Page 27 of The Pursuit of Elena Bradford

27

A stingy bloomer. The words followed Elena all the way back through the gardens that were blooming so lavishly. Was that what she was? A stingy bloomer, or worse, a no bloomer.

Andrew had been talking about roses, not people. Yet his words had poked her. Just as the cat might have appeared as a comfort for her sadness, his words could be the nudge she needed to change her attitude about her mother’s plans for her.

She had spent too much time hiding in her father’s rose garden. Even here at the Springs, she was still trying to disappear among the flowers, a place where she felt safe. But then Andrew had found her there. Ready or not, he had said while they were dancing. She had been ready and hopeful that he would seek her out this morning.

Among the hollyhocks with the first rays of the sun touching her face, she found it so easy to talk to him. Whatever happened from this trip to Graham Springs, she was glad to have met him.

Her fingers tingled as she thought about him taking her hand. A friendship gesture. Surely nothing more, but when their hands touched, she’d felt a surprising connection. Her heart had dipped a little and then started beating faster as he tightened his fingers around hers.

Had she ever had such a friend? No, because she seemed to fear blooming. She hadn’t even been a good friend to her sister. Instead, Ivy had always seemed a responsibility she didn’t want. How silly that seemed now. Another way she hadn’t bloomed. Being stingy with her time and with her love. No wonder everyone was so sure she would end up a spinster.

She supposed that could still happen despite her mother’s plans. She thought of General Dawson. He had looked so upset last night. After she talked to Ivy and her mother, she would look for him. Perhaps she could find a way to make him feel better.

Odd how a person’s ideas about someone could change so quickly when one got to know them better. The general was such a nice man. Still old, but if her future lay with him, that didn’t seem quite as dire as it had when they first got to the Springs.

She had changed. She liked making new friends, especially when one of those friends turned out to be her own sister. And now Andrew. And the general. Perhaps she could even count Kirby Frazier as a friend. She had to smile when she thought of the three so very different men she had come to know here. None were the best marriage possibilities. The general was too old. Kirby was too poor, and Andrew too heartbroken. Kirby would not be on her mother’s list, but General Dawson seemed to be.

She had no idea what her mother thought about Andrew. Elena didn’t really care. She was glad he’d found her among the flowers. Perhaps a heartbroken man needed a friend. She couldn’t imagine how any woman could have treated him so badly after promising to marry him.

If she ever said yes to a proposal, she wouldn’t back out at the last moment. Of course, love wasn’t the main purpose in her securing that proposal. That didn’t mean she couldn’t imagine how much better it would be to fall in love before she stepped to the marriage altar. Even better if the one she fell in love with was the one waiting at the altar.

She almost laughed as she went up the steps and into the hotel. Perhaps whenever the music started playing again for a new dance, she would meet the perfect man and find love in this place. She could bloom.

What a lovely dream, but no time to think about that now. She had to make sure Ivy didn’t do anything foolish to find the man she thought had given Vanessa a poisoned drink. As Andrew said, nobody even knew who she was. The mystery woman. And now she might forever stay the mystery woman. “No one will ever know .”

But what if someone did know? Perhaps not whatever Vanessa was hiding but that Ivy had seen him give her that last cup of punch.

As she climbed the four flights of stairs to their floor, her mind swirled from one idea to another. Finding a husband. Saving their home. Giving up on the whole idea and going back to Lexington to find another way. If they left right away, at least Ivy would be safe.

When she saw the door to Vanessa’s room open, she peered in. Dr. Graham and a maid were inside.

When he saw Elena, he gestured toward her. “Miss Bradford, perhaps you can be of help.”

She stepped over the threshold into the room a little hesitantly. “Have you heard from her family?”

He shook his head. “I fear young Andrew was right about that. The sheriff confirms what he said. He knows Judge Hasting well and says the man has no daughters. Nevertheless, we have sent a messenger to the judge in case he does know something about this poor woman.”

The doctor dropped down in one of the chairs while the maid straightened the room. There was little out of place. Little to show that anyone had even been in the room except a small carpetbag and the dress Vanessa had worn the day before spread out on the neatly made bed. The portrait Kirby had done of her was propped on the small writing desk.

Dr. Graham must have noticed her staring at it. “The man is an excellent artist. The portrait captures her beauty.”

“Yes,” Elena said. “She was so happy with it.”

“You say she was excited about having a portrait done.” The doctor stroked his beard as he looked at the canvas. “Wonder why.”

It wasn’t really a question, but Elena answered it anyway. “Perhaps to prove to herself her attractiveness.”

“She had a mirror for that. She had to know she was beautiful.”

“One would think so, but we don’t always see ourselves as others do.” Elena thought of how she had never felt attractive. Yet Kirby wanted to paint her portrait, and Andrew had called her a pretty woman among the flowers.

“That is true. I’ve known many women with blind eyes to their own beauty or worth.” He raised his hand and waved toward the dress on the bed. “Tell me, Miss Bradford. Do you think it normal for a woman to travel with only a party dress besides what she was wearing when she arrived?”

“There’s nothing else?” Elena looked around again.

Dr. Graham shook his head. “A brush. A comb. A few hair pins, but not even a nightdress.”

“Surely she had something in her reticule.” Elena looked around.

“There wasn’t one here in her room. Did she carry one when you were together yesterday?”

Elena shook her head. “We neither one did. It didn’t seem necessary, but I do have one here.”

“It appears Miss Vanessa did not. Nothing but a carpetbag.” He pointed. “It’s empty except for a few coins. No letters. No books of poetry or a diary. Don’t all young women have such things with them?” He blew out a breath of air. “It’s as if she came knowing she would only be here the one day.”

“She couldn’t have known that.” Elena frowned. “Could she?”

“Not unless she poisoned her own drink.” He seemed sorry for his words immediately as he rushed on. “That didn’t happen. Her drink wasn’t poisoned. Her heart simply gave out from overexertion.”

Elena didn’t say anything. From the look on the doctor’s face, silence seemed best.

“You didn’t hear anything unusual from this room?”

“We weren’t in our room very long during the day. Just in and out. Later, when we came back to get ready for the dance, she would have been more likely to hear the three of us while we got dressed.”

“I see.” Dr. Graham pushed up from the chair. The same as General Dawson, the death of the young woman appeared to have him feeling his age. “I have to wonder if someone else was with her that you didn’t see. That might explain why she was so secretive and careful to not open her door wider when you knocked. Perhaps he took off in the night with whatever money or personal items she might have had.”

Elena looked at the maid dusting here and there while they talked. “What about your maid? Did she see anyone?”

“She hadn’t been in the room yet.” He dismissed that possibility. “Not until now. Well, she brought water in the early afternoon, but the rooms are nearly always empty at that time of the day. Isn’t that right, Betty?”

“Yes, sir. No one about. Ceptin’ the young sister in the next room.” The maid looked at Elena and then away. “So I waited until later to see to that room. But no, sir, nobody was in this room at all, but I didn’t pay mind to what the guest might have brung with her.”

It was obvious she’d already answered these questions for the doctor. She pointed toward the bed and went on. “She did have her dancing dress all laid out on the counterpane like as how this dress here is now.” She pointed at the bed. “Would you be wanting me to fold it up and pack everything outta here, sir?”

“No. Leave things as they are right now. You can be on about your other tasks.” The maid scurried out as if she felt Vanessa’s ghost chasing her.

Elena didn’t sense any kind of presence. The room just felt empty. Very empty.

“Thank you, Miss Bradford.” Dr. Graham motioned her toward the door. “You’ve been very helpful.”

“It is so sad.” Elena gave the room another look. “What will you do if no family comes for her body?”

“Don’t let that concern you. We intend to give her a proper burial here at the Springs.” He took her arm to escort her out into the hallway and then shut the door firmly behind them.

“That will be kind of you.” Elena started to move away toward their room.

“Wait, Miss Bradford.”

When she turned back toward him, he said, “It would be better if we don’t say anything about what the young lady might have drunk last night. Or about the oddities in her room. At least until we have more concise information. You know how rumors can spread and be added to and changed until it is impossible to know the truth or have false assumptions corrected. It can be like shaking out a pillow tick full of feathers. There would never be a way to gather all the feathers that blew away on the wind of our words.”

She lifted her chin and stared straight at him. “I am not in the habit of gossiping.”

“Good.” He met her look. “Might I suggest you instruct your young sister to be the same?”

She inclined her head in agreement. She had no reason to take offense. The doctor was merely reinforcing what she had intended to tell Ivy anyway. But what about the maid and the other servants that had been in the ballroom while they had talked the night before? She had a sinking feeling that some of those gossip feathers had already escaped into the air.