“Darling, I am not venturing forth looking like this. I do have my public to think of. Tomorrow, if all is well. Come round but not before ten. I am not at my best in the early morning.”
I was obviously not going to get any more out of him, so I took my leave.
Seven
I arrived home to find Daniel standing outside my house and hammering on my door. He had just turned away with a disgruntled expression when he caught sight of me entering Patchin Place.
“Ah, there you are.” His face lit up. “I really must get you set up with a telephone, Molly. I never know whether I’ll find you at home or not.”
“I do have a business to conduct,” I said. “I’m not yet the obedient little wife sitting home and waiting expectantly for her husband’s return.”
“I can’t see you ever being the obedient little wife.” Daniel looked at me fondly. “In fact sometimes I wonder what I’ve gotten myself into. But no time for chitchat, Molly. I’ve arranged to get off early this evening and I want us to go and see a house.”
“What sort of house?” I asked cautiously.
“It’s a simple brownstone on West Twenty-first,” he said, “but I think it might do very well for us.”
“Oh,” I said, finally realizing what he was talking about. “For when we get married, you mean.”
“Exactly.”
“But Daniel, we haven’t even set a date yet.”
“I know, but it’s not often that the right property becomes available, so one has to strike while the iron is hot.”
I looked fondly around Patchin Place. “I’m sorry, but I have to meet a client this evening,” I said.
“Send a message and cancel it.”
“I can’t, Daniel. This is an important case for me with a new client. Besides,” I added, probably unwisely, “I really like my current address. Why can you not consider it for both of us? It’s close to headquarters, it’s quiet, and it’s big enough for the two of us.”
“For the two of us, yes,” he said. “But we’ll need room for a servant, and then when the children start arriving . . .” He paused. “And I am the youngest police captain on the force. I need an address with some prestige.”
“Then why not the new Ansonia building?” I said flippantly. “Or I gather that the Dakota is still very much in fashion. Or a mansion on Fifth Avenue would do at a pinch.”
He frowned. “Not that much prestige,” he said. “I still only have a policeman’s salary.”
I reached out and put my hand on his lapel. “Daniel, please let’s not rush into things.”
“Are you getting cold feet?”
“About marrying you? No, of course not. But you keep talking about children and servants and I’m not sure that I’m ready to give up my own life yet.”
He scowled. “Molly, we’ve been through this a hundred times before. A man in my position can’t have a wife who works, especially not as a private detective. It simply isn’t done. It would go against our whole code of ethics. And I’d be a laughingstock—nasty little jokes about getting my wife to solve my cases for me.” He took my hands in his. “I make enough money, Molly. I can support you. We will live a good life together.”
I stood there, looking up at him, not knowing what to say next. Because in truth I didn’t know what I wanted myself. I wanted to marry Daniel, but I didn’t want to become a wife—not in the way that was accepted for wives to behave—a submissive adornment only good for dinner parties and having children. I wanted to be Molly Murphy, free to come and go as she pleased, free to make her own friends.
“You don’t want to live here because you don’t approve of my friendship with Sid and Gus,” I said.
Daniel flushed. “I must admit that—that their views and behavior could be detrimental to my career,” he said. “But of course I’m not going to forbid you to see them.”
“That’s big of you.”
“But neither do I want you under their constant influence.”
“I’m not under anybody’s influence,” I said hotly. “You should know that better than anyone, Daniel Sullivan.”
“Molly,” he said calmly, “I just want our marriage to get off to a good start. I don’t want to live where you can run across the street to your friends every time we have an argument.”
“You must think little of me if you imagine that I’d do that,” I said, breaking free of his