Back up the aisle, bride and groom arm in arm, and then the reception began. The bride took her position and the men lined up to kiss her. Some of them came back for seconds. Then the bride vanished, gone to change to traveling clothes, I guessed. The groom was still trapped in a crowd of well-wishers.
Suddenly I saw Putnam approaching my hiding place. I got the chair out of the way so he could slip inside. “He's still being cagey,” he told me. “Several people have asked him where they’re going on the honeymoon, but he just laughs and plays it like a groom trying to avoid honeymoon jokers. I’ve been staying within earshot, but I haven’t been able to learn a thing.”
“All we can do is stay with it,” I replied.
Putnam slipped out again, and I once again climbed up to the transom. Hortense was back mingling with the guests. She had changed into a lightweight traveling suit and looked very demure. Stevkovsky was at her elbow.
An hour went by before he left her. Then he bent, whispered something in her ear, and was gone from the scene. I moved fast to replace him, knowing that he might be back at any moment.
“So fast?” Hortense raised an eyebrow when I appeared beside her.
“I couldn’t bear to be away from you for a moment, my darling.”
“Oh, you are so sweet. But after all, when nature calls —I mean, I’m not that possessive!”
“It can wait,” I assured her. “Besides, there’s something else bothering me. You’re going to think I’m an awful birdbrain, sweetheart. But the truth is that with everything that’s been happening, I seem to have our plans all mixed up in my head. I know it’s silly, but I wonder if you’d go over them with me.” I drew her to one side so we could talk confidentially.
“Well, we’re due at the yacht at four,” she told me, her eyes shining. “And--”
“Where is the yacht picking us up, again? I’m so confused.”
She told me. “And then we’re going to spend our wedding night on the Potomac. And tomorrow morning we’ll be off on our honeymoon.”
“Ahh yes. Where are we going again?”
“I can’t help you there, my darling. That’s your surprise. Remember, you wouldn’t tell me because you wanted to see my eyes shine when we arrive? But don’t worry about it. You’re just a nervous bridegroom, poor boy. You won’t be so mixed up when we get to the yacht. Everything will come back to you.”
“I’m sure it will. And now I really have to go.” I’d just spotted Putnam signaling frantically to me that Stevkovsky was returning.
“Don’t be long, my darling.”
I darted back to my hiding place. Looking through the transom again, I watched as Stevkovsky went up to Hortense. She really looked puzzled at what must have seemed to her to be such a quick reappearance.
Putnam waited a few minutes and then rejoined me. I told him what I had learned. “Don’t descend on the dock where the yacht is picking them up with a bunch of men,” I warned him. “My guess is Cromwell isn’t aboard yet, and if whoever’s bringing him spots anything funny, he may slip through our fingers. I’m going to head out there now and try to get aboard before the wedding couple arrives. That way I’ll be ready to help Cromwell.”
“All right,” Putnam agreed.
I slipped out the back door of the Vedic Temple by the same route I’d used in entering. My driver was waiting with the car, the motor running. I gave him our destination, and we started out.
About twenty minutes later I had him drop me off some distance from where the yacht was moored. I didn’t want to be spotted boarding it. But luck was against me.
I got down on the dock easily enough. Here I stayed out of sight behind some packing cases until there was nobody on deck. Then I made a dash up the gangplank, across the deck, and down the stairway to where I presumed the cabins would be. I took a guess and opened one of the doors. I’d guessed right. Flowers, champagne, an ice bucket—these things identified it as the cabin being held in readiness for the wedding couple. But the cabin wasn’t empty!
“Why, hello, sir. We hadn’t expected you until later.” The gold braid on the cap worn by the middle-aged man speaking identified him as the Captain. “I was just checking to see that everything was in order for your arrival.”
“Yes, yes. Very good,” I stammered.
“May extend heartiest congratulations for myself and the crew, sir?”
“Of course.” I shook his hand. “Thank you."
“I’d like to congratulate the bride too, sir.” The Captain peered behind me. “Is she on deck?”
“No. No, she hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Hasn’t arrived yet? ” he exclaimed.
“Yes,”’, I improvised desperately. “We came by separate cars.
“Separate cars?” The Captain was bewildered. “That’s a bit unusual for a wedding couple, isn’t it, sir?”
“It’s because I’m a Zoroastran,“ I babbled. “My creed prohibits the bride and groom riding in the same vehicle.”
“A Zoroastran, eh? What a coincidence,” the Captain said. “My first wife was a Zoroastran.”
“Was she, now?” I boomed it out heartily to cover my confusion. “That is a coincidence. There aren’t too many of us Zoroastrans around.”
“No, there aren’t. But after our wedding, we traveled in the same car.” His voice was openly skeptical.
“Did you, now? But then I’ll bet you weren’t married in a Vedic Temple. That makes all the difference, you know.”
“As a matter of fact, we were.”
“You were?”
“Yes.”
“Heh-heh. Well, now, that really is a coincidence.”
“And it didn’t make any difference,” the Captain said firmly. “About riding in the same car, I mean.”
“It didn’t?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“It’s all right, sir.” The Captain’s face lit up with sudden logic. He thought he’d figured it all out. “Had a little spat, didn’t you? It happens. But don’t worry about it. She’ll be along.”
“As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what happened,” I admitted, leaping at the welcome out he’d provided. “But you’re right. She should be here soon.”
“Then I'll be leaving, sir. You'll want to be alone with her.” He nudged me in the ribs. “Two’s company, and three’s a crowd. Especially on a honeymoon, eh, sir?” He chortled.
“You’re a man of the world, Captain,” I assured him as I saw him to the door and closed it behind him.
As soon as he was gone, I cased the cabin for a place to hide. There were two closets, but I decided against both of them. The nuptial couple might decide to hang up their clothes, and I’d be discovered immediately. A third door led to the bathroom. I decided against that, too. The odds were that one of them might use it.
That left only one possibility. Under the bed. It was a little French bedroom farce-y, but I had no other choice. I stationed myself at the porthole, which provided a clear view of the dock, and stood poised to dart under the bed when they arrived.
It wasn’t too long a wait. A limousine pulled up and Stevkovsky and Gretchen got out of it. As they stood there brushing the rice from their clothes, a small delivery truck pulled up from the other direction. With Stevkovsky overseeing their labor, two men got out of the truck and unloaded a large packing crate from the rear.
Stevkovsky guided them up the gangplank with it. Then he left Hortense on deck alone for a few moments while he showed them where to store it. He returned and they started for the stairway. I dived under the bed.
The door to the cabin opened, and they entered. Stevkovsky was carrying Hortense across the threshold. He set her down, and they kissed.