Read Online Murder on Gramercy Park by Victoria Thompson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Victoria Thompson
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happened. “You must have been very frightened,” she guessed.
“I was so frightened, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get up on that stage again, but my father felt we owed Edmund for what he had done. Edmund hadn’t even accepted any payment for treating me, even though he’d been practically penniless. He only wanted my help. What could I do?”
“You could have told Edmund and your father how terrified you were,” Sarah suggested kindly.
“I did, but they couldn’t understand. They kept saying I’d get over it, that I’d be fine, just as I was the first time. But I hadn’t been fine the first time, and I couldn’t explain that to them! They made me do it, but the only way I could get through it was to take some morphine. Just a little,” she hastened to explain, lest Sarah think badly of her. “Just enough so I didn’t feel afraid. I wasn’t going to take it anymore after that, but ...”
“But you couldn’t help yourself,” Sarah guessed. She’d seen the power of the opiate to hold someone in its thrall.
“Once I started again, I couldn’t seem to stop, especially when Edmund asked me to go to other cities for lectures. My father went with us, of course. It was all very proper, but I was still terrified of the crowds. I hid the morphine from them, so neither of them knew I was taking it. It was awful, lying to both of them and trying to buy the morphine when they didn’t know. They would have been so angry ... and so disappointed with me.”
Sarah knew that morphine was readily available at any drugstore, but she also knew women of the upper classes had little freedom. An unmarried girl would have been chaperoned wherever she went. Mrs. Blackwell must have been clever indeed to manage to obtain her morphine without discovery.
“Then Edmund told me he’d fallen in love with me and asked me to marry him,” she went on, so anxious to tell her story that she hardly seemed aware of Sarah’s presence anymore. “I thought if he really loved me, he wouldn’t make me do the lectures anymore, but I was wrong. Once we were married, he could take me anywhere he went without worrying about a chaperon anymore. I wanted to stop the morphine again, but I couldn’st, not unless I told Edmund that I was taking it and unless he would let me stop doing the lectures. I tried telling him I didn’t want to do the lectures anymore, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He told me I had no choice, because without the lectures, he wouldn’t get new patients and he wouldn’t be able to make a living. He was my husband. I had to help him, didn’t I?”
Sarah chose not to answer that question. “I can understand that you wanted to do the right thing.”
“I don’t know what the right thing is anymore,” she said with a weary sigh.
“Well, one thing is for certain, with your husband gone, you won’t have to attend those lectures anymore. So if you’d like to try stopping the morphine again, I can help you when you’re stronger,” Sarah offered.
“I can’t think about that now,” she said wearily. “I can’t think about anything now. I just want to sleep.”
“That’s certainly a good idea. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
“Especially my father,” Mrs. Blackwell said when Sarah started to leave. “He came yesterday, and he made me cry, talking about Edmund. I don’t want to cry anymore. Please tell him I’m not able to see him.”
“Of course,” Sarah agreed, wondering how she would explain this to Mrs. Blackwell’s father. She left to check on the baby.
M ALLOY WAITED IN the parlor for Sarah Brandt. She didn’t even say hello when she came in.
“So, Malloy, when do you plan to arrest the killer?” she asked instead, trying to nettle him.
He didn’t let on that she had succeeded. She was the only woman he knew who could look appealing while being infuriating. “I need to ask Mrs. Blackwell some questions. When can I see her?”
“My guess would be a few weeks,” she
“I was so frightened, I knew I wouldn’t be able to get up on that stage again, but my father felt we owed Edmund for what he had done. Edmund hadn’t even accepted any payment for treating me, even though he’d been practically penniless. He only wanted my help. What could I do?”
“You could have told Edmund and your father how terrified you were,” Sarah suggested kindly.
“I did, but they couldn’t understand. They kept saying I’d get over it, that I’d be fine, just as I was the first time. But I hadn’t been fine the first time, and I couldn’t explain that to them! They made me do it, but the only way I could get through it was to take some morphine. Just a little,” she hastened to explain, lest Sarah think badly of her. “Just enough so I didn’t feel afraid. I wasn’t going to take it anymore after that, but ...”
“But you couldn’t help yourself,” Sarah guessed. She’d seen the power of the opiate to hold someone in its thrall.
“Once I started again, I couldn’t seem to stop, especially when Edmund asked me to go to other cities for lectures. My father went with us, of course. It was all very proper, but I was still terrified of the crowds. I hid the morphine from them, so neither of them knew I was taking it. It was awful, lying to both of them and trying to buy the morphine when they didn’t know. They would have been so angry ... and so disappointed with me.”
Sarah knew that morphine was readily available at any drugstore, but she also knew women of the upper classes had little freedom. An unmarried girl would have been chaperoned wherever she went. Mrs. Blackwell must have been clever indeed to manage to obtain her morphine without discovery.
“Then Edmund told me he’d fallen in love with me and asked me to marry him,” she went on, so anxious to tell her story that she hardly seemed aware of Sarah’s presence anymore. “I thought if he really loved me, he wouldn’t make me do the lectures anymore, but I was wrong. Once we were married, he could take me anywhere he went without worrying about a chaperon anymore. I wanted to stop the morphine again, but I couldn’st, not unless I told Edmund that I was taking it and unless he would let me stop doing the lectures. I tried telling him I didn’t want to do the lectures anymore, but he wouldn’t hear of it. He told me I had no choice, because without the lectures, he wouldn’t get new patients and he wouldn’t be able to make a living. He was my husband. I had to help him, didn’t I?”
Sarah chose not to answer that question. “I can understand that you wanted to do the right thing.”
“I don’t know what the right thing is anymore,” she said with a weary sigh.
“Well, one thing is for certain, with your husband gone, you won’t have to attend those lectures anymore. So if you’d like to try stopping the morphine again, I can help you when you’re stronger,” Sarah offered.
“I can’t think about that now,” she said wearily. “I can’t think about anything now. I just want to sleep.”
“That’s certainly a good idea. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
“Especially my father,” Mrs. Blackwell said when Sarah started to leave. “He came yesterday, and he made me cry, talking about Edmund. I don’t want to cry anymore. Please tell him I’m not able to see him.”
“Of course,” Sarah agreed, wondering how she would explain this to Mrs. Blackwell’s father. She left to check on the baby.
M ALLOY WAITED IN the parlor for Sarah Brandt. She didn’t even say hello when she came in.
“So, Malloy, when do you plan to arrest the killer?” she asked instead, trying to nettle him.
He didn’t let on that she had succeeded. She was the only woman he knew who could look appealing while being infuriating. “I need to ask Mrs. Blackwell some questions. When can I see her?”
“My guess would be a few weeks,” she
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