In the Still of the Night

money, Robert might make quite a respectable husband. She’d already turned down three proposals, waiting for the right man to come along. By which she meant a man with money, a good heritage, good looks and social connections.
    “Just the tiniest glass of wine for me,“ she drawled, taking Robert’s arm. “I have to watch my figure, you know.“
    “Well worth watching,“ Robert said with a smile.
    Lily, meanwhile, was in front of the house introducing herself to the great Julian West. “We’re so very pleased you were able to come, Mr. West.“
    “Captain West, if you would, ma’am,“ a gruff voice from inside the taxi said.
    “Sergeant Carpenter, stop your maw,“ West said. “The war’s been over for a long time and I’m plain Mr. West. I’m glad to be here,“ he added to Lily in a tone that suggested that he’d much rather be home. “This is my man, Bud Carpenter. And you must call him Bud.“
    “Of course.“ Lily stumbled over the words. This was going to be more difficult than she’d imagined. If West was already squabbling with his valet, it didn’t bode well.
    She was somewhat surprised at the look of Julian West. He was a big man in his early fifties, who had the look of just starting to settle into middle age. His brown tweed suit was crumpled, his too-long hair ruffled and untidy. But the overall effect was ‘artistic,’ she had to admit. Except for the scars on his face.
    The flesh of the right side of his face from his temple to his jaw line was slightly shiny, almost hairless and faintly crinkly. Lily assumed this was the result of burns from the war. The skin wasn’t very discolored and the tightness of the right side pulled his mouth slightly askew and gave him a vaguely quirky look, as though he was perpetually expressing surprise and a bit of cynicism.
    Sergeant Bud Carpenter, who had emerged backward from the taxi dragging luggage and a heavy typewriter case along with him, was a different kettle of fish entirely. He was younger, shorter and had quite a military look with his stiff bearing. The sort of a man who could execute a very snappy salute, she guessed. Carpenter was a man who looked like he might have come from extremely common background and had remade himself by sheer willpower.
    “There’s a chill in the air, sir. Best get inside,“ he said, hoisting the luggage with no apparent effort.
    “Quit nursemaiding me,“ Julian West said, as he turned to go into Grace and Favor. Lily couldn’t guess if this was a dismissal of his valet or obedience to the younger man’s orders.
    Mimi was at the door again and tried, unsuccessfully, to wrest the suitcases from Bud Carpenter. “No, miss. No one but me touches the Captain’s things.”
    Mimi cast a quick glance at Lily, who nodded slightly and said, “Mimi, would you show the gentlemen to their suite? And then, Mr. West, as soon as you’ve rested from your journey, we’d be very grateful if you’d come to the yellow parlor—Mimi will show you where it is—to meet our other guests. They’re all very anxious to make your acquaintance.”
    Whyam I talking as though I were in an etiquette class? Lily wondered, almost laughing at herself. “Hmm,“ was the only response from the primary guest.
    Lily watched as they ascended the stairway behind Mimi and wondered if Julian West would ever come back downstairs. In spite of his moderately polite remarks, he obviously wasn’t looking forward to this visit. The typewriter case alarmed her. Did he regard Grace and Favor as a place to hole up and write instead of socializing?
    Lily had saddled one of her dearest friends with an enemy who apparently wasn’t aware of the clash between the two of them. The guest of honor obviously didn’t want to be where he was. Robert was making goo-goo eyes at a beautiful woman he couldn’t afford to take even to the moving pictures, and Mad Henry was presumably on his way to Grace and Favor and would likely wreak havoc.
    Lily found herself wondering if this had all been a big mistake.

    Mad Henry had come across Phoebe Twinkle walking up the road from town, asked directions to Grace and Favor, and offered her a ride upon discovering that she lived at his destination. Phoebe had the impression that he was about sixteen years old. He was small, wiry and youthful-looking. Lily had told her, however, that Henry had been in school with Robert, so he couldn’t be as young as he looked.
    When they came into the mansion, they were