The Lightkeeper's Ball (10 page)

Harrison knocked on the door of the mansion with a doll for Jennie in his hand. His eyes burned from the late-night work the past two days. The doorman showed him to the parlor, where he found Lady Devonworth on the sofa. The deep garnet in her dress made her dark eyes look even more magnificent. She was a most annoying woman, but he couldn’t deny she was one of the most beautiful ones he’d ever seen.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Bennett,” she said.

“Lady Devonworth.” He brushed his lips across the back of the hand she extended to him.

“You look a bit tired, sir. Are you well?”

“Quite well. I’ve been working late.”

She motioned to the space beside her. “Please join me for tea and dessert. The cook here is very talented. The cranberry trifles are delightful.”

He sat gingerly on the edge of the sofa. The delicate perfume she wore wafted to his nose. He would never fit in with her kind of high society. Why did his father even wish it? Harrison would much rather be soaring on the wind.

“Where are Katie and Will? I brought a new doll for Jennie.” He showed it to Olivia.

She took the bisque doll and traced the cheeks and nose. “Is this a Kestner doll?”

“It is. Don’t you think she looks like Jennie?” The eyes and tiny teeth had caught his attention the moment he walked past its department-store shelf.

“She does, yes. Jennie will be thrilled.” She handed it back to him. “Katie took her to buy some shoes. Will is meeting with someone from the Bureau of Lighthouses. I don’t expect either of them home for several hours.”

He took a treat when she offered the plate. The cranberry trifle flooded his tongue with flavor as he searched for some kind of light conversation. He was used to talking with men where the topics ranged from politics to the approaching comet.

“Are you settling into the house?” he asked, desperate to break the silence.

“Oh yes. It’s quite lovely. Not exactly my taste,” she said, glancing around the parlor. “I’d love to get rid of the velvet and replace it with damask or silk. It’s a little heavy and stiff. But redecorating is hardly worth the cost when so many people are out of work and struggling to put food on the table.”

He raised his brows but said nothing.

“You look surprised, Mr. Bennett. I do have thoughts in my head beyond fashion and parties. For example, I’ve been watching the comet’s approach. Do you think we shall all die if the earth passes through the tail? There was a peddler here yesterday trying to sell us comet pills. The silly housekeeper actually bought some.”

“So you doubt our danger?” Harrison asked.

“Don’t you?” Her full lips tilted in a smile. “I see nothing in the Bible to indicate the earth’s demise will be from poisonous gas.”

She was more intelligent than he’d given her credit for. “I’ve talked to several scientists. Some believe our destruction is imminent and others laugh it off.”

“What about you?”

He shrugged. “I intend to be in the air if we are lucky enough to pass through the tail.”

Her hand holding the cup of tea paused on its way to her mouth. “The air? In your flying machine?”

“That’s right. I’m a birdman,” he said. “I got it to four thousand feet this week.”

She glanced down and said nothing for a long moment. “I’ve longed to experience a flying machine ever since I saw one three years ago.”

“You’re not afraid?”

She leaned forward. “No. I should like to go up sometime.”

He eyed her. “I’m looking for investors. Would you be interested in being part of the venture?”

She sipped her tea. “I’m interested, Mr. Bennett. I had a small stake in a flying machine in San Francisco, but it crashed and the pilot decided he had no more interest in it.”

To Harrison’s shock, he discovered he was enjoying talking to the woman. She was interesting and articulate. “I’d be honored to show you my plane. I envision someday there will be air travel between here and New York.” When she didn’t laugh, he went on. “Even between New York and Paris.”

She nodded, her dark eyes grave. “I have no doubt you’re right. We’re on the cusp of great discoveries. Our nation is full of inventive, intelligent people. The changes we shall see in the next twenty years will be amazing.” She took up her tea again. “Did Eleanor go up in your plane?”

“She did not.” Until she’d brought up Eleanor’s name, he’d actually begun to like her.

N
INE

O
LIVIA SIPPED HER
tea and watched him with Jennie on his lap. The little girl was exclaiming over her new doll. Who was he under that businessman’s attire? Had his dangerous streak frightened off Eleanor?

“You’re looking quite pensive,” Katie said, taking off her gloves. A whiff of fresh air clung to her clothing. She handed over her purchases to a maid before joining Olivia on the sofa.

Olivia forced a smile. “It’s been a tiring few days. Have you heard how Will’s meeting went?”

Katie selected a trifle, then shook her head. “I didn’t see him in town.” She smiled at Harrison. “You are a hero in Jennie’s eyes. All she’s talked about today is how sad she was about her broken dolly.”

“Mommy, she has eyes that move!” Jennie rocked the doll back and forth.

Katie got up to examine the doll. “She looks a little like you, sweetheart.”

Olivia worried about Katie’s pale cheeks and the circles under her eyes. “Are you all right? Perhaps you need to rest.”

She nodded. “I shall do that in a little while. I’m quite hungry.” She nibbled on the cranberry trifle.

Olivia looked back at Harrison. Could a man who was so tender with a child actually be a murderer? It seemed so out of character. She hadn’t expected to find anything that challenged her views of the man. Especially within days of setting foot in Mercy Falls.

“How is your mother?” Katie asked him.

“Quite well. She came out to watch me fly the other day.”

“What does your aeroplane look like?” Olivia asked.

“Why are you so interested in flight, Lady Devonworth?” he asked. “I must say, it’s a bit peculiar.”

There was more than curiosity in his face. It sounded like admiration in his tone too. “There’s something so—free—about not being tethered to the earth,” she said. “It appears to me that you would have an entirely different perspective on the earth from up there too. I peruse any pictures taken from an aeroplane. I’d love to see the ground from high up like that myself.”

“It’s a rather dangerous pastime.”

She sipped her tea. “There have been accidents but few fatalities. Have any women learned to fly yet?”

“Not to my knowledge.”

Though she wanted to proclaim her intention to be the first, she knew it was impossible. Her friends would be scandalized if she learned to fly. Something so outrageous wasn’t done. “Jennie is asleep,” she observed.

“I don’t mind.”

“Perhaps you should put her in her bed,” Katie said.

He glanced down at the child with the doll still clutched in her arms. “If you would be so kind as to show me to her room?”

“I’ll do it,” she told Katie when she stared to rise. “Rest.”

Olivia led the way up the staircase to the small room that held Jennie’s things. It was outfitted in pink and white. The white bedstead was small and low to the ground, perfect for a three-year-old. She pulled back the covers. He laid the little girl on the sheet, then unlaced her shoes and gently tugged them from her feet.

A lump formed in her throat as she watched him exercise such love and tenderness toward the child. She reminded herself that even murderers were sometimes fathers. Loving a child had nothing to do with his true character.

He tucked the doll into her arms, then pulled the covers up around Jennie. When he turned to exit the room, his dark eyes were gentle. The gentleness vanished when he looked at Olivia. “What do you have against me, Lady Devonworth? We’ve only just met, yet you bait me at every turn. Do you enjoy seeing me squirm when Eleanor’s name is mentioned? I know what people say—that she would rather die than marry me. It’s all gossip. I would have thought an intelligent woman like yourself would look deeper.”

“People think she killed herself?” Though Katie and Addie had mentioned the possibility, Olivia hadn’t realized it was the speculation of the public.

“The topic has been mentioned.”

“Why do you care what I think?”

He pressed his lips together. “I have no idea why I care,” he said. “For some reason it grates that you would be so quick to believe the worst.”

Her pulse jumped in her throat. She examined his expression. Was that genuine hurt in his eyes? Surely he wouldn’t really care what she thought. Was he attempting to use his charm on her?

“I don’t really know you, Mr. Bennett. I apologize if you thought I was being judgmental. I told Eleanor’s mother I would try to discover more about what happened to her.”

His lips pressed together. He brushed past her. “Good night, Lady Devonworth.”

She followed as he stalked down the stairs. The front door slammed. That had been awkward. She feared the coldness between them would thwart her investigation. She had to take more care to hide her disdain.

Katie met her at the doorway when she entered the parlor. “It sounded as though Harrison slammed the door on his way out.”

“I fear I angered him with too many questions about Eleanor.”

“Oh dear. He’s really a wonderful man, Olivia. Why are you so sure he murdered Eleanor?”

“Don’t you find it odd that she died within days of his return to town? It was an arranged marriage. Perhaps he objected.”

“That doesn’t mean he murdered her.”

“Harrison said others in town have speculated she killed herself rather than marry him. Is this true?”

Katie nodded. “No one really knows what happened, so they talk.”

“I don’t believe it. Something happened to her. I intend to find out what.” She realized her friend was even more pale. “Are you all right?”

“I
 
.
 
.
 
. I need the bathroom.” Katie rushed down the hall to the room on the left.

Olivia heard her retching and followed. “You’re ill.”

Katie was white as she turned from rinsing her mouth in the sink. “I’m increasing.”

“How lovely!” Olivia hugged her and led her back to the parlor. “Does Will know?”

Katie shook her head. “I didn’t want to tell him until I was sure. I saw Dr. Lambertson today, and he confirmed it.”

Olivia guided her to the sofa and lifted her feet onto the cushions. “All the more reason for the ball to be a success, so we can get to planning the nursery.”

Stewart Hall was quiet. The Jespersons weren’t up yet, though Olivia supposed the servants were busy below on the first floor. She crept down the hall to her sister’s room. It still held the essence of Eleanor’s perfume. Olivia stood by the bed and closed her eyes. She could nearly hear her sister’s laughter.

Goldia touched her hand and broke the spell. “Are you all right, Miss Olivia?”

Olivia opened her eyes. “I miss her, Goldia.”

The maid’s eyes were moist. “She’s in a better place.”

“I hope so.” The prospect of heaven always confused Olivia. How could a person know when she was good enough to get there? She’d gone to church all her life but never had a sense of knowing who God was, or that he really knew her soul. Eleanor’s death made Olivia think more about her own life.