Chapter Eight
“I cannot believe you sent a letter with Percy, claiming you were dying, when obviously you’re the picture of perfect health.”
Myrtle’s mother, Cora Schermerhorn, readjusted the diamond necklace that drew attention to her lovely neck before she leveled cool eyes on Myrtle, who was sitting on the opposite seat of their carriage.
“I don’t understand why you find that hard to believe, Myrtle. You’ve been more than difficult over the last year. I knew there was a distinct possibility you wouldn’t return east with Percy if I didn’t take drastic measures.”
“I wouldn’t have returned because, if you’ve forgotten, Percy threw me over for another woman, making me the laughingstock of society.”
“He feels very badly about that now.”
“Eloise told me he only changed his mind about me because he’s desperate for money.”
Cora blinked. “How did Eloise come by that information?”
“Your youngest daughter is very good at eavesdropping, Mother. I’m sure she overhead that nasty bit of news at one of the many society events she’s decided she no longer enjoys attending.”
“It is troubling how difficult you and Eloise have turned of late. Thank goodness Helen is not causing me any trouble.”
“Helen has always been the model of a proper society lady, Mother. But getting back to Percy, did you know his family was suffering from severe financial difficulties?”
Cora looked out the window. “I might have known the Kanes are not currently flush with cash.”
“And yet you’re still determined to see me married off to Percy because . . . ?”
Cora pulled her attention from the lovely view of the ocean and frowned. “Alice and Colman Kane have been great friends of mine for years. They’re from some of the oldest families in New York. I can’t merely sit back and watch them suffer through such hardships when your extremely large dowry will set them up nicely again.”
“Father could simply extend them a loan.”
Cora pursed her lips before she shook her head. “I suggested that to him, but your father has a few doubts regarding how adept Colman and Percy are at actually making money. Their original fortune, if you didn’t know, came from Colman’s father, and before that, his grandfather. Your father seems to believe he would never see a loan repaid, which is why he refused to consider my suggestion.”
“But Father’s fine with me marrying Percy, even though he’s refused to extend Percy’s family a loan?”
“Your father is unaware that Percy’s come to his senses and longs to marry you again.”
“Which is comforting to be sure, but what’s less comforting is knowing that you apparently have no qualms bartering me off so that your friends can continue living a lifestyle they’ve not been able to afford for years.”
Cora didn’t so much as flinch. “You’re a confirmed spinster, Myrtle. If you don’t marry Percy, you’ll spend the rest of your life alone, and what woman wants to do that?” She frowned as she took a long second to look Myrtle over. “I will admit, though, that your time away certainly seems to have agreed with you. You now have a most lovely figure, and the loss of weight has done wonders for bringing out the bone structure in your face.”
“Losing weight is remarkably easy when you’re on your feet all day, lugging around heavy trays filled with—”
Cora lifted a hand, stopping Myrtle mid-sentence. “You know I find talk of your time as a waitress to be most distressing. I’ll thank you never to broach the subject again, and do be certain not to let it slip out tonight at Tessie Oelrichs’s famed last ball of the Newport Season. I’ve told everyone you were taking the waters in Colorado, and I’ll thank you to stick to that story.”
“There’s nothing disgraceful about earning an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. There was absolutely nothing wrong with me accepting a position as a Harvey Girl.”
“There was everything wrong with it. You’re a Schermerhorn. We don’t serve anyone, and we certainly don’t traipse off to the wilds of the Grand Canyon in order to take up a lowly position.”
“The Grand Canyon is spectacular, Mother, and I wouldn’t be opposed to going back there after I get matters settled with Percy once and for all.”
“There’s no society in Arizona.”
“True, but I was given an opportunity to experience what I’ve come to think of as grand encounters with people I never would have met if I’d stayed in the small world of New York high society. Those people were kind, intriguing, and . . .” She stopped talking as an image of Jack flashed to mind, that image forcing her to swallow the word delicious, because that was hardly a word her mother would enjoy hearing come out of her daughter’s mouth, and it would undoubtedly lead to questions Myrtle wasn’t ready to answer.
She hated that she’d had to leave El Tovar without seeing Jack again and doing a better job of explaining to him why she’d withheld her past from him for so long. Granted, she didn’t really have much more to say to him on the matter, but she would have been willing to try anything if only to see if they might possibly still have a chance together, because . . .
She loved him, desperately so, and she didn’t want to return to society and didn’t want to marry any other man, especially Percy.
“Oh, look, we’re almost to Rosecliff,” Cora exclaimed, pulling Myrtle from her thoughts.
Sitting forward to look out the carriage window, Myrtle set her sights on the large cottage sitting in front of the ocean. A row of carriages, along with quite a few automobiles, already lined the crushed seashell drive. She sat back. “Why didn’t we take Father’s automobile tonight? I thought you preferred being driven around over using a carriage these days.”
“Your father’s using the automobile right now, trying to locate Eloise, who, if you failed to notice, is not currently with us, even though I specifically told her I wanted her to be here tonight because this particular ball will mark your triumphant return to society.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Because it’s where Percy will publicly make amends for all the trouble he caused you last year.”
“What?”
Cora waved the question aside and suddenly began fumbling with the evening bag lying beside her, pulling out what seemed to be a clipping from a newspaper and thrusting it at Myrtle.
“That right there is a sign to me that this is to be your night of triumph.”
Myrtle unfolded the piece of paper and frowned. Turning it over, she scanned what appeared to be a random article about boating, then turned it over again, her brows drawing together as she looked at an advertisement from Tiffany’s, one that had the word hope scrawled in large print right beneath a drawing of a diamond ring. “I’m afraid I’m at a bit of a loss as to why you want me to see this,” she finally said.
“That’s my sign from God. And I’m certain it’s a more accurate sign from God than the one you mentioned you thought you got from Him when you saw that advertisement for the Harvey Girls.”
Myrtle lifted her head. “You believe an advertisement from Tiffany’s is a sign from God that means . . . what exactly?”
“It means you’re meant to accept Percy’s proposal this evening, if that’s what he’s intending to do, and I’m meant to feel a sense of hope because that word is written under the ring.”
Myrtle narrowed her eyes at her mother. “First off, Percy better not be proposing to me tonight, because I was very firm when I told him I wasn’t interested in marrying him. Secondly, since his family apparently doesn’t have any money, I doubt he can afford to present me with a ring from Tiffany’s.”
“I didn’t think about that,” Cora admitted before she smiled. “But if he does propose, even if he doesn’t give you a ring from Tiffany’s, do know that I’ll buy you that ring if that’s what you’ve got your heart set on.”
“I haven’t said a thing about a ring from Tiffany’s. You’re the one who pulled out this advertisement from the newspaper.”
Ignoring that, Cora readjusted her diamond necklace again before she nodded to Myrtle as the carriage came to a stop. “Remember, dear, this is your night. Don’t ruin it, and please at least try to look like you’re enjoying yourself.”
Myrtle opened her mouth to argue with that bit of nonsense, but before she could voice a single argument, the carriage door opened and her mother disappeared through it, leaving a whiff of expensive perfume behind.
Knowing there was nothing to do but follow her mother, since there was no telling what Percy might do if she decided not to attend the ball, Myrtle accepted the hand of a member of the Oelrichs’s staff and stepped from the carriage. Marching her way toward the front door of Rosecliff, one of the most extravagant homes in Newport, she joined a throng of guests waiting in the receiving line. It took less than a minute for the whispers to begin. Fans were soon brought out to hide wagging tongues, but curiously enough, the gossip that was obviously spreading about her didn’t bother Myrtle in the least.
She sent Mrs. Belmont, the previous Mrs. Vanderbilt, a nod when she caught that lady gawking at her, then swept her way into Rosecliff, presenting Mr. and Mrs. Oelrichs with a curtsy and pleasant greeting before she headed for the ballroom, keeping her head high.
“Mertie, there you are,” Percy called out the moment she entered the ballroom, his refusal to use her given name sending temper crawling through her.
“You need to stop calling me Mertie. And if you don’t, I’m giving you fair warning that you’re not going to like what I’ll do to you the next time I hear you use that ridiculous nickname,” she said, not bothering to lower her voice.
“You’re acting quite unlike your usual self, and I have to tell you, I’m not enjoying this new you.” Percy stepped closer and took hold of her hand, his eyes narrowing when she tugged her hand from his.
“What’s wrong with you?” he demanded, grabbing hold of her hand again, which she immediately tried to get back.
A bit of a tug-of-war erupted between them, something that left her grinning when she won the battle in the end. Crossing her arms over her chest, which effectively made it all but impossible for him to go after her hand again, she arched a brow. “Why would you think something’s wrong with me?”
“You’re behaving in a very un-Myrtle-like fashion.”
“Thank you, but perhaps I wouldn’t be forced to behave that way if my own mother hadn’t lied to get me back here and if you hadn’t lied to me about why you wanted to resume what was never a proper relationship between us in the first place.”
“I didn’t lie to you.”
“You certainly didn’t bother to tell me that you only tracked me down at El Tovar because you’re in desperate need of my fortune.”
Percy blinked and then actually ran a hand through his thinning blond hair, misplacing several strands in the process. “Who told you that?”
“My sister, although how Eloise found out is a mystery. However, with that said, do know that I have no intention of marrying you, and—” Myrtle stopped talking when she caught sight of Miss Vivian Davis, the lady Percy had thrown Myrtle over for a year ago. That Vivian seemed to be heading Myrtle’s way was clear cause for concern, as was the fact that Percy was turning a remarkable shade of purple, probably because Vivian was on the arm of a large man by the name of Mr. Curtis Sinclair. Mr. Sinclair was a wealthy industrialist Myrtle knew only slightly, but he was a man clearly smitten with Vivian, since he was looking a bit dazed as he kept his attention on her face.
“Miss Schermerhorn,” Vivian all but gushed, stopping directly in front of Myrtle. “How lovely to see you returned to the fold.” She nodded to Percy. “Mr. Kane.”
“Vivian,” Percy bit out, his use of her given name drawing Mr. Sinclair’s immediate attention. Percy, however, didn’t notice Mr. Sinclair glaring at him because his attention was settled squarely on the woman who’d broken his heart. He’d made that odd admission to Myrtle during one of the many peculiar conversations they’d shared on the long train ride to New York, even though he’d been trying his hardest to convince Myrtle to take him back.
Vivian turned from Percy and smiled brightly at Myrtle. “I simply have to say that you’re looking marvelous, Miss Schermerhorn. Taking the waters in Colorado certainly agreed with you. And, with that said, I wanted to make certain that you’re not still cross with me about what happened last summer.”
Finding it almost surreal that she was standing with the two people who’d been responsible for her rapid departure from society, Myrtle tilted her head, trying to think of something to say to that, smiling as the perfect response sprang to mind.
“I’m not cross with you at all, Miss Davis. In all honesty, what happened last summer allowed me to enjoy all manner of grand encounters with people I’d never have met if I’d stayed in New York. Those encounters, I’m delighted to say, showed me the world in an entirely different perspective. For that, I thank you, so we’ll let bygones be bygones, if it’s all the same to you. But now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find some refreshments.”
Not bothering to wait and see if Vivian had anything else to say, Myrtle walked away, stopping to accept a glass of wine from one of the many servers. Having no desire to engage in idle chitchat with anyone, she strolled through the open French doorways that led from the ballroom to the back courtyard, not stopping until she reached a stone wall that separated the grounds from the cliffs leading down to the sea.
Lifting her face to the breeze that was blowing off the ocean, she closed her eyes and allowed her thoughts to drift, wondering what she was going to do next with her life.
She’d been considering returning to El Tovar, but because Jack would no longer be stopping there to see her, she knew it would never be the same. Taking a sip of wine as the orchestra began to play in the ballroom, she pushed aside her troubling thoughts as the music soothed away some of the turmoil she’d been feeling of late.
How long she simply listened to the music, she had no idea, but her sense of peace suddenly evaporated when her mother dashed across the courtyard, calling Myrtle’s name.
“Ah, there you are, my dear,” Cora said, drawing in a few raspy breaths as she came to a stop in front of Myrtle. “I’ve been searching for you everywhere.”
Trepidation was immediate. “Why?”
“Because Percy’s just told me he’s about to make an announcement in front of everyone, and I didn’t want you to miss what will surely be a moment you’ll never want to forget.”