A Victorian New York Romance by Celeste Rane Read Free Book Online Page A

you to come! How do you like
the seats?” a voice said.
    I turned to see Bailey Wilcox hovering over my aunt. I was
mortified.
    “Mr. Wilcox, thank you. It was a neighborly thing for you to
do. This is my niece visiting me from St. Louis Ms. Margart Tramown .”
    “A pleasure,” he said as he grabbed my hand and kissed it.
He gave me a knowing flirtatious look.
    “She has not seen much of New York yet as my ailments have been
acting up,” my aunt said.
    “Oh, well I have taking my cousin Larissa Marisse for a carriage ride tomorrow to see all the sights.
Ms. Tramown is welcome to join us,” he said to my
aunt.
    “Oh yes that will be delightful! Thank you sir. First the
theatre and now this, you are too kind. As long as another female, your cousin
is with you it shall be acceptable,” she said.
    “Very well, I will call at noon Ms. Tramown .”
    Bailey looked at me and winked. He was up to something I
could tell. He was a scoundrel and I kind of liked it. The lights lowered and
the performance started.
    Later that night in bed, I thought about the man Bailey
Wilcox. I had been so turned on by him. I wanted him. He was gorgeous. Back in
St. Louis I had become involved in scandal when I ran off with my beau. We were forced to become engaged after that, however the
engagement was now off. However I was not a virgin like most women, partly why
I had to come to New York.
    The next day I tried on every dress I had for an outing. I
finally settled on a blue silk day dress and parasol.   Right at noon the door
bell rang. I ran to it. I opened it to see a valet standing there.
    “A carriage for Ms. Tramown for
Mr. Wilcox,” he said.
    I looked out the door and saw the carriage. Well, we were
neighbors so there was no point in formalities. I yelled out, “Aunt I’m off
with Mr. Wilcox and his cousin!”
    “Very well dear!”
    She yelled back. The valet opened the door and I climbed in.
The carriage was empty. Where was everyone? I waited a good five minutes in the
cold! Then the door opened and Bailey stepped in.
    “Ms. Tramown so glad you can make
it,” he said as he hit the top of his carriage with his walking stick.
    The carriage jolted forward and we were off.
    “Wait! Where’s your cousin? Ms. Larissa?”
    “I have no cousin,” he winked.
    I gasped. “You scoundrel! How dare you?”
    “Very well, do you want to go back home or do you want to
continue our ride through Central Park and New York to see the Christmas
trees?”
    I was silent. Then I finally agreed.
    “I suppose since we are already going.”
    Later, we were standing in front of a grand Christmas tree
in the lobby of the grand museum.
    “It’s
beautiful!” I said as I went in for a closer look. There were all sorts of
animal decorations, from turtles to zebras. They were made of the most delicate
paper. Some of them were shiny and others were a matte paper, but they were all
expertly done.
    “There must
be hundreds of them,” I said in awe.
    “About five
hundred,” he said, and then added. “So you like it?”
    “Like? I love
it. It’s absolutely fascinating. Thank you,” I said staring deeply into his
grey, but now more blue colored, eyes.
    “Good than I
am off to a good start,” he said.
    “It’s the
best Christmas tree I’ve ever seen. Does that make you happy?” I flirtatiously
said.
    “Yes, it
does. Come on let’s go to my office,” he said as he walked off further into the
museum.
    “Office?”
    “Yes, I work
here,” He said as he walked backwards a few steps to deliver that information
to me.
    I was
pleasantly surprised. He definitely looked the part. I immediately got excited.
I wanted him now more than when I first laid eyes on him. I scurried after him
to catch up. As I placed myself along side of him at his pace of walking he
made a cute side glance at me and smiled. My heart melted.
    We arrived at
a door that was labeled “museum staff only.” He used a key   to unlock the door and we stepped into a
quiet long