Chapter 4
To his surprise, as Nathan came around the corner onto Water Street later that same night, approaching the large two-story cabin that was known as the Homestead, he saw two figures standing just outside the fence, having an animated discussion. It was full dark now, and only as Nathan drew up on them did he see it was Brigham Young and Heber Kimball. They looked up as he strode over to them, immediately cutting their conversation short. Both looked grim. “Hello, Brother Nathan,” Brigham said.
Nathan was still fuming over what Lydia had told him. Every time he thought of those oily eyes raking Rebecca up and down, and the smooth hands brushing at her arm, he felt himself boiling inside. So he didn’t pay much attention to the state the two brethren were in. “Is Brother Joseph at home?” he asked abruptly.
“No,” Brigham said. “We were just looking for him.”
Nathan threw up his hands. “Did Emma say where he is? I must talk with him.”
“No. As you probably know, Don Carlos Smith is very ill. Emma’s gone to help his wife care for him. Only Emma’s nephew is home now with the baby.”
Nathan grunted at that. He knew that Emma’s nephew, a young man in his early twenties, was visiting with them from out of town somewhere. “It is a matter of utmost urgency,” he went on. “No idea where Joseph might be?”
“No,” Brigham answered. “We have an urgent matter of our own.” There was a snort of open disgust. “It concerns our esteemed mayor. We were just discussing where we might find Joseph so we can deal with it.”
Nathan had started to turn away, but now he snapped back around. “Brother Bennett?”
“Yes,” Heber growled. “We’ve been working on a problem concerning him. Now it is time for a resolution.”
“Well, there’s a thing or two you should know about this man before you go calling him our esteemed mayor,” Nathan snapped.
The two Apostles exchanged a quick glance; then Brigham took Nathan by the arm. “When I called him our esteemed mayor, I was being somewhat sarcastic, Nathan. But I suggest that you tell Heber and me what it is that is of concern to you. There are some questions with John C. Bennett that we wish to take up with Brother Joseph.” He gave his companion another quick look, and it was filled with a sudden dread. “And I pray this is not what I think it is, Nathan.”
Nathan hesitated only a moment. Here were two senior members of the Quorum of the Twelve. If he couldn’t tell Joseph, then there weren’t two men in Nauvoo with more authority to tell it to. So he told them, trying to control his bitterness from spilling over into the narrative.
When he finished, there was a long silence, and then Brigham’s face noticeably relaxed. “Thank heavens, Nathan.”
“Thank heavens?” he echoed incredulously. “My sister goes to the Assistant President of the Church and is made to feel like a common harlot, and all you can say is thank heavens?”
Heber turned Nathan to face him. “What Brigham means is that we are thankful that it progressed no further than that. At first we feared the report might be much worse.”
“Oh.” Nathan realized he was letting his feelings get the better of him. “I’m sorry, Brigham. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
Brigham brushed that off as inconsequential. “When did all this happen?”
“This morning.”
Brigham shook his head, his jaw tight, the blue-gray eyes looking like the advancing crest of a thunderstorm. “Nathan, I want you to come with us and find Joseph. He needs to hear your report along with ours. This is a very serious thing now.”
As Nathan looked back and forth between these two lifelong friends, his bewilderment was evident. Heber watched him for a moment, then looked at Brigham. “I think he has a right to know what is going on.”
There was a quick, curt nod.
Heber turned back to Nathan. “Are you aware of the letter Joseph got from Brother Hyrum a short time ago?”
“Yes, Joseph told my father and me about it.”
“Joseph has opened an inquiry,” Heber went on. “Brigham and I have been helping him.”
“He hinted as much to us in that same conversation. What have you found?”
Brigham didn’t answer that directly. “In the past few days, Joseph called in a young woman whose name has been linked with Bennett’s in various rumors and gossip. He was hoping that she would refute the accusations.”
“But she didn’t?” Nathan asked, already knowing the answer.
“No, she didn’t,” Heber said.
“But it is far worse than any of us had supposed,” Brigham broke in. “This woman, thinking Bennett was an unmarried man and hoping for a proposal of marriage from him, was quite flattered that his attentions had settled on her. But he began to press his affections upon her, begging her to let him gratify the passion he felt for her. The woman demurred, of course. She was a virtuous and innocent sister. She protested that such acts were against the laws of God.”
Now Brigham’s eyes were hard and very cold. “Was Bennett discouraged by such a show of chastity? Not in the least. He told her that she didn’t understand the law properly. He said that promiscuous relations between the sexes was lawful and that there was no harm in it as long as it was kept a secret.”
“No!” Nathan exclaimed.
“Oh, yes!” Brigham muttered. “She was shocked and refused his advances in the strongest terms, saying that she couldn’t accept his word on a matter that important. She told him that what he was asking was wrong and it would bring shame and disgrace upon her and the Church.”
“Good for her.” Nathan’s anger was quickly turning into cold fury.
“No,” Heber corrected him, “not good. Even her vehement protests did not stop this man. When the mayor found that his line of argument was ineffectual, he took another tack. He reminded her of his position as Assistant President to Joseph, then told her that men of high position in the Church, including Joseph himself, had taught him this doctrine.”
“What?” Nathan exploded.
“That’s right. He swore that Joseph had given him permission to teach and live it.”
Nathan was gaping at him.
Heber’s voice had a ring of cold steel to it now. “He told her that Joseph and other leaders, including Brigham and me, were not only teaching that doctrine but living it as well. Knowledge of this was only being kept secret because it would cause an uproar among the people, and especially create problems with Emma. He swore that he was acting with our direct permission in teaching the doctrine to her.”
Filled with revulsion and horror, Nathan exploded. “Surely the woman was not fool enough to believe that?”
For several moments both men were silent. Then, with a heavy heart, Brigham answered. “She did believe him. And she did succumb to his advances.”
Nathan felt as if he had been kicked in the stomach. No wonder Brigham had been thankful when he learned that Rebecca’s interaction with this man had ended as quickly as it did.
“That was what we were to meet about,” Brigham went on. “All of this has only just come out in the last few days, some of it as recently as this morning. He asked us to investigate some of the reports.”
“You mean there is more than one woman involved in all this?”
Brigham nodded. “There are at least five others that we know of.” His jaw tightened. “And not all are unmarried.”
Nathan straightened, now filled with implacable resolve. “What do you want me to do?”
“I suggest we split up,” Brigham said. “Nathan, you go up to the temple site. Heber, you go to the city council office. Also check the mayor’s office. Emma’s nephew said those are some of the places Joseph specifically mentioned where he might be going. I’ll check out the site of his new store and at the printing office. If we find him, we come back here. Let’s all try to be back here in an hour either way.”
They nodded and moved away, each heading off in a different direction.
When Emma’s nephew opened the door, Nathan removed his hat. “Good evening. Has Brother Joseph returned home yet?”
“Good evening. No, but I expect him soon. May I help you?” Then recognition crossed the man’s face. “Brother Steed, I think it is?”
Nathan nodded. “Yes, we met at the store. I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten your name.”
“Lorenzo Wasson. I’m Emma’s nephew.”
“Yes.” Nathan looked around. There was no sign of Brigham or Heber. “Have Brother Young or Brother Kimball returned here in the last few minutes?”
“No. They were here over an hour ago, but I haven’t seen them since.” He opened the door wider. “Look, why don’t you come in and wait for Uncle Joseph. I expect him back any minute now.”
Hesitating, Nathan considered that. Then he decided that Heber and Brigham would also inquire at the house when they returned. “All right, thank you.”
As Wasson stepped back, Nathan entered the house. The young man moved through the main parlor and into the sitting room behind it. The house still held some of the day’s heat, and this was the coolest room in it. “Have a seat, Brother Steed. As you probably know, Joseph’s brother Don Carlos is very sick.”
“Yes,” Nathan responded. Don Carlos was Joseph’s youngest brother, and especially close to Joseph and Emma. They had even named their last baby after him. “How is he doing?”
“A little better, but still quite serious. Aunt Emma has gone to help Agnes. Julia has the other children at Mother Smith’s, but I’m watching little Don Carlos. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go check and make sure he’s still asleep.”
Nathan nodded absently as Wasson left the room, his thoughts already moving ahead to what this night would bring. He thought of the innocent women duped by the lying tongue of John Bennett. He thought of husbands who had been betrayed and wondered if they knew. And if they did, what did that do to their marital situation? How would he feel if he were to ever find out that Lydia had been unfaithful to him?
He shook his head, feeling slightly nauseated. Gratefully, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and pulled out of his thoughts. Wasson came back into the room. “Uncle Joseph is coming up the street right now. I saw him from the window.”
Nathan stood. “Good. Is anyone with him?”
“Yes. I think it’s the mayor.”
Nathan visibly started at that. “Brother Bennett?”
“Yes. I’m pretty certain that’s who it is.”
That was a totally unexpected turn. “And it’s only the two of them?”
“Yes.”
Where was Brigham? Where was Heber? Still puzzled, he turned and started toward the front door. His mind was racing. How did you report on John C. Bennett’s behavior when John C. Bennett was standing there? But he didn’t get a chance to answer that question. As he and Wasson entered the larger parlor that fronted the house, the sound of irate voices came through the open windows. Nathan stopped. It was Joseph’s voice. And there was no mistaking it. He was angry. Very angry!
Nathan turned to Wasson. He was staring in the direction of the doorway, obviously shocked. That was not surprising, Nathan thought. He was reeling a little himself. He had known Joseph Smith for fourteen years now. Never once in all that time had he heard his voice filled with such fury as he was hearing now. Then Nathan realized that the two figures outside were coming up the walk. With a quick jerk of his head, he moved back into the smaller room. “I think it’s best if we’re not in here,” he said in a low voice.
Wasson jumped, moving to follow Nathan. Nathan shut the door between the two rooms carefully, seeing the front door open just as he did so.
“Joseph! Joseph!” John C. Bennett’s voice was close to a sob. “Please! Listen to me.”
“Listen to what, John? More of your lies? More of your silk tongue?”
The voices came through the paneling of the door with only the slightest of muffling. Embarrassed to be listening to obviously privileged communication, Nathan gestured toward the hallway. “Can we get outside from here?” he whispered to Wasson.
“No. Not without them seeing us.”
“How about upstairs?”
“Yes, that would be better.”
Behind them the voices were still hammering at each other. “I’m sorry, Joseph!” Bennett wailed. “I swear to you. I am truly sorry.”
Nathan led the way, moving quickly up the stairs and into the far bedroom. It helped but it wasn’t enough. The two men below them were speaking loudly enough that their voices carried into every corner of the house. There was no avoiding it. Nathan sat down on the edge of the bed, not wanting to listen, but not able not to.
“Sorry?” Joseph cried. “John, that’s what you said months ago when I first confronted you about having abandoned your wife and children back in Ohio. ‘I’m sorry,’ you said. ‘I’m sorry I left them. I’m sorry I lied to you, Joseph. Please forgive me, Brother Joseph. Now that I’ve joined the Church, I’ve changed. I’m a different man.’” There was mocking irony in the biting words. “Isn’t that what you said, John? Aren’t those your very words?”
“Yes, but—”
“And I believed you. When others were saying evil things about you, I believed you, John. I believed you meant what you said. I believed your promises. I supported you for mayor.” Now Joseph’s voice sounded choked. “I asked you to be the Assistant President of the Church! And all that time . . . all that time you were going on with your abominations.”
There was a muttered sound, but the words were not distinguishable.
“No, John,” came the thunderous reply. “I can’t accept that. I won’t accept words. Not anymore. Not after all the lies. Not now that your blackest doings have been exposed to the light.”
“I’ll do anything, Joseph. Just tell me what you want me to do.” He was sobbing openly now, his voice desperate. “Please!”
It was as though Joseph hadn’t heard him. “It is shocking beyond belief to think that you have given way to your basest instincts. You have dragged the innocent into submitting to your depravity. You have deprived them of that which is most precious and dear. That alone would be sin enough. But to compound the evil, you did so in the name of the Lord. You did so in the name of the Church. You used my name and the name of other leaders. You used your own position of authority to lie and deceive and seduce.”
“I know, Joseph. I know. I am an evil person. I’ve tried to stop. I’ve tried to do better. I can’t. These women, they weren’t totally innocent either. They encouraged me with their—”