Everybody does. My mother, God rest her soul, thought Edsel was classy, but then she had never seen the car.â
Faith laughed. âWell, I hear they are becoming highly collectible. I suppose itâs another example of if you wait long enough, whatever youâre holding on to will come back in fashion.â This was not one of her maxims but Tomâs, and in his case it was more like continual use, rather than stockpiling, say, oneâs old Diors until hems went up or down again.
âCould I âcollectâ you for the next dance, Mrs. Fairchild?â
It wasnât that he was unattractive, and he was probably a good dancer. Men like Eddie usually were. But Faith didnât feel like giving him the satisfaction of an acceptance. It was clearly why he had come to the table. Besides, the line was too corny.
âPerhaps later, thank you. Iâm a bit tired now,â she told him.
âTime to go to the bench then. How about you, Muriel?â
The man was either a cad or an oaf or both. Donald was drinking a glass of champagne and his hand trembled. Faith half expected him to fling the contents at Eddie and declare, âThat is my sister, suh, whom you impugn!â She also expected Muriel to declineâpotitety of course but, Faith hoped, with some frostiness.
None of these things happened. Donald put the glass down and Muriel rose with alacrity and danced off in Eddieâs arms.
That left Faith and Donald, and just as she was about to ask about Eddie Russellâs dutiesâhe being clearly the first real fly in the ointment sheâd found at Hubbard HouseâDonald excused himself. Faith got up quickly, since there is nothing so pathetic as one person sitting alone at a table with a lot of partially consumed food and drinks, and made her way back to her own table. She passed Eddie and Muriel. His eyes were half closed and he was humming along to the music; hers were wide open.
She sat down next to Tom.
âWhere have you been? They played âWindmills of My Mind.ââ
Tom could be very sentimental. He still thought A Man and a Woman was one of the greatest movies of all time and got choked up when Kermit sang âThe Rainbow Connection.â
âI was talking to the Hubbards and met the guy whoâs in charge of buildings and grounds at Hubbard Houseââ
Whatever Faith was going to say about Eddie was lost as the Oval Room plunged into sudden darkness. A woman screamed, and almost as quickly as they had gone off, the lights went on again. It was as if a reel of film had broken in the middle and, when the projector started again, it started in a freeze frame. Everyone stood poised in position.
Most were facing the direction of the scream. Since her mouth was opened for another, Charmaine was the obvious source. Perhaps she saw Murielâs palm ready to slap her sillier, or perhaps she decided Camille was a more touching act. Whatever the reason, she snapped her lips closed and swooned into a chair. Donald bent anxiously over her. Faithâs first impulse was to dash over to the Hubbard table, lift the cloth, and search for a body beneath. Instead she looked around to see who was where. There was general movement now, and Dr. Hubbard was striding over to the microphone. Donald was attending to Charmaine. Muriel was watching her father. Eddie was nowhere in sight. No one was missing from Faithâs table with the exception of Denise.
Dr. Hubbard had the microphone and his voice was bracingly reassuring. âOne of the staff has been a little overzealous in turning down the lights for our pudding procession,â he told the crowd. âI think weâre ready to begin now.â
The lights dimmed appropriately and waiters suitably liveried marched out bearing silver salvers of flaming plum pudding surrounded by holly wreaths. The pale-blue flames reflected in the mirrored doors that encircled the room, and the effect was lovely. An
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