“It’s fine, Mr. Crawford. She’s family,” Arthur said, stepping around the butler and striding after Eunice, who was already moving down the hallway at a rapid clip.
He followed her past the octagonal reception room that was painted bronze over plaster, then down a hallway with walls that were plastered as well but had been painted with ornate swirls of gold paint. He finally caught up with her as she passed the dining room and headed for the music room, where the sound oflaughter and someone playing the piano drifted through a closed door.
Eunice stopped walking and turned to him, her eyes flashing with temper. “I cannot believe the family went through with their plans and held a memorial service for me and Mother.”
“I can’t claim to be surprised by that since Mr. Loring seems anxious to acquire Mason Mines, something Raymond would want to capitalize on sooner than later.”
“We’ve had so much to discuss of late that I never bothered to ask you who this Mr. Loring is.”
“In all honesty, I don’t know much about him except that he’s a wealthy investor.”
“Well, whoever he is, he’s in for a disappointment because Uncle Raymond can’t actually sell mines he doesn’t own.”
“I have a feeling the evening is going to be more disappointing to the family once we step into the music room,” Georgette said as she joined them. “Is it wrong that I’m looking forward to serving up that disappointment tonight?”
“They’ve rendered us dead, Mother, so I don’t believe anyone would blame you for feeling that way.”
As Georgette moved to check her reflection in a decorative mirror hanging on the wall, Eunice surprised Arthur by taking hold of his hand.
“Before I face the family and get distracted by them, I need to thank you for badgering me into returning home. I thought I’d be paralyzed with fear upon entering Mason Manor, but I don’t feel afraid at all right now. In fact, I feel somewhat empowered, as if confronting my past and uncovering the truth is something that will allow me to step out of the shadows and live my life unfettered from fear.” She stepped up on tiptoe and placed a kiss on his cheek, taking him completely aback.
A second after her lips touched his skin, truth hit from out of nowhere—truth he could never ignore.
For years he’d been pursuing a plan he’d thought made perfect sense, one that would finally allow him to reclaim his pride afterMitzi Jarvis ground it under her dainty evening slipper. In hindsight, that plan had been directly responsible for why he’d not allowed himself to even contemplate pursuing a courtship with Eunice, because she’d not fit his idiotic desire to court and then marry an incomparable.
Eunice was an incomparable in her own right, and he’d been a fool not to realize that.
Before Arthur could confess about being such an idiot, or respond properly to the chaste kiss she’d placed on his cheek by wrapping her in his arms and kissing her soundly, something he felt a great urge to do, Eunice stepped away from him, her face flushed, probably because Georgette had joined them and was considering both of them with a rather knowing look in her eyes.
Eunice ignored the look as she took hold of her mother’s hand. “I believe it’s time to make our grand entrance, Mother.”
“And I believe you’re right, but don’t think for a moment that I’ll forget what I just saw transpire between you and Arthur.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about” was all Eunice said to that before she sent him a bit of a wink, entwined her arm with her mother’s, and then together they strode toward the music room with their heads held high.
CHAPTER
Twenty-Four
It was rather surreal walking into a room in a house she’d lived in for the first twenty years of her life and finding it filled with relatives who were laughing and chatting away, not exactly looking as if they’d just held a memorial service for two of their family members.
Her great-uncle Raymond was sitting beside the enormous fireplace, smiling broadly at his son, Howard, while Clarice Mason, Raymond’s wife, along with Hester Mason, Howard’s wife, were sitting beside the grand piano while Doris and Alice played a duet.
Sitting on the other side of the piano, sipping cups of tea, were Mrs. Wagner and her son Vincent, although why Mrs. Wagner and her old tutor were present at a family event was somewhat baffling, although they might simply be there because Mrs. Wagner was Uncle Raymond’s personal secretary.
Standing off by herself and looking out a floor-to-ceiling window was Great-Aunt Hazel, who was the only one dressed in black and who was also the only one looking somber. Aunt Hazel, out of all Eunice’s relatives, had been the kindest to her and had tried to console Eunice after Georgette disappeared, always talking her into going into town to enjoy some shopping or a nice cup of tea at a small establishment in Butte.
Giving her mother’s hand an encouraging squeeze, one Georgette returned, they advanced into the room, stopping when they were directly underneath a chandelier her grandfather had imported from Paris. Annoyance was swift when Eunice realized no one was paying them any mind at all, everyone so caught up in what they evidently saw as their good fortune that they’d neglected to notice that their good fortune was about to come to a screeching end because the two reasons behind that good fortune had just reemerged from the dead.
Eunice was about to release a whistle to attract everyone’s attention when Doris stopped playing the piano and took to gawking at her. It took Alice a mere second before she lifted her fingers from the piano keys and settled a frown on her sister. “We weren’t done.”
“I’m relatively certain we are,” Doris said, jerking her head in Eunice’s direction.
One by one, Eunice’s relatives stopped talking and turned her way, Howard Mason finally rising to his feet.
“Good heavens, but this is, ah, well, an unexpected surprise,” he said, an understatement if there ever was one.
Eunice resisted a sudden urge to laugh. “Howard, how delightful to see you again. I’m sure thisisa surprise, what with how I believe I’ve recently been declared dead.” She shook her head. “Mother and I heard about the memorial service that was to be given in our honor, and we thought it would be highly amusing to attend the event. Unfortunately, we were under the impression it was to take place on my birthday, which, if you don’t know, is two days from now. Sadly, because you held the memorial early, it appears we’re late for our own party. May I assume there were many heartfelt stories told about my misbegotten youth as well as more than a few tears shed over Mother’s and my demise?”
