Shadow of the Son, page 18
“Surprising,” I said. Her hair was now shorter and black. In the light of the hallway, her eyes appeared more gray than blue. They sparkled when set against her raven-colored hair. Bonnie had upped her appearance, perhaps not yet to the sensational level, but definitely enough to turn more than a few heads. I noted the resemblance to Alice. If my father was vain enough to not wear glasses, her unanticipated appearance must have been a shocking reminder that the dead don’t always lie still.
“I’ll say,” she continued. “He took one look at me, had a fit, and rolled down the stairs. Wow! Thank you for your help, Stanley. You were awfully quick with that black bag.”
“The highest form of service is anticipation,” said Stanley.
“Well, you get the blue ribbon in that department. Lucky for him you were around.”
Stanley looked amused but said nothing.
“Yes, it was. Like old times, if I’m not mistaken,” I said, looking at him as well.
Stanley chuckled at my comment. “Indeed, sir. His lordship has always led a charmed existence, but I doubt he’s out of the woods yet. Cobb may be a doctor, among other things, but even he will be hard-pressed to keep him around much longer.”
“Cobb certainly doesn’t look like one,” I said.
“No, he doesn’t, but he is a doctor nonetheless, even if his practice is limited to a single patient. I suggest we make our way downstairs. You have guests to attend to, while I have my duties.”
“Quite right,” I said, “but thank you just the same.”
“Of course, sir.”
Stanley turned and took the back way down to the kitchen as Bonnie grabbed my arm and walked me toward the main staircase. “Glad to see me?”
“Always.”
“Well kiss me hello and mean it.”
I leaned in to kiss her on the cheek, but she turned, slipped her arms around me, and put her mouth firmly on mine. After a long second, she released me. I stepped back, somewhat shocked. Seeing my discomfiture, she said, “Take it easy. The wedding bells haven’t rung yet, so you’re technically fair game. Well, maybe not completely, but a girl can dream, can’t she? Now, let’s move along. Mom will be waiting, and when she hears what happened, she’ll be gnashing her teeth at the lost opportunity to get in a couple of digs of her own. I can’t wait to tell her.”
I recovered my poise. “You two are still on friendly terms?”
“More than ever. It’s been a trip. We’re not all buddy-buddy, but we like and respect each other, which is a giant leap forward. How’s your world rockin’ these days?”
“Rocking describes my world quite well. You and I should talk more at length, but for now duty calls.”
When we were at the bottom of the stairs, I said, “By the way, Bonnie, you have the timing of a saint.”
“Anytime, cowboy. There’s a great deal unsaid there, if I’m not mistaken. Make sure you tell me everything. Well, all that you’re willing to. Who knows, I might be able to help. You’d be surprised what I can do, so think about it. That’s what pals are for. Mom is eager to see you.”
We crossed the hall arm in arm to the drawing room. Although I was hesitant to let her get too close, she was a good person to have in my corner. The envelope I picked up would have to wait, and come to think of it, I had yet to examine the envelope with the supposed check. Those matters had to be put aside for now. It was time to officially welcome Maw.
39
“Percy! There you are. I expected you to greet me. Where were you?”
Maw’s voice boomed across the drawing room from her seat in the middle of the couch surrounded by the three Von Hofmanstals, John Sr., Anne, and Johnny. She and Bonnie had arrived earlier than expected, and it must have been their car I saw out front. Although fast approaching eighty, she was a powerful and vibrant woman. Blessed with a steely resolve and a cunning mind worthy of a Medici duke, she personally controlled the economic resources of a small country and was, in every respect, the matriarch of the Dodge family. Proud, physically strong, and weathered from years of equestrian pursuits, she had a voice with a singular biting quality, honed by years of training horses, riders, and dogs. When she commanded, all obeyed, including me.
“Mary, I do apologize. Please forgive me,” I said, striding toward her. “I was walking with my father.”
“Well, where is he?”
“Upstairs,” I replied.
“Incapacitated,” added Bonnie at my side. “In fact, I may have killed him not five minutes ago.”
“What!” said everyone in unison before crowding around Bonnie and me to get the details.
“I’m afraid so,” continued Bonnie. “He saw me and keeled over. Bam! Down he toppled and hit the driveway like a ton of bricks. Lucky for him the bald guy’s a doctor, at least according to Stanley. The four of us carried the body upstairs to his room. The man had a pulse and was breathing to some extent, but that’s it as far as I know. The doctor kicked us out. Heart attack, I think, but maybe a stroke. He won’t be traipsing down the stairs anytime soon, that’s for sure.”
“Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?” asked the baron.
“Nope. The doc nixed the idea, saying he had it under control. I suspect that kind of episode has happened before. It sure added some drama to my day.”
“Well,” said Maw, “I suppose allowances must be made. Still, he could have chosen a better time. Sit beside me, Percy. You’ll want to say hello to Robert. He’s underneath the couch.”
At the mention of his name, Robert wiggled out from underneath, gave me a snort, and sat on his haunches. His black eyes fixed on Maw before he turned his head and looking at Johnny. He ignored me completely, as was usual with him. Everyone else backed away and clustered around Bonnie as she described in more exacting detail the latest news.
“Has he put on a little weight?” I asked as I sat beside Maw.
“Pff!” she said. “He’s in great shape.”
I wondered about that as I watched him. In his prior existence, Robert routinely took advantage of Johnny’s prodigious lack of canine skill, to trick his master into grueling bouts of “capture the dog.” Such games lasted several hours until Robert, having decided that he had had enough exercise for the day, submitted to the leash once more. I doubted he could get away with any such juvenile antics with his current owner. Robert looked at me and panted as if to agree. He flopped down in front of Maw and stretched his hind legs behind him while obscenely itching himself on the carpet. He stopped, turned his head, gave Johnny a wistful look before shifting his focus back on Maw, and turned into a sphinx.
“Well, he does look good, I must say, and so do you. Welcome back to Rhinebeck,” I said.
“My pleasure. Now give me a kiss and then you and Johnny can take him for a walk.”
I gave Maw a kiss but before I could respond, I saw Cobb at the drawing room door, giving me a nod.
“Maybe later. The doctor is at the door. Perhaps he has some news.”
40
“Is there somewhere we might talk in private?” Cobb asked in the accent of an Oxford don. When he had spoken upstairs, he hadn’t sounded quite so refined. I closed the door to the drawing room before I answered.
“Of course. The library. It’s to the left down the hall.”
As we walked, I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He certainly didn’t look like a doctor, but his superbly tailored suit and well-polished shoes said otherwise. He was shorter than me, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in muscled width. Cobb looked like a thug, but judging from his accent, a frightening intellect might yet lurk beneath the surface.
Once we were seated in the leather chairs in front of the fireplace, he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and started in.
“Your father is not in the best of health, as you can well imagine. I counselled him to forego this visit, but he was insistent, and once his mind is made up, there is little that can be done other than to make the best of it. I agreed to accompany him, hoping my presence and my skill as a physician might alleviate some of the strain on his system. What do you suppose happened to cause this latest episode, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I will tell you, but I have a couple of questions first, if that’s okay.”
“By all means.”
“Will he live?”
“Nothing is ever certain when it comes to medicine. For now, he is sedated and resting comfortably. He’s had two similar episodes under my care, and in both instances, he recovered faster than expected. That may, or may not, be the case on this occasion. Likely, he will want to be up and about tomorrow evening. He has a remarkably robust constitution and delights in proving medical science wrong. Nothing deters him. Nonetheless, a human body has its limits, and I doubt he can survive many more such incidents. I will argue for him to remain in bed upstairs, but he is a difficult patient at the best of times and will do what he wants. For now, we’ll have to see how he is when he awakens.”
“Thank you, Doctor. It is Doctor, isn’t it?”
“It is. I had a practice in Harley Street, before his lordship convinced me to confine my practice solely to himself.”
“Does my father wear corrective lenses?”
“He doesn’t, but that’s not to say that he shouldn’t. Why do you ask?”
“It would explain what happened. He opened the door, and I think he mistook Miss Leland for his former spouse. There is a likeness, and since his former wife has been dead many years, it must have been quite a shock to see her standing there.”
“That might explain it. He mentioned that this house was filled with ghosts. I pooh-poohed the idea, but he countered that I was ignorant and had seen little of the world other than the insides of my patients. On another matter, I noted when I undressed him that he had neither of the envelopes on his person. The dialogue between you both must have gone well, and that is good news from a medical point of view. He was much concerned with them. I would read the contents of the larger one at your earliest convenience. Now, I must leave you. I need to get back to my patient.”
“Of course. Please continue to update me as to how he’s doing, or if there’s anything further that you or he require.”
I hoped he wouldn’t ask me more about the second letter and hustled him to the hallway, where he assured me that I would be kept informed. He was about to say something more, but I saw Johnny slip out of the drawing room. I cut him off before he could begin and said, “Johnny, there you are. Please excuse me, Doctor. We’ll speak again, but now I have other matters to attend to.” Dismissed, he nodded thoughtfully and moved off to see to his charge.
“That was close,” I said once we were inside the library with the door closed.
“You’re up to something, I can tell. Perhaps we can take a few minutes and catch up.”
“Good idea. Here’s where things stand so far.”
I briefed Johnny on events since we last spoke, including the conversation with my father, the two envelopes, and what the doctor had to say.
“You have both?”
“I do.”
“Well there’s a letter opener. Have at it! No, wait a moment. They’re sealed?”
“They are, and I’m happy to see that great minds think alike. We need Stanley to steam them open and reseal them. We’ll know what my father’s up to, but he won’t know that we know. We might even get a step ahead for once.”
“That would be refreshing and unusual. Even handing back the first envelope unopened might allow events to play out to a better conclusion, given that we’ll know far more about what he has in mind. You can use it to restart the conversation. Who knows where that might lead?”
“Interesting idea, but that man has a temper, and I hate being yelled at. Can you take care of all this?” I handed Johnny the envelopes. “I’ve been away from my guests too long. Hopefully, I’ll be able to join you shortly.”
“Of course. Now, to be clear you want me to open both, examine the contents with Stanley, and reseal them.”
“Yes. But you need to be quick. I can well imagine my father waking up and having another conniption when he finds the second letter missing.”
“That might depend on what we discover. Leave the decision to us. If it’s warranted, we’ll see it’s returned to him in its original condition. After all, the larger envelope really did fall out of his pocket and should it be found and turned in, one might be suspicious but not overly so, provided the time frame was reasonable. I’ll keep the one he gave you.”
“That works.”
“Count on it then. This is far more fun than I expected.”
“Lucky you,” I said. I gave him a pat on the back as he made his way to the kitchen to find Stanley. I closed the library door and went back to the drawing room.
41
I was immediately surrounded by guests eager to get the latest news on my father’s condition.
I repeated most of what the doctor had told me. The baron nodded and summed up the information loudly to John Sr. “Bromley will be out of the picture until at least tomorrow. That will allow some peace to prevail and a more relaxed dinner this evening.”
“We should all be thankful,” said Anne.
“Fiddlesticks,” said Maw. “I wanted to give him a poke or two to find out if he’s really as bad as they say. I suppose that will have to wait. Percy, what’s next?”
“Drinks at seven, followed by dinner at nine. Black tie. Until then, make yourselves at home. Bruni and I have some household matters to discuss, so we will see you by seven at the latest.”
Bonnie said, “On that note, I think it’s time for a nap. Lugging that body up those stairs has worn me out.” The others murmured their agreement.
Bruni looked at me curiously as I eased us out the door. Her father followed and stopped us before we could get away.
“I’d like to see the library, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course. It’s right down the hall,” I answered.
“You know the one I mean.”
I paused. Both father and daughter looked at me expectantly.
“What library might that be?”
“Don’t play coy with me,” countered the baron. “Those treasures of yours aren’t kept in plain view, nor should they be. They’re tucked away, along with the hundreds of volumes Alice had collected over the years. I know that for a fact.”
“You are correct, but that part of the house is off limits for the time being. Of course, once all the financial affairs are put in order, I would be more than happy to show you.”
“What? Bromley didn’t give you his check? He said he would. I have mine right here.” The baron patted his breast pocket.
“My father mentioned something about verification of funds, so the matter is still pending. Of course, I’ll happily accept yours.”
The baron chuckled. “I think I’ll wait. Good for you on insisting on verification. I always do. Not to worry, we can sort it out tomorrow when he’s up and about.”
“The doctor wasn’t so certain about that.”
“Doctors. What do they know? Your father has more lives than a cat. He’ll be up tomorrow. Count on it. Now, have fun, you two, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”
The baron chuckled again as he returned to the drawing room.
Bruni took my arm. “I take it not everything with your father went as planned.”
“No, it didn’t.”
“Perhaps we can walk, and you can tell me.”
I sighed. I had my attention on the envelopes but decided to let Stanley and Johnny work it out. Bruni might be able to help me get my wits around my father. He seemed a thoroughly awful man, and I needed some fresh air to put my conversation with him behind me.
“Good idea,” I said. “Let’s head toward the tennis courts.”
Once outside and away from the possible intrusions of others, Bruni and I held each other.
“I think I needed that,” she said.
“Me, too.” I told her all that had happened since lunch. When I finished, we sat in silence on the steps that led down to the court and looked out at the leafy trees along the edge of the enclosure. The sky was overcast and brooding, yet I felt content being alone with her. I thought to myself that having houseguests was diverting but seriously overrated.
Bruni interrupted my thoughts. “From what you’ve said, your father was testing you, and you failed.”
“I’d say that pretty much sums it up. I do need to get with Johnny and Stanley and find out what is in the envelopes. I’m hoping that what they reveal might open a door of some sort.”
“They might, but I have two things to tell you that might help. The first is based on what just happened and might sound counterintuitive.”
“I could use some counter-intuitive. What is it?”
“You need to talk to your father, despite his upset. Only the two of you with no agendas. My mother and I were never close until we managed to bridge that gap, and that happened, strangely enough, because of him. Such a conversation won’t be easy, but I do know that you have to make peace with him, and he must make peace with you. I’m not talking friendship, rather seeing the other person and having some compassion and understanding. That’s all.”
“Given the circumstances, that in itself would be a miracle.”
“Perhaps, but you have time. He doesn’t. His window is closing faster than he thinks. You are in the more powerful position, so the overture must come from you.”
I sighed. “That’s true enough, but how do I even get there with him? Frankly, he scares me, and from what I’ve seen, he will simply hammer away at any vulnerability I might care to show until any chance of a reconciliation becomes impossible.”
“Maybe. Ask him about Alice.”
I looked at her. “Alice?”
“Yes. His life began and ended with her.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. Alice seemed a radioactive topic when it came to my father.
