Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin

Author:Lynn Austin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: FIC042030
ISBN: 9781441204936
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2009-09-30T11:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

17

Bebe tried in vain to get Horatio out of bed and off to work the next morning. When he wouldn’t budge, she knew she would have to get dressed and go in his place. “Please tell the driver to prepare the carriage for me right away,” she told the serving girl.

“You mean after breakfast, ma’am?”

“No, immediately. I don’t want any breakfast.” The food would only seethe and boil in her stomach, along with her anger and fear.

“I’ll fetch your shawl and bonnet, ma’am.”

Bebe had hoped to leave quickly, before encountering her mother-in-law, but Mrs. Garner swished down the stairs in her dressing gown just as Bebe’s carriage arrived. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.

Bebe hesitated, forming her reply. Horatio needed to stop drinking and take responsibility, but that would never happen if she lied for him and pretended nothing was wrong. She needed to tell her mother-in-law the truth.

“I’m not going to cover up for Horatio anymore. He is on a drinking binge, and he is unable to run the tannery.”

“That’s a lie!” She rushed toward Bebe as if she wanted to strike her. “Horatio has always had health problems, but to accuse him of drinking—”

“This isn’t a health problem, it’s a drinking problem. He drank so much last night that he can’t get out of bed and go to work this morning. So I’m going to work for him.”

“That’s absurd! It’s unseemly! What will people say?”

“The better question is, what will people say if the business fails and we go bankrupt? How will we continue to live in this house or pay the servants or put food on our table if the tannery closes?”

Mrs. Garner glanced around in horror as if one of the servants might have overheard them talking. She lowered her voice to a harsh whisper. “I don’t believe any of this. You’re exaggerating. What do you know about such things? You’re just an ignorant farm girl.”

Bebe held her temper at an enormous cost. The pain in her stomach burned like fire. She knew that arguing wouldn’t help any of them, and she refused to stoop to Mrs. Garner’s level and hurl insults. “If you don’t believe me, then go upstairs and speak with your son. And if you want to be helpful, talk some sense into him. Convince him of the need to sober up so his ‘ignorant’ wife won’t have to run the tannery in his place.”

“How dare you speak to me this way!”

Bebe clasped her hands together in frustration. “I don’t know how else to convince you that I’m telling the truth. This country is in the middle of an economic crisis. If things go the way the experts are predicting, we’ll have to cut back on our household expenses and let some of the help go. At the very least, you’ll need to stop buying new clothes for yourself and expensive toys for Lucy every week. And if the tannery closes, not only will your fancy dinner parties have to stop, we may not be able to feed our own family.

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