“But can’t you meet businessmen at parties and balls?” Rosemary asked.
“Perhaps I could,” Percy said dismissively. He turned to Elizabeth. “How are your dear parents?”
“They’re very well, thank you.”
“Still in South Dakota or are they here with you?”
“Still in South Dakota and thankful they left England when they did.”
“They got out just in time,” Percy said with a sigh. “The German U-boats torpedoed the very next ship.”
“Were you in the army, Lord Percy?” Rosemary asked.
Percy gave her a small smile. “Sadly, no. My health would not allow, but I was able to work as a diplomat, traveling back and forth to America to ask our friends here for assistance.”
“What does your wife think of all this travel, Lord Percy?” Plainly, Rosemary loved saying Lord Percy.
“Unfortunately, I am not married as yet. I haven’t had time to even think of such a thing because of the war and my duties abroad.” He actually looked sad, as if not having found a wife was somewhat of a tragedy. He turned to Elizabeth. “I should have followed my father’s example and chosen an American bride.”
“Not Elizabeth,” Rosemary said with undisguised satisfaction. “She’s already engaged.”
Percy feigned disappointment. “I see I have missed my chance. I should have proposed to you before you left England. I was at least half in love with you back then, you know.”
“Nonsense!” Elizabeth scoffed good-naturedly. “We were children, and you barely tolerated me. Don’t think I didn’t see those faces you pulled whenever your mother told you to take me riding.”
“What does one call the wife of an earl?” Rosemary said in an obvious effort to get Percy’s attention back. “I know a duke’s wife is a duchess, but . . .”
“She’s a countess,” Elizabeth reported with a measure of satisfaction.
“A countess,” Rosemary echoed in obvious delight. It really was a lovely title, one guaranteed to charm any American girl. Rosemary was appropriately charmed. “What sort of place is Hartwood, Lord Percy?”
“It’s absolutely lovely,” he said with affection. “The manor house dates back to the sixteenth century, but every earl has added on to it, so now it has about seventy rooms.”
“Seventy!” Rosemary nearly yelped.
“So I’m told. I’ve never actually counted them. The grounds are what I love most about it, though. Acres and acres of rolling hills. Before the war, we kept a stable of Thoroughbreds, and the hunting was superb.”
“But you said the horses are gone,” Anna recalled sadly.
“Yes.” Percy shook his head. “As I said, I hope to replenish our stables during my sojourn here. We can use motorcars for so many things nowadays, but one can’t hunt in a motorcar, can one?”
“Hartwood sounds heavenly,” Rosemary said.
“It truly is, but enough about me,” Percy said. “Tell me about yourselves. Rosemary, do you live here in the city?”
“Yes, I’ve been here all my life, although we do go to Newport in the summers.”
“Newport?”
“It’s a town in Rhode Island,” Anna explained.
Percy apparently didn’t know whether to be impressed or not.
“Do you ever get to London, Lord Percy?” Rosemary asked.
“Oh yes. We have a house there that we use during the season and when I’m in Parliament.”
“Parliament?” Rosemary echoed again, this time almost comically interested. “Isn’t that like our Congress?”
“Similar, yes. I serve in the House of Lords. It’s all rather boring, but one must do one’s part, mustn’t one?”
“Indeed,” Rosemary murmured.
“Tell me, Rosemary, are you married?”
“Rosemary is engaged,” Anna said before she could speak for herself. “Her fiancé was in the war, and he’s just gotten home.”
“How wonderful for you.”
“Yes, it is.” But for some reason, Rosemary did not seem as full of wonder as she should have been. “Tell me, Lord Percy, would you really be upset to be invited to a party or two? My mother has been wanting to have a small gathering to welcome my fiancé home, and I would love it if you could attend.”
“I suppose something like that wouldn’t be too much of a distraction, and I should very much like to meet the man who is lucky enough to have captured your heart, Miss Westerly.”
Rosemary’s pale cheeks pinkened at that. “You are too kind, Lord Percy. I’m sure Logan would love to meet you as well.” Then she seemed to remember that the two of them were not alone. “And of course both of you will be invited, and Gideon, too. Anna, is there someone you would like to bring as an escort?” Did her question seem a bit barbed? Elizabeth thought so.
“No one I can think of,” Anna said, unfazed. She smiled at Percy. “I’m the only lady at this table who isn’t engaged.”
“Then perhaps you’d allow me to escort you, Miss Vanderslice,” Percy said gallantly.
“I can’t think of anything that would please me more,” Anna said, pretending not to notice how Rosemary’s face had flushed unbecomingly.
Their food arrived at that moment, so they were spared whatever remark Rosemary would have made.
When they had been served and begun to eat, Anna said, “How long to you plan to stay in the city, Lord Percy?”
“As long as my business takes me. A month or two, most likely, perhaps even longer.”
“You’ll have to stay longer if you want to find an American bride,” Anna said sweetly.
“I don’t know about that,” Rosemary said with an odd smile. “You might be surprised how many American girls would like to be a countess.”
CHAPTER SIX
Oscar Thornton was trying to decide whether to read another newspaper, go for a walk or take a nap when someone knocked on his hotel room door on Saturday afternoon. He opened it to find Leo Vane looking harried. “Thornton, I’m so glad I caught you in. I was wondering if you found a letter that belongs to me. I’ve been looking everywhere for it, and I finally realized I might have dropped it when I was here the other day.”
“From Mexico?” Thornton asked with a knowing smile.
“Yes, that’s the one. Then you did find it,” Vane said, obviously relieved.
Thornton stood back, silently inviting Vane inside. “I’ve been wondering if I should try to return it to you, but then I figured if it was important, you’d come for it.”
“It’s not really important, but it’s private and . . .”
“And you wouldn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands,” Thornton guessed.
As he’d expected, Vane’s eyes widened in alarm. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said with very little conviction.
“If I’m not mistaken, you’re considering smuggling a German national into the United States without the proper papers. I can’t imagine you’d want that generally known.”
“You read the letter,” Vane accused in an effort to regain the high ground.
“I looked at it, yes. I thought it might be a letter I dropped myself, so naturally I checked to see what it was.”
“And now you know it does not belong to you. May I have it back, please?” he asked stiffly.
Thornton went over to the desk in the corner of his suite and retrieved the letter. Vane snatched it from his fingers and stuffed it into his coat pocket without even looking at it. “What are you planning to do? Report me to the League?”
“The American Protective League?” Thornton asked tauntingly. “Are they still active now that the war is over?”
Vane merely glared back at him.
“Calm down, Volker,” Thornton said, pleased to see him wince at the name. “I have no intention of turning you over to the Leag
ue or anyone else. What I am interested in is what you intend to do about your cousin and her American holdings.”
Vane rubbed a hand over his face. “I . . . I honestly don’t know.”
“Then sit down and we’ll have a drink, and you can tell me more about this Berta. Maybe I can help you.”
“You’d help me?” Vane asked in astonishment.
“If we can work out a suitable arrangement, yes, I would be happy to help you. Now sit down before you collapse.”
Indeed, Vane did look more than a bit unsteady. He took the offered seat and the glass of whiskey Thornton poured for him.
“Now tell me about dear Berta.”
“She’s my cousin, as I’m sure you know now. I had a lot of relatives in Germany, but most of them died in the war. Some of them, most of the men that is, were in the army, of course, but the civilians didn’t fare too well, either. Things were very bad there at the end. No one had enough food, and no one had any money.”
“And yet Berta apparently has a lot of money.”
“Not money. Her father had invested heavily in American industries and railroads, but when the war started, he was unable to escape Germany or to do anything with his holdings. He couldn’t even admit he owned them for fear they would be confiscated by the German government.”
That seemed likely to Thornton, so he nodded for Vane to continue.
“After the war ended, Berta was the only one left of her family. I was able to arrange for her to escape to Mexico, but it took every penny I had. She was able to smuggle out her valuables in a trunk with a false bottom. She brought the securities and a lot of jewelry that had been in her family. She has promised me half of her fortune if I can get her to America.”
“How much does she have?”
“I believe the securities she is holding would be worth over half a million dollars, but it may be even more than that.”
Thornton managed not to react to that amazing sum. “Why doesn’t she just cash them in herself in Mexico?”
“She’d only get about thirty percent of what they’re worth there, which is why I had planned to advance her the money to get her into the United States. Then she’ll more than repay me when she gets here.”
“But,” Thornton remembered, “you spent all your money just getting her as far as Mexico.”
“Yes,” Vane said sadly. “I was hoping to get in on a deal with you and make some more money, but . . .”
“But you’d need some money to invest first,” Thornton said impatiently. The man was an idiot. “What are you planning to do now?”
Vane shrugged. “I was going to go down to Mexico and get some of her securities so I can bring them to New York and cash them in here. We’ll get their true value that way. Then I’ll use that money to hire a boat or even buy one if I have to in order to smuggle her into New York.”
“That sounds like a good plan,” Thornton said.
Vane sighed. “Except that I don’t even have enough money to get myself to Mexico in the first place.”
“How much would you need?” Thornton asked.
“About five hundred dollars, but I’ll repay you with interest as soon as I get back from Mexico,” Vane said.
“I don’t care about the interest on five hundred dollars. I can finance the whole deal, but I want a cut.”
“A cut of what?” Vane asked nervously.
“Of your half. How much will you give me?”
“I . . . I’d be willing to give you, uh, thirty percent.”
“I want half.”
“Half!” Vane croaked.
“How will you get her out of Mexico without my help?”
Vane swallowed. “I don’t know.”
“Exactly. You need me, and you’ll still get a lot of money out of this, at least a hundred twenty-five thousand, by my reckoning. After we’re done, I’ll help you invest your share so you can make even more. I’d even be willing to advise Berta.” More than willing.
“I . . . I suppose I don’t really have any choice. I can’t just leave Berta all alone down there for heaven knows how long, while I try to raise the money myself.”
Thornton pulled out his wallet and counted out five hundred dollars.
Vane didn’t bother to pretend he wasn’t impressed. “How can I ever thank you, Thornton?”
“The expenses are coming out of your half,” Thornton said. “How soon can you leave for Mexico?”
* * *
—
Did you see it?” Anna whispered to Elizabeth as Gideon helped her off with her coat. He and Anna had just arrived at Cybil’s house for the salon on Monday evening, and Gideon had known since the moment Elizabeth had stepped out of her front door to meet him that something was going on.
Something he knew absolutely nothing about.
“See what?” Gideon demanded as he hung Anna’s coat on the rack. “And don’t bother saying nothing, because I will simply keep asking until you tell me.”
“Are you asking if I saw the gossip columns?” Elizabeth asked Anna, as if she really wasn’t sure. She was a much better liar than this, so she wasn’t really trying to fool him. Somehow that eased his mind a bit.
But only a bit.
“Yes. They were all very mysterious, weren’t they?” Anna said.
“Don’t tell me Rosemary put something else about us in the newspapers,” Gideon said in dismay.
“Not about us,” Elizabeth assured him.
Anna’s eyes were fairly sparkling with her suppressed glee. “No, not you. The Earl of Hartwood, although they called him the Earl of H. You know how the gossip columns try to be so discreet.”
“Who is the Earl of Hartwood?” Gideon asked, although he was sure he would regret it.
“He’s the Earl of Hartwood,” Elizabeth said quite reasonably. “Who else would he be?”
Knowing Elizabeth, he might be anyone at all, but Gideon said, “All right, why should you care that he’s mentioned in the newspapers?”
The two of them exchanged a knowing glance that worried him.
“We just think it curious that Rosemary met him on Saturday and on Sunday he’s mentioned in the gossip columns,” Elizabeth said.
This was getting more disturbing by the minute. “How do you know she met him on Saturday?”
“Because we were with her,” Anna said. “Didn’t Elizabeth tell you? We all had luncheon at the Citadel.”
“Yes, alone and unescorted,” Elizabeth said, as if she were recounting some scandalous deed, “until the earl rescued us. He was quite charming.”
“Rosemary thought so, anyway,” Anna said.
“Anna thought so, too,” Elizabeth said. “According to the gossip columns, he’s escorting her to Rosemary’s party.”
“What party?” Gideon asked, thoroughly confused.
“The one she is having to welcome Logan home. We haven’t received an invitation to it yet.”
“Oh.” Which would explain why he knew nothing about it.
“Is Jake here?” Anna asked, peering into the parlor at the guests already gathered.
“Not yet,” Elizabeth said. They exchanged another look, and this one made him positively uneasy. “And speaking of Logan, Gideon, have you heard from him?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Shouldn’t he have received an answer from his French lady friend by now?”
“That depends on how long it takes a letter to go from here to somewhere in France. It takes at least a week to cross the Atlantic each way, and then who knows how long to go from the port to the town where she lives and back again. I imagine mail service is rather unreliable in France just now.”
“Yes, I can see that might take a while. Has Sergeant Kellogg been nagging you?”
“Not at all.”
“He probably will.”<
br />
“I’m sure of it. Now tell me more about this earl fellow.”
“Well, according to the gossip columns, he’s here on some secret mission for the British government,” Anna said.
“Did they actually say that in the newspapers?” Gideon asked, shocked.
“Of course not,” Elizabeth said. “The earl told us that, which is how Anna knows, but he swore us to secrecy. The gossip columns just said he was hoping to make the acquaintance of some influential Americans while he is here.”
“And buy some horses,” Anna added.
“Horses?” Gideon echoed in confusion.
“The government took all the horses from his estate for the war effort,” Anna told him solemnly. “Do we know anyone who breeds horses?”
“Probably,” Gideon said.
“We should introduce them to the earl then,” Anna said.
“When is this party going to happen?” Gideon asked. He really needed to meet this earl fellow.
“Soon, I would imagine,” Elizabeth said. “Rosemary is very interested in announcing to everyone that she knows an earl.”
Poor Logan. “How does Rosemary happen to know this earl?”
“Elizabeth introduced them,” Anna said innocently, still peering into the parlor. “Ah, my friend Barbara is here.” She wandered off before Gideon could even react.
He turned to Elizabeth. “You introduced them?”
“I had to or appear rude,” Elizabeth said sweetly.
“And how do you know an earl?”
“Through the Old Man, of course.”
Of course. He saw it all now. Or at least some of it. Or maybe only a tiny little piece of it. But he did see. Which didn’t mean he liked it, especially when he thought they’d already agreed that Logan’s problems were his own to deal with.
“Elizabeth . . .” he began, not really certain what he could say, but she silenced him with a look.
“Logan is still free to do whatever he likes with his future. I wouldn’t dream of interfering with that.”
She was, he could easily see, telling the truth. But this was Elizabeth, and she had a knack for using even the truth in ways he had never dreamed it could be used. He would just have to wait until the party to figure out what was going on.
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