be pleased to hear this, Molly. The management has agreed to provide free tickets to a subsequent performance for those who were not able to see Houdini last night. Well, I call that big of them.”
“The show must go on. That’s what they say, don’t they?” Gus commented as she slathered more apricot jam onto her croissant. “We should go and see for ourselves, Sid. Will you and Daniel be going back tonight, Molly?”
“I have no idea. It all depends when he can get away. I know Daniel will want to catch Houdini’s act before he sails back to Europe. In truth I don’t know if I’m so keen, after what I witnessed last night. I’d keep expecting something else to go horribly wrong.”
“I’m sure these things are usually perfectly safe. Why don’t you come with us tonight, if Daniel isn’t free to escort you. Then we can go to a coffeehouse afterward for a heated discussion on how the illusions were done.”
“I watched many of them last night and I was completely baffled,” I said. “Even simple tricks like making a card rise from the pack. But then I’m Irish and easily impressed by anything that appears to be supernatural, I suppose.”
“So what are your plans for today, Molly?” Gus asked. “Ever since your engagement you have been so caught up with that policeman of yours that we’ve hardly seen you.”
I nodded. “Daniel keeps wanting me to look at houses and flats,” I said. “When all I want is to stay here and have him move into my house. I promised he could furnish it to suit his taste and it is a perfectly acceptable address, is it not? So close to Fifth Avenue, and to his police headquarters, but for some reason he is not keen on the idea.”
Sid and Gus burst out laughing. “For some reason?” Sid said. “My dear Molly, the reason is sitting before you. He doesn’t approve of your associating with us. He’s afraid we are filling your heads with wild, radical thoughts.”
“If he stopped to think for a moment he’d know that I am not easily led by anyone,” I said. “And you are my dearest friends. Why would I not want to live so close to you, especially when his career entails working to all hours? It would be most reassuring to me to have friends I could call upon in need.”
“Then stick to your guns,” Gus said. “We don’t want you to move away. So tell him it’s the new Ansonia building or you’re not moving.”
I smiled. “I’d rather live here than one of those fancy new buildings. And of course Daniel couldn’t live so far uptown. He has to be within reach of police headquarters.”
“Then this spot seems ideal to me,” Gus said.
“Me too,” I said.
“You haven’t yet revealed the secret of your latest cases.” Sid pulled her chair up closer to me. “What dastardly crime or sordid divorce are you working on? Come on, spill all. We won’t let you go until you confess.”
“I wish I had something to confess,” I said. “In truth I’m currently unemployed. Not a case on the horizon. I suppose people go out of town in the summer months.”
“The sort of people who want divorces do,” Gus said. “I know among my family and their set it is the done thing to divorce these days. It used to be such a scandal. Now, it’s fashionable.”
“I hate divorce cases,” I said. “I find them so underhanded and unpleasant—lurking outside bedroom windows is not my cup of tea.”
“So will you give up your career when you marry?” Sid asked.
“Obviously Daniel wants me to, and I have to confess that it is sometimes a little too dangerous, but I do so enjoy being my own woman and having my own money. Let’s just say it’s a small detail we still need to work out before we marry.”
I finished my coffee and got up. “I shouldn’t detain you any longer. I’m sure you have a busy day ahead.”
“I suppose we do,” Gus said. “Sid has to plan the agenda for the next suffragist meeting that we are going to host at our house and I have promised to paint something with a Mongolian theme for our yurt.”
I chuckled as I left them. Such a delightful existence, I thought. Then I reminded myself that their lifestyle was frowned upon by most respectable households. They had essentially cut themselves off from the majority of polite society where they belonged.