Murder With Peacocks(82)

Michael laughed and struck a pose. ""Rich she shall be, that's certain,"" he quoted back. ""Wise, or I'll none; virtuous, or I'll never cheapen her; fair, or I'll never look on her; mild, or come not near me; noble, or not I for an angel; of good discourse, an excellent musician, and her hair shall be of what color it please God,"" he finished with a flourish, using some strands of my hair he'd removed from the bouquet as a prop.

"Who's that?" said Jake, who had come in while Michael was speaking and was looking confused. Which was more or less his usual state as far as I could see.

""You are a villain!"" Michael declaimed in yet another speech from Much Ado. He grabbed the scissors and struck up a fencing position. ""I jest not: I will make it good how you dare, and when you dare. Do me right, or I will protest your cowardice. You have killed a sweet lady, and her death shall fall heavy on you. Let me hear from you!""

Jake turned pale and began backing out of the room. "Is everyone here completely crazy?" he asked.

"He's just quoting me some lines from a Shakespeare play he appeared in, Mr. Wendell," I said, soothingly. To no avail. Jake reached the door and fled.

"That man's damned lucky to have an ironclad alibi," Michael remarked. "Have you ever seen anyone so hysterical?"

"For two cents I'd frame him for either murder, just to have him out from underfoot," I said. "And what's more, he's too big."

"Too big! He's shorter than you are, and I doubt if he weighs more than one hundred fifty pounds. Too big for what?"

"Too big for me to toss over the bluff," I grumbled. "We've already proven I can barely handle one hundred five pounds."

Michael gave me an odd look, but Eric's arrival cut off whatever answer he might have made.

"I did good, Aunt Meg, huh?" Eric said, grabbing my arm and swinging on it.

"You were a marvel."

"So we're going, right?" he demanded.

"You've got it."

"When?"

"We can't do it tomorrow; there's Samantha's party. And I may not feel like getting up early Monday. I thought Tuesday."

"Great! I'll go call Timmy and A.j. and Berke!"

"Timmy and A.j. and Berke? I thought--never mind," I said, closing my eyes and holding out my champagne glass. "How much worse can four of them be?"

"Four of what?" Michael asked, filling my glass.

"I had to bribe Eric to get him to take Brian's place. I'm taking him and, apparently, three other eight-year-old boys to ride the roller coasters."

"Roller coasters?"

"Yes, at whatever's the nearest huge amusement park," I said, with a shudder. "I hate riding roller coasters."

"Can't somebody else actually ride with them?" "Strangely enough everyone else in the family is completely tied up all next week," I said. "Rob's taking the bar exam, but most of them seem to be going to the dentist. Isn't that odd? You'd think toothaches were contagious. Dad has offered to pay for the trip, though. I suppose that's something."

"Not enough. Did you say Tuesday?"

"Yes. Why? Do I have a fitting or something?"

"No," he said. "There's nothing important going on at the shop Tuesday. I'll go with you."

I opened my eyes and stared at him. "You must be mad. Or you've had too much of that," I said, pointing to the champagne. "We're talking about four eight-year-olds, here."

"Yes, and if you take them all by yourself, you'll be outnumbered four to one. If I go, we'll only be outnumbered two to one. Better odds."

"You're mad," I repeated. "Stark, raving mad."

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun," he said.

"You have a very warped idea of fun, then."

"Consider it part of Be-Stitched's superior customer service," he said. "We not only make your gown, we make sure you stay alive and sane enough to wear it."





Sunday, July 17



I slept late. The only thing I actually had to do was help Professor Donleavy cope with the cleanup crew he'd hired. And pack a few things to return to rental places. And log in a few more gifts. And field all the phone calls from people who'd lost things at the party. And find a box that would hold all the things Eileen had forgotten and called home already to ask that we ship to her. Well, maybe it wasn't going to be such a quiet day after all. Thank goodness Michael had arranged for the ladies to capture all the costumes at the end of the party and was having them cleaned and returned to their owners. I spent most of the day over at the Donleavys'. Professor Donleavy was pathetically grateful for everything I was doing.