Read Online A sudden, fearful death by Anne Perry - Free Book Online Page B

enough," Callandra said grimly. "You cannot simply walk away and
leave her to her fate."
    "But no one has the right to
override her choice," Hester argued, not out of obstructiveness but
because it had to be said. Her own conflicting emotions were plain in her face.
For once Monk felt no animosity toward her, only the old sense of total friendship,
the bond that unites people who understand each other and care with equal
passion in a single cause.
    "If I don't give her an answer
I think Julia may well seek another agent who will," Monk added miserably.
"I didn't tell Marianne that because I didn't see her again after I spoke
to Julia."
    "But what will happen if you
tell Julia?" Hester asked anxiously. "Will she believe you? She will
be placed in an impossible situation between her husband and her sister."
    "And there is worse,"
Monk went on. "They are both financially dependent upon Audley."
    "He can't throw his wife
out." Hester sat upright, her face hot with anger. "And surely she
would not be so— oh, of course. You mean she may choose to leave. Oh
dear." She bit her lip. "And even if his crime could be proved, which
it almost certainly could not, and he were convicted, then there is not money
for anyone and they would both be in the street. What a ridiculous
situation." Her fists clenched in her lap and her voice was husky with
fury and frustration.
    Suddenly she rose to her feet.
"If only women could earn a living as men can. If women could be doctors
or architects and lawyers too." She paced to the window and turned.
"Or even clerks and shopkeepers. Anything more than domestic servants,
seamstresses, or whores! But what woman earns enough to live in anything better
than one room in a lodging house if she's lucky, and in a tenement if she's
not? And always hungry and always cold, and never sure next week will not be
even worse."
    "You are dreaming," Monk
said, but not critically. He understood her feeling and the facts that,
inspired it. "And even if it happens one day, which is unlikely because it
is against the natural social order, it won't help Julia Penrose or her sister.
Anything I tell her—or don't—will cause terrible harm."
    They all remained in silence for
several minutes, each wrestling with the problem in his or her own way, Hester
by the window, Callandra leaning back in her chair, Monk on the edge of his.
Finally it was Callandra who spoke.
    "I think you should tell
Julia," she said very quietly, her voice low and unhappy. "It is not
a good solution, but I believe it is better than not telling her. If you do,
then at least the decision what to do is hers, not yours. And as you say, she
may well press the matter until she learns something, whatever you do. And
please God that is the right decision. We can only hope."
    Monk looked at Hester.
    "I agree," she answered.
"No solution is satisfactory, and you will ruin her peace whatever you
say, but I think perhaps that is ruined anyway. If he continues, and Marianne
is either seriously hurt or with child, it will be worse. And then Julia would
blame herself—and you."
    "What about my promise to
Marianne?" he asked.
    Her eyes were filled with unhappiness.
    "Do you suppose she knows what
dangers there are ahead? She is young, unmarried. She may not even be aware of
what they are. Many girls have no idea of childbirth, or even what brings it
about; they only discover in the marriage bed."
    "I don't know." It was
not enough of an answer. "I gave her my word."
    'Than you will have to tell her
that you cannot keep it," Callandra replied. "Which will be very
hard. But what is your alternative?"
    'To keep it."
    "Will that not be even
harder—if not at first, then later?”
    He knew that was true. He would not
be able to turn his back on the affair and forget it. Every tragic possibility
would haunt his imagination, and he would have to accept at least part of the
responsibility for all of them.
    "Yes," he