Glittering Promises (42 page)

“Do you hate me?” Nell said to Lillian, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Is our friendship over?”

“What?” Lil asked, wrapping her arms around her best friend. “What are you talking about?” She leaned back to see her face.

Nell cried so hard, it was hard to make out exactly what she said. But it was clear she thought her brother’s devilish choices, and an end to the courtship between Andrew and Viv, would tear the families apart.

“Never,” Lil said. “Never ever! We are like sisters! Would you cast me aside if Felix had done something similarly dastardly?”

Nell shook her head.

“There, you see?”

“Still,” said Mr. Morgan behind them, rising. He walked over and took Cora’s hand in his. “I owe you an apology on behalf of the family. Had I known…”

“But you didn’t,” Cora said, giving him a sad smile. “I trust you, Mr. Morgan, no matter what your son tried to do. I know you as a man of principle. I know my father trusted you. And so do I. I need you more than ever, if Andrew is…indisposed.”

Mr. Morgan nodded and patted her hand. “Thank you, child. You can count on my assistance. Don’t you worry about that.” He glanced over to Hugh. “I’ll need you to step up, son. With Wallace gone, and Andrew…” He looked Hugh in the eye and set his hand on his shoulder. “I need you.”

For the first time all summer, Hugh looked daunted. Yet he nodded, reaching to pat his father’s hand. “I’ll try my best, Father.”

Mr. Morgan gave Nell a squeeze. “I think I’ll go and rest for a while. I’m awfully weary after the day’s events.”

“Most of you must feel the same,” Will said. “Detective Beluzzi will be back for those statements. Until that time, I suggest we rest and try to remember anything relevant to the case.”

“But that feels terrible!” Nell wailed, and Lil embraced her again. “If I tell my story, isn’t that like betraying my brother?”

“No, child,” Mr. Morgan said from the doorway. Will thought his slim shoulders looked more stooped, as if he carried the weight of Atlas. “Andrew must see through what he started, even if there are repercussions of imprisonment for his part in it. We are all family, the Kensingtons and the Morgans. And Cora is a part of that. Everyone must face the consequences of their decisions. And everyone must be honest in his statements with the detective, even if we feel it hurts Andrew’s case. We owe the truth to Cora, not lies to cover Andrew’s sins. Do you all understand me? Tell the detective nothing but God’s honest truth, or you shall answer to me.”

Their last dinner in Rome, up on the terrace of the palazzo, was a somber affair. Every group that Will had ever been a part of had made it a celebration, often in this very place. But even Hugh and Felix were distracted, halfhearted in their attempts to keep conversation going and, for once, short on wisecracks and comments under their breath. Each was going home to a very different situation than he had left—Sam Morgan clearly expected Hugh to step into Andrew’s place, and Felix had huge responsibilities of his own.

As Will took a sip of his wine, he considered them, then the horizon of Rome’s rooftops. He doubted he’d ever seen a greater difference within a group after a solitary summer. Every traveler returned home changed, he mused, in small or big ways. And most went home to meet expectations. But these travelers were returning transformed.

When the footmen had cleared the last of the dishes, he looked down the table to Mr. Morgan, at the far end, and then around at the others. Antonio shot him a knowing glance, suspecting what was coming.

“On this night, it is the McCabe custom on the tour for each member to share what you think you will remember most about the summer. Much has happened for us all, these last months. For me, too.” Will smiled and lifted his goblet in a silent toast to Cora. “I’m well aware that you all have suffered painful losses. But I’m confident you’ve gained, too. So give it a moment of thought, then let’s all contribute what we think we will be taking with us in memory, into the future.”

The table fell silent. Far below them, they could hear the
clop clop clop
of a horse’s hooves on cobblestone and, in the distance, the beep of a motorcar horn. Shouts of greeting and laughter echoing up the stone faces of the grand buildings. Will pushed his chair back from the table and looked out to the skyline in coral-hued twilight. He so loved this city, as his uncle had loved it. But he was eager to return home, to let the next chapter of his life—alongside Cora—unfold. He wanted to meet her folks and determine how he and Cora might both manage her responsibilities in Dunnigan and Butte and make their way toward what God wanted them to do.

“I mostly don’t want to remember this awfulness with Andrew,” Nell said first. All eyes moved to her. “Is that terrible of me?”

Will glanced down to Mr. Morgan, who had bowed his head, and then back to Nell. “Obviously, it’s unavoidable,” he said gently. “But I’d be very glad if you remembered other things too.”

She nodded a little and looked to her lap for a moment, then again to him. “Then I shall remember the grand parties in all the grand places we’ve stayed, and all you’ve taught us, Will. It will stay with me forever.”

Will smiled.

“And while this was the place we lost Father,” Lillian put in, “I also think I got to know him better here. He worked hard, of course, but here and there…I don’t think he and I ever chatted more than we did these past weeks. I’m grateful, in a way.” She gave a little shrug. “You know. For the difficulties we faced, because it brought him and Mr. Morgan here. If Father had died…” Her voice broke then, and she paused to gather herself. “If he had died at home, alone, it would’ve been awful, I think.”

Felix gave her a sad smile and covered her hand with his. Then he looked up to Will. “I think I’ll remember jumping into the Rhone the most.”

“Here, here,” Hugh said, lifting his goblet. “And the women of France. And Italy. And England. And—”

“
Hugh
,” Mr. Morgan interrupted.

Hugh lifted his hand and smiled his apology. “The women have been extraordinary,” he dared to add as he quirked a smile. “But, McCabe, you’ve been a fine guide as well. I know we’ve not been the most attentive students, but you’ve been more than attentive as a bear. As Lil said, I will remember much of what you taught us in the years to come.”

Will smiled in surprise. “Thank you, Hugh.”

“I believe,” Vivian said, twisting her glass in a slow circle over the linen cloth, “that I’ll remember this summer as the one in which I gained a sister.” She looked up at Cora. “One I didn’t want at first but can’t imagine being without, now. And without the tour, journeying through the good and bad together, I don’t know if that would have happened at all.”

Cora smiled, and tears immediately welled in her eyes. “Oh, Viv. Me too. You, and Lil and Felix… I never imagined…” She shook her head and wiped away an escaped tear with the corner of her napkin, then looked at each of them. “I’m so grateful. So grateful you all are my family.”

“As are we,” Felix said.

Cora looked at Will. “This will forever be the summer I lost everything I thought I had—my home, my proximity to my folks, even a sense of who I was. My identity. But it will also be the summer that God used the tour to rebuild all of that into something eternal, regardless of what happens in the future. And it will be the summer that I found new love.” She smiled softly at him, and he thought he’d never seen her look more lovely than she did in that moment. “The love of a fine man, and the love of family I didn’t know I had.”

The table fell silent, except for the sniffling of the women.

“Wallace would be so glad to be here, hearing all this,” Sam Morgan said quietly. All eyes shifted to him. “He would have been proud of his children.” He nodded to them all. “And he would’ve shared in my pride over you, Nell, and you, Hugh. He would have shared in my sorrow over Andrew’s choices, but then he would have stood with me in seeing him through the consequences of that, too.” He heaved a sigh and then looked up again. “We sent you off on the
Olympic
as children. But as we embark tomorrow, I know that I am in the company of a fine group of adults.” He lifted his glass of wine and looked down the table at Will. “We owe a debt of gratitude to you, Will. And to you, Antonio. Thank you.”

“Hear, hear,” Felix said.

“Hear, hear,” the others echoed.

CHAPTER 40

~Cora~

The next morning, I wore my dreadful mourning crepe, as did my sisters. On board the ship, Will thought it would be satisfactory to wear black arm bands, but in attendance with our father’s body, nothing but the formal black seemed right.

My eyes moved to the men carrying our father’s casket past us, in solemn procession, up and into the ship. People parted before them, frowning or looking distressed, as if recognizing the import of the casket’s presence for our family. Many, despite the good seal on the casket and the embalming of my father’s body, lifted handkerchiefs to their noses.

But then Antonio was before me, a welcome distraction, giving me a hug and a kiss on both cheeks and taking my hand. “Cora,” he said, smiling at me. “I will anticipate hearing about your progress through young William’s correspondence. He will be a fine husband to you, and I know you will be a fine wife for him. I look forward to greeting you as Mrs. McCabe.”

“Thank you, Antonio,” I said, feeling the heat of the blush at my cheeks. Discussing our marriage made it seem impossibly real. I was going to marry William McCabe! The thought of it left me with nothing but joy, and I hoped with everything in me that we wouldn’t have to wait long. Even the prospect of parting in New York left me feeling melancholy.

“I would very much like to have a photograph of the two of you when you do marry. I know you will be a beautiful bride.”

“It makes me smile, thinking of you returning home to family and friends after this sojourn with us, Antonio,” I said. “Thank you for taking such good care of us this summer.”

“It has been my pleasure.” He kissed my hand and then reluctantly let me go, moving on to say farewell to the others, along with the rest of the detectives, who would now be free to return to their homes in France and Italy. Seeing Nathan Hawke escorted away by the police had done a great deal to settle our fears about potential kidnappers. And for the next six days of the crossing, we would have no one but Will, Felix, Hugh, and Mr. Morgan to protect us. It felt sufficient to me. The sooner we could get back to a semblance of normalcy, the more content I would be.

Our farewells said, and our belongings already aboard, we followed the rest of the first-class passengers. I looked down the dock halfway down the ship, where a multitude of third- and second-class passengers stood waiting to do the same. They looked upon us as if we were heroes of some sort, some actually waving, and I lifted my hand to wave back.

Vivian looked to whom I waved, the jet stones of her broach flashing in the sun. She lifted her eyebrows. “Must you?”

I laughed. “Three months ago,” I said with a sigh, “I would have been fortunate to be in
their
number, affording a ticket aboard the
Olympic
at all. Is it truly so unseemly, sister?”

She shook her head as if too weary to argue and edged ahead to join Felix. I sighed. For as far as we’d come, we still had a distance to go.

Mr. Morgan took the place she’d left beside me. “Does it trouble you, leaving?”

“No,” I said, looking his way. “I am eager to see what lies ahead.”

He walked with his hands behind his back. “You take after your father, that way. Wallace was always wondering what was around the next bend in the road, what business opportunity might arise.”

I thought about that for a moment. It still surprised me to think I was in any way like Wallace Kensington, but that forward-thinking drive was not anything I could pinpoint to in my mama or papa, so I supposed he was right. “Do you mean not to say your last words to your father until the funeral?” Mr. Morgan said, stopping beside me, as those in front of us hit some unseen delay.

“Pardon me?”

“Your father’s body. The others, your sisters, your brother, saw him at the hospital. But you, child…I’ve noticed you avoid it. It’s important to say your piece, say your good-byes.”

I grimaced inwardly at the thought. Why was it so important? Could I not say my farewells while staring at the swirling waves of the sea rather than beside the empty corpse of my father? But it seemed important to my siblings, too, that I do this dark deed. Almost as if they could not close that particular chapter of our tale until I had read the part as they had.

“I admit I’ve avoided it.”

He took my elbow, and we began moving again, up the gangplank. “May I ask why?”

“I’m not entirely sure.”

He nodded. “Wallace’s casket will be in a private hold, to which I’ll have access. Perhaps you’d like me to accompany you at some point on the journey? We could each say one more good-bye. Though I think we’d best keep the casket closed.”

I nodded hurriedly, but inside I railed against the idea. Visiting a casket in the loud bowels of the ship seemed more like something out of a scary tale than some peaceful, meaningful moment of parting.