Chapter 15 #3
I pictured his face as he discovered I’d sent a maid and stranger—employed by the very woman he’d forbidden me to see—to look in on him.
Sooner or later, he’d find out the truth, and though he wouldn’t condone it, in the end, I would see the job through with the McLeans, no matter what he said, both to continue to repair the Beaumont reputation among the social elite of Washington, DC, and to ensure our income.
But that time wasn’t now, especially at such a late hour.
“How about I stay until midnight,” I said, aiming for a compromise. I was already full of delicious food and longed for bed, but I’d humor her until then.
“Oh, pooh, all right,” she said with a laugh.
Thoughts of my father brought to mind the conversation we’d had about our showcase boxes, how I should bring the collections to Evalyn’s house. I might make a few more sales that way.
I cleared my throat. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you. Would you care to see more of the Beaumont collection? I could bring a case with a sampling of our pieces to your house one afternoon. I’d be honored to show you my own collection.”
She looked confused a moment by my abrupt change in topic.
“I apologize for the abruptness,” I continued. “I’ve been meaning to ask you for a few days, but as soon as Jerry rolls out the drink cart, I forget everything.”
She laughed. “I have the same problem. But I’ll do you one better.
I’ll stop by your boutique. I’d like to see where my little Lizzie lives anyway.
” She pinched my cheek as if I were a child.
We both laughed this time, though mine felt put-on and overly bubbly.
Or perhaps that was because I felt as if I were faking it, faking this entire charade of belonging and seeking the approval of a woman who could not and would not ever understand me.
Faking the need to share my own collection with her when in fact, all I wanted to do was store it away in the back of a closet and never think of it again.
Surprised by the direction my thoughts had gone, I frowned and set my half-empty drink on the table.
Evalyn didn’t seem to notice my change in demeanor. “What time should I arrive tomorrow?” she persisted.
Despite the haze of a full stomach and too much alcohol, it hit me.
If she came by the house, Father might see her.
But I couldn’t turn her away. The possibility of a confrontation with Father was a risk I’d have to take and a truth I’d have to confront eventually.
I quickly decided the best time for Evalyn to come would be after lunch, when he usually took a rest or went for the walks he’d finally begun again.
“How about two o’clock? Does that suit your schedule?”
“Wonderful,” she said. She motioned to Jerry to pour us another cocktail.
When he’d gone, I ran my finger around the rim of my glass, avoiding Evalyn’s eye, and at last brought up the question I’d been burning to ask her since Carrie had left that afternoon. Forcing a light tone, I said, “I heard the others say Carrie is a flirt. Is that true?”
Evalyn shrugged. I relaxed a little as she followed the shrug with a smile. “She can be a bit saucy when she wants to be. Can’t we all?”
No, I thought. I couldn’t be saucy with a man if someone paid me a million dollars.
Rather than admit the truth, I conceded, “I suppose you’re right.
” I paused for a beat before adding, “My brother was such a flirt. We used to tease him because he’d bat those golden eyelashes and women would fall at his feet. I imagine you saw him in action?”
“Your brother was a beautiful man, I must say. And he certainly did win us over.” She reached for the wine bottle on ice that Jerry had left for us and refilled her glass.
“I…noticed Carrie was wearing a pendant that he made,” I continued.
Though Evalyn looked right at me, her expression was carefully blank, her tone measured. “Many of us bought jewelry from him. That was why he worked for me.”
“Of course, and what a kindness it was for you to hire him. And me,” I said hastily, not wanting to offend her while I was fishing for information. I’d have to be more careful.
“Julien spent very little time with us women, though,” Evalyn went on.
“He and my husband and their friends wandered off regularly to the gentlemen’s club or the cigar bar in town.
They played a lot of cards and billiards, too, from what I gather.
I had the impression they got themselves into trouble a little too often. Boys will be boys, right?”
Beyond the gambling and the loose women to which she was alluding, I wondered if Julien had found himself in some other kind of trouble.
Maybe Jerry had it wrong, and Julien hadn’t been in business with the husbands but with someone else?
The wrong kind of people. Those with money and power often crossed lines regular people did not.
Julien was a regular person, without access to a vast fortune that could shield him from his mistakes.
Perhaps my brother had become too daring, had acted out of turn with one of the most powerful groups of people in Washington.
My stomach roiled at the thought, of someone retaliating for some perceived slight he’d made.
As Evalyn rose from her chair, I realized I’d been lost in thought.
“I’m going to look in on the children for a moment,” she said. “You make yourself at home.”
Before I could reply, she stalked off in the direction of the suite of children’s rooms.
I watched her go, my mind circling our conversation.
Something didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was.
While I considered what it might be, Ned slinked into the room, lit cigar in hand.
My stomach dipped as I remembered the way he’d looked at me the afternoon he’d driven me home after an evening out.
Tonight, he was especially handsome. His cheeks and nose were tinged pink as if he’d been outdoors much of the day, his hair was pleasantly disheveled, and he had a gleam in his eyes.
“Did I hear we’re having a slumber party?” he said.
“I’m afraid not,” I replied with a weak smile.
I thought back to the slumber party I’d had with my childhood friend Amy Thompson.
When she’d moved away, we were both devastated.
I hadn’t really had many female friends since.
I’d been too busy reading my books and maps, working with my father, or spending time with Henry and Julien and his other friends.
I didn’t realize I was staring at Ned until he winked. Heat spread across my chest and up my neck.
“You’re awfully pretty with that haircut and your new dress,” he said, a smile stretching his mustache.
He was flirting with me so openly? Though I’d spent a lot of time with men, I’d mostly been treated like the kid sister I was.
Except with Henry, the night neither of us would ever forget.
I shook my head to dispel the image. I needed to be here in the moment rather than live in the past. Ned misread the gesture.
“But you are pretty,” he insisted. “You would turn heads at any party.”
I blushed more deeply and hated myself for the embarrassing reaction with which I’d always struggled.
“Say, why don’t you join me for a drink while we wait for Evie? She doesn’t do anything fast, so we may as well kick up our feet.”
I practiced one of Evalyn’s smiles. “All right.”
He winked and a small thrill zipped through me. To have an effect on men—a man of Ned’s caliber—made me feel powerful. Something I’d never felt before.
He grabbed a set of crystal glasses and led me to the patio. We sat in lawn chairs facing the expansive, verdant landscape stretching out behind the house. The chairs’ headrests tilted toward the sky. Without so much as a sliver of moon in sight, stars took center stage, glittering overhead.
“How beautiful,” I said, making my voice breathy like Evalyn’s when she was talking to a man. She didn’t know she’d given me more than a haircut and new dresses—she was teaching me all I needed to know about behaving like a society woman.
“Very,” Ned replied, his eyes not leaving my face.
I shifted my gaze back to the stars, uneasy with the intensity of his expression. “Evalyn said you like horses.”
“I’m a betting man,” he said agreeably and filled me in on the horses he’d bought for his farm and the Kentucky Derby coming up in a couple of weeks.
Julien had been correct about Ned and his gambling.
Yet Ned acted as if his habit wasn’t a negative one but rather some laudable hobby.
Regardless, he was charming if intense but funny, too.
He regaled me with stories of his trips abroad, some anecdotes about his adventures in golfing, and I couldn’t stop laughing.
Truly laughing. My sides ached with it. Something tightly wound inside me was unspooling.
I noticed, too, how much more at ease I was in his presence versus when I was in Evalyn’s.
When Evalyn finally reappeared, it felt like an age had passed. I glanced at the time. Ned was right; she’d taken more than an hour looking in on the children.
“Did you save a glass for me?” She was smiling, but there was a flicker of something in her eyes I couldn’t pinpoint.
“Of course, darling.” Ned poured her a glass. “I was keeping your friend company while you were busy. I told Lizzie here all about my pathetic attempt at golfing.”
She rolled her eyes. “He hit someone with a ball once. I thought we were going to be sued.”
We all laughed this time.
Evalyn began a litany of stories about their mishaps. Two hours later, as I set down my nearly empty glass, Ned caught my eye and held my gaze for a beat, then two, and longer still until my breath caught in my throat and my cheeks burned.
Something flickered between us. Something I knew I needed to let lie.
Forcing myself to look away, I stood to go. “It’s getting late.”
“My driver will take you home,” Evalyn said.
“Thank you. And thank you for the wonderful evening.” I focused on Evalyn’s face—not on her husband’s lovely eyes—and made my way to the door.