by Rhys Bowen
“Winnie. Oh my God. Is she going to be all right?” Her father ran to meet them.
“We couldn’t wake her,” Aunt Florence said as they set Winnie down beside Ivy. “Thank heavens Captain Sullivan arrived, because I couldn’t carry her by myself. She must have taken one of her sleeping powders. She’s out to the world.”
“Thank God.” Mr. Carmichael kissed Winnie’s unresponsive cheek. “My darling girl. I couldn’t bear it if…”
It was the first time I had seen him show any affection toward his daughter. Perhaps he had just realized how his actions had affected lives and what he had put his daughters through. I watched Winnie’s white face. She looked so peaceful, breathing rhythmically. But one of her sleeping powders? I asked myself. And Ivy was also conveniently deep asleep. Had Cedric wanted to get rid of his wife and a daughter at once? Where was he?
At that moment he appeared, running toward us across the grounds, dressed in his dressing gown and slippers. This alone was suspicious to me. None of us had had time to find our robes. I was already shivering in the bitter night air.
“Oh, you’re all safe,” Cedric said. “Thank God. I’ve just run over to the Briarcliff Lodge. They are sending men to help fight the fire and they have telephoned for the village fire brigade. But it’s no use. They’ll be too late to stop it, won’t they?”
But men arrived quickly from the Briarcliff Lodge, carrying pumps and hoses. They were directed around to the back door and attacked the fire from the kitchens. Then we heard the clanging of a bell and the village fire brigade arrived, horses galloping madly as they pulled the engine up the driveway. With the combined efforts the fire was out within an hour. The stairwell and adjoining rooms were destroyed, but much of the house was unscathed. The gallery had been scorched, the grand piano eaten by the fire, and the other drawing room was now smoky and soggy, but the fire had not reached the servants’ quarters or the back part of the house. So we sat in the servants’ dining room while the cook made us hot milk with brandy in it for shock.
Winnie was finally revived and was fed hot milk by her father.
”It’s all right, my little girl. You’re going to be fine.” He spoke to her as if she was three years old.
“My house. My family home.” Cedric was near to tears. “Can it ever be rebuilt? Where shall we live?”
“I don’t think it’s too bad at all,” Mr. Carmichael said. “Could have been much worse. It’s mainly the foyer and the stairs. The flames shot straight upward. It must have been the candles on the Christmas tree that caught the tree on fire. You know how fiercely a dead tree burns.”
“I blame myself,” Cedric said. “I meant to make sure all the candles were out before I went to bed. I’ve done it all the other nights. But I was tired and we’d had quite a lot to drink, so I completely forgot.”
I have been known to take risks in my life before. My husband and friends have told me I take too many. But I decided to take a huge risk now. I had no proof. It was only instinct; call it my Celtic sixth sense.
“The candles were all out when we went up to bed,” I said. “I double-checked.”
Cedric stared at me. I felt eyes on me and a silent sense of expectancy around the table. I plunged on, knowing what dangerous territory I was sailing into. “But later I was on my way to the bathroom and I heard footsteps and I watched you go down again, Cedric. And I saw you arranging the candles so that one was directly beneath a branch. And I think I heard the sound of you striking a match at you relit them.”
“What?” Winnie’s father stood up.
“That’s a lie,” Cedric shouted. “You couldn’t possibly have seen me. I made sure that everyone…”
There was silence.
“You made sure that what, Cedric?” Aunt Florence asked. “That everyone was safely in their rooms?”
“Before you administered the sleeping draught to Ivy and Winnie?” I looked across at Winnie’s white and dazed face. “You must really have wanted your wife and daughter out of the way to have risked burning down your beloved home.”
Cedric was standing facing us. His eyes were blazing. “You can prove nothing of this. One hysterical woman’s testimony doesn’t count. An elderly spinster aunt. Who would believe a meddling, stupid old woman who brought a brat into my house and convinced my wife it was her long-lost daughter?”
“But I remember you, Papa,” Ivy said. “Now I do remember you. It’s coming back, little bits of memory. You didn’t want me then, did you? That pony you put me on and then you hit it and made it run off with me.”
“Cedric?” Winnie demanded. “Then my suspicions were right in those days. You were trying to get rid of her. I always thought that Lottie was too accident-prone. I didn’t want to suspect…”
“Stupid women. A bunch of meddling, interfering women,” he shouted. He lunged at Aunt Florence, who was standing behind him. “And you are the worst. Get out of my sight.”
Aunt Florence reeled backward and was caught by Mr. Carmichael. “Steady on,” he said. “Cedric, have you gone mad?”
“Get out of my house, all of you!” Cedric screamed. “Do you hear me? Get out.”
Daniel moved quietly over to Cedric. “Cedric Van Aiken, I am arresting you for the attempted murder of your wife and daughter,” he said. “And for the murder of Clara Van Aiken.”
“Aunt Clara? You killed Aunt Clara?” Winnie demanded. “No, that can’t be true.”
“I’m afraid it is,” I said. “She was suffocated. Daniel and I both saw the signs.”
“You’ll not lay a finger on me.” Cedric fought Daniel off and rushed from the room. Daniel chased after him. I followed. Cedric rushed up the servants’ stair with Daniel in hot pursuit behind him. Their footsteps echoed from the bare walls and linoleum-covered floors. I couldn’t keep up, wearing my dainty slippers, now wet and soggy with snow. And I was finding it hard to breathe in the lingering smell of smoke. I heard Daniel shout as they went up the second flight.
“It’s no use. You can’t get away,” he shouted.
And then I heard no more. No more footsteps. Nothing. I came out onto the upper hallway. The acrid smell of burning still stung my eyes and nose. It was pitch dark up there. My heart was thudding. I had no idea where they were or what kind of cat-and-mouse game they were playing. I didn’t want to call Daniel and put him in any more danger. An electric light switch, I thought. There must be a switch on the wall. I started groping around me and then I heard the scream. And then the sickening thud.
“Not Daniel,” I whispered to myself. “Daniel!” I shouted.
He came toward me, grim-faced. “Cedric Van Aiken just threw himself down the stairwell,” he said.
He took my hand and led me back down. We found the others clustered around the servants’ stair. When Daniel delivered the news to them, Winnie gasped and put her hand up to her mouth. Ivy rushed over to her. “Don’t cry, Mama. I’m here. I’ll look after you.”
“We’ll all look after you,” Aunt Florence said.
I helped lead Winnie back to a chair. She sat down, staring in front of her. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “The nightmare is finally over.”
Twenty-eight
Later that night Daniel and I were safely back in our room. The local police had been called, and the doctor. The verdict was given as death by misadventure. I could see it was better if it was left that way. But as I snuggled up to Daniel in bed I whispered, “Daniel, you didn’t actually push him over the edge, did you?”
His grip around my shoulder tightened. “What an awful thing to think about your husband. Much as I would have liked to push Cedric Van Aiken off the nearest cliff, I did not touch him. He waited until I closed in on him and then he jumped.” He paused, then added, “I am one of the few straight police officers in New York City, remember. I swore to uphold the law and save lives and that’s what I’ve tried to do.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I might have pushed him if I had been up there.”
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p; He chuckled. “You certainly might have. So let me ask you something: Did you really see him going down again to light the candles on the tree?”
“Between ourselves, no,” I said. “But I guessed that was what must have happened, and I wanted to see how he’d behave if he was cornered.”
Daniel shook his head. “Just when I think you have settled down to being a model wife and mother, you go back to your old ways and act without thinking.”
“It worked though, didn’t it?” I said. “Just think, if I hadn’t made him more or less confess, we’d have considered the fire an accident. We’d have gone home and sooner or later something horrible would have happened to Ivy and to Winnie.”
“Quite possibly,” he said.
”I wonder what will happen now,” I said.
“I’ve no doubt Miss Lind will have everything organized and back to normal in days,” Daniel said dryly.
And, for the first time in ages, I laughed.
* * *
The next morning we examined the sorry remains of the center of the house.
“It’s clear we can’t live here for a while,” Mr. Carmichael said. “We’ll move to the Briarcliff Lodge while I find a place to rent nearby.”
“Oh, no,” Daniel’s mother said. “I have a better idea. Why don’t you all come and stay with me until you find a more permanent solution? I have enough rooms if the girls don’t mind sharing.”
“We don’t mind.” Ivy grinned at her cousin, Amy. It seemed that the fire had turned them into instant friends.
“But what about my sister?” Winnie asked. “What about Lizzie? We can’t leave her to die in some hospital ward.”
“You and I can share, Winnie dear,” Florence said. “We’ll make room for Lizzie if Mrs. Sullivan agrees.” And she looked first at Daniel’s mother and then at Mr. Carmichael.
The latter cleared his throat. “I will be happy to pay for the best nursing home.…”
“No, not necessary,” Daniel’s mother said. “She must come to us. She must be with her family. I’m delighted to do anything to help.” And I could see that she was. It felt good to be needed.
And so it was arranged. I went upstairs to pack up our belongings. I was in the midst of rounding up Liam’s blocks when I heard the sound of agitated voices and feet running down the hall. Sid and Gus came bursting into my room.
“Thank God, thank God.” Sid rushed over to me. “We knew nothing about the fire until we came down to breakfast this morning. How terrible for you. How terrible for the Van Aikens.”
“Is everyone all right?” Gus asked.
“Everyone except Mr. Van Aiken,” I said. I paused, forming a sentence in my head. “Unfortunately he fell from the top-floor landing.”
“How terrible. Poor Mrs. Van Aiken.”
I wondered if I would ever tell them the truth. Probably not. Winnie was now free. She had her daughter back and her aunt to look after her. I wondered if she would ever return to live at Greenbriars.
Our bags were carried down to the waiting carriage. Sid and Gus stood outside, waiting to wave to us as we departed. “We’ll be home in a couple of days,” Sid said. “The others wanted to stay over the New Year, but we find we’ve done enough celebrating. Now we want to get back to our boring old routine.”
“Boring? You?” I laughed. “Who else turns their living room into a Mongolian yurt and cooks Peking duck?”
As we walked out into the cold, crisp day, Winnie drew me aside. “I want to thank you,” she said quietly. “You have given me my life. Anything I can do for you in return, please ask. And if I hire a tutor for my girls when I am settled in a new place, maybe Bridie would like to come and join them. They have become so fond of her.”
And of course then it came back to me. Bridie was leaving. Our stay at Greenbriars, and all the drama, had pushed that worrying thought from my mind.
“That is very kind of you,” I said. I couldn’t form the words to say any more.
And so we departed. We arrived home on a gray, dreary day, with the wind from the Hudson blowing sleet into our faces. Our little house seemed small and shabby after all that luxury, but I can’t tell you how glad I was to be home. Liam also seemed happy to be back in his usual surroundings, immediately transporting his toys one by one in the wagon all over the downstairs floor. Bridie, I noticed, had become awfully quiet.
“You must miss Ivy and Amy,” I said.
“Yes.” She nodded.
I knew what she was thinking, but I couldn’t find any words to comfort her. To take her mind off things we decided to open Sid and Gus’s big pile of presents. Liam unwrapped his mechanical bear. Daniel wound it up for him. The bear immediately turned a somersault toward Liam. Liam gave a frightened cry and rushed over to me, pawing at my skirt. “Up,” he said. “Up.”
“It’s a friendly bear,” I said. “It won’t hurt you. See, it wants to be friends with your other new bear.”
I put them together. Liam eyed them suspiciously. Luckily Sid and Gus had a second gift for him, some wooden soldiers. These were an instant success as they could be transported into battle in the horse and cart. Daniel and I were given a carved spice rack, stocked with jars of spices. To take your cuisine into other realms, Sid had written.
“Personally I’m quite happy with my Irish stew,” Daniel commented.
I could see Bridie looking around for her gift. Surely they hadn’t forgotten her? Then I saw the slim envelope with her name on it. She opened it, stared at the piece of paper inside, and then smiled.
“What is it?” I asked.
“They want me to choose any books I want from their library. They will pay to have them shipped to Ireland. It’s so kind of them.” And she burst into tears.
I put my arms around her. “It will be all right, I promise you,” I said.
“How can it?” she said.
I couldn’t answer that.
* * *
We had been home for two days when we received a letter from Daniel’s mother. It was just a line to let us know that they had all settled in happily at her home. They were a little cramped, but everyone seemed to have accepted the situation well. Ivy, now Lottie, was blossoming by the minute and she and Amy were as thick as thieves. But the main news was that Winnie’s sister, Lizzie, had been found and brought to the house with a nurse. She was very weak and not expected to live long, but at least she would be surrounded by those she loved.
I thought of how hard it must have been for her all these years, living in secrecy under an assumed name. The world is not kind to mothers of illegitimate children. And how unfair it was that the man who caused this shame went on living his own life, with his own family, with no censure at all. I wondered if things would ever change. Not until we had the vote; that was for sure.
* * *
Sid and Gus arrived home and told me they had decided to throw a big New Year’s Eve party. They quizzed me about themes. Maharaja’s palace? Turkish harem? The North Pole? I knew they were working hard to cheer me up, but I could not get into the spirit of celebration and fun. The depression I had held at bay over the excitement of the Christmas holiday now threatened to creep back and overwhelm me as I thought of losing Bridie. I tried to keep myself as busy as possible. I swept; I dusted; I polished and cleaned. Anything to make myself so tired that I fell asleep.
New Year’s Eve approached. I went over to help Sid and Gus decorate. They had settled on the harem theme because, as Gus put it, “Sid has always wanted to wear a diamond in her belly button.”
She took me aside as we started decorating. “We want to do something that’s fun for Bridie. And there’s something else, Molly. Sid and I have been talking about it. Do you not think that one of us could adopt her? You know we would love to, but you might also want to.”
“It would be up to her father, Gus,” I said. “She does have a parent who apparently wants to have her with him and take care of her.”
“But surely he can’t give her what we can.�
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“We don’t know that,” I said. “If he has indeed made a fortune, then she’ll have a good life. Dublin and Belfast are fine cities.”
“I dare say.” She sighed. “But I don’t want to give her up without a fight.”
We draped the house with bright fabrics, bronze lamps, Oriental statues. Sid brought joss sticks from Chinatown and falafel and hummus from a deli. Then we threaded lamb onto skewers to grill kebabs with a yogurt dip. It was all incredibly exotic for me. They made a wicked-looking punch, even though I pointed out to them that those women in harems were Moslem and thus didn’t drink.
“We don’t need to be too accurate,” Gus said. “And we do want everyone to enjoy themselves.”
When the time came Daniel didn’t want to attend. “Half-naked women and their perverted friends?” he said.
“Don’t be such a spoilsport,” I retorted. “We don’t have to expose our belly buttons.”
“You go, then,” he said. “I’ll stay home and look after Liam.”
“Are you sure?”
“You and Bridie go and enjoy,” he said. “It will give her something to remember.”
“A party with my half-naked women and their perverted friends?” I asked, giving him a sarcastic smile.
“Well, maybe they are not as bad as all that,” he said, smiling back at me. “And the two women are awfully fond of her.”
So Bridie and I draped ourselves with fabric and tulle veils and off we went. It was tremendous fun. Sid and Gus’s friends were an interesting mixture of earnest suffragists and writers as well as flamboyant artists and playwrights. They all seemed to have an equally good time and Bridie and I stayed to toast the New Year. As we crossed Patchin Place to come home Bridie said to me, “This will have been the best New Year’s of my life.”
Twenty-nine
On the second of January, Daniel went to meet the new commissioner. I felt as nervous for him as he was. After all, his whole career, our whole future, hung in the balance. If he felt he was no longer welcomed and respected in the New York police force, he would have to go elsewhere. Either he’d apply for the chief of police position in White Plains or choose to work full-time for Mr. John Wilkie in Washington. And we’d move away from our dear little house. I didn’t like to think of either possibility.