Chapter 62

Johnny went off to settle Robert in Stanley’s office while I tried to get more comfortable with my wing collar. I was in the drawing room, and there was Cristal available in an ice bucket. I would just have to drink a few glasses and hope for the best. Given enough, I would not be able to feel a thing. Johnny and I looked like we were part of a past century, but that was the dress code for tonight’s festivities. The ladies must have been having fits, but maybe not. It was an occasion and a chance to look their best.

Bruni entered and took all my attention. She wore a silver satin gown with bare shoulders. She clutched the front of the dress to lift it. The glowing sapphire of the previous night sparkled just above her cleavage. Her hair was pulled back and held in place by a diamond clasp.

“Well?” she said and pirouetted in front of me. The thick fabric of the dress flared and hissed as she moved.

“Gorgeous and then some.” It was true; she was stunning.

“Don’t just stand there, others will come in moments.”

I held her in my arms. “You really are extraordinarily beautiful.” I kissed the place between her neck and shoulders. She sighed.

“I’m glad you appreciate it,” she said, swirling away. “Mother thinks you’re divine and approves — her reluctance banished. So, one down, one to go. Any more breaking news?”

“More than I can possibly say. I don’t even know where to begin, but I think there is one thing you had better know right off the bat. I hesitate to tell you, but — ”

At that moment, Malcolm lurched in. He looked about and saw Bruni.

“Oh, I say, Brunhilde. That is quite an outfit. I hope we sit together this evening.”

“Why, thank you, Malcolm.” Bruni liked the attention. I passed her a champagne glass. “It’ll be luck of the draw, I’m afraid.”

“Isn’t that always the case?”

He moved to the champagne as Johnny slipped in by way of the dining room. “I wasn’t supposed to come through that way. Stanley and crew have really done it up, I must say. Amazing spread. That storm is picking up. You can hear it much better in the kitchen.”

“It’s fitting,” I said as I poured him champagne.

Within a few minutes, we were all collected. The men were dressed in their tails while the ladies looked like elegant birds of different species. Elsa wore a simple devastating gown in black and white that bared her shoulders and emphasized her slim figure while accentuating her cleavage. Diamonds of extraordinary size and brilliance circled her neck. She looked spectacular and knew it. The tall man beside me goggled at her, besotted once again. Maw wore black and was bedecked in gigantic emeralds that more than compensated for the plainness of her dress. Bonnie wore red — fire-engine red — and a diamond necklace. She had pulled back her hair and had skillfully applied makeup. She looked a different person. Gone was the awkwardness. She had completely made herself over. Anne wore a strapless gown of coral and black. A necklace of gold and diamonds encircled her neck. She was comfortable in formal wear and moved about the guests commenting on how wonderful they each looked. Stanley’s crew came by with flutes of champagne on silver trays while others passed plates of hors d’oeuvres of caviar and smoked salmon. It may have been the champagne, but my impression was that the level of conversation had gone up in volume.

Bruni stood beside me and asked, “What were you about to tell me when Malcolm interrupted?”

“It’s complicated,” I said, “and not for everyone’s ears. I’ll have to tell you later, I’m afraid.”

Bruni was disappointed, I could tell, but she understood that the current circumstances did not allow for intimate conversation.

She nodded. “I look forward to it. Perhaps later, when you help me with my dress.”

With that shot, she went off to circulate. I distracted myself with more caviar. I didn’t even want to think about what that meant.

I wandered over to Bonnie and commented, “Compliments to you. You look heavenly.”

“You’re not just saying that?”

“Not at all. Your new look suits you. It really does.”

“If it means I see more of you, I’ll keep it.”

She gave me a wink and moved off to get more champagne.

Johnny came up and stood beside me. “I see changes taking place. Bonnie has upped her game.”

“She has indeed.”

“Are you still committed to our plan?”

“Yes, as much of a plan as we have. I was unable to tell Bruni. I doubt she will be pleased having been kept in the dark and having it sprung on her.”

“Tough luck, but I’m sure a simple statement of facts would have been insufficient. It is better this way, I assure you. I’ve had experience.”

“Really?”

“Well, no. At least not on the scale you are about to embark on. You’ve managed to take that to a whole new level. I’d go easy on the spirits, but then again, a little extra might just settle you down.”

I shook my head. We were in the hands of the gods. Johnny and I had formulated a plan, but we both felt it was sketchy, since it depended on taking advantage of circumstances. We gave it up in the end and decided to let events unfold while enjoying the feast. It had every indication of being a night to remember on a culinary basis alone.

After a suitable period for mingling, Stanley made an announcement. “Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that we welcome you to a special anniversary dinner.” He turned off the lights in the drawing room as the doors to the feast were opened. The theme was gold. Lit only by candlelight, the table settings shimmered in fine splendor amid the many matched glasses of different sizes and the cutlery laid out like a surgery at each place setting. Behind each covered chair was a gloved footman ready to seat each guest. The room was suffused in golden light.

There was a hush, followed by suitable comments. I found myself placed next to Elsa after all, who was seated to my left, with Anne at the head of the table to my right. Opposite me sat Bruni, who beamed as she placed her napkin in her lap. She loved the elegance and sumptuousness about her, and it showed in her face. To her right were Malcolm next to Bonnie, and then the baron next to John, at the other head of the table. Seated to John’s right was his mother, with Johnny next to her, completing the circle.

The table seating was subtly different from the previous night. Johnny was very much aware of Elsa sitting next to him, and Malcolm did not quite know what to do with Bruni or with Bonnie. He kept turning one way and then the other. I complimented Anne on the dinner arrangements and her dress.

During a lull, Elsa leaned over to me and whispered in my ear, “Have you had sex yet?”

“Elsa, you’re being wicked again.”

She giggled. “Just thought I’d ask.”

“You just wanted to see if I’d turn red.”

“That too, but one can discover an awful lot by being direct and watching the reaction.”

“How’s it going with the baron?” I said in an effort to steer the conversation onto safer ground.

“We do it all the time.”

“Elsa…”

It was going to be that kind of evening. She loved to discomfit as much as she loved to sit at a brilliant table. Her insouciance was her way of showing her enjoyment, and judging from the opening salvo, she was delighted in every way.

Our first course arrived. Amuse-bouche of hamachi, salmon roe, and basil topped with a small flower on wafers. There was a tiny dab of wasabi. Anne and John liked sushi, and this was Dagmar’s way of indulging their love of Japanese food in a European setting. The dish was paired with a glass of a Château Haut-Brion white. The wine was heavenly.

“Cheers, Elsa,” I said when we were finished.

“Prost.” She leaned right across me, bending low almost in my lap and asked Anne, “What price for the cook?”

Anne laughed. “She is priceless, I’m afraid.”

Elsa sat back, happy. She had produced the desired effect. I looked at Bruni and rolled my eyes. She laughed and shook her head. Malcolm couldn’t tear his eyes away from Elsa’s torso. I looked around the table. Everyone was smiling and chatting, even Maw. Bonnie caught me looking at her and raised her glass. I did the same. I had the feeling she wouldn’t take no for an answer. I had gone through a paucity of women for years. Work and my own issues had dominated my prior life. Money had been just as tight. Perhaps I never noticed, but since my arrival, I found myself attracting more attention than I wished. I’d always thought it was supposed to be the other way around. Perhaps it was a legacy. I could see it leading to no end of trouble.

The next course was a small bowl of cream of watercress soup served cold and garnished with a sprig atop a little dollop of crème fraîche. The courses were small considering there were seventeen different spoons, forks, and knives at each place setting. It was going to be a long night.

The fish course of sole amandine followed. The wine was not changed simply because there was little that could match it and because John and Anne were particularly partial to its taste. I couldn’t fault them on that score. It worked for me as well as for the rest of the table.

Roast beef, John’s favorite, came next along with the infamous Château Lafite. Thanks to Stanley, Johnny’s and my theft slid by unnoticed.

Just before we started on the entree, John stood up and said after gathering our attention, “On behalf of Anne and myself, I would like to thank you all for coming and celebrating our anniversary at this beautiful table. There is so much I could say about the many years we have been together. Each shines on its own, better and better. The wine you will drink, of which we have only two bottles, has been with us all that time for the sole purpose of being opened tonight on this very special occasion. Please wait until we are all served, after which I will make a toast.”

We waited dutifully until each had a glass poured by Stanley from a decanter. Stanley placed one empty bottle in front of John and the other at Anne’s end, so they could read the notes they had written to each other long ago.

John Senior stood back up, swirled the wine, and held it up to the light. He gave it a taste. “It has lasted and aged as well as our marriage. Anne, to you, my beautiful wife. I thank you.”

Anne stood and raised her glass to John. “John, to you, my husband. We are so lucky. Let us all drink.”

We raised our glasses.

I looked around. Bruni and Elsa had tears in their eyes. The hard exterior of the baron had softened. He looked in Elsa’s direction and nodded. Elsa nodded back. I looked at my glass in the light. The wine was a dark red, almost opaque, with a brownish hue. It had an unusual scent but tasted smooth, followed by a complex aftertaste that was surprisingly strange. It reminded me of something. I looked up to see Stanley watching me. I raised my glass in his direction. A small smile appeared on his face as he looked away.

There was a silence at the table as all our attention was held by the taste of the blood-red liquid, not the bright arterial red, but the darker one from veins that had spent their oxygen. A slow and grumbling cadence of thunder wafted through the thick curtains behind me. I saw Bruni shiver, and our eyes met. There was a flicker of fear, I thought. I wondered if she was afraid of thunder. I loved it, but lightning frightened me. Perhaps she felt the same.

The storm that had been building throughout the evening had entered the house, and the guests looked at one another for reassurance. Something threatening yet undefined was coming. No one had words to articulate the vague sense of unease and tension the future held as it stalked the present, revealing itself in syncopated flashes of foreboding. They felt it. I did too. The gods were assembling outside. I heard and felt them gathering behind me in that moment. It was nearly time, but my part I still did not know. It was as opaque as the wine. I remembered the strange liquid from the troubling little bottle of emerald green caged in ancient silver that Johnny and I had drunk to seal our oath in what seemed like ages ago. So much had changed. The wine had an eerie similarity. I looked about for Stanley, but he must have ghosted back to the kitchen.