Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess

did not react, much to McKenna’s relief.
    Charles grinned at her anyway. “But not yet formally engaged, Miss MacGreagor? I am encouraged.”
    Claymore waited for his wife to finish, helped himself to peas from a bowl Keith held, and cleared his throat. “You asked about the gold rush, Miss MacGreagor. I dare say many a prospector walked right over the largest gold vein in the world. It is called the Mount Pisgah hoax , someone salted the rocks, you see.”
    “ Salted them?” McKenna asked, helping herself to potatoes from the platter Dugan held.
    “ It means,” Charles said, “Someone put flakes of gold in worthless rocks. Once the hoax was discovered, the prospectors ignored the area altogether.”
    “ But who would do such a thing?” McKenna asked.
    “ That,” Claymore answered, “no one has managed to find out. At any rate, once Bob Womack found the real gold, word spread quickly and the rush was on. I myself set out from Kansas City.”
    Abigail shook her head at the platter of potatoes, but graciously smiled at Dugan. “In less than three years, we were surrounded by thousands of men, and some even brought whole families. They were certain they would easily strike it rich and hoped to start a new life. Oh, but the sad tales I could tell.” Abigail said, putting a hand on her chest. “The camps were miserable and many of the children died of disease. One woman, as I recall, refused to leave her three dead children in this ‘God forsaken land,’ and made her husband take the whole family, including the bodies, all the way back to Iowa. I think of that poor woman often.”
    McKenna bowed her head and except for the clinking of spoons on platters, and then on dishes, the room fell silent. At last, Claymore spoke, “There is trouble in the mines again, Hannish. You are fortunate to have got out of the business. I see bad workings on the horizon and I might just sell out myself. I would…”
    “ Have you heard, Mr. MacGreagor?” Charles interrupted, “Mr. Grantham, the man you sold your mine to, sold it himself not two months ago, and the new owner claims the mine is all played out. He claims Grantham knew it all along and swindled him.”
    “ Good heavens,” said Hannish.
    Charles continued, “Did you know, Mr. MacGreagor? Did you know the mine was nearly played out when you sold it?”
    “ Charles, what a thing to ask,” Claymore scolded. “Count the man fortunate to have gotten out when he did.”
    Hannish was not pleased; not with the question or with the insulting way he kept looking at McKenna. “I dinna know. We were turning out several tons of silver ore a day when I sold the mine.”
    “ Of course you did not know,” Claymore said. “Forgive the boy his manners, Hannish.”
    Hannish gave Charles ample time to apologize, but Charles was distracted by the platter of potatoes. “I prefer my potatoes mashed,” said Charles.
    Dugan pulled the platter back, took the serving fork, and smashed three of the potatoes. “Will this do, Sir?” he asked, offering the platter again to Charles.
    Charles frowned, but picked up the serving fork anyway. “I suppose it will have to.” He failed to notice a slight smile on the face of his host.
    “ You spoke of trouble in the gold mines, Claymore,” said Hannish, taking a roll out of the napkin-lined basket Keith held. “What sort of trouble?”
    “ The same as always – the union demands more and more for their workers. You were not here when The Western Federation of Miners came into being. I do not blame the union completely, you understand.”
    “ Who do you blame?” McKenna asked. She watched Keith set the breadbasket on the sideboard, pick up a platter, and offer a pork chop to Abigail.
    “ I blame the greed of certain owners. How did they think they could ask the hard rock miners to work ten hours instead of eight, for the same pay? Of course the minors went on strike, why wouldn’t they? We had no choice but to bring in the strikebreakers. That didn’t work, so the sheriff deputized and armed 1,200 men. Governor Waite had to settle that one and the mine owners finally relented.”
    Claymore took a moment to add two pork chops to his plate before he continued, “In the end, eight hours of work per day was agreed upon, just as I said it should be. The owners were the ones who paid the deputies and it was an awful thing that happened after. The twelve hundred roughens began terrorizing Cripple Creek.”
    “ Terrorizing it