Authors: Rhys Bowen
“It’s strange that he was so insistent about seeking you out in particular,” Gus said. “Surely anyone could pay a call on the pawnshops and jewelers.”
“I agree,” I said. “I have to believe there is more to this than he’s telling me. Maybe I’ll find out tomorrow.”
“Weren’t you worried about going through Chinatown?” one of the women asked. “One hears such fearful stories.”
“Oh, balderdash,” Sarah said before I could answer. “It’s no more dangerous than any other part of the city. Even less, as the Chinese don’t get drunk and accost women.”
I looked at her with amazement. “How do you know so much about it?”
She laughed. “I work just a stone’s throw from Chinatown.”
This seemed to me the most unlikely statement possible. Sarah did not look like a girl who had done a day’s work in her life. She was about to marry an English peer. And the area around Chinatown was one of the most squalid in the city. “You work there?” I spluttered out. “Doing what?”
“Sarah is our champion do-gooder,” one of the women said before Sarah could answer. “She is resolved to save the poor, single-handedly.”
Sarah flushed. “I volunteer at a settlement house, on Elizabeth Street just up from Canal.”
“A settlement house? What exactly is that?”
“An experiment, actually, in which educated, upper-class young people live and work among the poor, thus improving the standard of their living. We work mainly with destitute girls and women, some of whom we’ve saved from prostitution.”
“There are certainly plenty of brothels on Elizabeth Street,” I said, and did get surprised looks this time.
“I worked on a case there once,” I explained. “So does your family approve of your work?”
“Not really, but they tolerate it, knowing my temperament,” Sarah said. “Most of my fellow workers actually live at the house, but my mother was so upset at the idea that I just help out by day. And so now she puts up with it, knowing that I’ll be safely and suitably married soon and living far away from slums.”
“I’ll wager that your future husband doesn’t look kindly upon it,” one of the other young women commented wryly.
Sarah was still smiling. “Well, no, Monty is trying to force me to give it up immediately. He worries about my walking alone through those streets. In fact he insists on escorting me to and from Elizabeth Street even though I keep telling him that I am perfectly safe, but I believe he has visions of my being carried off as a white slave.”
This brought much merriment from the other women.
“Anyway, his wish will soon be granted,” Sarah continued, “as there is a lot of preparation to be done for the wedding. Gown fittings, seating charts—don’t you find it an absolute bore, Molly?”
“I do, rather,” I agreed. “In fact I’ve just fled from my future mother-in-law’s house, where I was told that my sewing skills were sadly lacking and my future children would be walking around in rags. She nearly died when I pointed out that there were department stores in New York with ready-made clothes for my children.”
They laughed again.
“And does your future husband approve of the work that you do, Molly?” Carrie Chapman Catt asked.
“Not at all,” I said. “He’s a captain in the police department and he doesn’t think that being an investigator is a suitable job for a woman—especially as it treads on his toes.”
“But you’ll give it up when you marry, surely?” Sarah said.
“I suppose I’ll have to. I’ve more or less promised him that I will, but I can’t see myself sitting at home getting bored either.”
“We can find plenty for you to do for the cause,” Carrie said.
I grinned. “I don’t think he’d be thrilled about that either.”
“Aren’t young men a bore,” the sharp-faced girl said. “The world would be a much better place without them.”
“It would rather limit the future population, Mildred,” Carrie Chapman Catt said mildly.
“I wish humans could just split apart like amoebas,” Mildred said.
“Don’t you mean amoebae?” one of them teased.
I began to feel as I always did in such educated company, that my own education was sadly unfinished. I’d had to stop my lessons with the girls at the big house when my mother died. Sid returned with the sangria and glasses were refilled. I must say it was delightfully refreshing. I forgot that it was mainly red wine until a pleasant feeling of ease came over me. The other women seemed similarly affected.
“I suppose I should be getting home,” one of them said at last.
“There’s no hurry,” Gus replied. “Stay for dinner if you like.”
“I’m afraid that Monty will be coming for me any moment,” Sarah said. “We are to have a late supper with his friends at the Waldorf, and he insisted on coming here to fetch me. You know how he likes to escort me everywhere. In a way it’s sweet, but it can be so annoying.”
As if on cue there was a thunderous knocking from the front of the house.
“The bridegroom cometh,” Sid said as she disappeared inside. We heard the sound of a male voice and a few seconds later Sid reappeared.
“The bridegroom cometh, but it’s the wrong bridegroom,” she said with a wry look on her face.
Striding down the hall with a face like thunder was Daniel.
Six
I got to my feet a little unsteadily, as the alcohol in my two large glasses of sangria was now making itself felt.
“Daniel!” I exclaimed.
“What on earth are you doing here, Molly?” he asked, then remembered his manners and tipped his hat. “Good evening, ladies. Miss Goldfarb. Miss Walcott.”
“Captain Sullivan.” Gus returned the compliment. “We persuaded Molly to leave darkest Westchester County so that we could give a small party in her honor.”
“Ah, I see. How kind of you, but you might have told me, Molly. If I’d known you were coming back to the city, I would have made time for us to select the last few items of furniture together.”
“It was all rather spontaneous,” I said. I was conscious of those interested faces watching us. “Please excuse me, ladies.” I went over to Daniel before there could be any kind of scene. I wasn’t sure if he’d be angry with me for leaving his mother, but I wasn’t taking any chances. “It’s good to see you, Daniel,” I said when we were safely in the conservatory. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too,” he said, looking down at me fondly. “I’m itching to show you the improvements I’ve made across the street. You haven’t seen them yet, have you?”
Now I was in a quandary. I didn’t want to tell an outright lie to him, but I realized that he would probably have wanted to do the grand unveiling himself. “I just peeked inside,” I said, “in case you were there.”
“And what did you think?”
“From what I saw it looked wonderful, Daniel. Like a brand spanking new house. So elegant. You’ve worked a miracle.”
He smiled and I saw the tension lines leave his face. “I’m rather satisfied with it myself. Shall I give you the grand tour now then?”
“Why not?” I beamed up at him. “I can’t wait.”
“What about your friends and the little gathering?”
“They can do without me for a while. I’d rather be with you,” I said. I poked my head back out of the door. “Daniel is going to give me a tour of his improvements across the street.” I gave Sid and Gus a long, knowing look. Luckily they were both quick on the uptake and said nothing.
I slipped my arm through Daniel’s as we emerged onto Patchin Place.
“It was good of those ladies to give you a nice little party,” he said. “Those women are presumably their friends. I don’t recognize any of them.”
I realized then that he thought that this small gathering was the party.
“Oh, no,” I said. “This is just some of Sid and Gus’s friends stopping by. I came down to help with the planning for the real event.”
“A fancy affair then, is it?”
“Who knows, with Sid and Gus.” I smiled at him. “You’re welcome to come, of course, but it will be with their more bohemian friends—ones we couldn’t invite to the wedding itself.”
He sighed. “I have no time for parties at the moment in any case. I’m on the job day and night.”
“A big case, is it?”
He nodded. “And one I’d rather not have taken on. But the order came from high up and I couldn’t refuse.”
“And I don’t suppose you can tell me any more about it?”
“You know I can’t, but it’s probably one of the most difficult things I’ve been asked to do. So forgive me if I haven’t been the most attentive bridegroom.”
“So what brought you here tonight?” I asked. “You haven’t taken to secretly visiting my friends, have you?”
He laughed. “Hardly. I wanted to know if there had been a delivery for the house today. I gave their address. It’s the last of the curtains.”
He fished for his key outside our front door, then opened it with a flourish. “I shouldn’t carry you over the threshold this time. It would be bad luck,” he said. “After you, ma’am.”
I was proud of my acting ability. I was suitably awed and excited by everything he showed me, especially the bed. “That’s some handsome bedroom we’ve got there, Daniel,” I said.
He slipped his arms around my waist. “Are you as impatient as I am to be making use of it?”
“You know I am.”
He kissed me. It felt wonderful, but as I melted into his arms I felt a shiver of guilt that I was deceiving him by taking on this case. Maybe it was a good thing that I hadn’t succeeded completely. A couple can’t start off life together with deception.
“So how are the preparations progressing at my mother’s house?” he asked.
“She has everything under control,” I said. “The invitations have been sent, the menu for the wedding breakfast planned, and she is sewing my wedding dress as we speak.”
“Splendid. So you’re getting along well, are you?”
“She’s being kind,” I said diplomatically, “and very patient. My sewing skills are sadly lacking and she’s had to take over the brunt of the work.”
“She won’t mind that.” His arm was still around my waist as we came down the stairs together. “She needs something to keep her occupied. She still misses my father terribly. Maybe one day we can find a bigger house and she can join us.”
I tried not to let my alarm show. “One day,” I said. “I think it’s important to start our marriage on our own, don’t you?”
“Oh, absolutely,” he said.
“And we will go and visit her regularly,” I went on.
We reached the street. “So you’ll be going back to her later this week?”
“After the party,” I said. “I have to do a little shopping for my trousseau. My attempts at undergarments have turned out rather disastrously.”
He actually laughed at this. “I can imagine. How fortunate that we live in a big city, isn’t it?”
We came out onto the street. The dying twilight had streaked the western sky with pink and the houses stood as dark silhouettes.
“Take care of yourself, Daniel,” I said, slipping my hand into his.
“Don’t worry about me.”
“You know I do,” I said.
The door opposite opened at that moment and Sarah came out, accompanied by a tall, angular young man with light ash-blond hair. His face was fine-boned and his hollow cheeks made him look almost frail. However, I presumed this was a normal quality of aristocrats. In fact his face was so pale that in the semidarkness he looked like a ghost. Sarah smiled when she saw us.
“Oh, Molly, there you are. I didn’t want to leave without saying good-bye to you. And now I can introduce you to my fiancé. Monty, this is my new friend, Molly Murphy. And Molly, this is my future bridegroom, Montague Warrington-Chase.”
“How do you do, sir.” I nodded politely. “And this is my future bridegroom, Captain Daniel Sullivan,” I said.
The men shook hands.
“Dashed annoying, this wedding business, isn’t it?” Monty said in drawling upper-class English tones. “I’m rather of the opinion that an elopement might have been the best idea.”
“Oh, Monty.” Sarah slapped his hand. “You know our families would have been furious if we’d deprived them of a proper wedding with all the relatives and all the trimmings.”
“Luckily our wedding will be a modest affair,” Daniel said, “and my mother is organizing most of it. I have the excuse of being stuck in New York on a case.”
“A case?” Monty’s voice sounded sharp. “You’re a lawyer, sir?”
“Daniel is a police captain,” I said.
Monty gave a brittle laugh. “Silly of me. When we were introduced, I assumed you were a sea captain. But then you don’t have the requisite beard, do you?” He tipped his hat to us. “Now if you’ll excuse us, I have to take Sarah home to change. We are expected at the Waldorf. I wish you all the best for your future—Miss Murphy, Captain Sullivan.”
We parted with additional pleasantries. Halfway down Patchin Place, Sarah looked back. “Come and visit me at work, Molly. I’d love to show you what we’ve accomplished.”
“I will,” I promised.
“Sarah, I thought I made it clear that I want you to stop working,” came Monty’s voice as they walked down the alley.
“Now does that sound familiar?” I looked up at Daniel with a grin. “Is that something that all bridegrooms say to their brides?”
“She works? Where does she work?” Daniel asked.
“She volunteers at a settlement house on Elizabeth Street.”
Daniel gave a snort. “Then I can understand why he wants her to stop. I would too. That’s a rough part of the city for such a delicate-looking little thing.”
“I know, that’s what I thought.”
Daniel continued to stare after them. “You know, I’ve seen that English fellow somewhere before,” he said. “Somewhere I wouldn’t have expected.…”
“Where?”
He frowned, then shook his head. “Can’t remember. No matter. I expect it will come to me. I should be getting back to work. No peace for the wicked.”
“Oh, are you wicked? I didn’t know I was marrying a wicked man. What fun.”
He laughed and gave me a peck on the cheek. “Enjoy your party with your lady friends. I’ll be in touch.” Then he was gone.
Seven
The next morning I rose to the smell of fresh brewing coffee and came down to find that Gus had been to the French bakery on Greenwich Avenue and had returned with the morning papers, croissants, and brioches. If Sid hadn’t insisted on making Turkish coffee so thick that the spoon stood up in it, the breakfast would have been perfect. As it was, sitting with my friends amid the exotic plants of their conservatory, I thought eating fresh pastries and reading the paper a fine way to start the day. I scoured the papers to see if there was any hint of this big case that Daniel was working on, but there were only the usual petty crimes.