One turn in the road and The Towers loomed in front of her. It felt as though butterflies were fluttering their wings in her stomach as the carriage pulled in front of the steps that led to the front door. She sat in silence for a few moments to get her breath. She hadn't been this excited for months. Her eyes watched for the door to fly open, to see Adam, Nell, Iris, or maybe even Key. But nothing. Just the sound of horses neighing in the stables at the back of the house reminding Eugenia that that was where she would find Adam. She hurriedly stepped from the carriage.
"Please unload the boxes onto the porch," she ordered, watching the man dressed in black bow to her in silent response. Then she lifted her skirt and ran around to the back of the house. When she saw the stable's doors open, she swallowed hard and inched her way toward them. Then, so quickly, he stepped through the door and faced her, his large brown eyes growing wider.
"Eugenia?"
"Oh, Adam," she said. Laughter mixed with tears. She ran to him and fell into his arms.
Hugging him, she was reminded of their many nights together, how they had drawn such pleasure from one another's bodies. Then when she raised her face upward, she began to laugh softly.
"And your beard did grow, huh?" she said, studying the bristly patch of red hair that just barely revealed the reddish purple lips below his nose.
Adam stepped back away from her, studying her, frowning. "And where's Drew?" he asked.
Eugenia placed her hand in front of her, displaying an empty ring finger. "It never happened, Adam," she said.
"What?" he gasped.
"No. I didn't marry Drew."
"Damn. What happened?"
"It's a long story," she said, pulling the pin from her hat, then removing the hat from her head. She began to turn it in her hands, watching it blankly. "But to make it a short one, he married my sister," she added. She looked upward, watching his expression.
"You don't say. Damn," he blurted, running his fingers through his own crop of red hair. "Damn," he added once again.
"And you, Adam?" she asked, remembering Nell.
"Me?" he asked, almost shyly.
"Yes, you. What's happened to you while I've been gone? Any major events?"
Adam pulled a cigarette from a front pocket of his short-sleeved cotton shirt. He put it between his lips, then struck a match on the bottom of his cowboy boot.
"Well?" she prodded, becoming amused. She had already seen the ring on his finger. He and Nell had married. It made her heart swell with pride, feeling half way responsible for the two young lovers meeting. Of course, at first, it had been a betrayal to her own kindness shown to both of them, but, in the end, when she had chosen Drew over Adam, it had made for less hurt all around.
Eugenia saw Adam's eyes dart toward the house. She turned and followed his gaze. "Nell?" she whispered, seeing Nell walking toward her and Adam with fear etched all over her face. Her large, swollen abdomen seemed to pain her with each step taken.
"You're going to have a baby?" Eugenia said, looking quickly at Adam, then back at Nell.
Nell hurried to Adam's side and put her arm possessively around his middle. "We're married, Eugenia," she said in a near whisper.
"And a baby?" Eugenia said, also in a near whisper.
Nell placed her free arm on her abdomen. "Yes. Mine and Adam's," she said, smiling awkwardly.
Eugenia moved to Adam and Nell and embraced them, one at a time, knowing that her tears were wetting their cheeks. "I'm so glad for both of you," she said softly.
"You are?" Nell asked in disbelief.
Eugenia stepped back away from them again, laughing. "Yes, my dear," she said. "I'm very happy for you."
"But… I thought…" Nell said.
"You thought I'd be angry to find out about your love for one another?" Eugenia said, pulling her Papa's combs from the sides of her hair. She shook her hair free, letting it tumble loosely around her shoulders. She ran her fingers through it. "I knew even before I left with Drew that you had been having an affair," she added, still laughing softly, as she headed for the back of The Towers.
Nell hurried to her side, panting. "Then you do understand, Eugenia?" she asked, lifting her skirt, taking each step slowly up to the porch.
"Nell, I couldn't be happier for you," Eugenia said, lifting her own skirt. "And a baby in The Towers? How wonderful that will be."
"Do you mean, Adam and I… ?"
"Can you continue to live here?" Eugenia said, stopping to touch Nell on the arm. "You'd just better not try to leave. I want to share your baby with you." Then she added, "If that's all right with you and Adam."
Nell threw her arms around Eugenia's neck and kissed her wetly on the cheek. Eugenia ran her fingers through Nell's long, blond hair, ready to weep once again herself.
Then Nell pulled away from Eugenia, her blue eyes wide. "But, Eugenia, where's Drew?"
It was becoming easier for Eugenia to say. "He's married my sister," she said, then hurried into the kitchen, spying the short figure of Key busily chopping greens for a salad.
"Hello, Key," she said, waiting for him to turn to discover her presence in the room. She smiled tenderly when his black, slanting eyes widened more than she would have ever thought possible.
"Miss Genia? Is it really you?" he shouted, dropping his knife in the large bowl of salad greens, making the lettuce flip out all over the floor.
"How have things been, Key?" she asked, hurrying to him, shaking his hand vigorously.
"Much better now that you've returned," he said, obviously looking toward the door, waiting for Drew.
"I'm alone, Key. I've come home alone. To stay."
"But… Mr. Drew?"
"He and I never married, Key."
"No?"
"No," she said, then began walking around the kitchen, checking the food to be served for supper. Her diet had been scanty these past months, so much that her dress hung a bit loosely from her waist. The aroma of fresh bread and Cornish hens baking made her mouth begin to water.
"Is Miss hungry?" Key asked, pulling a pie from a shelf. "Just freshly baked apple pie. Want a piece?"
"I'd love it, Key," she sighed. "I'm going to my room to change. Have Iris bring me a large glass of milk with the pie."
The smile faded from Key's face. He lowered his eyes. "Iris no longer here," he said solemnly.
"Iris isn't here?" she asked, wondering why Nell or Adam hadn't told her. "Where is she, Key?"
"She returned to your other house," Key answered, fidgeting with his white apron.
"She did?"
"Yes, Miss Genia."
"I wonder why."
"Normally, I don't tell gossip," Key said, picking up his knife, beginning to chop once again, almost angrily.
"What gossip, Key?"
"It was Iris and Adam," he said quietly, flashing a look in Eugenia's direction, then down again. She went to his side and looked down at him.
"What about Iris and Adam?"
"Nell caught them, well, you know…"
"Oh, God, no," Eugenia groaned, rubbing her forehead with her fingers. "Not Iris and Adam."
"It was the tower room that caused it all," Key continued angrily.
Eugenia clutched onto Key's arm, squeezing it. "What tower room?" she gasped.
"The one with the opium."
"Oh, no," Eugenia groaned once again. She had given Adam charge of all the keys of the house when she left, forgetting about that room, and what was in it. "What happened? What does that room have to do with anything?"
"Adam and Iris were sampling the opium, and doing other things while Nell took her afternoon naps."
Eugenia felt as though the world was tumbling around her once again. Adam, who she had trusted? He was no different than any other man. And Iris? Sweet, sweet Iris? It was apparent that Iris had needs that by living away from the house of girls hadn't been fulfilled. But to use Adam? Nell's husband? Nell, who was supposed to be Iris's best friend?
She began to shake her
head, to clear her thoughts. "It just can't matter," she whispered. "Nell has to stay here to have her baby. And if Nell stays, so must Adam."
"Huh, Miss?"
Eugenia could feel her face reddening, realizing that she had been mumbling to herself. "Oh, nothing, Key. Nothing," she said hurriedly. "I'm going to my room. Please have one of the other servants bring me the pie and milk."
"Yes, Miss Genia."
Eugenia hurried away from Key, her heart beating wildly as her gaze searched around her, seeing her home and the plushness and comfort of it. It had been such a long, heartbreaking winter. But now she was home, and she just wasn't going to let any other news spoil her homecoming.
* * *
Chapter Twenty-four
Following Alison into the parlor of The Old Homestead Parlour, Eugenia marveled at how well Alison had handled her role of madam. She sat down leisurely in one of the red velveteen chairs, watching the girls entertaining their men callers. There was only one new face among the girls, another face of innocence, just beginning her trade as a girl, in this house of girls.
"How's Theresa making it, Alison?" Eugenia said, reaching over to push the lace of her petticoat up beneath her light blue-flowered dress of silk. It was such a hot evening she had been tempted to shed all underthings, and would have done so if she had still been living with her Mama, back where it didn't matter what a woman looked like, both day and night.
"She's working out real well, Eugenia," Alison answered. "At first, she was a bit shy. But she's loosening up a bit."
"Where did you say you found her?"
"She stepped from the stagecoach one day, all alone. I just happened along and saw her."
Eugenia silently studied this girl whose hair was cropped short, hanging straight as a boy's, black against her white skin. And her nose was so cute. As though, as a child, she had constantly wiped it with the back of the hand, permanently leaving it upturned for the rest of her life. Eugenia smiled in her direction when Theresa's large brown eyes seemed to search her out. Yes, Theresa was going to be an asset to Eugenia's house. There was just something different about her.
"Too bad about Aimee," Alison said softly, leaning back into the chair opposite Eugenia. "Just couldn't seem to get over a cold she contracted last winter. Died in a similar way to the way Dawn died. Slow, and painful."
"How horrible." Eugenia shuddered. "And Denise?"
"She works alone now," Alison said, laughing softly. "She's sure skilled with her perfumed oils. I even tried her out one day myself."
Leaning forward, Eugenia eyed Alison questionably. "You did?" she asked quietly.
"It was quite relaxing. I must say, you should try it sometime. After a long day's work a massage is the best for your muscles."
"Hmmmm," Eugenia said, then settled back against the chair once again. Her eyes continued to study the girls, their approach with each man. They were so skillful with their eyes, and with their hands. One by one, each man was led from the room, leaving Alison and Eugenia alone.
"I don't guess you've heard about Clarissa yet, have you?" Alison asked, lifting the tail of her dress upward, fanning herself with it.
Something inside Eugenia started a slow boil with the mention of Clarissa's name. She had forgotten all about her. "What about Clarissa?" she snapped, not really meaning to sound so abrupt.
"She caused me a lot of trouble right after you left with Drew."
"Did she really?" Eugenia said. She should have been more wary of Clarissa. "What did the witch do?" she asked even more snappish.
"She came and insisted to be put back on here after she heard that you had left town."
"And?"
"I threatened her with my small handgun and she finally left and didn't return."
Eugenia laughed. "God. What guts you have."
"The goddamned woman could've started the colored girls causing me trouble all over again. I just wasn't going to take anything else from her. That's all."
"Did you ever hear where she went after she left?"
"You won't believe this," Alison said, dropping her skirt, wiping the perspiration from her brow with a folded white handkerchief.
"What? Tell me."
"She's dead."
"Dead?" Eugenia gasped, leaning forward.
"Yes. Seems she slit her own wrists. The sheriff found her in a pool of blood. Pity isn't it?"
"Damn. Never thought anything could kill that evil person."
"And have you seen Iris yet?" Alison asked.
Eugenia pushed a handkerchief down the front of her dress between the deep cleavage of her breasts and wiped the perspiration from between them. "No. I haven't yet. I guess you know what happened between she and Adam."
"Yes. Most definitely."
"But I'm glad you went ahead and gave her her old job back. She's not really all that bad. Just a product of an unhappy childhood. She just doesn't know the meaning of marriage, that Adam was only Nell's once the ring was slipped onto Nell's finger."
"Yes. I know," Alison said, frowning. Then she added, "But we do have ourselves a problem."
"What?" Eugenia asked.
"It seems as though Iris didn't leave The Towers soon enough."
"Why would you say that?" she asked quietly.
"She's now pregnant. Also by Adam."
"Oh God," Eugenia moaned.
"Yes. She's just begun to show. What can we do about it?"
"How are you so sure it's Adam's baby?"
"When Iris first arrived back here, she was already experiencing morning sickness. In fact, so much she was too ill to participate in the evening's affairs."
"Then it is Adam's child," Eugenia said, rising, walking to a window to stare blankly outward.
"What are we going to do, Eugenia?"
Eugenia turned quickly to face Alison. "She will return to The Towers. Her child cannot be born out back."
"God, you don't mean you'd…" Allison gasped.
"Yes. Iris and her child will be given a home. At my house. Her child will know security and love."
"But what about Nell and Adam?"
Remembering Nell's deceit of herself, it made this decision so much more simple. And Adam? He was responsible for a second child, a child born from a Negro, but a child that could be… white. "Adam and Nell will just have to adjust," she said firmly. "My house is large. It can protect feelings. There's so much love that house can hold. It'll work out. You'll see."
"Are you really sure, Eugenia?"
"Yes. I'm sure. I want Iris in The Towers by tomorrow morning. Will you please see to it for me?"
"Yes, ma'am," Alison murmured.
"And have the rest of the colored girls been working all right?" Eugenia asked.
"Yes. Everything has been going fine," Alison said, then paused, looking toward Eugenia, studying her. "Does your coming back mean I will no longer be called Madam Alison?" she quickly blurted.
"God. What ever gave you that idea?" Eugenia laughed.
"Well, you are the madam of this house, you know."
"We'll work together," Eugenia said, going to the window once again, to look out onto the streets of darkness. She could hear the loudness erupting from the other houses on this street, the occasional gunfire and music coming from the dance halls, the clopping of horses' hooves on the paved street. She didn't fully understand her way of thinking, but God, how she had missed all of this.
"We will keep this house one of respect," she added, turning to face Alison.
"You never said, Eugenia," Alison said, going to her. "Do you like the new color of hair?"
Eugenia touched the long curls of brown, and watched them bounce back in place as she pulled her fingers from them. "Yes. I highly approve. It looks quite beautiful on you. Did you grow tired of the red?"
"Well, everyone who had heard of the redheaded madam who was untouchable always mistook me for you when they came here." Alison laughed. "And I didn't want anyone thinking I'm untouchable. I've been doing my own part
in entertaining the men. Do you mind if I do?"
Laughing once again, Eugenia pulled Alison to her arms. "Honey, I do believe that most madams are supposed to share in the fun of the house. Me? I just got my heart broken too easily by men. That's the only reason I've turned away from such pleasures. You just continue as you wish. It looks as though whatever you're doing, you're doing right."
"Well, I hate to break away so soon, but I do have a gentleman waiting in my room."
"Damn, Alison," Eugenia said, frowning. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Here I've kept you for way too long."
"That's all right. This one man is the only one I've truly been seeing. He's willing to wait. I even think he's in love with me."
"Dammit you say," Eugenia said, sitting back down onto a chair.
"Yes, I do say," Alison said, laughing gaily, then turned and fled up the stairs, leaving Eugenia to herself and her thoughts.
Rising slowly, she began the ascent up the stairs. She needed to be alone before heading back to The Towers. There was strain in the air between she and Adam. And she had seen the confusion in his eyes, not knowing that Key had told her all. She knew that she would now have to tell Adam that she knew, and that she would have expected better of him. And she would also have to prepare Adam, and Nell, for Iris's return to The Towers.
Seeing the door ajar that led to the secret window, Eugenia decided to see once again what Denise could do to a man to make him pay so much gold dust. She entered the room and locked the door behind her. When she opened the curtain enough to see, she found Denise alone, lying on her mat crying. Wanting to see what was the matter, wanting to help her, Eugenia hurried to the door that led into the room of Japanese decor, and mirrors reflecting only the color red… and people in erotic embraces. She hurried into the room and bent down onto the pad.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Denise?" she asked softly, touching the stiffness of Denise's hair. Denise looked upward with large, soft eyes. Then Eugenia remembered that Denise hardly spoke any English at all. She was skilled with her fingers, but not in the ways of speaking.
Eugenia's Embrace Page 27
