Chapter Forty-Nine
Back at the house, Edwina, Nick, and Jarrod were sitting down for dinner, which Silas had kept warm. By mutual consent everyone ate the delicious chicken and dumplings, before they discussed their visitors. Jarrod had not eaten since he'd gotten off the train, Nick had worked all day, and Edwina always found herself hungry in the evening.
"Jarrod, I'm glad that you were here! I really had no idea that Uncle Lanier was being investigated." Edwina smiled at him, wanting to placate him. It had been good of him to stand by them, with the Secret Service sniffing around. Jarrod saw that he now had the chance to get the information he wanted.
"Edwina, I'm curious about something, regarding the gold. Brent St. Claire told the same story, about your father hiding the gold that the agents did. However, you told a different version to Brent; why?" Jarrod was going to start with something easy, and work his way up.
"Jarrod, daddy did hide the gold, but I didn't find out until toward the end of his life. I told Brent my story, to try to get him off of the scent. If you remember he wanted to take me with him to Carson City." She answered him, and Jarrod could admit that it made sense as he thought back to that afternoon.
"When you were talking to James McKinley at the governor's ball, was that about Knights?" Jarrod was still bothered by that conversation, and the way the couple had broken it off when he'd joined them.
"No! Why would you think that! I've had nothing to do with the Knights since daddy went senile; it was only then that I found out about them at all." Edwina was upset at his question. "James was talking to me about his wife, who is a good friend of mine. She'd just had a son, but her time had been hard, and she was suffering from a malaise that kept her in bed. James was worried and wanted me to write to her, to cheer her up, without her knowing he'd talked to me about what was going on."
"I don't like what you are insinuating about my wife!" Nick had been forced to keep quiet earlier, while she'd been questioned, because of the threat of the government. Now though, with his brother trying the same thing, he could put a stop to it. As his voice boomed around the room, he stood up from the table, threw his napkin down, and held out his army to Teddy. "I think we are done here, Sugar. You're tired and I'm not enjoying the company!"
"Nick, would you please wait! I'm sorry for asking, but I have never understood Edwina's involvement with the Knights. Now, we've had the Secret Service here, because of your luncheon engagement." Jarrod stood up too and faced his brother, not going to back down no matter how loud and annoyed Nick was. "Those agents could easily come back, with subpoenas! If I am to protect your wife, I have to know the truth!" He remembered his earlier thought, of the Secret Service doing his dirty work, and saw that he was right.
"Nick, thank you – yes, I'm tired; but Jarrod is right. Those agents could come back; he needs to know the facts." Edwina looked up at her husband, who was prepared to fight his brother to protect her. It touched her that he loved her so much, and she reached out to him. "Let's go into the study, and we can talk." All she wanted was peace, and if Jarrod needed to question her to achieve that, she would go along.
In the study Jarrod and Nick both took large helpings of brandy, while Edwina had chamomile tea with honey. Her stomach was still sensitive, and any kind of spirits made her want to retch. Silas had gotten in the habit of having a tea pot with her favorite tea ready, along with honey and lemon slices. She prepared herself a cup, while covertly watching her husband and brother-in-law. The way they lit their cigars, and took their after dinner brandy was very similar, causing her to smile fondly.
Nick was beyond annoyed, and only Teddy was keeping him from stomping upstairs, dragging her with him. He remembered how she had always hated the division their relationship had caused in the family. On the other hand, what was done was done, and he had assumed everyone had moved on. Nick now saw that Jarrod was still bothered about Teddy's father, which struck him as odd. Jarrod had never met the man, nor, as far as Nick knew, had his brother ever asked about him.
"What the hell do you want to ask my wife? Please, sooner than later, because she is tired and doesn't need all this stress!" Nick took a heavy draw on his cigar, after a large swallow of brandy as he faced his brother. Jarrod had no problems seeing that Nick was out of patience with him, and his need to know all the details. It was why they had always done so well as a family business – each member brought their strength to the business.
"I need to know exactly when – and how – you." Jarrod addressed the statement to Edwina. "How you found out about your father being involved with the Knights, and the gold." He stood up and walked over to the desk in the corner, to get paper, pen, and the inkwell. His plan was to get the timeline down, so he knew what he had to work with. Jarrod also wanted to get his questions answered, about Edwina's involvement with the group.
"It was back in 1876, after daddy had his heart attack, that I noticed his mind was fuzzy." Edwina puckered her eyebrows, as she remembered that time. "Things he should have known he didn't; that kind of thing. As the year went on I noticed the memory slips more and more, which was worrying to me. It all came to a head late in the year, when I walked in on him working on some files from the locked cabinet – the one I mentioned to the agents." She went on to explain how her father had always been very careful to keep it shut and locked.
"When you say late in 1876 – what month? And when did he have the heart attack?" Jarrod asked ignoring the scowl Nick was giving him. Edwina told him that the heart attack had been in April, and by late she meant November. He wrote that down, thinking that by then Edward Rutledge had been in Carson City for six years, working for the Knights all that time.
"I was surprised that he had left everything out, as I came into the office, but he didn't seem disturbed about it. You have to understand that I'd always been slightly curious about the business deals that were kept secret." Edwina looked at Jarrod as she made her observation, and he nodded his head in understanding; he would have been curious too.
"When I asked him what he was working on, he proceeded to tell me how he was investing what was left of the gold, as if I knew all about it! I asked him what he meant, and he proceeded to tell me the story of it. Daddy had negotiated the gold from South America for the south, but when he couldn't get it to Richmond – that was the capitol of the Confederacy; he hid it instead, on some hunting property that belonged to my late husband's family." Edwina went on to say that her father had used it as insurance with the Knights, knowing they could get him pardoned. In return he became their legal counsel, and business advisor.
"Jarrod, I was totally caught off-guard at his revelations!" Edwina looked him directly in the eye as she made her statement, and he was willing to believe her, especially with what she said next. "There had always been men coming and going for meetings with daddy and Uncle Lanier, but I just put it down to the mining consortium."
She went on to tell Jarrod that it was at that moment that she realized how far gone her father's mind was. If he was blurting out the knowledge of the gold to her, who else might he tell it to, she worried. Edwina helped her father put the files away, and escorted him home, telling Eliza not to let him out of her sight. Once her father was settled, she went back to the office and read through some of the records, which made her sick.
"I couldn't read anymore, so I locked everything up and went home. The next day I went to see Uncle Lanier, to explain that daddy's mind wasn't working and that he couldn't practice law at all. I was careful not to let on what I now knew, but it was hard to reconcile the kindly man I'd known with what he actually was." Edwina sighed, and drank some of her now cooled tea, before she finished the story.
"By that time the only business daddy had was the knights – and the sale of your mine." She regarded him closely. "The work was almost done, and the sale carried a big commission, which Uncle Lanier knew I could use. We decided to keep the office open, until after the sale was finalized, which was scheduled for February. He helped me put together all the activities for you, to keep you busy and from trying to meet my father."
Jarrod thought back to that visit in Carson City, and his impression of how everyone was related to everyone else. He now saw that the Grand Knight was like the puppet master, who pulled all the strings and controlled everything that went on. It bothered him that he'd been hoodwinked like he had been, but at least his impression had been correct.
"Uncle Lanier knew I wouldn't take charity, Jarrod, so he was just trying to help me. After daddy died, the Knights paid for me to take his body back to South Carolina, where he wanted to be buried." Edwina felt tears in her eyes again, and Nick, who was sitting next to her, passed her his handkerchief. Jarrod could see that if his brother had his way, he would put a stop to the questions.
"So you are telling me that until November of 1876 you had no knowledge of the Knights?" Jarrod wanted confirmation and waited for her to say something.
"I swear that prior to that time I had only heard of the group once, before the war. It was a men's social group that a lot of plantation owners belonged to." Edwina replied, as she dabbed her eyes.
"You did take money from them, after you knew the truth though." Jarrod knew that the fact could be very damning in the eyes of the government. He was not surprised to see how Edwina reacted to his comment. If nothing else she had always been loyal to her father, even visiting him in federal prison. Having been to a few federal prisons, he knew what those visits would have entailed.
"It wasn't for me though! Daddy wanted to be buried in his home state, and there was no way I could afford a trip like that, with a casket!" Edwina was indigent at what he was implying, and she knew that Nick was too.
"You can just stop right there, brother dear! Teddy was only doing what her father wanted, and I for one admire her for her loyalty to the man." Nick's voice rose with anger, and Jarrod saw that he had pushed it too far, as his brother went on. "You have a lot of nerve criticizing my wife for doing nothing more than standing by her father. I would have thought that you, after the mess with Julia Saxon, would be more understanding!" His reference to Julia Saxon caused Jarrod to cringe, but made him aware of the position he'd been in, which gave him insight into Edwina.
"Nick, I see what you are saying, and I do agree with you." Jarrod held up his hand "However, my relationship with Julia Saxon never brought the Secret Service to our house." He wanted Nick to see that this was different, but his brother wasn't buying it.
"Oh, so it wasn't a problem that the whole town hated us while it was going on!" Nick roared back, not willing to give an inch. He left out that Jarrod's best friend had committed suicide because of the woman, but Nick saw his brother heard the unspoken comment, by how he flinched. It was below the belt, Nick knew, but sometimes his brother could be too upright for his own good.
"If you will remember, Julia was innocent of the murder charge." Jarrod retorted, before deciding to drop the subject. Going down that road would open up an ugly wound that would never be healed in Jarrod's mind. "What I am trying to do here is get the facts, to deal with the government. They will look at her taking the money, after she knew where it came from, as her being in agreement with the Knights." Jarrod threw his hands up as he made the declaration, while doubting that the Secret Service would take pity on her story of a dutiful daughter.
Of course she could always cry, and look fragile, because they wouldn't know what he did, which was that she was as tough as they come. Edwina's tale of her deprivation, starvation, and harassment was pitch perfect, and dragging in her late husband's family only added to the credence of it. Jarrod maintained, and would until his dying day, that if Sherman had come across Edwina in his march to the sea, he would have been stopped in his tracks.
Edwina had been intrigued with the reference to Julia Saxon, and made a mental note to get the details from Nick later. Now though she had to diffuse the situation, and was trying to figure out how, when an idea came to her. It would also resolve the matter of the visit to the city, with Jarrod, so she looked over at him, noticing his distracted expression, and wondered what it was about.
"Jarrod, I should have made you aware of the visit with Uncle Lanier, I see that now. I didn't because I knew that you would view it with the same suspicion that you are looking at me now with." Edwina reached out and put her hand on his arm, making him sit back down. "I just wanted a quiet visit with an old family friend, who'd been very good to me. The man is dying Jarrod; he won't live to see next year. When he dies, the Secret Service will have nothing to go on." She was sure that with her father and Lanier Harrison gone, that would be true.
"Edwina, I am suspicious of you, because until now you've never told me about how you came to find out about the Knights and your father." Jarrod stated, not liking how she was making him feel guilty for his behavior. Once again it was poor Edwina, and why didn't he feel sorry for her, as well as why he was being made to feel bad for those feelings!
"You have never asked me, before now! All you've done is skull around my conversations, and make up scenarios in your head!" Edwina snapped her reply, thinking about how he'd acted with her. It had always been rather hands off, but lurking at the same time, which was off-putting. The comment echoed what Madeline had said to him, Jarrod remembered, and he could concede that Edwina was right in her accusations.
"I apologize Edwina, I should have just talked to you directly, and you should have told me about your visit to the city. Can we call a truce, and work together?" Jarrod didn't add to keep you out of jail, but it was at the back of his mind. He was relieved to see that Edwina accepted his apology, and gave him a hug. Jarrod could tell that Nick was happy with too, as he poured them another brandy. It was all going well, but there was one more matter that he had to discuss with her.
"Edwina, I'm sure that you are tired, but I want to hear your thoughts on the journal, that the agent's referenced." He was careful not to sound accusatory as he asked the question, but felt the cold fear hit him as he remembered his conviction that she'd known about the journal.
"If it exists, it is hidden away somewhere." Edwina widened her eyes, as she answered, and then yawned. "Jarrod I am very tired, and would like to go upstairs. I'm glad that we were finally able to talk, and I just hope you can understand why I did what I did." She stood up and gave him a hug, letting him once again catch a whiff of her floral scent. He identified it as roses, and something else he couldn't identify; he wondered if he would ever be able to look at pink roses and not think of her.
"Jarrod, I wish you would have had the chance to meet my father, back before the heart attack. You would have enjoyed talking to him; he was brilliant." Edwina looked into his eyes, smiling with kindness. "His legal and financial acumen would have impressed you, and you would have found yourself liking him in spite of his politics. He was a very honorable man, who loved his home state more than anything else. Daddy walked away from a top level government position, to protect a way of life he believed in. If nothing else, the man stood up for what he believed in. How many men can say that at their end of the lives?"
Her last statement made Jarrod aware of how much she had loved her father, in spite of his actions. He now saw too that she had no illusions about her father, and his actions; Edwina had made peace with the man. Jarrod wondered that if it came down to her having to choose between her loyalty to her father, and to Nick, what she would do?
As Jarrod watched the couple leave the room, Nick's arm protectively around Edwina's shoulders as they said good night he sighed. It came to him that once again he was the lonely one. When he did go to bed his dreams were haunted by an oversize leather bound journal, and Madeline's ice-blue eyes full of sorrow and reproach. His sleep was not peaceful or restful, as he felt like he was coming up lacking in all areas of his life.
