Page 58 of The Unseen (Echoes from the Past #5)

FORTY-SIX

“Where in the world is Dmitri?” Elena asked as they sat down to supper one night at the end of May.

“He said he’d be gone a few days, but it’s been nearly a fortnight.

Several gentlemen have called for him on the telephone.

It seems he missed his appointments with them.

A Mr. Murdoch called several times, demanding to know where Dmitri is. Oh, I do hope he’s all right.”

“I’m sure he is, Mama,” Tanya replied as she helped herself to some fricassee. “I do wish he’d hurry back. Kolya will need to be collected from school soon, and then we can go on our little jaunt to the country. I can’t wait.”

Valentina tried to hide her shock. She’d forgotten all about Kolya. The school year was nearly at an end. She’d have to take the train and bring him back to London for the summer, along with his trunk. In the past, Dmitri had taken the motorcar, but now it was up to her to fetch him back.

“Valya, you should learn to drive,” Tanya said.

“I couldn’t.”

“Why ever not? There are female motorists. I read that a woman named Alice Ramsey drove across the United States in 1909. That was a decade ago.”

“A respectable woman shouldn’t drive. Such pursuits are for men,” Elena said sharply.

“Why? Is a male appendage required to drive a car?” Valentina asked, suddenly irritated with her mother.

It was nearly 1920. The world was changing, and they had to change with it.

She was through being told what to do and being treated like a commodity.

If she survived long enough to have a future, she would make her own choices and be her own woman.

“Don’t be vulgar, dear. It simply isn’t ladylike.

And anyway, Valentina, you should really focus your energies on getting married.

You are going to be twenty-one next year.

You’ve had plenty of time to grieve for Alexei.

A woman needs a husband, and you mustn’t miss your chance.

There’s nothing worse than being a spinster. ”

“Isn’t there?” Valentina asked, trying to hide her sarcasm. Being sodomized by a man you despised and then forced to suck his cock until his seed erupted in a warm stream into your mouth was infinitely worse, in her opinion. She’d take being a spinster any day.

“No, there isn’t. As a spinster, you are nothing, no one. You need a husband to protect you, give you respectability. And children. Having children makes many things bearable.”

“Such as?” Valentina asked.

“Widowhood. I would never have survived without you. I would have simply curled up and died after your father was murdered. I’d have had no reason to go on.”

“Have you ever thought of remarrying, Mama?” Valentina asked. She caught Tanya’s shocked gaze, but persisted. “If I’m to stop mourning, so should you.”

“You loved Alyosha, I know that, but you weren’t his wife. You never shared his bed, or carried his children. You mourn the promise of a life. I mourn a life I actually had.”

“I know, Mama, and I’m not comparing our grief, but you’re still a young woman. You’re only forty. There are several men at church who find you attractive.”

Elena smiled coyly. She was well aware of the admiring looks she received from the widowers in the congregation. “To be honest, I see no reason to marry again. Dmitri takes such good care of us. It’s like having a husband without having to tolerate his moods and needs.”

“Dmitri might wish to marry again,” Tanya said. “He’s not that old. ”

Elena’s face fell. She’d clearly never considered the possibility, but if she had, perhaps she’d thought he’d marry her.

They were second cousins. No one would stop them marrying if they wished to, and they’d known each other since they were children.

They had a bond, an understanding. Perhaps that was what her mother had been hoping for.

She loved Dmitri. Maybe not as she had loved their father, but she loved him nonetheless, and marriage would be a natural next step.

But Dmitri would never have married her.

If they’d married, the sword of poverty and homelessness he’d held over Valentina’s head would disappear.

As his wife, Elena would want for nothing, and he’d be obligated to provide for her children.

Valentina would be free of him, as would Tanya. And that hadn’t been part of his plan.

Had he always meant to recoup his investment?

Valentina wondered as she prepared for bed that night.

When he came to see them in Whitechapel, had he been sizing her up and making plans for her future?

Or had he genuinely wished to help and only hit on a means of making money off her later?

Had they cost him so much more than he’d anticipated?

Surely, he could have helped Valentina find a suitable position if that had been the case.

She could have started paying him back from her wages.

She’d have paid him for the rest of her life, if that was what it took.

Or did he enjoy humiliating her and wielding power over her life?

Did he get pleasure from knowing he could break her?

Perhaps he’d even watched her humiliation.

Several times she’d heard movement in the next room, despite the fact that Dmitri had said it was vacant.

Had it aroused him to see her on her knees, naked and defenseless?

Not for the first time, Valentina wondered about Emily, Dmitri’s late wife.

Had he truly loved her as he’d claimed, or had he ruined her life as well?

What had their relationship been like? He’d always spoken of her with longing and regret.

Of course, it could be that he’d simply missed the woman he’d loved, but what if there was more to that story?

Dmitri seemed to have done very well for himself since coming to England.

Had Emily’s family been responsible for his swift change in fortune?

Emily had been an only child, as far as Valentina knew.

Had Dmitri married her so he could inherit when her father died?

Emily had worked as a governess in Russia when she met Dmitri, but he’d once mentioned that her family had been quite well-to-do.

Valentina supposed she’d never find the answers to her questions, but now that she knew what Dmitri had been capable of, she couldn’t help questioning everything he’d told her.

Valentina had snuck into Dmitri’s study several times since the night he died.

She needed to open the safe, but she didn’t know the combination.

Money set aside for household expenses was running out, and Mrs. Nemirovsky, who’d started her job as a housekeeper two weeks ago, had hinted once already that her wages were due.

Valentina had tried Dmitri’s birthday and the date of his name day.

She’d even tried Emily’s birthday after memorizing the dates on her gravestone the day of Agraphena Petrovna’s funeral, but the safe wouldn’t open.

She had to try again. She waited until everyone went to bed, then tiptoed to Dmitri’s study.

She closed the door behind her and stood in front of the safe, thinking, then began to turn the knob.

The date of Emily’s death. If that didn’t work, she had no other ideas.

She couldn’t quite believe her luck when she heard the lock click and pulled open the steel door.

Why would anyone wish to use the day of someone’s death?

But as she already knew, Dmitri had his secrets, and perhaps this was one of them.

Whatever might have happened to his wife didn’t matter anymore.

What mattered was that her family now had enough money to sustain them for months, if not years.

In the meantime, she had to start working on implementing the next phase of her plan.

Dmitri had been gone for more than two weeks.

It was time to act. First, she would ring the factory and inquire about Dmitri’s whereabouts, then alert the police to his disappearance.

That out of the way, she’d need to find a solicitor who would help her legalize her claim to Dmitri’s assets.

If he asked for a marriage certificate, she would go see Father Mikhail and pray that the priest would simply leaf through the register, find the marriage, and issue a legal document.

Once she was over that hurdle, she’d be one step closer to financial freedom.

Of course, it would take years to have Dmitri declared legally dead, but at least she’d have the house, the car, access to his bank account, and the run of the businesses.

If it all went smoothly, she’d then tell her mother and Tanya about the marriage.

Elena would feel shocked and betrayed by the news, possibly even a little resentful that Dmitri had chosen her daughter over her.

Tanya would be surprised and hurt that Valentina hadn’t trusted her enough to share the news with her, and Kolya likely wouldn’t care one way or the other.

Ultimately, everyone would accept her secret marriage to Dmitri and be grateful for their newfound wealth.

As long as Dmitri’s body never turned up, Valentina would remain safe.