Anything Goes

weren’t very easily visible unless one looked for them. She wondered what sort of neighbors they would have.
    As they turned into the drive between the pillars, Robert exclaimed, “Holy Toledo!”
    Mr. Prinney had thrown himself into fixing up the grounds with astonishing gusto. There must have been half a dozen men already hard at work. One old man who looked like a cartoon of Father Time was scything the tall grass. Two younger men with ladders were tearing down the vines around the front door. Another pair, whose dark hair and stocky shapes made them look as if they were probably father and son, were cutting out the dead limbs of a big tree. Yet another man was sawing up the limbs and stacking them as firewood.
    Most amazing of all, Mr. Prinney was striding about in jodhpurs, a sporty cloth cap and Wellington boots, directing the activities.
    “A sight to be savored,“ Robert said.
    As Lily was counting out the taxicab driver’s fare, Mr. Prinney spotted them. “Welcome! Welcome!“ he said. “You can see we’re making good progress.“
    “You are indeed,“ Robert said. “I wonder if I might have a private word or two with you.“ Had Robert read her mind? Lily wondered. While the two of them strolled off, she went into the house, meaning to pick out the room she wanted before Mr. Prinney could assign her one. The front hall had been lighted and dusted, and the marble tiles gleamed, which was a huge improvement. Even the dreadful wallpaper in the huge dining room didn’t look nearly as bad as it had in the watery gloom.
    Lily went up the wide stairway and heard sounds of someone working in a room halfway down the hall. As Lily approached the room, a woman came out with an armload of dust sheets.
    She was slim, platinum blonde and quite glamorous, even in a faded, sleeveless housedress. Her hair, figure and carefully made-up face gave her the appearance of someone in her early twenties, but her neck, upper arms and hands suggested mid-thirties.
    “Oh!“ the woman exclaimed. “You did give me a fright! You must be Miss Brewster.“
    “Yes. Are you Mrs. Prinney?”
    The woman laughed shrilly. “Goodness, no! I’m Mrs. Mimi Smith. Mr. Prinney’s hired me to tidy things up for you. I started with this bedroom because I think it’s the nicest and you’d like it. And it has its own bathroom. Come and see what you think.”
    Mrs. Mimi Smith had made a good choice. Lily couldn’t imagine how she could have failed to remember this room on her previous tour. It had a cabbage-rose-patterned wallpaper, a large floral rug that picked up the same pinks and deep greens and a single bed with a dark cherry headboard and footboard and was topped by a lovely cream lace canopy. There was a matching cherry desk and chair in front of the window and a rather empty area on the inside wall that would be a perfect place for the pier glass.
    Best of all, it had a river view. Or would, when the vines were removed. As it was, Lily could only catch glimpses of the long, sloping lawn and the river beyond.
    The bathroom was tiny, with a dainty claw-footed tub that was hardly larger than a hip bath. Mimi Smith had even found some fairly fresh-looking pink towels to hang on the porcelain towel bars.
    “I couldn’t have made a better choice myself,“ Lily said. “And to even find such pretty towels!“ Mrs. Smith preened. “I’m glad you like it, Miss Brewster. But I’m the one who put the towels away when the house was closed up, so it’s no surprise I could find them.“
    “You’ve worked here before then?“
    “Oh, yes. And my mother, too. She was nurse to old Miss Flora.“
    “Miss Flora?“
    “Right you are. Mr. Horatio’s maiden aunt what raised him.”
    Lily frowned. “I’m confused. I thought Mr. Prinney said Great-uncle Horatio had only lived here for a couple years.“
    “Well, that’s so and it isn’t. He grew up here, then he left when he was grown, and came back when Miss Flora died and left him the place,“ Mrs. Smith said, straightening a hand towel that wasn’t precisely squared up. “Haven’t you got no bags?“
    “I left my suitcase outside. My brother will bring it up. And some trunks will be delivered later.”
    “Then let me show you the room I’ve fixed up for Mr. Brewster. It was Mr. Horatio’s room. I don’t much like it myself, but it’s a manly room.”
    By ‘manly’ Mrs. Smith seemed to mean huge and dreary. It was a big, dark room with green-shaded lampshades, dark