Skirting Tradition Read online

  “Is this your idea of running a home, Victoria?” she demanded from the doorway. “The dining room table is not even set for luncheon.”

  “Sarah and I are eating off trays so we can continue our work. Sarah, go ask Frances to fix a tray for Mother.”

  “I’m not in the habit of eating off my lap like some kind of vagabond. A proper lady sits at a table to eat.”

  “Tell Frances to set a place for Mother at the table over there by the window. She’ll have a lovely view of—”

  “I can’t possibly eat in here.” Mrs. Atkins dismissed Miss Victoria’s plan. “The fumes are ghastly and most unhealthy.”

  “Tell Frances to prepare the dining room—”

  “Why are you spending your time dabbing odiferous paint on a canvas rather than properly running this household for Hayden?”

  “I am an artist, Mother.”

  “Nonsense! You are a spoiled woman who refuses to take responsibility. I blame everything on your grandfather. What was he thinking, leaving a girl all that money? If you had been a dependent young woman like other girls, you would have married and had children, and I would not have been required to bear the disgrace you have brought upon me.”

  “Has it ever occurred to you, Mother, that if I had had children, your grandchildren might have been just like me.”

  “Don’t be impertinent, young lady! Thank God for Amelia. At least she’s an Atkins, not a Lindsay like you. At least I can depend on her to be a lady.”

  Miss Victoria and Sarah exchanged glances before Miss Victoria hurriedly changed the subject.

  “I’ve had a letter from Maude. She’s coming for a visit—”

  “At the very least you could have conducted your life as Maude conducted hers. She has made a life for herself in the state of Texas. She didn’t go flitting all over Europe for twenty years.”

  “As I was saying, Maude will be joining us for Thanksgiving—”

  “I don’t approve of a lady working in public, of course, but Maude is something of a missionary, you might say. She is helping the disadvantaged. It will not do any good, of course. The poor don’t really want to change. They like living from handouts rather than working.”

  “She will be arriving on the train Wednesday evening.”

  “I shall be glad to see her, of course. Now, is it your intention to allow your mother to stand in this rank-smelling room and starve?”

  “Sarah, please tell Frances to prepare a salad and sandwiches for Mother—”

  “Sandwiches? I wish to have luncheon, not tea, Victoria! Oh, for heaven’s sake! Sarah, tell Frances to bring whatever this pathetically provisioned house can supply. I shall just have to make do until teatime.”

  “Mother, if you had told me you wanted lunch—”

  “We’ll discuss this no further, Victoria. We best turn our attention to Thanksgiving dinner. Since you haven’t made plans for your own mother’s luncheon, I’m certain you haven’t made plans for Thanksgiving. Come into the drawing room. We must make a menu at once. How many guests are joining us? Sarah! Don’t just stand there. See to my luncheon!”

  Sarah hurried out of the room, raced out into the hall, and ran smack into Mrs. Bellows.

  “You stupid girl!” Mrs. Bellows shouted as she staggered back. “You’re as clumsy as an ox. Have you no sense at all?”

  “I’m terribly sorry—” Sarah reached for Mrs. Bellows to prevent her from falling.

  “Don’t touch me!” Mrs. Bellows yelled. “If I need your help, I’ll ask for it. Where is that fancy woman who prances around the yard trying to attract my husband’s attention?”

  “I don’t know what you mean—”

  “Protecting her! That’s what you’re doing, you stupid farm girl. Well, it won’t work. I have every intention of telling her to her face what a slut she is.”

  “Mrs. Bellows, I think I better help you home.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.” Mrs. Bellows pushed Sarah back. “I insist on seeing that European hussy who thinks she can—”

  “Good day, Mrs. Bellows,” Miss Victoria interrupted as she strode into the hall. “Won’t you join me in the drawing room?”

  “Fat chance!” Mrs. Bellows shouted.

  “Who is this woman?” Mrs. Atkins demanded as she joined Miss Victoria. “Sarah, escort her to the door.”

  Frances rushed into the hall with both Delphie and Sam on her heels. “Is everything all right, Miz Victoria?”

  “Clearly not!” Mrs. Atkins answered. “Remove this woman.”

  “No,” Miss Victoria countermanded. “Sam, go get Mr. Bellows. Go quickly.”

  “Victoria, come back into the drawing room with me,” Mrs. Atkins insisted. “Clearly, this woman is intoxicated. She is unworthy of your attention.”

  “I’m unworthy?” Mrs. Bellows slammed her fists on her ample hips. “At least I don’t prance around my front yard with gangs of workmen.”

  “What is the woman talking about?” Mrs. Atkins demanded.

  “Probably the installation of the fountain. There were quite a few workmen over here.”

  “And you were out there directing them?”

  “With her skirts all hiked up, trying to lure my husband over. That’s what she was doing.”

  “Miss Victoria was wearing bloomers,” Sarah defended her patron, “so she could preserve her modesty.”

  “Bloomers are most unattractive,” Mrs. Atkins decreed, “but they are modest.” She turned to Mrs. Bellows. “My dear woman, I have no idea who you are—”

  “Mrs. Bellows. I am Mrs. Bellows, and anyone in this town will tell you that I never shirk my duty, and it is my duty to rid this town of this foreign floozy before she brings rack and ruin on every marriage in town.”

  “That is quite enough!” Mrs. Atkins snapped and advanced on Mrs. Bellows. “You are referring to my daughter, the daughter of the illustrious General George Lindsay. She was reared in the finest home in Galveston, not in a backwater slum like Riverford. Kindly desist from defaming her name!”

  Mrs. Bellows’ face crumpled, and she began to cry.

  “Frances,” Miss Victoria intervened. “Please escort Mrs. Bellows home and tell her maid to put her to bed. Delphie, you help her.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Frances hurried forward and gently urged Mrs. Bellows toward the door, but before she could be removed from the hall, the teetering woman stopped. With a pathetically confused child’s look on her face, she turned back to Miss Victoria.

  “If you’re not stealing my husband’s love from me, who is?” she asked.

  “Take her home, Frances,” Miss Victoria said. “See that she’s taken care of.”

  The moment the door was closed behind them, Mrs. Atkins exploded. “What in the name of heaven is going on in this house, Victoria? Does Hayden know about this woman’s outrageous accusations? No, of course he doesn’t. He would never allow such behavior.”

  “Mrs. Bellows’ behavior has been slightly erratic—”

  “Erratic? You call getting drunk and descending on the peace of your home and accusing you of unspeakable things erratic behavior?”

  “She is not herself—”

  “Ridiculous! If she’s not herself, then who is she? I don’t approve of this mollycoddling of people with atrocious manners. Standards of behavior must be maintained, or the whole of civilization will be lost. Why are you even associating with such a woman?”

  “She is my next-door neighbor, Mother, and she clearly has a health problem that causes her to behave badly.”

  “Victoria, what are you thinking? The woman has come into your home unannounced, drunk, and accused you of immoral behavior.”

  “If you knew more, Mother—”

  “No!” Mrs. Atkins clapped her hands to her ears. “I will not hear you defend such a woman. I shall speak to Hayden about this matter since you are clearly as irrational as always.” She turned and marched to the staircase.

  “Shall I have luncheon prepared for you?” Sarah mi
stakenly asked.

  “Have you lost your mind too, Sarah? Surely you don’t think I could eat after this scene! I shall go to my room to compose myself. You may bring my tea up at four.” She turned to Miss Victoria. “I expect to be told the moment Hayden arrives in this house. Do you understand me, Victoria?”

  “Quite easily, Mother, since you haven’t changed in the last forty years.”

  “Nor shall I!” Mrs. Atkins stiffened her spine and imperiously mounted the stairs.

  Miss Victoria sank onto the hall settee. “What else can go wrong?” she moaned.

  ***

  On Tuesday, Miss Victoria’s question was answered when she and Sarah entered the drawing room before dinner.

  “Where is Amelia?” Mrs. Atkins asked. “Dinner will be served any minute.”

  “She isn’t coming down to dinner, Mother. She has a headache.”

  “Poor child. She does sometimes have the most frightful headaches. I can’t imagine where she gets the tendency. I’ve never had a headache in my life. Well, never mind. You must order a tray to be taken to her, Victoria.”

  “Of course, after we finish. She said she wants to nap now.”

  “Shall we go in?” Mr. Hayden offered his arm to Mrs. Atkins.

  When the main courses had been eaten, Delphie was clearing, and Mrs. Atkins ordered her, “After you have served dessert, take a tray with hot soup upstairs to Miss Amelia.”

  Delphie stopped clearing the last course and looked confused.

  “What’s wrong, Delphie?” Mr. Hayden asked.

  “Miss Amelia ain’t upstairs, Mr. Hayden.”

  “Of course she is,” Mrs. Atkins insisted. “She has taken to her bed with a headache.”

  “No, ma’am. She ain’t upstairs. She came down the back stairs and went out the door.”

  “Preposterous!”

  “When was this?” Miss Victoria asked.

  “Right after I serve the first course, Miz Victoria.”

  “What does this mean?” Mrs. Atkins demanded.

  “It means that Amelia is wandering around outside, Mother.”

  “Maybe she thought some fresh air would ease her headache,” Sarah suggested.

  “Quiet!” Mrs. Atkins commanded. “Get our wraps, Sarah. We must go look for her.”

  When Miss Victoria nodded, Sarah rushed from the table to gather shawls for the ladies. By the time she had raced back downstairs, Mrs. Atkins was fuming in the hall. “Something dreadful has happened to her. I’m certain of it.”

  “I’m certain she’s just relaxing outside in the garden.” Miss Victoria tried to soothe her. “Fresh air and a gentle walk often alleviate a headache.”

  “You forget that you have a crazy woman living next door to you.”

  “Mother, let’s just go find her.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Mr. Hayden said.

  “There’s really no need, darling. I’m sure she’s sitting outside, most likely over near the magnolia on that old bench. There would be a lovely view of the moon from there tonight.”

  “Unlike you, Victoria, Amelia is not a silly romantic.” Mrs. Atkins turned and stormed out the door.

  When Miss Victoria and Sarah caught up with her, she warned them, “Walk moderately, and do not call out her name. We must bring no scandal on. If she is indeed outside, she has been merely imprudent. There is no need to draw attention to that fact.”

  As they approached the magnolia, they heard a man’s voice, and Mrs. Atkins stopped in her tracks. “A trespasser! Oh, my poor Amelia! What harm—”

  Amelia’s laughter interrupted her.

  “She sounds fine to me,” Miss Victoria noted.

  Mrs. Atkins surged into the hidden garden with Miss Victoria and Sarah hurrying to keep up with her. There they found Walter, and in his arms was Amelia.

  “Release my daughter at once!” Mrs. Atkins commanded.

  “Mother!” Amelia cried in astonishment.

  “You, sir, are a criminal—seducing an innocent child—and I shall see you punished. You mark my word!”

  “Mother, calm yourself,” Miss Victoria pleaded. “Amelia did tell us she had a headache, then proceeded to sneak downstairs and outside to meet him.”

  “‘Sneak’? How can you use such a term about your dear sister?”

  “Because she is standing in front of me with Walter Logan after swearing she couldn’t bear to leave her bed.”

  “Your suggestion is preposterous! How could Amelia have known he was out here waiting to seduce her?”

  Miss Victoria looked from Walter to Amelia. “Perhaps a message passed in a hymnal at church on Sunday?”

  “Outrageous effrontery!” Mrs. Atkins pronounced as she strode toward Walter. “You have seduced my innocent daughter, and you will pay for this crime. Sarah, go tell Hayden to call the sheriff.”

  “No,” Miss Victoria countermanded. “Amelia, go into the house. Walter, leave this property at once and do not return.”

  “He must be punished for his crime,” Mrs. Atkins insisted.

  “And have Amelia’s name smeared all over town? No, I know you don’t want that, Mother. Take Amelia back to the house. As for you, Walter, if you utter one word about this meeting to a living human being, I shall make you very sorry you did for the rest of your life. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Walter muttered.

  “Good! Now leave!”

  Walter turned and left without another word as Mrs. Atkins grabbed Amelia’s arm and pushed her back toward the house, scolding her every inch of the way.

  Miss Victoria collapsed on the garden bench and raised her hands to her head. “Now I’ve got a headache.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Sarah murmured. “I should have watched her more closely.”

  “Don’t take responsibility for this, Sarah. This is entirely Amelia’s doing.” Miss Victoria sighed. “It’s just a matter of time before Mother ferrets out the fact that we knew about Amelia’s escapade at the college and did not tell her, so we’ll shoulder most of the blame for ‘sweet Amelia.’”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “It never is.” Miss Victoria rose and started back toward the house.

  ***

  When Sarah came downstairs the next morning, she found Miss Victoria sitting silently on the window seat in the library. Her bloodshot eyes and exhausted face were clear evidence that she had not slept.

  “I’m sorry, Sarah, but I must ask you to help Amelia and Mother pack this morning. I would do it, but Mother won’t allow me to help.”

  “They’re leaving?”

  “On the three o’clock train. Hayden has gone to buy their tickets now.”

  “But what about Thanksgiving? It’s tomorrow!”

  “Mother refuses to spend another night in this house. It seems I am a corrupting influence on Amelia.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Did you tell her what Amelia did?”

  “I told her the whole truth, but she needs someone to blame other than Amelia. It’s a matter of pride, you see. She can’t hold her head up in society if both her daughters go wrong, so she has to play this out so that it appears that she has saved Amelia from my evil influence.”

  “But that’s not what’s happened.”

  “She sees it that way.” Miss Victoria sighed. “You know, Sarah, I think she actually believes it too. As I said, she needs to.”

  “What about Amelia?”

  “She’s been crying all night and really is in bed with a headache this morning, but Mother insists on leaving anyway.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “Just pack Amelia’s trunk and be sure she’s ready to leave.” Miss Victoria reached out and patted Sarah’s hand. “I’ll be all right. I’ve lived through this before, and Maude comes tonight. She’ll help us through this.”

  “But it’s just not fair.”

  “If life were fair, sweet Sarah, you would be entering college next fall.” Miss Victoria heaved herself to her feet and hugg
ed Sarah. “We’re going to make that happen in spite of life, in spite of anybody, aren’t we?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Sarah’s eyes filled with tears. “We are!”

  “Well, the good news is that I can give Frances and her family the day off tomorrow. Maude is the only one who will be here. Just the three of us—Hayden and Maude and—” Miss Victoria hurried out of the library, but not quickly enough for Sarah to miss the tears flowing down her mentor’s face.

  ***

  That evening, Sarah found herself sharing supper with her family around the battered oak table. Later, while she helped her mother wash the dishes, she told her about the events of the week that had culminated in the angry retreat of Miss Victoria’s family to Galveston.

  “So Miss Victoria will be alone for Thanksgiving?” Mama asked. “Alone with Mr. Hodges?”

  “Her cousin Maude is coming in on the train tonight, but it’s hard to imagine that she will have a very happy Thanksgiving.”

  “That’s too bad. She has such a good heart.”

  “I just don’t understand Mrs. Atkins at all, Mother! There is no reason to blame Miss Victoria for what Amelia does.”

  “Families can be so hurtful sometimes. I don’t know what else to say.”

  Sarah brooded about her mother’s comment for a few minutes as she sloshed hot water over the pots in the tin dishpan. “Oh, Mother, if only I could help Miss Victoria! She’s done so much for me.”

  “You can. I think you’ve become something like a daughter to her; you are her family now, you and Mr. Hayden.”

  Sarah’s eyes filled with tears. “You don’t mind that she—”

  “Thinks of you as a daughter? I guess I should be jealous, but I’m so grateful to her for helping you ... well, I guess I can share you. Just remember who your real mama is.”

  “I’ll never forget. None of my dreams would be possible without you.”

  ***

  After supper, Sarah climbed into her attic room, opened the window, and stared out at the crystal clear sky dominated by a perfect full moon. The late November breeze was so crisp she shivered as it played across her shoulders, but she could not bear to turn from the scene. The stars glittered, and the moon cast fascinating shadows down on the large old barn.