An Untimely Frost (26 page)

“It doesn't sound as if he had much faith in his wife's ability to choose a suitable husband,” Lilly said.

William smiled. “Actually, according to her letter, Mrs. Fontenot took exception to that herself, claiming that it was highly unlikely that she be taken in after having such a successful marriage to her husband.”

Smart woman, Lilly thought.

“According to Mrs. Fontenot, the arrangement worked well, and the same agreement was set up between Grayson and his son, Garrett, who lost no time expanding the family holdings—timber in this case—into Arkansas, where he made his home most of the year.

“When Grayson passed away, Garrett visited his grandmother in New Orleans. While he was there, he met and fell in love with Patricia Galloway. They were soon married and went back to Arkansas to make their home.”

“The same Patricia who is now in the insane asylum?” Lilly asked.

“The same,” William corroborated. “Garrett and Patricia had two daughters, Cassandra and Suzannah. He died four years ago with no son to inherit. Like his father, he felt that some women were as intelligent and business savvy as men, since his grandmother had regularly and successfully interjected her thoughts and ideas into the running of the various Fontenot endeavors.”

“You said his grandmother
had
interjected her thoughts and ideas,” Cade said. “Why isn't she still?”

“We're getting there,” William said. “Bear with me.

“As a resident of Arkansas, he was not bound by Louisiana law, and in accordance with the Married Women's Property Act, Patricia became heir to all the Fontenot holdings that had been passed down from father to son. Everything the male Fontenots had amassed from Etienne's time until the present.”

“Ah,” Cade said with a nod. “It was Patricia, not LaRee, who fell for the unscrupulous man, this Henri Ducharme.”

“That is Mrs. LaRee Fontenot's fear, yes,” William told them.

“If Patricia and her daughters lived in Arkansas, how did she meet Ducharme?” Lilly asked.

“She and the doctor were introduced while visiting in New Orleans. To the dismay of the entire family, they were married as soon as her year of mourning ended.”

“Ducharme is a doctor and yet Mrs. Fontenot doubts his diagnosis in Patricia's case,” Cade said.

“She does. Cassandra, the older daughter, confided to Mrs. Fontenot that her mother was mere months into her new marriage when she began to suspect she had made a dreadful mistake. She felt she had unwittingly put the family fortune in her husband's grasping hands—Mrs. Fontenot's words, not mine,” William clarified.

“I can certainly relate to that,” Lilly said in a voice laced with bitterness. She ignored the questioning look Cade shot at her.

“According to Cassandra, it appears that her stepfather's sole intent in life is to spend them into poverty.”

Lilly gave another huff of disgust.

William continued. “To further upset the family, within ten months of the marriage, Patricia found herself with child. Mrs. Fontenot says the confinement was troublesome, and that Patricia got little comfort from her husband, who constantly warned her that something could go wrong because of her age.”

“Job's comforter,” Cade muttered.

“Exactly,” William said with a nod. “As it happened, something did go wrong. The baby, a boy, was stillborn some eighteen months ago, which naturally sent Patricia into a deep melancholy, from which, Mrs. Fontenot says, she seemed to be slowly emerging until she received another blow.”

As Lilly listened, she thought of her own mother's murder and the subsequent death of the baby she'd been carrying. She wondered if she would always be reminded of their deaths at odd times like this, with nothing but a snippet of conversation bringing back the painful memory.

“What was that?” Cade asked.

“Four months ago, in an effort to cheer her mother, Cassandra urged Patricia to attend a suffragist gathering with her and her sister, Suzannah, who somehow became separated from them in the crush. They looked for her to no avail. She was located two days later by some hobo in an alley. She had been molested and killed.”

There was an apologetic expression on William's face as he looked at Lilly, but though her heart gave a lurch of sympathetic pain for Patricia Ducharme's loss, she was no shrinking violet to go into a swoon from hearing such brutal truths.

“The murder has not been solved, and the New Orleans police have little hope of ever knowing who committed the crime. Needless to say, this tragedy on top of the loss of her infant son strained Patricia Ducharme's emotions to the limit.”

“It would strain anyone's emotions,” Lilly said.

“Indeed,” William agreed. “Henri claimed she was so overcome with grief and anger that she became physically abusive, even striking him on several occasions. Mrs. Fontenot did not witness this, nor did anyone else in the house. Ducharme further claims he had no recourse but to restrain her and administer small doses of laudanum from time to time. Fearing he would make her a fiend, he discontinued the drug after the funeral, at which time Patricia alternated between forgetfulness and belligerence. She began to imagine things that were not so, accusing her husband of everything from hiding things from her to lying.”

“The poor thing,” Lilly said, thinking that it certainly sounded as if the woman's sanity had fled.

“Mrs. Fontenot admits that Patricia's emotions seesawed between bouts of deep depression, sometimes a state not far from catatonia, to a”—William referred to the letter in his hand—“ ‘howling, screeching creature hell-bent on physical damage.' That last was Henri's description as Mrs. Fontenot recalls it.”

“And so he had her committed,” Cade said.

William nodded. “A month after burying Suzannah, Henri committed Patricia to the City Insane Asylum in New Orleans.”

“From what you've told us, it seems Dr. Ducharme's fears are well founded,” Lilly mused. “Why does Mrs. Fontenot doubt his judgment?”

“Women's intuition.”

Lilly saw Cade's mouth turn upward into a derisive smile.

“She admits she has no proof that Henri is up to anything nefarious,” William told them, “but with Cassandra's statement about her mother's concerns over her husband and Mrs. Fontenot's own feeling that too many disasters have befallen Patricia since marrying him, she feels she has reason to doubt.”

Lilly understood LaRee Fontenot's feelings perfectly. She recalled her feeling that people were withholding the truth during her previous investigation. She also remembered the feeling of certainty that Cadence McShane was not the person who intended her harm when he had saved her from a horse and buggy intent on running her down, even though her intellect reminded her that he had been in the area with her when other dodgy things had taken place.

And then there was Timothy. She'd felt no negative vibrations from him. Nothing about him had hinted that he was a leech and a scoundrel, yet he had proved to be that and more. Oh, women definitely had an innate intuition. But was it always reliable?

“Cassandra also believes that her stepfather is somehow responsible for Patricia's mental state,” William was saying. “They fear that putting her into an asylum will drive her to the very insanity from which Henri claims she already suffers.”

“So our job,” Cade said, glancing at Lilly, “is to try to disprove the notion of Patricia Fontenot Ducharme's insanity?”

“Yes, and to do everything in your power to find out whether or not Henri Ducharme is the villain Mrs. Fontenot and Cassandra believe he is. That done, everything else should fall into its proper place.”

“Does Mrs. Fontenot know anything at all about Henri's past?” Lilly asked. “We could use someplace to start looking.”

She was already feeling a bit overwhelmed by the task set before her and her clearly disgruntled partner. His dark eyebrows drawn together in a frown, Cade was looking over the notes he had been taking as William explained the situation in New Orleans.

“The doctor is, by Mrs. Fontenot's grudging admission, an attractive and charming man, forty-five years old, and has been married before. She has no idea to whom he was married,” William supplied. “She believes the first wife died.”

“Am I correct in assuming that we will be employed by Mrs. Fontenot at the house on Rampart Street?” Lilly asked.

William nodded. “You will be hired as a married couple.”

Cade and Lilly shared a stunned look.

“We have tried to arrange things so that it is almost a given that you both will be hired.”