A TWIST OF FATE
Chapter Eighteen
The night air was thick, hot and sticky. Rose
lay awake, unable to sleep. Partly because of the heat, partly because of the
nausea that sharing a bed and her body with Cal caused, partly because she
couldn’t stop thinking about Jack.
She quietly crept out of bed and put a thin silk wrap around her shoulders. She
tip toed out of the door and went to her gallery. The window there opened out
onto a balcony overlooking the garden. She pulled the window door wide and
stepped outside. A faint breeze ruffled her long red curls. She went to the
edge and looked over. The moon hung in the sky like a luminous silver dollar,
casting an eerie silver light over the garden beneath. She stared up at it and
the stars and sighed. I know you’re up there somewhere Daddy, she said to
herself.
The breeze seemed to be the only relief from the oppressive night air. I wish I
were a bird, she thought. I could just fly away. She hung over the edge, arms
outstretched as if in-flight, curls tumbling. And she stayed there.
Cal watched from the shadows. He couldn’t sleep very well either in the heat
and felt Rose get up. Curious, he had crept behind her and followed her into
the gallery. He stood there, puzzled as to what she was doing and where he had
gone wrong.
She was so beautiful. He remembered back to when he first met her. She lit up
the room with her laughter, dazzled with her smile. She had scores of admirers.
Cal knew he had to have her. Ha, their faces when they knew, he Caledon Hockley
had won the fair Roses’ heart. Both families had approved of the match. He had
given her everything she could have wished for, as a token of his esteem for
her. Yet, something was missing, something was wrong. And he just couldn’t
figure out what. Jewelry, clothes, travel, artwork, the house. He went through
their material processions, listed in his mind. He still couldn’t work out what
it was she wanted. Or why she was so damn wild. He had to stop this, he knew.
Even the servants could control their wives! Yet, I Caledon Hockley cannot, he
thought. He absent-mindedly bit his lip.
What on earth was she doing, hanging over the balcony like that?
Oh my God. A thought entered Cal’s head. What if she is going mad? A cold
feeling crept over him. She’ll have to be sent away to an asylum. How do I
explain that to people? What a scandal. What if the papers found out? He could
see the headline now, screaming at him.
Wife of Steel Tycoon Hockley goes mad!
Cal was horrified.
Rose felt the breeze caressing her head and curls. It was like the faintest
whisper of breath on her face. If only I was an owl, she thought. I could fly
on the softest wings of night to the moon. She looked back up the sky. If only
I were free.
Jack couldn’t sleep in the heat either, even with all the windows open. He
walked across the bare floorboards over to the window. Philadelphia slept
bathed in moonlight. Jack looked up to the moon and stars.
Oh Rose, he sighed. Rose, I hope to God you’re safe. I wish you were here with
me.
Cal watched her straighten and look up. No she wasn’t mad, he was sure. Just
being difficult for a change. If I had known she was going to be this much
trouble I would never have married her. No that is true. I’d marry her again
tomorrow. But I have to gain some control over her.
Cal thought back to his own parents and his father who he so admired and looked
up to. He never had any problems with Mother, remembered Cal. He had seen his
father slap her a few times and raise his voice often. But surely this was the
way you asserted your authority over your wife. Ah yes, there was something
else too. Cal smiled, this was something he hadn’t tried. Still smiling, Cal
turned away to creep back to bed. As he passed through the gallery, a drawing,
illuminated by the moonlight caught his eye. Cal picked it up. It was by the
Dawson fellow. Yes, decided Cal. I have to do something about him too.
Rose was still watching the sky, littered with diamonds. Good night Daddy, she
whispered and then added goodnight Jack.
Jack was still looking up at the sky. Goodnight Rose he whispered, and went
back to bed.