Chapter 8: New York!

I avoided both Siobhan and Uncle James the next day, pleading a headache and eating breakfast and lunch in my room. I was both despondent and elated at the same time, trying to sort my feelings from all I had heard the previous night. I had not slept a wink since then. Could Uncle James truly have feelings for me that were more than those of an uncle for his niece? And if so, was Siobhan correct in believing that I had similar feelings for him as well?

I allowed Siobhan to bring me down to supper that evening and attempted to affect my normal demeanor without considerable success. The others remarked that I must still be feeling ill, not knowing that I had overheard them, and, of course, I could not admit a word.

You can imagine my surprise when, after we had been served, Uncle James mentioned rather haltingly, that in two weeks’ time he would be going to New York for business and asked if I would care to join him. I gaped so that my jaw must have hit the plate. His feelings for me were real after all! Still confused by my own sentiments, I accepted as best I could.

Then, to my utter consternation, he turned away from me hurriedly to look at Siobhan and Ahkbar Singh. “Of course, the invitation applies to you as well.”

To my relief, Siobhan replied, “Actually, sir, if you please, I would take the train to Boston at that time. I have not seen my family since this summer and would like a small vacation myself. If you would allow it, I will leave when you do and be back as you need me. Of course, Mister Singh will need to stay here to handle your local affairs.”

Ahkbar gave the pair of them an amused glance and responded in his Indian dialect, at which my uncle gave him the most murderous look, to which Ahkbar took no notice at all. Myself, I think that once he had steeled up his nerves to ask me, he was at a loss for when I accepted, and was beset by cowardice!

However, he was hoisted on his own petard, whatever a petard might be, and graciously allowed Siobhan her plans. Upon my asking of his plans, he replied with almost the exact suggestion that Mrs. Rourke had made the night before in her bed, “ ... the theater, restaurants, the opera, a ball or two.” Siobhan immediately offered her services in helping me select the wardrobe I would pack.

That night, after dinner, Siobhan came to my room and began to select the dresses I should take. I immediately noticed that they were the garments most likely to incite a man’s passions, being of the most extreme cut through the bodice. When I mentioned this with some alarm, she set them aside and sat down next to me on the bed. “Precisely so, Caroline, is that not the idea? Do you not want Mister MacAllister to so notice you?” she asked.

This indeed was the question, and my answer was not yet fully formed as I stammered a response. “But he is my uncle?”

“Not precisely, no, he is little more than a third cousin, and it is not terribly uncommon to wed a second cousin. No, I should say he is a most eligible possibility for you. Can you not admit as much?”

“Well, if you put it that way, then perhaps so, but really, Siobhan, the man has never shown the slightest indication of interest in me!” I protested. I could never admit that he had, though only to her, so perforce I must keep a certain pretense up.

“Then open your eyes child! The man is positively half-blind with jealousy for you. Haven’t you seen the way he looked at you this evening? And remember how he acted when that charming Mister Kendrickson was paying court to you during his visit? Not that stuffy Robert, but his brother Harry.”

“Harry Kendrickson! You must be mad, Siobhan!” I had noticed no such thing.

“Well, I will admit that he was charming to every lady in the house, and that more than a few of the maidservants would have been perfectly willing to make his bed, if you catch my meaning, but it’s true! Your uncle was rather put out by it, as well, don’t you recall his comments about Harry Kendrickson being a scalawag?” she replied.

In truth, I had failed to put any notice to it at the time, but on thinking back, I began to see a definite pattern to Uncle James’ actions whenever he was hosting younger, unmarried gentlemen in his home. He had taken considerable pains to ensure that I was never left alone in their company and would often match them in those remarks most pleasing to my vanity. Perhaps he really did care as he intimated the other night, if ever so obliquely! “Do you really think so?” I asked. “He has never given any indication so.”

“How could he! He has found himself in the position of your guardian when his natural instincts propel him towards the position of your suitor. His natural decency and nobility prohibit him from courting you as he so richly desires. If you have any feelings towards him at all, you must allow him to learn of them, otherwise he shall allow another to take that which he desires most, and he will nobly walk you down the aisle into another’s arms, all the while cursing the Fates. So, the question for you is what are your feelings towards him?”

I began to cry and collapsed onto my bed, burying my face in the pillows. Siobhan stretched out beside me to comfort me, hugging my shoulders, and pulling my face to her bosom. After several minutes, I tearfully looked up. “What should I do?” I begged of her.

“So, you do have feelings towards him?” she asked gently. Mute, I could only nod in the affirmative. “Then you must take the initiative. There is something in his past which acts to prevent his telling you of his affections, and I have not been able to discern it. Believe me when I say that he knows full well that he is neither too old nor too close a relation for you, and that he realizes that you are no longer a child but a beautiful young woman desirous of love. For whatever reason, he is unable to act on this, so you must act for him.”

“But how? All I have managed to do so far is make him jealous of the others.”

“You see, you admit to playing the coquette with the man. Now you must continue to do so, but more openly. Once in New York, as he squires you around the town, put forth your total attentions to him. Allow your love for him to show through. Be with him as much as possible, and put off toying with others’ affections, toy only with his. And do not toy with them, either, but express to him that you consider him what he truly is, a noble gentleman who fascinates and excites you.”

“That will not be enough!” I protested. “I could do that here, as well, and he would not change his nature on that regard.”

“Precisely, that is why it is so important you do so when he is away from his home. Otherwise, he will find some reason to excuse himself. As it is, he most probably will be spending some time away, if simply to see other businessmen and investors, but at worst, you will be on neutral grounds. And there is one other thing...” She paused at this point.

“What?” I demanded.

“I blush to say it, but your uncle has strong physical needs. We have never really talked about this, but I would strongly suspect that your Uncle James is the type of suitor who will not delay his use of the marriage bed until after the marriage.” My eyes widened at the scandalous thought. “Quite so, the meaning comes to you,” she said. “This is something you must answer for yourself. I will admit that since Michael’s death I have often wandered afar from any thoughts of morality and chastity, but I cannot tell you what to do. Can you consider the possibility of enjoying wedded bliss though you be not yet wedded?”

I knew my answer in a heartbeat. “Yes, Madame, I could. I have known enough married couples who have luxuriated in the delights of the bedchamber to know that it holds no fears for me. I anticipate no terrors, only joys. As for the rest, well, know that I would walk naked down Main Street if I knew that his arms would be open to receive me at the end.”

Siobhan laughed at the image. “I don’t think that will quite be necessary. Still, it would not at all surprise me if it would require some active assistance upon your part. Perhaps something more than an embrace, as well, by kissing him not as an uncle, but as a lover, wrapping your arms around him and pulling him closely. Another thing I should warn you of, one that I discovered to my infinite delight with Michael. Do not be surprised if when dancing or embracing, when you are pressed against him, to discover that his manhood is energized, rampant and pressing against you. This is the natural reaction of a man when embraced by a woman, the more natural when he is a vigorous and hearty man like your uncle and you are pressed against him, so young and beautiful. Do not be alarmed, but be joyous, and do not allow him to nobly pull back, but press against him with a promise of things to come. Believe me when I say that this is not an insult, but the most endearing compliment a man can give a woman, that her presence excites him in the most fundamental fashion!”

“Oh, that I should be pressed against him so even as we speak!” I exclaimed. “I am sure that he would be a much finer cure for my hysteria than Doctor Allsworth!”

“I am sure of it. Now, let us prepare you for bed. We can prepare for your trip over the next two weeks. We will need to go shopping for your trip. For now, I would suggest that we both get undressed and cure each other of our hysteria!”

The next several days were spent in a veritable whirlwind of preparation. Siobhan felt that one or two of my dresses needed modification, and I was perforce required to obtain other supplies as well. In particular, we spent several days in town at the ladies’ shops. For one thing, while I had several lovely night shirts, Siobhan recommended that I obtain two or three more, in the most scandalous styles and fabrics, to wear when saying goodnight to my uncle. With any luck, he would not take his leave of me until the next morning! In addition, I had gotten the name of a good seamstress from Nancy, one who was familiar with and comfortable in making the most sinful and elaborate gowns and commissioned her to make me a dress to my own design, one which I planned to wear on a particular evening.

Siobhan warned me against my most common failing, that of a general who makes an all-out attack at the first instance, leaving no reserves, only to find that a more deliberate approach would have been more successful. It has ever been my tendency to wager all on the first throw of the dice, probably due my nomadic upbringing and the loss of my parents. In a person of a pessimistic humor, this would undoubtedly lead to the husbanding of resources for the future, but I am generally of an optimistic outlook, and rarely have I been disappointed at the results of my nature. Siobhan counseled me against this, saying that this was too important a venture to leave unplanned. I should work up to the proper moment, which I should plan out in advance. I selected the moment to be the evening of a charity ball to be held at the Waldorf Astoria as the culmination of the strategy. This was to be the midpoint of our stay, and since the ball was to be held in the same hotel we were staying at, should simplify the arrangements.