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“So when A
Frank signed impatiently. Nelson was making the whole sordid story even worse with his delicacy. He wasn’t sure why Nelson should care about protecting A
“What did you do?” he prompted with more patience than he felt.
“I… You aren’t going to like this part,” he warned nervously.
Frank hadn’t liked any of it so far. Ellsworth had pretty much given him more than enough reason to suspect him of murdering A
“I… Well, naturally, when A
“You what?” Frank nearly shouted.
Ellsworth flinched. “She’s a midwife,” he reminded Frank u
Frank was hardly listening to his protests because something suddenly didn’t make any sense at all. “She didn’t want to marry you? Even after you’d seduced her?”
A pained expression twisted his face. “I can’t blame her, of course, and as much as I would have gladly taken her as my wife, I didn’t want to force her. If she married me and then found out there wasn’t a… a necessity for it, well, she’d hate me, don’t you think? How could I live with myself?”
“So you told Mrs. Brandt your problem. What did she do?” Frank prodded, hoping that if he heard more, the story would start to make sense again.
“She accompanied me to A
Ellsworth was right. Frank really didn’t like this part. “And did she?”
“She didn’t have a chance. A
“She thought what?” Frank was very much afraid he was going to have to get rough with Ellsworth after all, just to hurry things along.
“I know this will sound ridiculous to you, but A
Frank did think it sounded ridiculous. “Why would she think that?”
“I told you, she’s very i
“If this woman didn’t marry you, what was she going to do?” Frank asked, wondering if Sarah Brandt had been as suspicious of this story as Frank was becoming.
“She… well, you understand her parents were dead. Her mother had just passed away, of course, and she had no one to turn to.”
Which was a very good reason to marry someone like Nelson, who had a steady job and a comfortable income. And an even better reason to trick him into marriage with an imaginary pregnancy, if necessary. “She had you to turn to,” Frank reminded him.
“She was an honorable woman, Mr. Malloy,” Nelson said defensively. “She felt unworthy, after what had happened between us. She was even too embarrassed to meet my mother. She just wanted to go away where no one knew her.”
“So she and the baby could starve to death?” Frank suggested curiously.
A scarlet flush flooded Nelson’s face. “I would have helped her financially, of course. In fact, that’s all she wanted of me. I told you she was honorable.”
Or crazy, Frank thought. Why take money to raise an illegitimate child alone when you could be married? What was wrong with the woman? Could she possibly have been so stupid? He’d have to find out more about this A
He and Nelson sat in silence for what seemed a long time until they heard a commotion at the front door.
“Stay here,” Frank warned. “We don’t want anyone to see you.”
He got to the front room just as Sarah Brandt slammed the door behind her. The shadows of the clamoring reporters danced on the other side of the frosted glass window, and their voices were muffled shouts. “They found out who I am,” she said accusingly.
“That was pretty easy to do, considering they know you live next door,” Frank replied.
“No,” she said in disgust, “I don’t mean they found out I’m Nelson’s neighbor. They found out I’m your ‘lady friend.’ ”
“My what?” he asked with a frown, but she was already stomping past him on her way back to the kitchen, leaving him no choice but to follow.
“How are you doing?” she asked Ellsworth in a gentle tone she had never used with Frank.
“I’m fine,” he said, although he was obviously far from fine. “How is my mother taking all of this? She isn’t strong, you know. The shock must have been awful.”
“Now that she knows you aren’t locked in jail, she’s doing much better. I promised her you’d come home after it gets dark and no one can see you.” She looked up at Frank, daring him to contradict her.
“I don’t see any reason why he can’t go home tonight,” he said mildly, “so long as he gives me his word he won’t try to run away.”
“Run away?” Ellsworth echoed indignantly. “I don’t have anything to run away from!”
Frank could have given him a long list of things he should run away from, but he said, “Are you hungry, Ellsworth? Because I sure am.”
Mrs. Brandt gave him an impatient look, but she turned away and began rummaging around for something edible.
“I don’t think I could eat anything,” Ellsworth said, “but a cup of tea would be very nice.”
“You should try to eat,” Frank said, not entirely unselfishly. If Ellsworth didn’t want anything, she might not fix anything. “You’ll need your strength.”
“Malloy is right,” she said, surprising Frank. He thought this might be the first time she’d admitted he’d been right about anything. “And I think we could all use some tea.”
Soon the kitchen was uncomfortably warm, in spite of the evening chill that had settled over the city. Frank stayed there, though. He was enjoying the comfortable domesticity of the scene. For once he needed no excuse to watch Sarah Brandt to his heart’s content.
He liked the way the lamplight shone on her golden hair and the way she moved, so confidently yet so feminine. She really was a fine figure of a woman. She would fill a man’s arms quite nicely. Or his bed. The thought caused him a pain that was part longing for what could never be and part grief for what he could never have again. The loss of his wife Kathleen was a wound that would never completely heal, but lately when he dreamed he was loving a woman, she wasn’t Kathleen. Instead, she had golden hair and Sarah Brandt’s face. It was a dream that could never come true, but since no one ever need know about it, he figured it was harmless enough. And no one ever would know, least of all Sarah Brandt.
She turned and set a teapot on the table, then fetched two cups. She poured Ellsworth’s for him and even put some milk into it. “Do you need some sugar?” she asked in that gentle tone again.