An Improbable Alliance

The man jumped down from his cart and tied up the horses. Caroline marveled at the sheer size of the man, well over six feet tall and she could see he was approaching her. She thought, surely not, but then he addressed her. He was wearing an old, wide-brimmed, felt hat, which he doffed and said, “Caroline, I presume. Your aunts asked me to collect you. Jacob MacKenzie; I’m a neighbor of your aunts, a farmer. Those all your bags?” Caroline was aghast—a cart? Being addressed by her first name, with no acquaintance nor family connection whatsoever! By a farmer! She responded haughtily, “Good for you. However there has been a serious mistake. I cannot possibly travel in that conveyance of yours and my Louis Vuitton luggage will be ruined! I need you to arrange for a carriage to collect me at once! I shall speak to my aunts about this outrage, and in future, kindly address me as Miss DeBeck.” Jacob replied calmly, “All right, I will be off then since you don’t need my services. I can tell you, however, unfortunately, your aunts no longer own a carriage, they get around by buggy. I suppose that means you are out of luck, Miss DeBeck, especially with so many borrowed suitcases.” Caroline said, “Borrowed? Oh dear, why am I not surprised? Louis Vuitton is a famous designer of high-quality suitcases and steamer trunks. I suppose a bit out of your budget. Did my aunts pay you? Or am I supposed to do that? It seems I have no choice in the matter; however, I assume you have something to cover up my suitcases, and a rug for me to sit on, so that I do not soil my expensive dress in your dirty cart. You should have at the very least, scrubbed it clean before attending upon a lady. How far are we from my aunts’ residence?” Jacob could not help but say it, “Well, I was wondering why such a beauty was still a spinster. I get the reason now. It will take us a little over an hour, and by the grace of God, you will get tired of complaining afore long.” Caroline was flabbergasted. This man was the manliest man, she had ever seen. She was a little ashamed of being so rude to him, but he gave as good as he got. She decided to moderate her tone. After all, how else would she be able to journey to her aunts’? She was aware she was behaving most unpleasantly to this poor farmer. She watched this man easily load up his cart, even her suitcase full of books. His physical strength was beguiling—mesmerizing. Miss Caroline DeBeck was mesmerized by a farmer! “Mr. MacFarlane, I really must apologize for my rude behavior. I am simply tired from the long journey. It was very considerate of you to give up a day’s labor to come for me with your cart. I will overlook your mode of apparel but please be so kind as to button up your shirt in the presence of a lady.” Jacob started laughing, “The name is MacKenzie. I thought I said that. Yes, a day’s labor and a day’s wages too, and all for a tirade of abuse,” and he buttoned just one button of his careworn shirt. “Mr. Mac…er…Kenzie, is it? I will reimburse you for the use of your cart and your missed wages. How much do I owe you? I shall speak very firmly to my aunts. I am shocked and disappointed in them expecting such sacrifice from an…er…farmer. Of course, they may not know any better. They are quite dissimilar to the New York DeBecks.” Jacob appeared to be adding it all up in his head, “Let me see, five dollars for the cart, five dollars for labor loading your suitcases and cases of wine—that includes unloading at your destination—and ten dollars in lost wages. Twenty dollars. I am certain your aunts will appreciate such a well-deserved lecture from their New York house guest.” Caroline was appalled, “You surely cannot be serious. I could get driven around the whole of Manhattan for less than a quarter of that amount of money—in a carriage!” He said, “Oh, that’s all right, your aunts paid me,” and smiling as he brought out a pipe from his top pocket and filled it with tobacco; he helped Caroline onto his cart. For some reason, which Caroline did not yet fully understand, she was irked by this manliest of men, requiring payment to oblige her aunts with his service, and she said, “Then I will reimburse them. They are spinsters, both reliant upon my late father’s benevolence. Twenty dollars is a lot of money to them; however, not especially to me.” She stuck her nose in the air and since it had stopped raining and the sun had come out, she quickly snapped open her parasol. However, in so doing, the delicate silk caught the flame of the match which Jacob was using to light his pipe, and her parasol burst into flames. Jacob quickly grabbed it and threw it from the cart. The fire was soon extinguished, due to the dampness from all the rain. Caroline, indignant, although also feeling somewhat silly, said, “Mr. MacKenzie, you just threw away one hundred dollars!” He responded, “No, Miss DeBeck, you threw that ridiculous amount of money away when you purchased such a silly and useless item. Do you even know how long a working man must work to make that amount of money?” Caroline said, “Yes, because you just told me. Ten days, I believe, at ten dollars a day.” Jacob said, “More like two dollars a day, if you are lucky that is.” Caroline said, “Then you lied before?” He said, “I suppose so.” And again, Caroline felt ashamed. Ashamed of her frivolous parasol and of humiliating this proud man who earned just two dollars a day. She said, “Mr. MacFarlane, are you a married man?” He said, “I am a widower. And my name is MacKenzie.” Caroline apologized, yet again, “I am so sorry. MacFarlane is our butler’s name. It seems to flow off the tongue.