That probably wouldn’t last long, but Elizabeth swallowed down her natural reluctance to tell the truth and began. “As you probably have guessed, I’m not from South Dakota. I live here in the city. Here in this house, in fact, when I’m in town.”
“I gathered as much from Zelda and Cybil.”
“A few weeks ago, my brother and I were traveling to Washington City.”
“Your brother?”
“I told you I’d lied about some things. Yes, my brother, Jake. We met Oscar Thornton on the train.”
“Thornton? The man who helped get us out of the workhouse?”
“The very same. He and Jake became fast friends, and we were staying at the same hotel. The Willard.”
“But you said . . . Oh, more lies.”
“Exactly. While we were there, Thornton and Jake met a man who was making a lot of money in the stock market. He offered to help Jake and Thornton make some money, too, and for a few days they did very well. Then something went wrong. I don’t really understand what, because I don’t know much about that sort of thing,” Elizabeth lied, “but Jake and Thornton lost a lot of money because Jake made some sort of mistake.”
“How dreadful.”
If Anna only knew! “Even more dreadful because Thornton blamed Jake. He thought Jake had taken the money or something. Thornton’s men beat him very badly, and then they came after me.”
“You! Whatever for?”
“Thornton thought I could make Jake give him his money, I guess, or else he was just going to get some revenge. At any rate, I escaped just in time, but they were chasing me. I didn’t have any place to go, and then I remembered the women were demonstrating in front of the White House, which was just down the street.”
“And that’s when you joined the demonstration. I remember, you looked a little anxious, but I thought it was just because you’d never demonstrated before.”
“You know the rest of the story, up until we came back to the city.”
“So Thornton knew you were in the workhouse with us,” Anna mused. “That’s probably why he helped all of us get released.”
“It was. I knew he still wanted his revenge, so I was going to sneak out of New York at the first opportunity, but I had to go see my brother first, to make sure he was all right. That’s where I went the day I told you I got lost.”
“You were in a state that day. Did seeing your brother upset you so much?”
“No, he’s recovering nicely, but Thornton’s men had followed me, and after I visited Jake, they forced me into a cab and took me to Thornton’s house.”
“How awful. But you escaped!”
“No, he let me go, but only after he threatened me with unspeakable things. He was going to kill me, Anna. He wanted his money back, but Jake and I don’t have it, so I did the only thing I could think of. I promised to convince David to help Thornton sell his rifles to the army.”
Anna gaped at her. “How on earth did you think of that?”
Oh dear, Anna really was innocent. “I don’t know. It just came to me. At first Thornton didn’t believe that I could convince David of anything, so I told him we were engaged.”
Anna considered this for a moment. “But you weren’t engaged then.”
“I know, which is why I had to . . . uh . . . encourage David to propose so quickly.”
“And you said you have no intention of marrying him. That’s very cruel to poor David.”
“Oh, Anna, he doesn’t really want to marry me. I tricked him into proposing, and I’m not going to break his heart. I’m going to be a terrible fiancée, not the girl he thought I was at all, and he’ll be very relieved when I break it off with him after the rifles are sold.”
Anna stared at Elizabeth for a long moment, and Elizabeth held her breath, waiting for the final judgment. After what seemed an eternity, Anna smiled. “Elizabeth, you are amazing.”
“No, I’m not. I’m desperate. And of course now you can tell David I’m a liar and a cheat who tricked him, and he won’t help Thornton and—”
“Don’t be silly! Of course I won’t tell him. In fact, I’ll help you convince David. I don’t want anything to happen to you, either, Elizabeth.”
Surprisingly, Elizabeth felt the sting of tears. No one had ever loved her so unconditionally.
“And don’t you dare cry,” Anna scolded, “because then I’ll start, and we’ll never get anything done. First of all, are you sure this will work? Will it satisfy Thornton, I mean? Enough so he’ll give up his plans to harm you?”
Elizabeth obediently blinked away the moisture in her eyes. “Honestly, I don’t know, but I was planning on taking a long trip as soon as Thornton gets his money, someplace where he’s not likely to find me.”
“That’s a wonderful idea. I could go with you.”
Elizabeth smiled at Anna’s eagerness. “I’d like that, but I’m not sure it would be safe.”
Anna waved her concerns away. “We’ll worry about that later. Now we need to make some plans for persuading David. You don’t know him as well as I do. I’ve been talking him into things my whole life.”
Poor David. He’d gotten the good looks, but his sister had gotten the brains. Over the next hour, she proved it, too.
? ? ?
“Have you and Elizabeth decided where you’re going on your honeymoon?” Anna asked her brother that night at dinner. She looked so innocent, Elizabeth could hardly believe they’d planned this whole conversation. Anna would have made a good grifter.
David grinned broadly at the mention of a honeymoon. “We haven’t discussed it yet.”
“It should be special, don’t you think? You only have one honeymoon. Elizabeth, where would you like to go?”
“Oh, I really don’t care. Wherever David decides is fine with me.” She gave him her sweetest smile, which clearly charmed him. “As long as we’re together, it will be wonderful.”
“But you must have an opinion,” Anna insisted. “Isn’t there some place you’ve always dreamed of going? Now is your chance, while David is still besotted with you!”
“You’re being silly, now,” Mrs. Vanderslice scolded good-naturedly.
“But it’s true!” Anna said. “Confess, Elizabeth. What is your heart’s desire?”
Elizabeth hemmed and hawed and let Anna coax her a little more before she finally admitted, “I’ve always dreamed of taking a European tour. Oh, I know it would cost a fortune and David couldn’t possibly be away that long, but . . . Well, that’s what I’ve always dreamed about.”
“It wouldn’t cost that much,” Anna said. “And David could probably do some business in Europe while you’re there, couldn’t you?”
David was a little disconcerted, but to his credit, he rallied quickly. “I might be able to.”
“As for the expense,” Anna continued, “didn’t you say that Oscar Thornton wanted your help with something? There would certainly be a big commission in that.”
“I also said I wasn’t going to help him.”
“But why not? Papa always said not to let sentiment interfere with business.”
“I’m not sure your papa ever said that,” Mrs. Vanderslice said.
“I know Mrs. Bates doesn’t approve of Mr. Thornton,” Elizabeth said, although the words wanted to stick in her throat, “but he did help get us released from the workhouse. I can’t help feeling very grateful for that.”