all, but there is no sweeter creature than a man entranced.
“Well, indeed.” He pocketed it quickly and turned to the desk clerk. “Want me to take it upstairs?”
My eyes darted from the porter to the clerk. The porter looked like every other porter I’d ever seen: brawny and gruff, with two days’ beard and a cap worn low. If I told him to be gentle with my trunk as it contained stockings made of spun glass, he would have been too inflamed at the word stockings to give any doubt to my claim.
But the front desk clerk was another animal altogether. I knew he’d been looking at me since I walked in, though his attention lacked admiration. He was tall and slight, with sleek dark hair and a thin moustache. His suit jacket fit a tad loose (I would have suggested a tailor take it in at the shoulders and maybe a nip at the back) but was of good quality. He made a show of opening the large, leather-bound registration book and running his finger down the page.
“I do not believe I see the lady’s name listed among our guests.”
I stood straighter. “How odd, given that you don’t know my name.”
He offered a smile that turned his moustache into something of a wavy line. “Forgive me. What I mean to say is that I see no reservation for a Mrs …”
“Krause,” I supplied. “Hedda Krause. I wrote last week to secure a room.”
“We have no reservation request for a Mrs. Krause. Or a Mrs. Anybody, for that matter. Furthermore …” He leaned over the desk and lowered his voice so only the porter and I could hear. “We are not in the habit of renting rooms to …”
A list of rejoinders filled my mind, but I responded with, “… to widows?”
He had the sense to look uncomfortable and muttered, “I am so sorry, Mrs. Krause. We simply have no record of a reservation.”
“Is that to say that you do not have a vacancy?”
“Don’t make me lug this back to the station,” the porter said, leaning on the gleaming desk. “Wife’s waiting supper for me at home.”
Minutes passed as the clerk fussed with papers and keys, the porter drummed his thick fingers on the gleaming desk, the gathering of gentlemen moved to the edge of their seats, and I simply took one deep breath after another, trying to keep a soft composure while I gazed around the oval expanse of the lobby. No, not simply around, but up, as the ceiling of the lobby extended two…three stories above, with classically festooned columns throughout and an intricately carved balustrade surrounding the second- and third-story balconies. (I knew none of the terminology of these details upon my arrival, of course. My education came later after an informative dinner with a man who had carried out much of the renovative work.)
At last, the clerk stood straight and set a key on the counter. “Very well then, Mrs. Krause.” A uniformed bellman discreetly emerged from some waiting wing, and the two conferred in whispers before the clerk leaned over the desk, drawing me in. “He will use the service elevator to take your trunk to this room.” He tapped a long finger on the number embossed in gold on the leather fob. “Please wait here until he returns. You’ll find it easily, top of the stairs, and then to the right.”
“I appreciate your discretion, sir.” I matched my voice to his in volume, offering a sidelong look of apology to the porter, who seemed none too pleased at having to wait for the return of his hand truck.
“Of course,” he said. “Now, as a matter of payment …” This time his unwillingness to complete a sentence worked in my favor, and I allowed him to blink a dozen times in rapid succession before it became clear that neither of us intended to adjoin the phrase.
“I am quite tired.”
“I understand. However, it is our policy to have guests planning to spend more than a single night pay their fee in advance.”
“Will you arrange to have a late supper sent up to my room? Maybe a bowl of soup and toast. Or would it better suit for me to call from my room? Is there a telephone?” It is my particular talent to hide a wall of information until the moment a man stumbles against it.
“I—I, um, I suppose I could make that arrangement for you. Now, if you will please sign the registry.”