Gertrude lifted her chin. “I won’t grow accustomed to this idea.”
“Think of how fresh the air always is in Newport, and think how delightful it’ll be for you to go to the Newport Casino and actually have someone to play tennis with, because Edwina’s already mentioned to me she enjoys that activity.” Mrs. Davenport nodded. “It’ll be a pleasant time for both of you.”
“It’ll be exhausting for me, as you very well know.”
Mrs. Davenport’s bottom lip began to quiver, which barely moved Gertrude at all. But when an honest-to-goodness tear leaked out of her eye, Gertrude threw up her hands.
“Fine, we’ll go to Newport.”
Dashing the tear straight off her face, Mrs. Davenport clapped her hands in delight. “Wonderful! And now that we’ve settled on that, do know that we’ll need to be on our way by the end of this week.”
Chapter
Eleven
“Who would have ever thought I’d receive such timely assistance from an editor from theNew YorkSun?” Harrison asked, stopping directly in front of Asher as he snagged a glass of champagne from a passing server and took a sip. “There I was, about to lose all feeling in my arm due to the surprising strength of Miss Flowerdew’s grip, when from out of nowhere, Mr. Charles Dana joined us. It was a fortuitous arrival to say the least, especially when he began questioning Miss Flowerdew about society intrigues and she was only too happy to throw herself into that nasty business, allowing me the opportunity of making an inconspicuous escape.”
Asher frowned. “One would have thought after learning Miss Flowerdew is anxious to become better acquainted with you, you’d have given her a wide berth for the rest of the evening.”
“That’s a little tricky to do when a young lady is determined to waylay a gentleman, and takes said gentleman by surprise the second he enters a room.”
“Women can be tricky.”
“Too right they can,” Harrison agreed, reaching out to give his friend a hearty and commiserating clap on the back.
Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that clapping a man on the back when he’d just put some tasty tidbit into his mouth was not a particularly good idea because it resulted in a bad case of choking.
Wheezing for breath, Asher’s color went from red to purple, which had alarm coursing through Harrison as he stepped close to his friend and gave his back a sound pounding. That pounding came to a rapid end, though, when Asher went from wheezing to sputtering and took an unsteady stepawayfrom him.
“I’m fine, Harrison, or somewhat so, which means you may feel free to put any additional thoughts of pummeling aside, if you please.” Asher fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and began dabbing at his now watering eyes, stilling when his gaze happened to land on Harrison again. Heaving what sounded exactly like a long-suffering sigh, he slid his handkerchief into his pocket before pulling out another length of velvet ribbon. Handing it to Harrison, Asher shook his head.
“I don’t have an unlimited supply of those, so do have a care with that one. Far be it from me to point out the obvious, but you wouldn’t even have need of the ribbons if you’d simply allow me to introduce you to my barber.”
Setting his champagne on a high round table beside him, Harrison took the ribbon and made short shrift of tying his hair back. “If I did get introduced to your barber, I’d then be forced to visit him often to keep my hair looking presentable. Then I’d have to abandon something else in my tight schedule, such as riding my horse in Central Park, which would lead to Rupert, my horse, becoming plump as a partridge. And,” he continued as Asher looked ready to argue that very valid point, “if I would agree to the barber, I would then imagine it would only be a matter of time until you’d start badgering me to visit your store on a regular schedule to improve the state of my wardrobe.”
“There’s nothing wrong with adopting a fashionable attitude,” Asher said, gesturing to the formal suit Harrison was wearing. “You’re looking very well turned out this evening, and because you used the services of Rutherford & Company’s personal stylist, it barely cost you any of your precious time.”
Harrison brushed away a small bit of lint from the well-cut sleeve of his jacket. “And while I appreciate you affording me such a dapper appearance this evening, I’ve just realized that being well turned out is probably why Miss Clementine has been so keen to cling to me. It’s your fault she’s now got me in her sights, and to avoid similar circumstances in the future, I do believe I’ll have to be more hesitant with allowing your stylist to dress me.”
For a second, Asher simply considered Harrison, then frowned. “You don’t actually dress so outlandishly to dissuade young ladies from pestering you more than they do now, do you?”
Harrison thought about that for a good few seconds. “What an interesting idea, but I’m sure that’s not why I choose to pair stripes with plaids. However, my clothing taste, or lack thereof as you strongly believe, aside, have you seen Gertrude of late? I’m afraid I got parted from her when we arrived at the hotel.”
“I would have thought you’d do your best to remain firmly attached to Gertrude’s side after learning Clementine Flowerdew is intent on securing an offer of marriage from you,” Asher said.
“And I would have been content to do exactly that if Gertrude hadn’t bolted from the carriage almost before it stopped at the entrance to the hotel. She disappeared from sight before I had the opportunity to catch up with her.”
“You didn’t do something to annoy her, did you, hence the reason for the bolting?” Asher asked.
“While I would normally proclaim outrage at such a suggestion because I’ve never been one to annoy the ladies, I’ve been wondering if I was mistaken in my belief she enjoyed the way I got her safely off theCornelia.”
“Is there more than one way to get off theCornelia?”
“Not usually,” Harrison admitted. “But I opted to carry Gertrude down the plank and then down a good stretch of pier, so she might have taken issue with that, although ... she did proclaim it a thrilling way to depart from a boat, so now that I think further on that, no ... I don’t believe I did anything to annoy her.”
“Which is lovely to hear, but getting back to this carrying business—what possessed you to carry Gertrude off your ship in the first place?”
“She was suffering from a stitch in her side and wheezing somewhat dreadfully, brought about no doubt because Margaret was chasing us.”
