Anything Goes

Prinney and took her arm, which created quite a stir among her friends. Mr. Prinney and Lily followed along much less ostentatiously and joined them in a pew toward the back.
    People were chatting quietly before the service began. Lily looked around, wondering if she’d see any familiar faces. She spotted Mabel from the cafe, sit- ting by the very back, no doubt in order to leave halfway through to prepare for Sunday diners. There was, of course, no sign of the Winslows or Claude Cook. They’d be firmly, formally seated in the Episcopal church, probably in a pew of their own right up front that might well have the Winslow name on a suitably small brass plaque on the end. She also spotted a man she thought was Mr. Kessler. But she’d met him so briefly that she couldn’t be sure.
    Mrs. Prinney whispered introductions to some of the ladies sitting near them. There was a mixed reaction. Two of the women smiled and nodded, the third merely gave a curt, resentful nod to Lily and a wary look at Robert who probably appeared to her to be too young and dashing to belong at a church service.
    Part of the service was in Dutch, which had just enough words that sounded vaguely German or English for Lily to understand the gist. She let the minister’s rich baritone voice wash over her comfortingly, and gave Robert a sharp nudge in the ribs when he started looking sleepy.
    When the service was over, they discovered that a lot of socializing went on afterward on the village square. Most of the women were talking rather fast, fretting, no doubt about getting home and putting the final touches on hearty Dutch lunches. The men, however, didn’t seem to be in any hurry and a small crowd of them and a cloud of small boys were looking over the Duesenberg, which Robert was all too happy to show off. A few young women, most with babies on their hips, approached Lily shyly and introduced themselves. She wasn’t sure if they were especially friendly or simply curious about the new neighbors, but was glad of the amiable reception ofher contemporaries. She was invited to a canning get-together on the next Friday and a quilting party held the first Wednesday night of each month and accepted both, giving fair warning that she knew nothing about either, but was eager to learn.
    It was a lovely morning and Lily found herself thinking back to the after-church chats in her old life. Invitations extended there were usually for polo matches, house parties at Newport and dinners at Sardi’s.
    The hot lettuce salad turned out, to Lily’s great surprise, to be a remarkably good, hearty meal. Boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, lots of celery, cucumber and onion slices mixed with lettuce and finished with a hot bacon and vinegar dressing. Lily ate rather quickly, determined not to let Mr. Prinney get away from her again. They hadn’t finished discussing the other people on the boat with Uncle Horatio.
    She was certain their uncle’s death and Billy’s were closely connected. Though Mimi had said that Billy was just showing off, claiming he’d seen something suspicious on the boat that could provide a blackmail victim, Lily had come to believe it was quite likely true. Billy had been a fixture in Voorburg all his life and had probably seriously upset a lot of people with his criminal activities and ugly nature. But nobody had gone so far as to kill him until he started mouthing off about knowing something that endangered someone on Uncle Horatio’s boat.
     
    Elgin Prinney was eager to get the interrupted conversation over with as well. It was a shame that Horatio hadn’t made the effort to meet Lily in person, relying instead on secondhand information about her. In a few short days, Elgin had come to have a good deal of respect for the young woman. Had Horatio known how sensible she was, he might have just turned the estate over to the brother and sister without all this elaborate nonsense of the ten-year residence requirement.
    But then, there was Robert to consider. Elgin himself couldn’t quite figure out Robert. Could he possibly be as silly and shallow as he seemed to be? Or was it all an act? Robert was certainly likable, and pleasant to have around. And Elgin had thoroughly enjoyed the way Robert had treated Emmaline to a grand entrance at church this morning. But Elgin had a slightly more tolerant view of young people than Horatio did. Had Horatio spent a couple days with Robert, with his breezy attitude and slangy expressions, he might