Deceptions (62 page)

'My room, Mrs Thirkell. And muffins and jelly with the tea, please. Is Miss de Martel in?'

'No, my lady, you just missed her.' MrsThirkell'sforehead creased in conf^ision. 'I'm sony, I meant Mrs Andersen. You're so alike—'

'It's all right; you needn't apologize.' Stephanie turned to the stairway. 'Many others have been unable to tell us apart.'

'But, Mrs Andersen! Where is your luggage?'

'I have none. When you bring the tea, Mrs Thirkell, please bring the mail and today's Times,'

'Yes, my lady.'

Sabrina smiled faintly and climbed the stairs to her room, pausing on the third floor to examine a bouquet of pink and red carnations on the piano. 'Until tonight,' the card read. Gabrielle had an admirer. Brooks? Jolie had said they'd been dining together. Well, Gabrielle would soon tell her. In detail. She looked about the quiet drawing room, gleaming in soft lamplight. Mrs Thirkell had not been idle; everything was exactly as it should be.

Except that it was empty, without the laughter of children and the caressing voice of a husband.

In the fourth-floor bedroom, she knelt to light the fire and then found she could not get up. She was so tired, her limbs dragging her down, that she stayed where she was, leaning against an ottoman and watching the leaping flames through half-closed tycs. Her thoughts were heavy and slow, creeping away from a hotel room in New York and slowly fastening on today and tomorrow and all the weeks to come, barren weeks without her family, long hours of making a new life that was neither hers nor Stephanie's. How do I make a life for a person who never existed before?

When Mrs Thirkell knocked and brought in the tea tray, she got up and sat at the round table beside the window. She

glanced at the small stack of mail. 'Has Sidney Jones taken care of the rest of it?'

'He collects it every few days.' She stood uncertainly. 'Mrs Andersen, may I ask ... will you be staying long? Or entertaining? Or have you come back to sell this house? I don't know what plans 1 should make, do you see—'

Sabrina looked at her curved reflection in the silver teapot and the teapot's reflection in the rain-streaked window. There were two of everything. Once there were two of me, 'I'll be staying permanently, Mrs ThirkelL' It was the first time she had said the words aloud; they were sharp blows, hanmiering down a lid. 'I hope you will stay with me as you did with my sister.'

'Oh, I will, of course I will, there's nothing I'd like better. But - your husband, ma'am? Your children? Your home in America?'

'This is my home,' Sabrina said dismissively. 'Thechildren are with their father and in school, where they belong.' / have to say more; I can't let people think I've just abandoned them. 'Perhaps this summer they'll join me here. I don't see the Times on the tray.'

'Oh, dear, I forgot, there seem to be so many things, all at once. I'll bring it, ma'am, and then I'll go back to the market, since I didn't buy enough for - will you be entertaining?'

'Not at first. But I'll be eating in.'

Mrs Thirkell left, returned with the newspaper and left again, admirably subduing her curiosity. When she returned an hour later to remove the tea tray, Sabrina had changed into a soft wool robe and was lying on the chaise in front of the fire. 'Mrs Andersen, it would be an honor for me to stay with you. I had the highest esteem and affection for Lady Longworth, and I miss her deeply. If I can stay with you, it will be almost as if I had not lost her.'

'Thank you,' Sabrina said. 'I appreciate that more than I can say.'

And neither of them ever again touched on the strangeness of Stephanie Andersen's unheralded arrival from America, without luggage, to make her permanent home in London and live her sister's life.

Yet there was another home, with shadowy rooms,

footsteps and voices, that clung to the edges of her thoughts whatever she did. All night, restless between the silken sheets, she reached for Garth's hand or turned toward the remembered warmth of his body and the sheltering circle of his arms whenever she began to doze. But there was nothing, nothing, and each time she would come awake with a start of realization and remembrance, and a sinking emptiness within her that matched the emptiness of the bed and her silent, dark house.

But in the morning, on her way to work, she planned the first day of her new life: Nicholas and Brian at Ambassadors, a conference with Sidney about finances, lunch with Gabrielle and shopping. And in a few days she would begin to call her friends to let them know she was here.

At Ambassadors, Nicholas and Brian were discussing a small crack in a red-painted tulipwood cabinet and chest dated 1766. The drawers of the chest were decorated with square, Sevres porcelain plaques; the cabinet above it had round plaques centered in its doors; and atop the chest was a gilded clock with gold candelabra extending on each side, like arms in prayer, and two ebony figures perched on top. From the doorway Sabrina gazed in amusement at the absurd beauty of the piece. 'Wherever did you find it?' she asked, walking in. 'I haven't seen a Carlin for years.'

Nicholas scrambled up, his hand on his chest. 'My dear Stephanie! What a start you gave us! We had no idea... you should have let us know ...'

'Brian,' said Sabrina, 'are you having trouble with your heart, too?'

'No,' he said, smiling as he took her hand. 'I'm glad to see you.'

She nodded thoughtfully. 'Nicholas, please come into my office. Brian, you'll take care of the showroom?'

'Of course.'

'And I'd like to talk to you in a few minutes.'

'Of course.'

'Amiable fellow,' said Nicholas, following her. 'But tell me, dear Stephanie, however do you know the furniture of Martin Carlin? Sabrina never told us your knowledge was so

extensive. I am impressed; it seems there is much about you we don't know.'

She sat at the cherry table, running her fingers over its polished surface. 'Nicholas, I understand your concern. You're afraid I'll interfere with your running of Ambassadors or sell it to someone else. Let me clarify things for you. First, Ambassadors is not for sale, to you or anyone else. Second, I intend to manage it, as Sabrina did, but with your participation. So you see, you need have been only half as worried as you were.'

'My dear lady—'

'Excuse me.' She went to the door. 'Brian, could we have tea, please? And croissants.' She returned to her chair and gazed at Nicholas. 'In our recent telephone calls I had the impression you might be planning to conceal some inventory and financial matters fi'om me.'

'My dear Stephanie!'

'Of course, since Brian keeps the books and Sidney keeps an eye on Brian, you would have to be clever. But we both know you are clever. I thought a private discussion might make it unnecessary for me to speak to Brian or Sidney.'

There was a pause. Nicholas's bouncing energy was stilled. 'You understand, Stephanie, we had no idea when you would be back, or for how long,or, indeed, if at all. Even now, though you say you will manage the shop, I fail to see how you can do that from America. We are the ones with the day-to-day responsibility for—'

'I am here to stay, Nicholas. Living in my house on Cadcgan Square and running Ambassadors.'

'You have left your husband? And your children?'

'I am here to stay. We need not discuss it further. As for the partnership you wanted with Sabrina, I suggest this anangement: you will supervise Ambassadors and Blackford's and buy from dealers. I will buy at auction for both shops and handle all home decorating and restoration. Brian will run the office - invoices, bank statements, correspondence, and so on - for Ambassadors, as Amelia does for Blackford's. Division of finances between us will be worked out with Sidney Jones. E>oes that meet with your approval?'

Speechless, Nicholas nodded.

'I will retain an auditor to check Brian's and Amelia's bookkeeping, since our finances will be intertwined. You and Brian and I will consult regularly on buying and selling, combining operations where possible for economy. Does this seem feasible to you?'

'Stephanie.' Nicholas cleared his throat. 'In China you were so quiet. Have you changed because Sabrina did not trust me?'

'On the contrary. She did trust you. But in the last few weeks, on the telephone, I found you evasive. I will not tolerate that.'

'I assure you, Stephanie—'

'I'll have Sidney begin work on the partnership papers tomorrow. Will that be satisfactory?'

'Quite uncanny, you know - you are so like Sabrina. Uncanny. Did the two of you often think aUke?'

'Often.' She stood and held out her hand. 'Nicholas, will we be friends?'

He jumped up. 'Yes, yes indeed. Haven't we always been friends? In fact, I could not agree so readily to a partnership with anyone else. But you are quite extraordinary, my dear. And then, I must tell yo^u, these last weeks I have discovered what a remarkable reputation Sabrina built for Ambassadors. If your skill is like hers, as your self-confidence seems to be, we have an amazing future. Indeed, there is no telling how far we can go.'

'Yes, I thought you felt that way.' She smiled so pleasantly that it was several minutes before Nicholas realized how well she had understood his hunger for a share in Ambassadors. 'Now, before I talk to Brian, what would you suggest for his salary? Perhaps a small percentage of ownership?'

Nicholas was confused. After taking the initiative, as Sabrina would, she asked his advice, as Stephanie would. Or, he realized, as if they already were partners. He made a suggestion. When she encouraged him, he made another, and soon they had worked out an arrangement that pleased them both. 'I'll bring him in,' Nicholas said, and then swifily stood on tiptoe and kissed her cheek. 'Remarkable,' he said, and left the office.

Waiting for the two of them, Sabrina stood beside the table, feeling the blood course through her veins. She had taken a chance, guessing that Nicholas, in keeping back information, was preparing to try to wrest Ambassadors from her^ And, because she'd been right, she was now fully in control, her energy, determination, and knowledge intact. With the security of two shops and Nicholas and Brian sharing the work, she would specialize in restoration and decorating and fill her evenings with a selective social life, seeing only those people she really wanted to see, not everyone who might be good for business.

And if she concentrated on all that, she could build a new life and keep hidden in a small comer of her thoughts the laughter of two children and the caressing voice of a husband.

'Lunch?' Gabrielle said, interrupting her thoughts. 'I'm sorry to interrupt your work Stephanie, but I thought you might have forgotten. And I've been looking forward to it all morning.'

'It's all right. Gaby. We can go now.'

They waUeed to Le Suquet because Gabrielle wanted fish. 'We'll split the fruits de mer platter, shall we? It's too much for me but so beautiful I can't resist it. Oh, you don't know how happy I am you're here. You don't know how awfiil it is with no one to talk to. Oh, danm, of course you know, what am I saying? Stephanie, do you want to banish me or shall I just shut up and eat?'

'Neither.' Sabrina found herself laughing. Gabrielle's mixture of cultivated childishness and genuine vulnerability was just what she needed. It's good for me, she thought, to have someone besides myself to worry about. 'Tell me about Brooks,' she said.

Gabrielle divided the seafood platter between them and buttered a second roll. 'I'm amazingly hungry. For weeks I didn't eat, and now I eat all the time. He wants to many me. I told him I had to talk to you first.'

'Why?'

'Because to me you're the same as Sabrina, and of course she must have told you about me, and I don't have anyone else. There's Alexandra, but she's in Rio, and she never liked

me anyway. I was going to call you in America, but now here you are. Don't you miss your children?'

•Yes.'

* And your husband?'

Tou were going to tell me about Brooks.*

'That's right, I was. Well, he found his spies. One in the London office sold trade names and marketing strategy to Rymer Cosmetics, and another one in the Bern plant sold them chemical formulas. That's why it took Brooks so long to find them; he knew one person wouldn't have both kinds of information - except for me.'

'But why did he believe you did it?'

'The one in Bern, the spy, told somebody I was selling information to Rymer. When the rumor spread, someone wrote to Brooks. Then Rymer came out with Brooks's fall line of cosmetics and he lost millions and he blamed me because I had access to his personal files. He put it all together and kicked me out. I don't know what I would have done without Sabrina. I never had the confidence in myself that she had, or your strength. The two of you always could get through bad times, I suppose because you had each other. I never had any-oh, damn, I'm sorry, Stephanie, I did it again. You must miss her terribly.'

Sabrina was silent, waiting for the rush of pain and loneliness to subside. The maitre d' approached and bent to her. 'Mrs Anderson, we wish to convey to you our condolences. We all admired Lady Longworth; she was gracious and unfailingly kind to everyone.'

Sabrina bowed her head in acknowledgment. The pain had settled back to the dull ache she carried all the time -Stephanie, Garth, Penny, Cliff, a thousand might-have-beens. 'Would you like to be married at Cadogan Square?' she asked Gabrielle.

'Oh, Stephanie, may we? How wonderful! I thought of it, but, of course, it was impossible without you, but now that you're here, it would be perfect.'

'Come to dinner with Brooks on Friday, and we'll plan your wedding. Mrs Thirkell will need to know the number of guests.'

'And you'll stand up with me in the ceremony? I always

wanted to do it... Stephanie, do you mind if I think of you as Sabrina? The two of you - it's very confusing, you know.*

•I know.'

After lunch, Sabrina had one more promise to keep. At Peter Dale, in the Royal Opera Arcade in Pall Mall, she browsed among antique suits of armor. 'Not an entire suit,' she explained to the proprietor. 'Something smaller—'