“He tells me you’re a city girl, but, boy, I hope you’ll feel the privacy out here is worth every minute of that long journey. Manhattan can be exhausting, don’t you think?”
“Sometimes,” I said, knowing full well that her busy social life would be entirely different from mine. I thrived on the hectic city, the late nights, the secret speakeasies, the cramped and sweaty dance floors. She was speaking of society parties and philanthropic obligations and expectations.
“Even when I’m in Newport, you’d better believe the gown I wear to dinner, the food I serve and the guests I entertain will be in the paper the next day. I don’t get a minute of peace. But out here it’s secluded, it’s protected, it’s hard to reach, and the press can’t getanywhere near me. I can wear what I want, when I want, and do whatever I please.”
“Must be a relief.” I tried to commiserate, but I was the opposite. I welcomed the press writing about me, flattering me, telling the world what I was doing and encouraging them to get in on the fun. “How long do you stay out here in the summer?” I asked, trying to keep things light.
“We arrive in July, then off to Newport at the end of August,” she said.
“Must be a lot of work, though, to maintain such a huge property.”
“Oh, we’re very lucky to have exceptional staff who live here year-round, and they keep us wonderfully self-sufficient. We have a small farm and gardens, and we grow our own vegetables, so we’re always ready for visitors. We’ve had scientists, writers, statesmen, actors, and even Ziegfeld girls,” she added, winking at me.
“Are we your first?”
“You are not, my dear, but you are certainly the most lovely. I can see why Archibald is so smitten with you.”
“You know…,” I began, I just couldn’t stand there a minute longer and listen to her speak of him as if he were some poor injured bird.
“Oh, my dear, would you excuse me for just a moment? I have to greet a guest who just walked in.…”
I stood in the middle of the room alone for a moment and felt Archie’s eyes on me. Glancing over, I couldn’t help noticing that he looked particularly modern and dapper in a double-breasted dinner jacket with those wider satin lapels that the more fashionable men were wearing these days.
Despite everything, I hoped that he’d make his way over to me. If we were going to be here at the same camp for a few days, I at least wanted to get the awkwardness over with. But just when I thought he might, the fellow from the steamboat appeared out of nowhere.
“Oli,” he said, smiling broadly. “Remember me from the boat? Andrew Stark.” He lifted my hand to kiss it.
“How could I forget?”
“You left me all alone down there,” he said. He was tight already, as if he’d been leaning into the gin martinis a little too hard all afternoon. “It wasn’t kind.” He stepped toward me. “You can’t leave me all hot and bothered like that, you know, you’ll get a man in trouble if you leave him in that state.”
“You got into that state all by yourself.” I stepped back, no longer wanting to be associated with him but also unsure of who he was and what had secured him an invitation to the Belmonts’ camp.
“Maybe, but babe, you’re the only one who can get me out of it, if you know what I mean.”
“I’m not your babe—”
“Everything all right over here?” It was Archie. He stood between me and Mr. Stark.
“Fine,” I said stiffly, rolling my eyes. Archie looked from me to Andrew.
“Why don’t you get yourself some air.” He patted the guy on his back rather hard and nudged him away from me toward the back door. “You smell like panther piss, you’re lit up like a store window, and we haven’t even sat down for dinner yet,” he said in a whisper loud enough for me to hear. “If I see you bothering this young ladyagain, or showing disrespect in any way, I’m going to have no choice but to punch your lights out.”
He turned to Archie with a look of surprise.
“That’s right,” Archie went on. “Don’t make me show you what I mean, go on.”
I couldn’t help smiling. I hadn’t expected such a direct delivery, and neither had that drunk, but it certainly did the trick, and we watched him slink out the back door.
“Thank you,” I said.
“He can be a real brute.”
“I meant for the flowers in my cabin.”
Archie looked mildly surprised.
“What? You think I couldn’t have handled that boozehound myself?” I said.
