Fortune's rocks_ a novel - Anita Shreve [145]
“Yes,” she says. “Thank you.”
“May I speak frankly now?” he asks.
“Please.”
“I do not wish to discourage you,” he says, “but I must warn you that your case is difficult. In most states that have decided the matter, the biological mother has fewer rights than the surrogate maternal figure. You, of course, are the biological mother, and Albertine Bolduc will be seen to be the surrogate mother.”
Olympia is discomfited by the mention of another woman as the mother of her son, however much she has known this to be true.
“Furthermore, an unwed mother is the least likely person to be given custody of a child. An unwed mother who has been seen to have abandoned her child has essentially no rights to the child at all.”
“I see,” she says.
“I know that this is difficult,” Tucker says. “Please tell me if I am already upsetting you too greatly.”
Olympia struggles for composure. She must, she knows, steel herself for all manner of revelations. She cannot afford to be discouraged so soon. And she thinks now that Tucker’s discussion about the provenance of her father’s cottage must have been a deliberate attempt to prepare her in some small way for the even more difficult matter of her own case.
“No, I am fine,” she says. “Well, I am not fine. Of course I am not. But I understand I must hear what you have to say. Indeed, I wish to know everything you know, for I cannot make any intelligent decisions otherwise.”
Tucker nods. His hand hovers close to hers on the tablecloth, and she senses that under different circumstances he might touch her, but now will not.
“That is why it is so important that we establish that you did not abandon your child, but rather had the child stolen from you,” he continues. “I have some further facts I should like to tell you if you think you can bear them.”
“Are they so terrible?”
“They are . . . difficult.”
“I am as ready as I ever shall be,” she says.
“Shortly after his birth, the boy was given to Josiah Hay by your father,” Tucker begins.
“Josiah!” Olympia exclaims before she can stop herself.
Tucker puts up a hand. “Only to transport the child,” he says. “He and his wife, Lisette, took the child and journeyed up to Ely Falls by train the afternoon of the birth.”
Olympia’s head swims with the news. Lisette! How is that possible? Olympia thinks back to the day of the birth. Was Lisette at her side after she delivered? She cannot remember. No, perhaps she was not. Was it not, in fact, her mother who sat with her all that long day as Olympia drifted in and out of consciousness?
“They brought the child to John Haskell, who was staying at a hotel in Ely Falls. It is my understanding that John Haskell examined the child and dismissed Josiah and Lisette, who took the next train back to Boston. Dr. Haskell then took the child to the Saint Andre orphanage. He had already made arrangements.”
“I find this so difficult to comprehend,” Olympia says. “I do not know how he could have given up the boy,” she adds, momentarily benumbed.
“Do you need some time?”
Olympia shakes her head.
Tucker puts his glasses back on. “Very shortly,” he continues, “the boy was taken on by Albertine and Telesphore Bolduc. They have not formally adopted the child because John Haskell cannot be found, and he did not sign the appropriate waivers before he left. Such an adoption, even if the Bolducs had the money for the legal fees, which they have not, has not, therefore, been possible. It will, however, become possible simply by the fact of your bringing this suit.”
“I can bring suit then?” Olympia asks.
“Legally, yes. In John Haskell’s absence and considering that he has abandoned the child.”
“But you are telling me that if I lose, the Bolducs may legally adopt the boy.”
“They will be bound to by state law.”
“I see,” Olympia says. “And do you know where John Haskell is?” Olympia asks.
“No. If I did, I assure you I would tell you. We contacted the former Mrs. Haskell, who divorced her husband two