Chapter 17
Rory came into the breakfast room humming the tune from the foxtrot she’d shared with Hank.
After a night like that, nothing could bring her down.
She’d successfully removed all vestiges of last night’s activities and looked as fresh and innocent as a lily.
And if she was a bit tired, it was only to be expected after such a long night with so much excitement.
“Good morning, Papa,” she said, avoiding looking at him.
“Good morning, Aurora. I thought the party was a great success.”
“It was simply smashing. I wish I could do it all over again tonight,” she said, sitting and pouring herself a cup of coffee. Thank God he had no idea just how delightful it was.
“Ah, for the energy and vigor of youth!” He gave his newspaper a shake. There was a tray of five different ones sitting beside his chair. August Belmont liked to start his day well informed.
“Says the man that joined the army at the age of sixty-four. Papa, you’re going to outlive us all.” She served herself a heaping plate of eggs, sausage, and toast.
James, the butler, came in and said, “Excuse me, sir, but there’s a Senator Windham here to see you. They say it’s urgent.”
A warning bell went off in Rory’s head at the mention of her former fiancé. How very like Edward to spoil a wonderful morning.
“Edward? Here?” her father asked. “He was supposed to stay away this week and let things cool off. We had an agreement.” He folded his newspaper and shoved it to the side.
Oh no. Papa was still trying to mend things with Edward? She thought all the men he’d invited to her birthday meant he’d given up on the ‘gentleman’ from Connecticut.
“He is most insistent, sir.”
“Very well. Show him to my study. I’ll be with him shortly.
” James bowed and departed. “Aurora, you had best make yourself scarce. You’ve done enough damage with the senator.
I don’t want you making things worse. We can wait to fix this mess of an engagement until next week when you’ve both calmed down. ”
“I think I’ve lost my appetite,” she said, biting back a sharp retort about what a worthless scumbag Edward was. “I’ll just finish my coffee and head to my room.”
Her father nodded and strode off.
Edward. Why would he choose today of all days to come to see her father? Whatever he was here for, it couldn’t be good.
As she was about to leave the breakfast table, James returned. “Miss Belmont, your father has asked to see you in his study immediately, if you would be so kind.”
She had a thousand questions but none that could be answered by the poor man sent to deliver the message. “I’ll go right away.”
Knocking, she was immediately beckoned into her father’s inner sanctum.
She was rarely granted entry to this hallowed place of business.
The entire room was done in dark wood paneling, with built-in bookshelves lining three of the walls.
An imposing desk dominated one side of the room, another modern creation by Ruhlmann—more evidence of Eleanor’s influence.
The more classic Louis XV chairs surrounding the desk were vestiges of her mother’s décor.
Her father looked like a storm cloud about to burst. His face was redder than usual, and his brow was deeply furrowed as he looked at her. He clenched his jaw and his fist, as Rory wondered what on earth could have made him so furious.
Edward sat in one of the chairs opposite her father’s desk, a smug glint in his eye.
“Aurora June Belmont,” her father bellowed.
“What is it, Papa?” She grasped the back of the chair next to Edward, not daring to sit until she knew what was going on.
“I’ve never been so ashamed in my life.” He picked up a marble paper weight and slammed it down again.
“Papa, what happened?” She’d never seen him so furious, not even when the Vanderbilts refused to attend his wedding to Eleanor.
“Edward says you spent last night in the company of a man named Albert Jones. You were heard having…” He paused and stared at the ceiling. “Relations. And it was confirmed that the bed in your hotel room was empty. Do you deny it?”
“Papa, there must be some mistake. I—”
“Yes or no, Aurora. Do you deny having relations with Mr. Jones?”
Was there any way to stall, any possible way to escape? They knew her bedroom was empty and that someone was in the room next to hers, but did they know for certain it was her?
“What makes you think I was the woman in Mr. Jones’s bedroom?”
“The Pinkerton I hired heard him use your name,” said Edward, looking triumphant.
How dare that snake hire a Pinkerton to trail her? This was beyond outrageous, not that she had a viable excuse. She gave Edward a dirty look then turned to her father.
“Papa, I can explain.” Her mind spun, grasping desperately at straws, but there was nothing.
“Can you? I would very much like to hear this explanation.”
She didn’t have one. She was caught as neatly as a rabbit in a trap. Her shoulders slumped, and she closed her eyes.
“I don’t deny it. It was me.” At least they didn’t know she was with Hank. The damage would be limited to her. This was what she got for fleeing her cage and tasting freedom, even if only for a few hours.
“I’m disgusted, Aurora. Thoroughly, utterly disgusted. That my daughter would do something like this is unthinkable. You’re lucky Edward is still willing to marry you.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Edward still wanted to marry her despite this? If ever she’d needed proof he was marrying her for money, this was it.
“But I’m not waiting a month,” Edward said. “She marries me before a judge today. We’ll still have the grand affair in a month, but I want assurance that she is legally mine if I’m going to move forward.”
The floor dropped out from beneath her and swallowed her. The rest of her life stretched out before her like the gullet of some dark beast trying to consume her whole. “What makes you think I’ll change my mind and marry you now?”
“I caught you red-handed.”
“You caught me? What were you doing spying on me in the first place?”
“I wasn’t spying on you. The Pinkerton was. And it’s a good thing I hired him to keep tabs on you.”
It was all so twisted and wrong. She had no idea Edward was capable of going to such lengths.
“I can’t say I approve of spying, Edward,” her father said, “though I now understand why you were distrustful. But in the end, none of this matters. Aurora, you’re marrying Edward today, and that’s final.”
She felt something welling up inside her, something big and powerful that she could not deny. “No,” she said, stepping around the chair so that it was between her and Edward.
“Did you just say no?” Her father’s voice was quiet, deadly calm.
“I won’t marry him, Papa. No punishment you could dole out would be worse than spending my life tied to him.” And it was true. She would far rather be cast out and disowned than marry Edward after all that had transpired.
“You know what this means, Aurora. I told you what would happen.”
“I understand.” She was proud of herself for keeping her voice calm and even. She felt as if she were being pummeled by an enormous, dark wave that was going to pull her under any moment.
“I don’t understand,” Edward said. “August, you said she would marry me.”
“I can’t legally force her, Edward,” her father hissed, emotion finally breaking through into his voice. “But trust me, she’ll be back begging. Give it a week, two at most.”
“A week or two of what?” Edward demanded. “I want this deal sealed right now.”
Her father quelled him with a look, then turned his fury on her.
“Aurora, as of now, you are cut off. You won’t receive a penny from me, and you are no longer welcome in this house.
If you don’t come to your senses in a month’s time, I will remove you from my will and permanently disown you.
You will no longer be a member of this family. It will be as if you were never born.”
Tears dripped down her cheeks. Dammit. She intended to stay calm. “I understand. I’ll go pack my things.”
“You may take your clothes and personal effects, but you may not take anything of value. All jewelry, art, and antiques stay here. I’ll send two servants to oversee your departure and see that you leave the house as soon as is practicable.”
With as much dignity as she could muster, she turned and walked out the door.
As she packed, she thought through where to go to stave off panic.
Aunt Alva or one of her brothers might take her in, but she didn’t want to subject any of them to her father’s wrath.
Her brothers all worked in the family business, and Alva’s husband was a close friend of her father’s.
She could try Evelyn, but she wouldn’t be able to provide any open assistance without putting her own reputation in jeopardy. Did she dare go to Hank?
She needed to see him anyway. If Edward would stoop this low, it was only a matter of time before he worked out that Hank and Albert Jones were one and the same. What he would do, she wasn’t sure, but she had to warn Hank.
As she headed out the door with four suitcases, her maid, Kelly, surreptitiously handed her ten dollars. “You’ve always been generous to me, Miss. I don’t want you going out the door with nothing.”
Rory stared down at the money in disbelief.
The reality of what she was doing suddenly came crashing down on her.
She had nothing. Not a cent. No roof over her head, no promise of the next meal, and no family she could turn to.
She was a charity case as much as any of the women she’d spoken to for the PBA.
Not that she deserved charity. This was all the result of choices she’d made, risks she’d taken with eyes wide open.
All her life she’d been cocooned in luxury and privilege.
For years, she’d yearned to break free. Well, now she had her wish, and it was devastating.
“Kelly, I don’t want to take this, but I can’t pretend I don’t need it.
I’ll repay you and more as soon as I’m able.
” She had to pay for a cab somehow, and it was a long ride out to Mineola.
She’d never been more humbled. Throwing her arms around Kelly, she sobbed.
Kelly’s generosity wrecked her in a way her father’s words had not.
For the first time in her life, she was ashamed of who she was.
What had she ever done to deserve her coddled existence? Kelly was the better woman by far.
It took her several minutes to compose herself so that she could walk out the door with her head held high.
Kelly helped her with her bags and flagged down a cab for her.
No one else was there to see her off. Rory wondered what all of this might mean for Kelly. Would she lose her job with Rory gone?
Rory’s stomach lurched at the thought. “Kelly, I’ll make this up to you. I’ll make everything up to you, I swear.”
“Don’t worry about me, Miss. I’ll be fine,” Kelly said as if she could read Rory’s thoughts.
“Not ‘Miss.’ Just Rory.”
Kelly shook her head vigorously.
“Please.”
Looking at her long and hard, Kelly finally nodded. “Take care, Rory. Be safe.”
Rory got into the cab and drove away for what was likely the last time.
Good riddance, she thought through the pain.
The opulence of the mansions along Park Avenue disgusted her for the first time.
How could they all take so much for granted?
How could they possibly think they deserved to live like this? How had she thought she deserved it?
As they drove by the warehouses and slums of Queens, instead of shying away, she looked at the faces of the people she saw.
Even now, with nothing, she had so much more than these people, toiling in the smoke and summer heat.
She had an education. She knew powerful and wealthy people.
There was an invisible safety net for her that didn’t exist for any of them.
She was certain she would find some way to land on her feet.
Wishing she could fix it all, she closed her eyes and realized she was in no position to fix anything until she fixed herself.
As the city turned to the countryside out the cab window, she deliberately turned her thoughts to what lay ahead, to what she was going to say to Hank.
It was too much to ask to stay with him.
They barely knew each other. Maybe he had a married friend that might be willing to take her in, or he could give her money for a boarding house.
She’d pay him back as soon as she got a job.
Speaking of jobs, she was going to need one. A job in a shop was probably the quickest to get, though it likely didn’t pay as well as teaching. But it would take time to find a teaching position, and she needed income now. She would have to look for both, she decided.
As they passed Belmont Park, she wiped away a tear. Angry as she was at her father, she was going to miss her family and friends. What would they think when they heard? She didn’t want to think about it.
“You all right, Miss?” the cabby asked. He’d been mercifully silent so far.
“I’m just having a bad day.”
“Sorry to hear that. I hope it gets better for you.”
“Me too.” She sighed. It could hardly get worse.
She pulled out the letter from Hank inviting her to the Flatiron to remind herself of the correct address.
That night felt like it was ages ago, even though only a month had passed.
Back then, the world felt wide open and taking risks felt wonderful.
Now, she’d taken the biggest risk of all and lost. But she was finding a strange freedom in that.
She was nobody now, which meant she could be anyone and anything she wanted.
She would have to work for it, but she was no stranger to hard work, despite her pampered upbringing.
If she could create the Pilots’ Benevolent Association from whole cloth in a month, surely, she had the strength, fortitude, and creativity to make a new life for herself.
The cab pulled up in front of a darling mint-green cottage with a large vegetable garden on the side.
She wasn’t sure what to expect when she decided to come to see Hank, but she didn’t expect this.
It was adorable with floral curtains fluttering in the windows and two pink rose bushes flanking the door.
The cabby helped her bring her suitcases up to the doorstep, and she paid him, then rang the bell.
Hank opened the door, and his jaw dropped open. “Rory, what are you doing here?”
“My father found out. He wanted to force me to marry Edward today. I refused, and he cut me off. I need your help. Can I come in?”