A Hope Beyond (44 page)
“And you have no right to swindle the community of its hard-earned money. I want you to tell me exactly what you have done, and then we will figure out a way to undo it.”
Leland stared hard at James for several minutes. James could hear the irritating tick of the clock match his own heartbeat. He’d never thought out how he would come to get the truth from his father, but he’d certainly not planned to be so aggressive and angry. He didn’t think that after what happened on the train with Ben he ought to get angry, yet he wondered if there could have been any other way. It seemed as if something demanded the truth and would settle for nothing less.
There it was again. The truth. The truth seemed so relevant to every walk of his life that James could scarcely distance himself from it for more than a few moments. Annabelle spoke of truth and of making peace with himself. Ben Latrobe had spoken of the importance of following truth and keeping to the master plan. Carolina had desired the truth, but he had been unable to give it to her, because she would then have seen inside his heart. But he now believed he could at last face the truth, because he knew he would not have to do it alone.
“The truth, Father. I think after all that we’ve been through these last few years, I deserve your honesty, just as you deserve mine. If it makes you feel better, I’ll go first.” James shifted and settled back into the chair.
“I couldn’t marry Virginia Adams because while tutoring at Oakbridge I fell in love with Carolina Adams. I knew it would be a great disgrace to leave one sister for the other, and so I gave Virginia her freedom and, with it, proposed that she save face by breaking the engagement herself. I’m sorry I ruined your plans for prosperity and family security, but that is the truth of the matter.”
“Bah! The truth of the matter is that you were a selfish young whelp, and you saw your way as being superior to any other plan.”
“Yes, that is true as well,” James said, surprising his father. He could see by Leland’s expression that he expected further explanation. “I was immature and very selfish. I desired my own way. I wanted my own career, one that suited me and did not follow the designs of another. I wanted my own choice of whom I would wed, not a woman selected for me from a list arranged by my mother. I even wanted my own future. Not one created by you or Mother or even Joseph Adams. I wanted my own life, and yes, that was rather selfish in light of your circumstance.”
“My circumstance?”
“Something has obviously gone terribly wrong in your life, and because of it you have found yourself in less than honorable dealings. I want to know exactly what is going on and how we might correct the situation.”
Leland laughed and shook his head. “You are still naive and immature.”
“Perhaps, but I am growing up very quickly. You see, I’m devoted to a woman who is married to another. But because of that devotion, I will not see her family name dragged down through the swampy Washington mud. Now will you tell me what those certificates are all about? If you don’t, I’m taking the matter to Joseph Adams.” James wasn’t totally sure if he’d really do such a thing or not, but it seemed enough to throw the possibility out as a threat.
Leland’s expression fell and his shoulders slumped. He took a deep breath and shook his head. “It isn’t an easy matter with a simple explanation.”
“I’ll wait as long as it takes to hear the truth from you. No matter how complicated, the truth is all I desire in this.”
“Yes,” Leland replied, nodding. “Yes, I know it is.” He looked at his son as though realizing that with this moment, his world would completely change.
“A long time ago when funds began to run short, I asked Samuel for suggestions on how we might engage in other business. The bank was suffering because people were swindling me with false bank drafts and loans that folks had no intention of ever repaying. Samuel suggested we produce our own bank drafts to compensate, and it seemed reasonable.”
“Reasonable?” James questioned. “It was illegal.”
“Yes, but you must see that back in thirty-two the system was already running amuck. It’s the reason Jackson opened the private banks in the first place.”
“You mean to tell me that your illegal activities in counterfeiting began ten years ago?”
Leland shrugged. “Somewhere around that time. Anyway, James, you can’t imagine the situation because you were still away at school. Funds were short and that is the simple matter of things.”
“But what of Mother’s fortune?”
“Yes, well, that was a matter of our high standard of living and my inability to manage a plantation. It was the main reason we sold the place and moved to this house.”
James suddenly realized that none of this was his fault. He’d blamed himself, thinking his father had fallen into ruin because of his decision not to marry Virginia Adams. Now he could see that his father had clearly been on a downward descent for more years than he’d even imagined.
“We can make this thing work,” Leland offered, taking James’ silence for acceptance.
“The only way we can make this work is to return the money you’ve swindled. May I assume the other railroad stock represent nonexistent lines, too? Aren’t they simply paper railroads?”
“But it needn’t concern you,” his father argued. “The railroads may one day truly exist. It’s only a matter of time and investor regard. You don’t understand how these things work, James. Take the land deeds, for instance. People—hearty, eager people—buy these deeds for dirt-cheap prices and head west. They might never find the courage to go west without a deed in their hands. Once they reach the wilds of uncivilized territories, many of them will begin to build and may never know another moment of discontent. Others may be found to have false deeds, but because they are already there, they will have to remain. Few would ever have the funds to return and blame me for their misfortune. Besides, I don’t handle the matter myself. There is another who acts as a front, and I pay him well enough that he’ll never open his mouth to speak against me.”
“You cannot continue this way, Father.”
“I can’t continue any other way, James. You don’t understand what this depression did to the country and to this family. You live in your carefully constructed world of railroads and unrequited love. You know nothing of what it means to maintain a standing in society and care for a wife who expects to hold her head up high among her peers and wear the very latest fashions from Paris. You know nothing of the responsibility of keeping servants, a house, carriages, and a business. So don’t tell me what is to be done.”
James sadly shook his head. “Then I suppose everything Carolina suspects is true.”
“What do you mean?” Leland growled the question.
“I went to see Carolina in Baltimore. She suggested that there might be problems with the P&GF. She found discrepancies and a variety of things that didn’t make sense. She’d been trying to get a hold of you in order to gain a better understanding, but apparently you were never available.”
“I’ve been busy,” Leland offered lamely.
“Obviously,” James countered. “A little too busy.”
“Don’t take that tone with me, boy. I’ve tolerated just about as much from you as I intend to take. You’ve only been asked here because of your mother.”
“Yes, I am aware of that. Please humor me, however, and answer one simple question. Has it ever been your plan to see the P&GF to completion?”
Leland laughed. “Why should anyone want to bother with that line? Whose brilliant idea was it to run a railroad from Falls Church to Washington, anyway? Nonsense and bother. That’s all it is. There isn’t enough commerce to make the line self-supportive, and without that, even the families benefited by running crops to the city will end up spending more money in upkeep than in benefits received. Sooner or later they’ll realize I’m doing them all a favor.”
“By stealing their money?”
“Get out!” Leland declared, getting to his feet. “I won’t stand for you speaking to me that way.”
“I’m sorry, Father. I want to work this out. Is there nothing we can do—not only to make things right with the railroad but”— James paused and looked at his father with great longing—“also between us?”
“You can forget this conversation and forget what you found in that satchel.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Then I want nothing more to do with you.”
James rose slowly. “I will go, then,
for now
, but first I will see my mother again. Then, I will go to Oakbridge and speak to Joseph Adams.”
“If you so much as mention this—”
“You’ll do what?” James implored. “What more can you take from me that you haven’t already taken? You robbed me of my youth by pushing me into education and industry. You robbed me of the woman I would have married by insisting I wed another. You robbed me of my mother’s company, and you robbed me of a father because you refused to waste your precious time being one.”
Leland appeared shaken by this and, to James’ surprise, put a hand to his chest and sat down in obvious discomfort. “Don’t go to Adams.” The words came in between gasping breaths. “P-please!”
“Are you all right, Father?”
“I’m . . . fine. I have trouble from time to time. It’s nothing.” He leaned back in the chair still clutching at his chest. “You can’t do this to me. You can’t tell Joseph, or I may well be taken away to prison. Would that be your price?”
James wearily sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t leave things as they are. I have to think this through. I want to help you make this up—set things right. Perhaps there is a way to do so and still save face. But we must do something, for if Carolina suspects, surely others suspect as well.”
“I don’t see how that slip of a girl could figure out things so complicated and clearly outside her realm of understanding.”
James smiled and walked to the door. “I do. She had a very thorough teacher.”
For Carolina, the funeral of Blake St. John was a monumental moment in her life. She was a widow now, and yet she’d never truly been wife to any man. Having buried Blake in the cemetery plot beside his beloved Suzanna and son, Charles, Carolina felt that she had come full circle in her adventurous young life. There was still Victoria to consider, but that was something she did with a great sense of pride. Victoria would be raised as her child and never would Carolina allow for anyone to consider her otherwise.
Carolina worried about Victoria and wondered if the death of her often absent father would be hard on the child. So far she’d said very little, and even when they’d stood together at his burial, Victoria seemed far more interested in the decorative gravestones than in her father.
Carolina could hardly blame the child for her lack of feeling where Blake was concerned. He’d made it clear that he didn’t care about her, at least not in the sense that she needed him to care. It was still unimaginable to Carolina that anyone could be so heartless and indifferent to a child of their own making.
With the funeral already a week behind them, the daily routine seemed hardly disrupted. Carolina and Victoria had just enjoyed a brisk fall morning at the park and now stood in the front entryway taking off their wraps. The post had arrived in their absence, and Carolina was happy to find a letter from her father. Sending Victoria to play in the nursery, Carolina settled down to a cup of tea and broke the seal on the envelope.
1842, October 1
Dearest Daughter,
I received your letter today and was sorry to hear of Mr. St. John’s
passing. I was even more sorry to be absent from you at such a time. How
very strange this life we live, and how very unusual for you in this circumstance.
Have you thought yet of what you will do now? Please know that
you are always welcome at Oakbridge. You and Victoria would certainly
give me much pleasure.
Your mother is quite well at this writing. I have had a most positive
report from her doctor. She no longer weeps all night and is quite functional
at mealtime. I look to this with a hopeful heart.
Virginia, Hampton, and baby Nate are ever unchanged.
The news is that Georgia has announced she is with child. The doctor
believes the child will be born sometime in May.
York and Lucy are bringing the children for a visit and may well be
here by the time you receive this letter. Perhaps that will entice you to come
ahead for a visit.
I remain ever your loving father,
Joseph
Carolina folded the letter and gave long thought to her father’s suggestion of a visit. It was exactly what she desired. The peace and serenity of her childhood home blocked out all other fears, both real and imagined. She was saddened by Blake’s death, not because she’d lost a great love, but because one so young should die so embittered and lost. But perhaps more than this, Carolina was still devastated by the argument and harsh words she’d shared with James.
She scarcely allowed herself to think about him, for when his image flooded her thoughts, she was almost compelled to seek him out. She longed to run to him now, tell him that she was free, and declare her love. But, of course, she couldn’t very well do that. James was angry at her betrayal. To imagine that she had suggested to him that his father was dealing in an underhanded manner would surely keep him from ever having any positive feeling for her.
Tapping the letter against the desk, Carolina made her decision. She would return with Victoria to Oakbridge. Not permanently, of course, but rather for a short stay. Perhaps a month or two away from the rush and fuss of Baltimore would do them both good. In the quiet of the Virginia countryside perhaps they could plot and plan together for their future.
Carolina smiled. She knew Victoria would love this suggestion. She adored Grandfather Joseph, which was what he insisted she call him upon Carolina’s marriage to Blake. Grandfather Joseph was the father image that Victoria so needed in her life. He was gentle and loving and never failed to hold her close whenever she threw herself into his arms. Carolina felt tears come to her eyes. He had always been a loving father, and she remembered fondly the feeling of security and happiness she had known growing up. Joseph Adams had been a very busy man, but he’d always taken time out to be a faithful father to his children. No wonder Victoria loved him so. No wonder I love him so, Carolina thought.