Once Ada explained that the Bradley was held in a tax-exempt trust, his next steps were plain. Whether the beneficiary is Paulien or Ada, the trust must be terminated. As it stands now, after Bradley’s death, neither woman would actually inherit the collection; they would only gain pseudocontrol of it, their hands tied by a board of trustees. And if they don’t own it, neither will he.
After the attempted robbery—well, the not-really-attempted robbery—he takes a month-long train ride to California and back. Going west through Chicago, east through Texas. The idea is to let any investigation of the break-in cool down, and for both Vivienne and Ada to heat up. He finds that absence works just as the sages say it does.
When he gets back to Philadelphia, he continues where he left off. He spends a day at Ker-Feal with Ada, encouraging her to fall even more in love with him than she already is—if that’s possible—and milking her for information on the Bradley. She’s shrewder than he believed at first, but unfortunately she’s got little interest in or knowledge of her husband’s business affairs. “If it were up to me,” she told him, “I’d burn the whole place down—with the girlfriend inside.”
The next day he follows Paulien to the park. Even after the “bungled” burglary, she’s clearly pleased to see him—and more than pleased to collude with him to get her hands on her colonnade seven. She’s still willing to marry him, even if she claims it’s only for the purposes of their bargain, which it isn’t. It’s because she loves him, has always loved him. He knows how to play her, has always known how to play her. Which is useful because, unlike Ada, she does have a lot of interest in and knowledge of Bradley’s business affairs.