“Let them freshen up first. I’m told the meal is not quite ready,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll have someone show you to your rooms. We’ll meet back here.”
Fifteen minutes later they were back. Hazel had repinned her hair and hung her dresses before returning.
“Won’t you tell us what happened?” Hazel asked as soon as she spotted Hugo again. They were all making their way to the dining room.
“You always were a little impatient.” He spoke to her in a gentle voice, like a father speaking to his child. “I promise to tell you the whole story.”
Large double doors separated the dining room from the entryway. They creaked open on oversized hinges. The guests were greeted with the scent of rich foods. The table ran the full length of the room, with one end set lavishly for the party. Candlesticks, flowers, and full place settings. She breathed deeply, letting the aroma fill her lungs and the memories her heart.
“Mrs. Northly ought to take a lesson from their chef. I’ve smelled nothing like this before,” Ina whispered to Hazel. “It’s so fancy.”
When the guests were settled into their seats, Hugo stood. “I’d like to welcome you all to our home. What you’ve done for our late son and for our daughter-in-law will not soon be forgotten. While you eat, I’ll tell you the progress we’ve made in the case. Enjoy your meal.” He motioned for them to begin.
Forks and knives clanked against the fine plates as they all dug into the savory feast. For Hazel, each mouth-watering bite brought back memories and created new ones.
“We were able to corner the captain making an exchange with a man we later learned worked for Patrick.” Hugo pointed proudly to his blackened eye. “I hired men to watch from every angle. But the more I thought about Nathaniel, the more I felt a need to be there. I sat perched in a nearby building waiting and watching. It was late in the night, well after midnight, when a group of men approached the ship. The captain, Jacob, was there, and we all witnessed an exchange of money. I grew angrier and angrier as I realized that for a pile of money, my son was dead. I left my hideout and confronted the captain.”
Elizabeth, sitting beside him, sniffled. “I’m sorry. It still worries me thinking of the danger you were in. I could have lost you.”
Hugo patted his wife’s shoulder. “I was safe. The other men all moved in with me. I didn’t even say a thing to him. I just hit him with all the force I could muster. Before anyone could stop him, he returned the blow.” He rubbed the side of his face. “We don’t have to worry any longer, because he is now in jail along with the man he was dealing with. They were interrogated and gave up Patrick’s name, adding to the case we’ve already built against him. We haven’t apprehended Patrick yet, but with any luck that’ll happen soon. The information all of you put together made this possible.” He paused while the staff served another platter of food.
“We’ve also been able to bring in many of the men listed in Nathaniel’s notes, and although it will take weeks for them all to testify and be found guilty, we’re making good headway. It turns out we were not the only people trying to cleanse the police force of anyone crooked. When I approached the mayor for help, he sent me to several detectives who were working on cases of corruption within the police force. With our information, they were able to solve not only this case but others as well.”
Hazel listened to the recounting with awed amazement. They’d captured the captain and were about to get Patrick, and that meant . . . She couldn’t process the words. How could it be so? Mere weeks ago, she’d been unable to find anyone to help her and now men were behind bars.
Elizabeth rose from her seat and stood by Hugo’s side. “Tomorrow,” she said, “we’ve made arrangements to have Charlotte testify. She’s nervous but determined to meet with Judge Lawson at the courthouse. And, Hazel, once she declares her former testimony false, your name will be cleared. A reporter is scheduled to interview you. We want the news to be in the paper so everyone will know you were sentenced in error. We’ve also been in correspondence with your family, and your sister’s health is precarious but stable. They’re expecting you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow I’ll be cleared and I’ll see my sister?” Hazel set down her fork and stared at them. “Tomorrow? It all sounds too simple.”
“We’ve been working tirelessly all week. I had to hire my own army of men to watch the ships and brothel, and even then it wouldn’t have been possible if we hadn’t had all the information you gathered and that Nathaniel left.” Hugo’s gaze found Hazel’s. “I think it was more than hard work though.”
“You do?”
“I’ve felt closer to Nathaniel all week. More at peace. Some greater power must have his hands in it.” Hugo raised his glass. “For Nathaniel,” he said, and they all raised their glasses with his.
When the murmur died down, Gilbert dared to ask what they were all wondering. “Does that mean”—he cleared his throat—“that you’ve found the man who . . . who took your son’s life?”
“We aren’t sure. I’ve heard different accounts, but two people have said it was Jacob.” Hugo reached for his wife’s hand. “He betrayed us. All these years I believed he was a friend, or at the least a good captain. He was neither. But we have Hazel home, and she’s been good enough to forgive us. Tonight we’ll dwell on our blessings.”
Eddie raised his glass.
“To Hazel,” he said, and everyone joined in.
Hugo and Elizabeth smiled at her with familial love. Ina had tears trailing down her cheeks, and when she met Hazel’s eyes, she said, “They’re happy tears. You’re getting your life back.”
Duncan nodded when she looked at him. Even Eddie looked happy. “I always knew you didn’t do it,” he said, earning himself a glare from her. She couldn’t keep it though, and soon she smiled back at him.
She looked at Gilbert, who had a smile on his face, but she saw sadness behind it.
“The future’s yours now,” he said. If they’d been alone, she would have put her hand on his arm and let her eyes hold his. She would have told him that this moment would never have happened without him. But they were not alone.
Hugo and Elizabeth controlled most of the dinner conversation. They discussed not only the case but also stories from the past and even expressed some of their hopes for the future. When the meal concluded, they stood and left the dishes on the table as they guided everyone to the parlor. There was a time when Hazel had not thought twice about who washed the dishes, but now leaving them felt odd. Had she been away from this world for too long to fall back in step with it?
When the conversations began to wane and the sun had long ago disappeared beyond the horizon, they bid goodnight to Hugo and Elizabeth and one by one left for their assigned guest rooms.
“Where are you going?” Hazel asked when she spotted Gilbert inching toward the door and his boots. “You’ll wake everyone going out at this hour.”
“I wasn’t leaving, not back to Amherst anyway. I just thought I’d go for a walk.”
“At eleven?” she asked, utterly confused. “Why?”
“I like to think while I walk.” He set his shoes back next to the door. “I’ll stay. It was just a whim.”
“Let’s go upstairs. Tomorrow will be a big day.” She pulled him toward the stairs. “Perhaps there will be time for a walk tomorrow.”
The massive house felt even larger in the dark as they made their way up the stairs to the guest rooms. Hallways, doors, and more hallways.
“My room is that way.” He pointed to his left. “Second door to the left.”
“And mine is that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction. “Third room on the right.”
“Until tomorrow, then.”
Rather than go to her room, she stepped closer so she could see his face better. The corners of his mouth drooped down. “Why the long face?”
He shrugged. “Just tired, I suppose.”
Hazel watched him, but his expression remained pensive, causing an ache to gro
w in her own heart. She pushed onto her tiptoes and kissed his scruffy cheek. “I think Clara would say you looked like a poor orphan boy tonight. Tell her I did what I could to lift your spirits.”
His frown deepened.
Another kiss to his cheek, and he chuckled a little. “I didn’t realize all I had to do was look a little downcast and I’d get a kiss.”
“I think I must be in a particularly charitable mood. Or maybe I’ve always had a soft spot for lonely orphans.”
“One more, then,” he said, offering her an exaggerated playful frown, but he couldn’t hide the twinkle in his eye. Slowly, she put a hand on one side of his face and eased him closer to her. Her heart beat faster, and she was anxious to place her lips on his face once again. This time she kissed him slower, letting her lips linger on his cheek as she savored the feel of his warm skin. The moment lost its seriousness when Hazel laughed. She put her hands over her mouth, trying to cover it.
“You’re horrible,” she whispered once she was back in control. “That frown could win you all sorts of affection. You’re not sad at all—you’re just toying with me.”
“No I’m not. I’m terribly sad.” He frowned even bigger. “I’m so sad and lonely. Have pity on a poor orphan boy.”
She swatted his arm. “Stop, you’ll make me laugh again. You know it’s not right to trick someone into kissing you.”
“Very well. How about one more simply because we are celebrating the freedom you will gain tomorrow when Charlotte testifies?”
She pursed her lips and looked him over, wanting to understand what was happening between them. His frown was gone, replaced by an earnest face full of longing. She swallowed, wondering if her face had the same desire written on it. Surely her heart did. She inched closer. “I’ll give you one more, but not because you are sad or lonely and not because I’ll be free tomorrow. I’ll give you one more because you never doubted. And because you are the kindest man I’ve ever met. I knew it from the start. I felt safe around you. You’ve given me wings.”
She watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down as she slowly moved her hands back to his face. At her touch, he put his hands on her waist and urged her closer. She lifted herself up onto her tiptoes, and this time when she pressed her lips to his cheek, she sighed. With her face still near his, she said rather breathlessly, “No more frowns.”
“Not after that.” He looked into her eyes, brought a hand to her face, and ran his fingers along her cheekbone. In the darkness he whispered, “Goodnight, Red.”
They parted ways, each bound for their room. Hazel walked as carefully as she could, softly padding down the hall, but still Ina heard her and poked her head out of her bedroom doorway.
“Hazel, is that you?”
“I was so quiet. How did you hear me?”
“Mrs. Northly always says your laugh could wake an entire village.”
“She says that about me?” Hazel nearly laughed again.
“She says all kinds of things about you. Most of them aren’t true, but you do have a rather loud laugh. Tell me what you and Gilbert were doing in the hall?”
“He was feeling a little down, and I tried to help him feel better.”
“I don’t think that was all that happened.” Ina scrutinized her. “Why are you grinning?”
Drat that Ina and her perceptiveness. “I just . . . well . . . I might have told him that he changed my life.” Hazel smiled, proud of the honest but elusive answer she gave.
“Hmm . . . I believe you did say those words. Now tell me what else you did?” Ina’s brow was raised like a mother who’d caught her child snitching sweets.
“Ina!”
“I knew it. You were kissing in the hall, weren’t you?” Ina clapped her hands together. “Don’t lie to me. But do tell me all about it.”
Hazel groaned. “Just a friendly kiss. It’s not what you think.”
“Someday soon I hope you’ll stop lying to yourself. When you do, I don’t think Gilbert will have a reason to be sad any longer. You know he worries you will stay here and never come back. That’s what makes him sad, but he’s too good of a man to ask you to leave the world you’ve wanted for so long for him.”
“I need to see my family, but after that, if all goes well, I do intend to come back to him.”
“He worries because he cares. Did he kiss you back?” Ina asked, her voice low.
“It wasn’t that sort of a kiss.”
It was just a friendly kiss, wasn’t it? She retreated to her room, hoping she’d have a reason to give more friendly kisses soon. Or perhaps, when the dust settled and her sister was well, a kiss that was more than friendly.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
“You’re telling us you never owned the jewels that were found in Hazel Williams’s home?” Judge Lawson asked the shaking Charlotte the next morning at the courthouse.
“No, I never did.” Charlotte rubbed her hands together, then set them in the lap of her faded blue dress. “I just said those things ’cause I didn’t have no money, and Patrick said he’d give me some. He put the jewels in her house. I never knew nothing about Hazel.”
“Was Patrick Harper a violent man?”
“He could be when he was in a foul mood or if he’d been drinkin’. He said he’d kill me if I ever told anyone about the jewelry and the money. I believed him too, but a man like that’s got to be stopped.”
Judge Lawson wrote a few notes. “You needn’t worry. I expect he’ll be apprehended soon enough. Do you also testify that he brought opium into the brothel and sold it from there?”
“He met people there, and they sold it all over the city. Sometimes he left some for the girls, but mostly he sold it to other people. A lot of us can swear to that. He never saw us as nobody, so he’d say all kinds of stuff with us in the room.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. If you think of anything else, please let us know.” The judge jotted down a few more observations, then closed his book. “That will be all for today.”
“What of Hazel’s case?” Hugo asked.
“It’s as good as official. I have plenty of evidence to reverse her verdict.” Judge Lawson turned to Hazel. “On behalf of the court, I apologize to you for the pain you’ve suffered and the years you’ve lost.”
Hazel stood and walked to the judge. “Thank you for helping set it straight.” Then she walked to Charlotte. “Thank you for coming in. You don’t know what it means to me.”
“I shouldn’t have told them lies.”
“It’s forgiven.” Hazel hugged the woman. “You saved me today, and that’s all that matters. You were very brave.”
“The reporter says he needs to get your answers soon if he’s going to get your story in tomorrow’s paper,” Hugo said. “Will you excuse us?” he asked Charlotte.
Hazel hugged Charlotte once more, then walked over to Mr. Oskovy, who’d sat in the back of the room all morning taking notes and listening. His spectacles were low on his nose and in his hand was a pencil with a chewed-on end.
“I’ve already gotten most of the details from Mr. Williams. Is it right for me to assume he is to credit with your case’s reversal?”
“Hugo and Elizabeth were monumental in all that has taken place this week. I’m immensely grateful for their support and efforts. But they should not receive sole credit for all that has happened.”
He looked up from his paper. “Who, then?”
“Doctor Gilbert Watts of Amherst believed me innocent from the beginning. His brother, Edward Watts, put many of the clues together. Attorney Duncan Franklin, also of Amherst, helped us navigate the old cases. His betrothed, Ina White, was with us, supporting our cause. They care little for praise, but they are due.” She looked to the other end of the room, where her four friends were sitting and visiting as they waited for her. “I’ve been blessed.”
He scribbled on his notepad before looking up and asking, “What plans do you have now that your sentence has been reversed?”
“I hope to spend time with my family. That is the only real plan I’ve made.”
“Are you angry? You spent five years in a reformatory.”
Hazel paused. Words would never capture all she’d been through, all she’d lost, and all she’d gained. “I would not have picked the trials I have endured, but there’s no going back, and I’ve learned that being angry does no good. I refuse to carry the burden of regret and have chosen to be grateful I am where I am today and not dwell on the path that has led me here.”
He looked up and studied her for a moment. “I pride myself on being an unbiased reporter, but I must say that I admire your choice.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll write this up and get it in the paper tomorrow. I expect it’ll be the talk of the town, that you will be the talk of the town.” He grabbed the hat that sat next to him, put it on, then stood to leave. “It’ll be a good day at the presses.”
“Glad I can keep them rolling.” Rubbing her palms together, she pivoted toward the group and crossed the room. “I’m done,” she said when she reached them. “We’re free to go.”
She froze as her own words sank in. It was over. A lump formed in her throat. Could this all be true?
“It’s over,” she said, her voice trembling.
Gilbert clapped his hands, and soon the others joined in. Their excitement grew more exuberant as they cheered and embraced one another. Hazel’s eyes glistened. It was finished! When the shock wore off, the joy came in earnest.
“Duncan is going to look over a few notes with Hugo. The rest of us are planning to go back with Elizabeth,” Ina said.
“I think I’ll walk from here to my parents’ house. I promised Gilbert we’d take a stroll today.” She cocked a smile at him. “Will you walk with me?”
“Of course. But only if you promise to hold your head extra high and look everyone straight in the eye.”
“I promise. But I can’t promise I won’t run and skip and giggle like a schoolgirl.”
A Lady in Attendance Page 23