than Terel said, Nellie thought. I made a fool of myself before the whole town. And now I’m once again flinging myself at him, she thought. She told herself that under no circumstances should she go to visit Jace, but she kept walking toward her father’s office.

As soon as she entered she saw that no one was sitting at Jace’s desk. She tried not to look at the empty space, tried not to watch every doorway. She smiled and passed out cookies and asked pleasant questions of each of her father’s employees. She was aware of the cautious way they looked at her. Even though they hadn’t been at the ball they had obviously heard about her conduct.

She stayed at the freight office for as long as she politely could, then left. No one had even mentioned Jace. She started for the grocery, but Miss Emily saw her from a distance and came running.

“Nellie,” Miss Emily said, “I want to talk to you.”

Nellie blushed. “I apologize for my behavior,” she whispered. “I never meant to embarrass people.”

“I just want you to know that I don’t believe any of it. That young man really cares for you.”

“Yes, I think he does, but that doesn’t excuse my conduct.”

“We all make mistakes. Now,” Miss Emily said, “we have to be practical. What are you going to do about the child?”

“What child?”

“You don’t have to pretend with me. Everyone in town knows you’re carrying his child. You just have to decide what to do now.”

Nellie had to get her mouth closed. “I’m not carrying a child.”

“But I heard—” Miss Emily stopped. “Don’t tell me this is all gossip! Everyone is saying that that Montgomery fellow was told you were expecting his child and that’s why he left town.”

Nellie blinked. “Left town? Who left town?”

Miss Emily took a deep breath. “You poor child. What in the world are the gossipmongers of this town doing to you? You’d better come to my house and have a talk.”

It was an hour later when Nellie left Miss Emily’s house. She didn’t feel anything at the moment; her pain was too deep for feeling. Miss Emily had repeated what she had been told by the young ladies who came to her shop. It seemed that while Jace had been visiting Nellie he had also been visiting other women on a regular basis. At least five women told lurid stories of Jace Montgomery’s kissing them. Mae Sullivan went into such detail about Mr. Montgomery’s touching her that three young ladies had nearly swooned.

“If just one girl had said these things I wouldn’t believe her, but it seems that your Mr. Montgomery cut a wide swath through this town. Oh, Nellie, I am so sorry. I usually consider myself a good judge of character, and I thought this man was a gentleman, but it seems that he was not. I’ve been told he only wanted your father’s freight office, and when he couldn’t have it he left town.” That wasn’t the only reason she’d heard he’d left town, Miss Emily thought. If he was as bad as the town was saying and he had had his way with Nellie, time would tell if she carried his child. It was no use making Nellie feel worse than she already did.