Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice

by Abigail Reynolds

  Calder looked embarrassed. "It's a puppy. I hope you don't mind."

  "You got a puppy without talking to me first?"

  He picked up the puppy and cradled it in his arms. "I didn't mean to. The department secretary brought him in today. Her neighbor's dog had puppies, and nobody wanted this one. They were going to take him to the pound, so Margaret said she'd try to find a home for him."

  "We can't do this now. We're not allowed to have dogs here."

  "I talked to your landlord, and he agreed."

  "I don't believe you. He'd never agree to pets."

  "Well, there was the little matter of a very large security deposit." He came closer, and Cassie laughed at the sight of two pairs of dark eyes looking at her beseechingly. "He's a really sweet puppy."

  She ruffled the fur on the back of the puppy's neck. "I don't suppose you thought about getting dog food?"

  Cassie went out to the car with a long list of pet supplies in hand. Crate, dog dishes, dog food, leash, collar. All the things a new puppy would need.

  She didn't notice the vans with satellite dishes on top on the street at first, but she couldn't miss the bright lights that were turned on her. The media again. This celebrity business was getting old. Was getting a new puppy really newsworthy? At least they were staying off private property.

  She dropped the list on the front seat of the car and strode toward the reporters. She didn't want to leave them for Calder to deal with on top of the puppy.

  It seemed like a lot of reporters for a human interest story. It must be a slow news day. As soon as she reached the end of the driveway, several huge microphones were thrust in her face. The camera lights made it hard to see.

  She held her hands up in front of her. "Have some pity, guys. He just left his mother this morning. Let him settle in a bit, and I promise we'll come out for pictures tomorrow."

  "You know where his mother is?" A tall man demanded.

  "Yes, of course."

  "Where is she?"

  She certainly didn't want them pestering the department secretary. "I don't know exactly, but Calder does."

  "Did you know about this in advance?"

  "No, it was a surprise to me."

  A woman with a face familiar from the TV news stepped forward. "Did she offer any explanation for her actions?"

  "Explanation? Why would we need an explanation?" Cassie was baffled, and all the bright lights in her eyes weren't helping. "Are we talking about the same thing?"

  The correspondent looked taken aback. "I'm talking about Caro Westing."

  How did Caro get into this? "I'm sorry. I thought you wanted to know about our new puppy. No, I have no idea where Caro is. We haven't talked to her in weeks."

  "Then you don't know she's left her husband?"

  "Caro?" Cassie asked disbelievingly. "Now I know we're not talking about the same thing."

  The reporters jostled one another to get closer to her. One said, "Senator Westing was served with divorce papers this morning. Do you have any comment?"

  The only thought in Cassie's stunned mind was that she was grateful Calder was safely inside. "This is news to me. We've been busy with our puppy."

  "You haven't heard from either of your husband's parents?"

  Her temper snapped. "You're obviously better informed than I am, so there's no point in talking. Excuse me." She hurried back to the house and raced up the stairs.

  The puppy explored the apartment on his stubby legs. Calder trailed after him, watching for the tell-tale sniffing of the floor that would be his signal to take him outside. He was utterly fascinated with the ball of fluff that was Nobska. Trust Cassie to think up a Woods Hole name for the puppy, after the lighthouse overlooking the shoals of Vineyard Sound. He hoped it wouldn't be too confusing when they moved there.

  Nobska cautiously poked his head into the kitchen, as if suspecting there might be monsters there. He looked up at Calder with pleading puppy eyes. "Okay, I'll come with you."

  Cassie slammed the front door, breathing heavily. Nobska skittered back to Calder's feet. Calder gave into temptation and picked him up. "He's doing just great."

  "That's nice." Cassie headed to her computer and booted it up.

  "Is something wrong?" He ran his fingers over the soft fur. "Why are you back so soon?"

  "Give me a second here." She tapped on the keyboard.

  He recognized the Washington Post website from across the room. It wasn't where Cassie usually got her news. He felt sharp teeth on his fingers and looked down at Nobska, chewing happily on him. "No, pup, no biting."

  Cassie sank down in her desk chair. "You'd better come look at this."

  Her ominous tone worried him. "What is it?"

  "It's your parents. Your father was served divorce papers citing"—she stopped for a moment and looked up at him—"mental cruelty and adultery. It must have been leaked to the press. They've got pictures of the papers being delivered. No reaction from your father. Nobody knows where your mother is."

  He strode across the room. There must be some mistake. But there were the pictures. "When?" he asked. As if that mattered.

  Cassie scanned the screen. "This afternoon. Let me check CNN and see if they have anything more up to date." She typed for a moment and then read again. "Not much. Your father's staff isn't talking to the press. Tom made a statement that it's a personal family matter and he won't comment on it."

  He sat on the couch in shock. Nobska immediately climbed away, ready to explore. "I don't believe it. Why would she leave him?"

  Cassie came to sit beside him. "I can think of any number of reasons someone might leave your father. I wouldn't stay with him for a minute."

  "You're not my mother. She likes things to be his way. She's the perfect political wife."

  "She accused him of adultery. Has your father had affairs?"

  "I have no idea. Probably, I suppose. It would be surprising if he hadn't, but I can't imagine it's anything new." His mind was refusing to work.

  "Maybe it is something new. Maybe he was planning to leave her for another woman."

  Calder snorted. "Not likely. That could cost him votes. Compared to votes, love is completely unimportant."

  "What do you think, then?"

  "I don't know," he said with uncharacteristic irritation. "Are you sure there isn't anything else about it there?"

  Cassie returned to the computer. "No, that's it, apart from speculation on how this could affect next year's elections."

  "Maybe it's some kind of ploy." He watched Nobska jump off the couch and put his nose to the rug.

  "Damn!" Cassie snatched up the puppy. "I'll take him out."

  "No, I can." He wanted to stay with Nobska.

  "Sorry, you're not going out that door for a while. You're the one the reporters want." She didn't give him time to answer before she disappeared, the puppy under her arm.

  "Success," Cassie announced when she brought Nobska back in. "It took him a while to figure it out, but he managed."

  Calder hadn't moved from the couch. "Good."

  She set the puppy on the floor. He made a beeline for Calder and settled at his feet, gnawing on the tip of his shoe. Cassie hurried to the kitchen and found an empty plastic bottle. "Here, you can chew on this until we get you some toys."

  Nobska showed no interest. Cassie wished she knew more about puppies, but her experience was limited to occasional contact with friends' dogs. "Any clever ideas?" she asked Calder.

  "None."

  She noticed his eyes then. They held a sort of distance she had never seen in them before. Forgetting about the puppy, she sat and put her arms around him. "What happened while I was out there? Did someone call?"

  He shook his head. "No." He didn't look at her.

  So he was back in his monosyllabic mode. What a time to have to play twenty questions. "What happened?"

  "I remembered something," he said in a conversational voice.

  "What's that?"

  "Something tha
t happened a long time ago, when I was maybe five or six."

  "Is this something you never remembered before?"

  "No, I've always remembered it; I just never paid any attention to it."

  "Do you want to tell me about it?"

  He glanced at her for a second only. "It's bad." He sounded as if he were discussing the weather.

  "That's okay. I can take it." She reached down to pry Nobska off Calder's shoe. There were tiny teeth marks in the leather.

  "I was trying to think if I'd ever seen him with another woman." He closed his eyes. "Then I remembered this. One night my parents got into a fight. I don't know what it was about, but I remember my mother yelling at him. I was already in bed, but I could hear her. It was scary, because I didn't remember ever hearing her raise her voice to him before. Tommy was scared, too, and climbed in bed with me. He must have been two or three."

  Maybe puppy love could help. She put Nobska on Calder's lap. "And?"

  "Then it got quiet, but I was too nervous to sleep, so I went downstairs for a glass of water." His hands closed over the puppy, and he was silent for a minute. "My father was putting on his coat. He said that he was going somewhere he'd be welcome in a warm bed." He stopped. "I thought he meant he was going to my uncle's house."

  "But he wasn't?"

  "I don't think so. He didn't come back for a few days, which wasn't unusual when Congress was in session, but my mother cried almost all the time. I never thought about why until today, just that she was upset because of the fight. But it must have been because she knew where he was going. He was punishing her for fighting with him," he said, his voice hollow.

  "That's sick. That's truly sick." She didn't know what else to say.

  "But you know what's worse? I spent all these years thinking that she didn't care enough to stand up for me when he was attacking me, never once thinking about what would happen to her if she did." Nobska curled up in a ball on his lap, Calder's fingers between his teeth. Calder seemed disinclined to stop him.

  "It's not your fault. You didn't know what was going on."

  "I should have guessed." He laughed bitterly. "Mental cruelty. I suppose that's one way to put it."

  "I'm glad she's left him," said Cassie fiercely, wishing she could somehow protect Calder from this. "I hope it ruins his reputation for good."

  He looked at her, his eyes filled with pain. "Don't go anywhere, please."

  She gazed at him in concern and hugged him. Despite everything his father had done, it must be a shock to Calder to lose what sense of family he had. "I'm not going anywhere. This is where I belong."

  Calder remained subdued the rest of the day. There was no further news of his parents. Between stress and the new puppy, neither of them slept well that night. Cassie decided to stay home the following day, reluctant to leave him alone for long.

  That afternoon the phone rang. Cassie answered it and then held her hand over the receiver for a moment. "It's Dave Crowley. Do you want to talk to him?"

  Calder held out his hand for the phone. "Hi, Dave," he said, sounding dispirited.

  "How are you doing there? I've been worrying about you."

  "We're making do."

  "I have a message for you, from your mother. She asked me to tell you that she's safe and just fine, but she's not going to be in touch with you directly for a while because she doesn't want you caught in the middle."

  "Caught in the middle? I don't think I'm likely to have that problem. I wish she'd left him a long time ago. I'd have been happier, at least."

  There was a pause. "She hasn't said as much, but I think she left now because he's weak. You've got away from him, and the bad press about his brother leaves everyone ready to believe the worst of him."

  "I suppose."

  "Is there anything you'd like me to tell her?"

  Calder thought for a moment. "Tell her…" He wanted to ask him to give her his love, but found he couldn't quite say the words. "Tell her she's always welcome here," he said finally.

  "I'll do that," Dave said. "Ann wants to talk to Cassie now."

  Calder wished he could say something light before he turned the phone over to Cassie, but his mind seemed frozen, so he just said good-bye.

  "Ann! How are you?" Cassie said cheerfully.

  "Just fine, thanks. How about you?"

  "We're a little stressed, as you might imagine, but otherwise everything's going well," Cassie said.

  "I wanted to ask a favor of you, dear."

  "Of course. Anything."

  Ann coughed delicately. "I've been spending a good deal of time with Caro. She needs to talk about what happened during her marriage, and I've been hearing a lot of it."

  "Ah," said Cassie uncertainly.

  "I know Calder has some issues with her, but could you help him understand she needs to be treated very gently right now? She's been through a great deal. Frankly, I try not to think about it too much. Some of her stories are pretty horrific. There was a lot that happened behind closed doors he doesn't know about."

  "I imagine there must have been." It didn't take much imagination to recognize how badly Joe Westing could have hurt the woman who had to share his bed. "I'll do what I can, of course, but I don't think you need to worry. I think his sympathies are in the right place."

  She could hear Ann's sigh of relief. "I'm glad to hear that, dear. I don't think he knows how much he means to her."

  "I expect you're right in that. I'd say he has no idea whatsoever." It was news to Cassie as well.

  "That's what I was afraid of. I'll do what I can from this end, and if you can help him understand, maybe we'll get somewhere."

  "Thanks for telling me, Ann."

  "No need for thanks, dear." She lowered her voice to a confidential level. "I like to consider myself as a non-violent person, but I'm beginning to think I could make an exception for Joseph Westing. I couldn't trust Dave with some of what Caro's told me."

  "I understand," Cassie said slowly. Worried about Calder, she ended the call quickly.

  Calder was kneeling on the floor, scrubbing at a wet spot on the rug. "Sorry. He made a mess. I didn't catch him in time."

  "That's okay. It's going to happen." Cassie found a roll of paper towels and tore some off. "So your mother's with Dave and Ann, I take it?"

  "I'd guessed that already."

  "You had?" Cassie wondered why he hadn't said anything about it before.

  "Yes. This whole thing, the press knowing when the divorce papers were going to be delivered, her disappearance. It all smacked of Dave Crowley. I did some checking on the web. Mental cruelty isn't even grounds for a divorce in Virginia. It has to be physical cruelty. But it's great PR to make sure everyone knows mental cruelty existed." He pressed down on the paper towels to blot up the remaining liquid.

  "Is it Dave you're angry at, or your mother?"

  He sat back on his heels, his eyes remaining on the wet spot. "Neither. I wouldn't wish my father on anyone, even my mother."

  Cassie winced. "Sounds like you're pretty upset with her, too."

  "I feel sorry for her, but the truth is that she wasn't much better than my father. Maybe it was because she was unhappy. I don't know. But she was the one, even more than my father, who tried to make me into something I wasn't. She was the one constantly pushing me into social events, always harassing me about my manners. My behavior was the only thing about me that mattered to her."

  Cassie thought about what Ann had said about Calder's issues with his mother. "You said before that he punished her for fighting with him. Is it possible he punished her if you didn't perform socially the way he expected?"

  "I suppose. Though that's…" He trailed off into silence.

  "Though that's what?"

  "No, I was the one he punished for it," he said grimly. "She was trying to protect me by making sure I never made those mistakes again."

  "Oh, love." She reached down to put her arms around him. "I'm sorry."

  "There was one time… I
'll tell you about it someday, but not now. But she was right to worry."

  Chapter 23

  THE LAB WAS FILLED with the freshness of salt air. Cassie leaned over Calder's shoulder to check the computer screen. So far, so good. Calder was better at entering data into the lab computer than he was at handling scientific glassware. Good thing he didn't have to earn his living as a lab assistant. But this way he could be with her, which was what he said he wanted. Now that the distraction of the move to the Cape was over, he seemed distinctly out of sorts. In truth, he hadn't been himself since the news of his parents' separation.