Fallen Women (22 page)

Jonas shook his head. “I ain’t telling her. I promised you that. She won’t like it if you get sold on Holladay Street.”

“You knew they’d do that?”

“Maybe. It turned out all right.” Jonas was nervous and blew on his hands. Beret smelled the whiskey again.

“Sit.” Beret pushed the footstool a little ways away from her. “I want to talk to you about my sister.”

Jonas glanced around the room as if looking for a way out. He rubbed his hands together. “I don’t know nothing.”

She couldn’t ease Jonas into a conversation as she had William, so Beret was direct. “You knew my sister as well as anyone. You drove her about.”

“I didn’t talk to her none—not much, leastways.” Jonas still held out the blanket, which made Beret uneasy.

“Of course you did. You’ve talked to me. You saved my life. Sit down.”

“I’d rather stand.”

Beret stood herself then, because she did not care to have Jonas looking down at her. His standing there with the blanket made her uncomfortable. “I’m told my aunt rescued you from some wicked newsboys. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do for my aunt, is there?”

Jonas didn’t respond but looked at her, suspicious. At last, he said, “I saved you, didn’t I?”

Of course, Beret thought, Jonas hadn’t cared about her. He was repaying Varina. Perhaps in his strange mind, he felt they were even, he and the Stanton family. A branch knocked against the house, startling her. The wind had come up, and the branch drummed against the roof in a sort of staccato. The room was gloomy, and Beret realized she was alone with this strange man, that no one in the house was likely to hear her if she cried out. But surely there would be no reason for her to summon help. Jonas was odd, but Beret dismissed the idea that he was dangerous.

“You’d be upset if someone hurt Mrs. Stanton—or her reputation—wouldn’t you?”

“I wouldn’t let nobody chuck her around.”

Jonas put down the blanket at last, but then he brushed aside his coat, and Beret saw a wicked-looking knife stuck in his belt. He followed her glance and grinned. “This here’s my frog sticker. Nobody’s going to chunk me around, neither,” he said. His face took on the appearance of an evil imp. Beret went to the fireplace and stirred the ashes. A tiny flame flickered for a moment, then died down. She watched it, her knuckles white in the firelight as she gripped the poker. She told herself Jonas was only a coachman, but there was something not quite right about him. She didn’t like being alone in the library with him and wished she had not dismissed William.

“Jonas, I am trying to find out who killed my sister, something that Judge and Mrs. Stanton are as anxious to know as I am. Finding the killer will put this ugly business behind us and let the judge pursue the Senate seat, which is something Mrs. Stanton wants very much.” Jonas would be well aware of the judge’s ambition. He’d have overheard talk in the carriage.

“She was murdered by a crazy man, her and that other’n,” Jonas blurted out. “You know as such. I taken you down there to see where she been done in. The coppers say it was a crazy man. Why you say otherwise?”

“And the police may be right, but I am not sure of it. I have information that while she lived under this roof, my sister acted improperly. What do you know about that? Was she a loose woman?”

Jonas dropped his head to one side, and Beret could see how badly the boy was misshapen. He might have been born that way or else he’d been beaten, perhaps by his mother or her johns, or maybe by boys in the orphanage, who always sensed the weak ones. He would be scarred inside, as well, perhaps worse than on the outside. His mother might have sold him to the perverted men who roamed the tenderloin. Or he could have been used in that manner by the bigger boys. Varina might have been the only person in his life who had shown him kindness. “You do want to help, don’t you, Jonas?” She added, “Mrs. Stanton will not know we talked. Was Miss Lillie a good woman?”

He shrugged. “She done things.”

Beret waited.

“Sometimes when I taken her in the carriage, she have me to pick up a man.”

“Did you tell my aunt?”

“Not when I first come to know how things was. But Mrs. Stanton found something in the carriage, something that ought’n be there, and she asks me. So I tell her. She say I’m to tell her every time Miss Lillie do something wrong.”

“And did you?”

Jonas shook his head. “Not everything. I don’t want to hurt Mrs. Stanton none.”

“What were the things you didn’t tell her?”

“I’m not telling you, neither.”

Beret grinned at that, and Jonas looked up and gave her a sly smile. He smiled like a little boy, Beret thought. “How old are you?” she asked.

“Not certain, maybe seventeen, maybe not.”

“You must have disliked my sister a great deal.”

Jonas looked directly at Beret now, and she saw the freakish scars on his face and thought what a good woman her aunt had been to pick up such an ugly child, a child other society women might find offensive, and take him into her home. In that, she was like her sister, Beret’s mother. Marta Osmundsen had been the soul of compassion.

Jonas looked down at the knife and carefully drew it out. He tested the blade against his hand, then looked at Beret, who kept her hand firmly on the poker. “No, ma’am. I liked Miss Lillie fine. She was good to me. Always had a nice word, not like some that looks down on the driver and are all braggy talking. She’d tell me to go get a glass of beer if she was going to stay a while and even give me a nickel to buy it.”

Beret made a note to do that the next time Jonas drove her someplace. “Is there anybody you can think of who would want to kill her?” Beret tried to keep her eyes from the knife, but that was impossible since Jonas began to wave it around.

“Nobody that knowed her. Maybe she wasn’t a good woman, but she was as nice a one as I ever met. Like I say, she was killed by a crazy man that cuts up whores. You best believe that.” He made stabbing motions at Beret to underscore the point.

“You were good protection for her, as you are for my aunt.”

“Nobody ever get to Mrs. Stanton when I’m around.” He ran the blade over his knuckles, then pointed it again at Beret. “I cut anybody that hurts her. You remember that, miss.”

Beret frowned, not sure what he meant. “I will.”

“I got to go now. I don’t want to be late.”

“Yes, of course. You go on. I won’t tell Mrs. Stanton we talked.”

“Oh, that’s all right. I’ll tell her.” He gave Beret a crooked smile, although there was no smile in his eyes, and then he said in a voice that made her shudder, “You be careful, miss. You don’t want nothing to happen to you like it did Miss Lillie. Maybe you ought to go back home.” He gave her a hard-eyed look and slunk away. It was the second time Jonas had warned her.

He was almost like two different boys, one protective, the other threatening, Beret thought, as she returned the poker to its stand.

She went up to her room then and turned the lock on the door. The lock was fragile. Beret herself could have broken it, but she felt safer with the door latched. She considered putting a chair in front of the door, but decided against it. Her aunt would be insulted if she found out.

Beret removed her dress and hung it in the wardrobe. On impulse, she examined Lillie’s clothes. There was a fur jacket, and when Beret put her hand into the pocket, she discovered a diamond brooch, a distinctive one whose stones formed a rose. It was expensive. Why would Lillie have left such a fine piece of jewelry behind? Even if she didn’t want it, she could have sold it. Beret returned the brooch to its hiding place until she could figure out what to do with it.

Curious now about the rest of Lillie’s things, Beret opened the drawers of the dresser. Nellie had unpacked Beret’s bags and put her garments into the top drawers, but Lillie’s possessions were in the lower drawers, and Beret went through them carefully, noting the fragile underthings, the lace fichus and scarves, the gloves. She picked up a kid glove, a long white one, and ran her hand over the buttery leather. Then she slipped her hand inside but felt something and withdrew a ring set with a diamond the color of champagne. When had Lillie developed a passion for diamonds? She had never worn much jewelry, only the pendant Beret had given her and their mother’s earrings shaped like stars. The other pieces must have been given to her, and she had secreted them so that her aunt wouldn’t know.

Beret put on her nightdress and got into bed, but she thought about Jonas and could not sleep. She did not like the idea of his roaming the house when her aunt and uncle were away. After a while, she rose and went to the window and looked out at the stable in the moonlight. The sky was smoky with clouds. In time, she saw Jonas leave the building with the carriage, and much later, she heard the clop-clop of the horses as he returned. She watched as he pulled the carriage under the porte cochere beneath her window, and while she could not see her aunt and uncle, she heard them enter the house, heard the low sounds of their voices as they climbed the stairs. She felt safer knowing they were there—but not entirely safe, she thought.

Chapter 14

The judge was gone by the time Beret entered the breakfast room the following morning, and she found her aunt writing notes. The older woman put aside the pen and paper and said, “It’s ever so much nicer sitting here in the sun than in that gloomy library, don’t you think?”

Beret remembered that she had left her letters on her uncle’s desk and said, “It was cozy writing letters in there last night. I hope you don’t mind if I used both the desk and your stationery. I left in such a hurry, I did not bring my own writing paper and did not want to use a letterhead from the police department. I must mail the letters today.”

Varina waved her hand. “Of course we don’t mind. I gave them to William to post.” Beret went to the window and raised her face to the sunlight. A few days before, the lawn had been raked and rid of the detritus of winter, and the earth was fresh and moist. Green shoots had begun to push up in the flower garden, which was Varina’s pride. By May, the daisies and heartsease would be budding, the delphinium sending up stalks, and by June, there would be a profusion of flowers, all colors but mostly pink, a dozen hues of it, because it was Varina’s favorite color. Beret had seen the garden before, had immersed herself in the perfume of the roses and peonies. She looked closely and thought she saw violets already blooming, but that might have been just crumbs of purple leaves.

The street was serene, peaceful. The trees, tall but not yet full grown, softened Grant Avenue’s ponderous houses of brick and stone. There were still traces of snow, drifts of it on the north sides of houses, but the sun had melted most of it, leaving only bits of ice that reflected the light like crystal beads.

“Honestly, Aunt, I don’t understand the weather here. One day it snows, and the next, it might be summer. I should have packed for both.”

“I think Lillie left enough gowns to allow you to dress for the seasons. They can be fitted to you. I’ll have William send for my dressmaker if you like.”

Beret did not turn around. “Why is it she did not take her things with her? I was surprised to see them here.”

“Who knows how women dress in those places?” Varina replied casually. “She took a few, and I thought she’d send for the rest after she was settled. If you don’t want them, then I suppose they can go to the church clothing drive. Some poor woman will think she’s a queen.”

“They’re very nice, and expensive, too. I wonder how Lillie was able to acquire them.”

“Your uncle gave her an allowance.”

“It must have been a generous one.” Beret turned around and smiled at her aunt.

Varina waved her arm. “I loaned her small sums. I said she could repay if she wished when the two of you had worked things out with your solicitor.”

“You were very good to her, Aunt.” Then Beret said again, “I am surprised she left so much here. Did she leave her jewelry, too?”

“Nothing of value.”

William entered then with Beret’s breakfast, and she seated herself at the table. While Beret was wondering how to bring up the subject of Lillie’s paramours, Varina said, “I am surprised to see you this morning. I thought you’d gone off with Michael in another visit to our underworld. It seems to have taken possession of you. May I hope that you listened to what I said and have given it up?” She raised an eyebrow at Beret. “I suspect you haven’t, because Jonas told me you had quizzed him about Lillie.”

“A little.”

“And what did he say?”

“Not much. Nothing you don’t know, that Lillie entertained men.”

“I had hoped to keep it from you. I’m sorry you had to find out.”

“I wanted to know.”

Varina motioned to William to pour more coffee, and then she dismissed him. “You haven’t given it up, then.”

“I hope to meet with Detective McCauley later today. He is conducting interviews.”

Varina clapped her hands. “Surely it can wait until tomorrow. I insist you come with me on an outing today. The Presbyterian Church is having a clothing drive for the poor, and I am in charge. Of course we are happy to take clothing for men and children, but we are especially anxious to outfit the women. It is important that those looking for employment appear well groomed. As you know, too often the burden of supporting the family falls on women, and yet their wages barely put food on the table for one person, let alone a husband and children.”

“You are too good, Aunt,” Beret said. “You are just like Mother.”

“Not that good, I’m afraid. You remember, Beret, your mother and I were born poor ourselves. We knew what it was like to be hungry and ill clothed, so it’s little enough I can do. Besides, the work reflects well on your uncle, and I do so want him to get the Senate appointment.”

“Is Mrs. Fisk, the woman you dined with last night, one of the women on your committee?”

Varina regarded Beret a moment. “Little gets past you. Is that not so, Beret?”

“I see nothing wrong with benefiting ourselves while we help others.” Beret wondered if she really felt that way or was just humoring her aunt.