miss.”
With a cluck I set Barney walking again. We drew up beside the front portico and immediately the main door opened. Beside me Katie stiffened, but I was quick to reassure her. “You can wait for me here. I’ll tell the footman he needn’t bother with the carriage.”
She wilted slightly in relief. It had been here at The Breakers last spring, when a visiting youth, a friend of my cousin Reggie’s, had first seduced and then forced himself on Katie, resulting in her pregnancy and dismissal from her job. With no references, no family in this country, and no prospects of any sort, she had shown up on my doorstep, because when my aunt Sadie had been alive, Gull Manor had become known as a haven for young women in trouble.
I did what I could to keep Aunt Sadie’s legacy alive.
Katie had lost her baby one awful night, but she had never quite lost her fear of this house or the people in it, who had shown her so little compassion when she needed it most. I wasn’t always proud of my relatives.
So while she waited huddled against the squabs of the carriage, I hurried inside and searched for my cousin Gertrude. There was no one else here who might have heard from Consuelo, and though her having contacted Gertrude was unlikely, I couldn’t yet rule out the possibility.
“Good morning, Parker,” I said to the young footman who had admitted me. I let him take my light linen wrap from my shoulders. “Is Miss Gertrude at home?”
“She is, Miss Cross. She was outside with the family last I saw her. Would you like me to inquire after her for you?”
“No, thank you. I’ll just go on out and see for myself.” Thanks to my being a relative and a frequent visitor, I had the privilege of being allowed to walk in unannounced and roam the house as I pleased, something no ordinary visitor would have dared do.
As I passed through the entry hall into the open expanse of the Italian palazzo–inspired Great Hall, I blinked just as surely as if I’d stepped into a garden bathed in dazzling sunlight. No matter how many times I entered this room, the grandeur of marble and gilt and priceless art never failed to stun me, to leave me both breathless and speechless.
I stopped just at the top of the few steps leading down to the main floor of the room. Two under footmen passed into view from the dining room, where they appeared to be gathering up the silver, probably to be taken below stairs and polished. Above me along the open gallery that looked down upon the Great Hall, a maid exited one of the bedrooms with an armful of linens. I let my gaze slide past her, higher and higher, until it came to rest on the ceiling, painted to resemble a clear, sunny afternoon sky.
I pulled my gaze earthward as voices drifted in from the terrace that spanned the rear of the building. Listening, I could make out Uncle Cornelius’s and Aunt Alice’s voices . . . and the higher, eager tones of my youngest cousin, Gladys. They were discussing an upcoming yachting excursion. I listened for Gertrude’s voice but didn’t hear her, and as the downstairs seemed quiet but for the soft murmurs of working servants, I crossed to the staircase and hurried up. I found Gertrude in her room, still in her dressing gown, though a pile of dresses littered her bed and she seemed to be studying them with a critical eye.
“Oh, good morning, Emmaline,” she said when I stepped through the open doorway.
I smiled. It always both amused and annoyed me that most of my Vanderbilt relatives, with the exception of Reggie and Consuelo, called me by my full name rather than the shorter version I preferred. The men could be nicknamed; hence there were Reggie, Neily, Willy K., etc. Ah, but nothing so sporting or casual would do for the females of the family; thus, we remained Emmaline, Gertrude, Consuelo, and the rest. I had long since given up trying to persuade them otherwise.
“This is a lovely surprise,” she continued brightly, “especially since I was just
With a cluck I set Barney walking again. We drew up beside the front portico and immediately the main door opened. Beside me Katie stiffened, but I was quick to reassure her. “You can wait for me here. I’ll tell the footman he needn’t bother with the carriage.”
She wilted slightly in relief. It had been here at The Breakers last spring, when a visiting youth, a friend of my cousin Reggie’s, had first seduced and then forced himself on Katie, resulting in her pregnancy and dismissal from her job. With no references, no family in this country, and no prospects of any sort, she had shown up on my doorstep, because when my aunt Sadie had been alive, Gull Manor had become known as a haven for young women in trouble.
I did what I could to keep Aunt Sadie’s legacy alive.
Katie had lost her baby one awful night, but she had never quite lost her fear of this house or the people in it, who had shown her so little compassion when she needed it most. I wasn’t always proud of my relatives.
So while she waited huddled against the squabs of the carriage, I hurried inside and searched for my cousin Gertrude. There was no one else here who might have heard from Consuelo, and though her having contacted Gertrude was unlikely, I couldn’t yet rule out the possibility.
“Good morning, Parker,” I said to the young footman who had admitted me. I let him take my light linen wrap from my shoulders. “Is Miss Gertrude at home?”
“She is, Miss Cross. She was outside with the family last I saw her. Would you like me to inquire after her for you?”
“No, thank you. I’ll just go on out and see for myself.” Thanks to my being a relative and a frequent visitor, I had the privilege of being allowed to walk in unannounced and roam the house as I pleased, something no ordinary visitor would have dared do.
As I passed through the entry hall into the open expanse of the Italian palazzo–inspired Great Hall, I blinked just as surely as if I’d stepped into a garden bathed in dazzling sunlight. No matter how many times I entered this room, the grandeur of marble and gilt and priceless art never failed to stun me, to leave me both breathless and speechless.
I stopped just at the top of the few steps leading down to the main floor of the room. Two under footmen passed into view from the dining room, where they appeared to be gathering up the silver, probably to be taken below stairs and polished. Above me along the open gallery that looked down upon the Great Hall, a maid exited one of the bedrooms with an armful of linens. I let my gaze slide past her, higher and higher, until it came to rest on the ceiling, painted to resemble a clear, sunny afternoon sky.
I pulled my gaze earthward as voices drifted in from the terrace that spanned the rear of the building. Listening, I could make out Uncle Cornelius’s and Aunt Alice’s voices . . . and the higher, eager tones of my youngest cousin, Gladys. They were discussing an upcoming yachting excursion. I listened for Gertrude’s voice but didn’t hear her, and as the downstairs seemed quiet but for the soft murmurs of working servants, I crossed to the staircase and hurried up. I found Gertrude in her room, still in her dressing gown, though a pile of dresses littered her bed and she seemed to be studying them with a critical eye.
“Oh, good morning, Emmaline,” she said when I stepped through the open doorway.
I smiled. It always both amused and annoyed me that most of my Vanderbilt relatives, with the exception of Reggie and Consuelo, called me by my full name rather than the shorter version I preferred. The men could be nicknamed; hence there were Reggie, Neily, Willy K., etc. Ah, but nothing so sporting or casual would do for the females of the family; thus, we remained Emmaline, Gertrude, Consuelo, and the rest. I had long since given up trying to persuade them otherwise.
“This is a lovely surprise,” she continued brightly, “especially since I was just
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