Chapter Sixty Three
Jarrod and Lisette left their luncheon with Nate, subdued and reticent about the meeting they held.
Jarrod knew about what Lisette held over Paul to keep custody—-he had read the ironclad documents her private investigator had given her. She told Nate her husband had said something in a drunken stupor about Henry and hoped the boy died, "It's my fault. Like the Hapsburgs"—after the incident with the maid. The slip of his tongue festered in her mind and she had Pinkertons create a dossier.
But she had never spoken of the details aloud. In Stockton when she made a new will at her father's death and named Jarrod guardian—she simply pushed the documents across the table. Jarrod understood immediately why Paul Franklin would hide his past. He frequented the Newport social set of the Knickerbockers and any sniff of scandal would close the doors he craved. He was obsessed with wealth and standing.
She quietly whispered the forbidden word to Nate and passed him the envelope.
Nate read it carefully, "This is damning. Was there an arrest?"
"No but they never married. He is illegitimate too. His mother committed suicide, laudanum and his father died in the bottle."
"And you never knew any of this before you wed?"
"I wrongly assumed since he was my father's choice and ran in the highest echelons of New York society, he was acceptable. I was young and naive. Vassar was my first foray from my sheltered home. I believed what he and my Father told me. He simply told me he was an orphan."
"Lisette, don't blame yourself. You have already borne more than most in their lifetime." Jarrod comforted her.
"Nate, it is never to be used except to keep Henry safe. It affects his future too."
"Understood."
—&—-
"We have a couple of hours before the wallpaper and dry goods store. What would you like to do?"
"A walk would be wonderful, Jarrod."
He had the driver take them down to the Harbor park where he knew its busyness would afford them privacy as opposed to the finer neighborhoods of the Vanderpools and others who might recognize them.
Mothers were playing with children, men were reading books or playing checkers. It was a beautiful day with the bay breeze and a saltwater scent in the air.
Jarrod bought Lisette a parasol and took her arm. They walked silently through the middle class people enjoying a break from work.
They arrived at a quiet overlook and Lisette sat upon an outcropping of rock. Jarrod sat beside her.
"Jarrod? It's so awful. I never said the word aloud until today. I guess I thought if I said it, I would give it truth."
He let her continue, holding her hand.
"It's not true, you know. I saw three doctors with Henry. One in New York, one in London and one in Paris. He is not an imbecile. Asthma is a childhood illness brought on by humors in the air and an early birth. He will outgrow it just like you did."
"I know. I have no doubt. He is already thriving in the California air. Anna said she ordered new pants that he has grown an inch too. He's tan too. So different from when he came to the valley." with confidence and his strong voice.
"That's what I love about you, Jarrod. You take time to know my son."
"Our son," he said with emotion.
"I asked the doctors if the asthma, his weak constitution, was from inbreeding. All said "no" definitively. It would show up in his intelligence, temperament, and body features. And as you know—-"
Jarrod interrupted her, "He is perfect."
"Yes, he is. I just had to tell you about the doctors in case you worried as I did."
"It never crossed my mind, my Lissy. Not once. I have quite the son I have always wanted."
"Yes you do." and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
—&—
The couple spent the next two hours picking out wallpaper, bedding and drapery fabrics. They made a wholesale order for fine sheets for the master suites and medium quality sheets for the travelers rooms—-Jarrod was quite finicky to Lissy's delight and surprise about the blankets. He touched each one and was persnickety about the "feel and weight".
Lissy watched him with a smile, "Who knew?"
He liked an especially luxurious one that was not in the hotel's price range. He continued to look and Lissy told the clerk, "Ship two to this address. One for his office and one for his home."
They ordered forty mattresses of full size of excellent quality.
"I guarantee a man will return to a hotel with a good mattress for sleep."
They added ten trundles for the larger suites.
Lisette picked out multiple duvet covers of velvet to polished cottons all in blues and greens to coordinate with the wallpapers.
"A mother will worry if her children soil velvet. Those rooms will have cotton and quilts, easily aired."
"We make a good team."
"Yes we do."
—-&—-
Nick hobbled back into the house and back to his desk of mail and ledgers. Grete and Anna brought him lunch with the tasty focaccia bread and beef.
"Looks too pretty to eat, ladies."
"What's this?" Nick pointed out a larger onion slice placed and baked into the bread.
Kai proudly announced, "A quail,"
Not to be undone, Henry pointed out, "And that's the snake that we killed."
"All the flowers are from Aunt Grete and Miz Anna."
"I can tell," Nick winked.
His mother and Audra came back a few hours later from town with pattern books, fabric samples and notions.
"Guess it's time for another hen party. Boys, let's go outside."
The ladies laughed and Victoria handed him the mail.
He rifled through it and opened one to Jarrod from Tom Lightfoot.
"I think I know what this is."
And it was. A letter of reference for Butch Jones. He read of the manslaughter case that put the half-Indian man behind bars for five years and the amputation of his leg for an infected wound. Prison doctor wouldn't touch an Indian until it was too late for the leg. A missionary's adopted son from the mission…Tom had lobbied for his release and it finally came.
Nick read the details and shook his head, "They wouldn't have convicted a white man in that situation."
"Mother, is the cabin empty next to Rosa still?"
"Yes, no one has used it in a while."
"Good. I am hiring a guard, man about the house. Tom Lightfoot sent us one today. Wished this letter would have beat the man here. I sent him to Maude's. I will send a man to town to get him. Buy him some new clothes too at the mercantile. Every man deserves a fresh start."
Nick handed the letter to his mother.
"I agree," with fire in her eyes, "I will see the cabin is fresh and ready for our Mr Jones. Jarrod and Heath will be glad for another man around the house after all the trouble."
"We all will."