“What is Ella doing here?” It was the first thing out of his father’s mouth upon entering his cabin.
“Hello, Father. Where is mother?”
“She went with Margaret to talk to Ella. Someone has to knock some sense into the girl. I strictly forbade anyone from coming to Pine Knot with friends this summer. The bills we are incurring are outrageous! And what are you doing here as well? Last I heard you were doing business in Saratoga.”
William looked away. “I was until I came up here to check on how construction was going on the new kitchen.” He stretched the truth slightly. He had been planning to come up this summer, but came sooner than intended when their cousin sent word that Ella had stopped at Prospect House with friends on her way to Pine Knot.
“I tell you, we cannot trust that girl. She’s too rebellious, has been since the day you all left England. She insists on having her way with everything. Do you know she has been harassing her mother and I to send her back there? As if we can afford the fare and the lifestyle she leads. Personally I think she just wants to chase after that Bigelow character.”
William said nothing. He wouldn’t betray Ella now. But she owed him for staying silent about her indiscretions. “You can hardly blame her for wanting what she has come to expect. Ella is bored with her life at North Creek, as you and I would be if we had to be there permanently. It’s not surprising she goes looking for diversions,” he said in her defense.
“Her diversions are damn costly,” Dr. Durant grumbled.
“And as for Poultney Bigelow, I think that attraction may have cooled somewhat,” William said.
“I damn well hope it has. Bigelow is an intellectual. Intellectuals never have money. They just want to marry into it. I’d rather Ella do that.” Dr. Durant walked over to a chair and sat down.
“Will, sit down.” Dr. Durant motioned to the chair next to him.
William sat.
“I’ve been thinking. It’s time we wrap up the construction projects here at Pine Knot and start developing some of the other land holdings in the Adirondacks. Our lumber and iron ore leases are still providing income but that won’t last forever and the State is becoming less generous in its subsidies for new industries.”
“Father,” William started to protest, knowing where this was leading. “After this summer I’m quite sure there will only be a few more buildings to finish off. You can’t expect me to stop what I’m doing here.”
“Will, you’re not hearing me. I’m not telling you to stop construction I’m telling you to complete it.” He sighed and looked around the cabin. “Where is Louise? I could really use some tea.”
“I’ll go ask.” William slid off his chair and went to the door. He opened it to find Louise standing there with a tray of tea and small sandwiches of smoked salmon. He stepped aside. She moved toward the side table and set the tray down, glanced over at Dr. Durant and nodded; he nodded in return.
“Good day,” she said.
“Thank you, Louise,” William called to her as she left the cabin.
His father let out a racking cough as William poured their tea.
“That doesn’t sound good, have you had the doctor check your lungs lately?” William thought his father looked older than usual, too tired to be leading the masses into the wilderness. What was it that drove the man? Was it his greed or his ambition to conquer any challenge he confronted? Because this venture was turning into too much for him. Was it all for money? He constantly complained about not having enough of it. The challenge? After all he had built a railroad across the United States, what did he need this for?
“You forget I’m a doctor,” his father said. “Now back to the subject at hand. I’ve come to realize I made a mistake in your upbringing.”
William handed his father his teacup and sat down.
“I never should have allowed your mother to talk me into sending you to be educated abroad while I was working for the Union Pacific. Chicago schools would have been just as good and you would have learned how to be more shall I say American.”
William chuckled and his father raised his brows.
“I’m being serious Will. Your mother and her family friends implanted some outrageous idea into your head that you deserve to lead the life of aristocracy. Unlike the gentry you associated with in England, we have to build our empire, we didn’t inherit it. This,” Dr. Durant gesticulated, “is not your fiefdom.”
William frowned. He didn’t like where this was going.
“We can’t tithe the tenants. Our tenants are trees, and the people that come up here to see them.” His father paused to take a sip of tea.
“And another thing,” he continued, giving William no chance to rebut, “unlike your friends in England we don’t get seats in the House of Lords because of our title, we buy political influence.”
“I get your point, Father. I may not have been educated in America but I know how the government structure works.”
“Do you? Tell me, since you came back to the U.S. how many times have you been to Albany to represent our railroad interests?”
William recalled the last time his father instructed him to conduct business with the politicians in Albany. It was his last meeting in Senator Jacobs’ office, using the Durant name to persuade the Senator to introduce a bill that would allow cousin Charles to lease Osprey Island from the state, taking any questions of ownership away from Alvah. It was all so undignified. He swore it would be the last time.
“Yes, now you gather my meaning. Will, stop pretending you are some country squire. It’s time you took on more responsibility. You need to take over as President of the Adirondack Railroad.”
William stood up quickly from his chair. “I’m not sure now is the right time for this.”
“Really? Then tell me when is the right time?”
“Well, I don’t know.” William put his hand to his chin, rubbed it, and started to pace the floor. “There are the remaining cabins to build here—”
“Jerome Wood can oversee the rest of the construction project, he has been doing fine without you this summer.”
“And then there’s the steamboat line at Marion River. We have a contract to build another steamboat specifically for the Raquette and I anticipate a lot of traffic with Bennett’s new hotel. And—”
“And our lawyer John Barbour can take care of any of that business from Saratoga,” Dr. Durant said. “I’ve been too lenient with you. Your life is filled with too much leisure. Now is a critical time for us. We have to decide what to do with our land.” He rose from his chair and started to pace the floor. His father’s movements persuaded William to take a seat.
“We need to consider the best prospects for making money. Sure there are a few wealthy men, friends from the clubs that will want what you have achieved here.” He waved his hands in the air. “But the real money is with the middle class.”
“Surely you aren’t implying we should build a hotel?” William said.
“No, no, not that. The tourists are our future investors Will. We need them to buy our land when the price is right. We need to consider what will attract them to the area to buy land. Most can’t afford grand camps like Pine Knot. We need to make plans to subdivide our land holdings while the price of land is still reasonable for the people with less means. Especially before our fellow business partners buy up all the land around here and turn it into private reserves.”
William mulled on this. A group of businessmen, friends of his, had recently bought a thousand acres near Pine Knot to turn into a private hunting preserve. Personally, he was in favor of this trend. Who better to steward the land than the people that owned it and had the resources to take care of it? The State Land Commissioners had made a mess of it over the past few decades. The woods were left barren after a cut, fires were now more frequent, and the mining companies raped the land and then abandoned it.
“And the State will take whatever is left.” His father was becoming more agitated. “That pesky surveyor Verplanck Colvin and his rabble rousers in Albany are calling for it. Mark, my word Will, if we don’t move soon the state will try to take our land from us, and all that I have worked for here will be lost.”
“How small do you want the lots?”
Dr. Durant shrugged. “I don’t know. One acre, half acre.”
“What can we possibly build on a half acre of land that would attract people?”
His father shook his head, exasperated by the questions. “I don’t know, that’s for you to figure out. But look around you, the guides do it.”
“Yes, but they’re not our clientele are they?”
“Well, maybe they should be!”
He was not making sense, William thought.
Dr. Durant sat down then, tired and gray-faced. “And,” he raked his hand through his hair, “I suppose it will come out soon enough.” He paused and looked at his son. “The Adirondack Railroad Company is bankrupt. We’ve spent $6 million building this line and it hasn’t turned a profit. Investments have run dry. We won’t be bringing the rail to Canada. The tracks we’ve laid are as far as it will go. A proverbial ‘dead end’ you might say.” He let out a sigh of defeat.
“What do you mean bankrupt?” William asked.
“I mean the till has run dry, William! Why do you think I want you to finish your work here? So you can focus your attention on making money instead of spending it. Which seems to be your favorite pastime.”
William gripped the side of his chair. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked me to do here, Father. Maybe you don’t remember but it was you that wanted me to build this compound to attract investors. So what happened?” he said with as much control as possible.
“We’ve achieved what we needed to get the first leg of the tracks built. But the State has ruined our plans by taking control of the last 20,000 acres. I can’t help it if people lose their investment as a result of something over which I have no control.”
“What investments? Do you mean the investors in the Adirondack Railroad?”
“Yes, of course. What other Railroad?” Dr. Durant answered. William resented his father’s sarcasm.
“We are going to reorganize, William. I’m going to sell you the company, and then we will have title to the land holdings. You need to go to New York City to sign the papers.”
William had no idea what his father was scheming. He only knew that once again, it would interfere with his plans. And the last thing he wanted to do in the middle of the summer was visit with Mr. Sutphen, the Adirondack Railroad company lawyer, and sign papers putting him in charge of a failed enterprise. He had better use for his time. Unbeknownst to his father he was planning another project, this one in a very remote area. He was sure it would rival Pine Knot. “But really, I should at least stay through this summer, I—”
“Damn it, you’re not listening, it’s all planned!” Dr. Durant lurched from his chair with raised fists. He stopped suddenly, stumbled forward, clutched his chest, and started to cough uncontrollably before staggering backwards. His knees buckled and he started to fall. William reacted quickly, reaching his father before he hit the floor and guiding him back to his chair.
“You really need rest. All of this exertion is making you ill,” William said as he waited for his father’s breathing to ease before letting go of him in the chair.
“I’m not done,” Dr. Durant said when his breathing became steady. “You know as well as I do the importance of familial loyalty.”
William sat down. What is he on about now?
“Believe me I understand that men have particular, how shall I say it — needs. After all, I spent years away from your mother and I always took care of mine.”
William could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. “Father, do we need to discuss this? Especially in your condition.”
“But I always came back to her.”
“Yes, and her $200,000,” William said under his breath. His father was too preoccupied with his own speech to have heard him.
“I would never cause a scandal by staying with a harlot.”
“Father, please,” William interrupted him before he insulted Louise.
“Figure out what you’re going to do about Louise and make your departure plans. Our lawyer, Mr. Sutphen is expecting you. Now leave.” Dr. Durant closed his eyes and held his hands over his chest.
William left his father wheezing in the chair.
“Tea, Hannah? What are you thinking? The man has no manners. What makes you think he would even be comfortable sitting down for tea with you, and how on earth do you propose to convince him to let Charles build?”
“Well, Thomas, the usual Durant method of bullying is not working,” Hannah said firmly. “So I’m trying a different approach – tact.” She handed Margaret her wrap and settled into a chair facing her husband and William. Dr. Durant never liked it when she called him Thomas, he much preferred Pet. And lately she was more likely to use his given name than this term of endearment.
It was the day after Dr. Durant’s coughing fit and William was worried there’d be a repeat, but somehow his mother knew how to handle the man. They were holding a family meeting, minus Ella, to decide what to do about Alvah. The three of them agreed that amends needed to be made but how to go about it was a matter of contention.
“I’m not sure he’ll even come, Mother,” William said.
“Of course he will, he has a huge crush on Ella,” Hannah said.
The men raised their brows at her, considering how preposterous it was, Ella and Alvah together.
“Really, Hannah, using your own daughter to obtain a piece of land. Even I wouldn’t stoop that low.”
“Oh you wouldn’t, wouldn’t you?” She shot her husband a challenging look. Surprisingly, his father did not defend himself.
“And what does Ella think about this?” William asked.
“Does it matter what she thinks?” Dr. Durant replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I think your mother may be on to something.”