A LADY NAMED ROSE
Chapter Nine
August, 1912
A piercing scream from Richard and
Josephine's room brought everyone running. Rose, in the process of polishing
the staircase railings, gasped and nearly lost her footing.
Evelyn was standing on Richard's bed, in her
stocking feet and holding her skirts high above her ankles. Richard knelt
beside the bed, peering underneath, while beside him his collie pup, Skipper, barked
and leaped from side to side in excitement. Josephine bounced up and down on
her bed across the room, laughing at the top of her lungs.
Lucy marched into the room behind Rose,
nudging her aside as if she were invisible. "Why can't you be quiet for once!"
she yelled at no one in particular. "I'm trying to sleep...WHAT IS
THAT???"
It was a small green reptile, which emerged
timidly from underneath Richard's bed, then, hearing all the racket, darted
back just as quickly.
"It's just a lizard," Richard explained
patiently, though Lucy had already run screeching from the room. "Me and
Skipper found him in the woods."
Rose could see bits of leaves and even a twig
in the boy's sandy blond hair. Apparently he'd been mighty aggressive in his
pursuit of the poor creature.
"You get that thing out of here!"
Evelyn cried, her voice trembling. "Get it out!"
Rose left to find a broom, and nearly
collided with Victoria, who'd dragged herself out of bed. "Mrs. Scott,
what are you doing up? Please, go back to bed," Rose coaxed. "I can
take care of this."
"But--"
"Please, the doctor said no
stress." Rose steered Victoria back to the master bedroom, silently
thanking the gods that Mr. Scott was away on business and wouldn't be back
until that afternoon.
When she returned with a broom, the lizard
had somehow made its way across the room and under Josephine's bed. She was on
her hands and knees, crawling underneath after it.
"Josie, you'll tear that pretty
dress!" Evelyn fretted, but she made no move to get down from Richard's
bed.
Rose rushed over and shoved the broom under
the bed, sweeping it back and forth until the straw connected with something.
"I've got it," she declared in triumph--until she dragged the object
out and realized it was a leather-bound book.
"My journal!" Evelyn cried, and
jumped to the floor. "You nosy little thieves! I've been looking for
that--"
She let out another shriek as her left foot
landed squarely on the lizard's head. Rose was unable to reach her in time, and
the children only stared as their nanny lost her balance and fell backwards.
Josephine laughed, and clapped.
"You killed it," Richard accused,
although the animal only appeared dazed, not dead. Skipper batted it with a paw
and growled.
"Are you all right?" Rose asked,
coming to Evelyn's aid. The woman, in tears, only waved her away and stood
without assistance. Hands shaking, she lifted her diary off the floor, and
slipped her feet into her shoes. Then she gathered the remainder of her
belongings and limped into the hallway. Lucy was standing outside the door,
hands on hips. Rose was surprised to see her older brother standing next to
her.
"Where are you going? I haven't had my
breakfast yet."
Evelyn ignored Lucy and made her way to the
master bedroom. She stood in the doorway and pronounced, "Mrs. Scott, I
quit, effective immediately."
"What?" Lucy blocked Evelyn at the
top of the stairs. "You can't quit. It's Bridie's day off. Who's going to
fix my breakfast?"
"Breakfast was an hour ago. You can
starve, for all I care." Evelyn pushed past the girl, then turned and
faced the children, who were now all gathered in the hallway. William looked
indifferent, but the others were on the verge of panic.
"Wretched little demons," Evelyn
hissed, then turned and addressed Rose. "Good luck, my dear. You'll need
it."
With that she went downstairs and left the
house, slamming the door behind her.
"What's a demon?" Josephine asked.
Lucy didn't waste a second. She trounced over
to Rose, who stood in shock. "Well, what are you waiting for? I'm
hungry."
"You heard Evelyn," William said.
"Fix your own breakfast." He returned to his bedroom, a wide smirk on
his face.
"Rose? Did Evelyn just say she
quit?" Victoria reappeared in the hallway, suppressing a yawn. "I
think I dozed off for a moment."
"I-I believe she did, ma'am."
"Oh, no, not again," Victoria
moaned, and pressed her hand to her forehead. "What shall I do? We can't
even begin to search for someone else until Monday...Rose, I'll need your
help."
Rose could only nod in response.
She had to work the next day, and therefore
couldn't make her customary trip into New York. Victoria promised her extra
pay, but she would have eagerly given that up if she could have had the day to
herself. She was charged with making sure Josephine and Richard were up early
and dressed, and with keeping them entertained so they wouldn't disturb their
mother. Victoria remained in bed all day, understandably not feeling well.
Fortunately, Randolph had a secret weapon--he
could cook! He took Saturday off due to the elder William's absence, but on
Sunday morning he was in the kitchen when Rose came downstairs, frying potatoes
in a cast iron skillet, an apron over his suit.
"I spoke with Evelyn yesterday, thought
you'd be needing some help," he said cheerily. "I learned to prepare
quite a few dishes during my bachelor days."
Rose expressed her gratitude and summoned the
children and their father to the dining room. All of them came, including Lucy,
who'd learned her lesson from the day before. Once they'd been served, Rose
prepared a tray and carried it upstairs to Victoria. Her employer was propped
up in bed, eyes closed. Rose approached cautiously.
"Thank you, Rose," Victoria
murmured. "You can leave that on the night table."
"Yes, ma'am." Rose set the tray down
and turned to leave, when Victoria let out a low groan. Rose returned to her
bedside. "What is it? Should I phone the doctor?"
"No, no, it's all right." Victoria
tried to smile, and winced. "I'm just having a hard time, being in this
condition at my age. I'm 35, you know," she added. "The doctor says I
can't have any more after this." She finally managed a weak smile. "I
wasn't planning on it."
Despite her reassurances, Rose continued to
worry about Victoria. She ate healthily, but only at her husband's urging, and
complained often of discomfort.
Rose wanted to take the little ones outside
to play, but as luck would have it, it began to rain. By the time Rose had put
Josephine to bed for her afternoon nap, the skies had darkened and peals of
thunder had Skipper whimpering.
The storm broke sometime that night, but by
morning, it was raining again. Bridie came to work, but when Randolph reported
that some of the roads in town had begun to flood, Victoria sent the maid on
her way. "I don't want you to be stranded here," she said.
The downpour continued into the evening.
Randolph took a telephone call from Mr. Scott around five, and, looking
troubled, pulled Rose aside. "I'm afraid I have bad news," he said,
keeping his voice low so that no one would overhear. "Mr. Scott has been
detained in New York. The trains have been delayed indefinitely because of the
weather. He's decided to spend the night in a hotel."
He generously offered to stay the night, in
case of emergency. As it turned out, he was badly needed.
Rose hadn't been asleep for more than a few
hours when she felt someone shaking her.
"Jack," she muttered. "I
didn't forget, Jack."
"My name's not Jack," Richard said.
Rose's eyes jerked open and she could see the
frightened faces of three of the children gathered around her bed.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
"It's Mother," Lucy spoke. Her face
was ghostly pale, her blue eyes on the verge of overflowing. "William and
Randolph had to go get the doctor."
"She's gonna have the baby,"
Josephine added solemnly.