«Miss Redwing,» Aaron interrupted, his use of the title, her last name, and his stern voice causing Jenny to look questioningly at the renowned attorney who had become so friendly to her.
«Yes … Mr. Pinkus?»
«I shall prepare a memorandum of intent, stating quite clearly that you will, on a supreme best-efforts basis, initiate the negotiations—if and when such negotiations take place—according to the wishes of Chief Thunder Head, also known as General MacKenzie Hawkins. Do you accept this heavy responsibility?»
«Hell—» Jennifer was about to say Hell, yes! but the glint in Aaron’s eyes stopped her. «Very well, sir, no more off-color language. I know when I’ve been beaten by superior litigiousness. I’ll sign both documents.»
«That’s better, little lady,» said the Hawk, lighting a frayed cigar by lifting his leg and pulling a safety match against the right thigh of his buckskins. «You’ll see, Miss Red, the responsibility of command doesn’t stop with a single victory. We go on and on and on, always looking after the fine troops who follow us!»
«That’s very encouraging, General,» said Jennifer, smiling sweetly.
«You’re both all hearts and smarts,» said Sam. «Especially you, Pocahontas.»
Aaron Pinkus went into his brother-in-law’s office at the beach house and called his personal secretary, telling her to have Paddy Lafferty drive her out to Swampscott and to bring her notary seal. The gray-haired lady arrived, her eyes red and heavy-lidded, no doubt the results of some rampant flu, and proceeded to type out the two documents. They were ceremoniously signed, and as Aaron courteously led his obviously ill secretary to the front door, thanking her for her acceding to his needs despite her condition, the slightly unfocused woman asked, «Do you know someone named Bricky, Mr. Pinkus? He’s been asking for you.»
«Bricky?… Is there a last name?»
«I’m not sure I got it—it seemed to change.»
«You’re not well, my dear. I want you to take several days off, and I’ll have my doctor look in on you. Abraham forgive me, I do overwork you.»
«He was a very handsome young man. Shining dark hair, impeccably dressed—»
«Be careful now, watch your step.»
«He kept wanting to know where you were—»
«Easy now, there are two steps down to the flagstones… Paddy, are you there?»
«Right here, boss!» came Lafferty’s reply from the circular drive as the chauffeur emerged from the shadows and ran up the path to the porch. «Y’know, I think she’s a bit under the weather, Mr. Pinkus.»
«It’s the flu, Paddy.»
«If you say so, sir.» Lafferty took the secretary, pulling her left arm around his shoulders as he helped her down toward the car.
«Bricky is my darling, my darling, my darling …!» The words floated up in song, fading into the tall pines that bordered the circular drive. «… he’s the only boy for me—only boy for me!»
Relieved, Aaron turned back to the front door, prepared to go inside, when he stopped, his head cocked in bewilderment… Bricky?… Binky?… Binghamton Aldershot, otherwise known as Binky on the Cape, the nearest thing Boston had to an international financier, hiding behind the iron gates of his Beacon Hill bank?… Wasn’t there a nephew somewhere? A youngish womanizer with a similar nickname, whom the Aldershots kept on a tenuous financial tether, if only to keep the idiot from embarrassing the family… No, it was impossible. His personal secretary of fifteen years was a mature woman, previously a novitiate who had turned away from her vows, opting for a more worldly world, but withal a woman deeply committed to her faith. Ridiculous. A coincidence. Pinkus opened the door and stepped into the foyer only to hear the telephone ring.
«Okay, Cyrus!» Sam Devereaux yelled into the phone. «Remember, he’s an actor, so don’t lose your temper, okay? Just bring him out here… What? He wants a contract stipulating that he has star billing!… With who—what? His name in print … above and in equal size in type to that of the title? Holy shit!… What about money, has he made any demands there?… Nothing, just his billing? Christ, write out whatever he wants and get him here!… A ‘run-of-the-play,’ no dismissal during rehearsals without full compensation? What the fuck does that mean?… I don’t know, either, but put it into his contract.»
An hour and twenty-two minutes later, the front door opened and the orange-shirted Gypsy with the long blue sash around his waist lunged into the foyer, balletically spinning until he reached the entrance to the huge living room, where the three attorneys and General MacKenzie Hawkins sat in a semicircle. All heads turned as Roman Z made his announcement.
«Beautiful, beautiful lady, and you gentlemen of—well, adequate appearance. I now present to you Colonel Cypress, a man with the strength of a Mediterranean tree, who has an announcement.»
«Enough about him!» came the whisper, hissed from the dark foyer. «It’s me, you bounder!»
The enormous and embarrassed figure of the black mercenary appeared. «Hi, there, folks,» said Cyrus, as tongue-tied as a normally confident man could be. «I would like to introduce an artist who has appeared in many of the great Broadway shows of our time, whose brilliant reviews have been abash in our land—»
«That’s ‘awash,’ you idiot!»
«An actor of supreme depth and widespread perversity—»
«Di—dye—versity, you ass!»
«Hell, man, I’m doing the best I can—»
«Long introductions, inadequately presented, kill an entrance. Get out of my way!»
The tall, lean man swept down the short steps into the living room with a flair and an energy that belied his age. With gray, flowing hair, sharp features, and glaring eyes that bespoke a thousand such electric entrances on stage, he stunned the small group in front of him, as he had done with countless full houses in the past. His gaze settled upon Aaron Pinkus; he approached the attorney with a courtly bow.
«You have summoned me, sire, and I have obeyed. Your servant and boldest knight-errant, m’lord!»
«Why, Henry,» said Aaron, getting out of his chair and shaking hands with the actor. «That was just wonderful! It reminded me of when you did your one-man show for Shirley’s Hadassah, the excerpt from The Student Prince, I believe.»
«I don’t remember too many of the smaller—forgive me—my out-of-town performances, dear boy… However, I think it must have been six and a half years ago roughly—on March twelfth, if I’m not mistaken, at two o’clock in the afternoon. I vaguely recall it, for I don’t believe I was in my best voice that day.»
«You certainly were, you were splendid… Here, let me introduce you to my friends—»
«My C-sharp wasn’t full,» continued the actor, «but then the piano player was dreadful… You were saying, Aaron?»
«My friends, I’d like you to meet them.»
«I certainly wish to, especially this adorable creature.» Sir Henry reached for Jennifer’s left hand and brought it to his lips, his eyes looking into hers as he gently kissed the back of her palm. «You make me immortal by your touch, sweet Helena… Have you ever thought of a theatrical career?»