Fortune's rocks_ a novel - Anita Shreve [152]
Sears, seeming to study his notes for a moment, creates another pause.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bolduc have been foster parents to Pierre Francis Haskell since ten days after his birth — in effect, all of his life. The child knows no other parents. The Bolducs have lavished upon the boy all the love and affection they might have lavished upon their own blood child had Albertine not been a barren woman. Mr. and Mrs. Bolduc are of sufficient age to care for the boy: They are both thirty-two years old. They have a stable marriage, having cohabited in a state of wedded solace and bliss for eleven years. They are both longtime members of the Parish of Saint Andre, the Roman Catholic church of Ely Falls, and attend services regularly. They have expressed a passionate desire to extend to the boy a proper religious education. Moreover, they are deeply woven into the fabric of the Franco-American community here in Ely Falls and are part of a large extended family with many cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents who dote on the little boy. As Your Honor is doubtless aware, the Franco-Americans are known for their strong family and cultural ties, which they refer to as la Foi. In addition, these foster parents are hardworking. Though both are employed by the Ely Falls Mill, Mr. and Mrs. Bolduc have made adequate, not to say excellent, arrangements for the boy’s care at great sacrifice to themselves. You shall hear testimony from Albertine Bolduc regarding her love and devotion to the boy.”
Sears removes his monocle and lets it fall upon his chest.
“Your Honor, it would be a crime — a crime — to take the boy away from the only parents he has ever known. And as the state of New Hampshire is not generally in the business of committing crimes against its citizens, the respondents request that the writ of habeas corpus put before us today by the counsel for the relator be set aside forthwith.”
The lawyer takes his seat next to the Bolducs and then pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, as if he already knew the judge’s disposition.
“Motion to set aside the writ of habeas corpus denied,” says Judge Littlefield matter-of-factly, and Olympia understands that Sears’s speech was never intended to persuade the judge to dismiss the suit, but rather to put forth the arguments of the respondents. And this the lawyer has done, she has to concede in spite of her agitation, in rather excellent fashion.
Beside her, Tucker is standing.
“Your Honor,” he says. “I should like to call Olympia Biddeford to the stand.”
• • •
She and Tucker have agreed that she should dress conservatively, neither hiding her class and wealth nor flaunting them. To this end, Olympia has purchased a suit of charcoal gray gabardine, which she has on over a high-collared white blouse. With it, she has worn a matching hat, a black velvet tie, and small pearl earrings.
Tucker, without notes, stands up slowly and approaches her in the witness box.
“Miss Biddeford,” he says kindly and with a smile, which, though doubtless much rehearsed, puts her at ease, as it is meant to do. “How old are you?”
“Twenty years.”
“And you live where?”
“Fortune’s Rocks.”
“And prior to living at Fortune’s Rocks?”
“I was a student at the Hastings Seminary for Females in Fairbanks, Massachusetts,” she answers, making sure, as Tucker has advised, that the word seminary is emphasized.
“For how long were you in residence at this seminary?”
“Three years.”
“And the purpose of this female academy?”
“To train young women so that they might be sent out to foreign lands for the purposes of teaching children and setting good examples of Christian womanhood.”
“And were you in agreement with the aims of this seminary?”
“I was not in disagreement,” she says carefully.
“You fully intended to be such a missionary yourself?” Tucker asks, emphasizing the word missionary.
“I assumed that was my future. Yes.”
“And how did you acquit yourself at this school?”
“I acquitted myself well, I trust.”
“Is it not a fact that you consistently ranked