Chapter 20
Phillip straightened his tie and pulled the cuffs of his shirt after knocking at the Shellington door.
He had rehearsed what he would say, time and again, but was still nervous and was afraid Virginia’s father and his employer, Mr. Alistair Wiest, would notice that his hands were shaking and that beads of sweat had formed on his forehead.
The door opened suddenly, and he straightened.
“Good morning, Mr. Smith. I’m hoping that Mr. Wiest is home. I’d like to speak to him.”
Smith smiled and took a quick look at Phillip, up and down, at his good suit, the one he’d worn at the behest of Mr. Wiest when he’d been asked to guard Virginia at a ball last year.
“Of course, Mr. Brown. Let me check if he’s available.
Won’t you take a seat in the parlor here while I speak to him? ”
Phillip stepped over the threshold, ready to pace in the room to the right that Smith was indicating. But just then he heard Mr. Wiest himself calling to him.
“Brown? What brings you here today?” he said as he walked to meet Phillip. “You’ve met Mrs. Wiest, haven’t you?”
Phillip nodded to the woman on Wiest’s arm, her eyes shining with approval as she looked at her husband. “Yes. We’ve met briefly, I think. Not sure.”
“We have, Mr. Brown. Just the once, I believe when you were helping Virginia move into her new home and Alistair and I stopped by to give her our support. It’s been a while, though.”
Mr. Wiest was studying him. “What can I do for you, Brown?”
Phillip cleared his throat and wished he still held his hat in his hands so he would have something to do rather than fidget.
But Smith had taken his coat and hat as soon as Phillip had stepped inside.
“I’m hoping to speak to you, sir.” He glanced at Mrs. Wiest. “Privately, sir, if you have a few minutes.”
Strangely, they both smiled. Mrs. Wiest turned away and spoke to the housekeeper, who’d just come into the large foyer. Mr. Wiest patted his shoulder and led him to a huge room lined with bookshelves and dominated by a massive desk. There was a younger man at a smaller desk.
“Mr. Pointer? I need the room, if you please. It’s near time for you to sneak a nibble from the kitchens, true?”
“It is, sir,” Pointer said with a smile and a glance toward Phillip before hurrying out of the room.
“Have a seat, Mr. Brown,” Wiest said and seated himself behind the large desk. “What can I do for you, son?”
“Well . . . the thing is, sir. I wanted to speak to you about . . . Miss Wiest . . . about Virginia. The thing is . . .” Phillip stopped himself and closed his eyes for a moment. “I love her. I love her more than anything in the whole world. I want to marry her.”
“I can hardly say I’m surprised, Brown.”
“I know I’m not worthy of her. I’ll never be in her class. I’ll never be anything other than who I am. A foreman at a cannery and a man who tries to help his neighbors and his friends. I’m not ashamed of who I am, only that you may not think I’m the man for her,” Phillip said in a rush.
“Did I say that?” Wiest raised his brows. “I only said I wasn’t surprised.”
“No. I guess you didn’t, sir.”
“Don’t ever belittle yourself, Brown. If Virginia finds you worthy, then you are worthy.
I trust her judgment, especially when it comes to something as personal as a partner for life.
I think my dear Virginia loves you every bit as much as you love her.
That is not to say you and I won’t have to have a serious discussion if we are to negotiate a marriage settlement.
That is, if Virginia accepts your suit.”
Phillip smiled; he couldn’t help himself. “Thank you, Mr. Wiest.” He stood. “I think I will go visit her this very minute, if you are sure.”
But Phillip had already mounted Daisy before his hopefully future father-in-law could reply.
Virginia was at her desk in her office, reading through the correspondence and notes that Mr. Oliver had sorted and left for her review.
She was going to have to get serious about obtaining a social secretary who could handle all the details of her work on charity boards as well as invitations to teas and dinners and balls.
“Come in,” she said to a knock on the door. “Oh, hello, Colleen! Come in!”
But Colleen Hughes hesitated. “Are you sure you are not too busy?”
“Too busy for you? Hardly,” she said with a smile and a glance at Colleen’s serious face. “What is it?”
“I was just wondering if you had any plans this evening that would require my attendance?”
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t have anything on my calendar. If you have plans, you must go,” Virginia said. But Colleen still stood rigidly at the door. “Please tell me what is wrong. You are worrying me.”
Colleen shook her head. “It is nothing bad, just that I’ve hesitated saying anything before. Do you remember Herman Janitz? The apothecary that we met at the dance at the Minehew Barn dance?”
“That terrible night last spring when those men confronted us? I do remember that. But wait, wasn’t Mr. Janitz the very tall fellow? Blond hair, if I remember, and a natty dresser. Wasn’t he the one who was so shy?”
“That’s him. He didn’t speak the whole time I danced with him that night.”
Virginia grinned. “He seemed a bit overwhelmed by us, I think!”
“He was,” Colleen said. “But I liked him right away. Liked his looks and how solicitous he was, although I don’t remember him saying anything. I think Mr. Sweitzinger told me that Mr. Janitz wanted to dance with me, and then he was leading me out onto the floor without a word spoken.”
Both women laughed. “Have you seen Mr. Janitz since?” Virginia asked.
Colleen nodded. “He came here one day when you were out and asked to speak to me. It took him several minutes, but he asked finally after several cups of coffee if I’d be willing to have dinner with him. He said he’d been building his nerve since that dance to ask me.”
“It’s been six months at least from that dance,” Virginia said.
“Seven, I think.” Colleen smiled and then quickly sobered. “I think he might be someone special to me, Virginia. I’ve been thinking about him ever since that dance, like he’d been thinking of me.”
Virginia stood and gave Colleen a quick hug. “Then you must wear that new apricot-colored dress you just got from Dolly’s. And have Mary do your hair. You think he might be special after one dance?”
“I think sometimes it takes a while to recognize a person that might be the one who will make you happy. And sometimes I think it’s possible to know right away, even after just a dance and a trip to the refreshments to get a lemonade, where I talked his ear off and he just stared at me and smiled.
I was hoping you’d ask Mr. Brown or Mr. Sweitzinger if they knew anything about him.
Good or bad. I don’t want to be foolish either. ”
“I will do that the very next time I speak to him,” Virginia said and wondered how she could contrive to arrive at Wolfe Street and see him. She hadn’t been in his company for weeks and was missing him desperately.
She didn’t have to wait long, though. Colleen had gone to inspect her new dress and find a matching ribbon for her hair while Virginia sorted invitations into three piles. The yeses, the noes, and the maybes. Mr. Oliver tapped at her door and peeked inside.
“Miss Wiest? Mr. Brown is here and asking for you,” he said.
“Oh,” she said and hurried to stand, her stomach suddenly full of butterflies. She patted her hair, straightened her skirts, and followed her butler to the parlor.
“Hello,” she said, suddenly shy, once Mr. Oliver had closed the door behind her.
“Hello,” he replied. “How are you, Virginia?”
“Well. I’m well. And yourself?”
He nodded. “Same,” he said and wandered to the window overlooking the street. He turned to her after a few long moments. “Won’t you sit down?”
She took a seat on the small sofa and was happy that he sat down next to her rather than on the chair facing her.
That was when she noticed that he was dressed in a suit with a vest and that he looked as though his hair had been recently trimmed.
She turned in her seat to see him better.
And that was when he dropped to one knee in front of her.
Her breath left her in a rush to see him before her, so handsome, and so clearly nervous, lifting her hand to hold in his.
“Virginia,” he whispered. “Virginia. You are so lovely. I love you. I love your kindness and your persistence and how smart you are. I love you. Could you possibly consider marrying a simple man who—”
“Yes,” she said and threw herself into his arms. “A hundred times, yes.”