husband. I myself have a lung condition. My doctor says the only form of exercise I may take is to be tossed gently in a blanket.”
Gareth was clearly Julia’s pick to replace Henry, but he was not my sort of man at all. While he no doubt cut a masculine enough figure onstage in his skirt of leather strips and plumed helmet, he couldn’t hold a Roman scepter to my Henry.
Julia linked her arm in mine. “Let Eliza breathe a bit.”
I felt a gaze upon me and turned.
“And please meet our mystery guest, dear Mr. Merrill. Gareth is his client.”
Merrill took a step toward me, brow creased, amber liquid in his crystal tumbler. “Eliza. I had no idea you’d be here.”
Merrill? I pulled at the collar of my dress. Could this dinner get any more uncomfortable? Perhaps the kaiser himself would like to join us?
“How nice to see you, Merrill.”
Gareth stepped between us. “You two have met?” Something in his voice suggested jealousy.
Julia held my hand. “I thought it would be nice for you, dear; you and Merrill being old friends. You can never have too many handsome men at a dinner.”
I looked to Julia. Merrill? And then instantly forgave her for inviting him. I’d never told her my objections.
I turned to Gareth. “My late husband, Henry, and Merrill were friends at St. Paul’s.”
Merrill sipped his drink, the ice cubes clacking. “I’ve known Eliza for quite some time.”
Julia and I led the way to the dining room, a fire lit in the fireplace there, and I considered ways of falling and breaking an arm.
We took our seats.
“Not to brag, but I can identify any spice in a soup,” Gareth said. “I’ve been educating my palate, as did the ancients. Did you know Roman epicures cultivated their tastes so perfectly they could tell me where in a river a fish was caught?”
“Oh, really?” I asked. Is there anything more tedious than suffering a gourmand of brandy and plovers’ eggs?
“We’ll have your favorite mincemeat pie, Gareth,” Julia said.
Gareth smoothed his napkin onto his lap. “Europe laughs at our pies, you know.”
“Europeans can be insensitive to others’ feelings sometimes,” I said.
Merrill finished his drink. “And you are sensitive to the feelings of others, Eliza? Some might say not.”
That was all I needed: Merrill dredging old lakes in front of others.
I turned to Julia. “You have the most idyllic spot out here, darling.”
“I much prefer the bustle of the city,” Gareth said. “Have you been to Troy, New York, Eliza?”
“This is the perfect country retreat,” Merrill said. “No need to board a ship.”
Of course, he still hated to travel.
“Enjoy it,” Julia said. “If there’s a war, they’ll call you young men up.”
I sprinkled a pinch of salt on my soup. “Only a coward would wait to be called up. Good men enlist.”
Gareth waved his spoon toward Merrill. “Merrill’s new lady friend would most certainly not encourage him to enlist.”
“Who’s that?” E.H. asked.
Gareth touched his napkin to his lips. “Only the Anna Gabler.”
“I know Anna,” Julia said. “She’s fresh off her success at the German Bazaar. Raised an obscene amount of money for German war relief.”
“Every German in New York came out,” Gareth said. “Opening night line was halfway around Madison Square Garden.”
“I hear the shooting gallery was especially popular,” I said. “Call me old-fashioned, but German Americans shooting effigies of French and Russian soldiers seems, well, unkind.”
“Anna who?” asked E.H.
Gareth glanced at Merrill. “Gabler. A handsome woman of German extraction who has captured half of New York’s bachelors in her thrall.”
Julia leaned toward me and whispered, “As does the Indian cobra.”
“Gareth, can you speak of nothing else?” Merrill asked.
Julia passed the breadbasket. “Beware the fortune hunter, Mr. Merrill. Women can be charmed by the silver music of the almighty dollar.”
“No worry there,” Gareth said with a little smile. “Her father owns Gabler Rubber. They’re already in at the Meadow Club. Mr. Gabler is diversifying into oil and wants to bring Merrill on to his board, for his expertise in energy stocks.”
Merrill tossed his napkin on the table.
“Oh, be a sport, Mr. Merrill,” Julia said. “You mustn’t deny us our fun.”
Gareth leaned in, the spikes of his chrysanthemum almost grazing his soup. “Especially when there is sensational news to impart.”
Merrill shifted in his chair. “Gareth—”
“Do spare us the suspense,” Julia said.
“Well, as of yesterday evening, Mr. Merrill here is…” Gareth paused, lips pressed together.
“Gareth—” Julia said.
“…officially engaged to Miss Anna Gabler.”
“How wonderful,” E.H. said and raised a glass.
“Is it?” Julia said under her breath to