The Gilded Cage

         The milkman rang the bell at the back entrance and waited for the scullery maid.
         "G'mornin'!" he called out cheerily as the bleary-eyed maid appeared.
         "G' mornin' to you.  Did you bring the extra quarts we asked for?"
         "I did, miss.  Big to-do here today, eh?"
         "Aye, that there is!  Miss Regina's weddin'!  I never seen such finery before.  Do you know..."
         Just then a burly female voice, interrupted,
         "Kitty, we've no time for chat this morning.  Get th' cream and get on with your work!"  Cook came up behind Kitty and shooed her with her apron. 
         The milkman tipped his hat to both women.
         "Good day to you!" he said with a smile.
         As the milkman returned to his cart, he heard a noise behind him and, thinking the cook had forgotten to tell him something, turned back to the house.  He was more than a little surprised to see, instead, a young lady stepping out of a little used side door.  She pulled up the hood of a large grey cloak, closed the door silently behind her and hurried away. 
         The milkman stood by his cart, puzzling over what he had just seen.  The woman had undoubtedly been Miss Regina Smithson, the younger daughter of Mr. Laban Smithson.  But he knew, as indeed all of New York City knew, that that young woman was supposed to be getting married this morning.  Well, he thought, perhaps she needed a breath of fresh air before the activities of the day began. 
         The milkman chuckled to himself over wedding day jitters.  He climbed into his seat, picked up the reins, and returned to his morning rounds.  He promptly forgot about Miss Regina Smithson and her morning amble. 
         
         Linnet turned from her dressing table as Magdalena, one of the upstairs maids, entered. 
         "Yes, Lena?"
         Magdalena closed the door softly behind her and spoke so quietly that Linnet had to ask her to speak up.
         "Miss Regina is gone." 
         "Gone?  Gone where?" 
Regina often disappeared on some whim or other, especially when she was nervous about something.  She usually turned up in the old nursery, and, after some coaxing, could be led to face whatever had upset her in the first place.
Linnet was a bit concerned, though, by the maid's agitated manner.  Lena was usually humming a happy tune or teasing the sisters or laughing at some story Regina had to tell. 
         "I don't know, Miss Linnet.  That's the trouble."  Lena held out a slip of paper.  "I found this on her pillow when I went to make up her bed."
         Linnet took the paper.  She knew with dread certainty, even before she read it, what the note contained. 
                   Dearest Papa:  I know you will be angry with me, but it cannot be                                        helped.  I do not love James and I cannot marry him.  Please make my                              apologies to everyone, especially James.  He thinks he loves me, but he                              will forget me soon enough.  You and Linnet will handle things                                        beautifully.  Linnet always knows just what to say.  I ask for forgiveness,                              though I know already it is given.
                                                                     Your loving daughter,
                                                                     Regina

         Linnet lowered the paper and stared at Magdalena in horror. 
         Magdalena, nearly in tears, said, "I know it is addressed to your father, but I just couldn't give it to him.  I'm afraid of what he might do!"
         Laban Smithson was known in the city as a clever and successful business man and, in the privacy of his own home, as a man with a spectacular temper. 
         "No, Lena.  It's all right.  I'll do it."
         "What should I do, miss?" Lena asked.
         "Don't mention this to anyone just yet.  Go ahead and get things ready just as we discussed last night.  I wouldn't be surprised if Reggie came back at any moment and wanted to go on as though nothing has happened." Linnet laughed lightly, desperately hoping that this situation was not as serious as she feared.
         Linnet tapped the note against her fist as she headed down the stairs to her father's study.  Unless he was eating, sleeping or at the office, her father was always in his study.  Linnet could remember many a Christmas morning when they had had to drag him out of the study just to enjoy the holiday with them. 
         She paused outside the great mahogany door and knocked.

         "Wwwhhhat?!"  The paneled room shook with the force of Laban Smithson's anger.  He snatched the note from his daughter and turned away toward the window.  As he read, a crimson flush rose from his collar to his forehead.  He finished and crumpled the note in one fist.  He stood gazing out the window with a hard expression on his face. 
         Linnet sat, waiting for an explosion of anger.  Usually, the wait was not long.  This time, however, Laban continued to stare out the window without moving or speaking.  The silence became increasingly ominous as Linnet listened to the ticking of the mantle clock.
         Finally Laban spoke, but in a strangled tone which Linnet had never heard before. 
         "She cannot do this to me.  I will not let this happen."  He turned and fixed his fierce gaze on Linnet.  "Do you realize what this will do to me?"  He picked up a paper from his desk and thrust it at his daughter.  "Read."
         Linnet took the paper.  It was a legal document.  At the bottom Linnet read her father's signature and the signature of James Barron, Regina's fiancé. 
         As Linnet read, she sank into one of the plush chairs opposite her father's desk.  The document was a financial agreement promising mutual benefit when the marriage took place and threatening financial ruin upon whichever party failed to keep the contract.  Even the date and time had been set: 11 a.m. on November 5th of this year. 
Linnet shook her head over the document, a document which spoke volumes about the shrewdness and persistence of two hard-headed businessmen.  They had bargained for a mutually beneficial arrangement, but had they seriously considered that the potential for ruin was as great as the potential for gain?  Of course, each had assumed that any ruin would fall on the other party rather than on themselves.  Linnet knew her father well enough not to be surprised. 
Linnet realized then that Regina's flight was far more costly than she had at first thought.  Not only would the family's reputation be sorely bruised, but her father also faced a heavy financial loss.  Laban Smithson had never stood for financial losses before in his life.
"Could we not ask to postpone the wedding?"  Linnet asked quietly.  Even as she suggested it, though, she knew that the contract had been too specific to allow a delay. 
Laban Smithson continued to stare, unseeing, out of the window into the street beyond.  He did not seem to hear Linnet speak.  The minutes dragged by as father and daughter contemplated the disaster before them. 
Linnet was startled when her father turned abruptly from the window.
"Yes, of course!" He exclaimed.  "Linnet, come with me."  He grabbed Linnet by the arm and propelled her out of the study, up the grand staircase and into Regina's bedroom. 
The wedding dress and veil and all the delicate undergarments waited on the bed.  On the dressing table sat a nosegay of white roses and orange blossoms, wildly expensive this far out of season.  Beside the nosegay was a large and undoubtedly expensive arrangement of hothouse roses, a wedding morning gift from James. 
Linnet's father grabbed up the veil and draped it over Linnet's head.
"Father, what are you doing?"  Linnet was becoming alarmed at the strange light in her father's eyes.
Mr. Smithson mumbled to himself.
"Yes, yes, that might work.  If the light were right.  And the dress?"  He held the dress up to Linnet. 
"Father!"  Linnet jerked the veil off and stared at her father.
Laban Smithson looked his daughter in the eye, a look which had always intimidated Linnet.
"You will marry James Barron today!" 
Linnet objected.
"That's ridiculous!  He would never marry me!  He loves Regina.  The contract was signed for Regina's hand, not mine!"
"The contract was signed for my daughter; it did not specify which one; that seemed so crass.  He doesn't have to know it's you until after the wedding.  By then it will be too late.  He will be bound to honor the contract as I will have honored it!"  Laban rubbed his hands together like the villain in a melodrama Linnet had once seen. 
Linnet stood, horrified by her father's plan.  She gathered all of her courage and defied her father as she never had before in her life.
Quietly, she said, "No, Father.  I will not deceive Mr. Barron like that.  It is wrong and I will not do it."
Laban Smithson was not to be put off his grand idea.  He sighed heavily and looked at his eldest daughter.  He decided that, in this particular case, a quiet chat would be more persuasive than his usual bluster.
"Linnet, daughter, think of what is being offered to you - a wealthy husband, a new house in the most fashionable part of town, all the social connections you could desire.  Think of what you could do with all that wealth - invitations to your parties will be the most sought after in New York City, you could be the queen of New York society.  Besides," he added with infinite sympathy, "you cannot be insensible of how much more fitting it would be for you, my eldest daughter, to be married before your sister."
Linnet looked at her father in horrified silence.  Suddenly, the years of jealousy she had stored up and tried to hold back came bursting to the surface.  She realized how much she had always resented the lavish attention given to her beautiful younger sister by everyone, from her father to the servants to family friends and even strangers.  Regina was always the center of attention and Linnet was relegated to the background as "pretty enough in her own way, but nothing to her sister."  Linnet was the steady, dependable one who, when she was only fifteen years old, had stepped into her mother's role as mistress of the house.  Regina had been coddled and spoiled by everyone while Linnet had successfully denied her jealousy.  But one comment from her father, and suddenly it all welled up within her.  Yes, she was acutely aware of how unfair it was for a younger daughter to marry before the older.  She admitted to herself that she was wildly envious of Regina's beauty, grace, and popularity, not to mention her fiancé and future life.  Linnet knew she was far more qualified to run an important household, such as James Barron's, than was her sister.
Mr. Smithson saw his daughter wavering as the conflict raged inside.  He slowly raised the veil, placed it over her head again, and led her to the mirror.  He murmured into her ear,
"Mrs. James Barron."
Linnet stared at their reflection in the mirror, her father standing beside the bride with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.
"I'll leave you to your preparations.  I'll come for you when the ceremony is ready to begin."
Her silence was her acquiescence.
Laban Smithson left his daughter's room and hurried back to his office.  He had to be sure all the paper work was in order.  James Barron was a wily foe; no loop holes could be left for him to escape the bargain.

Linnet paced the length of Regina's room from window to mirror.  Magdalena, sworn to secrecy, had just left after helping her dress in her borrowed finery.  The dress was a bit long since Regina was tall and elegant, Linnet more compact and sturdier.  Otherwise, everything fit perfectly.  The only perfect thing about this day.
Now that she was alone, Linnet had time to think over what was happening.  She was not sure how it had occurred, but somehow, she knew, she had agreed to one of the most horrible deceptions she could imagine.  Her stomach jumped and fluttered and sank as she imagined the reaction of the wedding guests when they discovered the identity of the bride.  She did not even dare to think of Mr. Barron's reaction.  Mr. Barron.  He would soon be her husband.  She barely even knew this man.  He had been around the house quite a bit, but had been so besotted with Regina that he rarely spoke to her.  What had she done in agreeing to this wedding?  Her stomach flipped again.  Was there no way out now?  Even as she asked herself that question, she knew the answer.  She had condemned herself and there was no escape now. 
She jumped at the knock on the door.  Laban Smithson beamed at his obedient daughter and held out his arm for her.  Faint sounds of music wafted up the grand staircase behind him.  Linnet took his arm and was surprised to note that her hand was steady. 

Rebecca St. John, Laban's sister, often presided in the Smithson household since Linnet was really too young to play hostess at the most important events.  Thus it was that when father and bride entered the gold parlor, Mrs. St. John rose and the guests followed her example. 
Linnet walked beside her father and noted the smiling faces and nodding heads on either side of the aisle.  No one recognized the wrong sister through the thin layer of Brussels lace.  Not even the groom.  Linnet looked ahead and saw James Barron smiling expectantly.  He was dressed impeccably in black trousers and coat, white waistcoat and cravat.  She glanced away quickly, unwilling to contemplate the face of one she was about to deceive so terribly. 
When Laban sat down after giving away his daughter, Mrs. St. John leaned over and whispered,
"Where is Linnet?  Is she not supposed to be standing up with Regina?"
The only response she received was "Ssh, the ceremony is starting."

"I now pronounce you man and wife.  What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder."
James Barron, a man unused to smiling, beamed.  Finally, she was his.  Regina Smithson had captured his heart the moment he had seen her at the opera five months ago.  She was the most beautiful, the most charming, the most desirable woman he had ever met.  Within days of making her acquaintance, he knew, with his usual determination, that he would marry her.  He set about wooing and winning Regina with no less fervor than he had shown for any of his many business deals. 
He had not allowed his passions to carry away his sense for financial security, though, and, as soon as Regina's affections were secured, he had gone to deal with her father.  The men had debated long over the precise wording of the marriage document. 
And now Regina was his.
She turned to receive a kiss from her father and aunt.
A gasp ran through the crowd as the veil was pulled back and the bride's face was revealed.  James Barron froze, staring, as the bride kissed her relatives and smiled.  He stared at the woman beside him, but could not recognize her.  Who was this woman?  Barron glanced wildly at Laban Smithson and saw the smug grin on his face.  A stab of fierce hatred ran through him as he realized what had happened.  Not his beloved Regina.  It was the sister.
 
James Barron was, at heart, a business man and he knew how to bluff his way through any situation.  He shook hands at the reception and accepted the somewhat bewildered congratulations of the wedding guests.  His performance convinced even the most formidable matrons that the wedding had gone entirely as planned.  By the time carriages rolled up to the front door, most guests just chuckled at their own mistake.  Of course the invitation had said Linnet and they had assumed that of course it was Regina making such a good marriage. 
Linnet received the surprised good wishes of her guests with the grace and aplomb upon which her sister and father had relied.  Regina's absence was explained away by a minor illness, a sudden headache, a momentary indisposition.  Linnet stood in the receiving line to shake hands, drank champagne toasts when called upon to do so, danced gaily with any who claimed her hand and none could see that beneath the polished gaiety and bridal finery, her heart lay frozen with fear and guilt. 

At last, the final carriage wound its way down the drive and disappeared.  Linnet stood alone on the porch, watching it go.  She shivered slightly in the chill November air and looked up into the clear night sky.  The stars were bright and glittering, coldly indifferent to the tempest in Linnet's heart.
She sighed and turned to go back into the house.  Servants were beginning to clean up, still chatting happily about the fine clothes and conversations of the wedding guests.  Linnet supposed they must have earlier exhausted the topic of the replacement bride, for though the guests might have been fooled, the servants certainly would not have been confused about which daughter of the house was to be married. 
As she stood in the grand entrance hall, Linnet was suddenly overwhelmed with weariness.  She sat down heavily on a step of the scarlet staircase and stared at the Italian marble floor of the foyer.  She could not think of what to do next.  The servants noticed their mistress' distress and hushed their chatter.
In the sudden quiet, Linnet heard voices coming from Mr. Smithson's study.  They were voices raised in anger.
Linnet recognized her father's voice first.
"The contract clearly says 'my daughter' without specifying which one!"
Mr. Barron's voice was laden with menace.
"You know very well which daughter I intended to marry!  Indeed, who could confuse it when the two are side by side.  You know that one is nothing compared to my Regina!"
The servants had frozen in place, eager not to miss a word, though some were chagrined to know that Linnet heard every unkind word. 
Linnet stared at the door of the study.  She was unsurprised at the venom in Mr. Barron's voice; indeed, she undoubtedly deserved his condemnation.
Years of social training compelled her to do or say something to smooth over the situation.  But there were more than rumpled feelings or agitated nerves in this.  Besides, was not she a major cause of the problem?  She could see no way of contributing to a solution.
Mr. Smithson's voice was quieter now, but still audible to the breathless group in the hall. 
"You know very well that any court of law would uphold this contract.  Isn't that what we both intended when we signed it?" 
Linnet could hear the smug sarcasm in her father's voice.  He had outsmarted one of the toughest businessmen in New York and would not soon forget the pleasure of that moment.
Indeed, that was what most stung James Barron.  He had been outwitted by an old man, a man he hated at that moment more than any other being on earth.  Had he been so in love, allowed his feelings to rule to such an extent, that he had given this vile man power over him?  Surely not.  Barron could not believe it of himself. 
The only thing Barron could congratulate himself on was the way he had played the groom to the hilt, even after discovering his sham bride.  Those society vultures had failed to penetrate his polished smile and honeyed words.  He had not betrayed weakness when a lesser man might have given up the whole thing. 
James Barron failed to realize that he had behaved precisely as his new father-in-law had counted on him behaving.