"Mr Garrett, I need your help."
Scott Garrett was not a person to refuse anyone help. When the request came from a beautiful young woman, well, that added an element of pleasure that he definitely appreciated.
"How can I be of assistance, Miss Dennison?" he asked with a smile. Julie Dennison looked up at him, her sweet face shadowed with anxiety.
"It's my brother. He's gone to Kansas," she said.
"Kansas! What on earth could take him out there?" Scott queried. Perry Dennison was not the type of young man Scott would have imagined heading out West. A Boston drawing room with the windows open would be his idea of rough conditions.
"He's got into company with some dreadful men," explained Miss Dennison. "You know he's just turned eighteen. Well, that means he's come into control of a sum of money he inherited from our grandmother. Stupid woman, it should have been in trust for him until he was twenty-one…" The sweet look on Julie Dennison's face changed to an angry one and for a moment her voice changed from pleading to furious, then she seemed to recollect herself and said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr Garrett, please forgive me. It's just that I'm so worried about Perry. My grandmother adored him but he really is too young to be able to handle the money properly." Not too young, thought Scott, just too immature and downright stupid, but of course he didn't say anything like that. He knew better than to contradict a pretty girl.
"These men," she went on, "they've filled his head with talk about making a fortune out in Kansas in some sort of land speculation. They're just con men! Perry will be lucky if he sees even a token profit. Most likely, they'll get every penny of the money off him then tell him some pathetic tale and walk off with it all. And he won't even realised he's been robbed! He's so trusting, you see…" Gullible, you mean, thought Scott, but suddenly pulled his thoughts up. Whether trusting or gullible, the boy obviously needed to be helped.
"Didn't your father advise him against having dealings with these men?" he asked.
"Father's in Washington," Miss Dennison told him. "I thought of writing to him but I know he has very important business there and I didn't want to worry him. I thought it would be alright until he got back but then yesterday morning Perry slipped out of the house before breakfast and left on an early train. He didn't even say goodbye, just left a note saying he was going to Abilene and would write as soon as he could." She made a small noise that could have been a sob being held back. "I spoke to Mr Colbert, our banker. He said Perry withdrew all of his money the day before. Oh, Mr Garrett, what if they get it all off him and Perry finds himself stranded in some horrible place out West, all alone! He won't know what to do. And how humiliating it will all be for him! And for Father, as well."
She bent her head. Scott could see her distress was not feigned. She was right, Perry probably wouldn't have the sense to wire home for his return train fare. And she was right about the effect it would have on her father. He was getting old – he had married late in life – and his health was not good. Scott liked and respected Mr Dennison. Privately, he thought a misadventure out West would do Perry no real harm. It might cost him some money, but if it instilled a little sense into him, it would be a good bargain. But for old Mr Dennison's sake, he was prepared to do what he could to bail the boy out.
"And how can I help, Miss Dennison," he asked gently.
"You said once that you'd spent some time in Abilene," she said, looking at him intently.
"Yes, that's right, I was stationed there for a few months while I was in the army," he replied, feeling rather flattered that she had remembered what had just been a passing remark.
"Then you'll know people there, won't you?" she asked eagerly. "You could write to them, or wire them, and ask them to help Perry, look out for him when he arrives and get him away from those con men." She reached out her hand and touched his sleeve for a moment, then immediately drew it back. "Oh, please, Mr Garrett, I don't know anyone else who might have contacts way out there. I don't have anyone else to turn to…" The pleading look she gave him, on its own, would have decided him.
"I'll go out to Abilene myself, Miss Dennison, and bring him back before any harm is done." She stared at him.
"Oh Mr Garrett, that's more than I would ever have asked! But if you would… oh, I would be so, so grateful!" A gushing woman usually made Scott feel more impatient than a gentleman should feel towards a lady, but on this occasion he found it quite gratifying.
"It will be my pleasure, Miss Dennison."
Scott told his grandfather the story that evening.
"I doubt that the boy is any real danger, sir, but it would be a kindness to Mr and Miss Dennison to make sure he gets back with his person, and hopefully his purse, intact."
Harlan Garrett considered for a moment. Like his grandson, he really didn't give two pins about Perry Dennison possibly being swindled out of some money – if the boy didn't have the sense to keep hold of it, he didn't deserve to have it. But the fact that Julie Dennison had appealed to Scotty for help, and Scotty was eager to give it, indicated possibilities. The Dennisons were one of the oldest families in Boston. Harlan Garrett was powerful and rich, but he was only second generation. A match with Arthur Dennison's daughter would give Scotty a place at the very top of Boston society. Moreover, he knew that Scotty had been restless since he came back to Boston. What better way to settle him down than an advantageous marriage to a beautiful young woman?
"You're right, Scotty, the Dennisons are amongst the Garrett family's oldest friends. We certainly should help them if we can. I can spare you for a few weeks. You go out to – what was the name of the place? – and see what you can do." Harlan Garrett beamed, every inch the noble gentleman, the staunch friend, the calculating accountant.
"Thank you, sir. If you're agreeable, I'll leave first thing in the morning." Scott Garrett spoke respectfully, every inch the dutiful grandson. But it occurred to him suddenly that in Abilene, he wouldn't be Scott Garrett. All of his acquaintances out in Kansas knew him as Scott Lancer.
