Posted November 10, 2021
"Not quite Heaven, Em, but yep, we're a ways above the street. And for a while, this will be where we live. 'couse now, I known we'll be in and out, gallivantin' about town, seein the sights an' all, but for a spell this'll be are place." He told her. "So make yerself ta home."
He walked over to where she stood, his arms wen around her waist as they both looked out at the skyline and at the city below, teeming with people and conveyances of all shapes and sizes. To the doks and the ships in the harbor, and those sailing to and fro. It was almost magical. A far cry from the dirt streets of Kalispell.
"So, then, I suppose you'd like to go shopping or out for dinner or just out lookin' around the city. You're choice. We're in no rush." Then he added, "Maybe we'll take us a carriage up ta Nob Hill, show ya some of them fine homes they got up there."
Posted November 11, 2021
"So many choices." Smiling, Emeline turned in his arms and kissed him. "Did I tell you that you're amazing? This is so much more than I ever could have imagined!"
Indeed, she never would have even thought to imagine such a life, or such a place...or such a man. The most she had envisioned was a small farm, a simple house teeming with children, an occasional trip to 'the city', whichever that might have been...and certainly not as grand as San Francisco!
And to actually be here, in a splendid hotel, with rooms larger than the house she had dreamed of, and little worry about money....
"Let's take a ride around, then find something simple for supper," she suggested, "I'm a little tired from all the travel. We can scout out a nice place for tomorrow."
She wasn't quite ready to admit it aloud yet, but there was something to be said for 'simple', and not having to fuss with corsets and bustles and which of the five forks was next!
Posted November 12, 2021
"Yes Ma'am! Whatever's yer pleasure, Em. Now I know you woprry about bein' all gussied up, but we can dress down, many do that tire of all the folderol. Wearin' something simple an' nice and goin' fer a ride, shore enough sounds right ta me." He agreed. Glad he wasn't saddled with al the things that were expected of women.
There came a light knock on the door. Barnabas smiled and offered, "I'll get it." Then strode across the room and opened the door. A young woman stood there. "Mister Pike?" She asked. "I'm Lillian, the day maid as well as an assistant for your wife."
"Well come in then, Lillian." Pike said to the uniformed young woman. "Em, love, this is Lillian who is here to assist you." he had made arrangements for the girl when he made the reservations. The young woman would help Em with dressing and her hair. "She'll help with gettin' ya all tagether when need be. Make it some easier for ya."
Posted November 13, 2021
"Good day, Miss Lillian." Emeline smiled at the young woman, wondering what she needed an assistant for? Was he going to have her set up a cafe here in the city? She grinned at that notion, knowing it was merely a notion, and then it made sense when he explained it. Of course, things would be much easier to have help manipulating all the layers and pinnings and drapery, and certainly, she needed help with fancy hair styles.
Still, it seemed a little...odd and ostentatious to have someone helping her to get dressed after doing that herself all her life.
"I'll certainly benefit from some tips from someone versed in the manners and style of the city," she commented with a smile, "I look forward to your advise." She just hoped the girl wouldn't think her 'simple' if she asked about things such as proper etiquette at the opera, or whatnot.
Posted November 16, 2021
"Yes , Ma'am, All of those things I can and certainly will help you with." Lillian said with a genuine smile. "Usually the women that stay here are, well, snobbish. If you see what I mean. It is a pleasure to be of help to someone who appreciates it."
Barnabas was just there, in the background as it were, this was clearly women's business so he cleared his throat and said. "Believe I'll just step out for a bit and leave you two to your conversation." There was no where in particular that he was going, or wanted to go. This piece of the trip was for Em, he was not fond of the big city, at all. But for her? The big city help that magic he'd heard so much about from others that had been there.
Taking leave of the room he stepped out into the hall which ran the square circumference of the hotel and took the stairs down, stepping out on each floor he exited on the sixth floor and saw a man he knew. In fact, a man that he had made friends with years earlier on the Comstock. The man turned, did a double take, and exclaimed, "Barnabas Pike!" The man was William Sharon, owner of the hotel, and known as one of the 'Silver Kings' of the Comstock.
Posted November 18, 2021
"There's nothing to be gained in being snobbish," Emeline chuckled after Barnabas had left, "it just drives people away, and they don't want to be around you."
Taking a breath, she thought for a moment, then added, "I just own a cafe in a little town in Montana Territory...I had to cook to make my way after my first husband died, and then Mr. Pike came along, and I find myself in such circumstance that is so far beyond anything I could have dreamed of."
And she wasn't sure she should be admitting this to a stranger at a hotel miles from home, but she had to talk to someone. "I feel out of place sometimes, not that Mr. Pike ever seems to notice -- he's a very good man, down to earth and humble -- but..." shaking her head, she had to laugh, "I don't know how to be wealthy, and I certainly don't want to become snobbish!"
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted November 18, 2021
"And he does?" Lillian asked. He knows how to be wealthy?" He smile was bright, her deportment perfect for her profession. "Misses Pike, there are those to whom money is mere a means to an end, and then there are those that consider wealth the end. The mecca of their lives. They believe that they now have the right to lord it over people such as myself."
She grinned, "All one need do is dress appropriately, and move about as if they know what they are about and none would be the wiser, for they are more concerned with themselves than anyone else. You will see that right off in this hotel. So yes, we can dress you properly, arrange your hair in the latest fashion and voila! No one can tell the difference. Then be who you are!"
Posted November 18, 2021
"Thank you, Lillian, although what is that saying? You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?" Emeline laughed, glad that she could be relaxed around the other young woman. "And besides, they won't know what I've been through, right? Ladies who were born into money have never had to make their own way, start a business, shoot a bank robber!"
Oh, well, now she was starting to get a bit uppity!
"I'd really love to see the ocean," she continued, glancing out the window, then laughing again. "Yes, we came here down the coast, but that was just hanging over the railing of the ship, but I want to touch the Pacific Ocean, maybe even wade in it, if that wouldn't be too scandalous. Isn't there some sort of garment for that?" So long as it didn't expose too much, but then, she'd been seen in public in men's britches!
Storyteller / Shared NPC
Posted November 19, 2021
"Thank you, Lillian, although what is that saying? You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?" Emeline laughed, glad that she could be relaxed around the other young woman. "And besides, they won't know what I've been through, right? Ladies who were born into money have never had to make their own way, start a business, shoot a bank robber!"
Oh, well, now she was starting to get a bit uppity!
Lillian paused a moment then smiled. "Shot a bank robber, well, you will certainly have o tell me about that. I mean we have bank robbers, and miscreants of all kinds in the city, but rarely do civilians shoot them. That seems to be reserved for the police. Where was it you said you were from?"
"I'd really love to see the ocean," she continued, glancing out the window, then laughing again. "Yes, we came here down the coast, but that was just hanging over the railing of the ship, but I want to touch the Pacific Ocean, maybe even wade in it, if that wouldn't be too scandalous. Isn't there some sort of garment for that?" So long as it didn't expose too much, but then, she'd been seen in public in men's britches!
"Oh yes. Bathing suits. a garment meant for forays into the surf. But I wouldn't go too far out. Now the Mister, he has been here before? Then I'm sure he would know where to take you to see the ocean, just a few miles away actually." Lillian answered, "Oh, and the Cliff house. You must go to see it. A fabulous place, I'm told." Then she added, "Captain Foster, he's the owner, renovated the Cliff House in 1868, adding a promenade and two new wings. Just a wonderful place. You must go to have a meal there. And, you never know who you might see as guests of the Cliff House. Truly an experience."
Posted November 21, 2021
"Oh, well, that bank robber was about to shoot my husband-to-be, and I wasn't having any of that!" Emeline laughed. "The town is Kalispell, and it's much smaller than San Francisco, so when there's a bank robbery, just about everyone in town knows about it and shows up...I had the misfortune of being in the bank at the wrong time."
She shrugged, glancing out the window, then back to Lillian. "I'll have to talk to Mr. Pike about it, then," she declared, "perhaps I can persuade him to take me to lunch there tomorrow. We got a glimpse of it as we came into the bay, but not a good look. Oh, and aren't there seals out there?"
There really was so much to see and do, and as she had said earlier, she wanted experience everything she could, and that included digging her toes into the sand and wading into the ocean!