Chapter 32
“Vandergrift!” Stan exclaimed, shocked to see who it was that was climbing into the buggy with him. “What in the name of God are you doing here?” he demanded.
“It’s a free country, Goldman,” Vandergrift replied. “But if it will please you, you can ride all by yourself and I’ll wait for this good man to come back and get me. After all, you did claim the seat first as seems to happen so often with you.”
Stan considered this possibility for a moment, but dismissed it. Better to feel his rival out for whatever useful information he might have. “No, don’t be silly, climb aboard,” he said, moving over on the seat to make room.
“So, what business brings you up here?” Stan asked, knowing full well the answer.
“I suspect the same as has brought you here, Mr. Goldman.”
Stan nodded. “The lovely Miss Barbara Moore, of course. That woman has launched more ships than Helen of Troy, I’d wager. How did you find out her location? Did her father spill the beans so as to preempt yours truly?” he asked.
Archie shook his head. “No, it wasn’t Mr. Moore.”
“Then it could only have been that slimy desk clerk, Mario Pellegrino.” Vandergriff said nothing, which confirmed that Stan had guessed right. “How much did it set you back?”
“Plenty,” Archie admitted. “But if it leads me to Barbara, then it was worth every penny.”
“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Stan assured him.
Archie stared at him. “You’ve seen her then?” Stan nodded. “Is she alright? How is her treatment progressing?”
“I saw her only from a distance, but this treatment is something quite out of the ordinary to say the least.”
“What do you mean?” Vandergrift asked.
They were coming into the village of Rhinebeck. “I think this would be better done over a drink-probably over more than one. Why don’t we check in at the Inn and retire to the bar?” Stan offered.
Vandergrift shrugged. “Sure,” he replied.
***
As Stan waited for Archibald Vandergrift in the bar at the Inn, he fingered the thick bankroll in his pocket. Almost $ 700, assembled over the past week from his own savings as well as the contributions from his colleagues at the trading house.
He had related to them what he had observed at the Darwin Institute the previous Sunday. At first they were disbelieving.
“Stan, you really need to cut back on your drinking,” Caleb had counselled.
“Were there pink elephants with them?” Henry had added.
“I wasn’t drinking. It was Sunday. The bars were closed,” Stan had replied. “This was as real as this desk I’m sitting at,” he added, slapping his hand on the solid oak.
Finally, he had managed to convince them that he wasn’t pulling their legs nor deluded, but that the events he described had really happened. And when they finally accepted his story, they had admitted that, though they were, like him, men of the world, they were as shocked by the tale as he had been by the events when he had observed them.
Of course, first they had to tease him about it, as men often do when they are forced to process something rather disturbing, “A dozen naked girls frolicking in the great outdoors?” Patrick had asked.
“And you just stood there like an idiot?” Caleb added. “That doesn’t sound like you, Stan.”
“There was a high wall and a locked gate. Plus a really large man standing beside that Darwin fellow. And those two matrons looked pretty beefy as well.”
“And you say they beat her?” Henry asked. “On her fanny, which I’m sure was most attractive.”
“Yes,” Stan replied, “With twigs that she had to gather from the forest herself.”
“Well, then you’ve got to get her out of there! Right away!” Patrick declared.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you fellows!” Stan said. “But I suspect it won’t be easy. I may have to bribe people or buy some special equipment. I haven’t figured out the details yet, but you can count on it costing money.”
“Why don’t you go see her father?” Henry asked. “Surely he can’t want to see his precious daughter mistreated.”
“Moore would never agree to see me,” Stan protested. “I’m the reason he sent her there, for Pete’s sake! Besides, I think he wants her ‘cured’ whatever it takes.”
Finally, they had all agreed, in the interests of love and justice, and despite exaggerated pleas of poverty, to pony up enough that, combined with his own dwindling assets, Stan had sufficient funds to hopefully accomplish his goal.
It was Friday afternoon by the time Stan’s friends had raised the promised cash. Stan had stopped by the Plaza to give Mario the remaining $ 80 he had promised him, since his tip had, somewhat surprisingly, proven accurate. The crooked desk clerk had flashed him a reptilian smile as he pocketed the envelope. “You’re a man of your word, Mr. Goldman,” Mario had admitted.
“There’s a lesson in that, Mr. Pellegrino,” Stan had replied. “You’ll be sure to send me a telegram care of the Beekman Arms in Rhinebeck if there is any news regarding Mr. Moore.”
“Of course; you can count on me,” Mario had said, winking.
***
Stan took a seat beside Archibald Vandergrift, setting the whisky he had ordered at the bar down on the table. Vandergrift looked Stan up and down with evident distaste. “I don’t need your help, Mr. Goldman. Just direct me to this Darwin Institute. I will have a chat with this Darwin and explain to him why he needs to let me take Barbara home. My family is very prominent and wealthy.”
“Not even close to as wealthy as Moore, nor as stubborn,” Stan retorted.
“Perhaps not, but that’s my plan.”
Stan had considered sharing what he had seen the previous Sunday with Archie, but had decided against it, guessing that Archie would immediately tell James Moore, who would contact Darwin. Darwin would, of course deny the whole thing and Moore would never believe Stan over him, so all that would achieve would be to put Darwin on high alert that Stan was nosing around his Institute. No, better to leave Vandergrift in the dark.
“That’s not much of a plan, Vandergrift,” Stan replied. “Moore is her father and legal guardian and he signed her into the institute. Only he can sign her out. You are just a suitor with no legal standing. Darwin will tell you to make like a bee and buzz off, because he has a sweet thing going and isn’t going to brook any interference. If we want her out, I’m afraid we will have to take matters into our own hands. And I have a few ideas.”
“We?” Archie replied, snickering. “Don’t equate us Mr. Goldman. I have a degree from Yale, money and a name that is known and respected in the best social circles.”
“Is that what they’re calling the brothels on Spring Ave. these days?”
Archie blushed a deep red. “I beg your pardon,” he stammered.
“Don’t play coy with me, Vandergrift. That day on the lake, Susanna, my ‘cousin from Albany’, recognized you.” Stan made air quotes to indicate that Susanna was not any relation of his. “And it wasn’t from the Vanderbilt cotillion. I wonder what the people in ‘the best social circles’ would make of you associating with someone like her.”
“You’re one to talk, Goldman, bringing a whore on a date.”
“Sure, I enjoyed her services, just like you. You have to admit she’s damn good at her profession.” Stan could tell that Archie was remembering his brief time with Susanna rather fondly. “But let’s get back to the matter at hand.”
“You mean Barbara?” Vandergrift replied. “Once she is cured of her over-active urges, she will marry me, because I can offer her the life she wants and needs. Her father approves of me and cannot stand you. What can you offer her?”
“I have a degree from the School of Hard Knocks and have made my way in the world just fine without anyone’s help. And it was me whose room at the Grand Union she visited after dancing with you and me whom she kissed most amorously and me whom she took a great chance to meet under the stands at the racecourse.”
Archie started to get to his feet. “That’s quite enough, sir. You should keep in mind the events that happened in this very inn almost a century ago between Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Burr. And you should know that I have hunted since I was a child and am a very good shot.”
Stan grabbed his arm. “Sit down and hear me out, Vandergrift. Then, if you don’t like my plan, you can try yours and good luck to you.” Reluctantly Archie sat back down.
“I’ve surveyed the property; it’s walled on three sides, but there’s a bluff leading down to the river that’s too steep for a wall. However, there’s a path that leads down. We have to get in there without Darwin knowing who we are, because if you present yourself, he’ll cable Moore for sure.”
Vandergrift looked interested, as Stan continued. “We need to get word to Barbara that we’ll meet her by the river with a boat if she can get out of the building. She’ll have to help us with her knowledge of the procedures they have there at night. Either of us could try that on our own, but I suspect there could be situations where having two of us could be very useful.”
“So you’re proposing that we work together? That seems foolish on your part, I must say, Goldman.”
“Look, times are changing. The slaves are free. Women are not property like brood mares to be used to gain admittance to high society by marrying them off to some suitable man; they are free human beings, just like you and me.”
“Now you sound like those ‘feminists’ and suffragettes, Mr. Goldman.”
“What I’m saying is that the choice is not yours or mine or James Moore’s, it’s Barbara’s. She has the right to choose who she wants, whether it’s you or me or someone else or no one at all. I am betting that she will choose me and I usually win my bets.”
Vandergrift looked thoughtful. “So you’re proposing a bet, a contest? I think the odds are strongly in my favor.”
“That may be, but I’m prepared to take the risk, as I have done my whole life. As long as we’re agreed that if we can get her away from Darwin and her father, the choice will be hers.”
Vandergrift smiled. “I like my chances. But I don’t trust you.”
“Look, I may be Jewish and a hustler and I didn’t go to Yale, but you can ask anyone who knows me on Wall Street or at Morgan Park-when Stan Goldman gives his word he keeps it. You can even ask that sleazy Pellegrino to whom I gave the remainder that I owed him before I came up here. If she chooses you, I will disappear from both your lives for good. Now, can I trust you?”
“I give you my word as a gentleman. If she is foolish enough to choose you over me, I wouldn’t want her anyway,” Vandergrift announced. “Now how do we get in there?”
“Well,” Stan said, “I have an idea that I think may work”…
