[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
She sighed, looking back. "Never seen a house like it, before or since. The furniture,
the paintings, the crystal. Once a week we'd wash every window with vinegar so
they'd sparkle like diamonds. And the mistress, she'd like fresh flowers everywhere.
She'd cut roses and peonies out of the garden, or pick the' wild orchids and lady's
slippers."
"What can you tell us about the summer she died?" Max prompted.
"She spent a lot of time in her tower room that summer, looking out the window at
the cliffs, or writing in her book."
"Book?" Lilah interrupted. "Do you mean a journal, a diary?"
"I suppose that's what it was. I saw her writing in it sometimes when I brought her
up some tea. She'd always thank me, too. Call me by name. 'Thank you, Millie,' she
would say, 'it's a pretty day.' Or. 'You didn't have to trouble, Millie. How is your
young man?' Gracious, she was." Millie's mouth thinned. "Now the master, he
wouldn't say a word to you. Might as well have been a stick of wood for all he
noticed."
"You didn't like him," Max put in.
"Wasn't my place to like or dislike, but a harder, colder man I've never met in all my
years. We'd talk about it sometimes, me and one of the other girls.
Why did such a sweet and lovely woman marry a man like that? Money, I would
have said. Oh, the clothes she had, and the parties, the jewelry. But it didn't make her
happy. Her eyes were sad. She and the master would go out in the evenings, or
they'd entertain at home. He'd go his own way most other times, business and
politics and the like, hardly paying any mind to his wife, and less to his children.
Though he was partial to the boy, the oldest boy."
"Ethan," Lilah supplied. "My grandfather."
"A fine little boy, he was, and a handful. He liked to slide down the banisters and
play in the dirt. The mistress didn't mind him getting dirty, but she made certain he
was all polished up when the master got home. A tight ship he ran, Fergus Calhoun.
Was it any wonder the poor woman looked elsewhere for a little softness?"
Lilah closed a hand over Max's. "You knew she was seeing someone?"
"It was my job to clean the tower room. More than once I looked out that window
and saw her running out to the cliffs. She met a man there. I know she was a married
woman, but it wasn't for me to judge then, or now. Whenever she came back from
seeing him, she looked happy. At least for a little while."
"Do you know who he was?" Max asked her.
"No. A painter, I think, because there were times he had an easel set up. But I never
asked anyone, and never told what I saw. It was the mistress's secret. She deserved
one."
Because her hands were tiring, she let them still in her lap. The day before she died,
she brought a little puppy home for the children. A stray she said she'd found out on
the cliffs. Lord, what a commotion. The children were wild about that dog. The
mistress had one of the gardeners fill up a tub on the patio, and she and the children
washed the pup themselves. They were laughing, the dog was howling. The mistress
ruined one of her pretty day frocks. After, I helped the nanny clean up the children.
It was the last time I saw them happy."
She paused a moment to gather her thoughts while two butterflies danced toward the
pansies. "There was a dreadful fight when the master came home. I'd never heard the
mistress raise her voice before. They were in the parlor and I was in the hall. I could
hear them plain. The master wouldn't have the dog in the house. Of course, the
children were crying, but he said, just as cold, that the mistress was to give it to one
of the servants and have it destroyed."
Lilah felt her own eyes fill. "But why?"
"It wasn't good enough, you see, being a mutt. The little girl, she stood right up to
him, but she was only a wee thing, and it made no> difference to him. I thought he
might strike her his voice had that meanness in it but the mistress told the
children to take the dog and go up to their nanny. It got worse after that. The
mistress was fit to be tied. I wouldn't have said she had a temper, but she cut loose.
The master said terrible things to her, vicious things. He said he was going to Boston
for a few days, and that she was to get rid of the dog, and to remember her place.
When he came out of the parlor, his face I'll never forget it. He looked mad, I said
to myself, then I peeked into the parlor and there was the mistress, white as a ghost,
just sitting in a chair with her hand pressed to her throat. The next night, she was
dead."
Max said nothing for a moment. Lilah was looking away, her eyes blind with tears.
"Mrs. Tobias, had you heard anything about Bianca planning to leave her husband?"
"Later I did. The master, he dismissed the nanny, even though those poor babies
were wild with grief. She Mary Beals was her name she loved the children and
the mistress like they were her own. I saw her in the village the day they were to take
the mistress back to New York for burying. She told me that her lady would never
have killed herself, that she would never have done that to the children. She insisted
that it had been an accident. And then she told me that the mistress had decided to
leave, that she'd come to see she couldn't stay with the master. She was going to
take the children away. Mary Beals said she was going to New York herself and that
she was going to stay with the children no matter what Mr. Calhoun said. I heard
later that she'd gotten her position back."
"Did you ever see the Calhoun emeralds, Mrs. Tobias?" Max asked.
"Oh, ayah. Once seen, you d never forget them. She would wear them and look like
a queen. They disappeared the night she died." A faint smile moved her mouth. "I
know the legend, boy. You could say I lived it."
Composed again, Lilah looked back. "Do you have any idea what happened to
them?"
"I know Fergus Calhoun never threw them into the sea. He wouldn't so much as flip
a penny into a wishing well, so close with his money he was. If she meant to leave
him, then she meant to take them with her. But he came back, you see."
Max's brows drew together. "Came back?"
"The master came back the afternoon of the day she died. That's why she hid them.
And the poor thing never had a chance to take them, and her children, and get
away." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
She sighed, looking back. "Never seen a house like it, before or since. The furniture,
the paintings, the crystal. Once a week we'd wash every window with vinegar so
they'd sparkle like diamonds. And the mistress, she'd like fresh flowers everywhere.
She'd cut roses and peonies out of the garden, or pick the' wild orchids and lady's
slippers."
"What can you tell us about the summer she died?" Max prompted.
"She spent a lot of time in her tower room that summer, looking out the window at
the cliffs, or writing in her book."
"Book?" Lilah interrupted. "Do you mean a journal, a diary?"
"I suppose that's what it was. I saw her writing in it sometimes when I brought her
up some tea. She'd always thank me, too. Call me by name. 'Thank you, Millie,' she
would say, 'it's a pretty day.' Or. 'You didn't have to trouble, Millie. How is your
young man?' Gracious, she was." Millie's mouth thinned. "Now the master, he
wouldn't say a word to you. Might as well have been a stick of wood for all he
noticed."
"You didn't like him," Max put in.
"Wasn't my place to like or dislike, but a harder, colder man I've never met in all my
years. We'd talk about it sometimes, me and one of the other girls.
Why did such a sweet and lovely woman marry a man like that? Money, I would
have said. Oh, the clothes she had, and the parties, the jewelry. But it didn't make her
happy. Her eyes were sad. She and the master would go out in the evenings, or
they'd entertain at home. He'd go his own way most other times, business and
politics and the like, hardly paying any mind to his wife, and less to his children.
Though he was partial to the boy, the oldest boy."
"Ethan," Lilah supplied. "My grandfather."
"A fine little boy, he was, and a handful. He liked to slide down the banisters and
play in the dirt. The mistress didn't mind him getting dirty, but she made certain he
was all polished up when the master got home. A tight ship he ran, Fergus Calhoun.
Was it any wonder the poor woman looked elsewhere for a little softness?"
Lilah closed a hand over Max's. "You knew she was seeing someone?"
"It was my job to clean the tower room. More than once I looked out that window
and saw her running out to the cliffs. She met a man there. I know she was a married
woman, but it wasn't for me to judge then, or now. Whenever she came back from
seeing him, she looked happy. At least for a little while."
"Do you know who he was?" Max asked her.
"No. A painter, I think, because there were times he had an easel set up. But I never
asked anyone, and never told what I saw. It was the mistress's secret. She deserved
one."
Because her hands were tiring, she let them still in her lap. The day before she died,
she brought a little puppy home for the children. A stray she said she'd found out on
the cliffs. Lord, what a commotion. The children were wild about that dog. The
mistress had one of the gardeners fill up a tub on the patio, and she and the children
washed the pup themselves. They were laughing, the dog was howling. The mistress
ruined one of her pretty day frocks. After, I helped the nanny clean up the children.
It was the last time I saw them happy."
She paused a moment to gather her thoughts while two butterflies danced toward the
pansies. "There was a dreadful fight when the master came home. I'd never heard the
mistress raise her voice before. They were in the parlor and I was in the hall. I could
hear them plain. The master wouldn't have the dog in the house. Of course, the
children were crying, but he said, just as cold, that the mistress was to give it to one
of the servants and have it destroyed."
Lilah felt her own eyes fill. "But why?"
"It wasn't good enough, you see, being a mutt. The little girl, she stood right up to
him, but she was only a wee thing, and it made no> difference to him. I thought he
might strike her his voice had that meanness in it but the mistress told the
children to take the dog and go up to their nanny. It got worse after that. The
mistress was fit to be tied. I wouldn't have said she had a temper, but she cut loose.
The master said terrible things to her, vicious things. He said he was going to Boston
for a few days, and that she was to get rid of the dog, and to remember her place.
When he came out of the parlor, his face I'll never forget it. He looked mad, I said
to myself, then I peeked into the parlor and there was the mistress, white as a ghost,
just sitting in a chair with her hand pressed to her throat. The next night, she was
dead."
Max said nothing for a moment. Lilah was looking away, her eyes blind with tears.
"Mrs. Tobias, had you heard anything about Bianca planning to leave her husband?"
"Later I did. The master, he dismissed the nanny, even though those poor babies
were wild with grief. She Mary Beals was her name she loved the children and
the mistress like they were her own. I saw her in the village the day they were to take
the mistress back to New York for burying. She told me that her lady would never
have killed herself, that she would never have done that to the children. She insisted
that it had been an accident. And then she told me that the mistress had decided to
leave, that she'd come to see she couldn't stay with the master. She was going to
take the children away. Mary Beals said she was going to New York herself and that
she was going to stay with the children no matter what Mr. Calhoun said. I heard
later that she'd gotten her position back."
"Did you ever see the Calhoun emeralds, Mrs. Tobias?" Max asked.
"Oh, ayah. Once seen, you d never forget them. She would wear them and look like
a queen. They disappeared the night she died." A faint smile moved her mouth. "I
know the legend, boy. You could say I lived it."
Composed again, Lilah looked back. "Do you have any idea what happened to
them?"
"I know Fergus Calhoun never threw them into the sea. He wouldn't so much as flip
a penny into a wishing well, so close with his money he was. If she meant to leave
him, then she meant to take them with her. But he came back, you see."
Max's brows drew together. "Came back?"
"The master came back the afternoon of the day she died. That's why she hid them.
And the poor thing never had a chance to take them, and her children, and get
away." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]