“Not all.” I gulped back a sob. “Our little servant girl, Aggie. She was trying to save Liam and she was killed. I feel terrible.”
“My dear darling, Molly, you need a strong drink,” he said. “You’re shaking. And some dry clothes.”
“I don’t have any dry clothes,” I said. “I don’t have any clothes at all. It’s all gone. Everything.”
“Then we must remedy that. Stay there. Don’t move.” He undid his cape and draped it around my shoulders. “That should hold you until I come back.” He went out and soon returned. “Here we are. These should be sufficient for tonight,” he said. He held out emerald green silk pajamas, a black silk robe, slippers. “Give me time and I’ll see what you can wear tomorrow. I’ve always thought you’d look stunning in breeches.” He glanced down at Liam who had now, miraculously, fallen asleep. “I’m afraid I don’t keep a handy supply of infant’s clothes, never having had the need, thank God, but I think I have a traveling rug somewhere that you could use as swaddling clothes, or whatever they do to infants.”
I laughed in spite of myself. “Ryan, you’re too kind. Thank you.”
“Well, go ahead. Put them on. You’ll get pneumonia if you wait any longer.”
“I can’t change my clothes with you here.”
He laughed, that delightfully wicked laugh that was so infectious. “My darling, as if you’re in any danger from moi. Besides, I’m a theater person. I’ve seen it all. So go ahead and strip off, woman. There. If it makes you feel better, I’ll look the other way.” He turned his back and stared out of the window.
Gratefully I peeled off the damp and blackened garments. I was horrified at the ripped and singed fabric and now was aware of burns and scrapes on my body. I’d have liked to sponge myself down with hot water, but I certainly wasn’t going to do that with Ryan watching me. Instead I slipped into the heavenly softness of those pajamas and then put on the robe. Ryan turned back so swiftly that I realized he must have been watching me in the dressing table mirror.
“You look divine, my darling,” he said. “It’s one of those moments when I wish I was the other way inclined so that I could ravish you before your husband returned.”
I laughed again. He smiled too. “That’s better. Now you look more like the Molly I know and love, the Molly who isn’t afraid of anything.”
“It’s easy not to be afraid when you don’t have a husband and child to fear for,” I said. “When Daniel was lying unconscious and I knew my baby was up in that inferno I thought I’d die of fright.”
“All’s well that ends well,” Ryan said. “You have all three come through unharmed. Houses can be mended. New clothes and furnishing can be bought.…”
“On a policeman’s salary?” I said, already lamenting all of those precious little items I had acquired as wedding presents that would now never be replaced. “And where will we live until they can fix the house? If they can fix the house?”
There was a tap at the door and a voice said, “Room service, madame.” Ryan went to the door and a young man came in, carrying a tray. If he thought it questionable that another man was in my room and I was now wearing green silk pajamas, he didn’t let his face show it. He merely put the tray on the bedside table, gave a little bow, and left. I realized I should have tipped him but of course I had no money. No purse, no comb … before despair could overwhelm me, Ryan had already picked up a steaming mug of hot rum. “Here, drink this. You’ll feel better.”
I took a sip, feeling the warmth spreading through my chilled limbs.
“There you are. Now you’re looking almost human again. Almost human but horribly dirty. Wait a second.” He bustled across the room and returned with a wet washcloth with which he proceeded to dab gently at my face. “And your hair is singed too,” he said. “What a mess. My poor darling. Who could have done such a dastardly deed? Foreign anarchists? But who would want to assassinate Daniel?”
“It’s foreigners all right,” I said, “but Daniel thinks it’s the new Italian gang, the Cosa Nostra.”
“My dear, I’ve heard about them. Utterly ruthless. What has Daniel done to upset them?”
“Arrested their leader, I gather. He’s had orders to shut them down. He feared they would retaliate and now they have.” I felt tears close to the surface again and looked away, not wanting him to see me cry.
Ryan, more sensitive than most men, picked up a ham sandwich and waved it in front of my face. “Eat,” he said. “You’ll feel better. And finish that toddy too.”
I did as he commanded, mechanically chewing at the bread, although it was hard to swallow.
“That’s my girl,” he said, stroking my cheek. “Now, you remember my former friend Fritz Birnbaum, the German doctor, don’t you?”
“Of course I do,” I said.