Stone Dreaming Woman (27 page)

“Pleased to meet you both. Now, what may I do for you?”

“Inspector Adair, this is…ah…a matter of no small delicacy. You see, I understand from all my daughter’s correspondence that you and she have been…keeping company, shall we say?”

“Yes. Jenny and I have been seeing each other, both professionally and socially. Why?”

“Because, well, Inspector, there appears to be some misunderstanding. You see, Jenny and Mr. Hildebrand are engaged to be married. They have been for some time. Perhaps I was more indulgent with Jenny than I should have been, but after she completed residency, she and I did come to an understanding. She wanted to visit Richard, since she had always been close to him and she had not seen him in some time. Our agreement was that she would return from Canada after six months and her engagement to Mr. Hildebrand would be formally announced so they can marry in the spring.” Shane was momentarily paralyzed from the shock of John’s oily words. He felt the blood drain from his face; however, iron discipline kept his expression neutral.

“I know of no such agreement,” he replied stiffly.

“I had thought as much. She evidently did not tell Richard, either. I’m very sorry if this turn of events has shocked you. My daughter has always been the sort of person who sees the world in her own way. And you will realize that the six months was up some time ago. The plan was always that I would come and escort her home.”

“Have you been in communication with her, then?”

“Always. I even telephoned her before we left New York. I’m surprised she didn’t meet our train, but who knows what business she’s attending to.”

“I see.”

“As I said, I’m sorry if the abrupt end of Jenny’s summer romance has come as a surprise to you. But you must understand how impossible any relationship between the two of you was from the beginning. You of course appreciate how radically our social standing differs from your own, ah…mixed blood and dubious birth. You must agree you and my daughter must have no further contact with each other. It could do irreparable damage to her reputation. You wouldn’t want to spoil her chance at the life that is really best for her, after all, would you? The life of wealth and privilege to which she was born?”

Shane heard only half of what John Weston was saying. Had the ground opened up and swallowed him he could not have been more surprised, and he probably would have been a great deal happier. Every childhood insult, all the times the college fraternity crowd had whispered slurs behind his back while making sure he knew they were doing it, every time he had trailed home to Mavis with a nosebleed from a playground fight came to the front of his mind. They were right, every one of them, and by implication he deserved all the deprecation and the snide remarks. He was Métis and probably a bastard to boot, and the stain would follow him to his grave. For an instant he remembered the day of Jimmy Richardson’s funeral during the scarlet fever epidemic, and he wished more than anything before or since that he had found the fortitude to tell Jenny about his background. Now, however, it was at least a century too late.

John Weston stopped to draw breath. “Well, then, Inspector, if that is all, we need to…” At that moment Paul came across the dining room, halting when he saw the two men in the office.

“Excuse me, Inspector Adair. If you’re busy, I’ll…”

“No, Corporal Weller. These two gentlemen were just leaving. Weren’t you?” He heard his voice sounding flat and very Iroquois.

“Yes, sir. I do believe our business here is concluded satisfactorily. Thank you very much for your aid—and for your understanding.” Dr. Weston held out his hand again, but Shane ignored it. “Good afternoon, then, Inspector.” He turned and led Phillip out past Paul, who came into the office and closed the door behind him.

“Good God, Shane, what happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” he exclaimed.

“No, Paul. It was…nothing.”

“That man looks so much like Richard!”

“That is Richard’s older brother. I’m glad you’re back. I really need to get going on rounds. I still have light enough to make it to the line shack at Overlook Point if I leave now.”

“You weren’t going until tomorrow,” Paul protested.

“I know, but I’ve changed my mind. I have all my gear packed and ready. There’s no reason for me not to leave now. Just put today’s report in my in-basket, and I’ll sign it when I get back.”

“Sit down!” Paul commanded, pointing to the chair behind the desk. Surprised by the commanding firmness in his subordinate’s voice, Shane obeyed. “Now tell me what really happened. I know Richard has only one brother—Jenny’s father. So this has to concern Jenny. If it concerns her, it concerns you, and what concerns you concerns me. Now what was it? Out with it!”

Shane took a deep, uncertain breath before continuing. “Evidently Jenny was…not completely truthful with me. Of course no man ever wants to admit he has been taken for a fool, but evidently I’ve been a very large one. The man with Doctor Weston? Phillip Hildebrand? He and Jenny are engaged. All along she was planning to go back to New York. I was nothing more to her than a plaything for a summer.”

Paul looked thunderstruck. “I can scarcely believe that! She’s been so happy here with her medical practice, and I’ve seen a thousand times how she looks at you!”

“Well, it’s over. Her father told me the agreement was that she would stay here for six months, then come home, marry Mr. Hildebrand, and assume her place in New York society. And there’s more. I know I’ve never spoken of my family to you… I never told you this, but Madame LaPorte up in North Village is my grandmother. Her daughter took up with an Irish railroad worker. I don’t know whether they were ever married or not. Besides being Métis I may well be a bastard, Paul. And somehow John Weston knew that.”

“Shit,” Paul whispered.

“Precisely.”

“I wonder where he came by that information. It sounds like no more than a lucky guess to me. But wait a second! The buggy they were driving came from Josh’s stable. Between Josh Barnes and the Camerons, they’d love nothing more than to see your name dragged through the mud.”

Shane was still mired in the past, where up until a scant few minutes ago he thought he had won the fight to overcome the stigma of his origins. But he knew that one never accomplishes so impossible a task. Perhaps here in the safety of Elk Gap he had won the grudging respect of most of the locals, but the larger, crueler world had just reached out and sucker-punched him where he was most vulnerable. If he faced the bald truth, he was not worthy to tie Jenny’s shoes, and moreover, any association with him, real or overblown, could indeed damage not only her reputation but her family’s as well. He dared not risk that. He took a deep breath and watched his world implode.

“Be that as it may, John Weston is right. I’m not fit to aspire to Jenny. Phillip Hildebrand is. Everything about him says his family has old money. I can’t compete with that. Now I really do need to leave for rounds. I need to clear my head.”

“All right. I understand.”

“I’ll be back in a fortnight or so. Don’t worry if I’m a few days late in. I’m going to take my time and stop at the villages. Until then, Elk Gap is yours.” He stood up, and this time Paul did not protest. Instead, he held out his hand, and Shane took it. His left hand closed over Shane’s forearm, the gesture reassuring.

“Be careful, please?” Shane nodded, his face expressionless and his eyes blank.

“Yes. Our August Curse. Thank you, Paul. Later, then.” He brushed past his friend, picked up his hat, gauntlets, and big Winchester rifle, and disappeared out the door.

Chapter Fourteen

Jenny, taking an afternoon off after a late night childbirth, enjoyed the rare few hours alone while Mavis attended a meeting of the Presbyterian Ladies’ Handwork Society. She set her book aside and came to answer the knocking at the front door, expecting Shane. So when she opened the door and saw her father and Phillip, her heart froze.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice a shocked whisper.

“You’re not going to ask us in, then, Jenny?” John Weston began.

“Of course, but…” Letting them into the house where there was no one to help her was the last thing she wanted to do, but she knew she had to give in. The situation was two against one.

“But what? Let’s go into the parlor where we can talk.” Her stomach twisted. Her father’s definition of “talk” was that he propounded and his victim submitted. Reluctantly she led them into the parlor and deliberately sat out of the way on the sofa. Her father sat next to her, forcing her to the end, while Phillip was left standing. Then John Weston moved insolently to the other end of the sofa.

“What is it you want, Father?” she asked, keeping her voice steady only with effort.

“For you to come home with me and marry Phillip the way you know you should.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve found my life here. I’m practicing medicine, and I’ve decided to stay.”

“Be that as it may, I will state this one last time and once only. Come home, marry Phillip, and do what you were born to do. Be the proper pillar of New York society whom everyone loves and respects.”

“People love and respect me here. I even have a sweet little blonde namesake who is three months old now. I don’t need New York.”

“Oh, but you do, Jen. You do.”

She shook her head. “I’m of age. You can’t compel me any longer.” She could not help but understand the pointed look that passed between Phillip and John.

“I’ve a proposition to make to you. Come home and join the staff of Northtown. I’ll put in my recommendation for you. You’ve wanted to practice at Northtown for a very long time.” She felt a distinct tug on her heartstrings. Joining the staff at Northtown had been her holy grail ever since the first time she had stepped across its threshold as a young child. Now here it was in front of her, an open invitation to the one thing she had ever really wanted.

“I’ll even agree to let you practice medicine until our first child comes,” Phillip appended, and received an immediate withering glare from his supposedly intended father-in-law. His words jerked her back to the present with a violence that was almost physical. It took her only a moment to recognize the ruse for what it was.

“How kind and condescending of you, Phillip. But I’m declining your gracious offer with my sincerest thanks. Now will the two of you please go back where you came from and let me live my life?”

“And let you live out here in this wilderness? Among these savages? Jenny, you should be thanking us for rescuing you from this…this abattoir! Have you taken leave of your…” Phillip’s outburst was silenced by another glare.

“My, aren’t you two brave to come in here, denigrate Elk Gap and Uncle Richard’s home while he’s away and unable to defend himself, and practically try to kidnap me?” Her father made an airy gesture that dismissed her concern as casually as though he were waving away a fly.

“I said you can practice at Northtown. You can be a surgeon. That’s what you’ve wanted all along, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I wanted it freely, with no constraints.”

“Freely, with no constraints, until your first child. And if you do not accept this offer, James Hildebrand will cease all donations to Northtown. He’s hit the end of his not inconsiderable patience. You know that he practically funds Northtown’s research singlehandedly. If you do not return with us, your selfishness is going to condemn a good many people to pointless suffering and early death when they are deprived of the medical advances Northtown is making practically every day. Why, only last week a little girl who was hit by a wagon was saved when I operated on her brain and removed a blood clot. I actually opened the child’s skull, Jenny! I saw the human brain, living and functioning, right beneath my hands, so close I actually touched it! My patient is now home with her mother where she belongs, happy and active and completely normal. How many others like her does it take to convince you that Northtown’s research is worth a small compromise on your part?”

Her chill escalated itself almost into nausea; Northtown had been a large part of her life even though she had not practiced there. She could never be instrumental in anything that could damage it. The tiny sounds she heard in the back of her mind were the screws in her coffin lid.

“Jenny, I promise I’ll be a considerate husband,” Phillip began. “I hold you in the highest regard, and I want you to marry me of your own free will. I’ll never interfere in anything you decide to do. You’ll have all the money you want, all the clothes, all the jewels. You will be free to see your friends as you choose, go to the theater, to soirees, and to any social functions you desire. I’ll support your charities and I’ll accompany you anywhere it would be seemly for me. You can practice medicine, as your father said, until we begin a family. All I ask is that you remain loyal to me and you behave as a proper wife should. And in turn I promise that I will be polite and considerate and treat you with respect at all times.”

“My, Mr. Hildebrand, what a passionate declaration of undying love.” Her voice dripped sarcasm.
But that was my last shot,
Jenny thought.
I’m out of ammunition. However, I will make you one promise right now. Even if you’re successful in forcing me to marry you, there will be no children. I will never allow you to touch me. I’ll force you into divorce if I have to.

Her father sat back and crossed his arms arrogantly. “So, then, what will it be? Do you come back with us, or are you going to destroy Northtown all by yourself?”

“This is blackmail. You are selling me into prostitution.”

“Eventually you will thank me. Both of you.”

She stood up, dignified in defeat, and with the politeness beaten into him by the Old General, her father rose with her.

“Yes, I’ll go back with you. I don’t see that I have much choice in the matter. I’m doing this only for Northtown and how much I’ve always loved it. But as for thanking you, I’ll tell you when I’ll thank you. I will thank you when both of you are out of my life and I’m free.”