“You have expanding interests. If you’re going to accompany me into the field, we should have a housekeeper. Someone like Mrs. Rushton who can cook as well.”
The idea appalled Lily. “I would never. I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Keeping the house in order and preparing meals are my responsibilities.”
“You’re adamant about this?”
“I am.”
“Odd, that. I’m recalling someone who spoke rather heatedly about women not having opportunities. She looked like you, but I must be thinking of someone else.”
“I suppose you think you’re being amusing.”
“I think I’m being ironic. Ridley and Ben employ a housekeeper. So does Amanda Springer. What’s her name?”
“Mary Cherry.”
“That’s right. Ellie worked for the Frosts in that capacity for years. From what I can tell, it afforded her a good life and prepared her for managing the Butterworth. Mrs. Cherry and Mrs. Rushton also benefit from their employment. If you can see that hiring a housekeeper is not shirking your responsibilities but shifting them, maybe you can see your way clear to partnering with me.”
“Partnering?”
“Junior partner. Like a New York law firm.”
“What about Clay?”
“Still my assistant. Yours, too, if you agree.”
“I would require compensation.”
“Naturally.”
“It would have to be at least as much as Mrs. Fish is paying me.” Lamplight glanced off Roen’s teeth as he smiled up at her. Clearly, she thought, he was enjoying himself.
“Ah, the negotiation begins. How much is that?”
When she told him, his grin vanished. “What?” she asked. “Is it too steep? She pays me by the piece, so it’s difficult to calculate the salary on a weekly or monthly basis. I’ve given you my best estimate.”
“I trust your numbers, but now I am wary of Mrs. Fish’sgoodwill. She can afford to do better by you. I certainly will.” He named a figure that was two-and-one-half times what she was earning from the dressmaker.
“Can you truly offer so much? You already have an arrangement with Clay, and earlier you wrote a draft to me for the household. In light of this, I should give it back to you.”
“If you do, I will have Mr. Washburn at the bank deposit it directly into your account. Northeast Rail pays me very well, Lily. When it comes to money and knowing my value, I am a better negotiator than you.”
Lily had no argument for that. He was right. Unaccountably, she felt a lump forming in her throat and tears blur her vision. She blinked back the tears before they dripped on Roen. The lump, though, would not be swallowed. She wanted to tell him that there was still so much she had to learn, but then she suspected it was something he already knew.
•••
Abe Butterworth was a genial innkeeper, perpetually pink-cheeked and kindly featured. He owned the hotel, and Ellie was indispensable as its manager, but the registration desk was his personal fiefdom. He welcomed everyone with equal enthusiasm, made the weary traveler feel at home, and greeted the return guests as if they were family. Folks in Frost Falls couldn’t have named a situation in which Abe’s temper was tested, but then they were unfamiliar with Victorine Headley.
“I reserved the suite,” Victorine said, tapping her gloved fingers on the desktop. She did not allow herself to be distracted by her reflection in the polished wood. A boy, whose name she could not recall, had carried her bags into the hotel, and now he was pressed against the wainscoting waiting further instructions. “How often do I need to remind you that I reserved the suite before I’m permitted to go there? And my trunk is still on the bed of that contraption standing outside your establishment. The boy says he can’t carry it in. I believe him because he barely managed to get it on the wagon.”
“I’ll see to your trunk, Miss Headley, but there is nothing I can do about the suite.”
“How is that possible? You own the hotel, don’t you? It’scalled the Butterworth. Your name is Butterworth. That would make them connected in any guest’s mind.”
“Yes,” he said, drawing a breath and releasing it slowly through a forced smile. “I own the hotel, but my guests—all of my guests—deserve consideration. I’ve explained that your reservation for the suite was to have begun several days ago. When you did not arrive and sent no word that you were delayed, I gave the suite to a family of five who found their accommodations uncomfortably crowded. They would have made do, if you had arrived as planned, but they didn’t have to since you are only arriving now.”
