Rebecca Hagan Lee (6 page)

James whirled around and faced his housekeeper. “I don’t understand.”

Mrs. Glenross carefully thrust the blanket into his arms. “This should explain it.”

James let go of the mail. Envelopes bounced off his trouser legs, and fluttered to the hardwood floor unheeded as he accepted the bundle his housekeeper handed to him. James felt the warmth of a tiny body and immediately knew he held an infant in his arms. He shifted the blanket to the crook of his arm, then used his free hand to gently peel back the corners of the soft flannel so he could get his first look at the infant.

As he stared down at the red wrinkled face and body of a female newborn who couldn’t have been more than a few hours old, James reached out and stroked the soft black strands of hair covering the baby’s head. He marveled at the feel of the baby’s tender skin beneath his fingertips, the shape of her nose and mouth, and the length of the dark eyelashes fanned against her cheeks. James ran his knuckles lightly down the delicate skin of the baby’s cheek, then touched her tightly balled fist with his index finger. Instinctively the baby grasped James’s finger.

James grinned. “She’s a strong one, Mrs. G. A real fighter.”

Helen Glenross stooped to pick up the mail, then rose to her full height and grinned back at James. Her thin, pinched features were wreathed in a broad smile as she shared the wonder of a new life with her employer. “Aye, that she is.”

“Where did you find her?” James asked.

“In the garden behind the greenhouse by the back gate. I had just gone into the greenhouse to pick strawberries for a shortcake. I heard a noise, felt someone brush against the back of my skirt. I glanced around, noticed that a few fruit and vegetable plants were bare, and figured we had another hungry sneak-thief. I went outside to make sure the back gate was secure and found this little moppet lying in a basket in the middle of a row of cabbage—between the regular cabbage and the bok choy. She couldn’t have been more than a couple of hours old.”

James nodded. “Anything wrong with her?” he asked, an almost hopeful note in his voice as he automatically counted her fingers and toes. “Any deformities? Birthmarks?”

Mrs. G. shook her head. “Not that I can find.”

“Damn,” James muttered beneath his breath. He didn’t want to find that the innocent little girl suffered physical deformities; he only sought a sense of reason, of logic to the ancient Chinese practice of abandoning unwanted baby girls. James could almost understand a frightened superstitious young woman abandoning a deformed child. But this … This was beyond his ken. This ritual abandonment tore at his heart, saddened and angered him. Another perfectly healthy, absolutely beautiful baby had been abandoned, left in payment for a few pilfered fruits and vegetables, simply because she’d had the misfortune to be born female in a society that demanded that the firstborn child be male.

“At least they brought this one inside the gate,” Mrs. G. said. “You nearly ran over Emerald. Remember?”

How could he forget? The near-accident had frightened him out of ten years of his life. “The word must be finally getting around to every corner of Chinatown,” James said. “I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’ll gladly take in any unwanted female children.”

Mrs. Glenross placed her hands on her hips and snorted in disdain, her thin lips flattened into a disapproving line. “The leaders of the Tongs most likely think you’re going to make slaves or concubines out of these precious little lambs. That’s probably why they’re allowing the poor mothers to bring ’em here.”

“I don’t care what the Tongs think.”

“But the terrible rumors going ’round about you …”

James looked over at his housekeeper. So, Mrs. G. had heard the rumors about him, too. No wonder she was threatening to quit. He couldn’t blame the woman for being uncomfortable living in his household, now that she was alone with him, now that the last governess had flown the coop. Hell, he’d be uncomfortable, too. Nobody wanted to live
with a murderer—even a rumored murderer.

He’d been lucky to find Mrs. Glenross, and he needed her now more than ever, so James decided to do whatever he could to waylay her fears. “Blast the rumors.” James did his best to temper his strong reaction. “I’d rather have the whole nation think of me as a procurer than allow any more of these innocent children to die.” He turned his attention back to the baby in his arms, and smiled when she yawned at him. “The rumors about me are just that, Mrs. G.—rumors,” James met his housekeeper’s hard gaze without flinching. “They don’t bother me. And I sincerely hope you don’t let them bother you.
We
know the truth.
We
know I’d never do anything to hurt my girls. I want only the best for them—the best life possible. And I’m more than willing to see that they get it.”

Mrs. G. gave a sharp understanding nod, before allowing herself, and her employer, another rare smile. “Don’t think I pay any heed to gossip,” Mrs. G. told him, “nor am I wanting to leave your employ. But”—she hesitated a moment—“with three little ones already, and no governess, and now this little mite, I just don’t see how I can manage.”

James smiled his most reassuring smile. “Don’t worry about a thing, Mrs. G., I already have a governess in mind.”

She raised her eyebrows at that.

“I met her at the hotel in San Francisco. She’s young, capable, and experienced,” James said. It wasn’t a lie. He had met her at the hotel in San Francisco. And Elizabeth had told him she’d been a teacher.

Very familiar with the kind of experience James’s previous governesses had had, Mrs. G. was more than a bit skeptical. “How experienced?”

“She left a long-standing position as a teacher in a school back East to come west.”

“And you think you can talk a teacher with that kind of experience into leaving San Francisco to come to a tiny mining town when she’s sure to have plenty of better opportunities in the city?”

“She needs a job,” James said simply, praying it was true. “And we need a governess.”

Mrs. G. still looked skeptical. “And what if she already has a job before you get back to San Francisco?”

“I’ll double her best offer,” James said. “Triple it, even. I’ll do whatever it takes, pay whatever she wants, to get her here.”

Penny-wise Scotswoman that she was, Mrs. Glenross seized the opportunity. “And what about me?”

James bit back a smile. “Well, of course, it goes without saying, that since there will be at least two more mouths to feed and bodies to take care of”—he glanced down at the baby—“I’ll be doubling your salary and adding a healthy bonus as a thank-you for staying on. Deal?”

“Deal,” Helen Glenross agreed.

“And now that that’s settled,” James continued, “have you told the Treasures about their newest sister?”

“No, sir, I was waiting for you. I had just gotten them fed and bathed and tucked in for a bit of a rest And a time I had doing it, too. I finally had to promise I’d wake ’em as soon as you got home.”

“We’ll go upstairs to see the girls in just a minute, but first we have something very important to take care of.” James focused all his attention on his housekeeper. “What shall we name her, Mrs. G.?”

“It’s April,” Mrs. Glenross replied.

“And what gemstone represents the month of April?” he asked.

Mrs. G. thought for a moment. “A diamond,” she replied.

“Then, Diamond, it is.” James leaned down and gently nuzzled the infant, inhaling the newborn scent of her, Would he ever tire of seeing a newborn child open her eyes and fix her unfocused gaze on him? Would he ever tire of feeling the warmth of a baby’s body in his arms or fail to be enchanted by the simple rise and fall of her tiny chest? Would there ever come a time in his life when he could look at a baby girl and not remember … No, James told
himself. Never. He blinked at the sudden stinging in his eyes as he pressed his lips against the baby’s forehead. “Welcome home, little Diamond. Welcome to the family. Now, we’ll go upstairs and introduce you to your new sisters.” James looked over at Mrs. G. “I wonder what our other Treasures will have to say about this.”

“
PAPA
!”
THE UPSTAIRS
nursery vibrated with the high-pitched squeals of excited little girls. Three-and-a-half-year-old Ruby scrambled out from beneath the covers of her bed, climbed over the guardrails, and launched herself at her father, wrapping her arms around his knees. “What chou brwing me, Papa?”

James handed the baby over to Mrs. Glenross before reaching down to lift Ruby into his arms. Two-year-old Garnet bounced up and down on the mattress before she followed Ruby’s example, lifting her short chubby leg to pull herself over the bed rail.

Ruby’s silky cap of jet black, chin-length hair swung to and fro as James lifted her above his head before settling her into his arms. “I brought myself,” he whispered into her ear as he stole little kisses from the ticklish spot on the side of her neck.

Ruby giggled with glee, then leaned back in the safety of her father’s strong arms, wrinkled her brow, and asked in all seriousness, “What else chou brwing me?”

“I brought you the sun and the moon and the stars, happy thoughts, and sweet dreams,” he answered.

Ruby wrinkled her brow even harder. “What else?”

James laughed. “Ah, Ruby, my love, you’ve an avaricious nature.”

Ruby didn’t understand big words. She only understood that her papa hadn’t told her what he’d brought her from his trip to
Sanfrwansco
and she had been patient long enough. She began to wiggle, throwing her slight weight
against James’s arms. “What chou brwing me, Papa?” she demanded again.

James kissed her again, then set her on her feet. “I brought you a wondrous toy piano all your own,” he announced.

Helen Glenross groaned aloud.

Ruby squealed in delight and danced an impromptu jig about the room, bumping into Garnet, who had finally managed to climb out of bed and to toddle over to stand between Mrs. G. and her father. “Where it is, Papa?”

“Where is it,” he corrected automatically, reaching down to lift shy little Garnet from behind Mrs. G.’s skirts and into his arms. “It’s still packed in my bags.” James winked at his housekeeper. “I’m hoping that having a toy piano of her own will keep the little imp from
playing
the one in the parlor.”

Ruby crossed her arms over her chest and stared up at her father. “Want it.”

“Not tonight,” he said firmly.

Ruby stuck out her bottom lip, screwed up her face, and did her best to squeeze out a few tears to sway him before she made up her mind whether or not to wail.

James shook his head at her. “You may have your toy piano tomorrow morning,” he told her. “After breakfast.” He turned his attention to Garnet, who looped her arms around his neck and pressed her little face against his cheek in a ferocious hug. “Hello, sweet Garnet. Papa missed you, too.”

“What chou brwing Garny?” Ruby tried another tack as she marched over to James and tugged on his trousers.

“I brought Garnet the same things I brought you.”

“A pinano all her own, too?” Ruby was indignant.

“No,” James assured the firstborn and self-appointed ruler of the nursery roost. “I brought Garnet the sun and the moon and the stars, happy thoughts, and sweet dreams. And”—he gave dramatic pause—“a box of story blocks all her own.”

Garnet’s dark eyes widened in surprise and her tiny face
seemed to light up from within at James’s announcement. She tightened her arms around his neck and pressed herself even closer to him.

James breathed in Garnet’s soap and talcum-powder scent and pondered the differences in his daughters’ personalities. Where Ruby was forthright, stubborn, and spoiled, Garnet was reticent, amiable, and generous. Though their looks were similar, there were obvious physical differences. Ruby was small but solidly built, a hardy energetic little girl with a broad, expressive face. Garnet was delicately formed with a smaller oval face and exquisitely formed features. She wasn’t a sickly child, only a quiet, retiring one, willing to follow rather than blaze a trail of her own. And where Ruby tended to be imperious and dictatorial toward her younger sisters, Garnet never seemed to take offense. She worshipped Ruby and adored her younger sister, Emerald, delighting in their company and in everything around her. James’s heart seemed to turn over in his chest every time she looked at him with love and trust and adoration brimming from her dark soulful eyes.

“Did chou brwing me brwocks, too?” Ruby demanded.

“No,” James patiently explained. “I brought you a wondrous toy piano.”

“Want brwocks,” Ruby insisted, stamping her little foot for emphasis.

“Would you rather have the blocks than the piano?” James asked.

Ruby shook her head. “Want brwocks and pinano.”

“I brought the blocks for Garnet,” James told his eldest child. “I brought a piano for you.” He glanced across the room to where thirteen-month-old Emerald was sitting in her crib. “And a bright red rubber ball for Emerald.”

Garnet reached up, placed her small palms on either side of James’s face, and turned his head toward Mrs. G. “What ’bout dat?” she asked softly, nodding toward the infant in Mrs. G.’s arms.