by Beth Byers
“All my friends call me Loopsie,” the girl giggled, holding her hand over her mouth and then waving the servant over for another mimosa. While she got another drink, most of the friends slithered off, leaving Vi with the so-called ‘Loopsie’ and an energetic fellow who struck Vi as remarkably familiar looking.
“It’s because,” the energetic fellow explained, “when she dives into her cups, she tells stories in loops. She circles back on herself over and over again.”
“Oh, stop!” Loopsie said with another giggle, but she didn’t deny it. “You’re the new friend of Rita. The favorite. That was me once.”
There was an intended message in that statement and Violet paused long enough to take it in. Rather than reacting, she smiled and shrugged. “So nice to meet you.”
“Rita goes through friends, you know,” Loopsie said in a way that seemed to indicate Violet should take careful note – even though Loopsie’s speech was slightly slurred. “Don’t be woebegone when Rita has a new dear friend. It’ll happen sooner or later.”
Vi’s heart quivered for a moment and then she smiled once again. This felt more like a long-time friend proclaiming her status as the original and more important friend. Vi was hardly going to let some territorial cat ruin the celebration of Ham and Rita’s wedding with jealousy. She also wasn’t going to pretend that Rita couldn’t have a dozen friends without affecting Vi’s own friendship.
“What’s your name when it’s not Loopsie?”
“Gertrude,” Loopsie said, draining her mimosa and then screwing up her nose. “So you can see that even a pet name as terrible as Loopsie is an improvement.”
Vi glanced at the fellow who said, “Reese Stafford.”
Jack held out his hand and then turned as Jerome and Percival approached. The gents hugged in that sort of half-way that men do and then they all turned to flirt a bit with Loopsie. Vi introduced them all to Jack who glanced them over without note.
“She is a tiger, that Lady Eleanor,” Jerome told Violet, “but the chase is going to be the best chase yet. I’ve captured her imagination, I’m sure. You have to get a woman through her mind first, you know. Then her heart. The desire is always last, though I imagine she’s noticed me. I cut a fine figure if I do say so myself.”
Vi barely hid a gag as Jack stiffened. The absurdity of it hit Vi hard and she had to fight off giggles. She must have looked as though she’d choked on something because Jack patted her lightly on the back.
“Mmm,” Violet said when she recovered her voice, “unsurprising. She’s a woman who feels the full extent of her value. Did you compliment her skin?”
Jack cleared his throat at Vi’s question and she could see his side-eye glance, while barely able to hold back her high-pitched giggles.
Jerome leaned back and admitted, “She seemed unimpressed. Are you sure the other one is taken? Lady Eleanor is an excellent chase, but there’s something to be said for easy. The heiress? I heard she has control of her money. Her husband won’t even know when she gives me something pretty.”
“You’re a snake,” Loopsie said. “I’d be surprised, but I’ve seen you slide your way into too many hearts and take them for as much as they’ll give.”
“Have you met her husband?” Vi asked lightly.
Jerome shook his head and Vi leaned in, speaking low, “He’s not right in the head.” Even lower Vi whispered, “The war.”
Jack lightly pinched the back of Vi’s arm as she pulled away and then cast a bright look to Jerome. “Keep up the good work.” She grinned at the two gents and said, “This is my husband, Jack.”
Jack nodded, giving her a look that promised he’d be watching the fallout of what she’d started. “Have you seen the ruins yet?”
Reese answered before the rest could. “I’ve already walked them twice and explored the gardens. I’m prepared to win. I was excited before, but after watching Aaron Tisdale’s determination, I have to wonder what he knows?”
“You have too much energy,” Loopsie giggled. “Why are you always so excited about everything?”
“We can’t all sleep ‘til noon,” Reese said easily. He glanced at Jerome and Percival and asked, “Have you walked the hedge maze yet?”
“The last I checked,” Jerome said with that same mean humor Vi had witnessed the day before, “I’m not a debutante from Queen Victoria’s reign.”
Loopsie giggled and said, “If we can bring mimosas, I’ll go with you Reese-y. I wouldn’t mind a prize.”
He held out a much-needed arm and then Jack said, “Oh Vi, it’s Denny and Lila. I need to discuss that business with Denny.”
Vi refrained from rolling her eyes at Jack’s weak excuse and let him tug her away. As they settled near Denny and Lila, Victor and Kate settled in as well. As they did, there was a shout and they turned and saw the handsome Reese and the guy from the night before shoving. They were accompanied by Loopsie and the blonde from the night before.
“Again?” Jack muttered and he started to stand up, but Vi placed her hand on his wrist and pulled him back down.
“Not your responsibility,” Vi told him.
Philip rose to end the fight, but before he could, Ham stepped between the two gents. Whatever Ham said had both men spinning on their heels and stalking off. Loopsie stumbled, and Ham caught her just as Philip arrived. Whatever Philip said had Ham’s shoulders stiffening. You had to watch for it, but if you were paying attention, it was possible to see the irritation in Ham’s face as well.
“Is it because Russell bought the house? Do you think that’s why Ham is letting Russell shove in so much?”
Rita slowly approached and wound her arm with Ham’s. She leaned into her fiancé and then said something low to her father. His face transformed from irritated to affable and then Rita tugged Ham away. They sidestepped a few guests and then Rita collapsed into a chair next to Vi.
“My father has gone mad,” she announced, stealing Violet’s mimosa.
“Your friends are mad,” Denny told Rita. “Who breaks into a shoving fight at the pre-pre-pre wedding celebration? Don’t they know the sanctity of a triple pre-celebration? Think! It could have ruined the feel of your whole day.”
“They must have been contaminated by Vi,” Rita said easily, “Once Vi set a rogue on her stepmother, all feel of love and romance was lost. All that was left was hijinks and madness.”
Victor snorted when Denny’s high-pitched giggle cut off Rita.
“I’m surprised she’s here,” Rita admitted, glancing at Violet to see if she was offended. “I didn’t think your Lady Eleanor liked me. Let alone enough to bring the earl to our wedding celebration.”
“She’s after Violet setting up a trust for the wart,” Victor told Rita. “Father refuses to increase the wart’s allowance to be higher than what I received. Dearest stepmother has returned her gaze to Violet’s coffers instead.”
“Is everyone focused on money all the time?” Ham demanded. “The number of asides I’ve heard in the last two days is enough to make me wish I had just thrown Rita over my shoulder and headed for anyone who would marry us.”
“You should have gotten married aboard ship,” Lila said easily. “That way all you had to do was just bring along whoever you wanted to be there and then announce it when you got home. It would have been too late for Mr. Russell to posture.” Lila glanced at Rita and then said, “Sorry.”
“He is posturing,” Rita admitted. She tucked one of her curls behind her ear and added, “It’s like he’s fulfilling some fantasy I never knew he had. He’s got the scavenger hunt scheduled for tomorrow. We’re having a masked ball. Father ordered dominos and masks for everyone. It’s absurd and yet…”
“It sounds fun,” Lila said. She nudged Victor and said, “Add roller-skates and it could be one of your and Vi’s parties.”
“It’s weird, though,” Rita muttered. “It’s my father. I feel a little like he’s trying to make a point of some kind, but I can’t decide what it is. Something about bei
ng the winner of all his friends? Or showing Ham what Father is capable of? Or, I don’t know…something.”
Ham glanced at her and said nothing.
“It’s that he’s responsible for all of this,” Denny told Rita. He didn’t even sound or look apologetic when he explained. “He made it possible, not Ham. He’s giving you this, not Ham. Your happiness comes from him, and your father wants you to know who it comes from.”
“Not Ham,” Rita finished with a wince and then leaned into Ham’s ear and whispered something low.
To Ham, Rita said precisely, “My happiness is not directly related to expensive parties. In fact, it has very little to do with that.”
Vi was surprised when she found herself offering, “He wants you to know that he loves you, Rita. It might be a little bit about Ham, but he doesn’t want to mean nothing when you are married. He’s posturing, but it isn’t for your friends or for Ham. It’s for you. Don’t forget him. He’s as worried about losing you to Ham as you are about losing him to his own fiancée and your future stepsister.”
Rita’s gaze moved to Violet’s face and she asked, “Do you think?”
“Yes,” Violet and Ham said unison.
“We both love you,” Ham told Rita. “We’ll figure it out. I won’t be offended by your father offering you something I cannot. We both know I’ll never be able to give you anything monetarily that he couldn’t outdo a thousand times over.”
“That doesn’t matter to me,” Rita muttered. “Father knows that. I don’t understand—”
“Don’t worry,” Lila told Rita.
“It’s your wedding,” Kate said easily. “Be happy. The rest will sort itself out.”
Chapter 6
Vi indulged in cold ham, roasted potatoes, strawberries and a few glasses of champagne until the afternoon started to cool and the idea of a bath and a long nap started to weigh heavier and heavier in her mind. Kate had left early with her pregnancy which was normal because she tended to put rest and her daughters before everything else. Soon after, Lila and Denny disappeared for their own nap.
Smith and Beatrice had disappeared with tangled fingers and then Victor went for a cocktail and got sucked into Tomas and Gerald and their wandering towards the ruins.
“You don’t have to linger with me,” Violet told Jack when Victor disappeared.
“Lingering with you is my preference, Vi.”
Vi shot him a look from the side of her eye while they watched people wander in and out of the maze and the ruins. His gaze was fixed on the crowd in front of them, but there was a smirk about the barest edge of his lips.
“Very romantic,” Vi told him lazily. “You get points for that for certain.”
His grin was slow and she laughed at the flash of mischief that came and went in an instant. Jack rose a moment later, leaned down to press a kiss to her face, and then said, “I believe your father is giving me the stern eye.”
“What have you done?”
“I think the question is, does he know what you did?”
Vi’s answer was an unrepentant giggle, and he tugged her hair lightly.
“For better or worse was the vow, I believe. I didn’t realize the worse would be entirely engineered by my lovely bride.”
With a smirk on her face, Vi leaned back and watched him walk away, followed by Loopsie sliding into the now nearly empty table.
“That look on your face…” Loopsie said, “Utterly fabulous. You must still love him.”
Vi glanced at her, noting that in the hours since they’d chatted Loopsie had sobered up some. Apparently there hadn’t been champagne in the hedge maze after all. Vi lifted a brow and said, “It’s why I married him.”
Loopsie glanced at Vi and then said, “But you still love him. Hasn’t he ruined that yet?”
Vi shook her head. The serious expression on Loopsie’s face surprised Vi. “Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. I just…sometimes I’m surprised that anyone is in love after a few weeks.”
Vi fiddled with her wedding ring uncertain of what to say. Finally she tried, “Are you in love?”
“I don’t know,” Loopsie said. “Sometimes. Are you newlyweds?”
Vi shook her head, watching Loopsie carefully. She was avoiding Vi’s gaze while her own moved around the area almost frenetically. Vi waited to see if Loopsie would meet her eyes or look her way, but instead the girl’s gaze fixed on the faded version of Rita. “Do you know her?”
“Betty Lissow.”
It was said venomously and Vi lifted a brow. Vi’s suspicion that Loopsie had sobered adjusted to Loopsie had reached the sad and bitter point of drunk.
Vi knew what came out of her mouth next was prompting the worst from a morose girl, but she didn’t want to help herself. “She seems to be another of Rita’s friends.”
“She was before me.” Loopsie sniffed and then waved ferociously at one of the servants until she got another cocktail. Vi had to bite down on her lip when she saw Loopsie take a drink in each hand. “The friend before me. Betty dumped Rita for Melvin Lissow and…and…I ended up with Rita.”
It was said so sourly Vi stared and then another thought occurred to her. “Was Melvin yours first?”
“I’d have thought so,” Loopsie sniffed. “Everyone wants a Betty, no one wants a Loopsie.”
Given the quiver in Loopsie’s voice Vi avoided the tear-filled stare sent her way. Vi fiddled with her wedding ring, gazed to the side until she asked, “How did you meet Rita?”
“Melvin,” Loopsie said. “I used to think that it was kismet. This gift from the universe. My love who introduced me to my best friend.”
Vi moved from fiddling with her wedding ring to fiddling with her hair as Loopsie’s eyes filled with tears. “Ah, I’m sorry.”
Loopsie rubbed her brow, downed the first of her drinks and then said, “She’s a snake, you know.”
“Betty?” Vi asked carefully.
Loopsie’s head jerked so harshly, Vi wasn’t sure if she was nodding or having some sort of seizure.
“I—”
“She slid in and took him from me. I thought he would propose and instead he threw me over.”
Vi didn’t even reply to that. She wasn’t sure how to, without making Loopsie’s tears flow over. Vi was almost desperately looking for Jack to save her, but the only gaze that met hers was her stepmother. Vi paused, wondering if that dark look she was receiving was her usual dark look or if Lady Eleanor had realized what Vi had done.
Vi paused and then tried, “I saw her last night in some sort of confrontation.”
Loopsie leaned back and then admitted, “It was Reese and I. Melvin made a comment and Reese wasn’t very kind in reply. She shoved him right over. He limped for the rest of the night.”
Vi’s eyes widened and she cleared her throat. Was it wrong to dive for more information? Prompting the furiously drunk Loopsie along seemed a guarantee for Vi to end up with a weeping mess on her hands. “Betty must be quite strong.”
“She’s unexpected,” Loopsie hissed. “She attacks when you aren’t looking and then crows. Like a…like a…praying mantis. What was Reese supposed to do? Shove her back?”
That meant, Vi thought suddenly, that Loopsie had been the one who had slapped Melvin Lissow the night before. Why would Loopsie attack Melvin? Because Betty had attacked Reese? Because it was a chance to get a little revenge for being thrown over? Because Loopsie had been as drunk then as she was now?
Vi slowly reached for her coffee and then guilt rose in her strong enough that she changed the subject. “Were you able to scout the grounds out well for the scavenger hunt tomorrow?”
“Oh yes,” Loopsie said. “Until Reese told me to be off with myself.”
A tear finally slipped over and rolled slowly through Loopsie’s powder bringing a trail of kohl along after. Vi reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. “There, there. I’m sure…he didn’t mean it.” Vi ended lamely.
Loopsie shot
Vi a look so filled with venom that Vi instinctively leaned back. “He meant it.”
Loopsie’s snarl had Vi lifting a brow. She glanced around again and saw Rita watching. Help, Vi mouthed. Rita winced and nodded. She nudged Ham, directing his gaze to Vi. His jaw flexed and Vi watched anger fill her friend’s face.
She had met Hamilton Barnes within weeks of meeting Jack, and she liked him since that day. She had grown to love him as one of her brothers, and she valued his opinion nearly as much as Jack and Victor’s. That said, she had never seen a look such as the one she was seeing on his face now. He seemed to be furious, empathetic, and exasperated all at the same time.
He said something to Rita who shook her head and let go of his arm. A polite smile and a careful excuse and Rita left Ham with the couple they had been talking to. Rita dropped into the chair between Loopsie and Vi and let out a dramatic sigh.
“There are so many polite asides,” Rita moaned, taking Vi’s coffee and stealing a sip. “My feet are killing me and I’ve agreed that we’re so lucky to have such lovely days for our celebration about a million times.”
“Oh,” Loopsie hissed, “all those congratulations. This big party…” Rather than finishing her tirade, she shot Rita a look that would have killed if it could have and then downed half of her next glass.
“I suppose,” Rita said, ignoring the venom, “that even congratulations get old. I’d give a lot for a quiet evening right now.”
“I’ve never seen or heard of a bigger wedding celebration.” Loopsie hiccuped and then another tear slipped down her cheek.
“Oh Loopsie, love,” Rita said gently. “Are we to tears then? What if we just mosey up to your room together, shall we?”
“Reese doesn’t love me,” Loopsie told Rita with a whimper.
“I’m sure he does,” Rita lied. Vi lifted a brow but said nothing as Rita shot Vi a pleading glance.