Conemaugh

6.

"...and thank you so much for ... coming to Quinn's aid!" Rachel sat beside her younger brother and clutched his hand. She pressed it firmly between her own fingers to try and stop the nervous motion that agitated Quinn's limbs.

"Wasn't nothing, Miss," said Liam. The man stood awkwardly and looked out the streaming windows of the clubhouse lobby. He held a cup of coffee in a bit of china that looked like it would break in his rough hand. "As I was sayin', the slope there by the dam is a place out o' the wind one might have a smoke. Slick as it was - my fault anyway that I scared the fellow and he coulda' took a bad fall." Liam stroked his thick, reddish hair, greased down heavily for the occasion of morning coffee in the hotel.

"To think I had no idea that Quinn smoked," Rachel laughed disingenuously and turned toward Clark who leaned against the lobby fireplace. "Have you been corrupting him, Mr. Singlton?"

Quinn jerked involuntarily. His gaze flicked between the handsomely tailored man with his arm on the mantle and the one who stood in rough, homespun work-clothes not drinking coffee. His shoulders still ached where that powerful arm had pinned him against the side of the dam to keep him from falling. That grip had felt more right than even a wringing handshake ever had from Clark.

"Funny, isn't it..." said Clark as he ambled over to stand by Liam, "..how, if Quinn was smoking, we didn't find a cigarette case in his jacket."

The two men were of the same height, though less comparable in bulk by a fair amount. They stared icily at each other.

"Must have gone over, I would say, hmm?" Clark thumped Liam companionably on the shoulder.

The laborer stood unmoved, his cup not even rattling from the vibration of the action. Clark's words implied many things, least among them theft or secret assignation. Liam's only answer was to set down the now cold coffee and doff his cap.

"Been good meetin' you miss," he said as he pointedly ignored Clark. "This chap be well, ya think?" he asked, actual concern on his face.

"Oh, he's well now!" Rachel simpered. She seemed relieved to find something to say in the tense moment. "Just, this weather does work on one's nerves." She put her arm around Quinn and turned a loving gaze on Clark. "We are so lucky to have a place such as this for recreation and the soothing atmosphere provided by the country. I mean, there are so many who do not have the luxury of such..." she trailed off suddenly, color rising in her cheeks.

Liam forced a smile. "Yes Miss," he said and turned to go. He favored Clark with another hard stare and brushed his gaze briefly over Quinn before striding off.

Clark muttered something after the retreating figure but did not deign to even revisit the previous night's episode before turning to other matters.

"I have something I've been wanting to show you," he said to Rachel, ignoring Quinn and his nervous state. "It's something I hope to show around during the reception when we are wed. We must make sure there is ample time during the event."

Seeming unperturbed by the confusion in Rachel's face at the statement of having something other than his new wife to show off, Clark pulled a large, heavy object from his pocket and laid it on the table in front of her.

"It's a...pocket watch...darling?" Rachel tried to form her features into something that resembled amusement rather than annoyance.

"Yes, a pocket-watch dear! But a very unique one! Look here," he snapped it open to show the watch-face and pointed to the inside of the case. "To my good friend Clark Singleton," it said in a delicate, calligraphic text. "Your future is as bright as polished steel. - Andrew Carnegie."

"The entire thing is made with steel parts, and there are 25 jewel pieces in the movement. In his letter, Carnegie said he sent it to me not only as a token of his favor, but also because the steel out of which it is made will not rust - he has smuggled the formula for such into the country in the form of this watch and entrusted it to my care!" He waited a moment for Rachel to react to such extraordinary news.

"Oh...oh!" she said with effort. "And...what has this to do with the wedding?"

"Rachel, this is a priceless piece of work," Clark exclaimed, disappointed by her lack of reaction. "Carnegie's trust in my care for this watch will elevate my social standing to the highest point. The reception will be a grand event indeed!" He seemed completely ignorant of the fact that his fiancé started to sit rather stiffly. "I even had this made to show it off to better effect!"

Clark produced a heavy gold chain that he looped around his neck. He attached the watch by a clasp to the chain and clicked the timepiece open to show the engraving. The weighty thing hung like a pendulum, gross in it's awkwardness, and made Clark looked like the caricature of train conductor ready to give the call of "all aboard!"

"I see," said Rachel simply. She was obviously less than pleased to be playing second fiddle to a watch.