Kilpara (11 page)

“
Did he—did he penetrate?” Astelle
asked.

There was a sob, and then Maureen answered
shakily. “No. No—he ripped my clothes and tried to fondle me.” She
began crying.

I let out a low sigh of relief. The incident
had shaken Maureen and it would take time for her to forget, but I
was grateful there would be no long-lasting reminders. I peeked
around the door to see Astelle take Maureen in her arms and gently
rock her. I felt the swell of anger inside me again. If Shanley
were near, I would have thrashed him.

I was too agitated to sleep, so I took a
hansom cab to The Metropole. I must have appeared strange because
Rudy stared at me openly when I sat down at the bar. He didn’t pry,
just took a bottle of whiskey from the shelf and motioned me toward
a table where he poured two drinks. The liquid relaxed me and I
found myself telling him what happened.

“
This is not good,” he said,
gulping the liquid in his glass.

I stared at him. “Of course it’s not
good.”

“
I mean it’s not good for Astelle.
It’ll raise bad memories. You know she ran away when she was a
kid?”

“
Yes,” I said.

He twirled his empty glass for a moment, then
shrugged decisively and began to talk. “I caught her sneaking out
of the house that night,” he said. “She told me she was going to
Cleveland and was never coming back. She said she’d send for me
when she got settled.”

“
She did, didn’t she?”

“
Eventually. She left on foot, and
along the way asked a farmer named Joe Pruett for directions. He
told her about a shortcut, but instead it was a road that led
straight to his house. He lay in wait, assailed her, dragged her
indoors and chained her to his bed. That’s where he kept
her—bringing just enough food to keep her alive and then he raped
her continuously.

“
She was there a couple of weeks
when, one evening, he brought her a meal of deer steak. He had told
her all along, if she promised not to run away he’d let her loose.
Until that evening she showed only hostility, but she realized if
she was to escape, she’d have to get on his good side. She spoke
sweetly to him, complimented him, and convinced him she needed a
knife to cut the steak. He had been drinking heavily and carelessly
granted her request. She forced herself to eat everything and when
he took her plate away she praised his cooking, enough to distract
him and hold on to the knife.

“
He was in no condition to bother
her that night and passed out face-up on the bed. He didn’t bother
to undress like he usually did. She knew the keys were kept in his
shirt pocket. Bolstered by the knife hidden under the covers, she
waited until he was out cold, then she carefully slipped the keys
off his person. She unchained herself, took the knife and stabbed
him over and over. Not waiting to find out if he was wounded or
dead, she grabbed his rifle and beat it out of that
house.

“
She coaxed a horse into the night
and rode till she came to a Quaker community. They took her in and
she stayed there over a year. Every day she wondered if the farmer
was still alive and if he’d find her. He never did. When she was
finally strong enough to leave the Quaker community, she went to
Cleveland and found a position in Maurice Linden’s club... You know
the rest.”

Rudy took a deep breath. This was a long
speech for a man who spoke little. He poured himself another drink.
“Astelle only told me the story once,” he continued. “She wanted me
to know why she hadn’t sent for me sooner. We never talked about
what happened after that. But this situation with your young
friend, it could bring all that back again. I thought you should
know.”

I stared at the liquid in my glass thinking
today had been a day for shock.

The sun was up when I awoke. Maureen was
sitting across from me in the leather chair, staring out the
drawing room window, her eyes boring into something invisible. I
rose from the divan where I had spent the latter part of the night
under a light blanket. Gingerly, I put my arm around
her.

“
What did I do wrong?” she asked,
not turning to look at me.

“
You did nothing wrong,
honey.”

“
I must’ve. He wouldn’t have
attacked me if I hadn’t tempted him.”

“
Maureen, Shanley’s gotten
something mixed up in his head. If it wasn’t you, it would’ve been
someone else.”

“
If I hadn’t tried to be someone I
wasn’t. Hadn’t gone into those gardens—”

“
Honey, it’s not your
fault.”

She brushed away tears with the back of her
hand. “I’m being punished for not staying where I belong. That’s
why this happened. I should never have left Stonebridge. I
should’ve listened to Mams and Pa.”

Astelle entered the drawing room in time to
hear Maureen. Her eyes glistened with pity. “You’ve had a terrible
shock, Maureen,” she said. “But don’t let that man make you live in
fear.”

“
I’ll never forget this, ever!”
Maureen said. She mumbled something about last minute items for our
departure, and began moving about the room in a trance.

I motioned to Astelle to follow me into the
library and closed the door. “Are you all right?”

“
Yes,” she said. “Why shouldn’t I
be all right?” She stared at the desk, moved her hand along it, as
if trying to erase something.

“
I talked to Rudy last night,” I
said. “He told me everything about Joe Pruett.”

“
I wish he hadn't…” She faltered,
the usual warmth in her voice replaced by coldness.

“
Shhhh,” I said, taking her in my
arms.

“
You can’t imagine. I was so young.
He forced me, just like Shanley tried to force Maureen. I was a
child, at the mercy of that man. In that horrible
prison.”

“
You got away. That’s all that
matters.”

“
I killed him, I think. I was only
fourteen and I killed a man.” She shivered.

“
He had it coming.”

She put up a hand, as if the words had been
hurled at her, deflecting all the emotions the memory erupted.
Revenge, anger, guilt, and remorse were visible in her face,
emotions that had torn at her heart and soul and were buried deep
within her.

“
I had to make sure he never again
did to someone else what he did to me,” she said after a pause.
“When I got away, I scrubbed and scrubbed for ages afterward to get
rid of his touch, and couldn’t. It wasn’t until I met Maurice, and
knew his kindness, that I started to forget.”

She began to sob. I stroked her hair, her
tears soaking my rumpled shirt.

Ulrich was deep in a world of figures when I
walked into the office. I had left Astelle and Maureen to comfort
each other.

“
Hello, Mr. O’Donovan,” Ulrich
said, cheerfully. His confidence had grown during the last week. He
looked at me steadily. “I won’t let you down,” he said.

“
No doubt, you’ll do fine,” I
said.

“
Mr. Emmons is here, isn’t happy by
the look of him. Said he wanted to see you when you came
in.”

I took a deep breath and went to Emmons’
office. I knocked on the door and opened it when he gruffly
responded “come in.” He was bulked in a large leather chair behind
the big polished desk, and when I entered, he swung sideways to
stare at a bookcase.

“
You’re leaving tomorrow,” he said,
without looking at me.

“
Yes.” I sat down across from
him.

He turned back slowly until he directly faced
me, his gaze cold and staring.

“
Unfortunate incident with Shanley
yesterday,” he said deliberately. “A simple man. Had no interest in
women, till now. That scheming harlot bewitched him, made him
crack. She bewitched you, too, Ellis. It’s one thing to take her
into your bed, but to flaunt her in public? To bring her into my
home of all places—stirring up all that commotion. She ruined
Clara's party.”

He waited for me to agree and when I just held
his gaze and said nothing, blood rushed to his face. He stood
upright and banged his fist on the desk. “What the devil were you
thinking, Ellis! You deceived me. I must let Shanley go because of
this. My wife demands it. He’s been a good servant all these years.
The trouble that bitch has caused.”

“
It’s not Maureen’s fault,” I said,
keeping emotion out of my voice. “Shanley was like a powder keg,
ready to go off. She just provided the spark. She’s nothing more
than a naïve, innocent country girl, for God’s sake.”

“
Don’t protect that little slut,”
he demanded. “Her type belongs among the beggars and whores of the
world. She'll spend her life scrounging for scraps. Falling all
over herself to get into a gentleman’s bed. She’ll do anything to
improve her lot in life.”

“
Maureen is honest and decent,” I
insisted. “I would never seduce her. She’s like family. I’m to
blame for the pretense. I put her in harm’s way.”

“
She blinded you, Ellis. You just
can't see it. Keep her behind locked doors where she belongs and
spare the rest of us from her kind.” He waved a hand in
indignation. “If Shanley wanted a whore, all he had to do was ask.
Why he wanted this one, I don’t know. Now I have to discharge him
and find another driver, one who is—

“
The strumpet is trouble, Ellis.
Send her back to where she belongs and leave her there. Stick to
your own kind. Like my Clara.”

We were back to that. Emmons was trying to
humble me for having dishonored him and saw an opportunity to force
the issue of his daughter’s spinsterhood upon me.

I broke in quickly. “Consider her gone.
Matters concerning my mother will be uppermost in my mind from now
on.”

“
Er, yes, yes, your mother.
Illogical, absurd. Makes no sense. Confront the situation. Deny her
request.”

“
I’ll do my best,” I said
agreeably.

Emmons tapped his fingers on the desk, and
when he spoke next, his voice was calmer, almost engaging. “You
know, Ellis, business in the south will require much of my
attention in the future. Industry is about to boom there, cities
need to be built, but it’ll command a watchful eye. I had every
intention of asking you to take over the agency here while I
pursued those interests. I have always had faith in your abilities.
With a good woman at your side, like my Clara, there’s no telling
how far you can go.”

He leaned back in the chair. It squeaked under
his weight. He was quiet while he let the implication set in. After
a moment he said, “You know, Ellis, you’re like the son I never
had. I’ve always admired your ambition. You have an aptitude for
this business and stand to make a fortune in your
lifetime.”

“
Thank you,” I said, neither
acknowledging nor disagreeing with him.

“
If you can't change your mother's
mind, then take care of this unreasonable request and hurry back.
You have a lucrative future here.”

“
I will. I’ll return as soon as I
can.”

“
We’ll celebrate when you do. Clara
will like that. You know she's very unhappy that you’re
leaving.”

His words were said with emotion, but I
detected transparency in their meaning, an attempt to seal the deal
between Clara and me. Wrap us up like a neat business package. The
fact was she only showed mild curiosity about my journey to
Ireland.

“
I’ll look forward to it,” I
said.

Doctor Mellott was leaving when I arrived back
at the apartments. He had checked Maureen and professed mild
pleasure with her progress. As I handed him his coat he said, “Keep
an eye on her, and be patient with her.”

After he left, Astelle also prepared to leave.
She hugged Maureen, and their eyes moistened. “Stonebridge is not
so far away. I'll come for a visit,” Astelle said.

“
The door will always be open.”
Maureen smiled bravely at the older woman.

I walked Astelle to the door. She ran her hand
over my face. “Darling Ellis, I’ll miss you so.”

“
I’ll be back before you know
it.”

She kissed me lightly. I pulled her into my
arms. With a sigh, she clung to me for a moment. Then silently, she
put her cloak around her shoulders, touched my lips with her
fingers and went outside to where her carriage waited. I stood in
the doorway looking down the empty street long after her carriage
disappeared from sight.

True to his word, William Travers and his wife
stopped by. I was glad to see them. I had attempted to make
conversation with Maureen but had gotten nowhere. Mrs. Travers took
Maureen’s hands in hers and exclaimed. “You look so pale, dear
child. What a terrible fright you’ve had. That awful
man.”

“
It was my fault,” Maureen said,
her voice quivering. “If only I hadn’t gone outside alone. I became
so absorbed in all those beautiful paths, and plants, and
fountains. I spoiled the party for everyone.”

“
Nonsense, child. It was that man’s
fault. The authorities should deal with him so young ladies like
you are safe.”