My own brother, Brady, had been accused of committing a murder in this very house only a few short weeks ago. As those awful memories filtered through my mind, my gaze drifted to the balcony where a man had been pushed to his death—to land at my feet. And now here I was, so soon after one horrific experience, entangled in yet another murder involving my Vanderbilt relatives. A dreadful coincidence?
Sitting on the seat beside me, Katie shifted and adjusted the brim of her squat straw hat. “Is something wrong, miss?”
I blinked, not having realized how long I’d sat staring. “Oh, Katie. Is there some kind of curse hanging over the Vanderbilt family? How can this be happening all over again?”
She patted my wrist. “If it means anything, miss, I don’t believe in curses, though my granny Norah back in Killarney would call me daft. The Vanderbilts are havin’ a bad run o’ luck is all.”
“To say the least.” An unsavory thought struck me. “I was in the vicinity of both murders. I hope I’m not some kind of jinx.”
“You, miss? Never have I heard such nonsense. Why, you saved me last spring when I was in the family way, sacked from my job, and had nowhere to turn. And you saved your brother when he might have been hanged for a murderer. I just know you’re goin’ to find Miss Consuelo and you’re goin’ to save her, too, in whatever way she needs savin’.” Katie gripped my hand and squeezed; her eyes shone bright against her fair, freckled complexion. “Because that’s the kind of person you are. You don’t let others suffer an injustice if you can do aught about it. So no more talk of jinxes, miss. I won’t be hearin’ another word about it.”
I regarded her in astonishment. Though a case of nerves might bring on a slew of chatter, my otherwise shy housemaid had never strung together so many eloquent words at one time in all the weeks she had been working for me. And because of that—and because the words had come out calmly and deliberately—I knew she meant every one and hadn’t merely said them in an attempt to placate her employer.
In short, she’d spoken as a friend. And as a friend, I slipped my hand free of hers and reached my arms around her. After a moment’s hesitation she hugged me equally tight, and we rocked gently side to side like two sisters, or how I imagined sisters could sometimes be.
“Thank you, Katie,” I whispered through the curling tendrils of her fiery red hair. “That was quite the nicest thing anyone has said to me in the longest while.”
“It’s all true, miss.”
With a cluck I set Barney walking again. We drew up beside the front portico and immediately the main door opened. Beside me Katie stiffened, but I was quick to reassure her. “You can wait for me here. I’ll tell the footman he needn’t bother with the carriage.”
She wilted slightly in relief. It had been here at The Breakers last spring, when a visiting youth, a friend of my cousin Reggie’s, had first seduced and then forced himself on Katie, resulting in her pregnancy and dismissal from her job. With no references, no family in this country, and no prospects of any sort, she had shown up on my doorstep, because when my aunt Sadie had been alive, Gull Manor had become known as a haven for young women in trouble.
I did what I could to keep Aunt Sadie’s legacy alive.
Katie had lost her baby one awful night, but she had never quite lost her fear of this house or the people in it, who had shown her so little compassion when she needed it most. I wasn’t always proud of my relatives.
So while she waited huddled against the squabs of the carriage, I hurried inside and searched for my cousin Gertrude. There was no one else here who might have heard from Consuelo, and though her having contacted Gertrude was unlikely, I couldn’t yet rule out the possibility.
“Good morning, Parker,” I said to the young footman who had admitted me. I let him take my light linen wrap from my shoulders. “Is Miss Gertrude at home?”
“She is, Miss Cross. She was outside with the family last I saw her. Would you like me to inquire after her for you?”
“No, thank you. I’ll just go on out and see for myself.” Thanks to my being a relative and a frequent visitor, I had the privilege of being allowed to walk in unannounced and roam the house as I pleased, something no ordinary visitor would have dared do.
As I passed through the entry hall into the open expanse of the Italian palazzo–inspired Great Hall, I blinked just as surely as if I’d stepped into a garden bathed in dazzling sunlight. No matter how many times I entered this room, the grandeur of marble and gilt and priceless art never failed to stun me, to leave me both breathless and speechless.