The Vaudeville Star

“Except in your bed.”

King looked across at Ruby and smiled. “Exactly. Except in my bed.”

“And your child? Would they be unable to accept that as well?” She asked.

He looked up sharply and then relaxed. “Of course. Ford.”

Ruby said nothing.

“Smart fellow, Ford. A little too smart if you ask me.”

“Is there such a thing as too smart?”

“Yes. Men like Ford have a sense of things. They go searching for the truth like human bloodhounds. Some things are best left alone.”

“Like Lourdes’s death?”

King looked across at her, and with the gaslights burning, his eyes seemed to scorch her.

“Why are you asking about her? She was in the way. Had been for some time.”

“Had she been in the way for some time?” Ruby repeated hoarsely.

He nodded. “I only did what any man would have done. You and I were meant to be together.”

“What did you do?” she asked, trying to keep her voice light.

King crossed his leg over his knee and picked at an imaginary fleck of dust on his trousers.

“She was irritating me. She came to see me. She followed me to that party at Devonshire House. She was making a scene. She was making me look a fool. No one makes me look a fool,” he said harshly.

“Of course not.”

“It was late that night. We went to my town house. I thought to calm her down, but things escalated. I hired another taxicab. She was angry because I asked her to cover her head with her shawl and had the taxicab drop us off in an unknown area. When she stepped outside of the taxicab, we walked along the street. I didn’t even know where we were.”

“She was ungrateful,” Ruby said, soothing him.

“That is exactly it! My God, Ruby!” He came to sit beside her and took her hand in his, kissing the back of it. “She was ungrateful!”

Ruby had to physically stem the revulsion she felt as he kissed her hand.

“She started going on about how she wanted me. She said she wanted to be my wife. There was a long alley of boardinghouses in the back, and I pulled her into it. She told me about t

he child. She kept saying it was my duty. That we must marry. She spoke about the son she was sure she was carrying. She said it was my obligation to look after them both.

“There was no one around, and a light rain was falling. I don’t remember how, but suddenly my hands were around her throat. I pressed harder and harder. She scratched at my arms. Look! Look what she did to me!” he said in a rush, pulling at his jacket and shirt so Ruby could see the wounds.

Ruby nodded and swallowed. “That was wrong of her.”

King smiled. “Yes. You see? You understand I had to do it. For us, Ruby.”

“I do.”

“Her body slid down to the ground, and I looked at her. She wouldn’t wake. I tried to wake her. I shook her once, but she was gone. So I left her there. I didn’t want to be recognized, so I walked home, which seemed to take an hour or more.” He paused in his story and then looked up at Ruby. “My shoes were ruined because of her. The rain ruined them. She did that too.”

Ruby felt a chilly finger along her spine as she looked into his soulless eyes. “Yes. She did.”

When the train pulled into Le Havre, a heavy rain was pouring down. King had his hand on her elbow and warned her that she should remain with him and make no sudden movements. She did as he bid. She soon discovered that King had planned everything very well. An ocean liner bound for New York was leaving in two hours, and he already had their first-class tickets in his pocket.