A LADY NAMED ROSE
Chapter Twenty-Six
He knows exactly what I'm thinking.
The alarming notion sprang into Rose's mind
with such clarity that she was rendered speechless. As Angelica prattled on and
on about the production, Rose pretended to listen, but all the while she was
only aware of the laughing gray eyes which never left her face.
"Rosie? Rose, darling, are you listening
to me?" Angelica was staring at her expectantly.
"Oh--eh--yes. Next Saturday will be
fine." Even as the words left her mouth, Rose realized that not only was
she completely unaware of what she had just agreed to, but that she'd promised
the Scotts she would watch the children the following weekend.
"Not Saturday, Friday," Angelica
said, irritation seeping into her voice. "I said we'll spend the night at
my house and attend the matinee performance on Saturday, so we can be back in
time for the festivities Saturday evening."
Rose was about to remind Angelica of her work
arrangement when Sebastian interrupted, "Very well, then. I shall see you
both on Saturday." He bent to kiss Angelica's hand. "Bravura
performance, young lady. Your parents will be very proud of you."
Angelica blushed.
Sebastian turned to Rose and nodded. "It
was a pleasure." That cocky grin again. Rose managed a thin smile in
return as Angelica excused herself to return backstage and change clothes.
"Well," Sebastian said just before
leaving, "she just made things easy for me. Now you have to attend the
play with me next weekend."
Rose didn't anticipate much of an argument
from Angelica when she told her she would be working on Saturday--and she
didn't get one.
"Oh, well," was her roommate's
response, "if you'd rather play nursemaid to those horrid children than
see an off-Broadway show..." She shrugged, then launched into another
rhapsody on the compliments Sebastian paid her, and wondered aloud whether she
should approach her father for money to buy something to wear to the play.
Rose was relieved to have a convenient excuse
not to accompany them. But on the train ride to Tarrytown that morning, all she
could see when she looked out the window was a pair of gray eyes.
"Think of Field Day," she coached
herself. "Field Day, Field Day, Field Day."
Field Day was an outdoor sporting event held
every May on campus. Though Rose had received permission from the Scotts to
attend the track and field competition on Sunday, she would miss out on the fun
tonight. The students in her dormitory would be throwing a party for the
athletes who lived there. Such goings-on were normally frowned upon, but Miss
Henderson was turning out to be much more unconventional than anyone had thought.
The conductor announced the Tarrytown
station, and Rose alighted from the car. The first thing she noticed was that
Randolph was not in his usual place on the platform, waiting to assist her with
her bags. Though Rose seldom carried more than two pieces of luggage for her
weekend trips to the Scotts', the valet never failed to materialize and take
them off her hands.
She was about to inquire about a taxi at the
ticket window when the Model T pulled up. Randolph came inside to search for
her, his cap in his hands and a worried frown creasing his forehead. When they
were in the car he explained what happened. "It's the misses. Her father
passed on early yesterday morning."
"Oh, no!"
"It came as quite a shock. Apparently he'd
been having kidney trouble for some years but concealed it from his family.
Anyhow," and here he lowered his voice, "Mrs. Scott took the news as
poorly as expected. She's confined herself to her bed and refuses to eat."
Pause. "Belinda has taken charge of the household since Bridie left
yesterday." Try as he might, he could not conceal the antipathy in his
tone.
Skipper was the first to greet them. He was
stretched out beside the kitchen entrance when they arrived, and at the sight
of Rose he leaped from his post and bounded over to try and lick her face. Rose
laughed; she was accustomed to this. But Belinda, watching from the doorway,
voiced her disapproval.
"I told Richard to restrain that
hound," she grumbled as she let Rose inside. Skipper barked at her once,
then ran.
"How is Mrs. Scott?" Rose asked.
Belinda gave her an odd look, started to
reply, and then thought better of whatever it was she'd begun to say. Instead
she responded shortly, "Perhaps you should go upstairs and see for
yourself."
She turned her back and retreated into the
dining room, where Cecilia awaited her breakfast. She was still eating
separately from the other children.
Rose went to check in on the youngsters
first, and was surprised to find Josephine sitting quietly at the desk, reading
a book. She squealed at the sight of Rose and abandoned the fairy tales to hug
her.
"What's wrong? Where's Richard?"
Rose wanted to know.
"He sneaked outside," Josephine
giggled. "Miss Belinda said we had to stay in here and be quiet, and he
told her to stick her finger in her rear."
"He said what?" Appalled as she
was, Rose wished she'd been the one to say it.
"He said--"
"Never mind. Where are Bill and
Lucy?"
"In there with Mama." Josephine's
demeanor suddenly darkened. "She looks funny."
"Why don't you finish your book? I'm
going to look in on her, and I'll be back, all right?"
Josephine nodded and Rose headed for the
master bedroom. She knocked cautiously on the partially closed door and Bill
summoned her inside.
She could hear the snoring before she saw
her. Victoria lay in an indecent sprawl, bedcovers pushed back far enough to
expose a significant portion of her nightgown. She hadn't touched the tray of
fruit, pastries and juice on the tea table, but she'd nearly drained a glass of
brown liquid on the night table at her bedside. Rose noticed that Victoria's
cheeks were ruddy, and the smell...
"She's been drinking," Bill
whispered, confirming Rose's suspicions.
She has NOT!" Lucy, who'd been sulking
in a chair in a corner, jumped to her feet. "You don't know what you're
talking about."
"I'm so sorry to hear about your
grandfather," Rose offered.
"Don't you have work to do?"
"Be quiet, Lucy," her brother
admonished.
"It's all right," Rose said.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You can get rid of that witch
downstairs," Lucy snapped. "She told us we'd have to stay in our
rooms but Bill said we couldn't leave Mother alone."
"Where's your father?"
The two glanced at each other. Lucy started
to speak, but stopped at the warning in Bill's eyes, a warning that passed
between them so furtively that Rose almost missed it.
Lucy finally shrugged. "I think he's in
New York."
"He said something about helping
Grandmother settle her affairs," Bill volunteered, a bit too quickly.
"She'll be staying with us for a while after the funeral."
"I know where he is," came a
slurred voice from the bed. Victoria tried unsuccessfully to raise herself to a
sitting position, and collapsed. Rose rushed to her side and Victoria waved her
away. "He's not here where he's supposed to be."
"Mrs. Scott, I am terribly sorry--"
"Is that harridan still
downstairs?" Victoria barked at her. "I told her to bring my baby to
me hours ago."
Rose backed a little further away.
"They're having breakfast."
Victoria swore under her breath. Rose
glimpsed Lucy flinching out of the corner of an eye. "I told her not to
feed her apart from the rest of the family. Why does that woman insist on
disobeying me? I wanted William to fire her, but he says she's so efficient,
that--"
"Mother?" Bill stepped forward.
"Mother, why don't you eat something?"
"I don't wanna eat!" she screamed,
then began to cry.
Bill and Lucy were stock still, wearing
expressions of horror. Rose heard a whimper and looked just in time to see Josephine
fleeing from the room. She wondered how much the little girl heard.
At last Rose could no longer stand the sight
of her employer huddled on the bed, holding the edge of a crumpled sheet to her
face. She moved to Victoria's side and wrapped an arm around her, rocking her
slowly and whispering words of comfort. After a minute or so, Bill lowered
himself to the foot of the bed and grasped his mother's free hand. Lucy, tears
streaming down her face, climbed on and rested a hand on her mother's shoulder.
There they remained until Victoria's sobs
subsided, and then Belinda's harsh voice broke the silence.
"What is going on here? Don't you
children realize your mother needs her rest?"
"I need my children!" Victoria's
eyes blazed. Rose had never seen her this angry. "Where's Cecilia?"
"She's taking a nap, as she always does
after breakfast," Belinda replied in a steely tone.
"I want to see her."
"When she awakens--"
"I want to see her now!"
"Mrs. Scott, it would be ill-advised for
me to let her see you in this condition."
Victoria swung her bare feet to the floor in
a move so sudden Rose was nearly knocked to the floor. She stood on unsteady
legs and advanced on the nurse, who stood firm. "I am the one who gives
the orders around here, not you. Now I asked to see my daughter. If you refuse
me one more time, I will fire you. Is that understood?"
Belinda raised her head defiantly. "Very
well. But Mr. Scott will hear about this." Her eyes swept the room,
resting on the glass on the night table. "All of it."
With that she left. Victoria, unfazed by her
warning, turned to Rose and her two eldest children wearing a triumphant smile.
"How was that?"
"It was--ah--fine," Rose stammered.
"Perfect, Mother." Bill embraced
her. "She won't dare challenge you again."
But if any of them thought the battle was
over, they were wrong. It had just begun.