Disclaimer: I don’t own the Cartwrights or Bonanza. No copyright infringement is intended against William Stuart’s script. Original plot is property of the author. This story is for entertainment and no money was made from it.<\/span><\/p>\n Reviews from the Old Library are on the last page.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Woman Cloaked in Scandal<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cNever trust a woman with a beautiful face for she will quickly betray you.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnny de Marigny, one of Pa\u2019s ranch hands, told me that.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t heard those words in twenty years but they immediately came to mind as I wiped my lips after Regan\u2019s kiss.\u00a0 She was definitely a beautiful woman and, before that kiss, had insisted that she\u2019d changed because Hoss loved her.\u00a0 When I threatened to tell my brother about her sordid past, she proved beyond a doubt that she\u2019d never be anything more than a leech that drained the ability to love from good men.\u00a0 Hoss would want to believe she\u2019d love only him, but his heart would eventually be crushed when confronted with evidence to the contrary.<\/p>\n After she said she was going to marry my brother regardless of that kiss, I realized I had to find a place to think about my course of action.\u00a0 Should I return home and confront him while he prepared for the party at which he intended to announce his engagement?\u00a0 Would it be better if I discussed Regan\u2019s past and Hoss\u2019s future with Pa and asked for advice on how to proceed?<\/p>\n Sport snorted and tossed his head as we stood at the crossroad\u2014we could go home or continue wandering.\u00a0 Thoughts of Pa drifted through my mind and I set Sport on a course for the lake.\u00a0 Thinking of Pa brought up thoughts of another scandalous woman\u2014Marie.\u00a0 She\u2019d been blackmailed to keep her secrets hidden.\u00a0 As a young man I didn\u2019t understand why Pa paid that money\u2014I later came to realize that he didn\u2019t do it so much to hide her past as he did to let her mold her future.\u00a0 Without the constant reminder of who she\u2019d been and what she\u2019d done to survive, she became a woman I was proud to call my mother.<\/p>\n Hoss was just a boy when she entered our lives\u2014a complete stranger married to our pa.\u00a0 I resented the way Pa brought her into our home and expected us to welcome her as our mother.\u00a0 She wanted nothing more than for us to return her love, but I couldn\u2019t\u2014at first.\u00a0 Hoss\u2019s heart immediately let her in but mine had been sealed shut with Mama\u2019s death\u2014the only people allowed to dwell in there were Pa and my brother.<\/p>\n When I realized that she\u2019d been Johnny\u2019s wife, I was confused.\u00a0 Before leaving for New Orleans, Pa said he had to let Johnny\u2019s widow know of his death.\u00a0 Pa not only told her, he married her.\u00a0 I asked him many times why he\u2019d decided to marry her and his only response was that someday I\u2019d understand\u2014that\u2019s not an answer to an angry eleven year old boy.<\/p>\n Women whispered behind their hands when we went into town.\u00a0 Sometimes I hid in the shadows to listen to the gossip exchanged by those biddies.\u00a0 Some said Marie was a lady of the evening who\u2019d given Pa her charms in hopes of escaping New Orleans.\u00a0 Others said she was a slave he\u2019d purchased with the furs he\u2019d taken to New Orleans and now she claimed she was his wife because he shared his bed with her.\u00a0 Looking back, my favorite rumor was that she served with the Pirate Lafitte and won Pa in a duel; of course he married her out of gratitude according to that one.\u00a0 Many of these gossips would greet us with smiles when we saw them and behave as if they adored Marie.\u00a0 Sometimes we were barely out of earshot before we\u2019d hear those \u201cladies\u201d imitating her accent and giggling.\u00a0 Marie never gave those biddies the satisfaction of seeing her open wounds; instead, she wept at home.\u00a0 Many times, innocent Hoss tried to comfort her because he didn\u2019t like to see her so sad.<\/p>\n I found myself defending my mother when other boys repeated what they\u2019d heard.\u00a0 Many times I arrived in town in clean clothes but departed with my nose bloodied and my clothing covered in dust.\u00a0 Neither Pa nor Marie ever punished me for fighting; maybe they guessed at why I did it, though.<\/p>\n When Joe was born, all of the fears that locked my heart were opened and I knew I could love Marie as my mother.\u00a0\u00a0 The ladies in town, though, escalated their gossip campaign to include my youngest brother.\u00a0 I told Pa that we needed to put a stop to the rumors once and for all but he said people would believe what they wanted no matter what we did.\u00a0 Marie held her head high and never indicated that she cared what anyone else thought of her or her son.<\/p>\n After Joe\u2019s birth, I overheard Marie and Pa talking about her other son.\u00a0 My curiosity demanded satisfaction and I finally asked about this other child when we were alone.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was mon fils with Jean.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid Johnny leave after the baby was born?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNon.\u00a0 Did he tell you why he left?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe never said.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it would have been different if he\u2019d stayed.\u201d\u00a0 She looked towards the ceiling to keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks.\u00a0 \u201cI was ill after Philippe\u2019s birth; when I recovered, I was told my son was dead from the fever.\u201d\u00a0 She took a deep breath and sighed from the memory.\u00a0 \u201cPhilippe was my link to Jean.\u00a0 With our son\u2019s death, all of my dreams for the future died.\u00a0 I found I could dream again when I met your father.\u201d<\/p>\n I must have blushed with shame when I admitted, \u201cI hated you at first because we were living the dream Inger, my mama, was supposed to share.\u00a0 Maybe I thought if I hated you, you wouldn\u2019t leave us, too.\u201d<\/p>\n She squeezed my hand, her green eyes moist with tears, \u201cWe\u2019ve both borne terrible hurts in our lives which have molded us into the people we are.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t ever let anything happen to Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t always protect your fr\u00e8res from everything in life.\u00a0 Oui, Hoss will need your protection, too, mon fils.\u00a0 Things will happen that we don\u2019t like, but they must find their own ways.\u201d\u00a0 She took a deep breath and said, \u201cJe t\u2019aime, mon fils.\u201d<\/p>\n I kissed her cheek and said, \u201cJe t\u2019aime, Ma.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s cries from upstairs ended our conversation.<\/p>\n I\u2019d rarely had to protect Hoss physically\u2014his size ensured that there were few challengers.\u00a0 Emotionally was another matter.\u00a0 People forgot that a kind soul was inside that large body when my brother was a child and many nights I tried to explain why people were sometimes cruel while he cried.\u00a0 When he reached the age where girls became enticing, he began to realize that most young ladies treated him as if he was invisible until they needed help carrying packages.<\/p>\n Hoss has often been preyed upon by women who mistake his faith in the goodness of humanity with gullibility.\u00a0 Helen Layton was such a woman and I believed I had to protect my brother from that scavenger\u2014she\u2019d use him until she found someone else to exploit.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t wanted my protection\u2014his fist crashing into my jaw proved that.<\/p>\n Now faced with Hoss marrying a predator like Regan, I was torn between protecting him or letting him find his own way as Marie said those many years ago.<\/p>\n I arrived at the lake, tethered Sport, and knelt down on one knee.\u00a0 Gently, I brushed the pine needles off of Marie\u2019s grave and then sat down against a large pine tree.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need you, Marie.\u00a0 I need you.\u00a0 Should I let Hoss make the biggest mistake of his life?\u00a0 You had the love of a good man to guide your future.\u00a0 This woman Hoss loves says she\u2019s turned her back on her past because he loves her; she\u2019s proved that a lie by kissing me to buy my silence.\u00a0 What if I do stay silent?\u00a0 Would Hoss ever forgive me if his heart was destroyed by the woman he loved?\u201d<\/p>\n I laid my hand against the cheek Regan had slapped.\u00a0 Would I receive more slaps from her in the future if she was my sister-in-law?\u00a0 How might she try to buy my silence if I saw her with a man who wasn\u2019t her husband?<\/p>\n My thoughts turned to children.\u00a0 Would Regan want children or would she find a way to keep Hoss from her bed?<\/p>\n A breeze wafted from the lake, sending leaves and pine needles skittering.\u00a0 After Marie died, Pa wanted to tell Little Joe about his mother\u2019s past; I discouraged him, arguing that my youngest brother\u2019s memories should only be of the mother he\u2019d adored.\u00a0 Our arguments continued after my return from college since Little Joe would soon be entering his teen years.\u00a0 He probably overheard some of the late-night conversations\u2014or loud discussions as Hoss called them\u2014in which I urged Pa to never reveal all of Marie\u2019s secrets to her son.\u00a0 I believed that would be a disservice to the woman I\u2019d taken into my heart and thought of as my mother.<\/p>\n If Hoss and Regan had children, would they ever become curious about their mother\u2019s past?\u00a0 Would it matter at all?\u00a0\u00a0 What if they saw her with another man and asked questions\u2014did they deserve an answer?<\/p>\n I looked at the sky, which was becoming overcast as dusk approached.\u00a0 I still didn\u2019t know what to do.<\/p>\n \u201cYou must be proud of Hoss, Marie\u2014he\u2019s so much like Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n A shaft of sunlight burst forth from a cloud and struck the surface of the lake.\u00a0 I felt the day\u2019s tensions begin to ebb away as I took a deep breath.\u00a0 There was so much of Pa in Hoss that my brother would make the decision that was best for his future, with or without my advice.<\/p>\n I knelt by Marie\u2019s grave marker and placed my hand on the cool stone.\u00a0 \u201cThanks for your help, Marie.\u00a0 Je t\u2019aime, Ma.\u201d<\/p>\n I mounted up and headed for home, my decision made.\u00a0 The party was starting soon and I needed to change clothes.<\/p>\n The End<\/p>\n March 2009<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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