“Then Bobby Lee had to kill his paper father to get the key,” she said. “You will tell this to the police. They will arrest Bobby.”
“I’ll certainly mention it to the police,” I said, “but I think they’d have a hard time proving he was guilty. If he found the paper he had signed, he’d surely have destroyed it by now.”
“But at least they would then know that Frederick was innocent,” she said. “And Bobby Lee is a bad man. It is right that bad men should suffer.”
“I’m not sure about that.” I laughed. “We can’t play God.” I brushed a sodden hair back from my face and remembered that I should be hurrying to get ready.
“Listen,” I said. “Tonight there will be a party at this house. It is important that you stay upstairs and unseen. A policeman may be present and you don’t want to take any risks.”
“I will stay in the room,” she said.
“I’ll bring you up some food before the guests arrive. But now I must go and make myself respectable.”
“I think you are most respectable woman already,” Bo Kei said.
I had to laugh at this. “There are some who would dispute it, but thank you,” I said.
“Thank you, Missie Molly.” She gave that funny little bow.
I dried my hair and dressed. I had decided against wearing a costume, although Sid and Gus had tried to tempt me with everything from Marie Antoinette to a Vestal Virgin. Somehow it seemed to be mocking my wedding to dress up in costume at my prenuptial party. So instead I borrowed one of Gus’s evening gowns—relics of her former life when she had moved in glittering society. It was a simple affair in gray silk, dotted with pearls, but it showed off my red hair and my curves. I even managed to put my hair up, with the aid of several combs and was feeling quite sophisticated as I went downstairs to join Sid and Gus. They had taken my pleas not to be too outlandish to heart. Gus was costumed as a water sprite, with lots of trailing green and blue chiffon, and Sid was a wood nymph with a similar costume in green and brown. She wore leaves in her hair, while Gus had a crown of silver starfish.
“You both look spectacular,” I said.
“If you hadn’t been such a fuddy-duddy we could have made you a spirit of the air and then we would have been complete,” Sid said, “but as it is, you look as the future Mrs. Daniel Sullivan should—respectable and demure.”
“Oh, dear. That sounds boring.”
“My sweet, you are marrying a boring and respectable man. What can I say?” Sid chuckled. “But I’m sure you’ll be blissfully happy and that’s all that matters.”
I thought about this as we removed the aspics and cold salmon from the pantry where they had been sitting on ice. Was I really destined for a boring, respectable life with Daniel? Would he forbid me to attend such functions as this in future? Would he even pressure me eventually to break off my friendship with Sid and Gus? Rubbish, I said to myself. I was a strong person and not even my husband was going to tell me what to do. I swept out of the pantry with the platter of salmon, narrowly missing a calamity as it slid across the tilting plate.
The first guests started to arrive—artists and actors, suffragists, and society ladies I had met through my hostesses, as well as people I had never met. Some were in fabulous costumes, while others had chosen more conventional evening dress. Sarah and Monty were of the latter. She looked enchanting in powder blue while he was dashing in white tie and tails. He looked distinctly uncomfortable as he examined the other occupants of the living room.
“Come and try the punch, Mr. Warrington-Chase,” Gus whisked him away. “Or would you prefer champagne to start with?”
“Most kind,” Monty muttered, looking distinctly uneasy as he was led away by a water sprite.
“Oh, dear.” Sarah gave me an embarrassed grin. “I was not at all sure about this and I’m afraid it’s going to be a disaster. Monty really doesn’t approve of this sort of thing. I tried to persuade him to wear a costume—I suggested that he come as Lord Byron. That’s respectable enough, isn’t it? I even bought him the wig, but he refused to wear it.”
“But they have costume balls in England.”
“Yes, but with the right sort of people. It’s apparently all right if lords and ladies put on masks and costumes, but not bohemians. I know he only allows me to mix with Sid and Gus because it’s such a short time before we sail for our new life at his country estate.”
“You must put your foot down and not find yourself under Monty’s thumb, Sarah,” I said. “Daniel would prefer that I not have Sid and Gus as my friends. He wanted us to take a house in a very different neighborhood so that I could be away from them, but I made it clear that I was not abandoning my friends.”