Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess

the high ceiling.
    A regular in the place before the mansion offered a warm room for him to sleep in, Hannish MacGreagor entered and was warmly greeted by the manager. Mr. Goodwin, the man with him was also easily recognizable as the owner of the New National Bank .
    “ I wish a private meeting room and would you tell Mr. Graham I am here.”
    “ Very good, Sir,” the manager said. He asked a second man to find George Graham, and then showed Hannish to a small private room reserved for important guests. “May I bring you a drink, gentlemen?”
    “ Nay, but I thank you. We will not be here long.”
    George Graham looked relieved to finally see Hannish, but Hannish was not pleased to see him, and did not bother to introduce the man with him. “You will sign this release first.”
    Immediately suspicious, Graham took the papers Hannish handed him. “What is this?”
    “ It says that what I pay you today is the full amount owed.”
    Graham looked at the bank note and laughed. “‘Tis less than a forth of what you owe me.”
    “ It would have been more, but I subtracted your expenses on the voyage, your two week stay in the most expensive hotel in New York City, shoes, clothing, the watch my wife bought you and naturally, your stay at this hotel, which I shall gladly pay to be rid of you.”
    “ But this is hardly enough to get home.”
    Hannish snatched the bank note back out of Graham’s hand. “Very well, then you shall have to sue me for the full amount. I daresay, I can easily outlast you in such a legal contest, and the hotel will most likely not let you stay.”
    Graham was had and he knew it. Reluctantly, he took the pen Hannish offered him and signed the document. He watched the stranger sign as witness and then gave the document back.
    Just before Hannish gave him the check, he smiled. “I have decided to expose your treachery anyway. I sent a letter to several of my friends and have advised them not to secure your services in the future. I also notified Scotland Yard. Good day, Mr. Graham.” Hannish left the room, nodded to the hotel manager and walked out the front door.
    A man with shorter legs than he, Mr. Goodwin had to run to catch up. “Did you really notify Scotland Yard?”
    Hannish stopped and grinned. “Nay, but he’s a good two weeks to worry about it before his ship lands in England.”
    The bank manager laughed. “Remind me not to cross you, Mr. MacGreagor.”
    Hannish tipped his hat and went to see how many packages his sister needed him to carry.

    With Olivia, George Graham, Charlotte and Charles Whitfield no longer a problem…they hoped, life at Marblestone Mansion began to settle down. It was a very large home, with too few servants and far too many things arriving each day to see anyone idle for long.
    Millie was a lady’s maid without a lady to tend, so she gladly took on some of the second floor housecleaning duties. Anything was better than the duchess. The elders, Donnel and Blanka, could fully enjoy their servant’s day room, now that Olivia was not there to complain, and both believed the high Colorado altitude helped with many of their ailments. No one expected either of them to work very hard; McKenna required little, so Sassy helped Sarah too. The five of them would simply have to do and everyone, including the men, helped carry laundry to the clothesline and kept the third floor clean.
    With their pay in hand now, Jessie and Millie were excited to see the town seamstress and order new clothes. Soon, Jessie could turn her worn-out clothing into rags. Halen went with them, and they enjoyed a whole day of shopping, leaving enough sandwich makings to keep those at home happy. A few days later, they returned to town for the final fittings.
    Meanwhile, everyone tried to agree on a new name for the puppy. It wasn’t easy since the Scots thought the Americans had terribly odd name for dogs, such as spot and pooch. Likewise, the Americans thought the more formal names, like Berkeley and Ballard given to dogs in Scotland, ridiculous. One thing was for certain, everywhere Hannish went, the dog followed; that is, unless he was hungry and then cook Halen was his favorite.
    Abigail wasted no time repeating every word McKenna told her about the failed marriage of poor Hannish MacGreagor, and invitations to this function or that soon began to arrive. Hannish decided it was not yet time for him to make public appearances, although he did agree to take McKenna to the next