The Dollhouse Society Volume IV: Lucky (Includes Lady Luck, House of Dolls, The Reluctant Bride, A Woman on Top, plus a bonus story!) Read Free Page B

complained about my unladylike habits. But now I was seeing a side of him I did not like. My father, like all men, was flawed, and the reverend was right—the sins of the father were, in fact, visited upon the son. Or, as in my case, the daughter he had always treated like a son. I hunched my shoulders. For all my riding, hunting, and tree climbing as a child, I did not know if I had enough strength to shoulder this burden alone.
    After some time, Tiberius looked up and said, “I must commend you on your work thus far, Lucky. You’ve done an admirable job of paying off your father’s debt so far.”
    “ Poor Mr. Smit has helped me a great deal. But we still have far to go.”
    “ Yes, I see that.”
    “ I owe Mr. Van Tassel sixty-thousand dollars,” I said in monotone. “Suffice to say, I do not have that kind of money to pay him.”
    “ But you believe I do.”
    “ No!” I said, sitting up. “I’ve not asked you here to help me pay back my father’s moneylenders, Tiberius. Rather, I was hoping you might assist me in getting the cotton mill running again.” I took a deep breath. “With just a small investment, we could have the pickers and gins running fulltime again, with a full staff of employees, and perhaps with that profit…”
    “ You do not have slaves to work the gins?”
    “ New York abolished slavery years ago,” I told him. “And good riddance, I say!”
    “ Valiant words, but they will not save you,” Tiberius said with a smirk. “Mr. Van Tassel is still employing Irish and Chinese slaves to extend his profits…”
    “ I am not Mr. Van Tassel!” I told Tiberius. “I will not enslave foreigners to run my father’s mill. He himself was opposed to slavery…”
    “ I understand,” Tiberius said, cutting me off before I became too excitable. He sighed over the books. “Lucky, I will speak plainly. Even if we were able to get the mill running again in good time, I don’t believe you would make sufficient money to pay back your father’s debt in the time allotted by Mr. Van Tassel.”
    “ I am aware of that,” I told him. “I have made a contingency.”
    “ Oh?”
    “ There is a Jewish banker I know who has had past associations with my father…”
    “ You’re going to borrow money from a moneylender in order to pay back a moneylender?”
    I lifted my chin proudly. “I’m merely…delaying the debt.”
    Tiberius sighed and sat resting his chin on his hand for a long moment as he watched me.
    “ All I need is a small loan to begin,” I begged, standing up and wobbling on my unsteady feet. “That and guidance in running the mill. My father was very lenient with me, but the one thing he insisted upon was keeping me from the mill. He said it was too dangerous for me, so I never learned its day-to-day operations. But I assure you, I learn quickly…and then, well, you needn’t be bothered by these affairs for very long. Of course, I will offer you a percentage of profits as remuneration…”
    “ I don’t want your money, Lucky,” Tiberius said.
    I stopped and just looked at him. “Well, then, what can I offer you as compensation?”
    He glanced down at the book. “You have kept these books for your father?”
    “ Yes.”
    “ You keep good notations. I could use an assistant in my own business dealings, someone to balance my books for me.”
    “ I could do that,” I said. “I would be more than happy to do that. But would it be enough? Clerks do not make the kind of salary I would need to pay you back for such a loan. It would take years…perhaps even decades.”
    “ I’m aware of that. That’s why I wish to employ your services elsewhere as well.”
    “ Such as?” I could not imagine what use he had for my limited skills with horses and guns.
    Tiberius looked me over again in that languid way he had. “I am currently seeking the services of a courtesan.”
    ***
    Charlotte sensed that something was amiss the following morning when I caught the hem of my morning