by Zina Abbott
Delphinia kept her feelings to herself. “What has happened to me, Father? We stopped having fun. Remember how you used to take me fishing with you when we vacationed in the Catskills? You treated me with the same regard you did Ulysses and Dionysus. You spoke to me as if I were equal to and as capable as my brothers. But then you let Mother take over, and I no longer was allowed to be your daughter. Instead, I am now your pawn, yours and Mother’s. You wish me to bow to your every demand to improve your standing in the investment community. Mother insists on the same thing of me to enhance her standing in society. Neither of you care about the real me, or what I want, or what will make me happy.”
Franklin Blakewell shook his head, a hint of a grimace skewing his lips. “Life is not about fun, Delphinia. It is hard work, and we all need to fill our roles. Instead of bemoaning what is past, you need to see your responsibilities to the future, and how you are privileged that you may enjoy life under the best of conditions. Like our home now, Andrew will provide you with a home to be proud of. Forget any romantic notions you may be harboring in that head of yours. Once you marry, things will fall in place for you. Your children will settle you down.” He paused, and glared at her with a pointed look. “Now, are you ready to set this nonsense of yours aside and hand me those letters?”
Delphinia shook her head. “It is my correspondence, Father, and it is private. It does not concern you.”
Heaving a sigh, Franklin rose from his chair. “I will not forcefully disrobe you in my office in order to search you, Delphinia. I’ll let your mother deal with you, for I know she has no compunction about holding back from doing what needs to be done. I will take you home now.”
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CHAPTER 2
~o0o~
Once home, Delphinia raced up the stairs after her father ordered her to her room with the warning that her mother would soon be up. She knew she only had a short time to dispose of the letters. Once in her room, Delphinia raised her eyes towards heaven with a prayer of gratitude that Annie was not there. From her center dressing table drawer she quickly retrieved the key to her bedroom door and locked her door before she returned her key to its usual place. It would only buy her a few minutes, but hopefully it would be enough.
Biting back a mumbled cry of frustration as her usually nimble fingers fumbled with the buttons on her blouse, Delphinia quickly pulled the two letters from her corset. She tore the one from Aaron Brinks open first and skimmed it. It was his usual letter, including a description of the latest book he was reading.
Delphinia tore open the second envelope. She quickly grabbed at the train ticket and money that almost slipped from her grasp onto the floor. She realized it must be time to go to Jubilee Springs. She quickly unfolded the letter from Mrs. Millard, suspecting it contained dates and instructions on when she was to arrive. The only words that caught her attention were “Independence Day.”
Delphinia jerked her head up at the sound of the door knob rattling followed by her mother's cry of indignation. “Delphinia! Open this door immediately.”
“Not now, Mother. I’m busy.” Delphinia grasped the envelopes and letters in one hand and the tickets and money in the other. She had to hide the tickets and money.
“Delphinia now! Open this door now. How dare you disobey me!”
Delphinia suffered no false illusions. Her mother would get into her room, and it wouldn’t take her long. Her suspicion were realized when she heard her mother, Helena Blakewell, give her order to Annie. “Go down to the pantry and get the other key to this room, girl, and hurry.”
Delphinia wanted to shove everything in her fireplace mantle hiding place. However, a part of her racing brain warned her if she didn’t give her parents something of the letters, they might tear her room apart and discover her secret. They would then have all her other letters, plus money she had squirreled away along with some jewelry pieces she could sell for funds.
She took the money and tickets and quickly secured them in the mantle. The letters and envelopes she must sacrifice. She quickly opened the grate to the coal heater she used in her room in the winter. It had been over a month since there had been a fire inside to take off the morning and evening chill, so there not only was no flame, but Annie had cleaned out all the ash. Although New York City had started the process of lighting its streets with incandescent electric lights, the great invention by Thomas Edison, her father had not found a way to get the marvelous new technology into their home yet.
Delphinia turned on the gas lamp closest to the heater. Quickly heating due to the flame, her eyes teared with burn pain as she lifted the globe from the gas spigot. She ignited the two letters in the flame, allowing the fire to consume almost half of the paper before she tossed the charred sheets into her heater. She watched the last of it turn to black ash as the key turned in the lock of her door.
Helena Blakewell filled the doorway while behind her stood, Annie, her head bowed as the tight curls of her head of red hair escaped her maid’s cap. “Delphinia! How dare you defy me!” Helena Blakewell stepped into the room and stood about three feet from her daughter, her arms akimbo. “Your father is too much of a gentlemen to remove your clothing to reach whatever it is you hid on your person, but I have no such reservations.” Helena held her hand out flat, palm up. “Your father said you received two letters. Hand them over instantly.”
Delphinia pointed to the still-smoking ash, all that was left of the letters. She kept her voice flat and emotionless. “They are in there, Mother. I did not get a chance to read then, and neither will you.”
Flames of anger shot from Helena’s eyes. She stepped forward, grabbed Delphinia’s shoulders and shook her like her daughter was a rag doll. “What has gotten into you? Your father said you picked up the two letters addressed to a Delia Brownlee, the same name as on the one we found a month ago….”
Delphinia interrupted, showing the first hint of annoyance since her mother barged into her room. “You mean the letter you had Annie deliberately steal from my dressing table, don’t you, Mother? It was my personal property. You had no right to take what was mine.”
“And it is well we did take it. Of all the foolish nonsense—that man was writing to you as if he expected you to leave your home and travel to meet him. He was nothing but an opportunist, a con man seeking your money. Of course your father and I must protect you from your own follies.”
Delphinia eyes bore into her mother. Once again, she forced all emotion away, refusing to exhibit her anger. “And you think Andrew Sopworth is not an opportunist? He does not care for me. All he talks about is what he will do after we marry and he gets my money.”
Helena brushed her daughter’s claim away with a wave of her hand. “Mr. Sopworth is from one of the best New York families. They are quality people, Delphinia. Marriage to him will mean always having a nice place to live in and being able to provide well for your children. It will assure your place in society.”
Delphinia studied her mother’s face. What she knew was left unsaid was that her marriage to Andrew would strengthen Helena’s position in society. Her mother continued. “As for this other man, it is ridiculous and beneath you to have had any contact with him at all.”
“I had already written him and told him I was not interested investing with him. I am not as addlepated as you and Father wish to believe I am.”
“And pray what were these other two letters about? Your father said the one came from the same place, a backward silver mining town in the wilds of Colorado, and the other from Denver. What on earth could you possibly wish to correspond with them concerning?”
“Perhaps I wish to invest in a silver mine. With the government buying up silver for coin, silver prices are rising. Perhaps I used a different name so that if my inquiries fell through, it would not come back on me to besmirch the Blakewell name.”
“Do not spout such nonsense, Delphinia. You have no need to think about silver mines o
r investments of any nature. That is not why I sent you to finishing school. That is what your father does. Once you marry, it will be up to Andrew to worry about your investments. Your place it to worry about managing your home, raising your children and taking your rightful place in society. Now, put this nonsense aside and focus on your upcoming marriage. It is time you stop leaving everything to me. I have had to pick out the style and fabrics for your wedding gown. You are due for a fitting, but keep putting it off. There is so much that must be done in the next three months if we are to have everything prepared by the end of October.”
“I will not be marrying Andrew Sopworth, Mother.”
Helena stared at her daughter as if she had grown two heads. “Of course you will marry Andrew. You have already agreed. It has already been announced and the betrothal party held.”
“I never chose Andrew, Mother. You and Father chose him. I never agreed to marry him or to have our engagement announced. I knew nothing about the engagement or the betrothal party before I was dragged there. If you recall, you had me dress up on the pretext of going to the theater. Once we arrived at the hotel ballroom instead of the theater, and I realized what was happening, I tried to leave. You and Father bullied me into staying and going along in order to not embarrass you among your society friends and father’s business associates.”
Helena heaved a martyr’s sigh. “We must do what we know is right for you, Delphinia, even when you cannot see what is best yourself. Now, there will be no more talk of you not marrying Andrew.”
“I will not marry Andrew, Mother. I do not wish to embarrass you, but I cannot face a life with him as my husband. Why can’t you and Father give me a small allowance and allow me to go somewhere that pleases me? You can tell your friends what you wish. After enough time has passed, they will stop asking about me.”
Helena narrowed her eyes as she studied her daughter. “There is such a place where errant daughters can be sent, Delphinia, but I do not wish to subject you to that if I do not have to. I do not wish to call Dr. Spellman in and have you committed to a sanitarium until you come to your senses. We will take care of it privately at home.”
Helena turned to Annie whose shoulders now trembled. She had remained standing outside Delphinia’s bedroom door. “Get her key, Annie.” Helena turned back to her daughter while Annie jumped to follow her employer’s command. “You will stay in your room, Delphinia. Your meals will be brought up to you, as well as water for washing. You will be allowed to come down no more often than once a week when Andrew calls, and you will be on your best behavior. I will be present to assure you do. Beyond that, as far as anyone outside the family is concerned, you are suffering some minor health issues and are temporarily indisposed. This will continue up until you come to your senses and agree to marry Andrew Sopworth.”
Helena turned to the maid whose shoulders quaked at being addressed by her mistress. “And Annie? I am aware of the gossip mill among servants. Nothing of this is to be repeated to anyone, not even members of your family. If I get even the slightest indication this situation is known among our friends and acquaintances, not only will you lose your position, but I will see you are arrested for theft, prosecuted and sent to prison for a considerable amount of time. Do I make myself clear?”
Tears spilling from her eyes, Annie clasped her hands together and nodded.
Helena turned back to her daughter. “You will not win, Delphinia. I know what is best for you and my mind is made up. Until you come to your senses and agree to marry Andrew, you will stay here in these four walls except for very rare occasions as mentioned. Your wings have been clipped, my dear. Now it is up to you.”
Delphinia refused to show any sign of the dismay she felt at her mother’s edict. Instead, she shrugged, and forced her voice to remain steady. “It will not be so different than what I have known, Mother. You and Father have kept me trapped like a bird in a gilded cage for years.”
With a huff of disgust, Helena left, locking Delphinia’s bedroom door from the outside.
Even though she heard the key grate in the lock and knew the door was secured, Delphinia tried the knob anyway. She was definitely locked into her room. She refused to panic. It had been years, but she had on more than one occasion in her youth escaped her room through her window and climbed down the shade tree that had been on the property since before her family bought the house. She would bide her time, wait a few days, take what she needed, and leave in the night. Although she didn’t know if the tickets were dated or exactly how much money Mrs. Millard had sent, that combined with what she had already set aside, would be enough to get her out of New York. Her future resided in Colorado.
Deciding it was safest to wait until after everyone had turned in for the night before she looked over what she had received that day, Delphinia chose to spend the next several hours reading. She was engrossed in her story when a noise at one of her bedroom windows captured her attention.
Delphinia rose to investigate. Stepping back from her window with a gasp of astonishment, she stood frozen in place as through the lace sheers covering her window she watched a workman standing on a ladder lift an ornate metal grate up to her window. Realizing he intended to secure it to the window frame, she stepped forward and pulled down the window shade. She quickly went to the other two windows and pulled the shades so the man could not see her or the inside of her room. She resumed her seat in her chair, staring without seeing at the opposite wall, her book forgotten.
Although her parents might tell enquiring friends they were there for security, Delphinia understood the true purpose of the wrought iron grates. No matter how pretty they were, they were prison bars, intended to keep her in at all costs. She truly was consigned to live in a gilded cage.
Heaven help me if there is a house fire.
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Jubilee springs, Colorado – Mid-october, 1881
CHAPTER 3
~o0o~
Bennett Nighy blew the last of the shavings away from the carving he had completed on the Cherrywood drawer of the most recent bedroom chest he was building. He loved the feel of hardwoods like cherry beneath his fingers, so different from the pine he often used for budget furniture or coffins for the less well-to-do deceased. He couldn’t blame them, but if one of the residents of Jubilee Springs should happen to die without family or friends to pay for a more upscale coffin of hardwood, they ordered the cheapest coffin made from knothole pine Bennett offered.
Bennett set down his fine chisel and lifted his head as soon as he heard the tinkling of the bell signaling he had a customer. At least he hoped it was a customer. Too often, it was someone who stopped by to pass the time with conversation. Although his furniture store did fairly well considering Jubilee Springs was far from being a metropolis, he could do to have more paying customers. It was one thing to leave the peace and solitude of his workshop in back of the store to make a sale. It was another to be distracted from his work so someone could bend his ear. He heaved a sigh of resignation and brushed his honey blonde hair he wore too long to be fashionable back with his hand to knock away any sawdust that might have flown onto his head. Using his fingers, he likewise swiped his moustache and beard, both several shades darker than the hair on his head, before he wiped his hands off on a rag rather than his pants. Straightening his blue pin-striped shirt that brought out the sky blue color of his eyes, he walked out front.
Bennett forced his expression to remain neutral once he saw who was in his store. It was one of the miners who worked the evening shift at the Prosperity Mine.
It would be one thing if he was one of the miners who had signed up for one of the ten mail order brides the owners were bringing into town for ten lucky men. They would be in the market for additional pieces to finish furnishing their company houses beyond the basic furniture provided by the mine. Clive Bainbridge, one of the owners had contracted with Bennett to build ten dinette sets consisting of a table with
two chairs each, and ten four-drawer chests for each of the ten houses. The other pieces he purchased in Denver and had them shipped up. Bennett had appreciated the work even though his orders were to build all ten sets of smooth pine, exactly the same in design and finish, and very simple without any kind of style to them. It had been a relief when they were finished and he could move on to pieces constructed of better quality wood that required more skill.
However, this man was not one of the ten miners seeking to add to his household goods in order to please a new wife. Since he lived in the bunkhouse-style housing for single miners, he needed no furniture. No doubt he was in town killing time before he needed to get ready for work.
“Hey, Ben, how’s it going? Keeping you busy?”
“I’m doing fine, Harvey. I’m always busy, but can always find time for more work.”
“How’s the fishing coming?”
“It’s going all right. The really good fishing is just about over for the year, though.”
“Hey, you heard about them bringing up a couple of more new brides? They’re coming up in time for the harvest dance. It’s taking Bainbridges longer than I think they planned to get enough women for all ten men who signed up to get married. Looks like a few more are going to tie the knot this weekend.”
Bennett folded his arms and tipped his head while at the same time he raised an eyebrow as he stared at the man, not sure why the miner thought it should matter to him that some more brides for the miners were due to arrive soon. He had already fulfilled his contract with the Bainbridge brothers. His response was slow and nonchalant. “I suppose that is exciting news for some folks in town.”