by Rhys Bowen
“You don’t think she would have tried to go back to her family in Ireland then?”
She shook her head firmly. “She always said she could never go home. She was too ashamed.”
“Can you think of anyone else she might have confided in? Was she close to any other girl there?”
Emily sighed. “She was rather a reserved person—kept her thoughts to herself. She never said much about her home or family. Well, none of us did. It was as if we were afraid to get close to anyone, or to trust anyone. We never knew which of the girls might be Sister’s spies.”
I was startled at this. “Sister Jerome, you mean? She treated you cruelly?”
“I meant Sister Angelique.”
“Who was she?” I asked.
“Sister Jerome’s assistant. She was brought across to us when Sister Francine died and Sister Jerome was training her. Sister Jerome was cold and strict, but at least you knew where you were with her. Sister Angelique was just downright mean and reported back to Jerome. She had her favorites, and she could be quite charming. But if she didn’t take to you—watch out. She was spiteful in small ways. If a girl was afraid of mice and rats, she’d make her work down in the cellar, which was full of them. She’d withhold food as punishment. She’d stick one girl with washing the dirty diapers day after day. And she’d hand out favors to those who were compliant.”
“It sounds like a horrible boarding school,” I said.
“Not like my school,” she answered. “I loved my time there. I was never happier.”
“So there is no other girl you can think of who might know where Maureen went?”
She shook her head. “I can’t think of anyone she would have confided in. I was really her only friend. She was my only friend.” She had been staring out at the lake, but looked up to meet my eye. “Look, I wish I could help you more. I want to find her as much as you do—more than you do. She was good to me when I was in that hateful place and went through…” She glanced down at my own round shape. “Well, you know,” she said. “You can imagine.”
“I’m sure it must have been awful for you.”
We had reached the shore of the lake. Sid and Gus came up beside us. Emily turned away and stared across the water again.
“It seems that some nightmares never end,” she said. “Some people are destined for happiness while others aren’t.”
“Your fiancé?” Sid said. “I take it he was not your choice.”
“Would you marry a man like that if you had a choice?” Emily demanded fiercely. “You saw him. He’s repulsive and old. And he paws me with those big meaty hands. It’s almost more than I can bear.”
“Then refuse to marry him,” Gus said. “They can’t force you to marry against your will.”
“Unfortunately they can,” Emily said. “My mother still hasn’t forgiven me for disgracing her, and they’ve made it quite clear that I am no longer welcome in the family home. It is to be a quick marriage to Mr. Clifton, whose lands adjoin ours and thus is advantageous to us, or I am to be cast out, alone with no money. I’ve nowhere to go. No money and no skills. So actually it’s a choice between life and death.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
She pressed her lips together as she nodded. “My only consolation is that he’s old. He can’t live forever, can he? But then who knows how long I will live? I almost died when I had the baby. There is no guarantee I’d survive a second delivery.”
“Is there no chance of being reconciled with the baby’s father?” Gus asked gently.
Emily shook her head. “He went away.”
“And you haven’t tried to get in contact with him again? You wouldn’t want to see him again?”
“Of course I’d want to,” Emily snapped. “It’s impossible, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry,” Gus said gently. “We have no right to pry. I just hate to see a woman being treated so unjustly.”
“He said he couldn’t marry me.” Emily squeezed her eyes shut as if she was trying to hold back tears. “He was a young English painter. He came to paint the river and my grandfather saw him and thought he was pretty good. So he let him stay in one of the outbuildings on the estate while he worked. We met and fell in love. But he had no money. He said it was for the best that he went away. I didn’t know I was with child until he had gone.” She paused. “It wouldn’t have been any use anyway. He couldn’t have supported us. Not like Mr. Clifton with his fine big house.”
Sid glanced at Gus. “Emily, listen to me,” she said. “If you really don’t want to marry this man, maybe we can help you.”
“How can you help me?” Emily asked angrily. “Why should you want to help me? You don’t know me from Eve.”
“That’s an easy question to answer. We are passionate about the rights of women. It angers us to see someone like you treated so unfairly.”
“You’re very kind.” Emily managed a weak smile. “But I really don’t see what you could do. My mother won’t change her mind. I’ve nowhere else to go.”
“Listen, Emily,” Sid said. “We live in the city. We have sufficient money to live our lives as we choose and we have friends who are also independent women. I’m sure we could find you a place to stay and some kind of employment.”
There was a flicker of hope in her eyes that was extinguished in a second. “That sounds wonderful, but it would be no good. They keep me a virtual prisoner here. I’m allowed to meet no one. I’m surprised my mother allowed me to talk with you. She only did so because Mr. Clifton was here and she couldn’t make a scene. I’m sure she has sent a spy out to follow me around the grounds. You can bet there is someone watching us at this moment.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” Sid said. “Slip out in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep. Your friend Maureen did it, didn’t she? Nobody saw her leave an enclosed convent.”
Emily nodded at this. “I suppose.”
Sid fished into her handbag. “I’ll give you my card. We were planning to stay a couple of weeks on the river, but we can cut our stay short if necessary.”
“Don’t cut short your vacation on my account,” Emily said. “I’m sure I could put up with things for another two weeks.”
“In the meantime we will write to friends, to see if any of the women we know needs a private secretary or companion,” Gus said. “And of course you can stay at our house until you have found a situation.”
Emily looked from one face to the next. “I can’t believe you’d do this for a perfect stranger,” she said.
“We all belong to the same sisterhood,” Sid said. “We see it as our duty to help a sister in distress and I can’t think of a bigger distress than marrying Mr. Clifton.”
We had to laugh at this, and Emily joined in.
“We’ll look for you in two weeks then,” Sid said, “and may I suggest that you act as if you are learning to accept your coming marriage. If you begin to show enthusiasm for your upcoming role as a bride, then they will not watch you so closely.”
“You’re right,” Emily said. “I’ll try to be nice to Mr. Clifton, however repugnant that is to me.” She looked up and turned back to us. “My mother is approaching. I knew she couldn’t leave us alone for long.”
“There was one more thing,” I said hastily, drawing Emily close to me so that nobody else heard what I was saying. “Do you remember that Maureen had a little carved statue?”
“I do.”
“Then would it surprise you to know she left it behind when she ran off?”
“She left it behind?” Emily looked up warily as her mother approached us.
“It was found in a wastebasket,” I said.
Emily nodded. “Then my guess would be Sister Angelique. Maureen stood up to her, you see. Stealing her statue and hiding it in a wastebasket would be just the kind of mean-spirited thing she might do. So no, it wouldn’t surprise me at all.”
“Ah, there you are, ladies,” Emily’s mother called to us. “Emily,
my dear. Don’t forget we have the dressmaker coming.”
Emily gave her a convincing smile. “Of course, Mama.”
Nineteen
We took our leave and retrieved Bridie from the ducklings. I noticed that Emily’s mother had not offered us any refreshment and was clearly anxious to be rid of us.
“I’m sorry my daughter is busy and doesn’t have time to be sociable at the moment. Weddings are hectic occasions, aren’t they?” she said. “It was kind of you to visit my daughter and to bring news of a friend. I hope it hasn’t taken you too far out of your way.”
“Not at all,” I said. “We were glad to meet up with an old school friend again, and the journey here was most refreshing after the heat of New York.”
“Thank you so much for coming,” Emily said, taking my hand. “I do hope you might come and visit me again when I am married and installed in my own home.”
I must say she did it surprisingly well, making me think that we didn’t really know her and wonder about the wisdom of Sid and Gus inviting her into their home. They chatted with great animation about this all the way back to the station—whom they might approach to find a position for Emily, whether she could stay with this friend or that friend, or whether they would keep her to themselves. I was pleased that they were prepared to put themselves out to rescue Emily, but annoyed at the same time that they had taken the conversation away from the very reason we had gone there. They had clearly lost interest in my original quest.
As they talked, I tried to go over in my mind what facts Emily had shared with me. They seemed to be lamentably few. Maureen did not want to return to the Mainwarings but felt she had no choice. She was angry that Mrs. Mainwaring had come to see the sisters, but hadn’t spoken to Maureen. She had said that Mrs. Mainwaring was not to be trusted. That was interesting. Maureen had had a furious row with someone the day before she left and stormed out of the room, and this row might also have been about Mrs. Mainwaring. She had shouted that she couldn’t be forced to do something that was cruel. But all of this got me nowhere because Maureen had vanished early the next morning.
Gus sensed that I had been silent for a while. Perhaps she realized they had gone off on a tangent. She turned to me. “So, Molly, did you learn anything that might be of use?”
“Nothing much, I’m afraid.”
“So it seems that Maureen is lost, vanished without a trace.”
“I’m not going to give up so easily,” I said. “We now know that she had a shouting match with somebody the evening before she ran away. We know she was angry with Mrs. Mainwaring for coming to the convent and said she couldn’t be trusted.”
“But neither of those sheds light on where she might have gone,” Sid said.
“We know she wasn’t seen at the station,” I said, “Or at least she wasn’t remembered at the station.”
“That could be easily explained,” Sid said. “If she’d just run away from a convent, after having a child, she would be dressed in drab clothing, wouldn’t she? Men do not remember unappealing women.”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “So it is possible she did take the train to New York, in which case we’ve probably lost her. And I’m afraid with no money her chances won’t be good there.”
“You did your best, Molly.” Gus touched my hand gently. “You did more than required. I think you should admit that the quest is out of your hands. Write to her family, give them the Mainwarings’ address, and let them take it from there.”
“I feel there is more I could do, before I give up completely,” I said. “I could show her photograph around the town. Maybe, as you suggested, someone gave her a lift in a wagon or carriage. And I think I’ll go back to the convent and speak to Katy again. She might have more to tell me. She was called inside while she was telling me about Maureen leaving her little statue behind. I’ve a good excuse to go back to speak to her, because I want to hire her as my maid when she has delivered her child. I can say that I want to interview her in private.”
“Hire her as a maid?” Sid said. “Molly, what exactly do you know about this person?”
“I met her when I was at the convent the other day. She seemed like a pleasant girl.”
Sid and Gus exchanged a look. “Molly, dear,” Gus said. “You know nothing about her really, and inviting someone like that into your home is a big risk. She’ll be helping out with your baby.”
“Oh, I like that.” I gave a short laugh. “You meet a girl and two seconds later you invite her to stay with you in New York, promise to find her employment, and take care of her.”
“Well, anyone could see she was a well-brought-up young woman who has been wronged,” Sid said. “This Katy has already proved she is not able to make good decisions and lets her heart lead her head. You need someone solid and sensible to be your servant.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” I said angrily. “You two are the end. You profess equality and tolerance and yet you’re actually judging on the basis of class. Emily is all right because she comes from a fine house, therefore she is reliable. Katy, whom you haven’t even met, is not, because clearly she doesn’t come from a fine house.”
“Keep your hair on, Molly,” Sid said with a smile. “We didn’t wish to imply that at all. The two situations are different. We plan to give Emily some introductions, but it will be up to her future employer to decide whether to hire her or not. We may even put her up in our house for a few days, because even you have to agree that she is not a potential ax murderer. But you are planning to bring this girl to live in your home with you and to help take care of your baby. Do you know if she’s got a nasty temper? What if she hits the child when you are not there? Is she too influenced by the opposite sex? Might she make a play for Daniel?”
“I see your point,” I said, “but I could say that about any potential servant I hired.”
“If you hired from a reputable agency, the girl would come with references.”
“Obviously I will ask the sisters for a reference, and she would be on probation until I’ve seen whether we get along well. But I have to tell you that I took to her right away. A pleasant, unsophisticated, open sort of girl.”
“I’m sure she’ll be just fine, Molly,” Gus said in soothing fashion. “We’re just warning you to proceed with caution, that’s all.”
“I know,” Sid said. “Why don’t we come with you to observe when you interview her? And we can see whether she is good with children or not by the way she gets along with Bridie.”
“I’m sure everyone in the world would get along with this sweet young lady.” Gus ruffled Bridie’s hair and Bridie gave her a beaming smile.
We were coming into the station yard. I helped Bridie down from the trap and waited until she ran on ahead before I said in a low voice, “I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to take Bridie to a place like that. There might be difficult questions to answer about what the young women are doing there?”
“Simple. They go there to have their babies. It’s like a hospital,” Sid said easily. “And you have to admit that three heads are better than one. Besides, I don’t know about you, Gus, but I’m dying to see inside that convent. It sounds deliciously Gothic.”
“I wonder if families can still pay to have their daughters locked away in cells,” Gus said. “To keep them from the wicked world.”
“Or to claim their inheritance,” Sid added. They were both chuckling merrily now.
“Who is going to be locked away?” Bridie asked, turning up at my side unexpectedly.
“Nobody, my sweet,” I said, giving a warning frown to the other two. “The ladies were just joking.”
‘Yes, we were just joking,” Gus said. “Just having fun.”
Just joking. I tried to agree with this, but I felt a chill go through me. Presumably Emily’s family had paid to have her shut away there. Sid and Gus weren’t so far off the truth. And I found myself wondering yet again whether Maureen had actually left the convent at all.
Th
at’s ridiculous, I thought. No nuns would force a girl to join them against her will. Those are the sort of rumors that Protestants like to spread, but we Catholics know that most sisters only go into the convent because they have a calling, and are devoted servants of God—brides of Christ, they call themselves. And the sisters in this convent were doing a wonderful job, taking in girls who had nowhere else to go. Of course it would be right that those who could afford to pay did so. How else could the nuns afford to look after all of them?
Sid interrupted my thoughts. “So you are going to let us come with you, aren’t you, Molly?” she asked.
I managed a smile. “Of course,” I said.
We arrived back at the inn just as lunch was being cleared away. The innkeeper scolded us for our tardiness, but she then was kind enough to make us sandwiches, which we ate in the shade on the porch.
“Should we go to the convent this afternoon?” Gus asked. “Or would it be better to write to them, asking to set up an appointment to interview your Katy?”
The day had become hot and humid and I was feeling decidedly languid after our morning’s escapades. An afternoon nap seemed like a good idea, but I didn’t want to show my friends signs of my frailty. Besides, I was anxious to see Katy again and find out if she knew any other details that could throw light on Maureen’s disappearance.
“Oh, I think we can just turn up on the doorstep,” I said. “If I write to them they may not respond right away and Katy might well go into labor before I have a chance to see her.”
“Very well,” Sid said. “We should look into hiring some kind of vehicle, as I suggested, Gus. I certainly don’t feel like walking a mile or two in this heat, and uphill too. And Molly certainly shouldn’t.”
We asked at the inn about vehicles for hire and were told that we’d be likely to find a cab at the station. Gus conceded that she had had enough of being the driver for one day and was content to let someone else drive us up the hill.
