She was ready.

Almost.

Sallie looked at the clock. Ten minutes to midnight. She should have been in bed hours ago. As if she could sleep. It wouldn't hurt to take one last look at the makeshift classroom she'd hadjoseph prepare. She'd told him what she wanted, and, as if by magic, the furnishings had appeared. Thanks to Alvin Waring. She hadn't questioned anything. She wanted, she got. It was that simple.

In her bare feet, her nightdress billowing behind her, Sallie crept down the hall to the empty bedroom that was now her classroom. Cautiously she opened the door and walked inside. The moonlight showed her everything was in place. The huge blackboard nailed to the wall, the single desk that was to be hers, Mr. Thornton's desk and chair direcdy beneath the blackboard. Open boxes of chalk, a cup full of pencils and pens, ink botties, stacks of tablets, and three boxes of erasers. She'd ordered more than enough. Rulers, not just one but six, stood like soldiers in a separate leather cup.

She rubbed her hands over the shiny desk, imagining the moment when Philip Thornton told her to take her seat. She shivered with anticipation. The desire to write her name on the blackboard was so strong, she walked over to the desk and picked up a piece of chalk. She brought it to her nose to sniif the dry whiteness. It smelled wonderful.

At the door, Sallie turned for one last look at her schoolroom. After today, she would no longer be ignorant After today, her life as she'd known it would never be the same. It would only get better and better, and then maybe it would be wonderftil.

Salhe closed the door softly. "Thank you. Cotton. Thank you, God. I promise you I will learn everything there is to learn even if it kills me. I'm talking to you, God, because Cotton can't hear me. So tell him that for me. It's me, Sallie Coleman making this promise. Tell him I said good night, too."

The dawn was blue-gray, laced with lavender shadows, when Sallie woke and dressed. Su Li, carrying a breakfast tray, tapped hghdy on her door just as Sallie finished tying the red ribbon in her hair. She declined the food, and only touched some coffee.

When Sallie walked into the schoolroom, she was certain her heart was going to leap right out of her chest. She saw it all in one swift glance-Philip Thornton, letters already written on the blackboard, tablet and pencil on her desk.

Sallie's steps faltered when she saw the look of wry amusement on his face. A dark flush raced up her neck onto her face. Sallie knew she was dressed wrong. Phihp Thornton was expecting to see the fashionable young lady he thought her to be. Was her schoolgirl outfit a mistake? Brazen it out. She damn well liked what she was wearing. She'd looked forward to this moment for a long time, and she wasn't about to let Philip Thornton spoil it. All she had to do was remember that she was the one paying his salary. "Good morning, Mr. Thornton."

"Good morning. Miss Sallie. May I say you look . . . proper."

'*You may, but it would be a damn lie, and we both know it."

"I... what.. .?"

**You're here to teach me. Start teaching."

"Be seated, Miss SaDie," Thornton said, his face red from her brisk words. "As you can see, I wrote my name on the blackboard. I want you to write your name underneath mine. I also want you to write the month, day, and the year. I want you to print as well as write. I want to see how advanced your penmanship is."

Her face crimson, Sallie walked on wobbly legs to the blackboard. She smelled her own fear, the newness of the blackboard, the flat scent of the chalk when she picked it up. She squared her shoulders and gritted her teeth. She printed her name, the letters different sizes, the a and the n in Coleman going downhill. She needed lined paper. She whirled around. "It's the best I can do, Mr. Thornton. I can read some if the letters are printed, but I can't read writing. I can't write the month or the day."

"It's a start, Miss Sallie," Philip said. "What this tells me is we will start at the beginning. Your tablet has lines on it. We'll do the ABCs first. All the letters except the capital ones will be the same size. Two pages of each letter. There are twenty-six letters in the alphabet. When you're done you'll have fifty-two pieces of paper to hand me. rU give you a mark. If the papers are good, the mark will be red. If the papers are poor, the mark will be green. If you give me an outstanding paper at some point, you'll receive a gold star. I'm very stingy with my gold stars, so don't count on getting many of them."

"How many of them do you have, Mr. Thornton?"

"A dozen or so. Why?"

"I think you need to place an order for more. I'm waiting for the letters. You have to write them on the board for me."

"So you are. My apologies. I'm writing the date now. Each paper needs to have the date and your name on it. Today is July 26, 1923. Print your name at the top like this, then underneath, print the date. I correct papers at night and return them in the morning. Is that acceptable. Miss Sallie?"

"Yes. It does make for worry, though," Sallie muttered, her head bent to the task in fi-ont of her.

Philip, his face to the blackboard, smiled. He made a mental note to write home to his older brother, also a teacher, to have him send a box of gold stars. He wished he knew how this beautiful, rich young woman could be so uneducated.

It was nine o'clock when Sallie shuffled her papers into a neat pile and handed them to Philip. "Are the numbers next?"

"Yes. One through ten. Two pages each. Name and date on each page. When you complete the numbers we'll have recess."

"I'm not a child, Mr. Thornton. I don't require recess. I prefer to keep working. Su Li will fetch us some tea and coffee at ten o'clock."

"It's the law, Miss Sallie."

"This isn't a real school. Mister Thornton. You are tutoring me. I'm nineteen years old. The law doesn't work here in my house. In my house I'm the law, and I say no recess." This was all said as she painstakingly wrote the number 1 down the length of the page.

Philip snapped the ruler in his hand against the side of the desk. "Miss Sallie, look at me. We need to get something straight right now. In this room, I am the boss. I am the teacher. I will not put up with tantrums, tears, or womanly wiles. Furthermore, I don't care how rich you are. You will always treat me with respect, and I will show you that same respect. I will not, under any circumstances, allow you to dictate to me. Is that understood? If it is, we will have a twenty-minute recess commencing at ten o'clock when Su Li brings our tea or coffee. Tell me your answer." He watched, baffled, as a kaleidoscope of emotions showed on SaUie's face. Anger, fear, humiliation, humbleness. He felt like biting off his tongue for causing her one moment of discomfort. However, he held her gaze until she lowered her head.

"I saw your face when I walked into the room this morning, Mister Thornton. You didn't show me respect then. You were baffled at the way I look. I saw it on your face. I never went to school, as you well know. If I want to dress like a schoolgirl, I will dress like a schoolgirl because lama, schoolgirl. Your recess is a silly rule, but if that's what they do in a real school, I have no other choice, do I? Do you understand that, NIr. Thornton? If so, let me finish my work. In this room I will listen to you, but only in this room."

"Fair enough."

"Damn straight it's fair," Ssillie said under her breath.

"A lady, Miss SaJHe, never uses profanity," Phihp said quiedy.

"This lady does." The eraser she was using tore the paper. "See what you made me do!"

"You tore the paper yourself You aren't scrubbing a floor, you use an eraser lighdy. As I said, a lady never uses profanity. The choice is yours, Miss SalUe."

The rest of the morning passed quiedy. Teacher and pupil retired to the dining room for a Hght lunch. The moment Philip folded his napkin, Sallie was off her chair and on the way to the second floor classroom.

"I want to read this afternoon," Sallie said.

"Reading is not in my lesson plan for today. We're going to do word association. I'll show you pictures and underneath the picture will be a word, sometimes several words. You will tell me what the picture or pictures are. We will then sound it out, and then you will print the word on a sheet of paper. We'll go through the entire alphabet. How many sheets of paper will you need. Miss Sallie?"

"Twenty-six, After we do that, what are we going to do?"

"We'll do the same thing with numbers. If you're going to be handling large sums of money in the future, this is going to be very important to you. I'm going to time you with my stopwatch. The timing is not important to you, only to me. I need to know if I have to slow or pick up my pace. Start!" At four-thirty, Philip gathered his cards into a neat pile. "That's it for today, Miss Sallie. Tomorrow we'll pick up where we left off."

"We still have several hours of daylight. I thought we were going to work till supper. I want to work till supper. I'm paying you a lot of money, Mister Thornton. I want to get my money's worth. Of course, if you're too tired to continue, I can sit here by myself and . . . and do other things. What that means. Mister Thornton is, I'm not going anywhere. Where you go is your choice."

"If you call me Mister Thornton in that tone of voice one more time, I'm walking out of here. School is over at four-thirty. Sit here if you want. Rome wasn't built in a day. Miss Salhe."

"What does that mean?"

"You can sit here and think about it, or you can walk in the garden with me and I'll explain it. There are a lot of things I can teach you outside this room. I'd like to read you some poetry, read to you from the classics, tell you about animals. I'd like to share some of my experiences with you, things I learned outside the classroom during my years of study. Your education needs to be well rounded. For instance, you like to sing. I heard you singing 'Poor Butterfly' the other night. I'd like to know how you learned that song. So you see, you can teach me at the same time. By the way, you have a lovely voice."

Sallie's face was set into stubborn lines. She looked down at her tablet, at the pencils with dull points. Her eyes ached as she stared at the erasers that were nothing but nubs. Would her papers have green marks on them tomorrow? Cotton always said not to cut off your nose to spite your face. A v^e man always returns to fight another day. If Cotton were here right now he'd say ... what would he say? Was she going through a power struggle udth Philip Thornton? If so, she was not his match. Yet.

Sallie tapped her pencil with the dull point on the desk. She thought about power, money, control. Before she got up from her chair, she added a fourth word to her list: education. If she didn't go to bed until midnight, she had five fiill hours to repeat her lessons in the privacy of her room. The thought brought a smile to her face. She'd show Philip Thornton. He'd have to buy three boxes of gold stars.

A friendly but uneasy truce was established between teacher and pupil during the following weeks and months. When Philip looked at Sallie with suspicious eyes, puzzled at her remarkable progress during those same weeks and months, SaUie just smiled as she held out her paper for her gold star.

Eleven days before Christmas, Philip called a halt to SaUie's lessons. "School's out. You've done outstanding work, and I'm very proud of you. You not only deserve this break, you need it," he said jovially. "It's time to prepare for the holidays. I'm sure you'll want to decorate the house. It all takes time. You did say, Sallie, you wanted a Boston Christmas."

"But-"

"School is closed, SaUie. School always closes for the holidays. No books, no pencils, no lessons. After the New Year, lessons wiU resume."

"All right, Philip." Sallie smiled as she tried to recall the exact time and place when teacher and pupil had started using each other's first names. "What should we do first?"

"I think we should go to town. I'd like to buy presents for Anna, Joseph, Su Li, and Chue. I'd also like to get a box of cigars for Mr. Waring. If it weren't for Mr. Waring, I wouldn't be standing here with you right now."

"I was going to get him a new pipe and some tobacco. He likes to smoke his pipe when he drives. I seen him do that many times."

"Do you want to try that sentence again, Sallie?"

"I thought you said school was closed. No more lessons."

"I did say that, and yes, school is closed. If you aren't going to practice what you learn, what is the point of my teaching you? I wouldn't be a very good teacher if I didn't correct your use of words."

"You are absolutely correct, Philip. When do you want to go to town? Might I make a suggestion?"

'Tou might." Philip smiled.

"I suggest we stay in my town house for as long as it takes us to shop. We'll take Su Li with us. I also want to spend one evening in my bingo palace. My customers expect me to appear from time to time. I want to go to church on Sunday, too. Is that acceptable?"

"More than acceptable. Let's plan to leave at first Ught."

"I'm going to have Su Li ask one of her cousins if she wants the job of housekeeper in the town house so the house will stay clean. I don't like musty-smelling bedding."

'*You don't like staying in town anymore, do you?"

"No, I don't. Later, I imagine that will change. I'm very contented right where I am, doing what I want to do. I have good employees at the bingo palace, so I don't have to worry about my little business. I'm never going to give that up. I might open another one if business calls for it. The town house is just a convenience. It is a long trip to town, even in the car, and I miss my friends sometimes. I like going to church on Sunday. My life will be settled soon, and, when that happens, I want to be ready to make . . . important decisions."

"You have the right attitude, Sallie. This might be a good time for me to compliment you. I'm usually fairly stingy with compliments. Before I give them I want to be sure in my own mind that they're deserved. You've done so well, Sallie. What I feel for your dedication goes beyond the word proud. You have worked like a Trojan. You're doing well in all your subjects, but you excel in mathematics. At first that surprised me, but then I started to think. You said Mr. Easter started your education with numbers, and later he taught you to write and read a httie. I beheve it's what you start out with first. You had a real interest in numbers because you dealt with money." He chuckled when he said, "Now you have even more money, and it's paramount that you learn how to take care of and protect your fortune. Don't depend on other people to do that for you, Sallie. At all times you need to know where you stand in regard to your finances."

"When will we be getting to that part?"

'*We'll start on finances in a small way after Easter vacation. By this time next year you'll be ready if you keep progressing as you are."

"A whole year!" SaUie cried in dismay.

"Do you want to do it right, or do you want a slipshod course? If you don't understand what it is you're doing, you could make a costly mistake that will cost you thousands of dollars. Is that what you want? Understand also that I am by no means a financier. I understand the stock market, and I know a littie about investments. However, I'm not an authority. You might want to have Mr. Waring engage someone in that particular field to help you. We don't need to think about that right now. We're on vacation."

"All right, Philip."

"Let's wash up and see what Anna has prepared for dinner. If you aren't too tired, might I suggest a game of checkers after dinner. No cheating!"

"Philip, a lady does not cheat at any kind of gaming."

"You do! I caught you three times in a row!"

"That's the way I play. It wasn't cheating. I simply changed my mind."

"You see! That's exacdy my point. I tried teaching you the correct way, but you didn't have the patience. Oh, no, you thought you could do it your way. Well, your way was wrong, and you cheated."

"It wasn't intentional."

"Is that going to be your response when you make a big mistake in the stock market? After you lose your money?"

"I don't want to talk about this, Philip."

"That's good because I don't want to talk about it, either. What you need to do is think about it. I want you to do everything right. I know you have convictions and opinions, but if they aren't right, where does that leave you?"

"Having the last word, Philip. I'll see you at supper."

It was late, and the night was cold and brittle. Either he'd eaten too much at dinner, or he v/as about to come down with his yearly winter cold. Standing here at the window in his bare feet, staring at Sallie Coleman's bedroom window, certainly wasn't helping matters. The fire in the grate had burned low some time ago, and he hadn't replenished it. He did so now, his thoughts on Sallie and the light in her window. He was admost certain she was studying even though she'd given him her promise not to.

Sallie's obsession and her progress had starded him on a daily basis. When he finally realized she was carrying her studies far into the night, getting by on only a few hours' sleep, he tried everything he could to slow her down, but she was having none of his amusing chatter and caricature drawings. "You're here to teach me, Philip, and I'm here to learn. Don't be drawing pictures of how you think I look. It doesn't amuse me at all. All we're doing is wasting time."

Suddenly it was important to him to find out if Sallie had broken her promise and was studying. He ignored the cold evening, bundled up, and marched downstairs and out the door of his small cottage. He knew exacdy where Joseph kept his ladders. He felt like a sneak, a Peeping Tom, when he quiedy leaned the ladder against the house. Shivering, he climbed the flat rungs until he was able to peer into the room. He saw Sallie dozing, her head drooping into the crook of her arm. By squinting, he was able to see that she had been studying lessons that would begin after the New Year holiday.

According to his calculations, she'd been up here since supper, which meant she'd been studying for six hours.

The urge to put his fist through the windowpane was so strong, Philip bit down on his lower Up and tasted his own blood. What he really wanted to do was open the window, crawl in, and gather Sal-he in his arms and tell her. . . what? That he was falling in love with her, that he was concerned for her health? She'd tell him straight out to mind his own business. She might even laugh, that wonderful tinkling sound that sent goose bumps up and down his arms. So many times he wanted to say certain things to her, but her frosty gaze sadd, this is business, I want you to teach me and nothing more. Besides, how could he take care of her? She probably had more money than King Midas. She could spend more money on a dress than he earned in four months. He groaned v^th the thought, his foot slipping on the rung of the ladder. As he sHd to the ground, the ladder toppling over, he heard SaUie scream. Oh, hell, was his last conscious thought before he hit the shrubbery that surrounded the house. Moments later, Sallie, Su Li, and Chue were standing over him, blankets draping their shoulders.

"PhHip!" SaUie gasped.

"You broke your promise," Philip snarled, outraged that he'd been caught spying on his employer.

"Are you hurt? You were spying on me, Philip Thornton! That's despicable! I knew I'd get to use that word one day. I should fire you right now."

He was on his feet, but shaky. "Maybe you should! You gave me your word. Which just goes to show I can't trust you. I can pack my bags and be out of here in an hour. And, before you even think of asking how I'll get to town, I'll walk. You can mail my wages to Mr. Waring." He wanted to stomp off, but the pain in his ankle only allowed for a limping walk.

"Bring Philip into the house, Chue, so we can look at his ankle," Scillie said. "If he's going to walk to town, he's going to need a stout brace. It's a long walk." God in heaven, did she really say that?

What would she do without Philip? She trusted him. They got along well together. He never poked fun at her, never made her feel inferior. How would she fare with another teacher? What if she got a tart-tongued older woman with no patience? Phihp had the patience of a saint.

Inside the warm kitchen Su Li busded about, boiling water and mixing a poultice while Chue settled Philip on one of the kitchen chairs. He looked to Sallie for instructions.

"What should we do, Philip?" she asked quietly. He was, after all, the teacher.

"An apology would be a nice place to start. I twisted my ankle is all. Wrapping it tighdy should work. I expect my bones will ache for a few days. I'll be off your property as soon as my ankle is wrapped."

"But you said if I apologize-"

"I said it was a good place to start. I didn't say I would stay. I can't trust you anymore. How many times did I tell you that a person's promise or that person's word is a measure of who that person is? You ignored the most important lesson in life, Sallie Coleman."

Sallie felt shaken to her soul. He had said that many times. She didn't want him to leave. She looked forward to waking and seeing him at the brealdast table. She loved spending the day with him, loved the crinkly smile in his dark eyes when she did something right. "I'm sorry, Philip."

"No you aren't. Sorry is just a word to you. You're wondering if tears will change my mind. Well, they won't, so don't bother."

"Why are you being so cruel to me?"

Because I think Pm falling in love with you. "I'm not being cruel. You want to believe that I am. What just happened is a lesson I taught you, gave you the opportunity to put it to use, and you failed the test. I guess I'm not a very good teacher after all."

"Oh, that's not true, Philip. You are the best teacher. You taught me so much. I'm sorry, truly sorry, that I failed the test. I know you're right. I'm wrong. It's just-"