Scandal on Rincon Hill Read Online Free PDF Page A

contract appeared to be properly prepared and signed. What in the world, I wondered, would persuade a man of Gerald Knight's position to risk public censure if this document ever came to light?
    “I'm surprised Mr. Knight allowed you to keep a duplicate ofthe agreement. If your relationship were to deteriorate in any way, your copy could prove embarrassing to him, to say the least. As you say, he's married with a family, not to mention his standing in the community.”
    A pink flush spread prettily across her cheeks. “Actually, Miss Woolson, the copy Mr. Knight gave me contained no signatures. He said it was simply to remind me of the terms of the contract. He placed the single signed document in a wall safe he maintained in my home.”
    I eyed her pointedly. “If the original contract is locked inside the safe, how do you happen to have it with you today?”
    Miss Bouchard drew herself up in the chair as far as possible without disturbing the infant in her lap, and lifted her chin defi-antly.
    “I did not think it right for Mr. Knight to possess the only signed copy of the contract, while I had nothing but a few pieces of paper to remind me of the terms we had agreed upon.” She wrinkled her small, slightly upturned nose. “As if I required a reminder! Fortunately, he kept other papers inside the safe that I assumed he preferred his wife not see, and was obliged to open it regularly. Each time he did so, I committed to memory at least one number of the combination. By the time I realized I was with child, I could open the safe on my own.”
    I decided not to comment upon this confession, at least not at the moment. “Who drew up the contract?” I inquired instead.
    “Mr. Knight did, but I insisted upon several changes before I would sign it. He agreed to these modifications.”
    At that moment, the baby awoke and shook her tiny fists in the air, then screwed up her little mouth preparatory to a wail. With a series of soothing sounds, Brielle gently jiggled her daughter until the baby once again subsided into a peaceful slumber.
    “I see.” Again, I was taken aback to learn that Mr. Knight had allowed Brielle to effect any changes whatsoever in the document. What sort of power did this child wield? I asked myself. It came as no surprise, of course, that the newspaperman would do every-thingpossible to insure that no one else ever read that document. All too many men in San Francisco kept a mistress, but it would hardly do to name names and broadcast the particulars to the entire city. Even San Francisco society had its limits!
    “You must see why I was so determined to learn how to open the safe,” she said. “It was the only protection I had against the very thing that has now happened.”
    “That was astute of you. You appear to have been unusually well educated, Miss Bouchard. Your parents are to be commended.”
    “Yes,” she agreed, and for the first time since entering my of-fice, avoided my eyes. “They were extraordinary people.”
    “You use the past tense. Am I to understand that they are deceased?”
    Her head came up abruptly. Again those unwavering violet eyes stared directly into mine. “I cannot see what my parents could have to do with this business, Miss Woolson. I have been on my own for several years now, and take sole responsibility for my affairs.”
    “I apologize, Miss Bouchard. I did not mean to infer otherwise.”
    I stifled the urge to inquire why mention of her parents should illicit such a defensive reaction. Had she left home because of family friction? I wondered. Yet she could not bear her parents too much animosity if she did not hesitate to characterize them as extraordinary. Most peculiar. But then there were more than a few things about Brielle Bouchard I found tantalizingly curious.
    Unexpectedly, the young woman shifted the baby's weight in her arms and stood. “I'm confident you will require a day or two to study the contract,” she announced matter-of-factly. “If