Hannah's Dream (23 page)

"I remember, Moss.  You don't have to tell me again."

"Just saying, he's a bad un, that Frenchman."

"That's why I have to catch him."

"You want something to eat before you go?" Jeanne asked.

"No time.  I gotta get to Monmouth County before dark."

He tipped hat and walked down the steps and over to Old Mike.  Mike wasn't old, but he was ornery, and reminded Evan of a crotchety old man.  He got on the horse and waved goodbye to Moss and Jeanne before heading down the highway.

Chapter 39

New Beach, New Jersey

George went to Red Bank to meet the train from Philadelphia.  He had been feeling low since Margaret's death and missed her terribly.  He also loved his job, and the lawyer wouldn't tell him if his employment was terminated.  This frustrated George no end.  He liked a good, solid answer to his questions.

He got out of the carriage and walked to the platform.  The train was just pulling in and he could see the porters standing at the ready to assist the ladies.  The last time he came here, he was bringing Louise.  He remembered how much Margaret had missed her.

He saw Louise and Jenny get off the train and took off his derby.  Louise smiled but he thought she looked sad.  Jenny, too.  The men unloaded the trunks and George arranged for them to be brought to the house.  He promised them a good tip if they got them there quickly.

The ride from Red Bank seemed longer than usual and Louise was eager to get home and find out the details of Margaret's death.  She kept thinking of Pierre.  She didn't want to think he had killed her by causing a heart attack, but the thought played over in her mind.  She hadn't talked to Jenny about her feelings, but she knew none of the servants liked him.

As they rode down the dirt road heading toward New Beach, they rode through a swarm of flies.  Louise and Jenny swatted them away as George sped up the horse.  He didn't recall them being there on his way out, but he had gone much faster.  Maybe he just outran them.

John Pierpont's carriage was parked in front of the house when they arrived.  He had taken over Margaret's affairs when Graham Ross lost Marian Dawes' money and was dismissed.  George let the ladies off at the front door and took the carriage behind the house.  Louise felt drained from her journey and wished Mr. Pierpont had given her a couple of days before telling her she would have to leave.  Harrison opened the door and let them in.  After they entered the house, Jenny took her handbag and gloves.

"You don't have to do that for me," Louise said.

"Mr. Pierpont is waiting in the parlor, Miss," Harrison said.

"Thank you, Harrison," Louise said.  She looked at him.  His eyes were focused straight ahead.

She walked to the parlor and found Mr. Pierpont standing in front of the window.

"Mr. Pierpont," she said.

He turned and nodded his head.

"How was your journey?" he asked.

"Long.  I'm very tired."

"I understand.  This shouldn't take long.  Shall we sit down?"

They sat and she waited for him to speak.  He was hesitant.

"Miss Weise," he began, "Mrs. Mason was very fond of you."

He paused.  Louise felt a tightening in her throat.  She didn't want to cry in front of him, but her eyes filled with tears.  They rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away.

"She didn't have any children or living relatives."

He moved to the edge of his seat and clasped his hands.  With his elbows resting on his knees, he leaned forward.

"Louise," he said.  "She left you her entire fortune."

Louise looked up.  She narrowed her eyes.  She wasn't sure she had heard what he said.

"What?" she replied.

"Mrs. Mason made you her sole heir.  She wanted you to have this house and all her other assets.  She made small bequests to the servants and several endowments to her favorite charities, but otherwise, everything belongs to you."

Louise began to shake.  "Why?"

"You were a loyal companion and she had strong feelings for you.  She told me she felt as though she finally had a daughter.  Now, I wasn't completely convinced this was the right thing for her to do, but I've made inquiries and you have a good reputation.  I did insist, however, that I keep an eye on the finances until you turn twenty-one.  I also insisted on a condition."

Louise was still stunned by the news.  She didn't speak.

"You are forbidden to marry until you are twenty-one, and I, or a member of my firm, will have to approve your choice."

"You'll tell me who I can marry?"

"It's for your own protection, Louise.  There are unscrupulous men who would take advantage of a plain..."

"A plain girl like me?"  Louise's eyes hardened.  "A man would have to be blind to want a girl like me, is that it?"

"I didn't mean..."

"Yes, you did, Mr. Pierpont."

"Louise..."

"Miss Weise," she said.

Mr. Pierpont sat back in his chair.  "I'm sorry, but it's my job to advise you.  You've never been in this position before, Miss Weise, and you don't know the ways of the world."

"I know them well enough."

Mr. Pierpont stood.  "Well, then, I'll be going.  I have some papers for you to sign if you would."

He indicated Margaret's small desk in the corner of the room and Louise stood, went to it, and sat on the small chair behind it.  She looked at the papers before signing them, and Mr. Pierpont kept breathing hard to show his impatience.  She ignored him.  She asked him about things she didn't understand and he explained them in simple terms.  Only when she was sure she understood them did she sign them in front of Harrison and Jenny.

Mr. Pierpont then gathered the papers and with a nod, left the house.  Louise sat at the desk feeling numb.  She sorely missed Margaret's presence.  She looked up and Harrison and Jenny were still standing in front of the desk.

"Yes?" she asked.

"You have to dismiss us, Miss," Harrison said.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you can go."

"First, Miss, may we ask you a question?"

"Yes, you may."

"We, the staff and I, were wondering if you plan to keep us."

"What do you mean?"

"He's asking if we still have our jobs, Miss," Jenny said.

"Of course you do.  I wouldn't know what to do without you."

"Thank you, Miss," Harrison said.  "Then we'll leave you."

As they left the parlor, Ginny came in and curtsied.  

"Ma'am, there's a gentleman at the door who would like to speak to you."

"Ah, thank you, Ginny."  She recalled what Margaret said when someone came to the house.  "Will you show them in please, and bring some tea?"

"Don't you want to know who it is?"

"Yes."

"It's a lawman from Cherry Hill," Ginny said.

"Oh, truly?"

Ginny nodded.

"I'll see him," Louise said and Ginny left to fetch the lawman from Cherry Hill.

Chapter 40

Louise sat at the dining table in the chair she had occupied when Margaret was alive.  She couldn't bring herself to sit in Margaret's chair.  Ginny brought the teapot and filled Louise's cup.

"It's okay to ring the bell, Miss.  It's how I know you need me."

"I knew you would bring the tea eventually," Louise said.  The tenor of her voice reflected her sadness.

"Can I get you anything, Miss?"

"No, Ginny, I'm fine."

Ginny went back to the kitchen, leaving Louise alone.  She was hoping the lawman from Cherry Hill would return soon so she could tell him what she found when she went to her bedroom the day she came home from the train.  When he came to the house that day, Louise had been too upset to talk with him.  She asked him to come another day.  Then she went upstairs and saw that Hannah's picture had been removed from its frame and the letter she'd left on her dresser was missing.  She knew Pierre had taken them.  A murderous rage rose up in her and she began to scream, summoning Jenny and Harrison to her room.  Ginny arrived a minute later.

She told them what she'd found and Ginny looked at Louise.  "Some of ma'am's jewelry is missing, too," she said.

Jenny, who had been Margaret's lady's maid for twenty years, ran to Margaret's room.  After lifting up the top tray in the deep drawer, she knew what was missing.

"He must have thought she wouldn't look under the tray," she said when Louise joined her.  "I cleaned them.  She wanted them cleaned even if she never wore them.  I knew every piece by heart."

Now, as Louise sat sipping her tea, still feeling outraged by Pierre's arrogance, she resolved to have him brought to justice.  She had enough money.  She would pay the lawman to hunt him down.

As if he had been privy to her thoughts, Evan Morgan knocked on her front door and was greeted by Ginny.  She took his hat and led him to the dining room.

"Mr. Morgan, is it?" Louise asked.

"Yes, Miss," he said.

"Please, sit down.  Ginny, bring a teacup for Mr. Morgan."

"If you have coffee, Miss...," he began.

"Coffee for Mr. Morgan, please."

Louise waited until Mr. Morgan was seated.  "I was hoping to see you.  We believe Mr. Rousseau might have taken some items from the house before he left and we want them back."

"You mean he stole them."

"Yes, we believe so."

"I've been to Long Branch," Evan said.  "Mr. Rousseau may have killed a woman there."

The day Evan came to the Mason house and Louise asked him to come back another day, Ginny followed him out to his horse.

"I heard you asking about Pierre," she said.  "I know something about him."

Evan stopped climbing on Old Mike and looked at her.

"He used to go to Long Branch to a house of ill-repute."

"And how did you know that?  That's not something a man would discuss with a decent woman."

"I know because...I used to watch him.  I admired his face.  When he found out how I felt, he told me he would never go with a girl like me if he could have any woman he wanted at Mrs. Porter's.  I asked George what Mrs. Porter's was and he told me."

"How often did he go there?"

"He was always going away for a week at a time.  Maybe once a month."

"Thank you, Ginny.  That's good information."

Evan went to get on his horse and she grabbed his arm.

"That's not all," she said.

Evan looked at her.  She was upset.

"I know he killed Mrs. Mason," she said.

"He did?  Did you see him?"

"No, I didn't see him, but I know he did it.  I saw her when she found the missing jewelry.  She was so upset, she put her hand to her heart and fell over.  Jenny had been called away and I was tending to Mrs. Mason.  I...I was so afraid they would think it was me that I left her and went back to the kitchen."

"Why would they think it was you?  Did you ever steal from Mrs. Mason?"

"No!  Of course not.  But I'm the kitchen girl.  I wasn't allowed upstairs unless Mrs. Mason said so.  I was afraid they would think I had taken the jewels."

Evan had been raised on a farm, but he'd spent his summers at his aunt's house in Philadelphia.  He knew how things were in a house with more than one servant.  Someone, usually the scullery maid, was the lowest member of their caste system, and therefore suspect when anything untoward happened in the house.  He understood Ginny's fear.  Most likely, they would have alleged it was her.

"Why are you telling me this?  I'm a lawman.  Aren't you afraid I'd suspect you?"

"No," she replied.

"Why?"

"Because I could tell by the way you said his name when you were talking to the miss that you hate him as much as I do."

Evan nodded and climbed on Old Mike.  He looked down at Ginny and tipped his hat.

"I'll be back," he said.

Ginny went back to the kitchen that day and felt as though the weight of the world had been taken off her shoulders.  There was something about that lawman.  She knew she could trust him.

Now he had returned and she was filling his cup with coffee.  He looked up and winked at her, and she smiled just enough for him to see she understood, then she left him alone with Louise.

"I'd been given some information about Rousseau and went to Long Branch," he said to Louise.

"He went there often," she said.  "He'd be gone for days at a time.  Mrs. Mason always asked him where he'd been.  Long Branch was one of his favorite places."

"He went to a...house of ill-repute in Long Branch."

"I know what that is, Mr. Morgan.  Please, feel free to tell me whatever you know.  I'm over eighteen."

"I went there after leaving your house and talked to a woman named Mrs. Porter."

On his way to New Beach, Evan had passed a swarm of flies halfway down the road.  He didn't think much of it, but when he left Louise's house heading to Long Branch, his lawman instincts kicked in and he decided to stop and see where they were coming from.  He stopped and left Old Mike a few feet from the swarm.

He went into the woods, batting flies as he walked.  He almost stumbled over the body.  It was wearing nothing but a union suit and there wasn't enough skin left on his face to identify him.  Evan knew it was a male by the length of his hair.  The smell was overwhelming and he put his hand to his nose and went back to the road.  He was willing to bet his life that this was Orin Smith.

He got back on Old Mike and continued down the road.  He'd tell the authorities in Red Bank what he had found, but not until he located Rousseau.  Rousseau was his.  Aumack would want Rousseau for this, but Evan wanted to catch him first.

It didn't take him long to find Mrs. Porter's.  The house was well-known and the shopkeeper he asked kept shooting glances at his wife as he tried to tell Evan where it was, and she, upon hearing the name Porter, glared at Evan.  He tied Old Mike to the hitching post in front of Mrs. Porter's and knocked on the door.

A mousy girl answered and asked him to wait in the foyer.  It was still early in the afternoon and the ladies were sleeping, but Mrs. Porter was awake and entering figures in her account books.  She told the girl to bring him in and she knew the minute he entered the door that he was a policeman.  After he sat, she closed her book and turned to face him.