Chapter Fourteen
The Marvellous Miss Hall
The offices of 'Ladies' View' magazine were easy enough to find. Daniel and Carolyn only needed a few directions from the hotel concierge and a short cab ride. The magazine occupied the third floor of an elegant building, constructed in the city's earlier times, that had begun to show its age.
But the building's unfussy air of genteel decay appealed to Carolyn immediately. As soon as she and Daniel entered the magazine's reception area the combined smells of printer's ink and newsprint told them exactly where they were.
"Oh, isn't this wonderful?" Carolyn enthused, looking around the darkly panelled walls at framed prints of past editions of the magazine. Like the building, a lot of them had faded with time. "Look at all of these. They all tell a story."
"If you think so…" Daniel grimaced at the sudden clatter of the printing presses starting up somewhere deep within the bones of the building.
He disliked the abrupt sensation of his back teeth being rattled right through the soles of his boots. The smells of printing ink and paper did not align themselves with the more familiar, sweet brine scents of the ocean.
He had to remind himself this was not his world, but it would soon be that of his wife if they were successful in their quest. He needed to get used to it. But in small doses.
"Good afternoon. How may I help you?" a young female receptionist raised her voice to inquire as she stood from behind the front desk.
"Captain and Mrs Gregg here to see Miss Sally Hall…" Daniel replied as they both approached her. "We have an appointment."
"Oh yes, of course. The little ship's boy who came this morning." The young woman nodded quickly. "He was most insistent he secure an appointment for you. He would not go away until he did."
She saw Daniel's discontented grimace at the ongoing noise of the presses and waved a careless hand. "Don't worry, they'll stop soon. They're just testing the lines. Like most everything else around here, the printing machines are old and need to be nurtured. We usually print at night when everyone's gone home."
She grinned. "The neighbours complain less."
Just as she finished speaking a blessed silence returned. "There you go," she pointed out unnecessarily. "Now, if you will please follow me."
She came around the desk and headed across the lobby toward a wide corridor that led away to a row of offices. "Miss Hall said to show you right in as soon as you arrived. She's very eager to finally meet you."
"Sounds promising…" Daniel leaned closer to Carolyn to comment, as he escorted her down the corridor.
The doors to the large office that dominated the end of the corridor stood open. A woman's deep voice could be heard talking to someone, but there was no reply.
Carolyn frowned. The words being spoken were familiar. She could have sworn they were from her manuscript.
The receptionist shrugged as she moved aside to wave them forward encouragingly. "Go right on in. Miss Hall doesn't believe in standing on ceremony. She says we're all equal around here. Whatever that means." She hurried back to her desk.
"Come on in, you two," the woman's deep voice rose to command them impatiently. "There's no use skulking about, out there in the corridor. Get in here and let me have a good look at you."
"I do not skulk," Daniel muttered in an offended tone as they both entered the large office.
"I think I like her already…" Carolyn chuckled at his mulish expression before she turned to find Miss Hall watching them with deep curiosity.
Whatever Carolyn had been expecting it certainly was not the tall, imposing woman standing beside an enormous walnut desk watching them unblinkingly. Sally Hall was dressed very mannishly in a full-length brown plaid skirt with a matching waistcoat well cut across her ample chest accompanied by a man's white shirt and bright red tie. Her iron-grey hair was cut short in a no-nonsense style that went well with the round, masculine style spectacles perched on the bridge of her imposing nose.
"Good afternoon…" Carolyn said politely, holding out her hand as she advanced toward the other woman.
"How'd ya do…" Sally Hall took her hand and shook it heartily. But her attention was not on her prospective new author.
"Well, good afternoon, Captain Nathaniel Morgan…" she murmured approvingly, looking Daniel over from his dark curls to the heels of his boots. "We meet at last."
She brandished the sheath of papers she was holding in her left hand. "I was just reading some of your excellent adventures out loud, Mrs Gregg. 'For A Captain's Love…' indeed."
Her eyes ran over Daniel again, bringing the faintest of flushes to his tanned cheeks. "You would certainly be my idea of a romantic sea captain if I ever had one. I just knew you had to be real."
"Good afternoon…" Daniel tipped two fingers to his sea cap before removing it. He met the other woman's assessing gaze levelly.
"You were reading my manuscript?" Carolyn frowned. "I do that all the time. How interesting. My mother always thought I was crazy, whenever I read my articles aloud."
She indicated Daniel with a wave of her hand. "But this is my husband, Captain Daniel Gregg. I'm afraid the Captain Morgan you're read about in my novel is fictional. I made him up." She held up the enveloped final manuscript she was carrying.
"There's always a grain of truth somewhere in every character who has ever graced the pages of a romantic novel," Miss Hall replied cryptically as she took the manuscript from Carolyn. "Some are simply more alive than others. And it seems your Captain Morgan is very much alive and very handsome."
She dropped the draft manuscript she'd been holding onto the blotter as she walked behind her desk and sat down, waving an impatient hand at two chairs set before her. "But enough of the pleasantries. We have business to discuss. Sit down, sit down. I don't bite."
She stopped and smiled. "Well, only those people I don't like or attempt to waste my time with trifles. I'm a very busy woman. I have a failing magazine to set back on its feet and make profitable."
"Oh…" Carolyn took off her bonnet before she sat down doubtfully in the chair. "I hope you don't think we're here to waste your time."
Daniel eased himself into the chair beside his wife's. He reached to take her hand. "Relax, my dear. I don't think she means us, do you, Miss Hall?"
"Oh, no, no. Far from it." Sally Hall waved an expansive hand.
She turned Carolyn's copy of the manuscript over in her hands. "I will say it has been a long time since any debut novel has captured my attention as yours has, Mrs Gregg. I swear I could smell the ocean and feel the deck of the ship moving beneath my feet. You bring an excellent air of authenticity to your work. I know my readers are going to love it. They want something new and fresh."
She grimaced, pressing the back of one hand to her lips. "Though I have never been a very good sailor."
"Seaman…" Carolyn murmured softly. "My husband will be quick to tell you the term is seaman. Not sailor."
"If the serialisation of your novel helps me to sell more copies of my magazine, I will call them anything you like." Miss Hall shrugged, opening the envelope, and drawing out the manuscript. "I want to double our readership by the end of the year, and you are going to help me do that. If we can treble it, all the better."
She flipped through the pages, reading in short sections. She nodded now and then with approval.
Carolyn sat forward eagerly in her chair. "Are you saying you wish to print 'For A Captain's Love?'
"Mrs Gregg…" Sally Hall looked up from her reading. "I will not only print your debut novel as soon as possible, but I am also considering putting you under contract for three more manuscripts."
She frowned at them over the rim of her glasses. "If you feel you are up to the task of completing them within the timeframe I need to set. They will all need to be as good as this one. If not better. Tell me now if you cannot rise to the challenge and I will start looking elsewhere."
"Three more…?" Carolyn breathed. "Oh, how wonderful."
She turned to Daniel, her eyes shining. "I'm sure we can manage to do that."
Her husband nodded, happy that his wife was confident. "But you have conditions?" he asked of the editor.
"I'll freely admit your imminent arrival on the literary scene couldn't have come at a better time for me and my efforts to modernise this magazine, Mrs Gregg." Miss Hall spread her hands wide, palms uppermost. "I have enough people to write recipes for me and endless household hints. I am awash with gardening tips and how best to clean the family silver. The happy homemaker will find everything she desires within its pages."
She placed a hand over her mouth and yawned as she shook her head. "Including unmitigated boredom. I soon found it was no longer enough. It hasn't been so for some years. My readers want more. They want excitement and adventure."
She raised her shoulders. "My father is Ellsworth Hall. He owns a whole stable of national newspapers and magazines, including this one. It first belonged to my mother who died last year. Ellsworth was determined to shut it down as unprofitable but I insisted on taking it over. My loving father has given me the grace of two years to turn the magazine around and make it profitable or he will finally end it."
She sat forward in her chair, looking intently at Carolyn. "I was weaned on printer's ink and brought up among the presses. My mother was a good editor, even if my father disapproved of her choice to remain with her own magazine. All my life I've always been forced to work twice as hard as any man to be thought less than half as good."
She shrugged. "Most male authors do not want to work with a female editor. We're said to be too emotional and unpredictable."
She laughed shortly. "The last man who said that of me nursed a sore head for a week after I bested him at a night of poker and drinking whisky."
Carolyn shook her head. "And male editors are dismissive of female writers as unstable and not emotionally capable of completing a novel on time. I have had that thrown in my face more than once. That is why I began to publish my work under a man's assumed name."
"Well, if you agree to my terms there'll be none of that male arrogance around here," Sally Hall replied before glancing at Daniel. "With the exception of the good Captain, of course. Within the pages of your novels, he may be as arrogant as he pleases. The ladies seem to like that sort of thing."
"I thank you for that," Daniel inclined his head ironically.
"Don't mention it." Sally's lips twitched appreciatively. "But your work is exactly what I need. You are both new and fresh. I want to liven the magazine up and drag it out of the doldrums. I want to make people sit up and take notice of the work we will do."
"Including your father," Daniel guessed shrewdly.
"Oh yes, him most of all," Miss Hall acknowledged with a wave of her forefinger. "I want to rub his face in it and make him regret he gave me the magazine as my plaything. All he wants from me are grandchildren and lots of them."
She huffed her discontent at the notion." I don't have the time or the patience to allow some man to clutter up my life."
"Then I do think we are all on the same page," Carolyn agreed, sitting further forward in her chair to pull off her gloves. "When do we begin?"
"I've always said there's no time like the present," Miss Hall assured her, opening a drawer in her desk and extracting a pile of paperwork. "I have the contracts here, all ready to be signed."
She also drew out a check and held it up. "I think this will do very nicely as the advance we agreed on. I have sweetened it a little based on the quality of your work. Keep it up and you will find me very generous indeed."
Carolyn took the slip of paper, her eyes rounding at the amount written there. "Oh, this is more than generous. Are you sure?"
Mis Hall waved a dismissing hand. "I believe in paying for good works and yours is very good. It was a rousing sea-tale of daring-do and you have brought a brilliant ring of authenticity to it. I am simply glad we connected before some other editor chanced upon your manuscripts and snared you from under my nose. That I could not allow."
"That pleases me very much. But I couldn't have done any of it without my husband's help," Carolyn replied, showing the check to Daniel. "He is the true source of my information."
"Then maybe I should put him under contract as well." Miss Hall chuckled.
"I gather you are talking about your father trying to take us away from you," Daniel surmised.
"Ellsworth will do whatever is in his power to scupper this magazine and all the modernisations I wish to do to make it a success," Miss Hall admitted. "We are going to make very sure he doesn't succeed. The moment he gets a whiff of any rise in our circulation he will want to know why."
She pushed the contracts forward and held out a pen. "That is why we will make the deal now. It's also why I was very keen to meet with you today. I'll make no bones about it. Once your work hits the stands you will become a desirable commodity. Very desirable, indeed."
She chuckled. "I wish I could see my father's face when he reads the first instalment. He will be livid."
"Then we most certainly have a deal." Carolyn leaned forward to pick up the contract to read.
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"Well, that went far better than I expected," Daniel commented as they exited the building two hours later. "I think we can safely go shopping and not look to count the cost. Miss Hall's check has fattened our coffers nicely."
"I think she's an absolute marvel," Carolyn enthused, her eyes sparkling as they walked along the crowded street. "Three more manuscripts by the time winter sets in again. There is no time to waste. We will need to set about writing our notes as soon as we get back to Schooner Bay. You sail in less time than we have to spare."
"And while I am at sea, I shall have to rattle my brain for more stories." Daniel smiled. "Those suitable for the delicate sensibilities of your readership. I can glean more for any captains I encounter while I'm docked in London. I know one or two with stories to tell. One captain in particular."
"My readership…" Carolyn breathed happily. "Oh, Daniel, I truly never thought it was even possible. I am so glad I ran away to Schooner Bay."
She wrapped her hands around his forearm and hugged it. "It truly is all thanks to you and your support. It's a shame my mother cannot be proud of my work. She always looked askance at my wishing to become a writer. She was terrified I would turn into someone like those blue-stocking women from last century. You know, those intellectual ladies that she was sure no man would want to marry."
"And yet I married you and willingly." Daniel took her gloved hand and kissed the backs of her fingers. "You continue to surprise and delight me with your unconventional ways."
His eyes danced with mischief. "And I have yet to find a single trace of blue on you anywhere. I shall make a point of looking closer tonight…"
Carolyn's cheeks warmed as she leaned against his arm. "As you continue to delight me. In so many ways. I wish—"
"Daniel?" a woman's voice queried from behind them. "I didn't expect to see you so early in the season. It has been a long time. Too long."
Carolyn turned to look behind them, alerted by her husband's suddenly rigid stance. He obviously knew the woman and was not pleased.
She saw a very elegantly dressed young woman with long curls of midnight black hair beneath her bonnet and dark eyes that studied Carolyn with bored indifference. Her high-fashion black clothing and expensive look fairly shouted of Paris and London.
Daniel turned slowly, drawing his wife's hand closer through the crook of his bent elbow, and holding it there. "Vanessa…" He inclined his head politely, but his tone was devoid of emotion. "What brings you back to Boston?"
"I had family matters I needed to attend to. My mother died recently," the young woman replied. "I am selling the house and contents before I return to Paris. I am delighted to see you looking so well."
"I am very sorry for your loss." Daniel shook his head. "Mrs Peekskill was a good, honest woman."
"You do not seem at all pleased to see me," the young woman complained. "You used to be very happy to visit with me whenever you were in town. You must remember the wonderful times we shared together."
Her dark eyes assessed Carolyn, obviously marking her as no threat. She preened a little in her fine mourning clothes.
"Time and circumstances change many things," Daniel replied levelly. "I am no longer the man you remember. I am no longer that fool."
He raised two fingers politely to his sea cap. "Good afternoon."
He turned away, taking Carolyn with him. She didn't have time to ask who the young woman was. His simmering anger communicated itself to her through his tight grasp on her hand.
"Are you not going to introduce us?" Vanessa persisted, hurrying to keep pace beside them.
"There is little point…" Daniel said hardly. "The lady has no use for an acquaintance such as yours."
Vanessa sighed as she ignored him, holding out her black-gloved hand across Daniel to Carolyn. "I am Countess Vanessa Beauvoir," she supplied with a proud smile. "I am quite famous. No doubt you have heard of me."
"Mrs Carolyn Gregg…" Carolyn touched her fingers briefly to the other woman's out of politeness. "And no, I do not believe I have."
She raised her chin looking the other woman up and down. "But then I doubt we would move in the same circles."
"Ah, no wonder you are so prickly, Daniel. Congratulations, you have finally tied the strings of matrimony," the countess marvelled, ignoring Carolyn's barb.
She shrugged, turning to study Carolyn again with critical eyes. "No doubt you were a pretty enough bride, my dear."
She gave a soft laugh. "You know, there was a time when—"
"Good afternoon, Countess, and goodbye…" Daniel cut her off furiously.
He swept her aside without apology as he hurried their steps. They soon out-stripped the young woman who stopped walking to watch them blend into the crowd.
Carolyn glanced back at the last moment to see the countess toss her black curls. She made a dismissing gesture with one black-gloved hand before turning back the way she'd come, calmly acknowledging the nods and bows of the passing men in the crowd as if they were her due.
"You can slow down now, please…" Carolyn complained as they rounded a corner and walked out of sight. "You did say I was not the first beautiful woman you have escorted around town. I have to assume that lady was one of them."
"She was and more." Daniel blew a harsh breath as he stopped walking. "But a lady, she is not. Twelve years ago, Vanessa was a woman I desired very much."
He shrugged, patting her hand. "You might as well know the whole truth. I had thought we would even get married. We exchanged many long letters and a number of confidences. Her elderly mother was delighted with the idea and had the wedding all planned. But Vanessa—"
He stopped to look back, his expression closed and remote. Carolyn shook his arm.
"But Vanessa?" she prompted. "You might as well tell me everything. We agreed there would be no secrets between us, remember? I will understand whatever it you find so hard to say."
Daniel sighed harshly. "Vanessa saw more for her in marrying a man of wealth and power. A mere sea captain could not hope to compete with the likes of a perfumed French nobleman with royal connections."
"Oh, Daniel, I'm so sorry…" Carolyn hugged his arm with both hands. "She is an utter fool and a very stupid woman. I could detest her heartily, but I will also thank her for not marrying you when she had the chance."
Daniel's set expression cleared as he shook his head with a rueful laugh. "Yes, she did do that, didn't she? She cleared the way by marrying another man."
"And I'm sure we can find a suitable place for the countess in one of our novels. A rather warm place, I think. Where she can do little harm."
"Did I tell you lately how much I love you?" Daniel brushed the backs of his fingers over her cheek. "You never cease to surprise me."
"That's what makes our life together such an adventure."
Carolyn turned to study the toy shop they were standing outside. "Now let's forget all about that foolish woman while we go and spend some of our newly acquired wealth on gifts for the children."
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