Page 13 of The Gilded Heiress

New York City

Leo

This city held nothing but bad memories for me.

Having lived in Boston since the age of ten, that was a place I knew well. From the ins and outs, to the people who mattered

and those best to avoid, Boston was a big city that felt small. Busy and loud in certain moments, then calm and quiet when

so desired.

New York City was the opposite.

Though I hadn’t been here in sixteen years, I remembered the vastness, the stunning expanse of the crowded island. Dirty and

huge, always under construction with the new replacing the old. A city with no loyalty, no sense of fairness. It was every

man for himself here, a place that would crush you if you weren’t careful.

We’d only arrived and I was already itching to leave.

“Where to?” Josie shouted above the noise of the busy train depot.

“This way.” I gestured to the right as if I knew the direction in which we needed to go. First rule of being a confidence man: the confidence.

I held open the door to the street. Josie came through, and I started for the row of hansoms waiting at the Forty-Second Street

curb in a neat line.

“Hold up,” she said, grabbing my arm. “We should walk.”

The morning light bounced off her features and her simple beauty struck me like an electric charge. I’d avoided looking at Josie today because I didn’t like how she was affecting me. Already I spent a lot of time thinking about bright green eyes and a wide, lush mouth. Too much time, actually.

I looked away. “Let’s treat ourselves. Once we learn the city, we can take the elevated or ankle it.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” I said with no hint of hesitation.

Soon we were in a hansom and traveling west on Forty-Second Street toward Broadway. Josie kept her face pressed to the carriage

window. “How long will it take us to get to your friend’s place?”

“I would imagine thirty minutes or so, depending on traffic.”

“How do you know this friend?”

While I debated my answer, I took a playing card out of my coat pocket and began threading it through my fingers. An old habit

to keep my hands busy. “I’ve known Ambrose forever.

We met as young men in Boston with similar interests.

” Conning people. “He moved to New York about three years ago to work in finance.” Wall Street stock schemes.

“At the moment he’s in Saratoga Springs.

” Selling phony elixirs to the racetrack visitors.

“So I won’t meet him?”

“No, he’ll be gone for a few weeks.” Which would allow me enough time to get Josie in front of Mrs. Pendelton without Ambrose

asking a hundred questions—or trying to take a cut of the reward money. “By the time he returns we’ll have made our connections

and established ourselves.”

“Oh, look! It’s Longacre Square!”

We were approaching Broadway, exactly where many of the theaters and clubs were located. Advertisements and colorful posters

adorned the short buildings, large signs that told us where to visit, what to see. Castle Square Opera Company. Lyceum Theatre. Bergen Beach. A sanitation worker cleaned out the gutters, while another brushed horse leavings off the stone street.

“It’s grand, isn’t it, Leo?”

I grimaced. “Yeah, grand.” And crowded. And flat. What was so great about this city, anyway?

Josie cast a quick glance at me over her shoulder. “You’re not even looking.”

I flicked the card over my knuckles. “New York’s not so hot. Boston’s better.”

“You’re a Boston snob.” She returned to her window. “I love it here.”

“That’s good, considering we’re aiming to get you a job in New York.”

“Look at all these buildings going up.”

Looked like buildings being torn down . But mostly what I saw was money, gobs of it. Shops, jewelry, fancy buildings, and new carriages. This city was crawling

with sawbucks for the taking.

And I had the ultimate prize sitting next to me.

At least I didn’t have to worry about running into the Pendeltons down here. They lived a considerable ways uptown at Fifth

Avenue and Seventieth Street. I didn’t recall much of the interior, but I sure remembered the gardens in the back. Were they

still the same?

I lowered my hat over my face and leaned my head against the seat back. “Wake me up when we get to Eighteenth Street.”

“Why don’t you care? Have you visited New York before?”

“I was born here. Lived in the city until I was ten.”

Suddenly, my hat disappeared off my face. Josie’s bewildered expression filled my vision. “What on earth? You didn’t tell

me any of this before.”

“Not really worth talking about.” I took my hat back and smoothed the brim. “I was a boy. And it wasn’t like we had the money

for operas and musicals.”

She angled toward me, her eyes big and curious. “Tell me everything you’re able to remember, no matter how small.”

“I already told you—”

“Balderdash. I know you remember something .”

Mostly I recalled trailing my father around on the Pendelton estate, a small boy running amuck on the grounds. The dirt on

my father’s hands. The small west side apartment where the entire family lived. My mother’s laughter. It had been cramped,

but full of love.

Josie wouldn’t want to hear any of that, so I went with broader memories. “The noise. The windows were always open. You could

hear what was happening on the street at all hours.”

“What else?”

“Hot corn on the street. We used to beg our mother to buy us some.” I searched my mind for anything else I could tell her.

“They say you can be anyone here. It’s a city where dreams are made and lost. I used to dream of living in one of those big

Fifth Avenue mansions.”

“What happened? How did all of you end up in Boston?”

Swallowing my bitterness, I said, “My father lost his position. We moved in with my grandmother in Back Bay before moving

to Tremont Street.”

Her face fell, the lines deepening around her eyes as she studied me. “That’s terrible. What did he do, your father?”

“He was a gardener.”

“I bet he brought lovely flowers home for your mother.”

I froze as the memories resurfaced. Yes, my father always had flowers for my mother, big bouquets of whatever was being cut

from the Pendelton estate. Clippings and leavings, blooms and branches, it didn’t matter. Papa always made it look beautiful

for her. How had I forgotten?

I cleared my throat and returned to flipping the playing card in my hand. “He did, actually. He was good at caring for things.”

A responsibility that fell to me after he died.

“You must miss him.”

I did, terribly. Losing him had been a crushing blow to all of us. “I shouldn’t complain, especially to you.”

“Why? Because I have no family?” Her green eyes were understanding, not the least bit haunted, as she shook her head. “While my experience was different, it doesn’t negate yours. Everyone’s pain feels awful to them.”

“You’re right and I beg your pardon.” We exchanged a slight smile, but she quickly turned her attention to the street.

“Where are we?”

“Around Twenty-Eighth Street, I think,” I said after a quick check of the area.

“When will we see Lotta’s friend?”

“A few days or so.”

“Why wait? I’m ready now.” Josie bounced a little on the seat, almost like a small child. “I’ve been ready for this my whole

life.”

I needed her in New York for an extended period of time. We had to work our way up Fifth Avenue and manage to put her in front

of the Pendeltons. Under no circumstances could this be rushed. “Let’s get you settled, see a bit of the city. We can rest

up and talk about it tomorrow.”

“Will you take me to see Central Park at some point?”

Eventually she’d be living right on the edge of it, overlooking the whole damn thing. I fixed my eyes on the street and imagined

what I was going to do with all that reward money. “Sure, sweetheart. Whatever you want.”

Josie

Leo went out to find a grocer as soon as we arrived at his friend’s apartment. He told me to stay put until he returned. I

offered to go with him, but he said it was best if he went alone.

He’d been acting squirrelly all day, ever since we left Boston. Hardly looking at me, barely talking. A chill had developed between us seemingly overnight, and he’d taken the first opportunity possible to escape my company today.

I tried not to take it personally, but what other way could I take it?

Because if I were lucky enough to call you mine, I’d never let you out of my sight.

Was he off to visit a lady friend first? That would explain why he didn’t want me tagging along. That would also explain why

he’d been in such a hurry, paying for a hansom when I knew he didn’t have the funds.

I unpacked a little, then explored the place. The apartment was small but nice. Leo had offered to sleep on the sofa and allow

me the bedroom, which I wasn’t stupid enough to argue over. The sofa looked dashed uncomfortable.

Bored, I wondered what to do. I didn’t have any books and it felt wrong to snoop through a stranger’s belongings. I glanced

out the window. It was windy, but a nice day. Children scampered up and down the walk, chasing one another and having fun.

Maybe I could go for a stroll and see some of the neighborhood.

Leo certainly couldn’t complain, as he’d gone out to do the same. Besides, I wouldn’t go far.

I found the extra key, then went out and locked the door behind me. Pocketing the key, I descended the three flights of stairs

until I reached the stoop. The street was busy, with the hustle and bustle of carts and horses and pedestrians all intermingled.

I loved it.

I sat down, content to watch the activity on the street. No one paid me a bit of attention as they went about their day. A

heavily mustached iceman guided his horse and wagon up the street, while two mothers chatted while walking their prams side

by side. A fancy-looking man strode along in a hurry—until he bumped into a small child. The youngster fell down but instead

of helping the child up, the man cursed and continued on like he found the whole incident a nuisance.