They were finally on their way home. Cole answered her questions while she removed most of the evidence proving she was a refined lady. She took off her white gloves first, then pulled out the pins holding her prim bun together at the back of her neck. She wasn't satisfied until the thick, blond mass floated down her back.
She let out a sigh of pleasure while she threaded her fingers through her curls.
"I'm so sick of being a lady," she said. "Honest to heaven, it's such a strain."
Cole laughed. Mary Rose knew she wouldn't get any sympathy from him.
"You wouldn't laugh if you had to wear a corset. It binds a body up as tight as a coil. It isn't natural."
"Did they make you wear one of those things at school?" Cole was horrified by the idea.
"Yes," she answered. "I didn't though. No one could tell, after all. I never got dressed in public."
"I hope to God not."
He had to slow the horses when they started the steep climb up the first ridge. Mary Rose turned around so she could watch to make sure her trunk didn't fall off the back of the wagon.
Once they'd reached the crest, she turned around again. She took off her navy blue jacket, draped it over the back of the bench, and started unbuttoning the cuffs of her starched white blouse. The collar was chafing her neck. She unbuttoned the top three buttons.
"Something odd happened at school. I didn't know what to make of it."
"Make of what?" he asked.
"A new classmate arrived in January. She was from Chicago. Her parents came with her to help her get settled."
"And?"
Mary Rose shrugged. "It's probably nothing."
"Tell me anyway. I can hear the worry in your voice."
"I am not worrying," she said. "It was just so peculiar. The girl's mother was born and raised in England. She thought she knew me."
"She can't know you," he said. "You've never been to England. Could you have met her someplace else?"
Mary Rose shook her head. "I'm sure I would have remembered."
"Tell me what happened."
"I was walking across the commons. I smiled at the new arrivals, just to be polite and make them feel welcome, and all of a sudden, the girl's mother lets out a scream loud enough to frighten the stone gargoyles on top of Emmet Building. She scared me too."
"Why's that?" he asked.
"She was pointing at me all the while she was screaming," Mary Rose explained. "I became quite embarrassed."
"Then what happened?"
"She clutched her chest with both hands and looked like she was going to keel over."
"All right, Mary Rose. What'd you do?" He was immediately suspicious his sister wasn't telling him everything. She had a habit of getting into mischief, and she was always astonished by the trouble that would inevitably follow.
"I didn't do anything wrong," she cried out. "I was acting like a perfect lady. Why would you jump to the conclusion I was responsible for the poor woman's condition?" she asked, sounding wounded.
"Because you usually are responsible," he reminded her. "Were you carrying your gun at the time?"
"Of course not," she replied. "I wasn't running or doing anything the least improper. I do know how to behave like a lady when I have to, Cole."
"Then what was the matter with the woman?"
"When she finally calmed down, she told me she thought I was a woman she used to know. She called her Lady Agatha Something-or-other. She said I was the spitting image of the woman."
"That isn't peculiar," he decided. "Lots of women have blond hair and blue eyes. It's not unusual."
"Are you saying I'm plain?"
He couldn't resist. "Yeah, I guess I am."
It was a lie, of course. Mary Rose was the complete opposite of plain. She was really very beautiful, or so he'd been told over and over again by every eligible man in town. He didn't see his sister that way. She was sweet and good-hearted most of the time, and a little wildcat the rest of the time. She used to be a brat, but now that she was all grown up, he guessed she wasn't such a pain after all.
"Adam assures me I'm pretty," she argued. She shoved her brother with her shoulder. "He always tells the truth. Besides, you know very well it's what's inside a woman's heart that really matters. Mama Rose thinks I'm a beautiful daughter, and she's never even seen me."
"You about finished being vain, Mary Rose?"
She laughed. "Yes."
"I wouldn't worry about the coincidence of looking like someone else."
"But that wasn't the end of it," she explained. "About a month later, I was called into the superior's office. There was an elderly man waiting for me. The headmistress was there too. She had my file on her desk."
"How'd you know it was your file?"
"Because it's the thickest one at the school," she answered. "And the cover's torn."
She looked at her brother and immediately knew what he was thinking. "You can quit smiling that know-it-all smile of yours, Cole. I will admit that my first year at school didn't go well. I had a little trouble adjusting. I realize now I was simply homesick and was trying to get thrown out so you'd have to come and get me. However," she hastily added, "I have had a perfect record ever since, and that should count for something."
"Tell me about the man waiting in the office," he said.
"He was a lawyer," she said. "He asked me all sorts of questions about our family. He wanted to know how long we'd lived in Montana and why our mother didn't live with us. He wanted me to describe to him what my brothers looked like too. I wouldn't answer any of his questions. I didn't think it was any of his business. He was a complete stranger, after all. I didn't like him at all."
Cole didn't like him either. "Did he explain why he was asking all these questions?"
"He told me there was a large inheritance at issue. I think he went away convinced I wasn't a long-lost relative. I've made you worry, haven't I?"
"A little," he admitted. "I don't like the idea of anyone asking about us."
She tried to lighten his mood. "It wasn't all bad," she said. "I hadn't studied for my English exam because Eleanor kept me up half the night complaining about some latest slight. Since I was in the office, I got to wait until the following day to take the test."
"I thought you weren't going to put up with Eleanor again."
"I swear to you I wasn't," Mary Rose replied. "No one else would take her for a roommate though, and the mistress practically got down on her hands and knees begging me to take Eleanor in. Poor Eleanor. She has a good heart, honest she does, but she keeps it hidden most of the time. She's still a trial of endurance."
Cole smiled. Eleanor had been the one wrinkle in his sister's otherwise perfect life. Mary Rose was the only student at school who would suffer the young woman's presence. The brothers loved hearing Eleanor stories. They found the woman's antics hysterically funny, and when any of them needed a good laugh, an Eleanor story had to be dredged up.
"Was she as ornery as ever?" he asked, hoping his sister had a new story to tell.
"She was," Mary Rose admitted. "I used to feel guilty telling all of you about her, but then Travis convinced me that since no harm was done and she'd never find out, it was all right. She really can be outrageous. Do you know she left school a full week before everyone else? She didn't even say good-bye. Something was wrong with her father, but she wouldn't tell me what it was. She cried herself to sleep five nights in a row, then she left. I wish she'd confided in me. I would have helped if I could. Her father wasn't ill. I asked the headmistress after Eleanor took off. She wouldn't tell me anything, but she puckered her lips, and she only does that when she is really disgusted about something. Eleanor's father was going to donate a large sum of money so the mistress could build another dormitory. She told me it was all off now. Do you know what she said?"