Bloody Lessons (25 page)

“Actually
, there are a few interesting avenues to follow-up,” Annie said. Her dissatisfaction with Nate’s decision not to come this evening returned. She said rather bitterly, “There is a lot I would like to look into further if Nate would bother to find the time to consult with me or let me act on my own. After all, he is the one who asked for my help. But now he is too busy to come and discuss what I have learned.”

Esther frowned and said to Annie, “Not able to come tonight as planned? Well, Herman says the case he is working on with Cranston could be the making of him.
Some important state constitutional issues. You don’t fault him for taking his career seriously, do you?”

“No, I don’t. That would be hypocritical on my part
,” Annie replied, unable to keep her irritation out of her voice. She stood up and went over to the sink and fiddled with the geraniums on the sill of the window. “But isn’t it his responsibility to find out who the anonymous letter writer is as well? There are things he needs to know.”

“Can’t you just write to him?” asked Esther.

“Yes, but it’s not the same. I need the time and privacy to really discuss the case with him. At one time, he would have been glad of the excuse to…but…now, I just don’t know what he wants.” Annie stopped, appalled at how much she had revealed of her fears, fighting back tears.

Beatrice came up behind her, put her arm around her waist, and said softly, “Oh
, dearie. It seems to me he’s already said what he wants, dear man. You’re the one who said no.”

Esther, who had come up to stand on the other side of her, gently wiped her cheeks with a handkerchief and said, “Annie, Beatrice is right. You told me that you asked him to withdraw his suit, agree to go forward slowly. Seems to me, it’s not what Nate Dawson wants that’s the issue but what you want. Maybe it is time for you to figure that out.”

Chapter Thirty-two

Saturday evening, February 7, 1880

"As in the case of nearly all the burlesques, the original story serves only as the motive for introducing as absurd relations, a number of shapely people in handsome costumes..." ––
San Francisco Chronicle
, 1880

Annie looked over at Laura, who stood on a stool in front of the mirror in the corner of Annie’s bedroom, having some last minute alterations made on a dress Annie had given her.
She is so beautiful. I wish her mother was here to see her
, Annie thought suddenly.

Laura smiled at her and said, “I can’t thank you enough for giving me this lovely outfit. My brother is so
stupid
. Asking us to the theater without a thought of what I would have to wear.” She blew Annie a kiss while Miss Millie Moffet sewed a ruffle of light rose satin at the hem to accommodate Laura’s greater height. “Miss Minnie and Miss Millie are truly angels to make it over to fit me in two days. I am such an Amazon next to you, Annie.”

Annie, who was drying her hair by the fire, saw Miss Millie smile but knew she wouldn’t say a word. It was her sister, Miss Minnie, who was the talkative one, and she was still upstairs in their attic room making some last minute changes to the gown Annie was going to wear.

“I am glad to see the way Miss Millie has been able to alter it," Annie replied, "adding the satin to the bodice and the flounce of the underskirt. It looks an entirely different dress and very becoming on you. I rather think the rose works better with your darker coloring.”

Thank heavens the
Moffets weren’t working on a deadline for one of their usual clients, who were among the wealthiest San Francisco women. The two sisters were already being incredibly generous in making a day-time suit for Laura, asking only that she read aloud to them in exchange. Laura would be chagrined if she had any idea the amount these two elderly ladies from Natchez usually got for their tailoring. In fact, it had taken some effort on Annie’s part to persuade them to take any money at all from her for these last-minute alterations on both of their outfits.

Annie wondered what Nate would think when he saw his little sister all dressed up. The sight of Laura looking so happy was certainly helping to lift her own spirits. The Misses
Moffet had cut the front of the bodice, revealing a discreet amount of Laura’s chest, just enough to make the dress appropriate for evening wear. With her dark hair pinned up and threaded with a dusky pink ribbon that echoed the excited blush on her cheeks, she looked stunning.

A soft knock on the door was followed by Kathleen’s entrance. When she saw Laura, she threw up her hands and said, “Oh my, don’t you look grand.”

“Indeed she does, Kathleen,” said Esther Stein, who’d followed Kathleen into the increasingly crowded room. “You will turn some heads this evening, young lady.”

Coming over to where Annie stood by the fireplace, Esther gave her a swift kiss. “Here, I brought you both some gloves. They’ve always been too tight for me
. Goodness knows why I held on to them. But I thought they would be just the thing for tonight.”

“Oh, Esther, silk. How elegant. Thank you,” said Annie. “Do check to see which pair fits Laura best. She was just saying that her brother didn’t understand exactly what going to the theater entails for a woman. All he has to do is add a silk tie to his usual formal wear, and he’ll be ready to go.”

When Esther raised her eyebrows at this comment, Annie laughed. “I know, I know. I shouldn’t complain. This is rather a treat. But if you will remember, last summer when Nate invited me to the theater, he cancelled at the last minute. I just hope he shows up, or everyone’s work to get us ready will be for naught!” Annie deliberately kept her tone light, not wanting to reintroduce the subject she had been thinking about constantly since Esther and Beatrice had their “heart-to-heart” with her––whether or not she was ready to move forward in her relationship with Nate.

Esther smiled and patted her on her cheek, then went over to Laura and Miss Millie. Kathleen came up to Annie and held ou
t her dressing gown, which she put on over her corset and petticoat, and directed her to a chair, saying, “And you, ma’am, sit, so I can do up your hair. Miss Minnie says she will be down with your dress in about ten minutes.”

As Kathleen began
deftly to arrange Annie’s red-gold curls, she said very quietly, “Please, ma’am, I need to tell you something. I was hoping I would get a chance to speak to you when you were alone, but I don’t think it should wait.”

“Good heavens, Kathleen,” Annie responded in a whisper. “What’s wrong? Go ahead, Esther and Laura aren’t listening.”

“Right before dinner, my brother Ian stopped by the kitchen on his way home. He’d been off with David Chapman and Jamie trying to fly a kite up on Lone Mountain.”

“That was nice of Mr. Chapman.”

“Yes, although I think he hoped Mrs. Hewitt would accompany them.”

Oh poor Mr. Chapman. No wonder he’s made no headway with Barbara. Not when there’s the possibility that her legal husband is alive somewhere.
Annie shook off this melancholy thought and told Kathleen to get to the point.

“Well, Ma’am, he told me that he and Jamie have a plan to catch the man who attacked Laura. When Jamie’s ma told him about keeping an eye out for that Buck or any man who seemed to be hanging around the house, he got it into his head that someone’s been following them home from Clement Grammar. They think it must be the same person who’s been hanging out in the alley, disturbing Dandy so.”

“Oh dear, did Ian say why Jamie thought someone was following them?”

“He says Jamie can feel someone’s eyes on the back of his head as he walks down the street. You know boys. They’ve got themselves all worked up to be heroes.”

Annie smiled. “So what is their plan?”

“Ian said next Wednesday he’s going to run up from his school, you know he goes to Eighth Street Grammar, and get up to Clement in time to hide out at Foster’s store where he could see out the window if any man seemed to be following all of you. He figures
if he saw someone that he’d follow and see where the man goes, maybe figure out where he lives.”

Annie turned to look at Kathleen, who sharply told her to sit still. Staring forward again she said, “That’s actually a clever idea. Someone could be loitering up Leavenworth a block, and we’d never notice
them. But Ian shouldn’t do it. What if Buck, or whoever, caught him at it?”

“That’s what I told him. I said that this was something for Mr. Dawson to take care of and under no circumstances should he carry out the plan.”

“Do you think he will listen to you?”

“I don’t know. And what if Jamie tries to catch the man himself? I thought Mrs. Hewitt should know. Will you tell her?” Kathleen then said, “There, your hair is done.”

Annie stood up and turned to Kathleen. “Thanks so much for letting me know. I’ll tell Mrs. Hewitt tomorrow, and I will bring it up to Nate tonight if I get a chance. But here’s Miss Minnie. I need to get dressed if I don’t want to be late. You go on down to answer the door; Mr. Dawson should be here any minute.”

*****

Sitting in the first balcony of the California Theater and looking around, Laura’s senses were overwhelmed. The heady aroma of perfume and flowers overlaid the distinct smell of gas emanating from the lights mounted on the walls and the gigantic chandelier that hung down from the ornate ceiling nearly four stories above her. The voices of the two thousand people in attendance rose to a deafening roar above the discordant sounds of the orchestra musicians tuning their instruments. Every wall was heavily decorated with gilded plaster frescos that framed murals portraying familiar San Francisco landmarks. The limelights at the edge of the stage were so bright it was if the San Francisco Bay panorama painted on the curtain was in full sunlight. Yet all the beauty of the building’s interior couldn’t out-shine the visual splendor of the crowd itself. Like enormous flowers, the women’s dresses were of every color and hue imaginable; the plain black formal dress of the gentlemen who were present only enhanced the vibrancy of the women’s outfits.

“Laura, does this meet with your expectations?” Annie leaned across Nate to touch her arm.

“Oh, my, it exceeds my expectations.” Laura tucked her arm through Nate’s and said, “Thank you so much for bringing us. I have never seen so many people, so beautifully dressed, in one place in my life. However did you get the tickets? I feel like I could lean over the railing and practically touch the stage.”

“My new law partner, Cranston, has season tickets. But he is too caught up in the trial, so he offered them to me. I didn’t realize it was a Burlesque, though
. I’m not sure how Mother would feel about me taking you to see something this…”

“Unrefined? Scandalous?” Laura laughed. “Seems to me that after centuries of civilized people going to see plays by Shakespeare where the female roles were played by men, no one should complain about women playing men’s roles. Turnabout is fair play, I say!”

Annie laughed and said, “Bravo, Laura. I did read that Miss Roseau is excellent in the role of Manrico, the wandering minstrel. Since both Laura and I are quite familiar with what a woman’s nether regions look like when encased in bloomers and hose, I would think that it is you, Nate, who might find this opera too risqué.”

Laura felt her brother stiffen.

Then he took a deep breath, laughed weakly, and said, “In that case, I beg both of you to keep the information that I attended such a play from my parents. I wouldn’t want them to lose respect for me.”

Laura gave his arm another squeeze then looked at the large playbill Nate had bought for her when they entered the building. Amused by what she read, she said, “This should be fun. Listen to this. The playbill says that the
'Ill Treated Il Trovatore or The Mother, The Maiden, and The Musicianer’ is ‘an Original Burlesque…founded on a famous though somewhat confused Opera.’”

Laura continued to read the synopsis of the play
silently, looking to see if she recognized any of the songs but mostly trying not to eavesdrop on what Nate and Annie were saying to each other. She’d gathered from Annie that last Sunday, after she had left them alone in the small parlor, they’d disagreed about the next step to take in their pursuit of the anonymous letter writer. She hoped they were working that out.

At Annie’s urging, she’d apologized to Nate this evening for her own loss of temper on Sunday. She came down to the parlor first and found him looking very stiff and handsome. He’d obviously remembered, for once, to go to the barber’s. His collar and cuffs were starched to perfection, and he’d even put in the heavy gold studs their father gave him as a graduation present from college. Because he was quick to compliment her on her dress and didn’t say a word about the neckline, she got up the nerve to tell him about writing Seth Timmons. She explained that she thought Seth should know right away about her seeing Buck and that he had written back a short note. He’d reported that he hadn’t found out yet if Buck was in the city when she was attacked, but he planned to travel to Cupertino Creek this weekend to see what he could learn. Nate frowned but didn’t say anything. Thankfully
, Annie had come into the room right then, which seemed to have rendered him speechless.

Annie
certainly looked beautiful tonight. Miss Minnie had told Laura she was wearing a dress the Steins commissioned as a Christmas present for her, but they had altered it for evening wear by making it sleeveless, changing the neckline, and putting on a train. The material for the bodice was a dark royal-blue velvet, with a slightly lighter shade of satin for the skirt. The neck was square and cut quite low, but it and the straps that fit over her shoulders were trimmed with blue lace. The train was also satin, edged in embroidered velvet. As Laura had watched Nate’s first reaction to Annie’s appearance, she remembered reading once that the hero “devoured” the object of his love with his eyes. She’d never quite understood what that meant before.

“But Nate, Frazier is our best lead.”

Laura’s attention was caught by the frustration in Annie’s voice.

“I said I would interview him, and I will
,” Nate replied, sounding equally frustrated.

“Della Thorndike mentioned that he played in this theater’s orchestra. Maybe at intermission
, we could find him and talk to him together.” Annie picked up the playbill, and Laura could see her point at it. “See, there is an intermission between the two acts.”

She missed Nate’s answer when there was a brief spurt of applause. She noticed that the orchestra had gone quiet and that there was a man in formal dress standing to the side of the stage next to the curtain. The noise of conversation began to sputter out, and a few stragglers moved hurriedly towards their seats. Laura leaned forward, scanning the house to take it all in once more before the curtain went up. Then she noticed a face that looked familiar across from her on the second balcony. Della Thorndike, her blonde hair nearly white in the gaslight, was standing near the end of an aisle, apparently waiting to take her seat.

Laura turned to Nate and whispered, “Look, there’s Miss Thorndike. The teacher I am working with who leads the Normal class at Girls High. Isn’t she elegant?” Reaching over Nate to touch Annie’s arm and get her attention, Laura whispered, “Annie, Miss Thorndike. She looks wonderful in that grey-blue silk. I wonder who she’s with? Oh, there, that must be her escort.”