“I guess I showed up at a rather bad time.”
“Oh, don’t apologize. You had no way of knowing. You see, Sophie, I won’t bore you with the details, but an extremely vicious woman picked yesterday to slander me in the worst possible way. Unfortunately, she passed her lies on to my children. You saw the result. They were so totally unhinged, they just exploded. They wouldn’t even give me a chance to explain.”
“I’m sorry. That must have been a terrible position to be in.” Sophie tried to keep her comments sympathetic. Actually, she was surprised that Constance would talk to her about it Pulling a small throw pillow in front of her, Constance continued. “There’s a woman, her name is Marie Damontraville. She’s writing a biography of yours truly. Unauthorized, of course. She’s been doing research in town all week. And lucky me, she happens to be staying right here.”
“Damontraville?” said Sophie. “I don’t remember that name on the guest register.”
“That’s because she uses an alias, which should give you some indication of the sort of person she is.”
“What name did she register under?”
“Lela Dexter.”
Sophie’s eyes opened wide.
“Do you know her?”
Taking a moment to let it sink in, she said, “No, but my husband does.”
“Well, tell him to keep away. She’s a black widow spider, Sophie. A wretched, pathetic woman who feeds on other people’s tragedies. Her books are notorious for being sleazy tell-alls, pure tabloid journalism.”
“Didn’t she do one last year on Elton John?”
“Yes, and I’m amazed he hasn’t sued. Yesterday she supposedly interviewed a woman who worked for me back in the early Seventies. Somehow, she managed to slip copies of the interview under my children’s doors here at the hotel. Well, of course they were shocked at what this onetime employee said. I was shocked, too. We called an immediate family meeting, but it disintegrated into a shouting match.”
“I heard that part.”
“I’m sure the entire floor heard it. You know how much my family loves to argue, Sophie. You’ve been there for some of our finer moments. Nobody ever agrees on anything, and I’m used to that. But to get blindsided by this woman and not even have the chance to defend myself — well, needless to say, I spent a sleepless night. Arthur and I met with the children again this morning and tried to get them to listen to reason. I mean, for all I know, the entire interview was made up by Ms. Damontraville. If she did talk to that ex-employee, what she got was the result of a long-standing grudge, a vendetta that’s been smoldering inside that woman’s head for years.”
“What grudge?”
“I fired her for stealing, Sophie. It was right after Wayne died. Even before he died, we’d both noticed some things were missing: a pair of twenty-four-carat gold cufflinks from his dresser drawer, an antique pearl-handled letter opener from my office, and about five hundred dollars in cash from a small metal box we kept in one of die closets. I mean, I couldn’t believe it was happening. I liked Laurie. I trusted her. But one morning, just two days after Wayne’s funeral, I caught her going through my jewelry box. She’d already pocketed one of my favorite rings. I guess she figured I was too grief-stricken to notice what was happening. Weil, I fired her on the spot, but she begged me to keep her on for another two weeks. She said she hadn’t saved any money, and if her parents found out what she’d done, they’d kick her out of the house and she’d have no money and no place to live. I guess I’m a sucker for a sob story, so I let her stay until the end of the month. I checked her pockets and backpack every night before she left. On her final day, she took me aside and said she’d given it some thought and she wanted me to know that she planned to get even with me one day. Nobody messed up her life like I had and got away with it. I should have turned her over to the police right then and there. I regret now that I didn’t.”
“So you’re saying the entire interview was a lie?”
“Absolutely. Arthur made an impassioned plea to everyone this morning. He denied
everything
the woman said about us. I mean, what she accused us of was totally insane! Thank God, they all listened to reason. As Arthur said, we can’t let someone as morally bankrupt as Marie Damontraville destroy everything we’ve all worked so hard to build. Kenny stood immediately and backed him up. Of course, Kenny’s primary concern is that his children receive their rightful inheritance. Same with Emily. And I want that, too. Nobody knows die kind of blood and sweat I’ve put into my career except me. And nobody, especially not some lowlife like Damontraville, is going to take it away from me with a bunch of unsubstantiated rumors.”
“Did Nathan attend the meeting this morning?”
“Of course. Arthur drove out to New Fonteney last night and brought him home.”
Sophie was relieved.
“I understand you found him for us. That was another reason I wanted to come up here this morning. I wanted to thank you.”
“I was worried about him, too.”
“I know. I couldn’t be more pleased that you’re back in his life again. I haven’t seen him so happy in years.” She uncrossed her legs and sat forward a little. “Listen, perhaps this is none of my business, but did Nathan say anything to you last night about the interview?”
“Nothing,” replied Sophie. Here was another reason Constance had come. She wanted to find out what Sophie knew.
“Good. That’s good. The less people who know about it, the better.”
“What will you do if Marie Damontraville makes the information public?”
“We’ll sue. Essentially, it all comes down to one embittered employee’s word against mine and Arthur’s. There are no other witnesses. That’s the point I made at our meeting this morning. On the one hand you have Laurie Lippert, a thief, a woman who’s carried a grudge all of her adult life. Damontraville simply put the gun in her hand. On the other side of the equation, you have an eminent clinical psychologist, a man who has helped thousands of people over the years with his books and his approach to personal therapy. And finally you have me, a national figure. My life is an open book, Sophie. My honesty is unquestioned. I don’t think I’m being overly confident to believe a judge would take our word over hers. But we’re still hoping we can do something to prevent the book from ever being published. Kenny is an excellent lawyer. And when it comes to the family business, he takes his job very seriously.”
“I’m glad everyone’s calmed down,” said Sophie. “It’s hard to live with a lot of family strife.”
“Especially when it’s so unnecessary.”
Sophie had to reread the interview. She wasn’t as confident as Constance was that if it came to a trial, it would be resolved that easily. Laurie Lippert’s account was credible and compelling. Even if it didn’t turn out to be true, all it would take was one person to sniff out the story and print it in a newspaper or a magazine. It would be like lobbing a hand grenade inside the Buckridge food tent. Sophie was certain that what had motivated Constance’s children to keep silent on the matter wasn’t just their belief in her ultimate innocence but rather their own sense of self-preservation.
Sophie had always known that Constance was a complex woman and that her reasons for acting the way she did were rarely ever simple. That’s why she wondered if Constance hadn’t appeared on her doorstep this morning for another reason as well.
Perhaps she thought that Nathan would eventually talk to Sophie about the interview. Before it happened she wanted to make her pitch that it was all a lie. Interestingly, she had explained
why
it had happened, but not
what
had happened. In essence, she’d programmed Sophie to adopt a certain position without revealing any of the details. If Sophie hadn’t already read the interview, she might have taken Constance and Arthur’s side out of… what? Loyalty? A sense of shared history? Lack of any real, concrete information? Or perhaps mere nostalgia? She’d known and liked these people in the past. How could they have changed that much? Whatever the case, Constance undoubtedly hoped to buy herself some insurance where Nathan was concerned by making sure Sophie
felt
she understood the real story, even though, cleverly, she’d never said what it was. And
that
little maneuver had created more doubt in Sophie’s mind than anything Laurie Lippert had said.
Now that she’d gotten what she’d come for, Constance rose from the couch. “Well, I guess I’d better let you get some work done. You’re a busy woman these days, I hear. I’ve taken up enough of your time with my problems.”
But Sophie wasn’t done yet. “How long will you be in town?”
“We’re leaving on Sunday. Arthur and I, and then Emily and Kenny, will all go on to St. Louis. Paul flies back to New Haven. The academy is starting its summer semester next week, so he has to be there. And Nathan …” She paused, looking uncertain. “I’m not sure what his plans are. He told me this morning that he may stay on a while longer in Minnesota. I assume you have something to do with that.”
“We definitely have some talking to do.”
“Be kind to my son,” said Constance, laying a hand lightly on Sophie’s arm. “If for some reason you’ve decided you don’t want to be with him, break it to him gently. He’s been a lost soul for the past few years. We used to be so close when he was a boy. I would have done anything to make him happy. I still would.”
“I know he loves you.”
“And he loves you, too. Funny how the people we love can disappoint us the most. That’s not meant as a criticism, Sophie. Or if it is, it’s a criticism we both share. Nathan has always been my pride and joy, the heart and soul of my life. I just wish he’d confide in me the way he used to. I can’t stand to see him in pain.” She stopped when she got to the door, then turned around. “You have a son, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“He’s how old?”
“Twenty-two.”
“It’s not easy being a mother, whether they’re five or fifty. Sometimes what you do to make things better only makes things worse.”
“I know.”
“But we can’t stop trying.” Constance gazed at Sophie a moment longer, then suddenly gave her a hug. “Maybe it’s not in the cards, but I hope you know how much I would have loved for you to become my daughter-in-law. When Nathan brought you home, I told him, ‘That’s the one. Don’t let her get away.’“
“I had no idea —”
“You’re a fine woman, Sophie. You’re smart. Determined. And exceedingly kind. Sure, we all make mistakes, but you and Nathan would have been an unbeatable team. I hope you won’t take my comments as some sort of undue pressure. They’re really just the ramblings of an old woman who unfortunately understands regret all too well.”
“You’re not old, Constance. But you’re right about it not being in the cards for Nathan and me. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry, too. More sorry than you’ll ever know.”
“Don’t push me, Kenny. Maybe you can go to St. Louis with her, but I can’t I can’t even stand to look at her! Sleeping with her brother. It’s disgusting!”
Sophie was standing outside the door to Emily and Kenny’s suite. The Maxfield’s walls were thick, but not thick enough to muffle the sound of shouting. She wasn’t surprised to find that not everyone in Constance’s close-knit family had believed her story.
“Calm down,” Kenny demanded, though his own voice sounded anything but calm. “Can’t you at least give your mother die benefit of the doubt?”
“No! And you wouldn’t either if she’d let your father die in agony. Good God, she didn’t even lift a finger to help him!”
“If you believe that Laurie Lippert’s story, yes. But I don’t. And I think it’s outrageous that you’d take a total stranger’s word over your mother’s.”
“That’s because you don’t know what I know.”
“Meaning what?” He sounded annoyed.
“She never loved my father.”
“Here we go again.”
“She didn’t! That’s why he was so depressed all the time. Dad did everything he could to make her happy. He took her on tons of trips, paid for her millions of cooking lessons, ate all the crap she served him without ever complaining that it was too rich or too sweet or just too freaking
much.
And where did it get him? He died a hundred pounds overweight and alone.”
“Are you saying she tried to feed him to death?”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“Emily, be reasonable.”
“You think you know everything because you’re older than me? Or is it because you’re one of the county’s preeminent scum-sucking bottom feeders?”
“Why do you always insult my profession when we get into an argument? If it weren’t for me, sweetie, your mother’s business would already be in ruins.”
“Look, all I’m saying is, my mother broke my father’s spirit. And she did it deliberately. I was only a kid, but I knew the score. I tried to be there for him when he was down, but all he ever wanted was her. Sometimes he seemed almost desperate.”
“You’re exaggerating. All families have problems. Mine sure did. Did I ever tell you about my cousin Arnold?”
“I don’t want to hear about your goddamn cousin again! Maybe I’m not as hard-assed as you are. Or maybe I’m too sensitive. But you weren’t there. I was! I saw the desperation in my father’s eyes when he’d kiss her goodbye in the morning. It was still there when he got home at night. He was like a little boy begging for affection. Oh, I’m not suggesting that Mom wasn’t pleasant. She was always pleasant. Except for Paul, everyone in the whole freaking family was pleasant.”