A Bride So Fair, page 10
part #3 of A Fair to Remember Series
Seth tilted his head from one side to the other. “Maybe, maybe not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you have any idea why she would have done this?”
“She said she didn’t want him to go to strangers.” Stephen blew out a puff of air hard enough to stir his mustache. “What does she think she is? She met him after I did.”
“It sounds to me like your problem may not be so much a matter of truth versus falsehood—although I’ll admit it does sound like she stretched the truth a bit.”
“I’d say she did more than stretch it,” Stephen muttered. “More like she snapped it in two.”
Seth raised one hand. “Granted, but let’s look at where her heart is in all of this. I think that’s where the real issue lies. You’re looking at this from a logical standpoint, and she’s looking at it from an emotional point of view. You both want what’s best for this little boy, don’t you?”
Stephen pulled himself erect. “Of course I do.”
“Then you both have ample reason for feeling the way you do. You’re just coming at it from different directions.”
“You mean I’m seeing this clearly through the eyes of logic, and her view is clouded with emotion?”
Seth smiled. “You have just described one of the big differences between women and men.”
“You mean you can’t ever expect them to look at things logically?”
Seth just grinned. “Tell me why she’s so set against the boy going to an orphan asylum.”
“She was raised in one herself. She says she knows what it’s like, and she doesn’t want him to have to go through the same things she did.”
Seth lifted one eyebrow. “Sounds pretty logical to me.”
“But that’s only part of the problem,” Stephen protested. “If it was just a matter of her holding on to Adam, that might be an issue we could deal with. But now we have an even bigger problem.”
“Which is?”
“Yesterday we received a report of a woman’s body discovered on the Midway. It seems very likely that she was Adam’s mother.”
Seth pursed his lips and gave a low whistle. “That does complicate things.”
“That’s why we have to follow the rules so carefully. This is a murder investigation, not a Sunday picnic.”
Seth nodded. “I see what you mean. Of course, looking at it logically, that tells me that without a mother to come back and claim him at some point, if no other relatives step forward, this little boy is likely to spend the rest of his childhood in an orphan asylum, just like your Emily did.”
“So you’re saying she’s right?”
Seth clamped his hand on Stephen’s shoulder. “You’re both right. God has given us minds, and He expects us to use them. He has also given us hearts to feel compassion. There’s something about matters of the heart that tends to defy logic, whether it’s the tenderness between a parent and child or the love between a man and a woman. But that doesn’t make it any less valuable than looking at things from a purely logical point of view.”
He offered Stephen another chocolate and popped one into his own mouth. Then he folded his arms. “Let’s say this whole issue with Adam is resolved and nothing else stands between you. What then?”
Stephen paused for a moment, willing his mind to erase the doubts that had risen like a dense fog since the night before. He felt his mouth curve upward. “If that were the case, I’d probably be spending all my off-duty time over on Blackstone Avenue, getting to know her better and making sure she’s really the one.”
“Blackstone Avenue?”
“She’s staying at a boarding house there.”
Seth’s lips began to twitch. “You’ve met her landlady?”
“Yes.” Stephen looked at his friend curiously.
“Her name wouldn’t be Ethelinda Purvis, would it?”
“It’s Mrs. Purvis. I don’t know about the Ethelinda part. Why?”
“How would you describe her attitude toward you? Would you say she was enthusiastic about you coming to call on Emily?”
Stephen shrugged. “She was nice enough. She called me Emily’s young man when I arrived on the doorstep, even though it was the first time I’d come to call.”
Seth threw back his head and laughed. “You might just as well give in now. You’re a goner. Dinah was staying there when I met her. If Mrs. Purvis has given her approval, you can be sure your days as a single man are numbered.”
Stephen’s mind happily followed the train of thought created by Seth’s flight of fancy. Then reality slapped him in the face like a splash of cold water. “But we’re not past this yet. Emily wants me to keep quiet about Adam’s whereabouts. How do I reconcile that with maintaining any kind of integrity as a guard… or as a man?”
Seth tilted his head. “Is there anything the boy can add to the investigation? Will the fact of his staying with Emily rather than going to an orphan asylum change things at all?”
“Who knows? He’s just one piece of the puzzle. We don’t know yet how that piece might fit with the others to give us a picture of what happened.”
“Then consider this: That little boy has lost his mother. To uproot him again could cause him trouble for the rest of his days. Think long and hard about this before you do something that can’t be undone and will wind up costing Adam a great deal more than it will cost you.” Seth paused a moment, letting his words sink in. “Who’s in charge of the investigation, by the way?”
“The Chicago police,” Stephen answered. “I’m sure Colonel Rice will keep himself informed about the situation.”
“Would he be willing to share information about the case with you?”
Stephen considered the question then nodded. “Yes, I’m certain he would. I was there to help with the preliminary part of the investigation, so I don’t see why he’d have any problem talking to me about it.”
“Do you think you can come to an agreement with Emily that if you find out making the boy’s presence known is critical to the investigation, she’ll let the police know about him?”
“I suppose so, although I don’t know that for sure.”
“Then as far as I can see, until this woman can be identified, you’re dealing with an unknown person. The boy hasn’t been of any help along that line?”
Stephen shook his head. “He can only tell us his first name and that he calls his mother ‘Mama.’”
“Then until someone comes forward to claim her or file a missing persons report that matches her description, you’re at a standstill. And from my own experience, I can tell you the police are so swamped with reports of missing persons that it’s entirely possible they’ll miss a connection. Without a name, without a way to connect this little fellow with his family, I don’t see how the situation will be jeopardized by choosing to go along with Emily’s plan.”
Stephen frowned. “But what about the part in the Bible that talks about obeying authority? Don’t I have an obligation to follow procedure here?”
“Remember that Jesus didn’t always go along with man-made rules. I think you need to look beyond the rule book and see if there isn’t a bigger issue at stake here.”
“Then you’re saying I should just forget about policy and go along with this wild idea of hers?”
Seth smiled and shook his head. “What I’m saying is, I believe this may be one of those times when a heart of compassion is more important than a logical mind.” His gaze shifted, and a smile lit his face. “There she is.”
Stephen turned to see a dark-haired young woman walking their way. He had been around newlyweds enough to know his talk with Seth was over. That was all right, though. He’d gotten the sound advice he’d asked for, though not in the form he expected. He appreciated Seth’s counsel… and the fact that he could call this man his friend.
“How are you, Stephen?” Dinah Howell gave him a friendly wave, then turned a radiant smile on her husband. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I wanted to surprise you. Look, I brought…” Seth hesitated and glanced down at his hand, then crumpled the empty sack and palmed it to Stephen. Dropping a conspiratorial wink, Seth said, “I’ll talk to you later. Let me know how things work out.”
He cupped his hand under Dinah’s elbow. “Why don’t we go over to Menier Chocolates? I’ll buy you a bag of your favorites.”
“How may I help you?” Emily looked up at the small. slender man standing before her desk. Since he didn’t have a child with him, he must be coming to claim one, but she didn’t remember seeing him earlier that day.
He was dressed well enough—his suit looked brand new. Emily held back a smile. It wouldn’t be the first time she had seen someone who had spent a month’s salary to spruce up for a visit to the exposition. This man probably fit into that category. He seemed ill at ease in well-cut garments, shifting from one foot to the other and running his finger between his collar and his neck.
Perhaps he was uneasy about coming alone to pick up his youngster. Most men either came in with their wives or waited outside. Emily wondered if he had left his wife in one of the chairs outside to let her rest a bit from the rigors of sightseeing. If so, that made him a very caring man.
“They told me this is where they bring lost children.”
“They? Oh, you mean one of the guards?”
“Yes, ma’am, that’s right.”
Emily felt relieved. That meant neither he nor his wife had been inside the building earlier. No wonder she didn’t recognize him. “Yes, it is. Have you lost your child?”
He shifted his gaze, then looked back at her. “Yeah. I mean, no. My brother’s kid was lost, and I’m trying to help find him.”
“I see. But we haven’t had any lost children brought in today.” Concern stirred at the thought of a child wandering around the fairgrounds on his own. “How long has he been missing? We should alert the guards so they can be on the lookout for him.”
The man backed up a step and patted the air with his hands. “No, we don’t need to do that. This happened a couple, maybe three days ago.”
Emily started. “And you’re just now looking for him?”
The man shrugged and gave her an ingratiating smile. “My brother and his wife had a fight while they were here, and she got so mad she took off. He thought she had the kid with her, and she figured the kid was with him. When she got over being mad and came back home, they realized the last time either of them saw the little guy was here. Crazy, isn’t it?”
Emily caught her breath. Could he be talking about Adam’s parents? The snippets of information they had managed to glean so far started coming together to form a picture. It would make sense. If his mother had been angry at his father, she might have taken off in exactly the way this man described.
Or maybe she wasn’t running away at all. Perhaps she’d spotted her husband after their argument and wanted to go over to him to give him a piece of her mind. In that case…
Emily’s throat went dry. The woman was later found dead on the Midway. Who would make a better suspect than her husband, this man’s brother? She looked up at him again, hoping he couldn’t read her thoughts.
The man shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t get mad at me. I’m not the one who had the fight. I’m just trying to figure out where we should start looking for the boy. So what do you do with lost kids if no one comes to pick them up?”
Thoughts whirled through Emily’s mind at a lightning pace. She had no proof he was talking about Adam, though everything within her assured her it must be so. But something about this man set warning bells clanging in her head. She looked at the way he fidgeted, unable to meet her gaze for more than an instant or two. Just the way Johnny Meacham, the resident bully of the Collier Home, used to act when he was trying to convince the matron he wasn’t guilty of yet another misdeed.
She made up her mind in an instant. She wasn’t about to divulge Adam’s whereabouts to someone who might return him to a dangerous situation.
But maybe she knew a way to answer his question and divert attention from Adam at the same time. She looked straight at the man and said, “In cases of children who are left at the fairgrounds, my supervisor insists we notify the authorities and let them take it from there.”
The man blinked rapidly several times. “You mean the police?”
“That’s right.” Emily rose from her chair and moved to open the front door. “Let me help you flag down one of the guards. I’m sure he would be happy to put you in touch with someone who—”
“No, no. Don’t go to any trouble. I appreciate the information, but I don’t want to take you away from your duties. I’m sure you’re a very busy lady. I’ll take care of it on my own.” He practically bowled her over in his haste to leave the building.
What was that all about? Emily closed the door and returned to her desk. Was he really looking for Adam?
Of course he was. How many other children had been left there without someone coming to pick them up? There was some connection, she felt sure of it. But what?
She sank into her chair and stared at the far wall, deep in thought. If the man truly was Adam’s uncle, that would make him the first connection they had found to the child since Stephen brought him in. And if he was, what right did she have to make the decision to keep Adam from him?
Something was wrong about the man, she just knew it. But what? True, he didn’t look as though he belonged in the clothes he wore, but she remembered the plain clothing she wore growing up at the children’s home. She knew better than to judge a person’s worth by the clothes they wore.
But uncle or not, something about him didn’t ring true. She had gotten into this situation wanting to protect Adam, and the child had wound his tiny fingers around her heartstrings more with each passing day. How could she turn him over to a man she didn’t know and didn’t trust?
10
Stephen looked down at the diminutive woman walking at his side and felt a sense of contentment that seemed completely out of place, given their circumstances. Seth Howell’s admonition to use a heart of compassion rather than cold, clear logic had struck a chord, and he respected the young pastor enough to take his advice seriously.
If nothing else, it removed the barrier between him and Emily, giving him a chance to consider the future without prejudice.
Her green eyes shone in the afternoon sunlight when she looked up at him. “I’m so glad you agreed to leave Adam in my care. I know it wasn’t an easy thing for you to do, and I want you to know I do appreciate your willingness to go along with me in this.”
Stephen shrugged, giving little outward sign of the internal battle he had waged in order to reach this point, even after talking to Seth. “Just remember the rest of our agreement. If it turns out that revealing Adam’s location is essential to solving his mother’s murder, we’ll have to let the police know.”
Emily sighed and nodded agreeably enough, although Stephen suspected she was waging an internal war of her own.
“I have to tell you, though, I have no idea how to go about finding his family. The initials on his mother’s handkerchief don’t help much, and we don’t even know where they’re from. They could be locals or from anywhere across the country. Where do we start?”
They walked a few more steps before Emily answered. “I may have learned something about them already.”
His feet stopped of their own accord. He stood in the middle of the sidewalk and stared at her. What had she been withholding from him this time?
As if guessing his thoughts, she looked up at him from under her straw hat, her eyes wide and pleading. “It only happened this afternoon. I told you I would be completely open with you from now on.”
Stephen nodded slowly. Trust was a difficult thing to rebuild, but after talking to Seth, he was willing to give her a chance.
They started walking again and made the turn onto Blackstone Avenue. They strolled past the brick houses lining the east side of the street while Emily related her encounter with the man purporting to be looking for a lost child. “He couldn’t be talking about anyone else.”
“I agree. Tell me again why you didn’t let him know about Adam.”
“There was something about him. I don’t know how to explain it. But it was something wrong—I’d stake my life on that.” The light coming through the birch trees dappled her pale green dress. “Is there any way we can find out more about this man without letting him know we’re checking on him?”
Stephen turned the possibilities over in his mind. “Did he give his name?”
Emily shook her head. “No, and I was so confused by the whole affair that I didn’t think to ask.”
“Then I don’t know how we could go about locating him any more than we could Adam’s father.” Side by side, they walked up the steps of the neat redbrick house.
Emily sucked in a quick breath and gripped his arm. “I have an idea how we can at least find out if he might really be an uncle. Who would know better than Adam? Let’s ask him. He might be able to solve that part of the mystery.”
They found Adam playing with a set of wooden blocks on the parlor floor. Lucy watched him from the settee.
Emily stumbled to a stop when she saw her friend. “How did you get home so quickly?”
Lucy grinned. “I didn’t walk any faster than usual. You two just took your own sweet time.”
Stephen liked the way Emily’s cheeks grew pink at her friend’s comment. But then, was there anything he didn’t like about Emily? Though small of stature, she packed more force of character and determination to do right—as she saw it—into her small frame than most people twice her size. He studied the way her heavy auburn hair swirled against the back of her neck and wondered what it would look like if were loose and tumbling down around her shoulders.
Mrs. Purvis bustled into the room and beamed when she caught sight of Stephen and Emily. Stephen jerked to attention and remembered Seth’s comment. He eyed the landlady with a good deal more caution than on his previous visit.
