Two down - By Nero Blanc Page 0,13

. . . I wasn’t very good.”

The response brought another quick smile to the old lady’s face. “Good answer,” she said. “I like honesty in people and architecture.”

While Belle, in order to subdue her ire, took another cucumber sandwich, and gave Emma a decidedly pointed: “Thank you.”

A conspiratorial glance passed between Sara Crane Briephs and her minion; and Emma withdrew, leaving the tea cart behind. Belle was strongly tempted to follow in her trail, but she stuck to her guns and chomped the last bite of wafer-thin bread.

“Your parents raised you properly, I’m happy to see,” Sara observed placidly. “Well-bred people are always courteous and considerate to those who serve them. Only upstarts need to display their self-importance by humbling others.”

Belle imagined she was about to undergo additional queries on her history, but Sara apparently had dispensed with the past. “What is your impression of Edison Pepper?”

“We weren’t introduced,” Belle responded warily.

“Lucky for you!”

Belle was about to retort that Rosco had thoroughly enjoyed his conversation with Pepper, when the true cause of Sara’s wrath was revealed.

“That awful woman in that absurd dress! Did you see how she was trying to bamboozle Rosco?”

The archaic colloquialism made Belle’s bright eyes flash with humor—a mistake as she quickly realized.

“I see nothing funny about it, young lady! A woman of obvious artifice employing what was clearly a dearth of art. And nearly naked, to boot! In my day—”

“Rosco’s a grown man, Mrs. Briephs; he can take care of himself.”

“I’d be more careful if I were you. When a woman is that obvious in her flirtation, she will stop at nothing.”

Belle frowned, then began wondering whether Jamaica’s conversation in the powder room had been a ruse, an attempt to create a wedge between Rosco and herself. “We’ve been invited to dine at the Peppers’ home in a week or so,” she admitted slowly.

“Just so,” Sara growled. “Just so . . . Well, mind your p’s and q’s.”

Unbidden, a plethora of words beginning with p and q zoomed into Belle’s brain. Potentate, she thought. Purpose, Pluck, Philanderer . . . Quail, Quell, Quisling . . . Then Genie’s pronouncement “words can do a great deal of harm” rushed forward. It seemed like a warning, as if Genie were well aware of Jamaica’s predatory nature.

“Genie seems pleasant,” Belle finally ventured.

Sara stared, perplexed.

“Genevieve . . . Mrs. Pepper . . . I met her in the loo . . . the ladies’ room—”

“I know what a ‘loo’ is, young lady. I’m not asking for an explanation of vulgarisms, I am seeking your opinion of this social climber Edison Pepper.”

Belle’s face turned fiery red. She opened her mouth to speak when the grand old woman suddenly slammed her teacup on the table. The vigor of her action nearly shattered the saucer.

“I’m sorry, Belle. Forgive me, please . . . I’ve gotten off to an exceedingly poor start with you. I’ve made myself seem like a cantankerous old cow . . . My son would not have been proud.” Tears swam into Sara’s eyes and down her powdered cheeks. She didn’t bother to dab them away. “In fact, he would have been appalled.”

Belle stared slack-jawed, then half rose from her seat. The sudden display of emotion had affected her more than she knew. She fumbled in her purse for a handkerchief, but found only a crumpled tissue. “I don’t seem to have a handkerchief, Mrs. Briephs—”

“Sara. Call me Sara.” The old lady swiped at her glistening cheeks with fingers bony and rigid with a lifetime’s worth of self-discipline. For the first time Belle understood the effort required to create such an indomitable facade.

“Yes, I will . . .” Belle was about to walk to the old woman’s side when the door flew open and a breathless Emma rushed in.

“Oh, madam, I just heard it on the radio in the butler’s pantry . . . Those Pepper people who bought the old Drexel estate on the point . . . The Coast Guard says the missus’s boat caught fire in Buzzards Bay . . . a tragedy for all of Newcastle, the radio is saying . . . Both women are reported lost at sea. . . .”

5

Rosco was leaving his office when the phone rang. He decided to let his answering machine take the call, but when he recognized Belle’s shaky voice, he grabbed the receiver.

“Hi. I’m here. Are you all right?”

“Did you hear the news?”

“Two hours ago. Tom Pepper called me right after the Coast Guard notified him. He