From This Moment (43 page)

But Stella was going to really love what he had planned, and that knowledge gave him the surge of energy necessary to keep working.

Stella was tired but happy after a day of sightseeing with her parents. After hearing about the swan boats for months, she finally had a chance to ride one. Her parents enjoyed it, but she did not. She’d probably never get over her dislike of water, but at least she managed to conquer her fear long enough to step into the roomy boat with elevated sides and let a boatman paddle them about the large pond. Fountains, statues, and blooming flower beds abounded, giving her plenty to focus on during the boat ride.

Now came the most difficult part of the day . . . buying a copy of all three of Boston’s newspapers and retreating up to her parents’ hotel room to read. Each day they did their best to avoid looking at the newspapers until evening, when they could quietly read through them and absorb the latest revelations about the scandal that had killed both Gwendolyn and the attorney general. News of Michael Townsend’s ignominious fall was reported in great detail, going all the way back to Samuel Alden’s wrongful conviction in his father’s death.

Acting on a tip from Romulus, the police searched the attorney general’s home and retrieved the notes taken from Gwendolyn’s safe-deposit box. The notes proved to be a blueprint for corruption at City Hall. Although Ernest Palmer was already dead, some of the men who’d been on the receiving end of
kickbacks were alive and well. They were systematically rounded up and charged with a litany of crimes.

Dr. Lentz made a full confession about falsifying Gwendolyn’s postmortem report. As an orphaned boy taken in by Michael Townsend, his loyalty to his adoptive father was profound. Ernest Palmer convinced Dr. Lentz that his father had caused Gwendolyn’s death in a momentary fit of anger during a lover’s quarrel that he immediately regretted. Knowing of his father’s clandestine meetings with Gwendolyn, Dr. Lentz agreed to falsify the report. He’d been riddled with guilt over the deception, prompting him to preserve a single copy of the police photograph of Gwendolyn by misfiling it as a
Jane Doe
in the city archives.

Upon his confession, Dr. Lentz was stripped of his office. He was another case of a good man who bent the rules to protect a friend. He’d been lucky to keep his medical license, and rumor had it he intended to move out West to practice medicine in the territories.

Stella received a letter from the police department, thanking her for helping expose the corruption at City Hall. She also heard that Izzy Smith, the police sergeant whose father had once been a beekeeper, had admitted to planting the bees’ nest in her mailbox to teach her a lesson for being so obnoxious. He’d been assigned to a month of walking the night beat as punishment for leading the charge to systematically bully Stella. It wasn’t much of a punishment, but she didn’t care. The police were now acting swiftly on the evidence Gwendolyn had gathered, and that was all that mattered

After a week, the scandal began to fade away. The scrapes on Stella’s hands healed, the newspapers reported fewer stories about the scandal, and life was settling into a normal pattern. Romulus had neglected her shamelessly all week. At first she’d
thought it had been considerate of him to let her have some time alone with her parents, but after a few days, his disregard had become quite embarrassing.

She was
not
going to become like Laura and demand his daily attention. He’d warned her about this, hadn’t he? But deep in her heart, she hadn’t really thought he’d actually be so neglectful. It was humbling. And annoying! Her parents would need to return home soon, and she wished Romulus would find a little more time for them.

Her father rarely liked to be gone this long from his medical practice, but he’d decided to stay in Boston for Gwendolyn’s birthday, for it was going to be a difficult day for them all. She feared that if they returned home, Eloise would spend the day dragging out Gwendolyn’s old mementoes, obsessing over every detail, and slipping back into depression.

On the morning of Gwendolyn’s birthday, Stella met her parents early for breakfast in the lobby of their hotel. Her fears were confirmed when her mother announced her plans for the day.

“We would like to see City Hall,” Eloise said, and Stella blanched. That building held no fond memories, and it was Gwendolyn’s work there that had led to her death. Stella tried to dissuade them. There wasn’t much to see, and it would only summon painful memories for them all.

She cast a worried glance at her father. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Her father’s smile was gentle. “Yes, we’d like to see City Hall.”

It was hopeless, for her mother was determined to go. They were crossing the lobby toward the front door when the most heavenly fragrance surrounded them.

She paused. “Do I smell orange blossoms?”

The scent was unmistakable, for it had always been her
favorite. She glanced around the lobby and spotted an immense bouquet of splendid white blossoms in the arms of a hotel porter as he carried them down the hall.

“Come!” Stella said. “We must go see if we can purchase some for your room.”

Her mother tugged her arm. “Nonsense. Let’s be on our way.”

But Stella had already flagged down the hotel porter, who told her the orange blossoms were a special delivery from Florida and were not for sale. Stella leaned forward to inhale the heady fragrance, flooded with a sense of wellbeing. How odd that a lovely scent could have that effect, but the scent of orange blossoms had always been soothing for her.

“What a shame,” she murmured as she watched the porter carry the armful of flowers away.

“Come, let’s hurry,” her mother said.

Stella followed her parents toward the front door, but from the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Romulus shuffling toward the elevators with a short, stocky man in tow. “Romulus!” she burst out, heedless of the dozens of people in the lobby who swiveled a disapproving stare her way. Why should she care? It had been a full week since that glorious afternoon on the beach, and so far Romulus was doing a miserable job of courting her.

After she’d bragged about his flawless sense of style, why did he look so disheveled before her parents? His shirt was rumpled, and it looked as if he hadn’t shaved in days, and was that
cat hair
on his trousers?

“Where have you been?” She wanted to be angry, but his slovenly state was alarming.

He passed her a sheepish smile. “I got caught up playing cards. Baccarat is a fascinating game; it is completely addictive. I’ve become obsessed.”

Romulus angled his body away from her, his hand wrapped around a slim box as though he was trying to hide it from her, but it was awfully large to hide. He slipped it to the man beside him.

To her annoyance, she recognized Romulus’s companion as the most unpleasant man in the entire city. Riley McGraff looked just as slovenly as Romulus. “Hello, Riley,” she said testily. “Is it too much to hope you are here to return the three-hundred-dollar retainer you gouged from me?”

“Lady, I earned that retainer.”

The surliness in his tone was appalling, and she looked to Romulus. “Are you going to let him talk to me like that?”

“Maybe he’s right,” Romulus said with a shrug.

“Three hundred dollars and all he did was threaten my landlord with a pistol? I can—”

“Now, now,” Romulus intervened. “Don’t be nasty. Mr. McGraff has done heroic work training me in the intricacies of baccarat, and I will be forever grateful.”

She stepped back to get the full view of Romulus. He was tall and disturbingly elegant despite the rolled-up sleeves and open collar of his shirt. But honestly, cat hair! The pieces were beginning to fall into place. Romulus had warned her about his periodic obsessions that sometimes descended, and it looked like he and Riley McGraff had just spent a six-day bender playing cards.

She cleared her throat and strove for a calm voice. “Father, Mother, I hope you remember Romulus White?”

“We’re thrilled to see you again!” her father boomed, and Eloise looked just as delighted, especially when Romulus executed a courtly bow and leaned over to kiss the back of her mother’s hand.

“I apologize,” Romulus said. “My hands are cold.”

“Like your heart?” Stella couldn’t resist adding.

“Stella!” her mother scolded. “We think it’s perfectly splendid that Mr. White is learning to play baccarat. Perhaps he can teach us all to play?”

Romulus turned to Riley. “Mr. McGraff? Can I trust you to show Dr. Westergaard and his wife some of the basic rules of baccarat? Perhaps in the tea room? I’d like a quick word with Stella.”

The last thing she wanted was to subject her loving, decent parents to that beady-eyed private detective who’d already swindled her out of three hundred dollars. “No need, we are on our way to see City Hall.”

Once again, her mother interceded. “We’d be delighted to learn a new card game, wouldn’t we, Karl?”

“Mother!”

Eloise leaned forward to whisper urgently. “Just behave. I’m sure Romulus knows what he’s doing.”

Stella glared at the man in question, who looked annoyingly handsome despite his week-long binge of card games. Even now, half the women in the lobby couldn’t resist ogling him, for he did have a pirate-like appeal with that open shirt and tousled hair. That didn’t mean she was going to fall into his arms after a week of neglect, nor was she going to subject her parents to Riley McGraff’s atrocious manners. “I think I’d rather spend the day with my parents. Alone.”

“Stella . . .” her father said in his warning voice.

Something wasn’t right here. Her parents were a little too bright, especially toward the man who’d been ignoring them for the past week. And the way Romulus had just flashed her mother a wink was a dead giveaway. The three of them had been up to something behind her back.

Her mother caught her eye. “Just speak to him!” Eloise implored.

“Mr. McGraff,” her father said in a hearty tone, “let’s repair to the tea room to discuss this card game. Baccarat?”

The three of them were already turning away, Riley still carrying the gold-foil box Romulus had passed to him.

Stella swiveled her attention to Romulus. “Have you been meeting my parents behind my back?”

“What makes you think that?”

She narrowed her gaze. “Because my father is usually worse than the Spanish Inquisition toward any man who shows interest in me, and my mother is fawning over you like the first rose of spring.”

“My charm is legendary. You can hardly hold it against them.”

“What are you up to?” she asked, completely bewildered.

“Maybe your parents and I have shared a drink or two in the evenings,” he admitted. “I bumped into them in the lobby their first night here, and after that we usually had a nightcap in the evenings. Come on, let’s go over by the piano. I’m not in the mood to be raked over the coals in front of half of Boston.”

No one was playing the piano nestled in the corner of the grand lobby, and it offered as much privacy as they could get. A cluster of potted palms provided an additional screen, and Romulus drew her behind them, standing deliciously close and holding one of her hands. He leaned over to whisper in her ear.

“When we were on the beach, I confessed to living in terror of marriage. When I asked for a little time to become accustomed to the idea, did you think six days was too much to ask?” Instead of velvety words of praise, his voice was riddled with frustration. “Because it’s been only six days,” he continued.

“You could have told me where you were.”

“I just did. Playing baccarat. I warned you these obsessions sometimes get the better of me.” Gentle fingers stroked her hair back from her forehead. “I know I should have contacted
you, but I’ve been scheming with Riley to do something nice for you. Oh, and he really
did
earn every dollar of that retainer. Your parents and I paid him another two hundred just to keep him working. The man is a miracle worker.”

Her parents had already met Riley McGraff, as well? This entire conversation was so baffling she sunk down onto the piano bench, her knees no longer capable of supporting her weight. “Tell me,” she managed to stammer.

“There’s something at City Hall we want to show you. It’s taken Riley and me some time to get the necessary approvals, which is what we’ve been up to most of the past week. So I’ve actually only spent the past two days playing cards as the final details got worked out.” He gave her a reluctant smile. “And I knew I couldn’t see you without spilling the secret.”

“Spill it. Please.” She loved surprises and had a feeling Romulus could deliver a good one. Jewelry? Maybe something to make lithographs with? Maybe even . . . She swallowed hard as the image of Audubon’s
Birds of America
popped into her mind. Acquiring one of those volumes would take time, and he knew how much she admired it. They’d had their first kiss while standing over
Birds of America
.

“There’s something I want to ask you first, but I’m afraid the surprise I planned is falling apart. You’ve already spotted the orange blossoms, and I suspect your parents and Riley are already tearing into that box of the Belgian chocolate you like so much. To top it off, I just got word that the orchestra won’t be at dinner tonight.”