Gypsy - Lesley Pearse [133]
But worst of all in her mind was that she was sure he was supplying girls to the brothels. The first time she saw him carrying the baggage of a couple of young women who had just got off a steamer, she thought he was just being gentlemanly. But later the same night she saw the girls in the newly built Red Onion Saloon, and it was clear from their painted faces that they had joined the prostitutes who worked upstairs there.
Every day a ship brought in a couple of dozen young women among its passengers, and it was possible some of them had been whores back in the towns they came from. But not all — some were country girls who just wanted a bit of adventure. Theo met each boat, and it was always the prettiest young women he made a beeline for to offer help and a place to live.
It seemed he didn’t love Beth any more, and he’d forgotten all the plans the four of them had made back in Vancouver.
Chapter Twenty-six
‘You really do have a gypsy in your soul,’ Jefferson murmured as he took Beth’s hand and raised it to his lips. ‘I could listen to you playing for ever and never tire of it.’
‘I would tire of it,’ she said with a smile, and picked up the glass of French champagne he’d just poured for her.
It was the end of January and thick snow lay all around outside, but they were in Jeff Smith’s Parlour, his bar and gambling den for those in his immediate circle. The stove was blazing, Beth was a little drunk, and it felt good to have a handsome man trying to seduce her.
Jefferson had been trying to woo her since December.
He’d given her a rocking chair for her cabin, bought her candy and was always inviting her for a drink or a meal. But this was the first time she’d been entirely alone with him; usually, when he brought her to the saloon, most of his cronies were here too.
They had been present earlier, but they had dispersed a while ago now, and even Nate Pollack, the bartender, had left after putting more logs on the stove.
‘Are you still planning to head for the goldfields next month?’ Jefferson asked, taking a strand of her hair and winding it round his finger.
‘Sam and Jack can’t wait to go,’ she replied. ‘So I guess I’ll go with them.’
‘It’s no trip for a lady,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘I’m as strong as most men,’ she said with a smile. ‘Besides, Skagway will be a ghost town when everyone’s left. What would there be for me to do?’
‘As soon as the weather breaks there will be even more ships. People are making their way here from all over the world,’ he said with that sparkle in his grey eyes she’d come to like so much. ‘You’ll make a bigger fortune here than you ever will in Dawson City. You could die on that journey; even the Indians say how difficult it is.’
‘We planned to go there, so we will.’ She shrugged.
‘And what about the Earl?’
Beth looked down at her lap. However cross she was with Theo, she still loved him, and the prospect of parting company with him was unbearable. But he had been a louse to her for months now, and she knew that if she stayed on here when Sam and Jack had gone, she couldn’t count on Theo to change his ways and she’d be very alone.
‘He won’t be coming with us,’ she said, and tried to smile as if it didn’t hurt.
‘He’s a fool then, for he’ll get himself killed without Jack to get him out of trouble,’ Jefferson said.
‘Surely not!’ Beth exclaimed.
‘He is too cocky by half. There are many who’d like nothing better than to see him dead.’
‘Not you?’ she asked anxiously.
Jefferson looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. ‘No, I like the man,’ he said eventually. ‘But then he’s smart enough not to tread on my toes. I’ve heard the whispers, though, and I can see the signs.’
‘Can’t you speak