Perceptive little beauty, aren’t you? he thought. He needed to change the subject. “What’s wrong with your grandfather?”
“Early stages of dementia. He’ll be fine for an hour, then suddenly start demanding that his secretary give him reports on the day’s orders. He—” Her eyes widened. “We left him alone.” She scurried off the bed and grabbed the doorknob. “Come on, let’s find him.” She looked him up and down. “And don’t hurt him if he gets nasty.”
“Had to leave my six-shooter at home. Airport security greatly hinders us Americans.”
With a look of disgust, she flung the door open and nearly tripped over her suitcases. “And put these inside!” she ordered. He heard her run down the hall, then the stairs.
Jack got off the bed. “Might have done you good to have a stableman as your father,” he mumbled, then put the suitcases inside the room. He paused in the hallway. If Nadine’s father knew the house, he might go upstairs. Especially if he used to “break the glass elephant” with someone who wasn’t part of the family. A pretty maid, maybe?
He headed up to the top of the house.
* * *
When Jack saw that the upstairs was empty, he went down and met Sara coming out of her room. She had on one of her simple dresses that probably cost what he paid his workmen for a week. “Have you seen Nadine’s father?”
“He’s with her. We’re meeting downstairs for cocktails, and you need to change. I’m pretty sure Byon wants you to sing for him.”
“Teddy’s father is Sean.”
Sara gasped. “Oh. Right. The man Nadine hated. Makes sense. She sure was good at keeping it a secret.” Sara’s head came up. “Think she told him the night of the party?”
“Then when he said, ‘You’re on your own, baby,’ she bashed him over the head with a rock?”
“Something like that. Have you been with her daughter all this time?”
“Most of the time. She was a mess.”
“And you healed her?”
Jack’s lips tightened. “I listened to her. You two do the same with the old man?”
“We couldn’t catch him. He wanted to see the changes in the house and gave us the slip.”
“Where’s Kate?”
“Getting dressed. You brought your tux, didn’t you?”
“Of course,” Jack said. “When do you think Meena will show up?”
“Remember that the name’s back to Willa,” Sara reminded him. “I imagine her hair will take some time. And makeup removal will take hours.”
“She had on makeup today?”
“Aren’t you funny,” Sara said. “Go change into your tux.” She smoothed his shirt collar. “Drive Byon crazy with the beauty of you.”
Laughing, Jack kissed her cheek. “I’ll be down as soon as I can.”
“I forgot to ask what you thought of Nadine’s daughter.”
“Gorgeous. She rides horses like her father and drives cars like her mother.”
“Oh.” Sara’s face fell. “She is quite pretty.”
“And spoiled and demanding and doesn’t appreciate what she has.”
Sara cheered up. “Ah, too bad.”
Jack shook his head, then started down the hall. “But exciting,” he said over his shoulder. “She could give a man a good run. While it lasted. Short-term heaven.”
Grimacing, Sara went down to the drawing room. Nadine and Byon were sitting together on the couch, their heads close, and talking privately. Wonder if I could have the room bugged? she thought. I’d like to hear what they’re saying. They nodded to Sara but didn’t stop their conversation.
Like Byon, Clive was wearing a tuxedo. He was at the drinks table and she went to him.
“Nothing has changed,” Clive said. “The top echelon is together and I’m the butler. What would you like to have?”
“Gin and tonic,” she said.
“How English. Sure you don’t want an appletini?”
“Don’t make me gag.” She was looking at Nadine and Byon. “What do you think they’re talking about?”
“Money, probably.”
“Then they should include you, the banker,” Sara said.
Clive smiled. “Thank you.” He handed her a drink. “It feels odd after all these years of working with people to suddenly be excluded. And worse, it’s making anger and resentment rise up inside me. I want to pour bourbon over Byon’s head.”
“And light it on fire?”
“Of course not,” Clive said, but he was laughing.
“Have you met Nadine’s daughter or seen her father?”
“No.” They were at the far side of the room, their voices quiet. “Mr. Howland! He was sanity in the midst of chaos. The earl was spending madly, and Nicky was brooding over the futility of his life, then here came Mr. Howland, loud and giving orders.”
“Did you know that he paid Bertie’s bills?”
Clive nearly choked on his drink. “I knew money came from somewhere but...” He paused. “Mr. Howland wanted to buy Oxley for Nadine. He probably thought Nicky and his title came with it.”
“Spot on!” Sara said.
“Didn’t get it, did he? So what’s he trying to rule now?”
“Nothing,” she said. “He’s as daffy as a drunken bullfrog.”
“Odd phrase but descriptive. Probably wore his mind out with his schemes. Back then, there were whole minutes when I felt sorry for Nadine. What’s her daughter like?”
“Jack spent time with her, says she rides as well as her father.”
“Must have come from the viscount as Nadine hated horses. I still remember her complaints about Thorpe. She despised him! At the time, I thought her treatment of him was part of why he ran away. If he did. Maybe she...”
“Murdered him?” Sara finished for him. He didn’t answer as his eyes went to the doorway. Young Teddy, her arm looped through her grandfather’s, was there. She had on a slinky red dress with nothing on under it. You could see the indentation of her navel.
Clive gave a low whistle. “How old is she?”
“She was born six months after the party when her father disappeared.” Quickly, Sara turned away. She wouldn’t have dropped such news on Clive if there wasn’t a mirror over the fireplace. If she’d been looking at him, he might have controlled his expression, but with her back to him, he didn’t need to. Sara saw his look of shock—and it appeared to be genuine.