For Love

Chapter 29

JASON

Jason stood in the middle of a balcony alcove overlooking an enormous room. Marble pillars, cushioned seats covered in rich, red fabric, glass chandeliers, and the gaslights the manager had lit at the foot of the stage for Jason's enjoyment made this opera house the fanciest he'd ever seen. When the manager tied the red plush curtains back with gold braided ropes Jason caught sight of the luscious props and painted settings meticulously placed along the back wall. Jason hadn't believed it possible, but the inside of Maguire's was more ostentatious than the outside for all its brick, fancy windows, and gas lamps.

"Just imagine it full to flowing with folks aching to hear Miss Laurie's voice ring from the rooftop," said Doreen behind him, her hands clasped together. "When she sings here, that the way it was."

"I wish I could have heard her sing like that."

"Maybe you can bring her back someday. She's not as hated in San Francisco as she thinks."

"Her brother," Jason surmised, his distaste showing in his voice as the realization dawned on him. Of course, Richard would convince her to leave. Of course, it was another manipulated lie.

Doreen diplomatically refrained from commenting.

He continued to enjoy the rich scenery in her silence. He looked past rows of red seats at the rich colored murals painted on the walls framed in shiny gold. Jason recognized two of them: Hamlet holding the jester Yorick's skull in a graveyard, and the beautiful Juliet leaning over her balcony to watch her lover Romeo hold out a rose. No doubt about it, Maguire's was one of the fanciest opera houses he had ever been in. "It is beautiful. Three stories high." He shook his head as if he couldn't believe his own eyes. "That's a lot of building."

"Yes, sir, it sure a sight." She sat and motioned for Jason to do the same.

He took the referred seat. "I don't think I pictured anything quite this nice. I mean, I knew by her voice Laurie was a professional, but this place is something I would expect back East, New York maybe, or Philadelphia."

"Miss Laurie was sure proud to sing here. She stood on that stage and people hushed themselves to listen. Only her favorites be allowed to sit up here during performances. Miss Jenny and I got to come on special occasions. It's a real honor Mr. Tanner be giving you now."

Jason thought of meeting the tall manager, with his starched collar and amiable smile. The moment Doreen mentioned Laurie's name, his eyes had lit up, and after inquiring him about Laurie's well-being, he showed Jason every courtesy imaginable.

"Well, it's a little obvious Mr. Tanner was, uh, taken with her."

Doreen scoffed and in a consoling voice said, "Lawd, many men be sweet on Miss Laurie. She never pays them much mind."

"I just don't understand how her brother could take her from this life. She had everything a woman wants, and she was self-sufficient. That's not someone that belongs in a place for the insane."

"You right about that."

His brow wrinkled, still puzzling things together. "Where is the asylum he sent her to?"

Doreen narrowed her eyes at him, and for a moment, he thought she would refuse to tell him the answer. "You'd have to go to Stockton to visit there."

"Stockton?!"

"Yes, sir. The Insane Asylum of California in Stockton. I know the name 'cause Miss Jenny make me write it enough times for her to send letters to Miss Laurie. She loves to send letters, silly child."