handed over this charity to Folly.â
âShe is overcommitted,â Harry replied.
âBig Mim could run the country.â Susan laughed. âShe thought she was adding new troops by allowing Folly the glory of spearheading the Poplar Forest fund-raiser and ball. Little did she know she gave her rival a plum.â
âBut she didnât know Follyâs ambitions at the time.â Harry appreciated how intelligent Big Mim was, how subtle and political, too.
âAnd there we have to give the nod to Folly. She shrewdly kept her ambitions under wraps. Even now sheâs not saying anything. Her deeds speak for her. Sheâs become a power, one that isnât going to bow before Her Highness,â Susan said.
âMajesty,â Harry corrected.
âFor Great Britain,â Tazio replied. âLater wasnât it âYour Imperial Majestyâ?â She paused. âLetâs not get off on that. Hereâs my problem. Every person that Folly placed on the steering committee is a new person and someone for whom I have designed a house.â
âThatâs why you had to take the decorating committee. Everyone knows that, Taz, especially Big Mim.â Harry petted Tucker, sound asleep, as was Pewter.
âBut Folly has invited Little Mim and Blair to join her at her table,â Tazio told them.
âWhat!â Harry sat bolt upright again, which disturbed the two sleepers.
âBother.â
Pewter dropped her head back on Tuckerâs flank.
âI wanted to see if I could hold my tongue until we were halfway to Poplar Forest.â Tazio smiled.
âYou succeeded,â Harry dryly commented.
âLittle Mim and Blair at Follyâs tableââSusan counted couplesââalong with the Paulsons, the Steinhausers, obviously, the Lattimores, and who else?â
âElise Brennan,â Tazio added.
âWhoâs her date?â
âMajor Chris Huzcko.â Tazio cited a very attractive blond marine, who would dazzle in his âballâ uniform.
âAre they an item?â Susan was curious.
âI donât know. At any rate, theyâll need a marine at the table if Big Mim launches artillery fire.â Tazio smiled.
âChris can handle it,â Harry said confidently. âAnd you know that Tracy Raz can handle it, too.â
Tracy Raz, in his seventies, had seen combat in Korea. After his army career, he served in the CIA, and when he finally retired, he came home to Crozet and wooed his high-school sweetheart, Miranda Hogendobber. Both had married others and had lost their spouses. When Tracy returned from living in Hawaii, the embers reignited. For a man in his seventies, he was in better shape than many a forty-year-old, plus he was bull-strong.
âI assume Miranda and Tracy will be near Big Mim and Jimâs table?â Harry said.
âYes, so weâll have one tough army guy at one table and one rugged marine at another. Maybe the two men can keep the peace.â Tazio sighed. âMeanwhile, Iâve got Folly on one hand and Big Mim on the other. Of course, my loyalty is to Big Mim. After all, she gave me the commission to design her steeplechasersâ stable, and that was my ticket in, truly. I feel I owe her a great deal.â
âIn our own way, we all do. For all her ordering us about, she does a lot of good.â Susan slowed again as she noticed everyone else doing the same. âAnd if youâre really worried, go talk to her, Taz. She really will understand. She knows these people have been clients, are clients. She knows you have to make a living. Go talk to her before the ball. Donât wait until something ugly happens, and remember that she didnât know this challenge was coming.â Susan made a sensible suggestion.
âI will.â
âWhat about Little Mimâs statement this morning?â Harry had heard on the six oâclock morning news that the vice mayor
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