(1988) The Golden Room

by Irving Wallace

‘I do not have a venereal disease, Doctor.’

  ‘Let me decide that, young lady.’

  With a sigh, Karen pulled off her robe, walked up to the brass bed, and sat on its side.

  She realized that Dr Holmes, speculum in hand, had turned from his bag and was watching her.

  He advanced towards her, came to a halt before her, then stood over her, his dark blue eyes hypnotically fixed on her body.

  ‘I will say this, Karen,’ he began. ‘You are certainly a beautiful specimen. I must remember to congratulate Minna Everleigh on her good taste.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  ‘I’ve examined all the girls in this establishment, and I confess you are by far the most beautiful.’

  ‘I… I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘Just be happy to know how men will enjoy you. You should do very well here.’

  ‘I… I hope so.’

  ‘I can guarantee it.’ Placing his speculum on the bed, Dr Holmes reached for her bosom. ‘Here, let me feel your breasts for anything unusual.’

  With effort, Karen thrust her full breasts out as Dr Holmes cupped one and then the other and lightly squeezed. Then, he used both hands to play over her breasts. Over and over his fingers fanned out from her nipples. ‘Do you have to keep doing that?’ Karen demanded. Dr Holmes ignored her, continuing to move his long fingers over the firm expanse of each breast. ‘Absolutely soft, smooth, plump. I can assure you and Minna there’s nothing to worry about. Now please lie back on the bed, then spread your legs — wider, my dear — and I’ll have a look.’

  Flushing with shame, Karen dropped on her back, and then gave in to the pressure of the doctor’s hands as he pried her legs fully apart.

  He reached for his speculum and bent down on to his knees between her thighs.

  She could feel his warm breath on her.

  He clucked his tongue. ‘Perfect, perfect,’ he said in an undertone. ‘As healthy as any woman I have ever set eyes upon. Let me go deeper.’

  She could feel the touch of his speculum. His inspection was interminable.

  ‘Can’t you hurry it up?’ she protested.

  ‘I have to be very certain.’

  At last he seemed to be done.

  ‘You can sit up now,’ he told her.

  As she sat up, he rose, and she felt something hard touch her knee. She looked to see what it was, and she saw that a portion of his trousers was protruding, covering a mammoth erection. Appalled, she averted her eyes, and he turned to place his speculum into the bag.

  ‘Well?’ asked Karen. ‘Surely there’s nothing wrong.’

  He answered quietly, ‘In a sense, there is something wrong, Karen.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘It is my understanding that to get a job for the Everleigh sisters, you have to be experienced.’

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’

  Dr Holmes regarded her with a crooked smile. ‘You’re not experienced, young lady. You’ve never had a man. You’re a virgin.’

  ‘That’s a lie.’

  ‘Not according to my examination. Your hymen is still

  intact,’

  ‘There must be a mistake,’ Karen said falteringly.

  ‘No mistake whatsoever,’ Holmes went on smoothly. ‘You lied about your experience to get this job. Yet the first man to penetrate you — if he’s a customer — can cost you your job. He’ll notice blood spots on the sheet, and be confused, and probably report to Minna or Aida. You’ll lose your job in a minute. Now, it might be possible to prevent that.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘I can inform Minna I want you to accompany me to my office, and I can change your condition.’

  ‘Do you mean surgically?’

  ‘No. There’s only one proper way to break a hymen. It would be enjoyable for both of us — and you’d be experienced. I could -‘

  ‘If you’re saying what I think you’re saying,’ Karen interrupted heatedly, ‘the answer is no! I wouldn’t let you near me. You’re supposed to be a doctor, not a —’

  ‘I am a doctor, and thinking only of your own good.’

  ‘You’re a lecher.’ She came to her feet and pulled on her silk robe. ‘I’ll accept you as a doctor, but not as anything else. I’ll take my chances on - on my lack of experience.’

  ‘Whatever you wish, Karen. I certainly have no intention of costing you your job. But I’m afraid you may lose it yourself. Anyway, I want you to know that I am not a lecher or something worse, only a professional you can count upon as a friend.’

  Karen remained silent, when there was a rapping on the

  door.

  ‘Come in!’ Dr Holmes called out.

  Minna Everleigh entered, glanced at Karen, and then held her gaze on Dr Holmes.

  ‘Did you complete your examination?’ Minna inquired.

  ‘You are right on time,’ said Holmes, picking up his bag. ‘I gave Karen a thorough examination. She’s in perfect condition. Healthy and sound. You need have no concern on her behalf.’

  Minna relaxed her shoulders. ‘That’s a relief. Thanks a lot, Doctor.’

  ‘It was a pleasure,’ said Dr Holmes. He winked at Karen. ‘I enjoyed being with you. I’m pleased you are well.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Karen mumbled weakly.

  They both watched a cheerful Dr Holmes depart.

  Once the bedroom door had closed, Minna gestured Karen to a chair and sat down across from her.

  ‘You have about an hour before your first customer arrives,’ said Minna. ‘Before that happens, I want to discuss your deportment here. The key to everything in this house is to remember you are a desirable young lady, not just some floozy off the street. If you want to remain an Everleigh girl, you must, when with a visitor, always be polite, be patient, and forget what you are here for.’

  Minna took out a cigarette and lit it.

  ‘Gentlemen who come here are gentlemen only when properly introduced,’ Minna resumed. ‘We shall see that each girl is correctly presented to each guest. In the Everleigh Club, there is no lining up for selection, as is the practice in other brothels. There shall be no cry from Aida or myself, “Into the parlour, girls,” when guests arrive. I’ll personally accompany each man up to your boudoir and formally introduce you. After that, you’ll be on your own. On other occasions, when there is more leisure, I’ll request that you dress in your most becoming finery and come downstairs first to amuse our guests in a parlour or at supper. Above all, the one thing I ask is that you be attentive to your callers’ needs. Remember one thing. The Everleigh Club has not time for the rough

  element, the clerk on a holiday, or a person without a chequebook. We have time only for gentlemen.’

  Minna’s cigarette had gone out and she lit it again.

  ‘It is going to be difficult for you at first, I know, no matter how much experience you’ve had previously. Don’t rush anyone and don’t consider rolling them. We will permit no monkeyshines, no knockout drops, no robberies, no crudity of any kind whatsoever. Our task will be to supply the clients. Your task will be to amuse them in a way that they’ve never been amused before. Give, but give interestingly and with mystery. Karen, I want you to be proud you are in the Everleigh Club. An hour from now, after I introduce you to your first client, you’ll know you belong here.’

  Throughout this recital, and especially Minna’s last reminder that shortly she would be alone with a strange man, Karen had been quivering with fright. Soon, she would be cornered by a customer and expected to perform as a prostitute. There was plenty of verbal evidence, from Minna, that the Everleigh Club was still a brothel, but Karen did not possess the substantial evidence that would enable the mayor to shut the place down. The real evidence would come when a paying guest would strip off his clothes and get into bed with her. The thought was horrifying.

  Karen hardly listened as Minna continued to speak. ‘In addition to what I’ve told you, there are a few minor things you should know about your conduct in the Club. One of thes
e is that -‘

  Minna was interrupted by a sharp rapping on the door. The door opened and Aida came in, carrying a note, her countenance ashen.

  ‘Minna, I’ve got to speak to you at once,’ Aida began. ‘It’s urgent.’

  ‘Can’t it wait a few minutes?’

  ‘No,’ said Aida firmly. ‘Do you know who just walked in with their luggage and are waiting downstairs? Cathleen and Bruce!’

  ‘Who?’ asked Minna, bewildered.

  ‘Cathleen and Bruce Lester, our niece and nephew from Kentucky. Charlie’s children.’

  Minna was more bewildered than ever. ‘What are they doing here?’

  ‘They’ve come to move in with us for two weeks. Until Cathleen is married to Harold T. Armbruster’s son, Alan.’

  Minna was aghast. ‘But they can’t stay here -‘

  ‘I know they can’t - but they’re going to. We knew about it some time ago. That the Armbrusters had been down in Kentucky, and their son had met Cathleen and fallen in love with her, and that they were going to be married. Their father asked if we’d stand up for the kids -‘

  ‘I remember,’ said Minna. ‘I wrote Charlie a quick note saying, “Send them along.” But I only meant we’d stand up for Cathleen at the wedding. God, I didn’t mean for them to stay with us here.’

  Aida waved a letter in her hand. ‘Their father sent this along with Cathleen. He wants his daughter and son to live with their wealthy socialite aunts in Chicago until the wedding. A hotel won’t do. Even though their family in Kentucky is church mouse poor, they must give evidence of being well-off and respectable. All through the years we used to tell our brother we were rich socialites living in a huge mansion. Well, Charlie took us at our word, and now he’s sent his children to stay in the mansion with their aunts. They’re here now, Minna, and they can’t be sent away. We have to live with this pretext for two weeks, until the wedding is over and Cathleen and Bruce are out of our hair. What should we do?’

  Minna stood between Aida and Karen, lost in thought.

  ‘We’re trapped with our lie,’ said Minna. ‘We’ve got to play being their wealthy, respectable aunts, and we have to give them the hospitality of our mansion. Let me think -‘ She thought further. Then she addressed Aida. ‘First things first. Have Edmund immediately post a sign on the front door announcing that our restaurant is open for business. A

  floor show will be provided for diners, but other services will be unavailable until further notice. The parlours themselves are closed for two weeks for remodelling. No men are to be permitted upstairs for the length of Cathleen and Bruce’s stay.’

  ‘But our girls?’

  ‘They can remain as part of a restaurant floor show. Nothing more. Send two of them away on vacation and turn their bedrooms over to Cathleen and Bruce. Aida, you round up the girls at once and explain the situation. I want them to be sure there is not one word alluding to what they truly do here. They are dancers and singers entertaining supper guests - period. Do you have that straight? And get that sign on the front door.’

  ‘Can I tell the girls they’ll be paid?’

  ‘We must pay them their usual income,’ said Minna, ‘no matter what the financial loss to ourselves. The main thing is to keep Cathleen and Bruce believing we are actually respected socialites and this is our fancy home. We’ll tell them that we conduct a fashionable high-class restaurant to keep ourselves busy. Now off you go, at once. Gather the girls and tell them the truth and what we expect of them. I’ll go down and greet Cathleen and Bruce.’

  Aida darted to the door and raced away.

  About to follow her from the room, Minna stopped, suddenly aware that Karen was in the boudoir. ‘You heard it all, Karen, so you know what’s going on. I know you expected your first customer to come to you in a little while. I’m sorry, but no man tonight or any night for two weeks. Get dressed, and come downstairs and join the other girls while Aida organizes you into some semblance of a floor show.’ She held the doorknob. ‘I am sorry about this turn of events, Karen. Even though you’re new, you’ll be well paid. You’ll be better paid later. But for now, keep your chin up - and your bloomers too.’

  FIVE

  When Minna came down the stairs to the foyer, she saw the two of them waiting, suitcases beside them. Minna had not seen the pair since they were children, but she knew at once that these grown-ups were her niece and nephew, Cathleen and Bruce Lester.

  Approaching them, Minna saw that Cathleen looked as she herself had looked not many years ago. The girl was no taller than herself-meaning Cathleen was small, with blonde hair, luminous eyes, and a button nose set nicely in an innocent, smooth face. She was small-bosomed, slender, composed, not more than nineteen years old. The boy was older, probably twenty-two, with a shock of chestnut hair, brown eyes, pug nose, and a square jaw. He was quite tall, maybe six feet, and trim but obviously muscular.

  ‘Cathleen!’ Minna called out.

  The girl smiled nervously.

  Minna went straight to her and hugged her. ‘I’m your Aunt Minna. How wonderful to see you at last and to have you in our home.’

  Disengaging herself from Cathleen, Minna moved to her nephew and embraced him too. ‘Bruce, you’ve grown - I don’t know how many feet - since I last saw you in Louisville. Welcome to Lester House.’

  ‘It’s hospitable of you to have us in,’ said Bruce.

  ‘And what a joy for us. Now, you two, come along with me,’ said Minna, taking each by a hand. ‘Don’t worry about your bags. I’ll have a servant take them to your rooms, but first we’ll have a little talk in the parlour. I want to get better acquainted with both of you.’

  Minna led them into the Gold Room, which Minna

  described as her favourite parlour, and one that she had decorated entirely by herself.

  Entering the dazzling room, Cathleen held back for a moment, stunned by the glitter. ‘It’s — it’s magnificent,’ she whispered. ‘That gold piano. I’ve never seen another like it.’

  ‘I had it made in Paris some years ago,’ said Minna.

  Bruce went into the room more easily, less stunned than curious. ‘Forgive me, Aunt Minna. Father told me you lived well, but I expected nothing like this.’

  ‘I wish your father could see our place for himself,’ said Minna, ‘but he’s never been to Chicago in all the time we’ve lived here.’

  ‘You know he’s not been ambulatory since his stroke,’ said Bruce. ‘Besides, he couldn’t afford the trip.’

  ‘Well, I intend to rectify that in the near future,’ said Minna, leading the pair to a gold sofa. ‘Do sit down, and let me sit where I can face both of you.’

  After the two were seated, Minna settled easily across from them and resumed talking.

  ‘We’ve been expecting you,’ said Minna, ‘because Charles wrote some time ago that Cathleen was coming to Chicago to be married, and that you, Bruce, would chaperon her. I know that your father would like us to look after you and stand beside Cathleen at the wedding. Frankly, I did not know he wanted the two of you to stay with us instead of in a hotel. Aida and I are delighted, of course — but we hadn’t been informed.’

  ‘If this is any inconvenience at all…’ Cathleen began.

  ‘No, absolutely not,’ Minna interrupted.

  ‘Better let me explain,’ Bruce intervened, coming forward. ‘Since we are family, I can be frank. Father’s law practice is almost non-existent. He’s been too ill to attend to it properly. Since Mother died and then his stroke, he seems to have lost all his spirit. We still have the old house, but we may have to sell that soon. In truth, Father is almost penniless. I work in a bank to help out. It was all he could do to gather money to

  send us up here for the wedding. But Pearl and Harold T. Armbruster don’t know that. They set much store by appearances. To reassure them that we’re a good family and to impress them, Father wrote you that note asking you to take us in.’

  Minna bobbed her head. ‘Aida told me about it.’


  ‘Father felt that if we could stay with his sisters, and circulate high up on the social scale — and if we could live under conditions the Armbrusters would find acceptable — it would cause no doubt in their minds that Cathleen was eligible for marriage to their son. Actually, Alan is very much in love with Cathleen. He would have no reservations whatsoever. However, parents can be a different matter. The Armbrusters are impressed by Cathleen’s attractiveness and grace. Father had sent her to private schools -‘

  ‘Just as I had been educated,’ said Minna. ‘God knows that good manners count even more than money in the South.’

  ‘But not necessarily poverty,’ said Bruce bluntly. ‘I’m sorry to say this, but it’s important to the Armbrusters that Cathleen be from a good family — meaning a well-to-do family.’

  ‘I understand,’ said Minna. A frown flitted across her face as she considered the situation. She began to reconsider how to handle her niece and nephew to make the right impression on the Armbrusters. ‘Tell me one thing — how did you happen to meet the Armbrusters?’

  Cathleen brightened and briefly lost some of her shyness. ‘Mr Armbruster is a very rich man. He’s a meat-packer.’

  ‘I’ve heard,’ said Minna.

  ‘He’s eager for social standing in Chicago, the kind that Armour and Swift already have. Since a horse-racing stable is one symbol of prestige in Chicago, Mr Armbruster considered establishing his own stable. That’s why he came down to Louisville with his wife, Pearl, and his two children, Alan and Judith. He was planning to buy the finest horses in

  Kentucky. Someone sent him to Bruce, since Bruce has knowledge of the best horseflesh available. Bruce even has three horses of his own.’

  ‘They’re not much,’ Bruce confessed. ‘Mr Armbruster wasn’t interested, but I was able to guide him to other breeders.’

  ‘I’m sure he was grateful,’ interrupted Minna.

  ‘Actually, one of my colts is exceptional - he’s a three-year-old named Frontier. I spent much of what I earned as a bank clerk to enter Frontier in the American Derby in Chicago.’

  ‘Why bring Frontier all the way up here for the American Derby?’ Minna asked. ‘Why not enter him in the Kentucky Derby in your own state?’