Sarah's Playmates Read Online Free PDF

Oohhh…” she gasped.
    Exhausted, I collapsed against the pillow and
sighed. “I like that position. It’s mutually beneficial.”
    Millie giggled and fell to the bed, laying in
the other direction. “It was marvelous. We should nap for a while.
Then we have to get ready for dinner. That bandit aroused you.”
    “Mmmm…” He sure did . His image flitted
through my consciousness. It was the last thing I remembered before
drifting off to sleep.
    Dinner that evening was a low-key affair. The
topic of conversation had been the train robbers, who, by all
estimates, had made off with more than twelve thousand dollars
worth of money and jewelry. They were known as The Corbett Gang,
led by Brack Corbett. He and his accomplices had robbed trains from
Ohio to Iowa, extending as far West as Nevada. Lawmen and bounty
hunters were in pursuit, including several Pinkerton detectives,
who had boarded the train at a depot in Indiana. Millie and I had
been asked questions about the incident, and I had given a
statement, recollecting the sanitized version of events. I omitted
kissing the handsome outlaw, and I buzzed every time I thought
about it.
    The next morning, after we had pulled into
Chicago’s Central Depot, I waited anxiously with Millie, while
porters brought down our trunks. There was a lake breeze, which
filled my senses with the smell of the ocean, but that was
impossible because Lake Michigan was a fresh water lake. Perhaps,
it was the vague aroma of fish that tricked me into imagining
this.
    “Sarah!” A man’s voice called out above the
din. Scores of people came and went.
    “Edmund?”
    “My love!” A tall man approached wearing a
cutaway morning coat and ascot tie. His handsome visage was adorned
by an enormous smile. “There you are. How was your trip?” He took
my hand, kissing my gloved fingers.
    “It’s so good to see you, Edmund. We were
robbed.”
    “What? I’ve hardly had time to read the
papers. Are you all right?” His brows drew together. “You weren’t
harmed, were you?”
    “No, but they made off with my engagement
ring.”
    “I’m so sorry, my dear. How awful.” He
glanced at Millie, tipping his hat. “Mrs. Doyle. How are you?”
    “I’m well, Mr. Lakewood, and you?”
    “My man will bring the luggage. You’re to go
with him. I’m taking Sarah home. I want her to meet my sister,
Isabelle.” He smiled charmingly. “Come, my dear.” He held out his
arm, and I placed my hand on his wrist. “I’ve a new toy to show
you. It’s a Spider Phaeton.”
    I glanced at Millie. “I’ll see you at the
house.”
    The corners of her mouth turned down. I knew
she was upset to be left with the bags, but she was my appointed
travel companion, and I suspected my mother was paying her a wage.
Edmund would never socialize with an employee, and, as we
approached his sleek new conveyance, which only seated two, it
would have been impossible to bring Millie along. I was caught up
in the excitement of being alone with Edmund and the thrill of the
city, which had fully recovered from the fire of 1871. The bustling
metropolis held gravity defying skyscrapers, all within reach of
the Mississippi and the Great Lakes. Immigrants and business
tycoons alike found the jobs and opportunities to be plentiful, and
they came in droves.
    We arrived at an enormous redbrick structure
with a bright red roof, just as the household staff filed out to
greet us. I was taken aback slightly by the gesture, and, as Edmund
held my hand, he helped me down from the lightly sprung carriage. I
met the staff briefly, and then I was ushered into a marble
entryway filled with a curving staircase.
    “There she is,” said a woman’s voice. She
glided towards me dressed in a Princess-line walking dress with a
matching hat. “I’ve heard so much about you.” She grasped my hands
and brushed my face with her lips in greeting.
    “Meet my sister, Isabelle. Isabelle, this is
my fiancé, Sarah Collins.”
    “I know who she is,