CHAPTER FIVE
Usually, Gideon wanted to spend as much time with Elizabeth as possible, but this evening was different. At least Fred Preston hadn’t refused to even consider helping Rose, although Gideon was certain he wouldn’t do so without a fight. Maybe his attorneys would advise him he’d be foolish to make his family’s business public with a court case that would be the talk of the state. On the other hand, Fred had also been correct in predicting that the press would paint Rose as a gold digger and worse. Women always got the brunt of these things, and in this case, Rose even looked like a gold digger because she sort of was initially.
Twilight had settled over the city by the time he reached the big old house in Greenwich Village. Elizabeth answered the door, and her smile of greeting almost made him forget why he’d come. Then she kissed him, and he did forget, if only for a moment.
“You poor thing,” she said. “Are you just back from Poughkeepsie?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Yes, I got something on the train.”
“Come on inside, then.” She escorted him into the parlor.
Cybil and Zelda were sitting with Rose, who looked a little better than she had the last time he’d seen her, even if the bruises on her face were turning odd colors. He greeted them all, and Cybil made an excuse for her and Zelda to leave him alone with Elizabeth and Rose.
When they’d gone, Elizabeth sat down beside Rose on the sofa and Gideon took one of the many chairs scattered around the room, sinking into it wearily.
“Fred isn’t going to give me anything, is he?” Rose said.
“He’s considering his . . . his options,” Gideon said. “He was adamant that he wouldn’t do anything for you at all until I told him about the baby.”
“You told him?” Rose asked in alarm.
“Yes. I know I should have discussed it with you first, but . . . Well, let me explain my thinking. I made sure the receptionist and his secretary knew that I’d come to make arrangements for Tom’s widow.”
“Why did you do that?” Rose asked, horrified now. “It’s nobody’s business!”
But Elizabeth said, “Oh, I see.” She turned to Rose. “Men like Fred Preston are often very worried about their reputations. They don’t want to be seen in a bad light, and if people heard that he’d cut off his brother’s widow without a penny, they’d think poorly of him.”
“Especially because Tom was a war hero,” Gideon continued. “So I made sure the word would get out.”
“But he didn’t care, did he?” Rose said.
“Not as much as I had hoped,” Gideon admitted. “Not even when I mentioned a lawsuit and how interested the press would be in learning about his private business, so that’s when I realized he needed to know about the baby.”
“And how did he react?” Elizabeth asked.
“He was surprised, as I’d hoped he would be, and a bit disconcerted. A man might scorn his brother’s wife, but his brother’s child is an entirely different matter.”
“He’s not getting his hands on my baby,” Rose said, laying a protective hand over her belly.
“Of course he isn’t,” Elizabeth said, giving Gideon a chastening glance for even suggesting such a thing, even though he hadn’t.
“No, we won’t allow that, but he could be persuaded to provide for you both, I think. In fact—if it’s any comfort to you—he seemed genuinely shocked when I told him you were almost killed in the attack.”
“Why would he be, since he was the one sent that goon after me?”
“I do believe he sent that goon, as you call him, because he wasn’t at all surprised to hear you’d caught a man burglarizing your apartment, but he obviously had no idea the man had attacked you, much less how serious the attack was.”
“He probably just sent the man to steal the will while you weren’t home,” Elizabeth said. “Businessmen like Fred Preston don’t usually solve their problems with murder.”
Rose didn’t look completely convinced. “But killing me would solve his problems and get rid of the baby, too.”
“I’m hoping that his knowing about the baby will actually protect you. The child is his flesh and blood, too.”
“Ugh, what an awful thought,” Rose said with a shiver.
“And we certainly won’t assume he feels protective toward the baby until we know for sure,” Elizabeth said. “So you’ll stay here for the time being.”
“I can’t stay here forever, though.”
“I’m sure I’ll hear from Fred Preston very soon,” Gideon said. “He wanted to consult with his own attorneys, and they are bound to advise him to settle with you. It’s the only sensible course to take.”
“And once he’s made a settlement, he won’t have any reason to hurt you, will he, Gideon?” Elizabeth asked.
“No. I’ll make sure the money is tied up in such a way that he can’t reclaim it even if something happens to you.”
“Can you do that?” Rose asked with a skeptical frown.
“Attorneys can do all sorts of interesting things,” Elizabeth said with an adoring smile that made Gideon feel a little better about this whole thing. But only a little.
“Yes, we can,” he confirmed with only slightly less confidence than Elizabeth had expressed. “Tell me, is Fred married?”
“No, he’s not,” Rose said. “Does that matter?”
“Maybe. I was thinking I might also ask him to make your child his heir. I’m sure Tom would want that.”
“I told you attorneys can do all sorts of interesting things,” Elizabeth said.
Rose seemed unimpressed. “I’ll just be happy if he can keep us both alive.”
The next day Gideon was surprised when his clerk interrupted his perusal of some estate documents. He knew he had no appointments scheduled, and Smith usually discouraged anyone with the temerity to arrive without one.
“Excuse me, Mr. Bates, but a lady is here to see you. She said it’s concerning Mr. Thomas Preston’s estate, and I know you’re assisting his widow.”
“Did the lady give her name?” Could Rose have come to see him? Surely not, at least not alone. Elizabeth would never have allowed it.
“She is Mrs. Frederick Preston Senior.”
Ah, the stepmother then. Why on earth was she here? “She’s alone?”
“So it appears.”
“Well, then, send her in.”
Gideon rose and went to greet Mrs. Preston as Smith escorted her into his office.
She seemed surprised when she saw Gideon, but he was used to that reaction. People expected attorneys to be middle-aged with gray hair and a paunch. For his part, Gideon was surprised because he expected stepmothers to be evil harpies. Mrs. Preston might well have been an evil harpy, but she disguised it well. She wasn’t much older than Fred Preston, if Gideon was any judge, and her lush figure was enhanced by a walking suit that might well have come from Paris before the war. If Fred hadn’t spent his war profits on sprucing up his office, Mrs. Preston had certainly spent hers on sprucing up her wardrobe.
Gideon introduced himself and offered her a seat. “Can I get you something to drink? Some tea or coffee?”
“I would like a glass of water, if you don’t mind. I’m afraid I’m not used to the city.”
Gideon nodded to Smith, who slipped away to fetch the water. “I’m sure it can be overwhelming if you aren’t used to it.” Mrs. Preston, for her part, didn’t look a bit overwhelmed. “What can I do for you, Mrs. Preston?”
“First of all, I must apologize for my stepson’s behavior yesterday. He told me about your encounter, and I’m afraid he has let his grief over losing poor Tom affect his manners and his good nature.”
“I assumed he was not himself,” Gideon said tactfully. Surely, Fred wasn’t always a heartless cad.
“It’s kind of you to excuse him. I did speak to him about it, and we have discussed this unfortunate situation and how best to deal with it. You’ll be glad to know we realize we must accept responsibility for Tom’s wife, no matter the circumstances of their marriage.”
This was a pleasant surprise. “So you are prepared to honor Tom’s wishes?”
“Oh, I hardly think that’s a good idea. What would a girl like that do if she were suddenly given a fortune? All sorts of people would try to take advantage of her, and that wouldn’t be in her best interest at all. But she is part of our family, as is her child, so we are prepared to offer her and her baby a home with us for as long as she lives.”
Gideon seldom found himself speechless, but this was one of those rare occasions. How fiendishly clever! Nothing could have been more natural than for Tom’s widow to go live with his family. They couldn’t be faulted for following the wishes Tom had set out in his only surviving last will and testament, even though it did effectively disinherit his wife and child, and by taking in the widow and orphan, they were showing true Christian charity toward them. Rose and her child would never want for anything, or so Fred and his stepmother would claim. If Gideon wasn’t certain that Fred Preston had hired a henchman who was to steal Tom’s true will and who had also almost murdered Rose in the bargain, he’d have been thrilled by this offer.
“How very generous of you,” he finally managed.
“It’s really the least we can do, isn’t it? We are fortunate that we have the means to give this young woman our support.”
Gideon took a moment to completely reconsider his opinion of Mrs. Preston Senior, because the unreasonable hothead with whom Gideon had met yesterday had surely not been the mastermind of this scheme. “Tom told me your factory was able to get a contract to provide shoes for the army.”
If Mrs. Preston was surprised by the change of subject, she didn’t show it. “I really don’t know anything about the business except what Fred tells me over the dinner table, but I do know things are going well for us. Fred was honored that his company was selected.”
Gideon was sure he was, just as he was sure Mrs. Preston knew far more about everything than she pretended. “I’ll have to discuss your offer with Mrs. Preston, of course.” Not that Rose would ever consider moving in with Fred Preston and his stepmother.
“I can’t imagine she’ll refuse. When Fred told me she’d actually been attacked . . . Well, I can assure her she will be perfectly safe in Poughkeepsie.”
Gideon didn’t even bother to respond to that. “What if she doesn’t want to live in Poughkeepsie?”
Mrs. Preston seemed astonished at such an idea. “Why wouldn’t she? Fred told me she has no resources of her own, and without Tom to support her, how will she manage? With a child, too?”
“I’m just imagining how difficult it will be for her to leave the city, which is the only place she’s ever lived, and move to a town where she knows no one, not even the people she’ll be living with.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers, Mr. Bates,” Mrs. Preston said with a rather pinched smile. “And she needs to be thinking of her child’s future. What kind of life can she give him?”
“She can give him a perfectly fine life if Tom’s family would honor his wishes and provide for her and the child. Really, Mrs. Preston, aren’t you at least a little hesitant to bring a perfect stranger into your home?”
“Should I be, Mr. Bates?” she asked coyly.
Was she flirting with him? Once again Gideon reconsidered his opinion of Mrs. Preston. She was a handsome woman who had probably used her charms to snag the elder Mr. Preston when he was widowed. Nothing wrong with that in a world where women had very few opportunities outside of marriage. In fact, Rose had done the same thing with Tom. But now Mrs. Preston lived with her stepson, who was probably closer to her age than her late husband had been. A stepson who didn’t have a wife of his own, which opened up other possibilities. “Rose Preston is a very attractive young woman.”
Plainly, this was not at all what she had expected to hear. “What does that mean?”
Leaning forward and folding his hands on his desktop, Gideon assumed the earnest expression he used when he had to break unpleasant news to a client. “Am I correct in assuming that you still reside in the Preston family home?”
“Of course I do.” She was getting angry now. Good.
“And your stepson lives there, too.”
“I can’t imagine what business it is of yours, but yes, he does.”
“And you will be bringing an attractive young woman to live there with you.”
“I will be there to chaperone, of course. It will all be completely proper.”
Gideon nodded his understanding. “Yes, yes, I’m sure it will be. I was only concerned because . . .” He looked away as if loath to discuss it.
“You are beginning to annoy me, Mr. Bates. Pray tell me why you are concerned.”
“As you may have gathered, Tom had not known his bride very long before they married.”
“How could he have? He’d only been gone from Poughkeepsie for the three months of training before he was shipped out.”
“But that was enough time for her to capture his heart and marry him.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Nothing, of course, but have you considered that his brother might also find her . . . appealing?”
Plainly, this had not occurred to Mrs. Preston, and now that it had, she was not best pleased. “That’s . . . ridiculous.”
“Also, Tom and his brother must be somewhat alike. I did see a family resemblance. Mrs. Tom Preston may find his brother attractive in the same way.”
“So which is it?” she snapped. “Is Fred supposed to fall hopelessly in love with her or she with him?”
“I have no idea. Perhaps both.”
The color was blooming in her cheeks. “I can assure you Fred would never . . . He can hardly stand the sight of that woman.”
“Then why is he so anxious for her to live in his house?”
This time Mrs. Preston was the one struck speechless.
While she struggled, Gideon added, “Really, Mrs. Preston, that’s hardly a convincing argument for Rose Preston to move in with you. I can’t imagine she’d feel welcome under those circumstances.”
Mrs. Preston’s face was scarlet now, and she rose imperiously from her chair. “I don’t particularly care if she feels welcome or not. This is the only offer she will receive from us. If she doesn’t want to end up begging on the streets with her child strapped to her back, she’ll take it.”
With that, she stormed out, leaving the door hanging open. Smith appeared a few moments later, frowning in consternation at his visitor’s abrupt departure. “Is everything all right, sir?”
“Oh yes, Smith. It seems Mrs. Preston got some bad news she wasn’t expecting. I’m sorry if she was rude to you.”
“Not at all. She simply showed herself out the door, which is rather out of the ordinary, so I assumed she was upset.”
She wasn’t the only one. “Smith, would you telephone Miss Miles and ask her if it’s convenient for me to call on her this afternoon?”
“Certainly, sir.”
Elizabeth could hardly believe what Gideon was telling them. She and Rose had gathered with Gideon in Cybil’s cluttered parlor again while he described Mrs. Preston’s visit to his office.
“How very clever,” Elizabeth said when he had explained their invitation.
Rose frowned. “Why is it clever? I just think it’s mean. They figured out a way of getting out of giving me my money.”
“It’s clever because they outfoxed poor Gideon.”
“Poor?” Gideon protested, laying a hand on his heart as if mortally wounded.
“I’m sorry, darling, but they did outfox you. You see,” she explained to Rose, “Gideon figured he could embarrass Fred into giving you a settlement. He wouldn’t want his friends and neighbors to think he was the kind of man who would abandon his late brother’s wife and child.”
“But that’s exactly the kind of man he is,” Rose said in exasperation.
“Yes, it is, but as I said, most people want others to think well of them, and when people get a little money, they want it all the more.”
Rose frowned. “Why?”
“So they’ll get invited to parties and . . . Oh, it’s all just too silly, but believe me, to people in society, it’s all vitally important. But Fred figured out a way to protect himself.”
Gideon stopped her with a raised hand. “I’m not convinced Fred figured it out.”
“Really?” Elizabeth asked.
“Yes, really. I can’t imagine he even cares what people think, or at least not very much, but his stepmother probably does.”
“Women do tend to care about those things more.”
“And Mrs. Preston strikes me as a woman who cares very much.”
“You’ll have to tell us more about her, darling,” Elizabeth said, leaning forward eagerly.
“I told you, she’s the widow of Tom and Fred’s father.”
“What does she look like? How old is she? And she must be quite smart if you think she came up with this plan.”
“She’s . . . well-dressed,” he hedged.
“Tommy said she was only five years older than Fred,” Rose offered. “Which still makes her pretty old.”
“Still far short of forty, though,” Gideon said a little defensively.
“She’s a handsome woman, too, or Gideon would have called her ‘matronly’ or something like that,” Elizabeth confided in Rose.
“My mother would disapprove of my judging a female by her appearance,” Gideon reminded her.
“As would I,” Elizabeth said, “but in this case, we need to form an opinion of this woman since she is obviously very involved in what’s happening. Why did you decide she was the one who had come up with the plan?”
“Because it’s a woman’s solution. Fred was content to cheat Rose out of her inheritance and send her on her way, but someone who cared about their reputation came up with an alternative that would save them embarrassment and still not cost them or particularly benefit Rose, either.”
“But they don’t really want me moving in with them, do they?” Rose asked. “Because they hate me and because I’m trash, according to Fred.”
“If it makes you feel any better, Mrs. Preston apologized for Fred’s behavior,” Gideon said.
“It doesn’t make me feel better at all,” Rose said. “And you can’t apologize for somebody else. Even I know that.”
“No, you can’t,” Elizabeth said. “So we must ask ourselves why Fred and his stepmother came up with this idea if they really don’t want you moving in with them.”
“That’s easy,” Gideon said. “So they can tell their friends and neighbors that they did offer Rose and her child a home with them but that she scorned their generous offer and went off on her own.”
“Which would mean that they didn’t believe Rose would accept their offer,” Elizabeth said. “But they had to have considered the possibility that she would.”
“But I wouldn’t, not ever,” Rose insisted.
“Never say never,” Elizabeth said. “You don’t know what you’ll do if you’re desperate enough. Right now you’ve got Tom’s money and a lovely apartment, but I’m guessing Tom’s income from the factory will stop now, and sooner or later you’ll run out of money. What will you do then?”
“I’ll . . . I’ll get a job, I suppose. I was working in the shirtwaist factory when I met Tommy.”
“And who will take care of your baby?”
“I . . . I don’t know,” she finally admitted.
“Just as I thought. It’s one thing to be on your own and quite another to be on your own with a child. And the Prestons may have counted on you having no other choice but to come to them.”
“But why would they want me to?”
“Yes, why, Elizabeth?” Gideon asked uneasily.
Elizabeth looked at both of them, unable to believe neither of them had realized the darker side of Mrs. Preston’s offer. “That man who broke into the apartment tried to kill you, Rose.”
Instinctively, she touched her throat. “You don’t think . . . But they couldn’t . . . Not in their own house!”
“Surely not!” Gideon exclaimed. “Rose is right. They couldn’t harm her in their own house.”
“I’m not saying it’s true. I’m just saying it’s a possibility, and they’ve certainly tried it once already, even though it might not have been planned. At the very least, it got them to thinking, and with Rose out of the way, they wouldn’t have to worry about a lawsuit or a scandal or anything else.”
“But if Rose died, they’d have a completely different scandal,” Gideon said.
“Not necessarily. Women do die in childbirth. They might spare the baby out of a tenderness for Tom, but Rose is the real threat here. And if they didn’t want to wait for the baby to be born and didn’t care about the baby at all, Rose could simply become ill and pass away.”
Elizabeth watched in dismay as the color drained from Rose’s face. “I never thought . . .”
“I’m so sorry,” Elizabeth cried, seeing her distress. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” But of course she had meant exactly that, because Rose needed to understand the terrible danger she was in. She just hadn’t intended for Rose to faint. “Are you all right?”
“You could have been a little more diplomatic,” Gideon whispered fiercely as Elizabeth jumped up and helped Rose to lie prone on the sofa, lifting her feet and finding a cushion for her head.
“I don’t know a diplomatic way to tell someone her life is in danger,” Elizabeth whispered right back.
“I can hear you,” Rose said weakly. “And you’re right. I should’ve thought of it myself.”
“I’m sure Cybil has smelling salts around here somewhere,” Elizabeth said, casting about helplessly.
“I’m fine. I just need a minute,” Rose said, sounding a little stronger.
“Maybe a glass of water,” Gideon said.
Elizabeth hurried off to fetch it. When she returned, Rose’s color was much better, and she sat up on her own to drink the water.
“I’m so sorry,” Elizabeth said again.
“Stop it,” Rose snapped. “I need to know the truth, and now I need to know what to do next.”
Elizabeth looked up and met Gideon’s gaze.
“Don’t look at me. My ideas have nearly gotten Rose killed,” he said.
“It wasn’t your idea for Rose to keep Tom’s will at her apartment,” Elizabeth pointed out generously.
“So it’s my ideas that almost got me killed,” Rose said with a sigh.
“Let’s not waste any time casting blame,” Elizabeth said. “The real villains are Fred and his stepmother.” She turned to Gideon. “You didn’t finish your story. How did you leave things with Mrs. Preston?”
“Oh, I almost forgot, although, now that I think of it, I probably just gave Mrs. Preston another reason to . . . uh . . . to not want Rose around.”
Elizabeth managed not to sigh. “Just tell us.”
Gideon motioned that she should sit back down next to Rose, and he took his own seat as well. “I got this idea. . . . Really, Rose planted the seed when she told me Fred wasn’t married, and while I was talking with Mrs. Preston, I realized she and Fred share a house.”
“Is that so unusual?” Elizabeth asked.
“For a grown man to share a house with his widowed stepmother? Probably not, unless she’s only a few years older than he is and a very handsome woman.”
“I told you she was a handsome woman,” she said to Rose.
“Not what you’d call a beauty, but she’s . . . interesting,” Gideon admitted.
Elizabeth considered this for a moment, then turned to Rose. “Did Tom ever mention anything about this to you?”
“Not exactly. He did mention that he didn’t like Delia much. That’s her name, Delia. He never called her ‘Mother,’ even though he was still pretty young when his father married her.”
“And what about Fred?”
“Tommy didn’t talk about Fred much. I didn’t understand it at first. I thought maybe he didn’t like Fred, either, but I finally realized that he just didn’t like saying things that made Fred look bad.”
“Things like what?” Elizabeth asked.
“Like how Fred seemed to get along too well with Delia. ‘Thick as thieves’ was what he said once. I didn’t know what he meant then, but now I think I do.”
“So maybe I was right to be suspicious,” Gideon said.
“Oh dear,” Elizabeth said.
Gideon gave her a sympathetic glance. “Yes, well, I decided to test the waters a little with Mrs. Preston . . . Delia . . . so I pointed out that Rose is an attractive young woman.”
Rose brightened at that. “Thank you, Mr. Bates.”
Gideon colored a little, but he continued bravely. “And I mentioned how Tom had only needed to know Rose a short time before deciding he wanted to marry her, which I felt indicated a man might fall in love with her rather quickly. Then I pointed out that Fred and Tom were brothers, and maybe Rose would also find Fred appealing because of that.”
“Not likely,” Rose sniffed.
“I didn’t really think so, either,” Gideon admitted, “but I didn’t see any harm in suggesting it to Mrs. Preston.”
“Gideon, did you lie?” Elizabeth said, feigning shock.
“Not at all. Stranger things have happened.”
Elizabeth turned to Rose. “One of those stranger things would be Gideon telling a lie.”
“Really?” Rose marveled. Plainly, her world included the normal use of prevarication, which was good to know.
“Really. So how did Mrs. Preston receive this suggestion from you?” she asked Gideon.
“She was not at all pleased, and she left my office in a huff.”
“A huff?”
“Well, she didn’t slam the door, but Smith was quite distressed that she didn’t wait to be shown out.”
“Poor Smith. He bears his burdens bravely.”
“Who is Smith?” Rose asked.
“Gideon’s law clerk. He’s a lovely gentleman, but don’t ever try to see Gideon without an appointment. You have been warned.”
Rose solemnly nodded her understanding.
“So Mrs. Preston and Fred may have an . . . unusual relationship,” Elizabeth mused.
“I felt I had to discourage her somehow from wanting Rose in her house,” Gideon said. “She may eventually realize I was only bluffing and the very thought of a romance between Rose and Fred is absurd, but that will take some time. Meanwhile, we can figure out our next step.”
“Don’t you know our next step?” Elizabeth asked.
“Not yet,” Gideon said with a sigh, “but I have a feeling you’re going to explain it to me very soon.”
Thank you so much for coming, Anna,” Elizabeth said the next morning as she ushered Anna Vanderslice into the parlor.
“I’m happy to help,” Anna said. She wore a brown skirt and a white shirtwaist with a jaunty blue scarf tied in a bow at her throat. A straw hat completed her ensemble, making her look exactly like the schoolgirl she had denied being only a month ago. “Good morning, Rose. You’re looking well.”
“Thank you,” Rose said.
“And so are you.” Elizabeth eyed Anna critically. “What have you done to yourself?”
“Not a thing. Maybe being happy makes me look different.”
“Why are you happy?” Rose asked.
“Because I’m learning such marvelous things.”
“Anna is a student at Hunter College.”
Rose made a face. “I always hated school.”
“College isn’t like regular school. It’s exciting and different, and everyone there is so smart.”
“I wouldn’t like it, then. I’m not smart,” Rose said.
“Don’t be so sure,” Anna said. “I didn’t think I was, either, but after a few days in college, I think I’m brilliant.”
“That’s interesting,” Elizabeth said. “Maybe I should go to college, too.”
“Maybe you should. Where are you off to today?”
“I need to see the Old Man,” Elizabeth said, “and I didn’t want to leave Rose alone.”
“I don’t think I’ll be much protection for her,” Anna said. “And don’t forget I have classes this afternoon, so I have to leave by twelve thirty.”
“Do I need protection here?” Rose said.
“Of course not. I was just afraid that if I left you here alone, you might get bored and go out somewhere, so Anna is going to entertain you.”
“I wouldn’t expect too much entertainment,” Anna told Rose, who smiled.
“I won’t.”
“So what do you need to see your father about?” Anna asked.
“What do you think? Gideon asked Fred Preston to do the right thing, but of course he won’t. Then Fred’s stepmother offered to let Rose move in with them so they could look after her.”
“Good heavens, is that a good idea?”
“Absolutely not. Rose can give you the whole amazing story while I’m gone.”
“And you think your father will be able to figure out some way to help Rose?”
“No, but he might be able to figure out how to get some money out of Fred Preston, which will accomplish the same thing.”