and shoulders. When it came to ideas of how to dress she was in a class of her own.
After dinner we went out to the gondola station where Eve waited for us. She was in a black evening dress with a high collar and sleeves. It was almost as if she had chosen it deliberately for its dowdiness. With her scraped back hair and her glasses she looked like a poor relation beside Vestal's glitter.
We had a cabin gondola. Vestal and I sat side by side, and Eve sat on one of the side seats, away from us.
We began the long, slow journey up to the Lido. Vestal chattered, but neither Eve nor I said much.
I was aware of her in the semi-darkness all the time. I could feel a hidden sensuality coming from her like a radio wave, and I would have given ten years of my life to have been rid of Vestal and have had Eve to myself. I couldn't understand it. It wasn't that Eve was anything to look at. It was a physical thing; reaching out to me, jogging my memory into life of the picture of her climbing up the ladder from the sea.
We left the gondola at the vaporetti station and took a carriage up to the hotel.
Vestal wanted to dance. She forgot her good intentions towards Eve once we got into the ballroom, and left her sitting at a table alone while she danced with me.
I could have strangled her for she was a poor dancer, but I knew it would be unsafe to remind her Eve was being left alone.
We returned to the table after twenty minutes dancing, and Vestal must have realized it couldn't have been fun for Eve to sit so long alone.
"Chad, darling, you must dance with Eve."
Eve looked up quickly.
"Thank you, Mrs. Winters, but I don't dance. I'm quite happy to sit here and watch you dance."
"You don't dance?" Vestal said scornfully. "My dear girl, you should learn. Well, if you don't, you don't." She turned to me. "I love this thing they're playing. Don't let's miss it."
It went on like that for the next hour. The hands of my watch crawled on, and finally, a little before midnight, she decided it was time to return to the hotel.
The journey seemed endless. Vestal chattered all the time. Eve said nothing. I filled in the few gaps with flatfooted remarks.
After Eve had thanked Vestal for giving her such an enjoyable evening and had gone to her room, Vestal went to the open window and looked down at the dark waters of the Canale.
"I feel sorry for that girl," she said. "She's so out of everything."
"Why should you worry?" I said, as I began to undress. "She's good at her work, isn't she?"
"She's wonderful. Before she came I was nearly driven crazy by inefficient fools."
"How long has she been with you?"
"About three years. In a way, I suppose it is just as well she does look dowdy. If she had looks she might get married, then I'd lose her."
"Well, I guess you'll lose her sooner or later."
"I don't think so," Vestal said, coming away from the window. "I've told her I would remember her in my will. Servants always stick to you if you tell them that. At one time Hargis wanted to leave, but after I had told him he was going to get a legacy, he changed his mind."
I was careful to conceal my sudden interest.
"What are you leaving Miss Dolan?"
She looked sharply at me, but I had made my question sound casual.
"Just a few hundreds."
"Does she know the amount?"
Vestal giggled.
"Oh no. I expect she imagines she's going to get much more than she is. They always do."
"You'd better get into bed. It's late."
Long after Vestal had fallen asleep, I lay in the darkness, brooding.
So she had made a will.
I wondered how much of her money she was planning to give away in legacies and how much to charity. I wondered how much would come to me.
Up to this moment I had been planning to persuade her to let me control her seventy million dollars. I knew it would be a long and tricky process, and it might not come off. But now, at the mention of her will, it suddenly dawned on me that there might come a time when I would get the money without
After dinner we went out to the gondola station where Eve waited for us. She was in a black evening dress with a high collar and sleeves. It was almost as if she had chosen it deliberately for its dowdiness. With her scraped back hair and her glasses she looked like a poor relation beside Vestal's glitter.
We had a cabin gondola. Vestal and I sat side by side, and Eve sat on one of the side seats, away from us.
We began the long, slow journey up to the Lido. Vestal chattered, but neither Eve nor I said much.
I was aware of her in the semi-darkness all the time. I could feel a hidden sensuality coming from her like a radio wave, and I would have given ten years of my life to have been rid of Vestal and have had Eve to myself. I couldn't understand it. It wasn't that Eve was anything to look at. It was a physical thing; reaching out to me, jogging my memory into life of the picture of her climbing up the ladder from the sea.
We left the gondola at the vaporetti station and took a carriage up to the hotel.
Vestal wanted to dance. She forgot her good intentions towards Eve once we got into the ballroom, and left her sitting at a table alone while she danced with me.
I could have strangled her for she was a poor dancer, but I knew it would be unsafe to remind her Eve was being left alone.
We returned to the table after twenty minutes dancing, and Vestal must have realized it couldn't have been fun for Eve to sit so long alone.
"Chad, darling, you must dance with Eve."
Eve looked up quickly.
"Thank you, Mrs. Winters, but I don't dance. I'm quite happy to sit here and watch you dance."
"You don't dance?" Vestal said scornfully. "My dear girl, you should learn. Well, if you don't, you don't." She turned to me. "I love this thing they're playing. Don't let's miss it."
It went on like that for the next hour. The hands of my watch crawled on, and finally, a little before midnight, she decided it was time to return to the hotel.
The journey seemed endless. Vestal chattered all the time. Eve said nothing. I filled in the few gaps with flatfooted remarks.
After Eve had thanked Vestal for giving her such an enjoyable evening and had gone to her room, Vestal went to the open window and looked down at the dark waters of the Canale.
"I feel sorry for that girl," she said. "She's so out of everything."
"Why should you worry?" I said, as I began to undress. "She's good at her work, isn't she?"
"She's wonderful. Before she came I was nearly driven crazy by inefficient fools."
"How long has she been with you?"
"About three years. In a way, I suppose it is just as well she does look dowdy. If she had looks she might get married, then I'd lose her."
"Well, I guess you'll lose her sooner or later."
"I don't think so," Vestal said, coming away from the window. "I've told her I would remember her in my will. Servants always stick to you if you tell them that. At one time Hargis wanted to leave, but after I had told him he was going to get a legacy, he changed his mind."
I was careful to conceal my sudden interest.
"What are you leaving Miss Dolan?"
She looked sharply at me, but I had made my question sound casual.
"Just a few hundreds."
"Does she know the amount?"
Vestal giggled.
"Oh no. I expect she imagines she's going to get much more than she is. They always do."
"You'd better get into bed. It's late."
Long after Vestal had fallen asleep, I lay in the darkness, brooding.
So she had made a will.
I wondered how much of her money she was planning to give away in legacies and how much to charity. I wondered how much would come to me.
Up to this moment I had been planning to persuade her to let me control her seventy million dollars. I knew it would be a long and tricky process, and it might not come off. But now, at the mention of her will, it suddenly dawned on me that there might come a time when I would get the money without
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