Emily was in Julia's room a long time, soothing her, before the child calmed down enough to let sleep take over. Emily wanted to sleep, too, but couldn't.
The house was eerily quiet when Emily came downstairs. She heard some low, adult, voices coming from the billiards room, talking calmly, but she went instead to the kitchen where Bertie and Florence were finishing the clean up from the service and from lunch.
She thanked the sisters for the wonderful work they did at Victoria's service and went on to finalize plans with them for dinner that night. She also asked where the children were. Because Bertie and Florence always knew where the children were.
Leah and Ellie were at the guesthouse, Carrie and Vicky were upstairs in Carrie's room, and all the others were out at the stables, the sisters reported.
In the billiards room, Emily found her husband, Jarrod, and Heath and their wives. Audra, Jarrod, explained, had gone upstairs to rest. Emily sank into a chair, uninhibited with those present to show her exhaustion. Heath offered her a brandy but she declined.
"Jarrod says you saw the bruises?" Jane stated more than asked.
Emily nodded her head and spoke slowly, deliberately, "There's a very large, fresh bruise covering most of the left side of her back. There are several bruises up and down both her arms, different sizes, different colors. There's one very faded, yellow bruise here," and she pointed the spot under behind her jawbone, below her ear.
Nick clenched his right hand into a tight fist, not for the first time that afternoon.
"Would you be willing to testify to that?" Jarrod asked.
"Of course, I would," Emily said.
Nick looked at Jarrod and asked, "You're thinking of a divorce hearing?"
"On the grounds of cruelty, if it comes to that," Jarrod replied.
"Audra and Charles have lots of help," Emily noted, "I wonder what they know."
"Ah, but servants are paid not to talk," Jarrod countered, "Doing so could jeopardize future employment."
Heath stood off to the side, rocking on his heels, and watching the whiskey as he swirled it in his glass. "All I know is, divorced or not, she can't go back to him," he said.
"I agree," said Emily, "but how do we convince her? She doesn't seem to think there's a problem."
"We make her stay!" Nick stated emphatically. Emily shook her head slowly; she didn't think there was any way to make her stay.
"Makes me wonder how it got so bad," said Sarah, "The Audra I first met would never have tolerated such treatment." Others nodded in sad agreement.
"I work with women in marriages like that," Jane said. "It starts out with something minor, maybe a little pushing or grabbing, and there's an apology afterwards and a promise not to do it again." She paused then noted everyone was listening closely and continued. "For awhile everything is good again and she remembers why she loves him. And it might be good for a long time. But the next time, the harm is usually worse but the apology and promise are sincere."
"It's almost as if she's embarrassed by it," said Emily.
"She probably is," Jane replied.
"Why should she be embarrassed?" Nick demanded loudly.
"Because the husbands, over time, convince the wives that everything is their fault, even their own behavior," Jane explained.
Heath looked up from his glass and said, "And you get told something enough, you start to believe it." He was speaking from the depths of his own experience.
~~BBB~~
Audra lay in the bed in the guestroom of the home she'd grown up in. She couldn't sleep.
She wanted to return to Charles because he was her husband and she was his wife and she had made a promise before God when she married him. She worried how Charles would be when she returned. He might be kind and forgive her for going against his wishes. He might be like that.
Or, he might be angry. She was afraid the longer she stayed away the angrier he would be.
The angriest he'd ever been with her was a few years back and she could no longer remember why. He had slapped her across the face with such force that her mouth bled and she careened into a corner. He stepped back as she slumped down against the wall, both from losing her balance and from trying to protect herself. When she recovered her balance and stood back up, Charles moved in again and slapped her again with even more force. She had little recall after the second slap, all she remembered was her sheer terror.
Just as quickly as his temper had flared, it was extinguished, and he apologized profusely and tenderly as he helped to her feet and walked her over to sit in a chair while he went to get ice for her face. Audra then remembered Jarrod's explanation about patterns to her.
The next day, Audra's face was so bruised and swollen she was unable to see out of one eye and she refused to look in a mirror. She decided then that she would leave him and return to her family in California but she wanted to wait until the bruising subsided.
Charles was contrite. He admitted being horrified by his own actions. He pleaded with her to forgive him and he promised he would never hit her again. Every day he told her how much he loved her, how much he needed her. He explained that business had fallen off due to the strikes and he simply lost control. And he told her she was the only woman he had ever loved.
Charles remained loving and apologetic long after the bruises had faded. He even bought her a horse ranch outside of Issaquah. The beating had scared him and he said he was now a changed man. And she believed him. Now she was beginning to doubt him.
One tear slipped out of her eye and fell on the pillowcase before she fell asleep in the bed in the family home.
~~BBB~~
Emily and her sisters-in-law planned a fine family dinner for the day of Victoria's funeral. The dinner would feature prime rib from the best stock the Barkley Ranch had to offer, fruits and vegetables from the garden, and the finest wine brought up from the cellar. Emily was in the kitchen preparing German chocolate cake.
Nick and Jarrod put the parlor furniture back to its usual arrangement under the direction of Sarah. Heath rode off to look at fences and to be alone with his thoughts.
Jane joined Emily in the kitchen, sifting flour and melting chocolate. Both women wore aprons over their black mourning dresses and talked in low voices about the situation with Audra.
~~BBB~~
Audra woke up from her nap to the sound of doors opening and closing in the room next to hers and she focused on listening. She couldn't make out the words but the voices belonged to two people. She knew one of the voices belonged to Carrie and guessed the other belonged to Vicky. She smiled, got out of bed, and freshened up. She looked at the faded yellow bruise on her jaw and studied it, remembering.
She knew her brothers would insist on continuing the discussion about Charles and she was not looking forward to it. So, before she started down the stairs, she decided to peak in on her littlest niece.
Julia was up from her nap and playing quietly with her dolls on the floor. Audra stood just outside of view and listened.
There was some sort of dialogue about eating ice cream and riding horses. And there were kissing noises.
Audra had to interrupt before she laughed out loud. She stepped into the room. "Hello," she said, "Can I play, too?"
Julia nodded her head and Audra joined her on the floor.
"Is that the momma and papa?" Audra asked.
Julia nodded and handed her two dolls.
"Which one is Julia?" she asked, looking around the room.
"Julia's at school, " the little girl replied. "And so is Daniel and so is Carrie." Julia didn't go to school yet. Then she picked up a carved wooden horse and walked it over to Audra. "This is Phoebe," she said.
"Oh! What a beautiful horse!" Audra exclaimed. "Do you like horses?"
Julia nodded her head.
"So do I!" said Audra, "Do you ride?"
"I ride everyday," Julia said nonchalantly, "I ride Mondays and Tuesdays and all days."
"Where do you ride?"
"To the north ridge and I go down the hills and I go real fast," Julia explained.
"Does your papa take you riding?" asked Audra.
"Uh-huh," said Julia, nodding her head, "He puts me way up in the saddle and I hold tight till he gets there." She raised an arm above her head to demonstrate just how high up the saddle is.
"Would you like to go riding with me?" Audra asked. She would love a short ride and being with Julia would delay any further discussions about her own life.
Julia didn't respond but Audra stood up and reached out her hand.
"Come on," she said, "I'll ask your mother and your father and if it's all right with them, we'll go for a short ride." Julia took Audra's hand and together they walked down the stairs.
Jarrod and Nick were sitting in the parlor but stood up when they saw Audra and Julia.
Audra and Julia walked up to Nick and Audra said, "Nick, Julia and I would like to go for a short ride, that is, if it's all right with you."
Nick suppressed a wide smile and said, "I think that's a fine idea. You tell Tom and Will to saddle up Juniper or Clancy for you." He bent down towards his daughter and added, "And you have fun and take good care of your Aunt Audra." Then he tapped her on the nose with his finger.
Jarrod and Nick watched as Julia led Audra out the front door.
Jarrod turned to Nick and, smiling, he said, "Well, I suppose that was only a matter of time."