Page 71 of Margins of Love
She walked to the little table and rifled through the stones.
“It is glass. Just glass, Carol,” Gustav said.
Fave went to his side. Arnold was suddenly there, too.
“You should sit back down,” Fave said.
“Ikh farshtey nisht,” I don’t understand. Rachel took Fave’s elbow and looked him straight in the eyes.
“She owes us a lot of money and tried to pay it off with a fake stone. And I lost Pavel’s emerald for the competition,” Fave explained.
“She ruined our business,” Eve added coldly.
“And she told the barrister thatweare Jewish,” Ilan added in his we-have-to-move-again voice.
Rachel shook her head.
Her mother had begun swaying. Fave now knew this meant that she was lost in her pain of losing the baby, reliving the trauma triggered by the stress of the situation.
“Thompson is her barrister. He delivered this,” Ilan said.
Rachel took the letter from her father’s hands. It was written in Hebrew, she could read it but not understand. Theketubah, the marriage contract.
“How did he…?” she asked Ilan.
“He intercepted it, as he always does. He is always lurking in the shadows and crawling about when one least expects,” Gustav said with disgust.
“He blackmailed me earlier today.” Ilan checked his pocket watch. “Well, yesterday.” It was early morning. The city had quieted down, but in this room, Rachel’s entire universe turned inside out.
“He said he wanted me to forgive Bustle-Smith’s debt in return for anonymity among the ton,” Ilan explained. “He had theketubahas proof.”
Fave walked to Ilan and reached out to shake his hand. “Mr. Newman, we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Feivel Pearler, and I love your daughter. It would be the greatest honor if you would allow me to take her hand in marriage.” Fave gave a polite bow.
Rachel’s heart pounded, and she looked at her mother. Stella had stopped swaying and was following the events.
“Feivel, you say? I thought it was Fave,” Ilan said grimly.
“That is a nickname,” Fave said.
Eve and Gustav were standing behind Fave now, confusion in their eyes.
“You sacrificed it all?” Eve asked.
“How could you?” Gustav added. Hurt shook his voice.
Fave turned and smiled with the happiness he had not felt since he was a boy in his grandfather’s lap. “I sacrificed nothing. All is in order.”
Eve looked at Arnold for guidance, and what she saw left her agog. Arnold’s eyes had welled up and he wiped a tear away, coughing to mask the emotional outburst.
“Well, well, well”—Bustle-Smith approached them—“aren’t you a nice pack of Jews?”
Arnold rushed to Fave’s side and whispered something in his ear.
Bustle-Smith pointed at the door with her fleshy hand. “I ask that you leave my house this instant and remove yourself from our midst.”
“Not so fast, Carol.” Fave used her first name with the disgust of a curse. “Did you know Marvin Thompson is an old friend of mine?”
“And mine.” Arnold stood by his side. They united before their enemy and came in for the strike.
