Chapter 23 #2
Evalyn glanced at Carrie and set her glass on the table near her with too much force. A stream of liquor slopped over the rim and oozed down the side of the glass. “She isn’t the only one who knows how to catch a man’s eye, is she, Carrie?”
I gripped my glass tighter. Something about Evalyn’s tone, her mood, left me uneasy.
For the briefest instant, alarm flickered across Carrie’s face before she regained her composure. “Whatever do you mean, Evie? I’m married.” She forced a dismissive laugh, but judging by the look on Evalyn’s face, she wasn’t fooled.
“Well, married or no, who doesn’t admire a handsome man from time to time, even if he’s not from our crowd?”
The color drained from Carrie’s face, but she attempted to play Evalyn’s game. “I’m sure you’re right. We don’t stop being women once we’re married after all. A handsome face is a handsome face.”
“Certainly. As long as things don’t go too far, that is.” Evalyn’s eyes hardened to blue ice.
Carrie seemed to forget her manners and set her half-finished champagne on a tray. “It’s been a real treat tonight, but I’ve been feeling under the weather all day. If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go home for a lie-down.”
“As long as you’re lying down alone,” Evalyn shot back.
Carrie spun around to face her. “Perhaps you should look in on Ned. Everyone knows he and Warren Harding carouse with other women. It isn’t exactly a secret.”
Evalyn went white with rage. “And it isn’t exactly a secret that you’ve slept with every gardener in Washington!”
Several in the circle gasped. I looked on in equal parts horror and fascination, unwilling to come between them. The rest of us—Flo, Sharon, Rita, and Bea—were too stunned to interject.
“How dare you!” Carrie said in a huff. “That’s a lie and you know it.”
“Evie,” Bea interjected. “Lighten up, sugar. Here, give me that.” She took the glass that had found its way back into Evalyn’s hand and gave her a champagne flute instead. “You need to lay off the gin. It makes you ornery.”
“I was only teasing,” Evalyn said, her voice sliding from vinegar back to warm honey.
But Carrie wasn’t so easily placated. “People cater to you only because you have money.”
Evalyn laughed wickedly. “Because you’re so poor? Please.”
“I think it’s time you left, Carrie,” Flo interjected.
“You can see yourself out,” Evalyn said coolly, calmly. So calmly, a chill ran down my spine. How quickly she had turned on her “dearest” friend.
“I thought you’d never ask.” Carrie avoided eye contact with anyone as she threaded through the crowd, somehow still looking impossibly elegant with her head held high.
Everyone started talking at once.
Flo touched Evalyn’s arm. “For heaven’s sake, what was that all about?”
“Absolutely nothing,” Evalyn said, mercifully changing the subject. “Let’s have our palms and cards read, shall we?”
I couldn’t help but gape at her rapid shift in mood.
“Is Marcia here?” Flo said.
As if Flo had summoned her, the woman I assumed was Madame Marcia was shown into the parlor.
She looked every bit the fortune teller in her multicolored caftan that poured over her body in waves of fabric, ropes of beads, and her hair pinned in a loose chignon with bright-pink feathers stuffed into the twist at the crown of her head.
Evalyn greeted her with kisses on each cheek. “Marcia! Just in time. We’re dying to hear what you have to say.”
We made room for Marcia in our circle and cleared the table.
I was still reeling from what Carrie had shared earlier and from the hateful exchange between friends.
Why should Evalyn perpetuate something so hurtful if it wasn’t true?
Carrie insisted she didn’t sleep with every man “below her station” that headed her way, and yet her reaction to Evalyn’s accusations—the way she’d gone white as a sheet—said otherwise.
Had the others noticed? I glanced at each of them, but they were focused on Marcia.
I, too, tried to settle in for the night, but the unease among the group was palpable in their heavy drink pours and strained smiles.
The fortune teller took her time reading tarot cards or palms, dishing out fortunes one by one. When she came to Florence Harding, she paused. “I see a house. The biggest in the land.”
Evalyn gripped Flo’s arm. “The White House! I knew it. Oh, Warren is going to be president one day! And you’ll be the First Lady!”
“Are you sure?” Flo asked.
Marcia nodded, her feather bobbing precariously atop her head like it was coming loose from its pins. “I am. But I’m afraid he won’t finish his term.”
Flo paled, touched her throat, looked at the others. “That sounds ominous.”
“Remember, paths may change, and with each choice you make, you may direct your fate to another course,” Marcia said.
Ignoring the warning, the others chattered excitedly.
“Would you like to have your fortune read?” Marcia’s large dark eyes met mine.
I shook my head. “I prefer to see how my life unfolds, one day at a time.”
She nodded. “Very well.”
“It’s my turn!” Evalyn called gleefully. “Everyone, be quiet, please.” She squirmed on the edge of her seat like a child.
Marcia shuffled her deck, offering it to Evalyn to choose ten cards.
Marcia laid them out in the pattern of the Celtic cross.
As she flipped them over in a specific order, she gave her interpretation of their message.
She spoke of Evalyn’s past and present and paused before delivering news of her future.
“What does it all mean?” Evalyn asked excitedly.
I stared at the final cards. Inverted Magician, Three of Swords, and Ten of Swords.
“You live in a false reality,” Marcia said. “And one day soon, you will suffer a great heartbreak. Finally, you may lose everything you thought you’d always have.”
We all gasped. Sharon looked as if she might be sick. Evalyn, on the other hand, looked more annoyed than anything.
“Bad luck,” Sharon whispered.
“It’s that necklace!” Bea blurted. “You have to give it up, Evie! We’ve been telling you that for years!”
I stared at the magnificent stone around her neck.
Its color shifted as the facets caught the light.
I dragged my gaze away from the Hope to Evalyn’s face.
She was white as cream. I couldn’t believe the fortune teller had delivered two fortunes that were so negative.
I imagined it couldn’t be good for business, but then again, if she only delivered positive fortunes, she would lose her reputation for being accurate.
“That is all for tonight,” Marcia said, hastily packing her things. She seemed perfectly aware her predictions had made one of her most ardent customers uneasy. After she’d made her quick but noisy exit, everyone seemed to release a collective breath.
“Can you believe my fortune?” Evalyn said with a tight laugh. “Bad luck. It’s always bad luck that shows up in my cards, and look at me! I’ve had nothing but good luck!”
I studied her bright smile, remembering the conversation with Jerry about how many things had gone wrong around the McLeans and their staff, little by little, one by one.
The notes Julien and I had both received as a warning, the never-ending letters of blackmail and vitriol sent to the McLeans, the way Evalyn’s face had paled with the prediction that struck a chord somewhere inside her.
And I found I didn’t agree with her, not one bit.
If she’d had tremendous good luck with the necklace, I’d never seen it, and I certainly didn’t believe it now.
As everyone rushed to console her, she searched my face for some hint that I didn’t believe the prediction.
Why she looked to me, I wasn’t sure, except perhaps she knew I wouldn’t lie to her, and I was terrible at hiding my feelings.
And yet in her imploring gaze, I understood what was expected of me—to assure her it was all a silly farce—whether I believed it was or not.
She didn’t like to be crossed, and she expected her friends to fall in line.
I pasted a smile on my face. “Don’t believe a word of it, Evalyn. You really do have all the luck.”
“I really do.” Evalyn grinned, ear to ear.
* * *
Some hours later, in need of quiet from the tumultuous events of the evening, I stepped outside, sucking cool air into my lungs.
Stars showered the night sky over the vast acres of lawn and the clusters of trees as far as the eye could see.
I sighed at the kind of beauty the McLeans enjoyed regularly.
It was one of the things I envied most about their lifestyle.
Being closer to nature, in addition to their obvious lack of concern over money.
As I watched a pair of men cheat at a game of croquet on the lawn, I ruminated on the conversation with Carrie and all that had transpired that evening.
Did my father know Julien had been discussing the idea of multiple Beaumont stores in other cities?
I supposed Carrie’s husband had planned to be the financial support, a business partner behind the scenes.
I couldn’t understand why Julien hadn’t told me about any of it.
That kind of expansion could have been a boon for us, and I would have supported him.
No, something else must have happened. My brother wouldn’t keep things from me unless he was up to something he was embarrassed to admit. Something illegal perhaps. I couldn’t imagine what else it could be.
My mind drifted to the confrontation between Carrie and Evalyn and the clear jealousy on Evalyn’s face as she’d watched Carrie make her away around the party.
What could Evalyn be jealous of when she had everything Carrie did and more?
Her beauty? I felt as if I needed a handbook to navigate that lifestyle, the crowd, the unspoken expectations.
“There you are.” An arm snaked around my waist, and something soft brushed the top of my ear. Hot breath blew gently against the exposed skin on my neck.
Startled, I turned abruptly. “I beg your pardon.”
“Oh!” Ned laughed. “Good grief, Lizzie, I’ve mistaken you for my bride. You’re gorgeous tonight!”
I hardly knew how to respond. “Ned, hi. I… Thank you.”
He roared with laughter and put a half-smoked cigar to his lips. “You’re so very serious, aren’t you? Seems like you could use a good time. Have you had any champagne? Perhaps a whiskey?”
“I’ve had too much already.” The drinks and lack of food had left me lightheaded.
“Never,” he said, circling the bar cart stationed on the patio for guests who’d made their way outside. He held out a glass and pushed it into my hands. “Have you met our llama?”
Hesitantly, I accepted the glass. “My first time here, yes. I was astounded to see all the animals! I felt like I’d wandered into a dream.”
At the mention of animals, a clatter came behind us as the French doors burst open. Mike the Great Dane galloped past us, his eyes set on some furry creature just beyond the edge of the yard. As he ran, something flashy bounced around his neck. Was that—
“Drat. She’s done it again.”
“Done what?” I said.
“Put that damned diamond on the dog!” Ned said, throwing the butt of the cigar on the ground.
My eyes followed the dog, trying to see which diamond he meant. “You don’t mean the Hope Diamond?”
“Unfortunately, I do. She’s careless with it, and it’s one of the most valuable things we own, outside of our houses.” A vein pulsed in his temple as he set his glass down. “I’m going to have to go after him.”
I watched Mike and his light-gray flank thunder toward a copse of oak trees. Evalyn had put the Hope Diamond on her dog, more than once? Was she mad?
“Mike!” Evalyn shrieked as she wobbled toward us, teetering on her heels. She removed her shoes one at a time, tossing them onto the patio flagstones. “Why do you two look so gloomy?” She slurred her words. “It’s a party. Come on, Lizzie, you’re supposed to be having fun.”
“I can’t believe you put a necklace that cost me over one hundred thousand dollars on a dog,” Ned seethed. “We’re lucky our friends are honest people.”
“Please, you’re so full of yourself. My dad paid for that necklace and you know it. Besides, you worry too much. Lizzie makes sure the clasp is in good working order. Don’t you, darling.” She tugged my arm hard, almost losing her balance, and I nearly dropped my champagne.
I didn’t bother pointing out that I’d only touched the Hope Diamond twice, and only once in an official capacity. She was always wearing it when I’d come to service her collection. “I’m not sure putting a necklace on a dog who is sprinting around the yard at top speed is the safest thing.”
“Oh, pooh,” she said. “You two are such bores.”
“Call that mutt right now!” Ned said, his voice rising.
“I guess you’ve forgotten that I don’t take orders, least of all from you,” Evalyn shouted back.
“The hell you don’t.” He grasped her arm and half dragged her to the end of the porch.
“Unhand me!”
He let her arm drop. “You’re nothing but a shallow, silly woman who cares about no one but herself. You and your diamonds. Your ridiculous friends,” he shouted back. “Look at you! You’re drunk out of your mind!”
Though I knew he’d likely had twice as much alcohol as Evalyn, his sudden flash of anger and the cruel calm with which he said those words suddenly left me cold, and all I wanted was to be at home in my own bed, away from these people.
“You’re one to talk!” Evalyn screeched. “You can drink everyone in this house under the table. You make a fool of yourself, spending our money on horses! At this rate, we’ll go bankrupt!”
“And you don’t think the extravagant vacations and diamond-studded gown and the endless parties aren’t wasteful?” he shouted back. “At least I often win when I gamble.”
“You mostly lose! Besides, you like the parties as much as I do!”
I set down the glass of champagne that had cost more than my entire grocery bill, the tangle of their voices behind me as I made a quick exit. But the last thing I heard as I reached the patio door stopped me in my tracks.
“Are you trying to sleep with her?” Evalyn screeched. “I’ve watched you court every woman this side of the river. Why would she be any different!”
“You’re insane! She’s your friend!”
I couldn’t leave fast enough. The bickering and opulence, the crowds, the desperate hope they’d find some kind of happiness. They were all so good at pretending until the veil fell away. Suddenly, I could no longer breathe.
Without a single good night, I swept past the people littering the parlor, through the packed ballroom and the few men still loitering in the study with their drinks, and quietly made my escape.