Must the Maiden Die (13 page)

"Just go on, Bronwen. Really, when you
report to Treasury, does it have to be dragged out of you?"

"You're not Treasury. And I'm trying to give
you the flavor of it. Where was I? Oh, and then Emma said that
when she took out a loan to buy the shop, the bank made her sign a
contract. And if bankers have signed contracts, she thought
she
was entitled to have one, too."

"And then?"

"And then things really went downhill!"

"Bronwen, please!"

"You said you wanted it short. Emma sounded
like she'd started to cry. Adam didn't sound too pleased either.
Said Emma must not trust him—and how could they have a marriage
built on distrust? You know, Aunt Glyn, he has a point there."

"Could you not editorialize, at least not
yet."

"But that's about all of it. No, there were
a couple more things. Adam really hit the roof when Emma asked him
what if, later on, he changed his mind? And made her give up the
shop? And if he did
that..
." Bronwen broke off, frowning
again. "I just want to make sure of Emma's exact words here. She
said to Adam, 'If you make me give up my shop, then do I have the
right to make you give up your law practice?'"

Bronwen hesitated, as though giving her
cousin's question fresh consideration. Then she continued, "Adam
said, of course not! There was no comparison. That he would be the
laughingstock of western New York, if anyone learned that his
betrothed had asked him to put his signature on something so...I
think he said 'demeaning to my professional integrity.' And that
his word was his bond, and so on and so on and so on."

"Which it is," Glynis murmured.

"So you're on Adam's side, too?" Bronwen
asked in a surprised tone.

"I'm trying very hard not to take sides,
Bronwen. Was there anymore?"

"Then poor Emma really started crying. It
sounded as if she was gasping out every other word. She said what
if something were to happen to Adam? Something like him dying? How
would she survive after that? she asked him. Because—and it gets
complicated here, Aunt Glyn—because if he let her keep the dress
shop, but in name only, and then decided that someone other than
herself should run it, she would lose control of the business and
might inherit a worthless property."

"Which, unfortunately, is a very real
prospect."

Bronwen's eyes widened. "And now I think
about it, Adam didn't answer that. But it might have been
because..."

Her voice stopped and Glynis asked,
"Because what?" before she realized that her niece was
grinning.

"Well, all of a sudden Emma's sobbing
sounded muffled, and then things got very quiet—if you know what I
mean."

"Probably, but could you be a little more
explicit?"

Still grinning, Bronwen said, "Since I
thought this might be my chance to get out of there, I sneaked down
the stairs, and peeked around the doorway into the front room. And,
just as I'd suspected, Adam had his arms around Emma and it was a
pretty scorching scene!"

"I see," Glynis said, trusting that Bronwen
knew her smile was for the choice of words and not for Emma's
predicament.

"But as I was creeping out the back door, I
heard Adam mumbling something about he and Mr. Merrycoyf being the
best lawyers around. And that they would know what was best for
Emma. Which was not too humble of him, I guess, but he's probably
right, don't you think?"

"I don't know what to think."

"Now can I editorialize? Since we're
supposed to go to Cullen's office."

Glynis stared at the sparkling water of the
canal, and wondered how much she might have contributed to this
issue between Adam and Emma.

"For a while there," Bronwen said, "Adam
sounded truly put out. And I'm not sure I blame him. After all,
it's a fine time for Emma to bring this up—four days before the
wedding!"

"She might not have thought it all through
before."

"But why did she agree to marry Adam if she
doesn't trust him to keep his word?"

"I don't think she mistrusts him. Bronwen,
try to look at it from Emma's viewpoint."

"But Adam
said
she could keep her
shop! And it sounded to me as if this wasn't the first time he'd
said it."

"Emma is wary with some reason. She's seen
women who have lost what they brought into a marriage," said Glynis
slowly as she tried to think how to explain it. "For instance, some
time ago, a young woman—whose parents had very little money—married
one of the most charming men you could imagine. He told everyone,
when he arrived here in town, that he came from a wealthy New
England family, had graduated from Harvard, et cetera, et cetera.
Before the wedding, and because the father of this young woman had
nothing else to give her in the way of dowry, he turned over to his
daughter the deed to his small house. I know this because Emma made
a beautiful wedding gown and told the couple she would wait for
payment until they were settled."

At least, Glynis thought, she now had
Bronwen's full attention.

"To make a long story short," she went on,
"two months after the marriage, this very charming man found
another young woman to charm, and then threw his wife and her aging
parents out on the street. And the law said that he could do it,
because what had been given to his wife now belonged to him."

For a moment, Bronwen just stared at her.
"That's the most awful... what a wretched scoundrel. The man
and
the law! Did Emma get paid for the gown?"

Glynis sighed. "That's hardly the point I'm
trying to make. But no, she did not."

"Adam, though, is not a scoundrel," said
Bronwen. "I know his parents died when he was young, and he had to
work all the while he was in law school, but he's been a lawyer
here for some time. We all know him. And know he's a decent
man."

"That's true. But Emma loves her work."

"More than she loves Adam? Again, why did
she agree to marry him? She must know that she's really caught
forever if she goes through with it. That she can't just turn round
the day after the wedding and say: Whoops, I guess I shouldn't have
done that!"

"Emma is rarely impulsive, so I doubt that
would be the case."

"Well, what is the case? Frankly, Aunt Glyn,
I think Emma's got some brass questioning
my
sanity! She
couldn't find anyone nicer than Adam MacAlistair. He's honest and
smart, clean, works hard and makes money—
and
he's
good-looking. He's a peach! Pick of the litter!"

Glynis had to smile. And she found the
sequence of Bronwen's priorities not only telling but reassuring.
"I agree with the sentiment, Bronwen. But this is something that
Emma has to work out for herself."

"And while she's working it out, what are
the rest of us supposed to do?" With that, she sprang to her feet,
her neck craning in the direction of the bank's tower clock.

"Why, what are you thinking of doing?" As
Glynis asked this, she too glanced at the clock, and rose from the
bench. "There's something else you haven't told me," she said to
her niece. "From where did you and Professor Lowe's balloon
depart?"

Bronwen stood fingering the skirt of the
green dress, the sun glancing off her hair in bursts of copper
light. She gazed first at the towpath, then studied the sky and
finally said, "Remember the time I jumped over the mules with
Cullen's Morgan?"

"I'm not likely to forget it. You didn't
answer me, though."

"Aunt Glyn, I...we left from Cincinnati. In
Ohio."

"Cincinnati? Why there?"

"That's where Professor Lowe was meeting...
someone. His wife was there, too. His French wife, Leontine. Who's
beautiful and sweet-tempered and a former actress and he adores
her—in the event you're wondering about that! And as far as your
other question ..."

She stopped, while Glynis waited with the
unhappy certainty that Bronwen was about to lie to her. And that
she herself might be at fault. Was she asking too many questions
that really weren't her business? Her niece wasn't a child
anymore, though that was often hard to believe. Perhaps even harder
to accept.

Bronwen brightened, though, saying, "I have
work to do. And you do, too, and while we're waiting on Emma to
sort herself out, everybody has
something
to do— except
maybe Vanessa Usher. You know, Aunt Glyn, if The Lady Vanessa were
smart,
she'd
marry Adam!"

Again Glynis was forced to smile. What else
could she do?

When they reached the turn from Fall Street
that would bring them to the fire station, and to Cullen's office
in the rear of the building, Glynis stopped at the corner and said,
"Bronwen, we shouldn't mention Emma's situation to anyone else,
all right?"

"Yes. I wouldn't have told anyone but you.
Aunt Glyn, I need to see Professor Lowe soon, but would you mind if
first I meet Mrs. Jager?"

"No, I don't mind, not if Cullen and Mrs.
Jager don't. But I'm curious— why do you want to meet her."

Bronwen shrugged, and then shot her aunt a
sideways glance, eyes glittering. "Because I'm curious," she said.
"It must run in the family."

-On Jan. 6, 1832, local
[Seneca
County]
newspapers carried the following ad: John Shay of
Fayette offers 6 cents reward for runaway indentured girl named
Catherine Sherman.

-On Nov. 23, 1832: the same paper wrote:
Jeremiah Stuck offers $5 for strayed steer.

—from
Seneca County History,
edited
by Betty Auten.

When Glynis and Bronwen reached the
constable's office the door stood partly open, and Glynis heard
not only Cullen's voice but, to her surprise, also that of Adam
MacAlistair. Evidently Bronwen recognized Adam's voice, too, as she
gave Glynis a look laden with guilt. With a shake of her head,
Glynis stepped into the familiar room, her niece following her.

Adam had been standing near the door, and
after a perfunctory greeting, he said to them, with something less
than his customary zest, "I should be on my way now." He turned
back to Cullen, saying, "You understand my situation, then?"

"Yes, sure. But can you persuade Jeremiah
Merrycoyf to come out of his so-called retirement?"

"I think so. He can be obstinate, but the
need to rescue a damsel in distress is something his conscience
probably won't let him avoid. Or, so I trust. But it's impossible
for me, for obvious reasons, to take on this case right now.
Especially since it could be a complicated one."

"And a nasty one," Cullen added.

"That, too."

Adam started to step outside, but then, as
if reluctant to leave, he turned and remained standing in the
doorway. The late morning sun brightened his sleek, brown cap of
hair, but did not erase the smudges under his ordinarily alert,
hazel eyes. Glynis had already noticed that his face looked paler
than usual. Clearly Emma was not the only one to be losing
sleep.

"Miss Tryon," he said to Glynis. "Miss
Tryon, I hope you believe that I will do everything,
everything,
within my power to assure Emma's future
happiness. And I would appreciate hearing you say so."

Glynis felt a poke between her shoulder
blades and heard the swish of Bronwen's skirt. She also saw, from
the corner of her eye, Cullen's thoroughly bewildered expression.
Whereas she was caught off guard by Adam's request, she supposed
she shouldn't have been; while another man would never have
broached the topic so openly, certainly not in the presence of
others, Adam was not just another man. His reason for it, of
course, must be the quarrel with Emma. And, knowing Adam as she
did, he would want to know where she stood—and the devil take
conventional decorum. No wonder Bronwen liked him. But then, so did
she.

"Adam," she said, carefully, "you and I have
been acquainted for some time now—for even a longer time than you
have known Emma—and so I have never for one minute doubted your
intentions toward her."

His responding smile came with its usual
reflection of self-confidence and good humor. "Thank you—Aunt
Glynis," he said with a chuckle, and even before Bronwen's
startled laugh, he had turned and was gone.

"The lad is bold,
Aunt Glynis,"
said
Cullen, grinning. "But what was that all about? Kind of late in the
day to be assuring you of his good intentions, isn't it?"

"Assurances of good intentions are always
welcome," Glynis answered.

"But Aunt Glyn," Bronwen began, "you didn't
exactly say—"

"Tell me, Cullen," said Glynis, cutting off
her niece, whose moments of insight did not always need to be
aired. "What were you and Adam saying about Jeremiah? Not that
anyone really believes he's retired."

"No, but he likes to think we believe it."
Cullen rounded his desk to wave Glynis and Bronwen into straight
chairs and close the door before he answered. "I thought I'd better
discuss the Brants' missing servant girl with a lawyer, mainly
because you were told that she's a mute. If the girl is accused of
a crime, she'll need to be represented. We don't know yet that
she's a murderess, and I don't want her taken advantage of when
she's found.
If
she's found."

"Has anyone come forward yet with some idea
of where she might have gone?" Glynis asked.

Cullen shook his head. "But I've just wired
the Seneca County Sheriff's Office with a description of her. The
one we got from the manservant Clements at the Brant house last
night. Somehow it got into this morning's newspaper."

"The
Courier
didn't mention that she
was mute, though, Cullen. Why was that, do you suppose?"

"Maybe whoever wrote the story wasn't told.
I don't know where the newspaper's information came from. Do I ever
know?"