Secrets of the Heart (16 page)

“Mom, Kathleen is the most wonderful girl in all the world. She’s the perfect girl for me. The fact that she comes from the other side of town doesn’t change a thing.”

“Well, it does as far as we’re concerned!” John said. “You’ve got to come to your senses!”

“Peter, if you were to marry this peasant girl, you’d bring shame on our family!” Maria said, her hands trembling. “Our friends and neighbors…what would they think?”

“Tell us you’ll reconsider,” John said. “Take some time and think it over.”

Peter shook his head in frustration. “But doesn’t my happiness mean anything? What about the love I have in my heart for this precious girl? Doesn’t that matter?”

“Your happiness matters to us tremendously, son,” Maria said.

Peter’s father nodded. “We want nothing but the best for you. We want you to marry a girl who will make you happy, but it has to be the
right girl.”

Peter looked at the floor for several moments, then said, “I love you both, and I want things to be right between us. For now, all I’m asking is that you try to understand my feelings.”

“We don’t want to hurt you, son,” John said. “We just want what’s best for you.”

“All right, I’m glad of that. I apologize for seeing Kathleen behind your backs. I should have been honest with you. So I’ll be honest with you right now. I’m still going to spend time with her. And I will not act like she’s invisible when she and I are in the house at the same time. I’m being up-front with you, okay?”

A look passed between John and Maria, and he gave her a slight nod.

“All right, son,” John said.

On Tuesday, Kathleen rang the bell at the back door of the Stallworth mansion and was greeted by Carlene. She immediately headed through the house for the winding staircase, for on Tuesdays she always started her work on the second floor.

She mounted the stairs and went to the closet where her cart and
cleaning equipment were stored, and reached for the doorknob.

“Kathleen! Just leave the cart in the closet!”

Kathleen backed away from the door, waiting for Maria to reach her. “Is there a change in plans today, ma’am?”

“There sure is. You’re not cleaning one more day in this house. You’re fired! Get out!”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Peter confessed that he’s been seeing you on the sly! Shame on you, Kathleen! I brought you in here and gave you a job because I trusted you. I thought you were a nice girl. Well, I found out Sunday night that you’ve been seeing my son behind my back when you knew how I felt about it. Peter told his father and me that he’s through with you. He doesn’t want anything to do with you anymore. Now get out!”

Kathleen felt the strength drain from her body. Her voice sounded faint as she said, “I…I’ll bring the uniforms back to you, Mrs. Stallworth.”

“Forget the uniforms! I just want you out of my sight and out of my house,
right now!”

As Kathleen walked toward the spiral staircase, Maria shouted, “Sneak! Seeing my son behind my back! How much lower can you get? I’m going over to LuAnn’s house right now and tell her all about you! She’ll fire you, too!”

A wave of nausea washed over Kathleen as she moved down the hall. When she entered the kitchen, Carlene gave her a sorrowful look, “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Kathleen nodded without speaking and picked up her coat. As she walked away from the Stallworths’ neighborhood her shoulders drooped, and tears coursed down her cheeks. There was no use in even going to the Massey house tomorrow. Maria Stallworth would have already persuaded Mrs. Massey to fire her.

People stared at the girl who walked with her head bowed, tears dripping from her chin. She didn’t even notice them, so great was her
sorrow. She had lost her family in the fire, and now she had lost her livelihood and…Peter.

That evening, Hattie Murphy happened to be near the front door of the boardinghouse when she saw Peter Stallworth come in.

“Hello, Hattie!” Peter said, smiling. “How are you?”

Hattie’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were aflame with indignation. “I was fine till I saw you!”

“What do you mean? Hattie…what’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter?
How do you expect me to feel after the way you broke that poor girl’s heart?”

Peter frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Kathleen didn’t come down to supper tonight. I went up to her room to see if she was all right, and she was crying her eyes out. Your mother fired her this morning and told her you said you were through with her. You didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. And your mother told her she’d get Mrs. Massey to fire her, too.”

Peter was stunned. “Mrs. Murphy, what my mother told Kathleen about me was a lie! I never said any such thing. I love Kathleen with all of my heart, and I want to marry her!”

Hattie cocked her head and looked him straight in the eye. “Do you really mean that, Peter?”

“I sure do!”

“Then I’m giving you permission to go up there and tell it to Kathleen in the privacy of her room. Come with me. She probably won’t open the door if you knock and tell her it’s you.”

Kathleen lay sprawled across the bed. She had cried until there seemed to be no more tears left. The only good thing that had happened to her all day was that Hattie had told her she could stay in the room and eat her meals without cost until she was able to find work.

When the tap came at the door, she sat up and called out, “Who is it?”

“Its Mrs. Murphy, honey.”

Kathleen’s eyes were swollen and her hair was somewhat unkempt as she opened the door. “Yes, Mrs. Murphy?”

“Honey, there’s somebody here who wants to talk to you.”

When Peter stepped into view, Kathleen was speechless.

“My mother lied to you this morning,” he said. “I did
not
say I was through with you, and I did
not
say I wanted nothing more to do with you. I love you, Kathleen. I want you to be my wife.”

“That’s why he’s up here with my permission, honey,” Hattie said. “I want you two to have a good talk.”

“May I come in?” Peter asked.

When Kathleen threw her arms around him, Hattie’s eyes filled with tears. Sniffing, she said, “I’ll see you two later.”

It took only a few moments for Peter to apologize for his mother’s cruelty. After a tender kiss, he held Kathleen in his arms and said, “Sweetheart, you don’t have to worry about finding more jobs.”

“I know, Peter. Your mother’s not going to hire me back, and Mrs. Massey won’t either—”

“That’s not what I meant. What I mean is, we’re going to get married right away. I will provide for you. You won’t have to work.”

“But your father—”

“If he fires me I’ll get another job. This is a big city. I have a good education in business. We’ll be fine. Will you marry me?”

“Oh, yes, my darling! I’ll marry you!”

They sealed it with a kiss.

On Saturday, April 27, 1872, Peter had been gone from the Stallworth mansion since early morning. When he returned late in the afternoon, Carlene Simms was mopping the kitchen floor. Most
of the cleaning work had fallen on her until Maria could find someone to take Kathleen’s place.

As he passed through the kitchen, he saw his mother in the hallway near the dining room.

“Well, there’s my wandering boy,” she said. “Where have you been all day?”

“That’s what I want to talk to you and Dad about. Where is he?”

“In the library. Is there something wrong?”

“Very.”

Maria felt a tightening in her stomach as she led the way. “John,” she said, pushing open the library door, “Peter wants to talk to us. He says it’s about something very serious.”

John’s desk was spread with papers. “I’m pretty busy right now,” he said, looking at Peter. “Couldn’t this wait till after dinner tonight?”

“I won’t be here after dinner tonight, Dad,” Peter said softly.

“What do you mean?” Deep lines formed across John Stallworths brow.

Peter pulled a chair up beside his father and seated his mother in it, then eased onto a chair facing them and said, “Mom, Dad…I love you both with all my heart. I hope you know that.”

They nodded, studying his face.

“We love you the same, son,” said John.

“Enough to wish me happiness in my marriage?”

“Y-
YOUR WHAT?” STAMMERED
Peters mother.

“Kathleen and I were married about two hours ago. A preacher performed the ceremony in his office.”

A look of horror flashed over his parents’ faces.

Before either could speak, Peter said, “We rented a house in an upper-middle-class neighborhood on Thursday evening. Kathleen is there now. I told her that once you knew we were married, I believed you would accept her as your daughter-in-law. She’s pacing the floor, waiting for me to return and tell her that you will.”

Maria seemed in the grip of a mighty paralysis, but there was a cold flame in John Stallworths eyes as he jumped to his feet and roared, “We will
not
accept that peasant as our daughter-in-law! And what’s more, you’re fired! And you’re disinherited!”

Peter took a deep breath. “Social position means more to you than your love for me…is that it, Dad?”

Maria finally found her voice. “Peter, I tried to save you from that girl.”

“I know, Mom, and you lied to do it. You’re my mother, and I love you more than words can ever describe, but you were wrong to tell Kathleen that I said I was through with her.”

“I was only trying to spare you a miserable and unhappy life with her!”

“No, you were trying to spare yourself some embarrassment by keeping your son from marrying a girl you think is beneath you. That’s it, isn’t it, Mom?”

Maria stared at him silently, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Peter sighed as he rose to his feet. “I’d better get back to my bride. I’d hug you, but I guess you don’t want that from me anymore. I’ll come to the office and clean out my desk on Monday, Dad. I’ll take my clothes and personal items here in the house with me now.”

He turned and headed for the library door.

John and Maria exchanged pain-filled glances.

“Wait a minute, son,” John said as Peter reached for the door-knob.

Peter looked over his shoulder and waited for his father to speak.

“I can’t do what I said. I was angry, son. You can keep your job if you want it.”

“Of course I want it, Dad. I love working for you and for the company.”

Relief showed on the senior Stallworths face. He glanced at his wife, then looked back at Peter. “And you can forget what I said about disinheriting you.”

Maria moved up beside her husband. “I’m glad you’re going to stay with the company, Peter. And I’m in agreement with Dad. I don’t want you disinherited. But—”

“But what, Mom?”

“Neither of us want anything to do with Kathleen. You can come here whenever you want, but we don’t want that girl in our home.”

Peter felt a surge of anger and his jaw hardened, but he bit his tongue. “I’m sorry you feel this way about Kathleen…but I’ll still come by the house often. And Dad, I’ll see you at the office on Monday.”

He opened the library door.

“Wait a minute, Peter.” Maria rushed up and put her arms around him.

He hugged her in return and said, “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too,” she said on a sob.

Peter noted the anguish on his father’s face, then went upstairs to get his belongings.

Kathleen was brokenhearted when Peter came home and told her how it went with his parents, but she agreed that he’d made the right decision to keep his job.

Their love for each other deepened and grew daily as the weeks passed. Kathleen kept their home lovely and inviting, and Peter learned that she was an excellent cook as well as a loving, devoted wife.

The wall between Kathleen and the Stallworths was a heavy burden on her heart, but she was finding happiness in spite of it with the man she loved.

They had a few friends in the neighborhood, but no one they were especially close to. They seemed happiest when they were alone together.

Spring faded into summer, and summer was soon giving way to autumn. Nothing changed in how the Stallworths felt about their daughter-in-law.