Chapter 18
It was against Maggie’s better judgment that she took the coupe of champagne the sommelier proffered, and also that she then took a sip, mainly to stall for time.
The bubbles were crisp on her tongue, the taste unfamiliar and heady, tickling her nose.
She managed to swallow without coughing, but Theo’s eyes danced as he raised his own glass, as if he knew her reaction and understood it, because, of course, an Irish immigrant and former domestic like her had never tasted champagne before.
Still, Maggie realized, she could stay hiding behind her maidenly outrage, or she could use this evening for her own advantage. She knew which one she preferred—and which would make her feel in control of the situation, no matter how charming Theo Stein was.
“I designed a hat for your mother,” she stated with decision.
She took another sip of the champagne, enjoying the way it filled her mouth with bubbles, and then set the coupe down to gaze at Theo squarely.
He looked alert, interested, and very handsome, a stray lock of dark hair falling across his high forehead.
Maggie had to force herself not to look away.
“For a tea party she was attending,” she explained.
“A straw boater with a silk band. A simple hat, but one she said she admired very much. It was several weeks ago, and I’ve had no word about it at all, whether she felt it was a success.
Based on our conversation, I was hoping she might have more work for me. ”
Theo tilted his head back, his eyes gleaming, as he took a sip from his own glass. “What an enterprising young woman you are,” he murmured.
“I’ve had to be,” Maggie replied tartly, before she could think better of such a quick retort. “When you’re not the heir to millions, you must make your own fortune.”
“Touché again,” Theo replied, clutching his heart dramatically. “A rather pointed criticism.”
There was an edge to his tone, despite his humorously exaggerated response, that made Maggie think she’d offended him, and she didn’t know whether she should regret being so blunt. Theo Stein was charming and handsome, but he knew it, and that made him as off-putting as he was attractive.
“You are fortunate,” she told him quietly, “whether you realize it or not.”
“I know I am,” he replied, dropping his hand from his chest, his tone turning somber. “You might not think I do, but I promise you, Maggie, I do know it. At least… I did.”
She looked away, conscious he was calling her by her first name without ever having asked to do so.
It was a presumption that clearly came thoughtlessly to him, yet she could not possibly call him Theo in return.
Once again, Maggie wondered if dining with him tonight would turn out to be a terrible mistake.
Well, she thought determinedly, the only way to redeem it was to try to use it for her advantage.
“How long is your mother going to be at Lake Geneva?” she asked. “One of your housemaids mentioned she was summering there.”
Theo shrugged. “Till September, perhaps? She’s at a loose end, now that my father’s dealings have been so exposed.
” He made a grimacing face, hiding his seeming embarrassment behind that laughing, languid manner.
“I might be the heir to millions, but right now, I, along with my parents, are quite personae non gratae in New York, so perhaps I am not quite as fortunate as you believe.
“That’s why we came to Chicago, you see—people are so much less snobbish here.
Much less judgmental than the old Knickerbockers who couldn’t bear to see us succeed, and gloated when we didn’t.
” He let out a hard laugh, his face twisting in a way that, for a brief moment, almost made him look ugly.
“They’re all such hypocrites back in New York,” he told her, an even sharper edge to his voice as he flicked his gaze away from hers.
“They’re just as corrupt, everyone doing backroom deals and taking handouts and bribes, but no one cares because it’s hidden.
It’s as if they’re innocent as doves, even when they’re all thick as thieves.
And right now, if I walked into the Fifth Avenue Hotel, I doubt a single person would so much as give me a smile, never mind actually acknowledge me.
” His mouth twisted again and he looked down at the table, as if he were embarrassed at having said so much.
“I’m sorry,” Maggie said quietly. She could feel his pain like a palpable thing, and she was truly sorry for it. “I know I played a part in that exposure,” she told him, “even if I had no intention—”
“Maggie, you cannot possibly blame yourself for my father’s business dealings,” Theo cut her off, reaching over to touch her hand yet again, a brief brush of his fingers against hers.
This time, Maggie found she did not even want to pull away.
Seeing a more vulnerable, honest side to Theo, underneath that careless charm, made her like him more.
Which was, she acknowledged, even more dangerous, but she still did not pull away.
“So, a hat,” he said, straightening, just as the waiter came to take their orders.
This time, Maggie did remove her hand, hiding it in her lap as Theo asked if he could have the pleasure of ordering for them both.
Maggie assented, knowing she’d have no idea what to order at such a restaurant, and she listened in growing alarm as Theo ordered half a dozen dishes—far more food than either of them could possibly eat.
“I want you to try everything,” he told her, once the waiter had left. “Just a bite of each, at the least, to whet your palate.”
“You’re very kind,” Maggie murmured, deciding there was no point in mentioning the obvious waste.
The diners near them had taken note of the extravagance, and she blushed to see an elderly woman hold a lorgnette up to her eye to give Maggie a thorough and seemingly disapproving examination. She looked away, hating having to wonder what the woman must think, suspecting what she did.
“But we were talking about your hat,” Theo resumed, seeming indifferent to the diners around them, many of whom were not even trying to hide their curiosity. “Or, rather, my mother’s hat. You don’t know if it was a success at this party? I am sure it took their little world by storm.”
There was a slightly patronizing indulgence to his words that Maggie did her best to ignore. It was understandable for a young man such as Theo to be uninterested in the matter of ladies’ hats, never mind who designed them.
“No, I’ve had no word,” she replied, “but I suspect it was not, since she sent no message.” As she spoke, she realized how much she believed what she’d said, even as she’d tried not to give in to that fear.
For Mrs. Stein not to have sent any word at all could suggest she’d been displeased with the ensemble, not that it had merely slipped her mind.
“I was on Prairie Avenue tonight hoping to see her,” she admitted.
“And perhaps even gain another commission…”
“I doubt she was displeased by the hat,” Theo told her as he took a sip of champagne.
“If she was, she would have certainly let you know it. My mother has always driven a hard bargain.” He smiled at her, the curve of his lips unsettlingly tender.
“I’m heading to Lake Geneva in Wisconsin for the weekend. I’ll ask her about it.”
“Oh, don’t,” Maggie cried impulsively, and Theo arched one dark eyebrow.
“Why ever not?”
“I… I don’t think she’d be pleased, to know we’d seen each other,” she admitted awkwardly.
The memory of Mrs. Stein warning her off developing any kind of affection for her son while back in New York was still fresh in Maggie’s mind.
It had been an acutely embarrassing moment, and she did not wish to have it repeated in any shape or form.
“Ah,” Theo remarked in a voice rich with understanding as he leaned back in his chair.
“I think I know what you mean. She wasn’t pleased that I involved myself in your affairs, back in New York, was she?
She hinted as much to me, the interfering old…
” He stopped, sighing, and then he cocked his head.
“But at least I made things a little more comfortable for you there?”
“You were very kind,” Maggie admitted cautiously.
Back in New York, Theo had intervened with the disapproving housekeeper so Maggie’s room had indeed been more comfortable, after that fearsome lady had striven to make Maggie’s life as unbearable as she could, resentful that Maggie had, in her opinion, wormed her way into Mrs. Stein’s confidences.
Her first weeks in the Stein household had been lonely and difficult, but Theo’s involvement had, no matter how well intentioned, in some ways, made it all worse, at least in the minds of the other servants—as well as Mrs. Stein’s.
“And I shall be kind now,” Theo assured her. “Trust me to be discreet, Maggie. My mother won’t even know we’ve seen each other.”
“But you’ll mention her hat?” Maggie asked skeptically.
She could not see how Theo would manage such a thing, and in any case, she wasn’t sure he knew the meaning of discretion.
Here he was, calling her by her Christian name, and wooing her with a bottle of expensive champagne and half a dozen dishes in front of a hundred or more wealthy Chicagoans.
Maggie doubted whether Theo Stein had any idea what discretion looked like… . or if he truly cared to find out.
And yet she knew this was her only chance to further her ambitions. She thought of the boarding house back in Englewood, the airless bedroom she and Brendan shared, the life that felt like a stranglehold in its smallness, the way Brendan was simply waiting to be free of her.
Then she glanced at Theo’s teasing smile, their half-drunk champagne, the waiter bearing down on them with a silver tray full of delicious-looking dishes.
This, she decided, was where her future lay.
As the waiter began unloading dishes—spiced oysters, brisket of beef, baked red snapper, Little Neck clams, lobster salmon and potato salad—Maggie decided to quiz Theo about his own ambitions.
“Will you settle in Chicago, then?” she asked. She realized how little she knew about him. “Have you finished university?”
“Yes, I graduated in May.” For a second, his face settled into discontented lines, and he looked, Maggie thought, like a sulky boy.
He almost reminded her of Danny. Then his smile was back, ready and wide and as charming as ever.
“I don’t know what I’ll put my hand to,” he admitted.
“Thanks to Pa, no one is willing to hire me in New York. My dear old ma suggested I try Chicago. We’ll see. ”
He didn’t seem to be in any rush to find work, Maggie reflected wryly.
Clearly he remained well in funds, even with the tarnished reputation of his father, but she found she still sympathized with his restlessness.
She felt it in herself. No matter how rich or poor one was, there was still the desire to prove yourself, to succeed.
“Now, you must try these oysters,” he told her as he speared one with a tiny fork, the likes of which Maggie had never seen before. “With just a touch of cloves,” he told her as he proffered the fork. “Delicious.”
Maggie knew he wanted to feed her the morsel himself, but she had no intention of taking part in such an absurd display. She plucked the little fork from his fingers, giving him a pert look that made him laugh, and then popped the oyster in her mouth.
“Well?” Theo asked, sitting back, his expression expectant.
“Slimy,” Maggie told him honestly, and he laughed again.
She felt herself start to relax, perhaps because of the champagne.
She had, she realized with some surprise, finished her glass, and the sommelier had already come forward to refill it.
Her maidenly reservations were melting away, and why shouldn’t they?
She was in the city’s best restaurant with an undeniably handsome man, champagne fizzing through her veins…
and the prospect, perhaps, of another commission, or more, if Theo managed to be as discreet with his mother as he promised. Right now, she believed he would be.
So why shouldn’t she enjoy it all?