sure, but he suspected there wasn’t a single one of the Dumas children who had the same father.
Now as Louis began to contemplate the notion of selling Simone into prostitution, he found he feared he had committed a grievous error in judgment. The whole situation was beginning to wear Louis down.
Ada sashayed across the floor, bringing drinks and smiles to the men. Louis could imagine Simone bringing a much higher class of clientele, with her mother’s petite but well-rounded figure and smoldering blue eyes. If they set themselves up in the right place, Simone might well be able to make upward to fifty dollars a night, maybe more. Somewhere deep down inside him, Louis knew that the idea of such a thing should be repulsive to him. But it wasn’t. What repulsed him was the idea of having lost a small fortune.
“Yeah, it’s just too bad that Garvey Davis is enjoying her instead of one of us,” someone said.
Louis began to think about the situation, and the more he thought about it, the more ideas came into his head. He could take Simone with him. Maybe he wouldn’t have to work if he did things right. He could set up a place for Simone to work instead. His father had done it, and it had certainly served him well enough—until his mother had run away. It wasn’t anything new. In fact, it was practically the oldest profession known to woman—and to man.
Maybe Simone had already given Davis enough trouble to make him gladly turn her back over to Louis. Maybe he could just show up at the cabin and find the man desperate to be rid of Simone. Maybe, but not likely. Louis tried to concentrate on the cards being dealt him, but in truth, the idea of recovering Simone and taking her with him to Colorado had overrun his thoughts. He lost four straight hands in a row before realizing that he needed to make a choice. Either play cards or contemplate what to do about the girl. He couldn’t do both.
He turned his mind back to the game and won a couple of hands before the ideas started churning once again. Think of the money to be made , he told himself. The girl isn’t just pretty, she’s a real beauty .
Of course, she’d fetch more money if he saw to it that she was taken care of. He could give her a nice place to stay to conduct her business. He could even see to it that she had nice clothes so as to attract a better-paying customer. The thought of sitting pretty in a city house with plenty of food on the table, maybe a servant or two, so captivated Louis that he again lost a round of cards.
“You don’t hardly seem yourself tonight, Louis,” Harley said as he took the pot.
“Well, you know how it goes, Harley. There’s a lot to think about when a man is making a new life for hisself,” Jervis commented before picking up the cards to deal the next hand. “Throw in if you’re a-playin’ this hand.”
The clink of coins on the wooden table caught Louis’s attention, but only long enough to make him throw his own coin in.
“I heard tell that some city feller found gold not far from here in one of those old abandoned mines,” Jervis continued to chatter. “Says he believes the whole mountain to be full of gold. Maybe that land of yours was a gold mine and you didn’t even know it, Louis.”
“Shut up, Jervis,” Louis growled, feeling ever more the fool.
He scarcely even noticed when Ada laid her hands on his shoulders and began to knead his knotted muscles. Gold in these mountains seemed unlikely, but the golden opportunity Simone represented was another issue entirely. With her looks, she could be his ticket to ease and comfort, and yet he’d thrown her away for a mere pittance of what he might’ve been able to make.
It was this point that settled the matter in his mind. He’d just go to Davis and take her back. He’d plead hindsight or some other notion, but he would persuade the man to see things his way. Of course, the man might need more than words to persuade him. It could very well take a
Now as Louis began to contemplate the notion of selling Simone into prostitution, he found he feared he had committed a grievous error in judgment. The whole situation was beginning to wear Louis down.
Ada sashayed across the floor, bringing drinks and smiles to the men. Louis could imagine Simone bringing a much higher class of clientele, with her mother’s petite but well-rounded figure and smoldering blue eyes. If they set themselves up in the right place, Simone might well be able to make upward to fifty dollars a night, maybe more. Somewhere deep down inside him, Louis knew that the idea of such a thing should be repulsive to him. But it wasn’t. What repulsed him was the idea of having lost a small fortune.
“Yeah, it’s just too bad that Garvey Davis is enjoying her instead of one of us,” someone said.
Louis began to think about the situation, and the more he thought about it, the more ideas came into his head. He could take Simone with him. Maybe he wouldn’t have to work if he did things right. He could set up a place for Simone to work instead. His father had done it, and it had certainly served him well enough—until his mother had run away. It wasn’t anything new. In fact, it was practically the oldest profession known to woman—and to man.
Maybe Simone had already given Davis enough trouble to make him gladly turn her back over to Louis. Maybe he could just show up at the cabin and find the man desperate to be rid of Simone. Maybe, but not likely. Louis tried to concentrate on the cards being dealt him, but in truth, the idea of recovering Simone and taking her with him to Colorado had overrun his thoughts. He lost four straight hands in a row before realizing that he needed to make a choice. Either play cards or contemplate what to do about the girl. He couldn’t do both.
He turned his mind back to the game and won a couple of hands before the ideas started churning once again. Think of the money to be made , he told himself. The girl isn’t just pretty, she’s a real beauty .
Of course, she’d fetch more money if he saw to it that she was taken care of. He could give her a nice place to stay to conduct her business. He could even see to it that she had nice clothes so as to attract a better-paying customer. The thought of sitting pretty in a city house with plenty of food on the table, maybe a servant or two, so captivated Louis that he again lost a round of cards.
“You don’t hardly seem yourself tonight, Louis,” Harley said as he took the pot.
“Well, you know how it goes, Harley. There’s a lot to think about when a man is making a new life for hisself,” Jervis commented before picking up the cards to deal the next hand. “Throw in if you’re a-playin’ this hand.”
The clink of coins on the wooden table caught Louis’s attention, but only long enough to make him throw his own coin in.
“I heard tell that some city feller found gold not far from here in one of those old abandoned mines,” Jervis continued to chatter. “Says he believes the whole mountain to be full of gold. Maybe that land of yours was a gold mine and you didn’t even know it, Louis.”
“Shut up, Jervis,” Louis growled, feeling ever more the fool.
He scarcely even noticed when Ada laid her hands on his shoulders and began to knead his knotted muscles. Gold in these mountains seemed unlikely, but the golden opportunity Simone represented was another issue entirely. With her looks, she could be his ticket to ease and comfort, and yet he’d thrown her away for a mere pittance of what he might’ve been able to make.
It was this point that settled the matter in his mind. He’d just go to Davis and take her back. He’d plead hindsight or some other notion, but he would persuade the man to see things his way. Of course, the man might need more than words to persuade him. It could very well take a
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