Anything Goes

opened and Mrs. Prinney said, “Oh, sorry, dear. I didn’t mean to disturb you.”
    “You aren’t disturbing me. Please come in.“ Mrs. Prinney, still perspiring from her kitchen work and redolent of onions and lemons, came to stand beside Lily at the doors. “Lovely sight, isn’t it? When we lived in town, we were too close. Rivers are better from a little distance.“
    “I’m really sorry I asked that tactless question at dinner,“ Lily said.
    “You had no way to know,“ Mrs. Prinney said. “It’s just that Mr. Prinney was on the boat when the accident happened and it’s a bit upsetting to him.”
    “He was on the boat? Oh, if I’d known—“
    “But you didn’t and there’s no reason to fret.“ Her tone was polite and pleasant, but final. It was the end of the discussion.
    “Does Mimi live here?“ Lily asked.
    “I told her she could stay until we had the house all opened up. But it’s up to you, dear, whether she stays on.“
    “Has she a home of her own?“
    “Not to speak of. She grew up in this house as daughter to Miss Flora’s housekeeper, but since Miss Flora died, Mimi’s been pillar to post. She lived some of the time with her husband Billy until a couple months ago mostly. Every time he got drunk and they had a fight, she moved in with two aunts of hers. But the aunts are old terrors and it’s a strain on everybody.“
    “Then she should stay here,“ Lily said.
    Mrs. Prinney beamed approval. “That’s good of you, Miss Brewster.“
    “Not so good, really. I just know what it’s like not to have a home,“ Lily said.
    “I’ll go tell her now. She’ll be so pleased,“ Mrs. Prinney said.
    Lily stepped out on the little parapet beyond the doors and leaned on the railing, watching a small barge being towed upriver. It seemed to move remarkably fast. The tide must have been coming in. Could there still be a tide so far up the river? She’d have to ask someone. The sun was setting and the opposite high bank was casting deep shadows on the river. Lily found herself wondering why, after a lifetime of seeing the Hudson from various points, it seemed so much more beautiful here. More than beautiful—somehow essential to her well-being.
    A few moments later, she heard Robert calling for her. “In the library,“ she answered.
    He was in his rattiest clothes and had a smudge of oil on his cheek. “That’s some car, toots. Badly neglected, but she’ll clean up swell if we can get her running.“ He joined her at the rail. “You really stepped in it at dinner, didn’t you. I told you the boat wreck was a touchy subject.“
    “I had no idea how touchy,“ Lily said. “It was stupid of me anyway. Death isn’t a suitable dinner subject. I’ve forgotten my manners.“
    “That’s not a bad thing. You used to be awfully prissy.“
    “I was not!“
    “People far and wide referred to you as Miss Lily Priss.”
    Lily gouged him in the ribs. “They did not! Mrs. Prinney was here a minute ago. She told me that Mr. Prinney was on the boat when it sank.“
    “Did it sink?“ Robert asked.
    “I thought you told me it did.“
    “No, Mr. Prinney just said there was an accident and it was damaged beyond repair. Admit it, Lily. You’re as curious as I am. I want to know what happened. If nobody here will tell us, how will we find out?“
    “There must be a local newspaper. Newspaper! Oh! I forgot that reporter is coming tomorrow. What are we going to tell him about ourselves?“
    “More important, what can we ask him about the boat accident?“ Robert said, rubbing his hands together.
     

Chapter 6
     
    Jack Summer leaned on the windowsill of the outside ticket counter of the Voorburg-on-Hudson train station. “Mr. Buchanan, you got anybody going up the hill today I could hitch a ride with?“
    “Nope. Not until the five o’clock train, unless there’s a passenger I don’t know about. No hauling. Why?“ the stationmaster asked.
    “I was hoping to catch a lift up to Honeysuckle Cottage.“
    “They call it Grace and Favor Cottage now, they told me,“ Mr. Buchanan said.
    “Silly name. What’s it supposed to mean?”
    Mr. Buchanan, who knew a lot about a lot of people in town, didn’t always give out the information. He knew, for example, that the Widow Baker took a train to Tarrytown every other Tuesday late at night and came back early in the morning. And that a good-looking, if somewhat porky gentleman came to Voorburg on the Tuesdays between on the same schedule.