Willy and Alvirah had attended the Shakespeare and etiquette lectures, and Celia’s. Afterward, they went outside to take a walk on the deck.
Alvirah sighed, “Oh Willy, wasn’t it interesting to hear about the social customs of one hundred years ago? Then Celia’s stories about the jewelry were so fascinating. And when Professor Longworth recited those sonnets from Shakespeare, it made me wish I had learned them when I was young. I mean, I feel so uneducated.”
“You’re not uneducated,” Willy said fervently. “You’re the smartest woman I know. I bet a lot of people would love to have your common sense and your ability to judge people.”
Alvirah’s expression brightened. “Oh Willy, you always make me feel so good. But speaking of judging people, did you notice that Yvonne Pearson took off like a bird after dinner last night? She didn’t wait for anyone else to even get up.”
“No, I didn’t pay any particular attention to her,” Willy said.
“Well, I saw her go over to another table and start kissing the people at it. I thought that as Lady Haywood’s guest, it was very rude to leave ahead of her.”
“I suppose so,” Willy agreed. “But it doesn’t matter. Does it?”
“Something else, Willy. I like to consider myself a student of human nature. My guess is that there is no love lost between Roger and Yvonne Pearson. Even though we were at the next table, I could see that they were ignoring each other.
“But you know who I think is charming? That nice young man, Ted Cavanaugh. And I am so sorry for that beautiful girl Celia Kilbride. To think of what that snake of a fiancé did to her. By the way, Ted was not wearing a wedding ring. At the table I was glancing between him and Celia Kilbride. I was thinking what a good-looking couple they would make. And what gorgeous children they would have.”
Willy smiled.
“I know what you’re going to say, Willy. ‘Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match.’ And Willy, did you notice the other woman at Lady Em’s table? I mean Brenda Martin, Lady Em’s companion. She’s kind of a big lady, with short, gray hair.”
“Oh, sure, I noticed her,” Willy agreed. “She’s no beauty.”
“You’re right about that. Poor thing. But I fell in step with her when I was taking a walk this morning when you were doing the crossword puzzle. Anyway, we started chatting. At first she didn’t say much, but then she began to open up. She told me that she’s been working for Lady Em for twenty years and goes all over the world with her. I said, ‘That must be fascinating.’ Then she laughed and said, ‘Fascination wears thin,’ and she told me that they had just come back from spending the summer in East Hampton.”
“Well, you sure got all of them down pat,” Willy observed as he drew in a deep breath. “I love the smell of the ocean. Remember how we used to go down to Rockaway Beach on Sundays during the summer?”
“I do. And you can bet there isn’t a finer beach, including the Hamptons. Anyway the traffic in the Hamptons is terrible, but I still like those bed-and-breakfasts we’ve stayed at out there. Brenda told me that Lady Em has a mansion in the Hamptons.”
“Is there anything Brenda didn’t tell you?” Willy asked.
“No, that was it. Oh, yes. When I said, ‘Brenda, you must love staying at a mansion,’ her answer was ‘I’m bored stiff.’ Isn’t that a funny thing to say about your employer?” Alvirah shook her head. “Willy, reading between the lines, I get the feeling that Brenda is sick of being at Lady Em’s beck and call. I mean she made remarks like ‘Lady Em is reading a book and told me I could take a walk for an hour. Precisely one hour.’ Doesn’t that sound to you as if Brenda is on call 24/7 and doesn’t like it a bit?”
“It sounds like it,” Willy agreed. He added, “I wouldn’t like it either. On the other hand, why would Brenda change jobs at this stage of the game? Lady Em is eighty-six years old, and not too many people live a heck of a lot longer than that.”
“Oh, I agree,” Alvirah said quickly. “But I do get the impression that Brenda Martin is really fed up with Lady Em. I mean in a really serious way.”
23
Celia did not go down to dinner. She spent the rest of the afternoon reading in a lounge chair on her private balcony.
On the one hand it was a good way to unwind after her lecture; on the other it was hard to get into a book. Her concentration was constantly interrupted by the same thought. Suppose the U.S. Attorney’s Office decides to indict me after all? I don’t have any money to keep paying a lawyer.
The management at Carruthers had been sympathetic until now, but when the article in People comes out, it is likely that they will fire her, or at least ask her to take an unpaid leave of absence.
At six o’clock she ordered dinner, a salad and salmon. Simple as it was, she could not finish it. When she had come back to the suite, she had changed into slacks and a shirt, but now she decided to put on pajamas and go to bed. Suddenly very tired, she remembered that she had not slept at all the previous night.
Before the butler came in to turn down the bed, she put a QUIET PLEASE sign on the doorknob. I guess that sounds friendlier than DO NOT DISTURB, she thought wryly.
She fell asleep immediately.
24
The formal dress code for dinner was in effect, so the men were in black tie and the women in cocktail dresses or gowns. The talk at Alvirah and Willy’s table was of the three lectures and how entertaining they had been.
A few feet away Lady Em waxed eloquent on Sir Richard’s ancestral home. “It was quite splendid,” she said. “Think of Downton Abbey. Of course, after World War I, things became simplified. But my husband told me that in his father’s time, there was a full staff of twenty servants.
“Everyone dressed for dinner. And on weekends the house was always filled with guests. A number of times ‘Prince Bertie,’ as he was known, attended. As everyone knows, after King Edward VIII gave up the crown, Bertie became King George VI, Queen Elizabeth’s father.”
Of course he did, Yvonne thought, but managed to keep an attentive smile on her face.
After dinner Lady Em decided to go directly to her suite. But when Roger offered her his arm, she said, “Roger, I would like to have a quiet meeting with you tomorrow morning at eleven o’clock in my suite. Come alone.”
“As you wish, Lady Em,” Roger agreed. “Is there anything special we need to discuss?”
“Why don’t we talk about it in the morning?” she suggested.
When he left her at the door, she did not realize how her casual request had so deeply troubled Roger.
25