Chapter 16
I threw open my bedroom window, and a cleansing spring breeze poured inside, whisking away the oppressive air that had stifled me for months.
I watched a pair of robins hopping about on the grass below, pecking at the ground and singing their distinctive song.
Dappled sunlight formed a pattern of golden light around them.
I couldn’t believe I’d slept half the morning away.
After the long day and late evening at Evalyn’s, I supposed I’d needed it.
I hadn’t settled into bed easily once home either, my mind churning with thoughts of my brother.
I dressed for work and prepared to clean the boutique for Evalyn’s visit later that day.
Though we were open by appointment only, it had been weeks since I’d cleaned the space, much less scheduled a meeting with a client, and every surface was coated in a thick layer of dust. After I’d shined both the large front window and the glass counter where we showcased our designs, I cleaned the honey-colored wood floors and claw-footed lamps stationed at each corner of the room.
After, I dusted the watercolor paintings, one of a scene in Paris along the Seine and the other of the wild marshes of the Chesapeake Bay.
The boutique was an inviting, light-filled space, designed to complement our jewelry in every possible way.
By the time I’d finished, a sheen of sweat dampened my forehead. As I put away the cleaning supplies, I realized that for the first time in months, I hadn’t awakened with a start or with the vision of my beloved twin, broken and bloodied, pinned behind my eyes.
As I considered what that meant—the forgetting, the ebb of pain—grief slammed into me.
Was he fading from my memory? I closed my eyes, and his scent filled my nose, his laughter my ears, and his hand found mine.
My breath steadied as my heart knew what my head did not: He would not and could not leave me, not ever.
Evalyn and her glittering world, her friends and parties and beautiful things, her husband with his piercing blue eyes, distracted me, diverted the darkness roaring inside me, like river stones directing the water’s path.
But it didn’t mean my brother had left me.
I swiped at my eyes and the tears collecting there.
Outside, the sound of the lid on the letter box clinked shut.
Grateful for the interruption to my thoughts, I stepped outside to retrieve the mail, glancing momentarily at the retreating back of the postman.
Richard used to say hello when he delivered the mail, but Father and I had avoided nearly all human contact long enough that Richard no longer took a moment out of his day to be friendly.
Suddenly I felt the urge to call out to him, to say hello.
I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Richard! I hope you’re well!”
He paused at the end of the sidewalk and raised his hat above his head. “Hello, Elisabeth. Nice to see you up and about.”
I appreciated his sensitivity in not mentioning the obvious. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a nice day.”
“You, too, miss.”
Satisfied, I stepped inside and sorted through the envelopes.
There were three more bills and one envelope of what looked to be expensive stationery.
My address was marked on the front, but there wasn’t a return address, and the postage stamp came from a town in Virginia.
I frowned as I closed the door behind me and slit open the letter. A small card was stuffed inside.
Beware. Trouble will find you as long as you are the caretaker of the Hope Diamond.
I reread the card three times. Frowning, I turned it over, looking for some clue as to who the sender might be, but the back was blank.
Was it the same woman who’d warned Evalyn?
It couldn’t be—I’d never met Maude Hughes and apparently neither had Evalyn.
I wondered if Evalyn’s other friends had received notes as well.
Surely they would have mentioned it if they had?
“I don’t believe in curses,” I whispered.
Yet even as I spoke the words aloud, some sense, some knowing filled me with dread.
I couldn’t imagine who would send the note and what they’d have to gain by warning me away.
Why go to the trouble when I was a jeweler, and it was my very job to tend to the necklace?
The doorbell chimed, and I jumped like a frightened cat.
I peered out the window to see several people clustered near the door.
It was…Evalyn and a few of her friends? I glanced at the clock.
She was two hours earlier than we’d agreed upon, and she’d brought others.
I paused before opening the door. Father could come downstairs at any moment.
I chewed the inside of my cheek, wondering what in the world I would say to him if he did.
Or worse, what he’d say to Evalyn. I’d have to take that chance.
The doorbell chimed again, and I opened the door. “Evalyn! Hello, you’re here.”
“Hello, darling.” She pushed past me inside the shop, a cloud of jasmine perfume swirling around her. Bea, Gwen, Sharon, and two other women I didn’t recognize followed her. “What a day it is. I’m already perspiring.”
“And I’m sweating like a hog,” Bea said crassly, making everyone laugh.
Gwen lightly touched her coiffure to make sure every hair was in place.
I felt my own hair then, my fingertips brushing damp clumps that had escaped my once-tight bun.
As I glanced down at my work trousers and the scuffed tips of my boots, I wished fervently I was wearing anything else.
I hadn’t had enough time to clean up like I’d planned.
I cringed inwardly at the sight I must be.
I knew someone would make a comment about my attire before they left, so I braced myself for it.
“How nice it is to see you all,” I said, sliding the menacing letter into the pocket of my smock.
One of the women I didn’t know stared at me, her eyes skimming my body. When she met my gaze, I noticed she wore a tight smile. “How do you do. I’m Peggy, and this is Frances.” She waved a hand in the direction of the woman beside her.
“We’d like to see your pieces, darling,” Evalyn cut in. “Where are they?” She frowned as she peered at the empty case.
“We keep them locked in the safe until we have an appointment with a client. Let me gather them.” I pushed through the door connecting the workshop with the boutique and fetched the trays and my collection as well.
As I carried the trays to the boutique, snippets of the women’s conversation drifted toward me.
“Shhh, don’t be so rude.” Evalyn’s voice.
“Come now, Evie. Really, she’s dressed like a man,” Sharon said.
Snickers followed, and I felt my stomach sink. What did they expect me to wear while I worked? Silk and lace? And they’d arrived two hours early!
As I pushed through the door and set down the trays, my irritation bubbled over. “I’m afraid my silk robes and sapphire diadem are being cleaned at the moment. They get rather dirty while I’m cleaning or creating new masterpieces.”
Evalyn laughed heartily at my sarcasm. Sharon looked stung by Evalyn’s laughter and my reply.
Served her right.
“Oh, you do make me laugh, Lizzie,” Evalyn said. “Now let’s have a look at your jewelry, shall we?”
As I lay out the trays in an artful display, the ladies made sounds of delight.
Sharon, despite her snideness, bought a pair of gold earrings with pearl inlay and a matching necklace.
Two of the others bought brooches, and Evalyn bought the largest and most expensive piece: a stunning diamond collar with a pear-shaped ruby pendant my father had designed several years ago.
He’d hoped to sell it many times, but the price had ultimately spooked the few women who had considered it.
He would be thrilled to see it finally had a home.
To my surprise, the others, Sharon and Gwen included, set up a schedule for me to clean their jewelry collections.
I was thrilled to have secured them as clients at last. The hours of spending time with these women had paid off.
I didn’t know how things would develop from here, but it was a good start.
Before leaving, Evalyn put her hand on my arm. “Stop by tomorrow, will you? Five o’clock. Dress for a dinner party.” She flashed her white teeth.
“I’ll see you then.”
“Good.” She turned to go but stopped when I called her name. “What is it?”
“Have any of the others—your friends, I mean—have they received warnings or threatening letters like you have?”
“No,” she said, frowning. “Why do you ask?”
I hesitated a moment and finally decided it would be best to keep the note I’d received to myself for now.
I wasn’t in the habit of confiding in Evalyn, and I didn’t know what good it would do to share the information with her.
It might upset her. I opted for flattery instead.
“I wondered if it might be a hazard of being part of such a sought-after crowd.”
“I’m the only lucky one,” she said facetiously.
And so was I, apparently. Something I would think more about later.
“I really must be going. Toodle-oo.” She waggled her fingers at me and disappeared through the front door.
When I’d locked the door behind them, I breathed a sigh of relief.
Pretending to be someone else was exhausting, but as I flipped through the stack of receipts, tabulating the money I’d made, I couldn’t help but feel a glimmer of satisfaction.
Their business had effectively paid off the worst of our stack of bills, buying me time to decide on my next move as well as what to do about my designs.
How could I regret succumbing to Evalyn’s demands and wasting many hours and days on her whims with such rewards?
She and her circle were keeping Beaumont Jewelers afloat until my father returned to work in earnest. And yet…
My fingertips brushed the letter in my pocket. The same spike of dread I’d felt earlier returned in force. I didn’t know who could have sent the letter or what their agenda might be, but it was an obvious warning to stay away from the Hope Diamond or face the consequences.
As I glanced down at the pile of receipts, I knew I’d ignore the warning. I’d already worked too hard, was in too deep, and depended on their income. Never mind the questions that I still needed to be answered. I was getting closer to the truth about Julien. I could feel it.
“Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”
I jumped at the sound of Father’s voice. “You scared me!” I collected the trays and locked away the unsold jewelry, racking my brain for something to say. Had he noticed the Hope Diamond? I bit my lip as I turned to face him.
“What was she doing here?” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“It’s the new group of society ladies I was telling you about,” I said, trying to redirect him. “Look at everything we sold today.” I held out the sales ledger.
He made no move to look at it, and my stomach dropped. “Elisabeth Marie Beaumont, you’d better tell me right now why that woman was here.”
“She’s the one who helped us,” I said, avoiding his eyes. “She’s introduced me to all her friends. She’s invited me to her gatherings… I’ve been wearing our jewelry as an advertisement. You should see how many things they bought today! Look!”
“I don’t care how much she’s bought! I forbade you from going to that house!” he thundered. “Have you forgotten what happened to your brother?”
“She feels terrible about Julien,” I pleaded.
“Oh, she feels terrible?” he shouted. “She feels terrible as she spends thousands of dollars on clothes and cars and a million other insignificant things and gets on with her life? And now you, my only daughter, are at risk, just as your brother was. Dallying in a world where he didn’t belong.
Toying with that woman’s affections. Look where that got him.
You will not go back there. Do you hear me! ”
“I’m not a child!” I shouted back. “I’m twenty-eight years old, for Christ’s sake.
And I’m the only adult holding this business together.
If you don’t like who our clients are, then perhaps you should rise from your chair and help me.
If I’m to do this alone, we’ll do it my way.
I don’t want to forfeit everything we’ve worked so hard for, including our home!
” My chest heaved with the force of my anger.
Stunned by my vehemence, my father’s eyes widened, and he took a step back. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say another word, I stormed from the room.