The Shadows of Foxworth Page 17

  I had yet to see her look at her younger sister with any feeling of love. If it wasn’t pity, it was disgust.

  “I think she’ll be upset when I’m not here,” I suggested.

  Aunt Pauline wasn’t really listening and didn’t know we were talking about her.

  “What of it? I didn’t bring you to America to be a babysitter.”

  “But at dinner you said you wanted help with Aunt Pauline.”

  I wondered if she could be jealous of how Aunt Pauline had attached herself to me. I was more like the older sister that Aunt Effie was supposed to be.

  “I don’t mind you doing what you can while you’re learning, but I could hire any young woman for wages slightly above a street cleaner’s for that if I felt it was necessary. You’re here to assume some of the responsibility I had to assume at the company when I was even younger than you are now. That’s why I’m spending so much on your business education. Why would I need Ella Cornfield to train you to babysit?”

  It took all my self-control to keep from saying anything about Aunt Pauline’s revelations. She wanted us to eat faster so I would continue reading to her.

  “You eat the way I taught you to eat, Pauline. You don’t gobble your food,” Aunt Effie said.

  “The general,” Aunt Pauline muttered.

  I did all that I could to keep from laughing aloud.

  “What’s that?” Aunt Effie said.

  Aunt Pauline was silent. Aunt Effie looked at me with suspicious eyes, and then we all just ate in silence.

  It wasn’t until a good two hours or so later that Yvon came home. His face was red from being in the sun so much, and his eyes were filled with excitement. I hadn’t seen him like this since he had driven Papa’s new car. Pauline had been brought up to bed. I wasn’t sure where Aunt Effie was. I was in the sitting room reading Anne of Green Gables. I looked up when he stepped in. He had his jacket folded over his right arm and his shirt opened at the collar. His hair was a little wild, like it would be if he had been caught in the wind.

  “I think I cycled fifty miles today,” he began. “We found this beautiful mountainside from which you could look down on all of Richmond city. And Daniel Thomas brought along some great apple cider.”

  I didn’t react. I was simply staring at him. He saw the look on my face that I was hoping he would see.

  “What happened? Didn’t you get to go out with Aunt Pauline?”

  “Yes, I did. You had better come in and sit, Yvon. I have things to tell you.”

  “Did Aunt Effie do something mean again?” He grimaced in anticipation.

  “No. At least, not to me today.”

  “Then what is it?” he asked, sounding more annoyed than curious.

  “Please,” I said, nodding at the chair. He looked back and then came in and flopped on the chair.

  “So?”

  “I think I know now why Papa changed his name. Aunt Pauline told me why Papa ran away from his family.”

  He smirked and pulled his head back. “Aunt Pauline? She would forget to put on her second stocking if it weren’t for the Brown twins. How could you believe anything she said?”

  “I believed her, Yvon. She didn’t want to tell me. I had to convince her to do so.”

  He sighed and leaned forward. “Okay, what did she tell you?”

  I described the scene Papa had witnessed, quoting Aunt Pauline’s terms, sex and sin.

  He stared at me blankly for a moment. “That’s disgusting, Marlena.”

  “I know.”

  “She had to have imagined it or had some sort of dream or something. Our grandfather? He was a giant in the business world here.”

  “That wouldn’t have anything to do with what he did to her. It helps us understand why Papa ran away from his family, why he brought Mama to France, and why he couldn’t stand his name.”

  “That’s not the reason,” he said quickly, and then pressed his lips together as if he hadn’t wanted those words to come out of his mouth.

  “Well, what is it, then?”

  “It’s not that, I’m sure. That’s ridiculous,” he insisted, and stood. “I hope you didn’t mention this to Aunt Effie.”

  “No. I wanted to tell you first.”

  “Good. Forget it.”

  “But—”

  “After what you told her about Mr. Donald, she’s going to think you’re a bit weird.”

  “What? I didn’t make up any of it.”

  “I know. I know. It’s what she might think.”

  “Who cares about what she might think? Didn’t you hear what I said?”

  He sighed deeply. “What would we do about it now, anyway, Marlena? He’s dead, and so is Papa. You think if we told people, it would help Pauline. If people heard that, they’d look at her as more of a freak.”

  “She’s not a freak, Yvon.”

  “I know she’s not a freak, but it’s how people see her.”

  “It’s how Aunt Effie sees her, but how do you know how other people see her? Mrs. Trafalgar doesn’t treat her as if she’s a freak.”

  “I learned it from some of the other employees, the questions they ask, things they say. Mr. Simon certainly does,” he emphasized.

  “You and I should ask Aunt Effie to meet with us and tell us the truth,” I said. “If you ask, too, she won’t be able to ignore it.”

  He thought a moment.

  “Not now. Maybe after some time goes by and we’re more part of everything…”

  “You mean part of the business. What are you afraid of? You think if we reveal we know the truth, she’ll rather we leave?”

  He was silent. “We don’t know the truth,” he finally said. “Be patient, and for now, do what she asks.”

  “Tu avez changé,” I said. “You’ve changed.”

  “Yes, I have,” he said. “I’ve grown up. I’m going to get something to eat and go to bed.”

  I watched him walk out and then let myself sink back on the settee.

  This house, I thought, this house and all the secrets in it are possessing us.

  10

  Sometimes I would catch Aunt Effie staring at me, and I’d think she realized I knew something. Her eyes would take on that narrow, suspicious look, and when I looked back at her, she quickly would shift them to gaze at something else. Each time, I was tempted to ask her, Did I do something wrong? Is something wrong? I hoped that would start a conversation that would lead to what Aunt Pauline had told me. But Yvon’s warnings about not upsetting things were stronger than my curiosity. He was all I had. I didn’t want to disappoint him so deeply.

  I also wondered if Aunt Pauline, either innocently or because she felt it was necessary, had told Aunt Effie about the things she had said to me and done with me. For most of her life, Aunt Pauline was under Aunt Effie’s total control. Did she fear her or love her more? Did she love her at all? What was love to someone like Aunt Pauline? Was she capable of having feelings for a man? Did my grandfather destroy that? I knew she was fond of me and wanted to be with me, but could she ever love me as family? Could Aunt Effie?

  What made everything more difficult for me, and I supposed Yvon, was coming from a world of love to this dark place in which money and power were held to be more important than affection. Aunt Effie never made an effort to hug or kiss her sister, and Aunt Pauline seemed too frightened of the idea. It was as if we came from a world where flowers bloomed to a world where only weeds could grow. Would we brighten up this home or bitterly add more darkness to it?

  My lessons with Ella Cornfield continued for another two weeks. Yvon began going out more often with his friends, which I gradually realized had narrowed down to Daniel Thomas’s sister Karen. She didn’t work at the company. She helped their mother and father in their bakery business on West Broad Street. I first knew he was seeing her when he brought home a bag of cupcakes and then told me all about how they had met through Daniel and how delightful she was.

  “You’ve gone out with her?”

  “Yes, and picnics, too.”

  “Only with her?”

  “And the bees and bugs,” he said, laughing.

  “Is she prettier than Marion Veil?” I asked him.

  “In a different way,” he said.

  “How can a girl be prettier in a different way?”

  He thought a moment and said, “She’s not as obvious about it. Her good looks sneak up on you.”

  “Sounds like you’re making excuses for her not being prettier,” I said. I couldn’t help being annoyed. He had developed this relationship without my having the slightest hint.

  “Marion always was sure to let you know she was pretty, Marlena. She was, but that was what really kept me from being as crazy about her as everyone expected I should be, even you. Mama taught us why vanity is really weakness and leads to sin and unhappiness. Did you forget that already?” he snapped back at me.

  “No.”

  “Then why do you have to be so snippy and critical? You haven’t even met her.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “Will I ever meet her?”

  “Of course you will. I’ll take you for an ice cream soda this weekend, and we’ll stop at their bakery.”

  “Will we take Aunt Pauline, too?”

  “Maybe,” he said. He thought a moment and then said, “But I don’t want you getting her talking about the bath incident. Can you imagine if she brought that up in front of strangers?”

  “I won’t. I haven’t mentioned it to her, and she hasn’t mentioned it since.”

  “Good.” He looked a little guilty for a moment and then said, “It’s not that I don’t care about her. Just the opposite. It could be painful for her, even though she might not show it. Maybe those nightmares are sleeping, and you or anyone bringing her back to t
he memories would revive them.” He nodded, agreeing with himself. “There’s no value in our forcing her to relive it. Grandfather Dawson is dead and gone. There’s no one to punish except the person he victimized. Right?”

  Before I could respond, he said, “Good. Happier things are ahead, anyway. For everyone,” he added, and hugged me.

  At dinners now, he and Aunt Effie talked a lot of business. I tried to be as interested and even asked a question when I thought of one. Yvon enjoyed answering it, but Aunt Effie looked more upset than happy about my interrupting to ask what I’m sure she considered simple things.

  But shouldn’t I? Why was she having me trained to work at the company if she didn’t want me that interested? My thoughts and opinions didn’t matter. The more I listened to her, the more I realized she had the attitude of a man when it came to giving women more responsibility. At times, I wondered if she didn’t resent herself.

  Later, I told Yvon what I thought, and he tilted his head, considered the idea, and nodded.

  “Could be,” he said. “She certainly lets Mr. Simon speak for her most of the time, as if she realizes everyone will listen more to a man. Sometimes she doesn’t come out of her office all day.” He considered it a little more and smiled. “That’s why she’s pushing me to take on more and more, maybe. Good for us.”

  “Does she know you have a girlfriend?”

  “I don’t doubt it. She seems to know everything that goes on around her.”

  “And?”

  “She hasn’t said anything. It’s almost as if she expects it, Marlena.”

  “Why would she expect it?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Yvon?”

  “I don’t know. It’s the way she thinks about me,” he said quickly, irritably. “Stop inventing new worries.”

  But it was a new worry. Would Aunt Effie design his life? Would she do the same to me?

  That weekend, I did meet Karen Thomas and almost reluctantly felt myself agree with Yvon about her good looks and humility. We had gone out without Aunt Pauline, who Aunt Effie had decided should help the twins with washing clothes.

  “If she has no basic skills at all, she’ll continue to be a lump on everyone’s back” was her justification.

  At the time, I was more interested in meeting Yvon’s girlfriend than starting a new argument. Anyway, Aunt Pauline actually looked happy that she would be doing something. They didn’t even permit her to go into the kitchen and butter a piece of bread. She had to ask for it. Suddenly, now Aunt Effie wanted her to develop some independence. Was it because we were here and we could see how poorly she treated her?

  Yvon stopped first to buy me an ice cream soda, just so he could prepare me for meeting Karen.

  “She doesn’t know all that much about us yet,” he explained. “I mean, she knows what happened to Mama and Papa, but she doesn’t know that Papa ran away from his family, none of that.” He was silent a moment. I knew he was hesitating to add something.

  “What?”

  “She thinks I really wanted to come here and be an American businessman.”

  “I’d believe it now,” I said.

  He looked at me curiously and then laughed. “Don’t make it sound like I was planning a murder. We can’t help becoming rich, Marlena. It’s not a sin.”

  Maybe it wasn’t, but for reasons I did not understand, it often felt like it.

  The bakery was only a short walk from where we had our sodas. Karen had just finished with a customer. Her face exploded in a smile when she realized Yvon had brought me to meet her. She was pretty, with her velvety black hair and almond-shaped gray eyes. She had a small, perfect nose, soft-looking puffy lips, and a dazzlingly bright smile. She was about my height. She blushed when Yvon complimented her by saying she looked perfectly at home among delicious sweet things. I was quite surprised at his gushing. It was so uncharacteristic of the Yvon I knew in France.

  Karen insisted I taste her father’s new chocolate almond cookie and seemed very interested in my opinion.

  “It’s fantastic,” I said.

  “Thank you. My father will be so pleased to hear that. He says the opinion of younger people is more important when it comes to cookies and cakes.” She laughed. “It’s true. They drag their parents in and make them buy more than they normally would.”

  “That’s perfect,” Yvon said. “And guys my age would be drawn in to have you serve them.”

  “Oh, go on with you, Yvon Dawson,” she said, but smiled at me.

  She then brought her father out front to meet us. He had been in the back baking and still wore his apron. I saw she had inherited his eyes and hair color. He was as tall as Papa, with as friendly a smile. I was surprised at how much he knew about France, until he revealed he had been in the navy when he was younger and been stationed in Marseilles for a while.

  “Never quite got as far down the coast as I wanted, but I could see it was very beautiful.”

  Later, on the way home, Yvon talked continually about Karen and how well read she was. He said she knew all the famous novels and kept up with what was popular today.

  “You love to read, so you’ll enjoy spending time with her, and when you do, you’ll learn a lot about Richmond, too. She and Daniel were born here. There were so many changes while she was growing up, and she remembers it all.” He went on and on singing her praises. He had never talked about any girl in France, including Marion, as enthusiastically. As Jean-Paul would say, He sounds love-smacked.

  “You don’t have to convince me anymore, Yvon. She’s very nice, nicer than Marion Veil.”

  He laughed. I couldn’t help being happy for him. It was just that I couldn’t completely drown out the fear I had about one day losing him completely to someone else. As usual, he read my thoughts and feelings.

  “Someday, maybe sooner than you think, you’ll have a boyfriend, Marlena. When you start working, earning a little money, buying yourself nicer things, meeting more people… it’s all out there waiting for you.

  “We’re going to have a good life here,” he concluded with almost angry determination.

  Maybe he was right, I thought. Maybe I should stop thinking about what we had lost and instead, like him, think of what we will have gained.

  The following week, Miss Cornfield and Aunt Effie decided I was ready to go to work at the company. My assignment was to shadow Daniel Thomas’s secretary, Doris Munday, who was a twenty-year-old woman married to an electric-trolley-car operator. I had no way of knowing at the time, but Aunt Effie, who made it her business to know all the details of her employees, down to when they washed their hands and faces, knew that Doris was almost three months pregnant and would probably be gone in four, if not sooner. She had no mother or mother-in-law or older siblings to care for their baby, and the cost to hire someone so she could work as a secretary for the wages she earned would be impossible.

  Daniel wasn’t so keen about her, either. She was a plain-looking woman with tired, dull brown eyes and unremarkable stiff brown hair that always seemed a bit unruly, strands popping out and curling over her forehead and temples. Even before she began work, she had ink stains on her fingers, and her clothes looked as if she had slept in them the previous night. She was clearly not the secretary for Daniel. I saw pretty quickly that he was too much of a flirt, and she was clearly of no interest to him. If anything, he simply tolerated her because Aunt Effie had hired her.

  I suppose the first hint of his flirtatious nature came when Yvon told me Daniel had told him that I looked at least five years older than I was. It was clearly his justification for staring at me, winking, and finding excuses to talk with me. My first thought was that Yvon would be angry at him, but he surprised me when I mentioned it all to him.

  “Daniel’s doing well here,” he told me. It actually gave me a little chill to hear the way he was praising him. He was clearly trying to convince me I should be flattered by Daniel’s attention. He had never done that regarding any boy. “Right now, he’s Dawson Enterprises’ top salesman. I’ve learned a lot from him.”

  “You learned about his sister,” I countered, and for the first time I could recall, my brother blushed. When I laughed, he didn’t get angry or embarrassed. He just shrugged, as if to say, What’s true is true.