Patricia was sure his excitement would make the moment more memorable. “How about we get you out of that chair. We’ll lay out this blanket right here for our picnic. It will not be like your fancy Philadelphia food, but it will be the finest lunch you’ve had in months.”
Patrick pushed himself up with his hands on the arms of the wheelchair and planted his bare feet on the grass. “Whoopee,” he hollered as he wiggled his toes, feeling the blades between them. He hopped three or four steps and lowered himself onto the blanket. Patricia unpacked the basket item by item. Deviled eggs, baked chicken, and bread were soon laid out. Patrick let out a laugh as he lifted the whiskey bottle. “Where in the world did you get all of this? I haven’t seen food like this since the war began.” As they ate, Patricia described her morning spent cooking eggs and chicken. Patrick laughed and joked with her. It was the most social he had felt in three months.
Patricia leaned over to pick up his plate, but he seized one of her hands and kissed it. She leaned over and kissed his lips as she pulled him down on the blanket. With her right breast on his chest she undid two of his shirt buttons and ran her hand through his chest hair. Patrick gasped and reached for her breast. She moaned as his hands pulled her bodice free. Soon her breast hung free. Feeling his tongue flicker along her hardened nipple sent a wave of euphoria through her body. Quickly she worked the buttons of his trousers and stroked him as he throbbed in her hand. Very deliberately, she stood up letting her camisole slide to the ground. Patrick had never even seen Katherine stand so proudly naked. “My dear Patricia. Please, come to me. I am on fire.”
“I will tend the fire.” She pulled his trousers down his legs and went to her knees. “Now I am on fire, too. But see,” she took his penis and touched it to herself. “I am already wet enough to help.” She mounted him and Patrick arched his back, digging his good foot into the ground as she slowly slid up and down. He opened his eyes momentarily to see her riding him in ecstasy, her large breasts swaying above him in erotic motion. He grasped her small waist with both hands and helped shift her light frame, enhancing their pleasure until without warning he burst deep inside her. Feeling his intensity she rode faster as he let out a scream of pleasure which she matched moments later. Unable to part, their throats dry with passion, they laid intertwined. “My God, Patricia, you’ve made me feel like a man again.”
“You always were a man. You just needed someone to give it to.”
“I’ve never felt anything like that. I, when I can walk again...”
“Shh, darling, don’t worry about walking. I am going to teach you new pleasures.”
Guilt plagued him all through the night. When she came to him the next morning, he whispered tensely, “Patricia, what happened between us yesterday...well, it should not happen again.”
Patricia nodded slowly. “Patrick, I only wanted you to regain your confidence again,” she said, leaning down to tuck in his sheets. “You give me pleasure beyond anything I could have imagined. My body is still tingling. Why, I’m even a little sore. How are you?”
Patrick closed his eyes. “Patricia, I wish... You must understand... Katherine...”
She poured a little whiskey into the cup by his bed. “Of course I understand. We have so little time together. Soon it will all be over.” With his traction gone and no cast required, she knew his discharge from the Army would be delivered and he could go home within a week. “Patrick. I only want you to feel the strength in yourself again.”
He reached over and took her wrist. He was truly fond of Patricia apart from the lovemaking. She had been his friend and companion. The pleasure that flowed from her in their frenzies left him needing her in a way that was different than Katherine. He reached for the whiskey. “Yes, you’re right,” he said. “It’s just for now.”
One week later, in the entrance hall to Campbell Hospital, Katherine was speaking with the chief nurse. “I came a day early to take Patrick Sullivan home to Philadelphia. I spoke with Secretary Stanton, who notified me of his discharge. Patrick thinks he’s leaving the day after tomorrow, but I wanted to surprise him. We are booked on the nine o’clock Army train tomorrow. Is there any problem with this change of plans?” “No, Miss Lovington. It is so hectic here, and all of Washington, that we are most happy to have you be responsible.”
“In fact, I will take him with me to the Willard Hotel tonight.” The idea had just come to Katherine, and a chance to bed down with Patrick was exciting. “Yes, that is what I’ll do. It would ease our travel to the train station tomorrow. May I do that?”
“Certainly. His papers are ready, and once he is in your custody the Army will not control him until—if—he is called back for duty. Go and spring your surprise on him. He should be so excited to see you.”
Katherine remembered her way to the officers’ ward, where she found Patrick’s bed empty. She looked around and saw the old lieutenant, who recognized her. “You lookin’ for the Cap’n?”
“Yes. Where could he be?”
“Out for a walk, I s’pect. He’s a racehorse on crutches now,” the old vet chuckled.
“I’ll bet he is. I can’t wait to see him.” Katherine was so proud he was mobile. Surely that lifted his depression.
“I think it’s best if you just have a seat and wait for him to come back.”
“Oh, I think I’ll go out and surprise him. I can’t wait to see his face. Which way would he go?”
“That I don’t know. It’d be a wild guess.”
“Okay, I’ll just look around. If he comes back without me, don’t tell him I’m here.”
“I sure won’t.”
As Katherine walked out, Abel turned to his roommates and said, “Close all the hatches, boys. The Cap’n is about to be blown up.”
Katherine walked the grounds for nearly half an hour without finding Patrick. As she came back to Patrick’s ward to see if he’d returned, she noticed the meadow and decided to check there as a last resort. Following a well-worn path, she paused to listen and search for any clue of him. She saw an opening ahead that clearly led to the river. Perhaps he’s sitting on the bank of the river dreaming of home. As she drew near to the water she saw a small grove of trees with a blanket spread on the ground. She heard two voices laughing and she walked warily toward them, not wanting to intrude.
When Katherine reached the river bank her knees buckled. Patrick, nude, was hopping about in the river on one crutch while a nude woman splashed water on him. Her breath deserted her. She was unsure whether to run before they saw her or scream at him. She strode forward. “Patrick Sullivan!” she screamed involuntarily in her anger. “What are you doing?”
Patrick was more stunned than when he was shot. “Katherine? Why are you here? My God!” He climbed out of the water, forgetting he was stark naked, and stood in front of Katherine to hug her. She could smell the whiskey on his breath.
“Cover yourself,” she said sternly. “Is there any honorable explanation for why you are here?”
“Well...you see...it’s medical treatment.” Patrick began to speak rapidly. “She was cleaning the dirt and skin scales off my leg now that it’s out of traction. The river current is good for my circulation. And by having to stay afloat I have to use my muscles. It is therapy.”
“And for this therapy your nurse needs to be naked, too?” Katherine stared at him as he fumbled with his clothes. She looked hard at the woman in the water, who was standing with her hands on her hips, smiling broadly. “I recognize her. She was the red-haired nurse tending to you when I visited. You have betrayed me with your nurse.”
“Katherine. Please. I am so sorry.”
“Later. We’re getting out of here. Oh my God, why am I to bear this? It is not enough that you were crippled in the war. Did you want me wounded from the war, too?”
“Crippled? Are you calling me a cripple?” Patrick stood, unable to put his trousers on without help. “Damn it,” he growled, “could someone help me here?” He looked at Patricia.
/> Katherine felt as if she had been punched in the stomach. Finally, she walked to Patrick and let him lean on her, soaking her dress, so that he could clothe himself. “I have arranged for you to leave the hospital with me today,” she said through gritted teeth. “Tomorrow we go to Philadelphia. At least no one in Philadelphia knows of your adultery.” She literally pushed him ahead of her. “Now you’re going to show me that you are a racehorse on crutches.”
As Patrick moved quickly down the path, Katherine walked to the river bank. “You are a despicable hussy. I hope you drown.”
“Patrick is better off with me. We were made for each other. Our bodies fit together.”
“If I had a gun I would shoot you. You are a whore.” Katherine turned and followed Patrick.
Patricia stared at the fleeing backs of Patrick and Katherine and said defiantly, “You may think you sustained a wound today, Miss Katherine. But wait. You have just begun to hurt.”
Chapter Ten
SURPRISE
Katherine’s mind was troubled by the pending visit of Patricia O’Reilly. She couldn’t imagine why O’Reilly had requested a formal meeting “to discuss business matters of highest importance to you,” as she pretentiously put it. O’Reilly had even suggested she could have a lawyer present if desired, and Katherine had asked Arthur Hampton to be in an adjoining office. Katherine had no fear meeting this woman alone. It was five weeks since she had called Patricia a whore, and she was ready to back it up.
Katherine knew Patrick’s problem was the opium and whiskey that he had consumed continuously at the hospital. That succubus of a nurse had simply taken advantage of his weakened moral condition, and with his desperate need for pleasure, her body was irresistible. It was easy to forgive him. He had spiraled downward from a hero to an injured cripple and was forced to adjust in a helpless state. Now Patrick was in Pennsylvania Hospital, being treated for his addiction, and when he was home again she would give him all the love they had missed.
Promptly at four p.m. she heard the bell of the front door. Her body tensed as she waited for the butler to deliver her guest. A rustling sound in the hall alerted her they were near. She stood and placed one hand on the corner of her desk.
“Good afternoon, Miss Lovington.”
“Have a seat, Miss O’Reilly,” Katherine said coldly, motioning to a chair in front of her desk. She did not wait for the woman to begin. “Your letter did not mention the nature of our meeting. Pray tell why you want to see me. You must know that I despise you.”
“I am here because I have a business proposition that you need to hear.”
“Which is?”
“The afternoon you found Patrick and me together was not our first time. Patrick and I were...intimate daily for two weeks. Quite successfully.”
Katherine squirmed in her seat at the image of Patrick between this whore’s legs. She was inwardly furious. “If you have come here to gloat, I shall have you put out on the street, where you belong.”
“I am pregnant with Patrick’s child.” Katherine felt as if her body were caving in on itself. This was a nightmare without end. She said nothing and Patricia continued. “I do not need to tell you the child will be an heir to Donovan & Sullivan. As the mother and guardian I will oversee the business interests of my child. I want to represent our interests by replacing you as president of the company.”
Katherine felt herself relax slightly. The woman was deranged. “Don’t be ridiculous. I hardly think our Board would appoint you just because you whored around with Patrick Sullivan.”
“I don’t think ‘whored around’ is fair. I wasn’t paid. The sex was mutual.”
“Miss O’Reilly, let me point out that you have not had this child yet. Not every child who is conceived is born—alive.” Katherine wanted to avoid a confrontation. “And for that matter, have you any proof that this child is Patrick’s?”
Patricia looked nervous. “You have just acknowledged it.”
“I have done no such thing. I have only acknowledged that you had intercourse with Patrick. Out of wedlock. Your child is a bastard, Miss O’Reilly.” She wanted this conversation over, but she also wanted this woman to know that nothing would come easily. Give a leech blood, she thought, and it will only suck the harder.
“Patrick will acknowledge it,” Patricia said, her chin raised.
“Will he? He is in a locked ward at Pennsylvania Hospital for treatment of his alcoholism, which you caused. When he is well we will be married and he will be president of Donovan & Sullivan. Patrick has committed his future to me.”
“Patrick will travel to Virginia with me and his child. He has told me that he wants to do that.”
Katherine involuntarily raised an eyebrow. She must be insane, she thought. “I don’t believe you. I visit him every day at the hospital and he professes his love to me daily.”
“Has he ‘professed’ this to you this week?”
“This week he has been somewhat—distracted.” Patrick had been difficult for the last week. Katherine felt that, as he shed his addiction, he had to face reality more squarely. Several times he had said that Patricia had bewitched him. “He is depressed that he allowed himself to succumb to you.”
“I don’t think so, Miss Lovington, though you may interpret it that way. He has been inside of me every night this week—sometimes twice a night, depending on how much opium I fed him.” Katherine was dumbfounded, unable to believe what this she-devil was saying. “You see, I was hired as the night nurse for the insane ward where Patrick is kept. No nurse wants that job at night so they were thrilled to have me. Not as thrilled as Patrick,” Patricia concluded, with a self-satisfied grin on her face.
Katherine was now furious. “I will be sure you are fired today,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Do you imagine that will make Patrick love you again? Are you aware that Patrick thinks you spend too much time on business? That you do not pay enough attention to his needs? That you deny him your body in order to punish him? That I make him feel like a man, but you make him feel like a cripple?” Katherine closed her eyes, trembling at the thought that her best efforts had been thwarted and that she had to share in the blame.
“Let’s discuss my proposition,” Patricia continued. “You let Patrick marry me and we disappear to Virginia or I go to the local bishop and tell him you are marrying a man who has a child with me. Then I go to the Board of Donovan & Sullivan and demand one third of the privately held shares be transferred to me and that you be removed as president. Patrick will support me. It is not a complex decision—you give up Patrick or your grandfather’s company.”
Katherine’s mind was in a blur. She could not think clearly. She felt desperately that she had to protect what was hers—if only she could be sure what was hers. She stood and walked to a table in the center of the room, snatched the glass whiskey decanter, and shattered it across the mantle of the fireplace. Turning with the jagged broken glass in her hand, she fully intended to stab her visitor to death.
Patricia leaped to her feet, facing Katherine and holding a small hand pistol. The two women stood facing each other, motionless and silent, staring at each other’s hand of death. The office door burst open and Arthur Hampton ran to Katherine and wrenched the glass weapon from her hand. “Please sit, Katherine,” he said as he lowered her onto a leather couch. “Miss O’Reilly, put your gun back in your purse.”
When Patricia’s proposition had been described, Arthur understood Katherine’s delirium. “Miss O’Reilly, you will have to give us some time to discuss your proposal.”
“No. Give me your answer now.”
“Miss O’Reilly, that is completely out of the question.”
“No, Arthur,” Katherine said firmly. Katherine’s face was no longer contorted into an angry mask. Her mind was clear. Looking directly at Patricia, she said in a firm voice, “Draw up an agreement, Arthur, that Patricia O’Reilly renounces any intention to seek damages for her pregnancy in return for $10,0
00. She is to leave Philadelphia today and never contact Patrick Sullivan again. If she violates the agreement she will be thrown into jail and I will have the key thrown away.”
“Is this sum of money agreeable?” Arthur asked Patricia.
Patricia stood, straightened her dress, and fingered her pearls. “I will need to buy a house and that will cost at least $1,000. I will need a carriage and two horses and a driver for the carriage. I will need a maid at my home and a nanny for the child. Of course I will need this help for many years and I would think that will cost me at least $100 a year. I will have my own living expenses—jewelry is expensive, you know. I think $20,000 is my price.”
“Draw the check for her, Arthur,” Katherine said sternly.
“I will need Mr. Hampton to accompany me to the bank to be certain the money is transferred to me.”
“Please accompany her, Arthur.”
Hampton nodded, inscrutable. “I will. Miss O’Reilly, I believe you and Miss Lovington are finished. I will escort you out.”
“Arthur, go ahead and get the carriage. I have a few private words for Miss O’Reilly.” Hampton left the office, but left the door open.
“Miss O’Reilly.” Katherine stood directly in front of Patricia. “You are cold and calculating. You have used your best advantage—your body, which is the Devil’s design—to steal Patrick’s affection from me. You are right—he blames me. I have no choice but to be blackmailed. My grandfather spent a lifetime building this company and I cannot violate that heritage by letting a whore like you besmirch this company and my husband-to-be. And I assure you, now that I know what Patrick needs, he will get it from me. He is mine, not yours. If you ever cross my path again, or return to Philadelphia, I will have you killed. Now get out of my sight,” and she pointed at the door.
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