The Ruby Necklace (3)
She felt stuck in this whole situation but she didn't care. She looked at the air outside. It was cold and frosty. 'It was cold, so cold’, she thought, ‘she shouldn't be here, she thought..she really shouldn't be here in the country,, although it was only an hour from the city. Maybe Jackson didn't really care about the necklace. Maybe he was doing this for some kind of revenge’. But as she thought about Jackson, she felt that this wasn't the case. He wasn't a vengeful type. ‘Maybe he was just doing it because….', and she looked out again outside and tried to concentrate on the sky. She then fell on the bed. ‘Oh I wish I was married, really..like Teresa with the necklace maybe..I'd have a lover.. my husband could do as he pleases and then my lover..we’d get some money and we'd run away together..’, she seemed to dream but suddenly she rose. Something clicked in her. 'But she has a lover.. she must!'. She continued to think to herself: Yes she had her debt to pay. If she could get the money,, it wasn't too much..but she still couldn't get the small amount together! She wished she was free, free, free. There was no real possibility of stealing the necklace or replacing it, she thought. Not now. For Frederika had told Teresa about the fake necklace. She had decided to tell her everything. Jackson was in prison anyway! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ‘Are you going to the city to-day?’, Teresa asked Frederika in the drawing room No', Frederika said softly. Then Teresa said, ‘Frederika, your'e distant to me. Now..are you thinking of leaving?’, Teresa asked looking at her. ‘Well I have no reason to be here, you know, Teresa.’ ‘Why?’, Teresa asked leaning back against the mantle piece. ‘Well Jackson is in prison and well Teresa, there is no reason.’ Teresa seemed to let the news about Jackson pass her by. But then she asked quickly: ‘How long for?’ ‘Three months’. Then Frederika asked suddenly ‘Teresa, why do you go to the city so much?’ ‘Why do you ask, Frederika?’ They were both quiet. Frederika looked directly at Teresa. Tell me, you have a lover, that's right, isn't it.. well I'm going.. there's nothing to keep me here.. nothing', Teresa looked at the young woman speaking. She saw that Freddie was frightened about something. Teresa knew it was just the way Freddie was. It wasn’t just Jackson that Freddie was afraid of. It was this whole age, the city, her life, she was afraid of and Teresa herself felt fear too, she recognised it..Then Frederika continued, 'Teresa, Jackson is in prison and I'm really frightened. I have to go back.. I am not at home here. Please Teresa'. Teresa looked at her and seemed to understand her. She understood the girl's fears and maybe they were rational. Teresa however didn’t know what to say and Frederika saw this. In a way, the two women were beginning to have a strong empathy with each other. Then Frederika said: ‘But you have a lover and you never told me'. Teresa looked at her and spoke suddenly: ‘Stop talking, Freddie’, Teresa shouted, ‘Yes I had a lover but it’s over but what's that to you.. he's an artist actually…’ Frederika looked away. Then she spoke: ‘Oh it doesn't matter about your lover but tell me, Teresa, I mean why am I here. I mean Jackson’s in prison. He'll be out in three months but why am I here.. I am not at home here. I want to go back’. ‘Oh you foolish girl’, Teresa shouted, ‘You ask why are you here..why are you here..is it the necklace? Is that it? You want the necklace'. ‘I don't want your stupid necklace', Frederika replied quickly. ‘But Frederika, you must,, you must.. Jackson wants it.' Frederika was silent. Then she spoke: ‘Yes I want it. I want it. I want to be free of all this..it's bad.. it's wicked.. I didn't know about you and Jackson…all your games’. ‘What, what’, Teresa said, ‘You play games. You play games.. more than me.. You have the fake necklace. You only told me that a few days ago.. you never told me.. ..you never told me.. what do you not tell me.. ?', Teresa looked angrily at Frederika as latter sat down on a chair. Frederika looked tired and Teresa saw this. She waited for Frederika to speak. ‘Teresa, I don't want to play games but why am I here.. I don't know' , Frederika said. Teresa looked closely at her and then sat down beside her: ‘Alright..it's 1885, the sun is shining..look outside.. you have no prospects.. I have none either ..I have a husband who doesn't talk to me.. a husband who I want to be free of and maybe he will divorce me or leave me.. because…’ Teresa stopped and then, ‘He knows my past,, Freddie .. yes he knows my past.. he has that.. and he doesn't speak to me because… Freddie….he knows my past'. She stopped and then continued, ‘Maybe he's sick of me but look oh Freddie, it's 1885 and the sun..look.. and you want to be free of all this.. because you have to pay your debt and you want to go back to the city because it's home..you want your life back,, Frederika.. is that it.. I don't care about the necklace.. I care about my life but when I think about it, it's all I have..the necklace.. it's my future and I'm trapped more than you are..I don't care about the necklace.. but I want to live again.. you know..’ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Later that day, after Frederika finished some work in the kitchen, she went to Teresa in her bedroom. ‘So it's all false, Teresa’, Frederika said as she turned to her’. Teresa did not look at the young woman sitting beside her. Then she said softly, ‘Put your head here’. Teresa meant her shoulder. Then she continued, ‘It's not false..it's illusory..but there are people stronger than us.. men... Henry..Jackson....they will get us..they don't care about us..we'll go back to the gutter.. yes that's it.' Frederique listened as Teresa began to speak again: ‘But the necklace was everything..there was some money and some other jewellery but the necklace was like a symbol…..well no.. I fell in love with him, Henry.. I fell in love and that was real, not the necklace.... the seduction was real..but now.' Then Teresa turned to Frederika. ‘But what will we do, Frederika?’ Frederika looked ahead of her: 'I don't know.' Then Frederika said softly: ‘I can't stay here.. you know that.' .You can't leave me, Freddie.’ ‘Then I won't but why don't you run away. You own it?’, Frederika said. Teresa was quiet. Then Frederika spoke again ‘I’ve told you I have the fake necklace. I’ve told you that. Teresa why don’t we replace the real one and run away’. Then Teresa began to speak slowly and thoughtfully: ‘Yes you have the fake necklace. Yes that’s your job! Jackson wants you to replace the necklace and he’s in prison… well maybe you can.. I mean what’s stopping you.. I mean why don’t you tell Jackson that you’ve replaced the necklace when he gets out of prison, tell him that you’ve done your job….yes tell him’. Then Teresa rose and walked to the dressing table and opened the drawer where the necklace was. ‘It’s a possession that people like me and Jackson and you Freddie dream about’, Teresa stopped and then spoke again, ‘Yes it's a real necklace but that's it’, she said authoritatively as Frederika watched her. She looked at Teresa and suddenly all that Frederika could see was a woman looking at a necklace, an image of a woman looking at a necklace. And that was all! Then Teresa continued: ‘To me, it's a new life but to Henry, its nothing, probably. To Jackson, it’s all greed, it's just his pride…I’ll never give it back to Jackson’. Then Teresa turned: 'You know, Freddie, Jackson’s making a fool of you, of me, both of us. You're in debt, Freddie but that's it and you've come here like a child. You are a child. You've come here looking to be free from your debt, hoping to be free. Oh I know what these ideas of freedom are!’ Then she turned again to the necklace as Frederika watched transfixed: ‘It's greed…revenge maybe, I don't know. But….’, then Teresa became serious and seemed to concentrate on the necklace. This necklace came into my life like you came into my life, Frederika…suddenly. But I was poor, like you, I had nothing. I fell in love. I mean Jackson asked me to seduce him, get some money, steal anything. Oh I was a vamp, a real vamp but I don't know what happened. I seduced Henry but he was so weak then. He liked me, I think he did. I was a girl from the streets who had nothing. I was in the theatre but I didn't really know this world of Jackson and Henry . I was too weak. I was weak because I didn't understand and how could I understand this world, this great middle class world of Henry and then… Jackson. I seduced him but Henry then seduced me and I saw possible freedom, a chance to succeed…and Henry liked me. I know he did and we fell in love.' Then Teresa turned again and spoke to Frederika as if Frederika had asked her something or had reminded her of something: ‘Maybe you're right. Maybe it doesn't make sense. Nothing makes sense..‘ Then as if in a dream, the front door banged. 'Who is it?', Teresa said as Frederika went to the banister and looked down. It was Henry and he walked in and closed the drawing room door behind him. Teresa was now standing behind her. Frederika turned: and said quietly; 'Is he always like that?' Teresa answered softly: ‘Yes. The marriage is over’, she said quietly as she walked dreamily into her room again. 'Will you divorce? ', Frederika asked talking into Teresa’s back but Teresa didn't seem to hear this. And as Teresa didn't answer, the absurdity of the question dawned on Frederika. She realized suddenly how the fact of a loud door banging and Denby going into the drawing-room could change everything. Frederika realized then that Teresa was like this! She was weak, so fragile and that's why she was in this situation! Teresa wasn't strong at all! Then Teresa turned and looked seriously at Frederika. She looked as if a secret had been uncovered and she didn't like it. Suddenly this young girl had encroached upon something secret. 'Will you run away? ', Frederika asked automatically. Teresa answered: 'I can't because …I'm tired. What is the reason.. I mean.. why run away..?' Frederique answered softly, To live'. Teresa looked at the floor and then seemed to realize what Frederique was saying: She said dreamily: You're right. I can't talk to him anymore. I can’t’. Then Frederika said: ‘Let’s replace the necklace. I have the fake necklace’, then she stopped and then continued quickly, ‘Please Teresa, let’s replace the necklace and go’. Teresa looked at the carpet and spoke dreamily: ‘Yes you're right. I haven't seen my husband for ages and then he comes, enters and never speaks to me..I don't know what to say.’ Frederika held Teresa closely and spoke: ‘Please, please replace the necklace and leave, please please'. Teresa was quiet as Frederika repeated again: ‘But I want you to leave him, leave him, leave him, replace the necklace.and go.. come on! ‘ Teresa remained quiet. Frederika looked at her and pleaded, 'Say something’. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following morning Teresa and Frederika were in the garden together. The cold wind blew against them as they walked together. ‘What will I say to Jackson when he gets out of prison?’, Frederika asked. ‘Tell him you've paid off your debt. I'll give you the money. Tell him that Mrs Denby or Teresa, as he knows me, is going to leave her husband and that she intends to take the necklace with her. It's her right, tell him that!‘, then Teresa was quiet. Then she spoke again: ‘This is the life I want, you know’, Teresa spoke softly as if speaking to herself , as if she didn't want Frederika to hear. 'Maybe ..I should leave here..it’s not a life,,is it..? But why should I go back to the streets….‘ Frederika stopped walking beside her and Teresa stopped and turned to her: 'The necklace is all I have, Freddie and I have a home here, some money, food. I've told you that Freddie. I was a girl like you, I got a chance..I'm going to keep this chance.. I'm not going back now..I can't and no Jackson is going to force me back. Nothing’. They walked on: ‘And that's why I'm not going back’, Teresa said after a silence. Frederika looked ahead of her. There was a bonfire crackling in the distance. For it was Winter, the time of bonfires. ‘But Teresa, 'I'm going back’, Frederika said. Yes Freddie.. you go’ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later Teresa came to Frederika's room: 'You want to go back..' , Teresa said as she stood in the doorway, ‘You want to go back..’, she repeated to Frederika who sat on her bed. The air was cold but the evening was beginning and Teresa watched Frederika closely. She looked around the room and noticed that Frederika was ready to leave. Then she said: 'I seduced Henry but I never took the necklace and I'm not taking it now. It doesn't belong to me anyway, I feel it belongs to Jackson and his world and Henry,,, he's a ..I don‘t know…I think the reason he doesn’t like me is…that he looks down on me… I‘m not good enough for his world…I never see his friends…I don‘t know his life…and I have no life.. ..’ ‘Then come with me, Teresa. Leave with me’, Frederika said. ‘Come with you? But you're a girl, Freddie’, Teresa stopped and continued, ‘This is what I dreamt of.. all this.’. Then Frederika tried to mention Henry again but she didn't. Teresa looked closely at Frederika and she knew then she had to leave with her. Freddie saw that Teresa was tired as she said: ‘Yes I want to leave, Freddie.. I want to go back but I'm not going to take the necklace’. ‘Then don't, Teresa’, Frederika said.. ‘I'm not taking it, Freddie and I don't want you to take it.. let's leave it Freddie and go back together please..' Then Teresa continued: ‘Please, please then let's go, walk with me to the bonfire. No-one will miss me.. I'm a stranger here, always have been. They have never thought of me as the mistress you know…’., She looked again at Frederika and smiled. Then Frederika said softly, ‘Thanks.. I am ready to go.' ‘Meet me then at the bonfire’. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- They looked into the flames building higher and higher. It was mainly young children there but still some adults, all captivated by the fire. Two men looked at the young women as they stood there but Teresa was staring at the fire, with her large bag on the grass beside her. The fire was all around them. Then Frederique felt Teresa putting something into her hand. It was the money notes for the debt. Frederika tried to say thanks but the noise and crackling drowned her words. She tried to say the words louder but the fire, the shouting, all seemed to increase in intensity. Teresa looked ahead. Suddenly Teresa said: 'I've had enough'. She turned to Frederika and seemed to shout:. ‘This fire has made me stronger..I'm not going back to Henry, that house, it’s over..the old world..the streets, the theatre.. that's where I belong.. that's it. I think,’ she stopped. She couldn't speak and Frederika noticed that she seemed to be crying but this was natural. She saw Teresa looking into the fire, looking lost, broken. Then Teresa began to walk around the fire in the direction of the men but she didn't see them. The men watched her and seemed struck and surprised by the sight of the woman, so sad and lost. Frederika watched her too. Teresa's decision was harder than hers and she knew that she should leave Teresa on her own. Then Frederika said softly to Teresa: 'I know a place we can stay in’. Teresa smiled now and looked at Frederika. ‘Come on’, Teresa said, ‘We'll take the train now’. However Teresa continued to look into the fire. Then she spoke again: ‘We'll go now , the train will be arriving soon’. END
Copyright © 2008 Joel Ficelle |