“I’m going to try.”
“Did Clement hire you?” Mrs. Mills asked, her voice trembling.
Eunice refused a sigh. “Forgive me for what I’m about to say, Mrs. Mills, but I have to ask if you’re aware that your husband is the one who had you committed here.”
Mrs. Mills waved that aside. “I’m not senile, dear. Clementhasthreatened to have me committed before, numerous times. I neverthought he’d see his threats through, though, and I’m sure he’s realized he’s made a dreadful mistake. He may claim I annoy him with my endless chatter, but I know he misses me by now.” She leaned closer. “He’s a mere thirty years old, and young gentlemen often behave rashly. I fear he got testy when I told him he couldn’t continue betting so much on the ponies. My first husband, God rest his soul, believed gambling was the quickest way to lose a fortune. Since I don’t want Clement to lose my fortune, I decided to appeal to what I know is an intellectual, if slightly immature, mind and request that he abandon his gambling posthaste.”
“Considering you’ve been committed to an asylum, you may have appealed more to that immature mind than the intellectual one.”
“Well, indeed, but because he has now sent you to get me released, Clement has evidently realized how immature and rash his actions were.”
“Clement didn’t send me. Your sister did.”
“Surely not.”
“I’m afraid so. Mrs. Eastman recently paid a visit to my inquiry agency and was quite distressed because you’d disappeared. From what she told me, she only discovered your whereabouts after your husband bragged within earshot of your servants about how he’d finally taken care of you once and for all. At first, your poor sister thought he’d taken care of you permanently, until your maid overheard your husband telling one of his friends that if one pays enough, one can make problems disappear into an asylum.”
“But surely Clement didn’t know he was sending me to a place where indigent women go,” Mrs. Mills said. “My husband has benefited tremendously from our marriage, and I would hope he had more consideration for me than to send me to this horrid place that’s filled with women not of my social station.”
Even though Eunice was quite accustomed to working with some of the wealthiest, and need she add snobbish, people in New York, the idea that Mrs. Mills seemed to be more affronted that she’d been tossed into an asylum that cared for indigent womenthan over the conditions the poor women were forced to endure set her teeth on edge. Reminding herself that Mrs. Mills had suffered a great shock, Eunice swallowed the retort she longed to make and opted for a gentler response.
“I’m sorry to say, but given Clement’s actions, you’ve married a cruel, immature fortune hunter. And because of the differences in your ages, I have to wonder if it ever occurred to you that he might have ulterior motives when he asked you to marry him?”
“Clement didn’t ask me to marry him. I asked him.” Mrs. Mills’s expression turned wistful. “He was such a dashing gentleman, you see, and very, well, virile, which is why I wanted to make him mine.”
“I probably didn’t need to know that. Although I suppose it’s somewhat encouraging to learn you’ve at least enjoyed a, ah, robust romantic life with him.”
To Eunice’s surprise, Mrs. Mills’s lip began to tremble. “He’s never shown me his virile side. I only assume he has one because he keeps more than one mistress.”
Eunice rubbed a now-chafed hand from the harsh soap over her face, stopping mid-rub when an interesting thought sprang to mind. “Are you saying that you and your husband have never spent any intimate time together?”
“We maintain separate bedchambers, even during the one and only trip I’ve taken with him for our honeymoon.”
“But that’s wonderful.”
“My honeymoon wasn’t wonderful in the least,” Mrs. Mills argued. “In fact, it was quite dreadful, especially after I sought Clement out to question him about the matter of separate bedchambers and found him keeping company with one of the maids.”
Eunice’s brows drew together. “And you didn’t consider seeking out an annulment from a man who clearly had no intention of making your marriage a proper marriage? Surely you know that a marriage that has never been consummated can be used as terms to seek out an annulment.”
“I never said I wanted out of my marriage.”
It took a great deal of effort to resist shaking some sense into the lady.
Getting up from the floor, Eunice sat down on the bench and took hold of Mrs. Mills’s hand. “I know this is going to be difficult for you to accept, but your husband is a scoundrel. He didn’t get you committed here by accident. I believe he had you committed to an asylum for indigent women to alleviate the risk of someone recognizing you, which might have happened if you’d been committed to a sanitorium. Those sanitoriums welcome visitors and have planned activities. One, the Long Island Home for Nervous Invalids, even allows its patients to keep their own gardens, believing gardening relaxes those with troubled constitutions.” She gestured around the stark dining hall they were in. “There are no planned activities here, I’ve yet to see any visitors, and you’re treated as a lunatic, mocked every time you tell someone you’re a woman of means.”
“I am a woman of means.”
“Yes, but when you say that in a place like this, you’re going to be considered mad, because I imagine it’s a very unusual circumstance for a woman of means to find herself here.”
“I suppose that is a valid point, but...” Mrs. Mills’s expression grew wistful again. “Clement is such a handsome man, and I enjoy seeing the envy on ladies’ faces when I go driving with him in the city, especially ladies from the New York Four Hundred.” The wistfulness disappeared in a flash. “That illustrious group denied my first husband and me entrance into their midst, claiming our money was too new and our manners too common.”
Eunice drew in a breath, reminding herself that being overly direct was not going to help the situation, even though Mrs. Mills didn’t seem to grasp the gravity of what had happened to her.
“I need to make certain you understand a few very important things,” Eunice began. “Your husband bribed someone to get you committed here. He did not intend for you to ever get out. I assure you that he’s enjoying the freedom he’s discovered since you’ve been here, and I guarantee you that he will not appreciatethat freedom coming to an end. I run an inquiry agency, Mrs. Mills. I’ve seen things I never thought I’d see. If I get you out of here and you foolishly go back to him instead of seeking an annulment, he’ll take steps to get you out of his life again—perhaps permanently.”
Mrs. Mills’s gaze sharpened on Eunice. “You believe he might have me killed?”
“I don’t believe that’s a stretch on my part because your death would allow him to spend your fortune however he sees fit.”
