Unseemly Ambition by K.B. Owen Read Free Book Online

him?”
    Florence’s lip trembled. “Eli’s father
is dead. The child is all the family I have left.”
    Concordia realized with a sinking
heart that for this woman, Eli was a memento, a piece of something
she’d lost, rather than a child with needs. There had to be a way
to stop her, but she needed help to do it.
    She stood. “I’ll be back in a
moment.”
    Concordia found Martha pacing in the
hall. “Any success?” Martha asked eagerly.
    “ I’m afraid not. Mrs. Tooey
seems determined to take him.”
    Martha’s face fell. “I’d hoped you
could persuade her.”
    Concordia smiled ruefully. “It seems
my powers of persuasion don’t run that deep.”
    “ What are we to do? Eli’s
threatening to run away rather than leave with that
woman.”
    “ I have an idea,” Concordia
said. “We can stall for time until the Capshaws return. Then the
lieutenant can look into her background and find out more. Her
story sounds...melodramatic.”
    Martha’s face brightened. “We could
even offer her room here, to stay while she waits.”
    Concordia shook her head. “I don’t
think that’s wise. She may put pressure on Eli and cause him to do
something rash. Do you have any money? I only have a little with
me. But perhaps between us we can give her enough to rent a room at
Mrs. Hofferman’s boarding house for the week. Once Sophia and the
lieutenant are back, they’ll know what to do.”
    Martha went to the lock box and
checked. “I think this should be enough; let’s see if she’ll
agree.”
    When they returned to the room,
Florence was buttoning her jacket. “I want to see Eli.
Alone.”
    Concordia held up a hand to interrupt
whatever Martha was going to say. “Very well, on one condition;
that you do not take him away with you until the Capshaws have
returned next week. We’ll pay for your room and board at
respectable lodgings nearby.”
    Florence locked her brown eyes upon
Concordia, staring at her shrewdly. “What sort of
lodgings?”
    “ Oh, Mrs. Hofferman’s is
very comfortable,” Martha interjected quickly. “It’s along a quiet
street, out of the way of traffic. I can have one of our girls show
you.”
    Florence glanced down at
the bills in Martha’s hand, then relented. “Very well. But I want
to talk with Eli now .”
    A trembling Eli was brought in. With
some reluctance, Concordia and Martha waited outside the
door.
    “ Why do you suppose she
wants to see him alone?” Martha asked.
    Concordia shrugged. “Perhaps she
thinks she can persuade him to go with her? If so, she’s sadly
mistaken.”
    After about ten minutes, Eli and
Florence came out of the room. Florence hugged Eli’s stiff
shoulders, then fixed a steely gaze on Concordia. “One
week.”
    Martha gestured to the girl waiting to
escort Florence Tooey. She passed her the bills. “Give my regards
to Mrs. Hofferman.” The girl nodded, and Florence followed her
out.
    “ Are you all right?”
Concordia asked Eli.
    He held up a pocket watch. “She gave
me a present. That’s nice, but I still ain’t goin’ with
her.”
    “ Don’t worry,” Concordia
said, ruffling his hair. “We’ll figure out something.” She hoped
she was right, especially when the boy turned a trusting, relieved
face in her direction.
     
     

CHAPTER EIGHT
     
    To mourn a mischief that
is past and gone
    Is the next way to draw
new mischief on.
    Othello , I.iii
     
    Week 4, Instructor Calendar
    March 1898
     
    Concordia loathed Glove Night, with a
passion typically reserved for war, famine, and
pestilence.
    She reluctantly groped her way up the
stairs in the early morning light, toward the sounds of freshmen
wailing overhead.
    The sophomores never seemed to tire of
their pranks on the freshmen, and Glove Night was their favorite.
It was astonishing to contemplate the organization required for
sophomores from all six cottages on the same night to slip into
freshmen rooms, steal their gloves, hide them throughout the
grounds, and return to their own beds