“Now that everyone is all nice and cozy,” Wilhelmine began as she sent Irma a hint of a wink before she nodded to the telegram Drusilla was still holding, “perhaps you should open that and see what it says.”
Taking a second to do exactly that, Drusilla scanned the contents of the telegram, then scanned them again to make certain she’d read it correctly the first time.
“What does it say?” Irma asked.
Drusilla lifted her head. “Sanford was spotted by one of Father’s old business associates a few weeks ago in Florida, on the Gulf side, and he also spotted Sanford’s yacht docked in a harbor down there.”
“I would have thought Sanford would have hied himself off to some obscure Scottish estate since he always talked about living in Scotland someday,” Irma said. “What else does it say?”
Drusilla glanced at the telegram again. “Just that Sanford apparently named his yacht ... theRevenge.”
Irma’s eyes took to flashing before she began drumming her fingers against the arm of the settee, something that was quite unlike her.
“Are you alright?” Drusilla asked.
“It’s difficult to say because this is quite a lot for a lady to have to take in.” Irma lifted her chin. “Nevertheless, I suppose there’s no delaying telling you what I probably should have mentioned months ago, especially not when Sanford has returned to the States, and undoubtedly done so because he’s apparently not done with me yet, given what he named his yacht—and with my money, no less.”
“You think you’re the object of his revenge?”
Irma’s lips thinned. “Unfortunately, I don’tthink, IknowI am, although I had truly hoped his thirst for revenge would have been appeased after he left me destitute, but clearly that’s not the case.”
Drusilla stilled. “I’m not sure I understand what that means.”
“It means that Sanford must have somehow learned I wasn’t tossed out into the streets.” Irma blew out a breath. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already on a train, heading this way, or if he’s sailing his yacht up some river that’ll dump him into Lake Michigan, where he’ll then be able to sail practically right outside our front door.”
“But showing up here would place Sanford at great risk, although ... do you think his thirst for revenge might be why he’d be willing to incur such a risk, and if so, why would he want revenge against you in the first place?” Drusilla asked.
Instead of answering her, Irma rose to her feet, moved to the window, pushed aside a heavy velvet curtain, and peered through the glass. When she finally turned, she then stalked her way to a dainty chair done up in a peach floral motif and actually flung herself into it, an unusual action that sent alarm slithering up Drusilla’s spine.
“I suppose before I explain anything, I should admit right from the start that I’ve been less than upfront regarding how it came to be that our fortune went missing,” Irma finally said. “Know that I’m not proud of withholding the truth from myown daughters, but know that I did so because...” She released a dramatic sigh before she, surprisingly enough, slouched back against the chair. “I believe I’m indirectly responsible for your father’s death, and directly responsible for us being left destitute.”
Silence was swift until Annaliese walked across the room, snagged hold of a chair, and muscled it over to where Irma was still slouching, plopping down on it a second later. “Father died because he had a weak heart.”
“True,” Irma didn’t hesitate to say. “But what precipitated his heart going out was the apoplectic fit he suffered, apparently brought on after Sanford told your father that he was tired of hiding the fact he was in love with me, had been in love with me since we were children, and knew for a fact that I was in love with him.”
Annaliese blinked. “You were in love with Sanford Duncan?”
“I’ve never been in love with any man, and certainly not with Sanford,” Irma countered. “Yes, Sanford and I were good friends growing up, and yes, I knew he was somewhat infatuated with me. However, my father had been in talks with Morton’s father from the time I was thirteen, using those talks to hammer out a marriage contract that was acceptable to both families. It was agreed upon that Morton would receive a substantial dowry from my father, as well as the benefit of combining two Knickerbocker families, which I would benefit from, as our social position would be firmly cemented from that day forward, as would be the social position of any children we might have.”
“I was almost tossed out of the Four Hundred after rescuing one tiny little roach, which I had the audacity to name, no matter that I’m from a Knickerbocker family,” Annaliese pointed out. “That suggests our societal position wasn’t firmly cemented in the least.”
“Of course it wasn’t,” Irma agreed. “Not that any of us realized that at the time, but since I was given the cut direct themoment our fortune went missing, something that has certainly been a difficult spoonful of medicine to swallow, I’ve now realized that it was beyond ridiculous for me to believe that my society position was unshakeable.”
She lifted her chin. “To return to my story, though, I should have been more aware that something was odd with Sanford because after your father died and during my first year of mourning, he was overly attentive to me, going to great lengths to distract me from the monotonous manner my days had turned while observing my mourning period.”
“Weren’t you worried,” Drusilla began, “since you said you were aware that Sanford was infatuated with you when you were younger, that his infatuation might return once Father was no longer in the picture, and he was spending so much time with you?”
“I thought Sanford had put his infatuation aside directly after he learned your grandfather had solidified a marriage contract with Morton,” Irma said. “Sanford certainly understood how marriages worked between the socially elite, and knew that Morton had more to offer me than he ever would, given that Sanford was not a Knickerbocker, nor was he in line to inherit more than a modest fortune.”
Irma gave her temple a rub. “Looking back, I was a complete idiot because, not long after my wedding, Sanford began running across Morton at all his clubs. Before I knew it, Sanford had turned into Morton’s most trusted solicitor as well as good friend.”
“But where did you fit into this friendship between Father and Sanford?”
“Sanford and I remained friends, and he was the gentleman who frequently escorted me to society events your father didn’t care to attend, something that evidently led Sanford to believe I was secretly in love with him.”
“It certainly wasn’t your fault,” Mrs. O’Sullivan began asshe wheeled a coffee and tea cart into the room, followed by Mr. Grimsby, “that Sanford assumed you enjoyed having him escort you around town because you were in love with him. One would have thought he’d have realized that, like most society matrons whose husbands were never around, you were simply looking at his attentiveness as one would look at Mr. Ward McAllister’s attentiveness to Mrs. Astor, the only difference being that Ward was married while Sanford was not.”
“Perhaps I should have questioned why Sanford never married,” Irma muttered. “Although, in my defense, I simply thought he appreciated his bachelor state far too much to consider tying himself down.” Her lips thinned. “That belief came to a rapid end, though, when Sanford learned Drusilla and Elbert were delaying their wedding until I was out of mourning. He then took me completely by surprise when he suggested, and over what I thought was simply one of our casual dinner engagements, that we should start planning for a double wedding, with one couple being Drusilla and Elbert and the other being me and Sanford.”
