Fortune's rocks_ a novel - Anita Shreve [158]
“Mr. Biddeford, tell the court why you made these arrangements and contrived in a clandestine manner to steal the child from your daughter.”
“I was concerned for her reputation.”
“Do you regret having done this?”
“Yes, very much so. I pray my daughter will one day forgive me.”
• • •
Counsel for the respondents wishes to put questions to Phillip Arthur Biddeford:
“Mr. Biddeford. When you discovered your daughter was with child, what were your thoughts?”
“I was horrified.”
“Did you consider your daughter too young to bear a child?”
“Yes, Mr. Sears, I did.”
“Did you consider her too young to raise a child?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Your daughter was sixteen at the time?”
“Yes.”
“Did you consider her a child herself?”
“Yes, Mr. Sears, I did.”
“Did you, at the time, give any thought to the welfare of the child himself?”
“Some, yes.”
“And what was that?”
“I thought, at the time, that he would be better cared for by an institution, but now I regret — ”
“We will confine ourselves to answering the questions at hand, Mr. Biddeford.”
“Yes.”
“And if you gave, at the time, some thought to the welfare of the infant child, what other concerns did you have?”
“I was concerned for the ruination of my daughter.”
• • •
Counsel for the relator calls Josiah Hay:
“Mr. Hay, we have heard testimony that on fourteen April 1900, you were given temporary custody of the infant male issue of Olympia Biddeford by her father, Phillip Biddeford, for the purposes of transporting the child to Dr. John Haskell. Is this true?”
“Yes, Mr. Tucker, it is.”
“What did you then do with the child?”
“My wife, Lisette, packed a suitcase of the little boy’s things and we took a carriage to North Station and there boarded the train for Rye, New Hampshire.”
“Your wife went with you?”
“Yes, sir, she did, and she cried all the way, I can tell you.”
“Were you aware that all of this was done without the knowledge of Olympia Biddeford, who was barely conscious as a result of drugs that had been given to her during her confinement?”
“Yes, sir, and that is why my wife was crying.”
“And what happened when you got to Rye?”
“We took a carriage to Ely Falls direct. Mr. Biddeford had given us quite a sum of money for the journey.”
“And there you met with Dr. John Haskell?”
“Yes.”
“And where was this?”
“At the Ely Falls Hotel.”
“Tell the court what happened at that meeting.”
“We went up to the man’s room. I had known him from before, from when he used to visit Mr. Biddeford’s house. And we handed over the child.”
“And then what happened?”
“And then Dr. Haskell, he lets out this great cry. Oh, it is too terrible to report.”
“I am afraid you must. Tell us precisely what happened, Mr. Hay.”
“Well, he lets out this great cry, and then he puts the child on the bed and undresses it and looks it over in a tender manner, and he seems to collect himself and he tells us the child is healthy, which had been worrying my wife greatly, so she was much relieved, sir.”
“And then what happened?”
“Then Dr. Haskell walked over to the door, where my wife and I were standing, and he thanked us, and he shook my hand, and my wife says to him, ‘You make sure that child is well placed out,’ and Dr. Haskell says that he will.”
“And then?”
“And then he asked after Miss Biddeford and wanted to know how she was and how the birth had gone, which my wife was able to inform him on, having been present through the whole ordeal. And then the baby started to cry and I handed over the suitcase and Dr. Haskell went to the child and held him, and my wife and I left the room. We spent the night in the hotel, since it was too late to start back for Boston.”
• • •
Counsel for the relator wishes to call Mother Marguerite Pelletier:
“You are a mother superior in the Order of the Sisters of Saint Jean Baptiste de Bienfaisance, is that correct?”
“Yes, it is.”
“And, as such, you are director of the Orphanage of Saint Andre?”
“That is correct.”
“Prior to fifteen