He carefully pushed the door closed. "All mansions must have a secret room or two."
"Indeed they must." At the top of the stairs, oval windows were set in a pattern to look like the rest of the mansion's outside decorations.
"I built this in case the Arapaho Indians are not as happy on the reservation as President McKinley claims they will be. What do you think of the view?"
McKenna was speechless and quickly sat down on a wooden bench facing one of the windows. The sun was beginning to set behind Pikes Peak and the scattered clouds were in shades of gold and pink. Below the mountains, the lights of a small town were beginning to come on. "'Tis breathtaking. What is that place called?"
He chose a second bench to sit on opposite another oval window. "That, my dear, is Manitou Springs. There are many wondrous things to discover there. The mineral pools have a way of soothing aching bones and the watering holes have tiny bubbles coming from somewhere in the earth. If you are silent, you can hear the rumble in the ground."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Not that I have heard. There are magnificent cottonwood trees everywhere, hotels, parks, a very fine bathhouse and of course, a few mansions. None as grand as mine, I boast."
"And none with a secret room?"
"Not that I am aware of. I come here sometimes when I want to be alone. I believe Charlotte goes quite mad trying to find me."
"She fancies you, I think."
"I suspect it too, but so far, it has not been a problem."
"It might be, now that you have no wife."
"Charlotte is the least of my concerns." He was quiet and just watched the colors of the drifting clouds change for a time. "When I feared Olivia would not leave, I told her I had been unfaithful. Can you guess what she did?"
"What?"
"She forgave me. Any other woman would have had my head."
"Perhaps she still will, once she's had time to think about it. They are rare, but with enough money and the right solicitor, she might manage to secure a divorce without your permission."
"Do you suppose that is what she is up to? It would explain her refusal to pay the servants and Mr. Graham."
"Perhaps. She might have hoped she could lure you back to Scotland, but if not, she would have the money to secure another means of happiness."
He considered that for a moment. "It makes more sense than anything I have come up with."
"Yet, I care far less about her than I do about you. Without a wife, you shall have no children. Father would wish the bloodline to continue."