Magnificent Passage Read Online Free PDF

you, sir,” Hawk replied.
    â€œI’ll come directly to the point, gentlemen.” A bigboned, graying man who exuded power and authority, the governor had eyes that missed little and betrayed even less, but today he seemed anxious and distracted.
    â€œI’ve called you here on an errand of utmost importance—to myself and my family.” He was conscientious in his duties to the point of obsession, but he rarely spoke of family.
    Hawk watched the governor’s gray eyes curiously. They reflected determination, yet a bit of hesitancy. It wasn’t like him.

    â€œI assume neither of you has met my daughter,” the governor said, shuffling the papers lying on his desk. He glanced around the room as if to hide his embarrassment.
    â€œNo, sir,” James responded for both.
    â€œWell, I’m certain you’ve at least read stories of her many escapades.”
    Hawk smiled and noticed James did the same. Julia Ashton had made the headlines of every social column in every newspaper in the West. She was glamorous and daring, and her exploits made great copy. Hawk distinctly remembered an incident a little over a year ago when Miss Ashton reportedly threw off most of her clothes and ended up in a fountain in the garden of the Sanford estate. The papers had spared no detail of the event, much to the governor’s chagrin.
    Rumor had it she’d slept with half the dandies in Sacramento, though she was still little more than a child. Julia Ashton was whispered about, written about, and snickered about. But she was a woman desired by every man she met. The governor rarely mentioned her. In fact, she’d been a constant source of embarrassment to him ever since he took office.
    â€œI see that you have,” the governor confirmed. He drummed his fingers against the leather pad on the top of the desk. “After her last fiasco, I sent her East, to a Boston finishing school. Since she stayed out of trouble in Boston, I allowed her to spend the summer with my brother and his daughter in the Dakota Territory. I presumed, quite wrongly, that in that wilderness there would be little chance for her to get into trouble. However . . . she has become involved with a young cavalry officer from Fort
Laramie. I’m certain it’s just a whim of hers, as usual, but she claims she’s in love and wants to marry the man. Of course I cannot allow it.”
    â€œMaybe she really is in love,” said James.
    Hawk wondered if this could possibly be the “matter of utmost importance” the governor spoke of in his wire.
    â€œJulia is extremely spoiled,” the governor said. “I’m afraid I’ve indulged her far too often. She’s willful, selfish.... She’s never loved anyone except herself, and even if she really were in love, what kind of life would she have? She’s always been pampered and cared for. She couldn’t survive as a frontier wife. No, I must save her from herself. And that, gentlemen, is why you are here.”
    â€œBut Governor Ashton, what could we possibly have to do with all this?” Hawk spoke for the first time.
    â€œYou, my friends, are going to bring the little darling home.”
    â€œWhat!” Hawk exclaimed.
    â€œBut Governor—” James protested.
    â€œI’ll make it well worth your while. I guarantee by the time you return to Sacramento City, she’ll have forgotten the boy’s name and be ready for the social season.” He smiled. “A few long weeks on horseback, or a crowded stage, should make her more than ready for the luxuries of her home.”
    â€œBut Governor,” Hawk began, rising from his chair to glower at the man across the desk, “we’re not nursemaids. We can’t drag a female child across a thousand miles of hostile country against her will. It’s just not our line of work.”
    The governor seemed undaunted. “I assure you, gentlemen,
no one else but you