Chapter 3 #3
“I’ve been assisting Mr. Armitage with a murder investigation.”
I hadn’t noticed Frank come up behind me until he spoke. “Can’t Armitage work alone?”
Goliath winked at Frank. “Where’s the fun in that?”
The lines on Frank’s face settled into their usual curmudgeonly pattern. “He shouldn’t have asked you. If Sir Ronald hears about it—”
“It won’t matter,” I said.
“Tell us about the murder,” Goliath said, keeping his voice low as two guests passed.
“Not here.” I smiled at another guest I recognized. “And not now. Mr. Hobart is signaling me.”
I joined the hotel manager who’d emerged from the corridor where the senior staff offices were located. It was almost time for him to leave for the day, but he didn’t yet hold the leather satchel he carried with him to and from work.
“How did it go with Harry?” he asked.
“Splendidly.” Realizing how that sounded in light of the reason why I’d met with Harry, I tempered my enthusiasm. “That is to say, it was interesting. We have a great deal to get on with tomorrow.”
“Together?”
“Yes.” I tried to keep my features schooled, but a small smile and a blush managed to escape.
“Marvelous. I am pleased. I’m sure you’ll have it solved within the week, Miss Fox. You two have an excellent partnership. Before you go up, I ought to inform you that your family want to speak to you.”
“All of them?”
“I believe so. They’re waiting for you to return to have a family meeting in your aunt and uncle’s suite. I said I’d send you there directly if I saw you before I left.”
I glanced over my shoulder toward the lift. “It sounds ominous.”
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. They certainly didn’t hear it from me that you were meeting with Harry or that you’re investigating a murder.”
My uncle had forbidden me to associate with Harry, but I’d managed to get him to change his mind and allow me to see Harry when we investigate together, knowing anything more would be too much for my uncle to bear.
The time would come when I’d have to inform him about our relationship, but not yet.
I needed to soften his attitude to Harry first.
How I would do that was still a mystery.
I thanked Mr. Hobart and took the stairs up to the fourth floor, where I planned to go directly to my aunt and uncle’s suite. I was accosted by my two cousins in the corridor before I reached it, however.
“Have you both been waiting for me?” I asked.
Flossy shushed me with a finger to her lips. “We’ve all been summoned to their suite. I think Floyd is in trouble.”
“Me?” Floyd’s bellow earned another shushing from Flossy.
“It must be you,” she shot back. “It’s always you. It’s never me.”
“That’s because you’re as dull as a loaf of bread.”
“Are you calling me fat?”
“No! But you are stupid.”
She thumped his arm. Honestly, sometimes they behaved as though they were children, not nineteen and just turned twenty-four.
“If it was about Floyd, we wouldn’t all be summoned,” I pointed out. “It’s probably something to do with Mr. Lombardi. Have neither of you been told?”
“That he’s hosting a presentation here?” Floyd asked. “Yes, I know. I’m organizing it.”
“Harmony is organizing it,” Flossy said petulantly. “You’re merely providing the Bainbridge name.”
“I do more than that, Floss, but you wouldn’t understand, so I’m not going to bother explaining it.”
She planted a hand on one hip and gave an indignant humph.
Before they descended into a verbal fight, I rapped on the door. “Let’s see what this is all about.”
Uncle Ronald answered my knock and invited us into their suite.
The most spacious suite in the entire hotel, it was tastefully furnished by my aunt with a mixture of modern comforts, and antiques that Uncle Ronald had inherited along with the building itself.
Aunt Lilian’s keen sense of style was evident in the placement of the furniture, the muted color scheme, and the cluster of family photographs on one of the occasional tables.
I noticed a new one had been added of Flossy, Floyd and me lounging in the sunshine on a picnic blanket in the garden at Hambledon Hall.
Aunt Lilian indicated we should all sit on the sofa while she sat in an armchair opposite.
Uncle Ronald took up a position behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder.
They were presenting a united front for what was to come, which was pleasing to see after Aunt Lilian had deliberately distanced herself from her husband in recent times.
It was also pleasing to see that she was taking charge of the meeting.
It meant she was feeling more confident within herself.
The visit to her new doctor was already working wonders.
We exchanged the obligatory pleasantries before Aunt Lilian got to the point.
“You all know about the event for Mr. Lombardi’s company that will be held in our ballroom.
You know how important it is to the hotel.
But you may not know that Mr. Lombardi’s company is the one that makes the tonic I used to take. ”
Flossy and Floyd glanced at each other, then at me. “You knew,” Floyd said.
I nodded. “I learned it this morning, as did Uncle Ronald.”
“And he told me,” Aunt Lilian said. “Except I already knew, of course. I recognized the company name when I first heard it.”
“Then why not say something before the contract was signed?” I asked.
“Because I want our hotel to host his presentation. Like your uncle, I believe corporate events could prove lucrative.”
He patted her shoulder.
“But by hosting Mr. Lombardi’s event, it makes it appear that we approve of his medicines,” I said. “How can we approve of the tonic after knowing how it affected you, Aunt?”
Her eyes briefly fluttered closed, as if it hurt to keep them open.
She already looked quite exhausted, with the dark circles under her eyes against pale skin.
I regretted my vehement tone, but she spoke before I could apologize.
“Mr. Lombardi’s company produces other medicines.
We can’t make a sweeping judgment based on one product.
Especially not when it would be to the hotel’s detriment. ”
I appealed to my cousins for support, but neither looked inclined to disagree with their parents. “I think it’s wrong,” I said. “We’re putting profits ahead of our moral duty.”
“It’s not our duty to prove his tonic is ineffective,” Aunt Lilian said.
“It’s more than ineffective. It’s dangerous.”
Her fingers twined together in her lap. “It’s the duty of the medical profession to police such things. Our duty is to our guests, and Mr. Lombardi is a guest. Please treat him with the respect you would treat others.”
“But—"
“Your aunt has made her decision, Cleopatra,” Uncle Ronald said. Although his words were stern, his tone held a hint of apology. I suspected he felt more conflicted about continuing to host the event than she did.
Aunt Lilian winced and pressed her fingers to her temple.
“I have a headache and won’t be joining you for dinner tonight, but if Mr. Lombardi is dining alone, then I’ve asked Ronald to invite him to join you.
If not tonight, then another night. You will all be polite to him.
No one is to mention the Nerve Elixir and my…
condition in his presence. Is that clear? ”
Flossy and Floyd both murmured their assent.
“Is that clear, Cleopatra?”
“Quite.” I rose. “If you’ll excuse me, I must dress for dinner.”
I filed out of the suite along with my cousins, but didn’t stay to talk to them.
I marched off to my room where one of the housemaids was laying out a dress for me to change into.
I’d momentarily forgotten that Harmony wouldn’t be assisting me, since she was working on the event.
Her ladies’ maid duties had been temporarily handed to Jane.
My nerves were still on edge when I entered the restaurant. I didn’t head for the family table directly but stopped to speak to Mr. Chapman. “Does Mr. Lombardi have a reservation for tonight?”
The steward raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow. “No, Miss Fox. Apparently, he is dining elsewhere.”
I released a held breath. “Good.”
“You’re not the first member of the family to ask that question.” He looked in the direction of Uncle Ronald and Floyd, both seated at our usual table, chatting amiably to some guests at the adjacent table. “Nor the first member to seem relieved with my answer. Is there a problem?”
“That’s none of your concern,” I snipped off. He could be quite the nosy busybody. I’d caught him listening at doors on more than one occasion.
Instead of apologizing for his nosiness, he simply leaned a little closer, giving me a strong whiff of the cologne he used. It was an expensive brand. “Do I need to alert you when Mr. Lombardi does have a reservation with us?”
“Of course not.” I went to walk off but stopped. “On second thoughts, perhaps that’s a good idea. Thank you, Mr. Chapman.”
I was gratified that he was being so agreeable after he and I had clashed on occasion. That was until I noticed the slight change in his handsome features. They’d taken on a slyness that I was more familiar with.
“I’m happy to do you this favor, Miss Fox.”
Now I understood. He was being agreeable so that I would grant him a favor in turn.
I was about to retract my response to his offer, but decided to let it stand.
That favor would probably come in the form of me keeping his secret to myself—Mr. Chapman’s proclivities leaned toward men, not women—which was something I was happy to grant anyway.
Flossy arrived and took my hand. She scanned the faces of the other diners in the restaurant. “Is he here?”
“Not tonight,” I said as Mr. Chapman politely melted away.
“Good. We can enjoy our meal.”
I doubted I could enjoy my food until the week was over and Mr. Lombardi had left the hotel. My appetite vanished at the thought of being agreeable to the man who profited from something that made vulnerable people even more ill.