Page 151 of The Queen of Roses

“If I thought there was time to arrange a marriage to a pleasant young man who might overlook a baby who comes ‘early,’ I would take that path, but there isn’t time.”

“She is that far along?” asked Adele.

Mrs. Barnes’s lips thinned before she said, “This is the only way I can think of to save my daughter’s reputation.”

Adele studied the woman, thinking for a moment how ironic it was that the same Mrs. Barnes who had seemed so radical for breaking with the bonds of her New York elite upbringing was also the same woman who was intent on crafting a swift marriage to save her daughter’s reputation.

“Did Guy propose this idea?” she asked.

“Would it matter if he had?”

Adele lifted a shoulder.

Mrs. Barnes exhaled. “No, he did not. Not long after your visit, I went to the Gables to speak to him. I found him soaked in self-pity and whiskey.”

Clearly Guy hadn’t progressed much since she’d last seen him herself.

“At first he wouldn’t listen to reason, but then he began to understand what was in front of him,” said Mrs. Barnes.

Adele raised a brow. “He wouldn’t happen to have calculated that, if you were approaching him about doing the right thing by Miss Barnes, you might be willing to part with a substantial amount of money in exchange for his cooperation, would he?”

When the other lady did not speak, Adele gave a little laugh. “My husband, ever the businessman. What did you agree to?”

“I am buying the Gables and paying off the mortgage against it. Guy will liquidate what assets he still has, including the Colorado Grand and the Andalusian and their contents as well as the land where the San Gabriel Mountain Lodge was being built. Any proceeds will be used to pay back his investors and settle his debts. Once that mess is cleaned up, I have agreed to give Elizabeth and Guy a modest allowance. It will not keep Elizabeth in the manner to which you were accustomed, but it should be more than enough for her and her child to live a good life,” said Mrs. Barnes.

“That is a substantial settlement for a man who took advantage of your daughter,” Adele said. “Almost like a reward.”

“She is my daughter. I am prepared to do whatever I can for her. If you will agree to divorce Guy, I will pay you handsomely for your trouble.”

So that was what her former friend had come here to do. Not to offer comfort or express sympathy but to buy her off as though she were a problem that could disappear for the right price.

It should have made her angry. Instead, it saddened her. This woman who she had admired so much for forging her own path in her widowhood was no better than most of the people in their big houses on South Orange Grove Boulevard or Mayfair or Washington Square, doing everything they could to keep up appearances and smooth over their scandals. If that meant paying an old friend to save Miss Barnes’s reputation, so be it.

Adele straightened her shoulders and asked, “What are the grounds for the divorce? It cannot be adultery if you are trying to maintain Miss Barnes’s social standing.”

“Neglect,” said Mrs. Barnes.

She shook her head. “The period of our separation has been too short.”

She could see the worry flicker across Mrs. Barnes’s face as she said, “I am certain I can find an understanding judge.”

“Do you know how far along Elizabeth is?” Adele asked.

Mrs. Barnes pursed her lips. “I believe she is three months.”

“You will have to send her away.”

“I am aware,” said Mrs. Barnes.

“And I should request an annulment. It will be less public and take less time.”

“Thank you,” breathed Mrs. Barnes.

Adele gestured to her house. “Why don’t you come inside, Mrs. Barnes, and we can discuss the financial agreement.”

An hour later, Adele showed Mrs. Barnes to the door of Rosewood House. Over tea Adele made and served herself, she and Mrs. Barnes haggled back and forth over the terms of their agreement—a divorce settlement of sorts without the input of Adele’s husband.

Mrs. Barnes had wished to pay Adele an allowance over the course of her life, but Adele held strong. She would take a lump sum to be paid before the annulment was requested. Mrs. Barnes had been left with the unenviable task of persuading Guy to sign the paperwork for a bank account that Adele and only Adele controlled, into which the money would be deposited. Once that matter was taken care of, she would seek her annulment. Guy would leave Pasadena, ostensibly to go to Chicago before traveling. Miss Barnes, who would need to be sent away for her secret confinement, would return to California in two years, having supposedly met Guy on a tour of Europe and decided to marry him on the Continent. Mrs. Barnes would shut up Oleander House and go with her daughter to lend veracity to everything, no doubt gritting her teeth when she would be forced to return to Pasadena with Guy Whitley as her son-in-law.