Sabrina's Man (13 page)

“I don't think this man playing Hamlet is much of an actor.”

Marianne looked up at her father, surprised. “Why, you don't ever go to the theater, Father.”

“No, but I listen to people. They say his father was a great actor, but the rest of his family are second rate.”

“But he's so handsome. I saw him in
Julius Caesar.”

“Yes,” Caroline said, “but that's not everything.”

“I wish you'd go with us to the theater.”

“I'm not going to see any play. I don't want to,” Charles said. “And I wish you wouldn't go. I'm disturbed about this man you're seeing. We don't know anything about him.”

“But I do,” Marianne said. “He's a fine man. He's got a big ranch out in the west part of the country. He's built it up to where it's hundreds, maybe even thousands, of acres.”

“Well, why don't you invite him to dinner one night so we can get to meet him?” Caroline said.

“He's been very busy, but I'll ask him.”

After Sabrina came home that evening, Dulcie told her about Marianne's going to the theater.

“I heard you went down to the river with Caesar. You need to be more careful, Dulcie. You know what a bad man he is.”

“He ain't bad. He's just a man.”

“Well, you don't let him take any liberties.”

“I reckon I know how to take care of myself. You don't need to give me no sermons.”

Frank Morgan, at the age of twenty-eight, was a trim young man almost six feet tall and athletic. He had fair hair and dark blue eyes and had worked for Charles Warren for a long time. He had become an indispensable man at the factory.

Charles sat back and listened as Frank went over a new method he had discovered that would make them money. “You could sell this for a lot of money to U.S. Steel, Frank.”

Frank shook his head. “I don't work for U.S. Steel, sir. I work for you.”

“Well, you deserve something for your work. I'd like to make it right with you.”

“No need of that, Mr. Warren.”

“It's a business, and I insist on paying you outright or making you a stockholder.”

Instantly young Morgan's eyes lit up. “I'd like that very much, sir, to be a stockholder.”

“Fine.” The office was quiet now for it was after office hours and all the help had gone. Charles Warren studied the young man and thought,
I've done at least one thing right
. “You know, Frank, I started this company with a son in mind to take over when I'm gone, but I have no son and never will now. As a matter of fact, Frank, you're closer to being my son than I had ever thought anyone could be.”

“Well, I'm glad you feel that way, sir.” Frank nodded. “I've never been able to thank you for all you've done for me.”

As a matter of fact, Charles had practically raised young Morgan. He was the son of Charles's second cousin, and when both of his parents died of cholera, Charles took him into his own family. He sent him to college, and now one of the chief prides of his life was the way Frank Morgan had turned out. He looked out the window at the buildings of the factory, took a pride in it, then said, turning back to face the young man, “I worry about my family, Frank. If I were killed, nobody would know about the business. That's why I decided to make you executor of my estate.”

“Why sir, I never thought of such a thing.” Frank was genuinely surprised.

“Well, one of my friends died. His money was all used poorly. I know you've got a solid head for business and you'll take care of my wife and my daughters. You know, my wife and I had always hoped you and Marianne would make a match of it.”

Suddenly Frank flushed. He had a fair complexion and hated it when a flush revealed his true deeper feelings. “Well, that's what I'd like, but I'm not the kind of man she wants.”

“Why not? You're not bad looking. You're smart. You know the business. You've got a good future. Why don't you just go ask her, Frank?”

“I wish I could, but Marianne is interested in a more romantic fellow than I could ever be.”

Warren got up, walked around, and put his hand on Frank's shoulder. He said quietly, “I'm sorry, son, but she may change her mind.”

“I don't think so.” Morgan smiled at Charles, turned, and left the office.

After he left, Warren stood there thinking of how a man's plans for his life seldom worked out.

Dulcie knew Sabrina was leaving early but was pleased she came in to see how Dulcie and Marianne were getting along with the new dress. It was a beautiful satin gown of a china blue color that matched Marianne's eyes.

“I look awful,” Marianne said.

“No, you don't,” Dulcie insisted. “You looks fine. Just fine.”

Sabrina agreed. “Yes, it's a beautiful dress. I picked it out myself. Now, you sit down and let Dulcie fix your hair. I have to leave, but before I go, I thought you'd like to wear some of my jewelry. Here's this sapphire necklace and earrings that match.” She put the earrings in then put the necklace around her sister's neck and said, “Now you truly look wonderful.”

Marianne touched them and smiled gratefully. “Can I have some of the perfume that Lane gave you that he bought in Paris?”

“Of course you can. You know where it is.”

As Marianne left the room, Dulcie said, “I wish you wouldn't run off. That girl needs somebody to look after her.”

“Well, she's got you. You try to boss everybody on the place.”

“He may be fine-looking, but he's a man.”

Sabrina left, headed for the horse race in which she had a mount that she thought would win.

Dulcie went back and watched as Marianne eagerly applied the perfume behind her ears and in other strategic locations. “Don't you let that man take no liberty with you, Miss Marianne.”

“He wouldn't.”

“Yes, he would. He's a man, ain't he? I'm going to pray that you come home as sweet and innocent as you leave here.”

“Oh, you worry too much.” At that moment Clara, another servant, came and said, “Your gentleman friend is here, Miss Marianne.”

Marianne got up and left the room, excitement aglow in her face.

Dulcie shook her head. “I just hope that man is decent.”

Clara stared at her. “Seems to be. Just for the night, ain't it?”

“That's all it takes—one night.”

Marianne had enjoyed the drama tremendously. Her father would not let her go to many plays, and she had been conscious of Gerald's arm pressing against her. They left the theater, and he took her to have a light meal then drove her home.

He got out of the carriage, and she waited, knowing that he would come around and help her down.
He has such fine manners
, she thought.

When he took her hand as she stepped down, he didn't release it but held it for a moment. “You've given me great pleasure tonight, Marianne.”

“It's been wonderful.”

Suddenly something changed in Gerald's face, and Marianne, though inexperienced, knew that he was going to kiss her. She had thought long and hard about how she would handle such a situation, but she had no choice. She had nothing to do but surrender. Whatever plan she had left her, for she felt the lean strength of his body, and he was smiling in a way she had never seen in a man's eyes. She breathed more quickly, and as the moonlight highlighted his face, he pulled her closer and then lowered his head and kissed her.

Marianne knew nothing of actual passion, but she learned it at just that moment. The full growth of woman came into being at that time, and she knew that she cared for this man in a way she had never felt for any other man. She felt fragile in his embrace, but he was not rough.

When he lifted his head, he said huskily, “You're sweet, Marianne. I've never known a sweeter young woman in all my life.”

The kiss had been an experiment. She discovered she had the power to stir this man and found herself feeling a wave of emotion she had not anticipated. She put her hand on his chest and stepped back.

He smiled at her. “I shouldn't have done that,” he whispered.

“It's all right.”

“I ask your pardon, yet the fault was not entirely mine.”

She knew that this was absolutely true, and when she turned to go into the house, she knew she would not forget that kiss for a long time.

“
I
really don't think you should be running off on a shopping trip, Sabrina.” Caroline Warren had come up to Sabrina's room and had at once begun speaking about her proposed trip to New Orleans. “It's just not a good time for you to go.”

Sabrina, as usual, was headstrong and merely smiled, then came over and patted her mother on the shoulder. “Mother, I've planned this trip for weeks now, and I have friends who will be expecting me there. I really have to go.”

“But at such a hard time. Neither your father nor I know what to do about this man that Marianne's been seeing.”

Frank Morgan had come in to stand beside Caroline, and he added his plea to hers. “I really don't think you should go, Sabrina. Ordinarily it would be all right, but this is different.”

“Oh, Frank, you and Mother, and Father, too, are just worried too much. Marianne will be all right. I'll only be gone for a few days. Maybe two weeks. And then when I come home, I'll meet that man and decide what he's like.”

“Every day your sister falls more in love with him,” Frank said quietly. “You really ought to show more consideration.”

The remark touched off Sabrina's temper. “I think I am better aware than you of what my sister is, Frank. I know you mean well, but this is just not possible. I'll come back, and it'll take me a few days, but I'll get Marianne to see her foolishness.”

“She's never been this serious about a man,” Caroline said. Her hands were unsteady as she reached up and pushed her hair away from her forehead. “I've never seen her like this.”

“He's romantic from what I hear. That's what she's always been looking for. She reads too many of those romance novels,” Sabrina said then added, “She just needs to wake up.”