The Reluctant Debutante Read Online Free PDF Page B

waist, but raised his eyes, taking in each face.
    He followed his mother down the hall and into the library. George Fitzpatrick was sitting behind his large mahogany desk, smoking his pipe. His slippered feet were propped up on the desk and he was engrossed in the newspaper. He folded the paper down over his knuckles and gazed above it as Charlotte and Basil entered. His blue eyes crinkled in pleasure at seeing his son.
    “To what do I owe this unexpected visit?”
    “I know it’s your day off from the bank, Father, but I feel I must discuss a matter of the bank’s business with you most urgently. I have to be totally honest with you and Mother before another evening’s entertainment begins. I may have inadvertently stirred up a potential disaster for us.”
    They stared at him quizzically. He cleared his throat.
    “The reason I came to you today is to tell you about Joseph. I’m afraid I left out some vital information about him.” Noticing that he now had both parents’ rapt attention, he hurried the conversation along. “He’s part Indian, common enough in St. Louis, but not on the streets of New York.”
    His father set the paper down on the desktop. “You mean to tell me you brought an Indian home with you? A savage?”
    Basil grimaced. “Indian, yes. Savage, no.” He stared at his father. “Joseph is half Indian. His father is as white as you are.”
    He studied his mother, whose eyes had grown enormous. She clutched her hand to her heart and collapsed in the nearest chair.
    “Oh, dear. Ginger’s reputation will now most certainly be ruined. For goodness’ sake, I’m the one who gave her permission to dance with him last night. And, after she danced with him, so did many other young ladies. Oh my gracious, their reputations will all be jeopardized, too!” She glared at her son. “Why did you not warn me?”
    “Because I don’t think of him as an Indian. At least not most of the time. His father is a French-Canadian, his mother is an Ojibwa from Canada, and the family is a mix of both cultures. The entire family can read, write, and speak English, as well as Ojibwa and French. When I first set foot in St. Louis, I stopped into a tavern to get a meal. I must have been viewed as an easy target, being a soft young man just off the train from back East. Several men hauled me outside and began to attack me.”
    He listened to his mother’s quick intake of breath.
    “You never told us you had encountered trouble.”
    “Well, I was just a bit embarrassed about it, since I hadn’t been in St. Louis more than a couple of hours. I felt certain if Father discovered what had happened to me he’d force me to return without ever opening the bank.”
    George smiled and took up his pipe. “You were wise not to tell us, son, because I probably would have brought you back home. But, please do continue.”
    “They were doing a good job of pummeling me. I’m quite certain they would not have stopped until I was dead, or at least mortally wounded, and they had stolen what money I had on me. And then, suddenly, they ceased and disappeared. Joseph only had to raise his voice and they ran off. He helped me to my feet and we’ve become best friends. I thought bringing his horses here would open up new business for him, and I owe him that much at least for saving my life. And, I’m proud to say our bank funded his family’s recent excursion into the West to capture ponies for the settlers and to purchase saddles.”
    His father’s eyebrows shot up. “He’s Tall Feather Enterprises?”
    “One and the same. They named the business after his mother, Mary Tall Feather. I thought he’d be able to pass as a French-Canadian among New Yorkers, but I wasn’t thinking clearly about the ramifications of bringing him to the ball last night. The situation kind of mushroomed out of control as one lady after another danced with him — I never expected so many of them to line up for a dance. So you see, I’ve put you into