“It’s beautiful, Ernie, but it’s too much. We’ve only been seeing each other a short while.” Her fingers went to the back of her neck to unclasp the little hook. “I can’t possibly accept this.”
His hand pressed against hers. “Of course you can. A beautiful woman deserves beautiful things. Please, Adele. You know what you mean to me, I think. I want you to have it.”
At first, she was self-conscious, aware of the gem’s weight on her chest, but then Ernie tucked her hand through his arm and led her proudly into a crowd that sparkled with its own jewellery.
His voice dropped to a whisper. “Don’t let them intimidate you. You’ve got more class and beauty than all the women in Windsor, but I’ll be right here in case you need me.”
A waiter paused beside Ernie, a drink tray in hand, and Ernie claimed two glasses of champagne. Adele regarded hers with a hint of trepidation—she’d never tasted champagne before—but after one ticklish sip she was enamoured of the drink.
“Shall we?” Ernie asked.
“Lead on,” she said.
“That’s my girl.”
They walked arm in arm through the crowd, and at Ernie’s summons, people came to greet Adele, their smiles and enthusiastic compliments almost fawning. She wasn’t sure if it was her glamorous gown, the bubbly drink, or Ernie’s dedicated attentions, but she felt aglow with excitement. She couldn’t stop smiling. It was as if she was an entirely different person, and the power of that feeling made everything even more exhilarating.
“Adele Savard,” Ernie said regally, “I present Felix and Ruby Arrington.”
“So this is the great beauty we keep hearing about,” Felix boomed.
His wife smiled brightly, revealing a smudge of red lipstick on her tooth. “The nurse, right? Oh, is it true you were in the war? What an amazing young woman you are! You’ll have to tell us all about it.”
“Well, I…” Adele reached for her practiced response, and a bit of her elegant self slipped out of place. “I did my duty, that’s all. It was an honour to serve.”
Behind Ruby, Adele noticed a few others around them, listening in, making honeyed comments about what she’d said. Was this how the evening was going to go? Would she be peppered all night with questions about the war? She felt a stab of disappointment, realizing that. Shecould wear the most dazzling dress in the world, she realized, but she would always be regarded as “that woman from the war.”
Ernie must have sensed her discomfort because he deftly turned the conversation to other matters. “Felix and Ruby recently moved from Detroit.”
Ruby didn’t skip a beat. “Felix kept saying that this was the place to be! And with parties like this, who could argue?”
She continued on, talking of the new friends she’d made here, and after a while, Adele felt the tension in her shoulders release.
As promised, Ernie stayed by her side, one hand on her waist, helping her with names and leading the chitchat to safer ground. She started to think she’d been silly before, worrying so much, when a man as thin as a scarecrow slid toward them. She looked at Ernie expectantly, but for the first time all night, he didn’t introduce them.
“Excuse me, Adele,” he said, and took a step away.
Whatever the man whispered in Ernie’s ear caused him to scowl, and he turned back to Adele. “I’m so sorry, my dear, but there is some business I have to attend to.”
“You’re leaving?” she asked, anxiety creeping up her arms, reaching for her neck.
“Just for an hour. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He kissed her lightly on the cheek then swept away, leaving her alone in a sea of strangers and cigarette smoke. Over the next hour, she did her best to join the conversations around her, but she had no idea what to say. Now that Ernie had left, people no longer seemed interested in her.
“Wall Street is the place to be,” she overheard as she sipped. “If you’re not buying stocks right now, you’re missing out. The thing to do is buy on margin.”
“Darling, those earrings are simply gorgeous. Wherever did you get them?”
“That fella always begging outside the Sandwich post office. What a sight. Wonder what he looked like before.”
“I’ll get my broker to telephone you next week, shall I?”
She’d been right after all, she realized. She shouldn’t have come. She didn’t fit in. She was here for the host, and he had left almost an hour ago—though she seemed to be the only one put out by that fact. The heat, the noise, the smoke, and the champagne were clogging her thoughts, and she felt a wave of nausea roll through her. She needed fresh air. Squeezing between guests, she headed toward the door, but before she could reach it, Ernie returned, striding like a benevolent king back into his castle.
“Where were you?” she asked, then she despised herself for the desperation even she had heard in her voice. Where was the courageous war nurse now?
“Just taking care of some business that I had hoped was already handled,” he said, passing his coat to a servant. “I feel terrible, leaving you alone, but I promise I am yours for the rest of the night. Oh, you need a drink.”
