Page 40 of The Queen of Roses

I would be honored if you and Miss Pearce would care to take tea with me at my private dining room at the Andalusian on Tuesday afternoon at four o’clock?

Yours respectfully,

Guy Whitley

November 29, 1903

Andalusian Hotel, Pasadena

Dear Miss Pearce,

I have asked your mother to come to tea on Tuesday, as we discussed during our last ride. Do come.

Yours respectfully,

Guy Whitley

December 3, 1903

Andalusian Hotel, Pasadena

Dear Miss Pearce,

Thank you again for a charming afternoon spent with you and your mother. I could not help but remember that you said you hadn’t yet been to visit our beautiful mountains. Would you do me the very great honor of allowing me to treat you to a surprise on Saturday?

I can assure your mother that the location is very public, where we will be surrounded by respectable people at all times. Although I will understand if she deems a chaperone necessary, I had hoped that I would be able to spend the day in your company. I can promise, in exchange, some of the best views of Pasadena.

I will call for you at the Hotel Green at two o’clock.

Yours respectfully,

Guy Whitley

P.S. Please wear your very sturdiest boots that can withstand some walking and your warmest wrap.

chapter fifteen ADELE

We are taking a train?” Adele asked Mr. Whitley as he drew the gig he drove up to the small railway station that announced itself with a painted sign reading “Mountain Junction.”

“We are,” he said.

The drive from the Hotel Green had been pleasant enough. Mr. Whitley’s skill as a horseman translated nicely in manipulating the traces, and Adele had contented herself to chat with him as she watched the world go by. However, at some point, the bustle of the Pasadena roads had quieted, giving way to long stretches of land punctuated here and there by large houses set off from the road by long drives.

“Where are we?” Adele asked, looking up at the long stretch of track that ran up the dry, rocky mountainside.

He nodded to the mountains. “Those are the San Gabriels, and up at the top is Ye Alpine Tavern, which is where we are going.”

“A tavern?” she asked with a mixture of alarm and intrigue. Mama would have expired on the spot if she knew.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a laugh. “It’s a hotel with amusements and is perfectly respectable.”

Adele hesitated.

“You aren’t losing your nerve, Miss Pearce?” he teased.

“I was simply wondering how a tavern could operate with Pasadena’s strict laws about alcohol.”

“That is because we are not in Pasadena now but Altadena, and soon we’ll be in the mountains.”