Violet (Suitors of Seattle Book 7) Read Free Page A

for a moment.  "Of course not, but I wasn't at a funeral.  I was in a park."  Surely her mother could see the difference.
    "Maybe you need to start thinking about the people you paint before you begin a project.  For instance, think about what must have been going through that man's mind as he looked down at the boy.  He may have just lost his wife.  Whatever happened, he was eaten up with grief, and you captured it for the entire world to see."  Mary shook her head.  "I just don't think that was very sensitive of you."
    "I didn't mean to hurt anyone.  They drew me, the man and boy who were so sad.  I had to paint them.  I guess I could have kept the painting to myself and not shown it, but what good would that have done?"  Art was for the entire world to see.  Not just her.  She couldn't not share her gifts.
    "It would have done a lot of good for them.  You don't understand the anguish of losing someone you love."  Mary sighed.  "I don't know if you know this, but I had a miscarriage when Iris was about a year old.  I was devastated.  I cried on and off for months, and even now, I still mourn on the anniversary of the baby's death."
    Violet looked at her mother in surprise.  "I had no idea.  The baby wasn't even someone you knew."
    "I know.  Think of how much harder it would be to lose someone you know and love.  I loved that baby, because I love you girls and knew she would be another beautiful child.  If I were to lose one of you or anyone else I love, I would be devastated.  I cannot imagine losing your uncle Max."
    "And I memorialized his grief in a painting and then showed it to all of Seattle.  No wonder he's angry with me."  Violet looked at her half-eaten breakfast and sighed.  "I need to go to his house and apologize, don't I?"
    Mary shook her head.  "As an unmarried lady you shouldn't go to his house.  You know that.  You may send him a note and invite him here so you can talk to him if you'd like."
    Violet frowned.  "He's not exactly husband material, Mama.  He's a very angry man with a small child to raise.  It shouldn't matter if I go to his house on my own."  Her mother's ideas of propriety made her crazy at times.  What did her reputation matter if she was just going to have a career anyway?
    "You know better than that, Violet.  Or you would if you'd come down out of your room for more than twenty minutes per day.  Your reputation will be in tatters if you're seen alone with him.  Send him a note inviting him here so you can talk to him privately.  I'll allow you to shut the door instead of leaving it open, so your conversation can be private."
    Violet nodded obediently.  "Yes, Mama.  I'll send it over with one of the maids right after breakfast."
    "I'm glad you see it my way."
    "Of course I do.  I don't want to, but I do."  Violet ate the rest of her breakfast in silence, rehearsing what she'd say to Mr. Smith in her head the whole while.

Chapter Two
     
     
    Violet was heading to her father's office to write the note to Mr. Smith when she heard a knock on the door.  She went to it and flung it wide, not really caring who was there.  Her mother had spent years telling them to let the servants get the door, but she had never listened.  Her mother wanted to live a life of formality that would have been good back East, but just didn't make a lot of sense in Seattle.  Sometimes she found perverse pleasure in doing exactly what her mother said not to do.
    She stopped short when she saw who was on the other side.  "Oh, Mr. Smith, I was just going to pen you a note.  Please, come in."  She held the door wide and once he was inside led him to her father's office, closing the door behind them.  Walking around the desk, she sat in her father's chair and left him to take the seat across from the desk.  "Please, have a seat."  Violet hated being wrong, but more than that, she hated hurting others.  She could recognize that she'd done both, and she would rectify the