Chapter Six

As Jack glowered at Mr. Percy Kane, the man who’d left her for Miss Vivian Davis, Myrtle felt the enjoyment she’d just experienced over sharing a first dance with Jack disappear into thin air.

Why Percy would think she’d welcome him with open arms was quite beyond her, but when he crooked a finger, quite as if she were some type of dog who would immediately obey his summons, she lifted her chin, crossed her arms over her chest, and refused to move so much as an inch. “What are you doing here?”

Percy blinked and lowered his hand. “I’ve come to make amends.”

“Over the slight misunderstanding you just mentioned to Jack?”

“Who?”

She nodded to Jack, who looked more than intimidating, especially considering his hands were clenched and a vein had begun throbbing on his forehead. “Jack, or rather, Mr. Jack Daggett, my suitor.”

Percy frowned. “You can’t very well have a suitor and a fiancé at the same time, Mertie.”

“Her name is Myrtle,” Jack said before Myrtle had an opportunity to respond. “You’d be wise to remember that from this point forward.”

Percy drew himself up, even though doing so still made him a good six inches shorter than Jack. “You dare threaten me, Mr. Daggett? Do you have any idea who I am?”

“I’m thinking you must be the man who left Myrtle for another woman, which, if you ask me, constitutes more than a mere misunderstanding. I would think it’s definitely along the lines of a very grave mistake that I don’t believe you’ll be able to fix.”

“I’m Mr. Percy Kane of the New York Kane family,” Percy began, ignoring everything Jack had just said. “We’re one of the oldest and most respected families in New York. Mertie, or rather Myrtle, and I have been promised to each other since before she left for finishing school and I left to study in England.” He looked Jack up and down before he released a sniff. “I doubt you can claim the same impressive pedigree.”

When Jack stiffened, Myrtle stepped forward, hoping to defuse a situation that was rapidly getting out of hand. “Perhaps we should take this conversation somewhere more private. If the two of you have neglected to remember, we’re at a dance, an event that’s supposed to be enjoyable, not hostile.”

Unwilling to allow either man an opportunity to argue with her, she took hold of Jack’s arm and tugged him from the dance floor, Percy immediately falling into step with her as she charged away from the guests.

Not stopping until she rounded the corner of El Tovar, she all but shoved Jack onto one of the stone benches where they’d spent many an enjoyable evening, taking a seat beside him as Percy remained standing, watching Myrtle closely.

“You look different,” Percy suddenly said, his gaze traveling the length of her.

“I’ve lost some weight,” she returned, knowing that if she ignored his statement, Percy would launch into the reasons he thought she looked different, pontificating on and on about the matter until he figured it out. She’d always tolerated his pontifications in the past, but tonight she had no patience for that, or for that matter, for Percy.

“It suits you,” Percy said, sending her a smile she knew he thought was charming, but at the moment she found it anything but.

“When did you get here?” she demanded.

Percy gave a wave of his hand. “A few hours ago.”

“And you thought to wait until I was dancing before making your presence known?”

“I fell asleep in my room. It was a very tiring train ride to this desolate place, and I was exhausted once I finally got here.”

“But why are you here? Don’t tell me it’s because you’re desperate to make amends. The last we spoke, you were more than clear about your lack of affection for me, stating, in case you’ve forgotten, that I was a good sort, but not the type of woman you’d ever be able to love—not like you loved Miss Vivian Davis.”

“Vivian and I decided we didn’t suit.”

“Why?”

Percy shot a look at Jack, then returned his attention to Myrtle. “I don’t believe there’s any need to get into that in front of a stranger.”

“Jack’s not a stranger to me.”

“Right, because he’s your suitor.”

“He is.”

Percy waved that aside. “What type of man would want to call on a woman who spends her time as a waitress?”

“I’m not a waitress. I’m a Harvey Girl.”

“Same thing. You do know that your mother has had to go to extreme measures to keep this little adventure of yours quiet, don’t you? She’s been telling everyone that you went away to enjoy the hot springs in Colorado, but we won’t be able to keep your Harvey Girl status quiet forever if you continue on in your ridiculous position.”

“I’m not giving up my position as a Harvey Girl.”

“I’m sure you’ll reconsider that attitude once you think about how your little act of rebellion will affect our future children. Do you think they’ll enjoy whispers about a mother who spent a year serving coffee and mopping up spills?”

“There’ll never be any future children between us, Percy, because I’ll never marry you. With that said, I have every confidence in stating that your trip to El Tovar has been a complete waste of your time.”

Percy jerked his head in Jack’s direction. “Is that because you intend to marry him?”

Myrtle chanced a glance at Jack and found him watching her closely. There was something unfamiliar lingering in his eyes as he watched her, something she was very much afraid might be disappointment. Drawing in a deep breath and not allowing herself to dwell on that just yet, she released the breath and looked back at Percy. “Jack and I haven’t discussed definite plans to marry yet, but that has nothing to do with you. I’ll never marry you.”

“Your parents want you to marry me.”

“I doubt that, not after what happened at Mrs. Oelrichs’s ball at the end of the summer Season last year in Newport—one where, if you’ll recall, you made a grand production out of announcing to everyone that you and Miss Davis were engaged.” Her lips thinned. “You didn’t even afford me the courtesy of telling me, your supposed fiancée, that you were marrying someone else. Because of that, I can’t believe my parents are still keen to see the two of us married, even if they did once want exactly that.”

“Who do you think encouraged me to come fetch you or gave me directions to locate you in the first place?”

“Do not say my mother told you where to find me.”

“She did, and speaking of your mother, I have a letter from her to give you, one you’re certainly going to want to read at your earliest convenience.”

Before Myrtle could respond to that, Jack was suddenly on his feet, frowning not at Percy but at her.

“We need to talk, Myrtle.”

Percy nodded. “Good idea, Mr. Daggett. The sooner the two of you break things off, the sooner Myrtle can begin packing her belongings to return to New York with me.”

“I’m not going back with you.”

“I imagine you will after you read your mother’s letter. Did I mention she’s already reinstated your trust fund and that she told me to tell you that you can once again access your bank account?”

Rubbing a hand over a forehead that was beginning to throb, Myrtle looked at Jack, who was now watching her not with disappointment in his eyes but disbelief.

“Perhaps we should go have that talk,” she suggested, albeit reluctantly, since there was little doubt the conversation between them was going to be anything but pleasant.

“Lead the way,” Jack said shortly, thrusting an arm out for her, which proved that, even though he seemed to be struggling to maintain his temper, he was still a true gentleman at heart, unlike Percy, who hadn’t even bothered to seek her out when he’d first arrived at El Tovar and had apparently felt there was nothing wrong with once again ambushing her in front of a crowd.

Taking Jack’s arm and walking with him across the lawn, Myrtle increased her pace, wanting to get far away from Percy as quickly as possible. She stopped beside a scraggly tree and released Jack’s arm, wincing when he crossed his arms over his chest and leveled a cool eye on her.

“I’m listening” were the first words out of his mouth.

“I’m not sure where to begin.”

“Why don’t you start with the part about how you’re evidently a member of New York society, or better yet, explain to me why you didn’t bother to tell me important details about your past. Didn’t you think I’d eventually learn the truth?”

“Well, yes, and I was actually going to tell you all about my past later tonight. I simply didn’t want to ruin the earlier part of our evening by disclosing truths I knew you weren’t going to enjoy hearing.”

“I think your Percy managed to sufficiently ruin the evening for us.”

“He’s not my Percy, and I’m not going back to New York with him.”

Jack let out a grunt. “You would have me believe that you’re perfectly content to continue as a Harvey Girl after learning your mother is willing to reinstate your finances? Your improved financial state will obviously allow you to return to enjoying not one, but two social Seasons a year, one of those Seasons being in Newport.”

Myrtle winced. “You picked up on the Newport reference?”

“Where Percy disclosed he was engaged to another woman? Yes. And do know, even with me being an uneducated man and not a member of any society, I know how exclusive Newport is. Why, I even know that the summer residences everyone refers to as ‘cottages’ are nothing of the sort, since they’re, in actuality, mansions.”

He began pacing back and forth, mumbling under his breath words she didn’t fully catch, although she did hear him say something about being a fool and “should have known better.” Stopping a moment later, he lifted his head. “Does your family live on Fifth Avenue in New York?”

She refused another wince. “They do, but before you begin firing more questions about my time in New York, or anything about my involvement with high society, allow me to simply state that I was never embraced by that society. I certainly was never what anyone could consider fashionable. In all honesty, I was nothing more than a wallflower.”

“While it’s confusing to me how you could have earned the label of wallflower, I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me all this before tonight. You’ve had plenty of time to do so over the past few weeks, and yet you said nothing.”

“Which, in hindsight, was very wrong of me.” Myrtle shook her head. “Ruthanne encouraged me to disclose all the details about my past to you, and I must say she was certainly right that failure to do so at my earliest convenience would cause trouble between us.”

Jack’s gaze sharpened. “You told Ruthanne about who you really are?”

“I haven’t been hiding my identity, Jack. I merely didn’t divulge details about my unfortunate family and their social circumstances.”

“Shall I assume your family possesses more than an adequate fortune?”

Myrtle bit her lip. “I’m afraid so. My great-grandfather made his original wealth in real estate, buying up land surrounding New York City before it became the most progressive city in the country. My grandfather and father have only added to that fortune with their business opportunities.”

“You’re old money?”

“About as old as you can get, but if we could return to the matter of me disclosing the truth to Ruthanne,” Myrtle hurried to continue because Jack was now looking rather furious, “I only told her the full truth tonight after she grew suspicious about the dress I’m wearing.”

“Why would she be suspicious about your dress?”

“Because it’s a very expensive dress that came from Paris.”

“You’ve been to Paris?”

“This is probably not going to endear me to you, but yes. I used to travel there every spring to select a new wardrobe for the Seasons in Newport and New York.”

“You’re right, that disclosure doesn’t endear you to me at all.”

“And that’s exactly why it took me so long to work up the nerve to tell you about my family.”

“You didn’t tell me. Percy did.”

There was something quite maddening about trying to reason with an angry man. Taking a deep breath, Myrtle released it and took a step closer to Jack, who immediately took a large step backward. She pretended she didn’t notice. “But I was planning on telling you. If you don’t believe me, you can ask Ruthanne. She’ll vouch for me.”

“Whether or not you were planning to tell me tonight is really beside the point. As I’ve already mentioned, we’ve spent a great deal of time together, but not once did you mention anything about New York society, except for . . . ” Jack tilted his head. “You did mention to me that you didn’t care for The House of Mirth. I also recall my sister saying Edith Wharton’s characters were inspired by real New York society members.” He frowned. “Those characters wouldn’t have been inspired by anyone you know, would they? That would explain why you wouldn’t care for that particular book, if those characters were shown in a bad light.”

“One of them might have reminded me of a distant aunt.”

“And that aunt would be?”

“Caroline Astor, whose maiden name was Schermerhorn.”

“You’re related to Caroline Astor?”

“You’ve heard of her?”

“I may have grown up in the country, Myrtle, but I’ve traveled extensively over the years. Of course I’ve heard of Caroline Astor, along with the whole Astor family.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “You’re not related to the Vanderbilt or Rockefeller families as well, are you?”

“I’ve got a few Vanderbilt cousins, and my father’s sister is a member of the Rockefeller family.”

Jack threw up his hands and stalked a few feet away from her, stopping and turning back a second later. “This changes everything.”

“I don’t see why it should. I left my life in New York behind when I joined the Harvey Girls—left my fortune behind too. As far as I’m concerned, I’m merely Myrtle, a Harvey Girl, and a woman who has been fortunate enough to learn she was never meant to live in high society.”

“You’ll come to miss that life at some point.”

“I won’t, not if you’ll forgive me and—” She stopped talking, realizing she’d almost said too much.

“You’ll eventually come to resent my lack of education and lack of proper manners if we were to continue on together,” Jack said quietly, the resignation in his tone all but breaking Myrtle’s heart because it suggested he’d already made up his mind that they would not be continuing on together.

Her vision turned blurry with unshed tears, and unwilling to allow Jack to see those tears, she stepped into the shadow the tree afforded from the lantern light, swiping a hand over her eyes before she lifted her chin.

“Do you think so little of me that you truly believe that?” she asked.

“I don’t know what to think of you, but I do know that we come from two different worlds, and yours is not a world I’d ever fit into. With that said, I think you should return to New York.”

“And what will you return to?” she whispered.

“My business, of course. I’ve neglected it of late, and it’s past time I rectify that.”

Myrtle drew in a deep breath. “So we’re ending our courtship?”

Jack regarded her for a long moment before he nodded. “I think that would be for the best.”

Without saying another word, he strode away, disappearing into the darkness of the night.