Hall of Secrets (A Benedict Hall Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

folding it and placing it into his breast pocket.
    Later that day, Adelaide disappeared into her room with her maid in attendance while Papa called Allison into his study. He made Allison sit on a stool beside his heavy leather armchair while he took a long time fussing with his pipe, tamping the tobacco, striking a long match, puffing on the stem with his thick lips. When the pipe was drawing well, he pulled Dr. Kinney’s paper out of his pocket and brandished it between two fingers.
    “You know what this is, Allison?”
    She glanced up at it, then dropped her gaze to her folded hands. “No, Papa.”
    “This,” Henry pronounced, in a tone of gravitas, “is the name of a sanitorium. Bella Vista Rest Home in Sacramento. It’s a place for females of fragile mental health. This is where Dr. Kinney has suggested I send you to deal with your hysteria.”
    Allison gripped her hands together so hard her fingers ached. “I’m not hysterical, Papa. You know I’m not.”
    “You’re out of control, Allison.”
    “I am not!” She released her hands and wrapped her arms tightly around herself. “It’s not true!”
    “Your behavior on board ship—”
    “Papa!” Allison jumped up, still hugging herself, and stared down at her father. “It was nothing! We were just having fun—do you even remember what it’s like to have fun? ”
    “Your mother says—”
    “Mother! Mother hates me!”
    Henry glared at her, but she saw the flicker of his eyelids, the slight compression of his lips. He knows, she thought, and a wave of sadness swept over her. She hugged herself tighter, frightened by the realization. He knows. But he doesn’t care.
    That meant she was alone. She must have always been alone.
    Her knees felt suddenly weak. She sank down again onto the childish stool and stared helplessly up at her father. He said, “You’re not a child anymore, Allison.”
    “No,” she said through a tight throat. “I’m not.”
    He pulled down the corners of his mouth and stroked his chin as if contemplating the gravest of thoughts. “You will learn one day,” he said heavily, “how difficult it is to be a parent. It is a terrible responsibility.”
    “What do you want from me, Papa?”
    “I want what all fathers of our class want.”
    “Our class? ” she repeated. “I’m not sure we really fit into our class .”
    She saw fresh anger spark in his eyes, and she knew she had made another mistake. It was one of the barbs Adelaide had been tossing for years, because she knew it was the one that hurt the most.
    “Listen to me, my girl,” Papa said stiffly. “I’ve come up in the world. I take pride in that, and you should be damned glad I’ve done it.” He pushed himself out of his chair and shoved the slip of paper back into his pocket. “Your mother and I want the best for you.”
    “The best for me? You mean, marriage.”
    “Naturally. That’s the proper course for a young woman of means.”
    “What if it’s not the course I want to follow?”
    He shook his head. “Your parents know what’s best for you.”
    Allison jumped up once more, then had to seize the edge of Papa’s desk to fight off the sudden dizziness that assailed her. She blinked hard, hoping he hadn’t noticed. Breathlessly, urgently, she said, “Papa, listen to me. You want to be a modern man, I know you do. Women can do other things, have careers.”
    “I disapprove of that,” he said ponderously. “You’ll understand when you have your own home, your own children.”
    “I’m too young,” she said.
    “No younger than your mother was.”
    Allison gazed at his heavy features, his stubborn mouth, and wondered if there was anything at all she could say that would move him. “Do you think being married so young made Mother happy?” she asked, half under her breath. No one in their home could think Adelaide was happy.
    “What else was she going to do?”
    Miserably, in a barely audible voice, she said, “A hundred things, Papa. A