Over tea, I tentatively broached the subject of my future employment.
“I hear from Sarah that you’ve experience in a tearoom,” Mr. Roy said.
“Yes, I do.” I forced a smile. I expected as much, but I hoped for a job that offered a little more challenge and remuneration.
“I’ve got plenty of work for both of you. Miss Charlotte, you can serve in the restaurant.” He turned to Sarah. “And you, my dear, can serve drinks in the cardroom after you put Jacob to bed in the evenings.”
“Perfect,” Sarah said.
“Cardroom?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow.
Mr. Roy sipped his tea. “I run a high-stakes five-card-stud game in the room just off the restaurant most evenings. It is by invitation only. I tolerate no bad manners or cursing. The house takes five percent of the pot. It’s where I make my real money, not in the restaurant.
I could see that Mr. Roy was a very astute businessman, and I knew I would never get ahead working as a server, so I took a chance. “Do you need a dealer?”
Mr. Roy looked taken aback.
“My mother loved cards and played games of chance with her friends. She taught me how to be a dealer. I’m confident I can deal cards at a professional level.” It was a lie—I had no such confidence, but I desperately wanted to try.
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I could use someone with an understanding of the game, and I won’t lie to you, a pretty young woman will give me an edge over the tables at the Billy Barker.”
He was just being kind, I knew, but I smiled at his backhanded compliment. “I guess I could try you out for a bit, but if it doesn’t work out, it’ll have to be the serving job in the restaurant.”
I nodded, crossing my fingers under the table. “I understand. Thank you very much. You won’t be disappointed.”
Mr. Roy explained that the winner of each game tipped the dealer. I would have to work evenings, but my days would be free to do whatever I wanted. With the promise of tips, I expected I’d make more in an evening than in two weeks at my old job. Mr. Roy suggested I practise my dealing skills in the morning, as the men would expect only the best and would be impatient with any delays.
“I like your gumption,” he said. “A person needs it in this world. My whole life, people have talked in front of me like I’m not there. But I kept my ears open, and over the years I’ve heard a lot of things I shouldn’t. It’s because of who I am.”
I wasn’t sure where he was taking this conversation, but I felt certain there was a lesson in it somewhere for me. He looked over at Sarah.
“Sarah already knows this, but from my earliest days in Barkerville, people ignored me while I cooked and waited tables here. They figured I didn’t have the smarts or the wherewithal to act on what I heard, so they openly discussed business secrets. I used the information I overheard to invest, and after a while I bought the Wake Up Jake with my investment returns.”
He’s a clever man, I thought.
“Well done,” I said, my mind turning over all he’d just said. “I think I’d like to do something similar.”
“What is that?”
I hesitated. Was it too soon to give voice to my plan? Were there too many obstacles, and it would evaporate in a puff of smoke like all the others? “An idea has come to me in bits and pieces,” I said slowly.
Sarah was helping Jacob hold a piece of a scone that he was trying to chew but was mostly spitting out. “Well, tell us!”
“I want a life with animals, in the outdoors. I want to build a house and buy a cattle ranch. I’ll hire cowboys, and when we drive the cattle from one range to another, I’ll visit every village and offer training and vaccinations supplies to anyone who wants it.” I turned to Sarah. “Reverend Crossman gave me his equipment. And someday, perhaps I can open a clinic.” I thought of the duelling doctors in Yale. “So there is always help for anyone who needs it.”
“A worthy goal,” Mr. Roy said. “I’ve heard some awful stories about smallpox from prospectors coming in from the north.” He paused. “But why would you buy land when all you have to do is find a husband and get it for free from the Crown?”
“I don’t believe that land is the Crown’s to give away,” I said, feeling my conviction harden inside me like cement. I was going to make a home for myself. “I know it’ll take me a long time to save enough, but I’m going to start tomorrow.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
“You look lovely,” Sarah said, clasping her paste-glass necklace around my neck.
It was my first night of card dealing, and every muscle in my body felt tight with nerves. Mr. Roy said he was impressed with my dealing earlier that day, but he was an easy audience. Even the games on the ship where I had dealt paled in comparison to this. That was polite society, and these men were serious players. I fidgeted with my dress, an emerald-green paduasoy gown, and tugged at my white gloves. Sarah had piled my reddish-blond locks high on my head and held them in place with three jewelled combs and a green velvet ribbon. At least I look the part.
“Good luck,” Sarah said as we parted ways in the hallway, she to the kitchen and I to the cardroom.
I took a deep breath and forced myself forward. Some men had arrived and were bent low over their tables. Two of the other dealers were already in place, shuffling cards to warm up. Pungent cigar smoke hung suspended in the air, mingling with the biting aromas of strong drink and just a hint of human sweat. The
