Chapter 19 #2
My heart skipped a beat at the now-familiar baritone of Ned McLean. He wore casual trousers and a pin-striped shirt with sleeves rolled to his forearms. His hair was windswept and his cheeks were pink, as if he’d spent time in the sun.
I hesitated. I’d wanted to avoid him, put distance between us, and eliminate the chance for any inappropriate behavior. I had no intentions toward him otherwise, but here he was, inviting me for a walk like a friend would do. What could be the harm in that?
“Come on, Lizzie,” he said and held out his arm. “Let me show you where the frogs live near the pond. You can hear them singing from a mile away, especially this time of year, when the sun sets.”
I silenced the warning voice in my head and took his arm, casting one last glance over my shoulder at Jerry, who I knew kept a careful eye on us.
“How have you been?” Ned asked, all smiles. “I haven’t seen you in a few days.”
I didn’t bother to explain I’d been at Friendship with Evalyn nearly every day the past few weeks and that it was he who had been absent. Spending his time betting on horses and losing money, Evalyn had said.
“I’ve been busy with work,” I replied.
“Sometimes I forget that you work for a living. Did you know Evie’s father amassed the largest gold fortune in the country?
It’s too bad you can’t meet him. He’d be able to connect you with the best miners for your collection.
But the poor bastard passed away of cancer years ago.
Evie was distraught for months, had her fill of laudanum over it.
Things were a bit difficult at the time.
We had a full-time nurse looking after her. ”
I shouldn’t be surprised by his taking me into his confidence—it seemed I had that effect on people, something I’d learned since I’d met Evalyn and her friends—but it was such a personal detail that it caught me off guard.
I didn’t reply immediately but rather admired the elegant beauty of their yard, the fragrant lilacs and blooming dogwoods and the two ancient magnolia trees with thick, glossy leaves framed by the fiery sky as the sun began to set.
“I can imagine,” I said at last. “I know what it’s like to lose a loved one. It’s very difficult.”
“Indeed. Between you and me, her friends were a bit scandalized by her behavior. She had more than her fill of laudanum, and it made her act erratically.”
“Her friends were scandalized? Those who can drink enough to drown an elephant?”
He barked out a laugh. “Well, you certainly don’t mince words.”
I stepped over a patch of sodden grass. “I was taught to speak my mind.”
He angled his body toward mine. “I must say, that’s very attractive in a woman. Not putting on airs, not trying so desperately to do and say the right thing.”
His comment showed how little he knew me.
I’d done nothing but put on airs since I’d met the McLeans, and it was exhausting.
Besides, he couldn’t be missing that sort of perfect behavior in Evalyn.
She vacillated between excellent society manners and outright lewd behavior at times.
Loud parties with too much champagne, playing poker and other games until dawn…
“Evalyn is no prude,” I said at last.
He laughed. “That, she is not. But she does feel the need to impress everyone in Washington.” He puffed on his cigar and exhaled a cloud of smoke.
I inhaled, relishing the scent of tobacco and wood, tinged with the sweetness of spring flowers. A comfortable warmth spread through me as I remembered my father smoking a cigar with a glass of red wine after a long day’s work.
“You’re almost smiling, Miss Elisabeth Beaumont. I’m not sure what to do with you,” Ned teased.
But I knew there was an underlying jab there.
I didn’t smile easily, wasn’t happy or light fun like the others, and he didn’t know what to think of that.
I suspected none of them did. I was quiet and serious, trustworthy and stalwart, and most of all studious—qualities I was beginning to realize I liked about myself, especially in juxtaposition to the people who had filled my days these past weeks.
“Cigars remind me of my father,” I replied. “He’s finally up and about, and I’m hoping he’ll be back to work for good very soon. I’m so relieved.”
“What happened to him?”
The smile dropped from my face. “Oh, perhaps you didn’t know.
” I hesitated, summoning the strength I needed to force out the words I’d only managed to say twice before.
“When Julien passed away last fall, my father… He’s been unable to work since.
Evalyn’s patronage has really helped keep us afloat. ”
He drew on his cigar and exhaled a steady stream of fragrant smoke. “That sounds like Evie. She’s always been attracted to a good charity case.”
Was that what my father and I were? People in need of charity? The comment pricked the way some of Evalyn’s had, but I managed to keep my tone light.
“It’s chillier than I expected,” I said. “I should have worn my coat.”
“Allow me.” He slipped out of his dinner jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders, his fingers brushing the skin of my neck. I shivered, whether at the cold or at his touch, I wasn’t sure.
I didn’t have time to examine my feelings further as Evalyn stepped out of the shade of a large tree. “Oh!” I exclaimed, surprised to catch her sneaking around outdoors.
“What are you two doing out here?” she demanded.
“Just grabbing a bit of fresh air while waiting for you to emerge from wherever it was you’d gone,” Ned said lightly. “I was going to show Lizzie the frog pond, but we hadn’t quite made it there yet.”
Evalyn met my eyes. Her expression was anything but welcoming. “Is that so.”
Feeling slightly queasy at the thought of Evalyn suspecting me for any reason, I quickly slipped out of Ned’s suit coat and gave it back to him. “I’m glad you’re here, Evalyn. I have something for you.”
“Wonderful.” She smiled tightly. “Let’s go inside. It’s damp out here, and my husband’s jacket doesn’t quite stave off the chill, does it?”
I heard the underlying suspicion in her words but pretended I didn’t have a clue as to what she was referring and followed her indoors. I rescued the package from an end table in the parlor and joined her in the sitting room where she liked to stretch out on the settees.
Ned poured us each a drink from a cart the staff had already set up and said, “All right, ladies, I’ll leave you to it.” With that, he disappeared through the door without a backward glance.
Evalyn took a sip of her drink. “Would you like to eat? I’m starved.
I’ve had the longest day listening to one silly speech after another, followed by a rather dull luncheon of limp cabbage and mayonnaise salad and the most bitter iced tea you’ve ever tasted.
Really, who doesn’t put sugar in their tea?
” She rang the bell on the patio table next to her.
I was on the verge of accepting when I remembered I’d agreed to go to Rosalee’s for dinner that night.
It was already five thirty, and her home was across town.
I groaned, set down my untouched glass of wine.
“I’m afraid I can’t stay,” I said. “I’ve just remembered that I’m meeting someone for dinner. In fact, I’m already running late.”
“Anyone I would know?” she said, a little too casually.
I thought of what Rosalee had said about not being accepted socially, and I wondered if Evalyn was a part of the reason why.
Washington, DC, was a big town, full of influential people coming and going all the time, so it seemed unlikely.
And what was the harm in mentioning her by name? “Her name is Rosalee Smith.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know Rosalee? Isn’t she the biggest bore you’ve ever met? How will you ever stomach an entire meal with her?” She looked at me expectantly then, as if waiting for me to criticize her, too.
“She’s one of our clients,” I said simply.
“Oh, say you’ll stay here with me. You can always reschedule, can’t you, since it’s just a work thing?”
The truth was I wanted to cancel the dinner, and I was already on the verge of running late.
As kind as Rosalee was, I didn’t know what to say to her or how to behave, but with Evalyn, that was never a problem.
She did the vast majority of the talking and the entertaining, and I could go on being my quiet, observant self.
“I don’t know…”
She touched the back of my hand lightly. “Darling, Rosalee isn’t…a stable woman. Or so I’ve heard. You don’t want to ruin your reputation by spending time with her. Trust me on this.”
“I should at least tell her I can’t make it to dinner.”
“Think nothing of it,” Evalyn said. “I’ll have Jerry send a telegram.”
As if Jerry intuited that he was being summoned, he entered the sitting room at that very moment. “Ma’am, dinner is served if you’re ready.”
“Thank you, Jerry,” she said, rising from her chair. “Come, eat with me instead, darling. Besides, you haven’t given me my gift yet.”
I hesitated. Would Rosalee be terribly disappointed? It wasn’t as if I was supposed to meet her for business. I could tell her I was held up unexpectedly and reschedule our dinner for another time, couldn’t I?
“I’ll stay,” I said at last. “And a telegram would be perfect, thank you.”
“Good girl.” She held out her hand and I took it, following her to the dining table.
Jerry had set out several covered dishes for us the way Evalyn liked, but she shooed him away to give us privacy.
Before we filled our plates, I held out the carefully wrapped headband. “Here’s your gift.”
She clapped her hands like a child. “Oh, I do love presents! What is it?”
I smiled. “You’ll have to open it.”
She tore through the decorative paper and opened the lid of the box. As she lifted the headband, she admired my handiwork. “It’s lovely!”
“Would you like to try it on?” I said. “To make sure it fits. I can adjust the band if need be.”