dark coloring of his French Creole father. His hair was as black as the raven’s wing, and his eyes were a smoldering silver gray. Gifted with sharp wit, keen intelligence, he was as natural a leader as his father, and that opinion had been shared by Cornelius Vanderbilt, grandson of the famed Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt. While visiting Travis in Paris the year before, the reigning power of the vast Vanderbilt empire had been so impressed with Colt that he had offered him a job working with William Kissam Vanderbilt in his yachting and horse racing ventures, should he wish to return to America. At the time, Colt hadn’t paid much attention, for he was too busy enjoying life in France and courting Jade in Russia to worry about a career. After all, he already had more money than he could probably ever spend, so long as he was careful with his investments…as did Jade, due to an inheritance bestowed upon her by her adoptive Romanov family.
At the time Colt proposed, there had been a period when both were too mesmerized by the official acknowledgment of their love to think about the future. Then, while they were visiting his family in Paris in the spring, Mr. Coltrane had voiced his fears over growing economic panic in the United States. Beginning with the February bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading railroads, stocks had begun to fall, trusts had collapsed, and thousands of farm mortgages had been foreclosed. In April, the gold reserve had fallen below the magic $100 million mark, firing greater runs on the Federal Treasury.
Travis had predicted that disaster loomed and called for a conference with his son and daughter, Colt and Dani. He advised them to sell their interest in the silver mine in Nevada he’d gifted them with. He told them the Sherman Silver Purchase Act would no doubt be repealed by Congress, and they’d get a better price for the mine if they sold before that happened. As it was, they’d be taking a loss, but not of significant consequence.
Colt and Dani followed their father’s advice just in time. The New York stock market crashed in June that year, 1893.
It hadn’t really mattered to Dani when Colt also wanted to sell their ranch near the mine. After all, she had no plans to return to America, and she and her husband, Drakar, were in the process of building a huge château just outside Paris. France was now her home, but Colt had always considered America his. Selling the ranch reminded him of his transient state since meeting Jade, and this awareness birthed the idea that they would return to the United States after their marriage and he would accept Cornelius Vanderbilt’s offer. Even though they had wealth to last a lifetime and beyond, it was boring not having any responsibilities. Further, it was being said that New York, in the 1890s, was the most exciting place in the world to be. The depression would ultimately end, and it really did not touch the lives of the Coltranes, anyway.
Jade was at once entranced with the idea of moving to America, especially when Colt pointed out that ballet was just being introduced there and how she could open her own studio and teach. From then on, she was filled with enthusiasm.
How much more wonderful could life be?
There was a soft tap on the door, and she warmly called out to Colt’s mother to please come in.
The two women embraced, and Jade marveled, as always, how kind time had been to Kitty Wright Coltrane. If she had been prettier in her youth, then she must have been absolutely stunning, Jade reasoned, for she was still a beauty to behold. Her hair, golden-red and piled high and held atop her head by emerald combs, had only begun to fade from the color of a brilliant sunrise to the last rays of a burnished sunset. Her skin was smooth, unblemished, and the few lines and wrinkles touching her face merely served to lend a sophisticated air. Her eyes, a strange shade of lavender, glowed with mysterious fires, as though the passion within
At the time Colt proposed, there had been a period when both were too mesmerized by the official acknowledgment of their love to think about the future. Then, while they were visiting his family in Paris in the spring, Mr. Coltrane had voiced his fears over growing economic panic in the United States. Beginning with the February bankruptcy of the Philadelphia and Reading railroads, stocks had begun to fall, trusts had collapsed, and thousands of farm mortgages had been foreclosed. In April, the gold reserve had fallen below the magic $100 million mark, firing greater runs on the Federal Treasury.
Travis had predicted that disaster loomed and called for a conference with his son and daughter, Colt and Dani. He advised them to sell their interest in the silver mine in Nevada he’d gifted them with. He told them the Sherman Silver Purchase Act would no doubt be repealed by Congress, and they’d get a better price for the mine if they sold before that happened. As it was, they’d be taking a loss, but not of significant consequence.
Colt and Dani followed their father’s advice just in time. The New York stock market crashed in June that year, 1893.
It hadn’t really mattered to Dani when Colt also wanted to sell their ranch near the mine. After all, she had no plans to return to America, and she and her husband, Drakar, were in the process of building a huge château just outside Paris. France was now her home, but Colt had always considered America his. Selling the ranch reminded him of his transient state since meeting Jade, and this awareness birthed the idea that they would return to the United States after their marriage and he would accept Cornelius Vanderbilt’s offer. Even though they had wealth to last a lifetime and beyond, it was boring not having any responsibilities. Further, it was being said that New York, in the 1890s, was the most exciting place in the world to be. The depression would ultimately end, and it really did not touch the lives of the Coltranes, anyway.
Jade was at once entranced with the idea of moving to America, especially when Colt pointed out that ballet was just being introduced there and how she could open her own studio and teach. From then on, she was filled with enthusiasm.
How much more wonderful could life be?
There was a soft tap on the door, and she warmly called out to Colt’s mother to please come in.
The two women embraced, and Jade marveled, as always, how kind time had been to Kitty Wright Coltrane. If she had been prettier in her youth, then she must have been absolutely stunning, Jade reasoned, for she was still a beauty to behold. Her hair, golden-red and piled high and held atop her head by emerald combs, had only begun to fade from the color of a brilliant sunrise to the last rays of a burnished sunset. Her skin was smooth, unblemished, and the few lines and wrinkles touching her face merely served to lend a sophisticated air. Her eyes, a strange shade of lavender, glowed with mysterious fires, as though the passion within
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