4
Adam's marriage was a matter of business.
Within three days of the telegram, Adam was in San Francisco, freshly shaved, bathed, dressed like the wealthy, educated gentleman he was, and in the drawing room of the beautiful Widow Lafferty.
As always, Adam first admired Mrs. Lafferty. Even in her mourning clothes, her only ornament a jet brooch carved into a love knot and framed in silver placed on her high neckline, he was taken aback by how lovely she was. Then Adam admired her drawing room. Above the fireplace was a large landscape in a gilt frame and on the mantle was a porcelain clock under a bell jar that to Adam's trained eye looked to be from the time of Louis XIV. There were pieces of art about the room and the furniture was expensive and ornate. It had the touch of a woman who valued expensive possessions and it gave Adam an insight into Ultima Lafferty; it let him know she had a price.
"My sincere condolences on your loss," Adam said. "I was fond of your husband. He was an honorable man and I shall miss him. If the funeral has not yet taken place…"
"Thank you, Mr. Cartwright," she interrupted. "The funeral was yesterday."
Adam suppressed a grin; she was efficient if nothing else; He turned as a uniformed maid pushed in a tea cart with a large china coffeepot and the accompanying pieces. The second shelf held tea sandwiches and cookies. Adam's mind turned to Hamlet; "Thrift, Thrift, Horatio! The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage table." Adam wondered if the food was left over from the reception after the funeral yesterday.
"Please, sit down, Mr. Cartwright." Ultima seemed to barely acknowledge him with glance.
Adam continued to stand. Ultima was pacing in front of the fireplace and wrung her small white hands; she didn't seem to remember that etiquette required she sit before he could do so. She turned to face him, her brows slightly furrowed as if wondering why he didn't comply with her request.
"Please. Won't you join me?" Adam moved his arm as if he was the host bidding her to sit and for the first time since he had met Mrs. Ultima Lafferty, she seemed confused. Then she made an effort to compose herself and smoothed out her skirts and that action seemed to smooth her brow as well and she smiled slightly. Adam again considered how delicately lovely she was.
"Yes, of course." She sat on the end of the sofa by the tea cart and then Adam sat down. "Coffee?"
Adam accepted and Ultima poured and handed the cup and saucer to him along with a napkin. He sipped his coffee and waited for her to broach the matter about which she had wired him. It was an awkward silence.
Suddenly she was aware that Adam was closely watching her—waiting. "Would you care for something to eat? You haven't said whether you have eaten today as I'm certain, due to the haste with which you seemed to arrive, that you may have bypassed lunch. Oh, and I want to extend my appreciation and gratitude for you arriving posthaste.
"Mr. Cartwright, I will get straight to the point; you and I are now the majority holders in the Croesus mine. If we reach an agreement on how the mine should be managed, we can control how much gold should be produced and therefore control the price of the gold. We can also be in control of all aspects of the mine down to the source of the timber used for the shoring—Ponderosa timber, of course. Although I am only a woman, I learned much from Mr. Lafferty about the mining business and financial matters in general. I was always interested in his opinions on matters and his plethora of knowledge was always most helpful to me in understanding the daily workings of the mining industry." Ultima waited and Adam noticed that she was twisting one of the fine linen napkin in her hands; it belied her otherwise calm demeanor.
Adam gave a deep laugh and Ultima was taken by surprise.
"Mrs. Lafferty, in the time I've known you and your husband, all the major business decisions were made by you—not your husband." Ultima began to protest but Adam raised his hand. "I'm not a fool…it didn't take long to know that your husband relied on your business acumen; you have a sharp mind and a shrewd one. Don't take affront—I find that a charming character trait in a woman; it leads to so many interesting things." Adam raised his brows and Ultima pulled herself up straighter as she perched on the edge of her expensive sofa, her chin lifted in defiance.
"You want to form an alliance with me because you can't attend the business conferences yourself—none of the men will listen to you seriously no matter how practical and logical your arguments are. All they will be considering is what it would be like to have you underneath them and to make the bed sing; I'm no different in that respect."
Ultima stood, making a show of proper offense taken, but Adam only made himself more comfortable in the wingchair. "Please sit down, Mrs. Lafferty. You've always appreciated honesty in the past and I have a proposal of my own. Now if you would like to hear it before you feign insult and throw me out…"
Adam had to grin at how Ultima's expression changed to one of curiosity and she sat down again and sedately folded her hands on her knees. Adam placed aside his cup and saucer, leaned forward with his hands clasped and watched her closely.
"You need me; I can make you a wealthy, or should I say, wealthier woman. There's nothing wrong with wanting the comfort of money but it has to be tempered with prudence. I could use a wife. I should have taken one by now but so far, I haven't found a woman with whom I care to take a life-long vow; I am easily bored with 'sweetness and light', so to speak. But I find you…acceptable." Adam paused to assess Ultima's reaction to his words. He had chosen "acceptable" as he didn't want to play his hand yet; if Ultima knew that she made his pulse race and caused him to heat up with desire, she would realize the power she could wield and he couldn't have that. But she was still listening and he knew that her cunning mind was calculating her advantages to his proposal. "Therefore, I'm asking you to be my wife. I know that you will face censure but that really shouldn't matter to you—and I will face it as your partner in all things; you are wealthy and will be wealthier and after all, people will accept quite a bit from someone who has more money than they—and more power. I await your answer." Adam sat back and waited.
Ultima stood but Adam continued sitting and he watched her as she paced slowly. To him, she moved with the grace and elegance of the tall grasses when the wind blew through them making the blades sway and flow in a rippling undulation; it made him think of how pleasant it would be when she rode him. Then Ultima turned to face him.
"Very well, Mr. Cartwright. I do think that we could have an agreeable marriage. I assume that I would have to move with you to Nevada?" She made the statement a question.
"Yes. As you know, I have cattle and timber interests as well as the mine. Perhaps you would like to learn about them as well. After all, who knows when I might meet with a terrible accident and you would be a widow for a second time." He watched as the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. Adam stood up and straightened his jacket, buttoning it at the waist and walked toward her. "Now, I think we should marry tomorrow. I will be here at noon to fetch you after I have taken care of the official necessities."
"Very well. I'll be ready."
Adam looked down at her and he slid an arm about her waist and pulled her to him. He noticed her breathing stepped up. "Men shake hands but I prefer to seal our agreement another way." He leaned down and kissed her and was slightly surprised to feel her mouth yield to him and her stance soften in his arms. He wrapped both arms around her then and she twined her arms around his neck, pressing herself against him. Oh, Adam thought, she is a clever woman; she wants to leave me with the promise of her body so that I won't think better and change my mind.
He stopped the kiss, held her arms and pushed her slightly away. And as she watched open-mouthed, he picked up his hat and grinned at her.
"Tomorrow at noon." Then he gave a mock bow. "I'll let myself out." And once his back was turned, he grinned broadly. Adam wasn't certain that he had made the best deal for himself by choosing the Widow Lafferty as his wife but at least things wouldn't be boring. And he sighed with satisfaction thinking about having her in his bed for many years to come.