A/N: I am so excited about these reviews…thanks y'all! I'm dedicating this part to GLimmer…you're comment totally brightened up my day! Thanks soooo much, babe! Alias, yeah, but I still have no title. Maybe my roomie will help me. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy.
To all, I've made various bgs…so far Spot, Jack (2), general, planning on Les and David within the next day or so. If you're interested, email me and let me know. If you have pictures you want made into a bg, just email me the pictures and I will be more than glad to do it.
Denton and Jack exit the carriage first and Jack offers a hand to help Amanda down. He also offers her his arm as they walk up the stairs.
"Let the games begin," Amanda says, grinning slightly as she knocks on the door.
The butler answers the door almost immediately. "Hello, Ms. Sawyer. Mrs. Pulitzer is in the parlor; I will show you and your guests the way."
"Thank you," Amanda says. She takes both Denton and Jack hands and squeezes them in reassurance before they all follow the butler to the parlor.
"Amanda, dear, so great to see you again," Mrs. Pulitzer says, standing up to graciously meet Amanda.
"Good evening, Mrs. Pulitzer," Amanda says, curtsying slightly.
"Please call me Madeline, all of you," Mrs. Pulitzer says.
"Madeline, may I introduce my uncle, Brian Denton. He's a reporter with "The Sun." Amanda says, as Denton steps forward.
"Good evening, Mr. Denton," Madeline says, smiling.
"Good evening, Madeline," Denton replies.
"I did not get a chance to tell you, but this young man helped me find my way when I was lost in the city today. I hope it wasn't presumptuous to invite him to dinner tonight. I just wanted to thank him for helping me," Amanda says, gesturing to Jack.
"Of course not, dear. What is your name, young man?" Madeline asks, directing a motherly smile towards Jack.
"Good evening, Ma'am. My name's Jack Kelly. It's nice to meet you," Jack says, surprising Amanda and Denton with his etiquette.
"Well, Jack, I'm glad you agreed to join us this evening. I'll just call Sarah and ask her to set another place at the table," Madeline says, sitting down and ringing a bell.
"Yes ma'am?" Sarah asks, coming into the room. Jack looks up in shock to see David and Les' older sister working as a maid/kitchen helper. He recovers quickly when he notices Sarah has paid no attention to him.
"Sarah, we have another guest for this evening - Mr. Kelly. Inform the cook and set another place at the table, next to Amanda," Madeline says, gesturing to Jack. At this point, Sarah looks at Jack and realizes who it is. She is startled but quickly recovers.
"Of course, ma'am," she says, escaping quickly to the kitchen.
Amanda has watched the exchange with interest and decides to get more dirt on what is going on. "So, Madeline, how long has Sarah been working for you?"
"It will be three months Thursday. She's such a hard worker. Apparently, her old boyfriend was a lazy lout. She recently started seeing a young man studying to be a doctor," Madeline says, eager to share gossip, "They've been together for about three weeks, I think."
"Oh really. Quite a scandal," Amanda says, feigning interest yet at the same time aching for Jack. A quick glance at him shows a stoic mask in place just barely concealing the hurt.
"So, Jack, what do you do?" Madeline asks, her attention drifting to a new topic.
"I am actually in the newspaper distribution business; I am employ of "The World." Jack says, as Denton and Amanda attempt to hide their smiles.
"Really?" Madeline asks, impressed, "Then you and my son, Joseph, will have a lot to talk about. He will be taking over "The World" someday." Her pride for her son obviously shines through.
"I'm sure we will," Jack says, smiling, as the butler comes back in.
"Mrs. Pulitzer, the gentlemen will be joining you in here shortly," he announces before leaving again.
"Well, gentlemen, I'm sure you will be glad for some conversation companions. My father-in-law, husband, and son will be excited to meet you. After all, Mr. Denton, you will be family soon." Amanda's carefully held intact smile falters ever so slightly, unnoticed by Madeline. "I'm sure us women are awfully dreadful and boring to listen to," Madeline continues, sharing a smile with Amanda.
"Nonsense; I've enjoyed the conversation," Denton says.
"Me, too," Jack says as the Pulitzer men enter the room.
Short chapter, I know. I was going to hold off another day or two and write a long part, but with all the reviews I received I figured that I'd reward you to the best of my ability with a teaser of things to come. The conversation involving the Pulitzer men will be a long part and require a lot of thinking from me, and that is hard when I've been up since 7 AM (current time is about 1 AM). What did you all think about adding Sarah in as a plot twist? I was originally just using it as a name, but then I thought 'Wouldn't that be an interesting line of events?' Just to clarify, I don't think Sarah is really as *bitchy* as I made her to be, but it works better for my story that way. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the story. I live for feedback. The more feedback I get, the sooner the Pulitzer men part will be out. With little feedback, expect late tomorrow night or Wednesday at the earliest. With a lot of feedback, I may finish it before class at 12:30 tomorrow. It's all up to you. Have a good night!