The Reluctant Debutante (9 page)

Joseph thought these New Yorkers had strange habits when it came to wooing and bedding a woman, and tonight’s events proved no different. The Pleasure Garden’s sole purpose was to give people a place where they could engage in disreputable behavior, made all the more exciting because they might be caught at any time by others in the garden. He had never seen anything like it. His Indian ancestors, whom these people referred to as savages, did not behave so flagrantly.

“For two bits, I’ll let you suckle my breasts,” the woman whispered.

Joseph jumped up from the bench, as if he had been burned. “I will give you some money if you want. You are a most lovely woman, but I am not interested in getting to know you better.”

“It matters not to me, so long as I get my money.” She sighed as he dropped the coins into her hand. She got to her feet and laid a hand on Joseph’s broad chest. “Although you are a most attractive man.” She sashayed away, in search of another conquest.

Joseph sat back down on the bench as he watched the harlot walk away.

“Isn’t this delightful?”

A voice — an achingly familiar one — pierced the fog surrounding his mind. He shook himself to clear his head. Ginger’s voice had been in his head for days now, but this voice was coming from the garden, not from within his mind. What in the world was Ginger doing in this den of inequity? His mind and body went on high alert.

“Oh, look, Mr. Douglas. There are some songbirds!” Again the voice wafted through the air.

“I am hoping you’ll see something else tonight you will like equally well.” The cultured British accent floated over the hedges.

Joseph listened closely, straining to hear what Richard Douglas and Ginger were doing on the other side of the bushes. Why was Ginger in the unruly Pleasure Garden, alone with Richard and seemingly without a chaperone? Joseph was steeling himself to pounce from behind his cover of hedges when he heard Ginger’s voice raised in anger.

“Mr. Douglas, what are you doing? Let me go!”

Joseph sprung to his feet.

“I am attempting to seduce you, darling. You can’t tell me you’re unaware of the steps one takes in seduction. You have an audience of men dancing around you at all times. It’s extremely difficult to get you alone and to let you know the true depth of my feelings, so I am not about to lose this opportunity.”

“Where did Elizabeth and Mr. Smith get to?”

“She has been taken down another path by my friend, who offered to help separate the two of you, to give me some time to be alone with you.”

Joseph strode quietly from around the hedge. Richard had pushed Ginger down on the seat of the bench and was attempting to climb on top of her, while busily trying to free her breasts from the bodice of her dress. Ginger beat him with her hands, and was agile enough to slip away from Richard. She stood facing him angrily just as Mr. Harris came around the hedges on the opposite side of the clearing.

As Ginger opened her mouth to speak, Joseph took her arm and pulled her gently to his side.

“Why are you here, and alone?”

Ginger’s eyes sparkled with anger as she looked at Richard. “I am not alone. Elizabeth and I came here together for an evening’s amusement in the theater, at the invitation of Mr. Douglas and his friend, Mr. Smith.”

“They brought us out into the garden for some air, and we, after all, were curious to see the Pleasure Gardens that we’ve heard so much about. Elizabeth and Mr. Smith got separated from us, on purpose as it turns out, so Mr. Douglas could try to have his way with me. But he didn’t get far!”

“All I needed to do was to put you in a compromising position, my dear, and be discovered. It would have worked, too, if this giant French slug hadn’t come along.” Richard spat the words at her, and then glared at Joseph.

“Ginger bested you,” Joseph said. “I think you should leave right now.”

“So you can be alone with her? How do I know you won’t try to do the same thing?” Richard growled. “After all, you could be after her for her father’s money, too.”

“She is the sister of my best friend. We must go rescue Elizabeth now from your cohort in crime before he does to her what you tried to do to Ginger.”

Joseph put his hand on Ginger’s waist and attempted to guide her away from the Englishman. But Richard grabbed his arm to prevent his departure.

“Not so fast, Frenchie. It took a lot of planning and work to make tonight happen. I might have failed in my attempt, but Cedric still has a chance.”

Joseph shrugged off the aggressor with a slight shift of his shoulder. Richard lost his footing and fell to the ground.

“Bless my bloomers,” Ginger gasped as Richard slumped to the soft earth. “Have you hurt him, Joseph? Not that he wasn’t asking for it.”

“No, he has merely lost his advantage. Let us leave him and go find your friend.”

“You’re right. Let’s hurry and find her. After all, it’s because of me she got waylaid. My goodness, I hope we’re not too late. Hurry, Joseph.”

As Joseph and Ginger walked quickly through the park, they came upon several couples in various stages of undress, so wrapped up in each other they had no qualms about being discovered. The Pleasure Garden was living up to its name this evening, it seemed. Joseph had the keen eyes of a hunter and managed to see most of these couples first and to steer Ginger from the most flagrant acts being committed. However, she was able to view a few indiscretions, and her eyes widened as she took in sights she hadn’t seen before. She uttered not a sound, but huddled closer to Joseph as they hurried along.

From behind a hedge came the sound of a woman’s full-throated moan of delight. Joseph put his hand on Ginger’s arm as they stood motionless, and waited.

“Yes, yes. Oh, Cedric, I’ve never felt like this before.” The woman moaned again, and Ginger caught the sound of fabric being ripped. She tugged on Joseph’s arm.

“Cedric Smith is the man who was with Richard Douglas,” she whispered. “Most likely, we’ve found Elizabeth.”

As one, they moved around the hedge. Elizabeth lay sprawled on a bench with her breasts exposed. Cedric knelt by her side, one hand creeping up her leg while he suckled her breast. Elizabeth’s eyes were closed in rapture, but popped open as suddenly Cedric wrenched his mouth away. Her moan of dismay became one of despair as she spied Joseph and Ginger.

Joseph took hold of the man’s jacket and pulled him off, shoving him to the ground. He removed his coat and placed it over Elizabeth’s exposed bosom.

“Get up and cover yourself please, Miss Martin. It is past time for you and Ginger to be home. Both of you have caused me nothing but trouble this evening.”

Joseph’s gruff voice made Elizabeth blush in embarrassment. Cedric still lay on the ground, but had propped himself up on his elbows.

Grasping Joseph’s coat to her chest, Elizabeth rushed to his side. “Are you all right, Cedric?” She turned back to Joseph. “I had no wish to be saved by you, Mr. Lafontaine, so if my being here has caused you trouble, it’s of your own making. I am quite happy to be with Cedric.”

Ginger went to her friend’s side and pulled her up off the ground. “Get a hold of yourself, Elizabeth. This man has manipulated you into a most compromising position. Richard Douglas told me of their plan to destroy our reputations this evening, just so they could get their hands on our fathers’ money. It’s fortunate only Joseph and I found you. Otherwise, you’d have to marry this lout.”

Elizabeth gazed at Cedric, with a look of adoration on her face. “He is no lout, Ginger. I would happily marry him, should he ask for my hand. I’ve never felt this way toward any man.” She ran her hands through Cedric’s tousled wispy blond hair as she helped him to his feet. She then put her arms around him and raised her mouth to his.

“What would your mother say, Elizabeth?” Ginger wailed.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and unwrapped herself from Cedric’s body. “You are right, Ginger. Mother would not approve of my behavior. But then, she never met a man like Cedric, either.”

Cedric took one look at Joseph’s stormy face and apparently decided not to take a stand.

“I’ll call on you tomorrow, Elizabeth, at your home.” He kissed her hand before he disappeared into the night.

Elizabeth sighed deeply as she turned her back to Joseph and Ginger and slid her arms into Joseph’s jacket.

Ginger could contain herself no longer. “Cedric? Really?”

Elizabeth looked at her best friend and shrugged. “What can I say? He’s not like any other man I’ve known, Ginger. I can’t expect you to understand — you don’t like men.”

She turned away and missed the look of desire on Ginger’s face as she stole a glance at Joseph. Together they left the Pleasure Garden, and walked to the Fitzpatrick household.

• • •

When Ginger and Elizabeth received the invitation from the English gentlemen to attend Niblo’s Theater, attached to the Pleasure Garden, they hid it from their mothers. They hoped they could take a quick stroll through the infamous garden, but if their mothers found out where they were headed, they’d be forbidden to leave the house. Even if their mothers did agree to the outing, the young ladies would have been chaperoned, and would never have been able to set foot in the Pleasure Garden.

Elizabeth and Ginger concocted a plan: Each would tell her mother she was being accompanied to the theater by the other girl’s mother, and they would spend the remainder of the night together at Ginger’s home. Their plan had worked until things got out of hand in the garden.

They quietly made their way to Ginger’s bedroom and changed into their nightgowns. As they crawled into bed, Elizabeth chatted away about her newest conquest, and how wonderful Cedric was.

Ginger reiterated, “I repeat what I said at the Garden — Cedric? Really? Isn’t he a bit, well, old? And balding?”

“Being older just means he’s had time to experience women. A lot of women. And I found out tonight his years of experience have resulted in his ability to do wonderful things with my body.” Elizabeth sighed dramatically. “I tell you, Ginger, if you ever were to find a man like Cedric, whose fingers can do the most magical things, whose mouth is so hot when it touches my skin, you’d understand what I’m talking about. I can imagine myself in his bed, with him doing wicked things to my body, for the rest of my life. I don’t care if he is balding. It just means I’ll have more of his delectable skin to cover with my kisses.”

“Elizabeth Martin, you are shameless!” Ginger threw a pillow at her, and then wrapped her arms around her best friend. “That’s what I love about you. We did have some fun tonight, didn’t we?”

“We always have a good time together. Even the dramatic rescue by Joseph to save my reputation was rather, well, divine,” Elizabeth said as she drifted off to sleep.

Restless, but not wanting to disturb Elizabeth, Ginger got out of bed and strode quietly to the window. Elizabeth had carelessly tossed Joseph’s jacket on a chair nearby as she undressed for the night. Ginger carefully picked it up and draped it over her body. She inhaled Joseph’s scent and her mind went back to the scene of Elizabeth and Cedric in the garden. She wondered if she would feel the same about Joseph if he touched her intimately the way Cedric had Elizabeth. Would she be here waxing poetic about him?

She longed to tell her best friend about her feelings for Joseph, but he had shown no indication he harbored similar intentions toward her. He had only been cordial and friendly, what she would expect from her brother’s best friend. Until she knew that he shared her feelings, she would keep her desire to herself.

Ginger wrapped herself tighter into the jacket, inhaling the sweet scent of hay mixed with musk and another, uniquely Joseph smell. She fell into a troubled sleep, dreaming of Joseph touching her as Cedric had touched Elizabeth, kissing her deeply and possessively, and stealing her breath away.

The Intersection of Broadway and Bond Streets, June 1855

Broadway was the showiest, most crowded street in New York City. Not only was it the main artery, it also was where trade and fashion intersected. Storefronts and businesses butted up against private homes; churches nestled next to theaters and barrooms. The sidewalks teemed with men, women, and children from all walks of life. Streets were packed with carriages, horses, and mule teams. Maneuvering from one side of the street to the other required finesse, quickness, and sure-footedness. Many a person had slipped and fallen while trying to dodge the droppings left by the horses or attempting to avoid running headlong into people, animals, or buggies.

It was the perfect place for Ginger to take to a soapbox in her bloomers.

She knew if her mother or father ever discovered she had become such an outspoken advocate of women’s rights, she would surely have every one of her few remaining privileges stripped away. But she was not content with the pace of Amelia Bloomer’s movement toward equality of the sexes, and wanted to do her part to speed up the cause.

She had carefully orchestrated her outing. She feigned an upset stomach at Elizabeth’s home, in front of Mrs. Martin. Then, instead of directly walking the few doors down the street to her own home, she took advantage of the extra stolen hours of freedom. She ran to Broadway, along the way stopping in an alley to divest herself of her crinolines and skirt and pick up the box she had placed there earlier.

She staked out a position on a busy corner and set the box down. No one paid any attention to her at first. She stood on top of the soapbox and began to speak loudly over the cacophony, cupping her hands around her mouth to make her voice carry. A few nearby shoppers uneasily looked her way. Satisfied she was making at least some small impact, she grew emboldened. Her cries became more insistent, as she rattled off the reasons why women should be treated as equals to men.

She had worked herself up into a full head of righteous steam and a small crowd gathered at her feet. She knew a few of the men were there just to leer at her in her bloomers, but she hoped at least some of her message was getting through their thick heads. She stood a better chance of making an impact with the women in the audience, whom she hoped would heed her advice not to bend to the wishes of their husbands and to develop their own voices.