I might have been imagining it, but I thought I saw a flicker of relief pass over his aristocratic features.
“A tragic thing, Alfred’s death-and of course, your finding him. He was a good man. We’ll need to start the search for his successor as soon as possible.”
“Of course. But I didn’t really come to talk about Alfred, either. Charles, Alfred’s death made me think about my own life. I mean, the man lived for his work, and he had no life outside of the Society. I don’t want to find myself in that position.”
“Nell, what are you trying to say?”
For a moment I wondered if he was afraid that I was going to ask him to take our relationship to a higher level, and I hurried to disabuse him of the idea.
“Charles, I have truly enjoyed our time together, and you’re a wonderful man.” That’s right, lay it on thick. “But we’ve always been honest with each other.” Like hell we have. “I think I need to move on, find someone who’s willing to make a greater commitment to me, to a life together.”
Before he could protest, I help up one hand. “No, Charles, I’m not trying to pressure you into anything. You’ve never made any promises to me, and I’ve never kidded myself that we had anything more than a casual relationship. And that was fine, until now. But now I need something different.”
I looked at him to see how he was taking it. I couldn’t see any signs of devastation. “I wanted to tell you face-to-face, because I don’t want this to jeopardize our working relationship. I love the Society, and I think I’ve done good work there. I would be delighted to keep working with you to make it all that it can be.” As soon as we clear up that little problem of the dead employee and the thefts.
He smiled with just the right degree of sadness. “You have indeed, and I don’t know what I would have done without you to advise me. And you’re a very wise woman, Nell. Of course I’ll regret that we won’t be as close as we have been, but I respect your wishes and your honesty.” He raised his glass in a mock toast; I responded in kind.
For one last time I looked at him, really looked. He was still elegant, very much in control of himself. I felt a stab of regret: in a different universe, maybe we could have had something real. But I knew now what lay beneath that polished facade, and he didn’t move me. I drained my glass and stood up.
“Thank you for making it so easy for me. Oh, if you don’t mind-I’d like to collect the few things I left here? My silk nightgown, for instance?”
“Of course. They’re upstairs. Let me get them for you.”
I moved quickly to beat him to the stairs. “I’ll go-I know where everything is, and I might forget something. I won’t be a minute.”
I dashed upstairs and began collecting my things, starting with the nightgown. Along the way I stuck a second bug beneath his mahogany night stand. I took one last glance around. I was going to miss the elegance of this place, I realized, far more than I was going to miss its owner. As I came back down the stairs he met me at the bottom, offering a pristine shopping bag for the odds and ends I was clutching-Brooks Brothers, I noted.
At the door, I turned and said quietly, “Good-bye, Charles,” kissed him on the cheek, and slipped out without any further fuss. I at least was a class act. I managed to remember not to skip with glee as I walked down the block away from his house toward the restaurant where Marty was waiting.
Marty was seated at a booth at the rear of the restaurant, a knit cap pulled low on her head-her idea of a disguise, I guessed. She must really be enjoying this. I slipped into the other side of the booth.
“ Mission accomplished. Did you test it?”
Marty looked around at the few other patrons in the nearly empty restaurant. Nobody showed the slightest interest. Then she pulled a small box out of her bag, plugged in a set of earbuds, and handed it to me. The red light was blinking, so I assumed it was on and recording. I put on my own earbuds. She studied the buttons on the small recorder, hit Rewind, then Play. I gave Marty a thumbs-up-the transmission, apparently from the living room, was crystal clear: at first I could hear footsteps, the rustling of papers, the chink of a glass as Charles set it down on a table; and then I heard myself and Charles. After listening for a minute, I pulled the earbuds off. I sounded unbearably sanctimonious, at least to my own ears.
“Perfect. Phil picked well.” I took a sip of coffee. “Marty, were you listening?”
She nodded, shamefaced. “I was-just to make sure it was working. You did a good job, very smooth. I certainly would have believed you, and I’d give odds that Charles did. I’ll bet he’s feeling very grateful to you at the moment. He should be all primed and ready for Libby. We’ll have to remember to tell her to be very sympathetic and stroke his wounded ego.” She cocked her head at me. “Are you all right?”
I nodded firmly. “Yes, I am. Give me a little longer and I’ll feel damn good.”
CHAPTER 26
Marty and I debriefed Libby over a hasty lunch on Friday. We met in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant near the public library. It all felt very cloak-and-daggerish, and faintly ridiculous.
“He’s all yours,” I told Libby. “I let him down gently, but no doubt there are a few pinpricks in his massive ego.”
“He’s a man, isn’t he?” Libby said complacently, spearing the good stuff in her salad. “He just got dumped. I will be appropriately attentive. He won’t know a thing.”
I sighed and prodded my salad. “You know, I still feel like an idiot. I can’t have meant anything to him, other than a source of information and the occasional roll in the hay. I just didn’t want to see it.”
Libby regarded me with a mixture of sympathy and exasperation. “Oh, Nell, don’t feel bad-I’ve just had more experience at manipulating men than you have. Anyway, I never pretended to myself that this was serious, but he’s a very presentable escort, and he’s very easy to be around. So attentive, you know?”
“I know,” I said glumly.
“All the equipment working?” she said around her full mouth.
“Like a charm.” I turned to Marty. “Marty, what does Phil think we’re doing? I do hope he’s not going to get into any trouble over this.”
“Nonsense. He’s just a kid who’s good with gadgets, and he’s thrilled to have a chance to show off. Besides, he wouldn’t rat on us-I’m paying half his tuition at Penn. We’re not going to get caught. And if we do, Jimmy can fix it.”
I certainly hoped she was right. I also hoped we wouldn’t need any “fixing.”
Libby finished chewing and drained her Bloody Mary, signaling the waitress for another at the same time. “So, tonight’s the night. He’s picking me up at seven.”
“You know what we need to hear?”
“Well, if I play this right, I nudge him into declaring that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me,” she began. “Then I convince him that, despite being hopelessly besotted, I still retain a few shreds of common sense, and I’m not about to support him, and I’m sure he doesn’t want to be just a gigolo, since his job at that tacky little place downtown certainly doesn’t pay enough. So, what are his plans? And if I’m as good as I think I am, he’ll spill.”
She winked at Marty. “I made my second husband-you remember Aston, don’t you, Marty?-sign a prenup, and I demanded full financial disclosure. So there’s a precedent on record, and Charles should know that if he’s done his homework. I could do no less with Number Three.”
“Maybe. But remember that he’s got to trot out his ill-gotten gains somehow.”
“Exactly. He’s got to prove he’s worthy of my affections.” She looked at us both and laughed. “Don’t worry so much, you two. I have my ways. I’ll get him exactly where I want him.”