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

thousand!”
    “She knew her place. And we raised you to know yours.”
    “But, Papa, I want to study, to work. I’m smart, ” she said, her voice breaking on the word.
    “What difference does that make? It’s my job to see that you’re settled. This—this incident—it threatens all your chances. What good family is going to accept you if this news gets out?”
    “Papa, I told you. I didn’t do anything.”
    “That’s not what Adelaide says. She says all it takes is for one person to get word of your escapade, and—”
    “Get word? Why should anyone get word? ” Her voice rose, sounding thin and childish. “No one from San Francisco was on board, Papa. No one would know anything if Mother would just—would just—shut up about it!” Her father’s face darkened at the insult, and Allison clapped both her hands over her mouth to stifle a sob.
    It was a circular argument, in any case. Allison was, in fact, a smart girl, smart enough to know she had lost this battle. In the ongoing war with her mother, the advantage rested with Adelaide. She had maneuvered Allison into a position of weakness, and Allison, foolishly, had allowed her to do it.
    “I have written to our family in Seattle,” her father said gravely, doing his best to affect an air of the benevolent paterfamilias. “You were there in the fall of last year, I believe, so you’ve met them.”
    “Papa—”
    “Don’t interrupt. Your cousin Margot—the doctor, you remember—telephoned this morning. Your uncle Dickson has generously invited you to stay the winter with them.”
    “Papa!” Allison cried. “No! I want to go to college.”
    “No point in sending girls to college,” he said. “Waste of time—and money.”
    “But you said, after my Grand Tour—you said we could talk about it!”
    “You should have thought of that,” he declaimed, with a pomposity that made her want to scream, “before you stripped naked to jump into a swimming pool with a young man you barely knew!”
    “I wasn’t naked! ” she cried. “Ask Mother! Make her tell you the truth, Papa! I was not naked! ”
    “If Adelaide says you were, of course I accept your mother’s version of events.”
    It was bitterly, extravagantly unfair. More protests sprang to Allison’s lips, but she let them die unspoken. She almost wished she had done the thing she was accused of. It might have been her last chance at any excitement.
    He pulled out the slip of paper again and waved it at her. “It’s your choice, Allison. The sanitorium or Seattle.”
    Which was, of course, no choice at all.
    On the platform of the San Francisco train station, Mother had dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, pretending sorrow at the parting. Papa had gripped Allison’s arm with his short fingers and growled that she was not to set foot out of the drawing room he had reserved for her and Ruby. She was forbidden to go to the dining car. She was under no circumstances to step out to the lounge. The Pullman porter, under his explicit orders, would bring all their meals in.
    “And for God’s sake, Allison,” were his final words, “eat something. You look like a starving sparrow!”
    At this, Allison turned her head to meet her mother’s gaze. Adelaide sniffed her imaginary tears, and Allison, with a toss of her head, claimed this one small victory for herself.
    During the whole slow trip north, the porter did just what Papa had said. He showed up often, bringing tea, offering newspapers, carrying fresh towels or pitchers of water. Allison had no doubt Papa had paid him well to spy on her. She felt certain Ruby was making a little extra for the purpose, too. Between them, they had trapped her. She wondered if Cousin Margot was also on Papa’s payroll and had accepted her at Benedict Hall as her prisoner.
    Seattle, for pity’s sake! Rain and dirt streets and fishermen. No doubt lumberjacks overran the town, swearing and spitting.
    Allison sagged back on the sofa, arms folded,