Murder Above the Silver Waves Read online

  They noticed us before we noticed them? How interesting…

  “I apologize,” Felix said. “But our father and mother have decided to remain back in New York while my sister and I make our way to London to visit family.”

  “Oh?” Mr. McDonough asked, adjusting his lapel as he took his seat. “And who might you be going to see?”

  I felt a tug at the corner of my lips. “Our mother’s cousin, Richard Sansbury.”

  Mr. McDonough’s brows rose toward the crown of his bald head. “Richard Sansbury? The financial advisor?”

  “You have heard of him?” Felix asked smoothly. “My, what a small world it is.”

  “Surely you have learned by now, Mr. Crawford, our world is indeed very small,” Mrs. McDonough said with a smug look.

  “That is far too true, Mrs. McDonough,” I said.

  “It is quite a distance for a short visit,” Mr. McDonough said. “I take it you plan to holiday in London for several weeks, then?”

  “Our dear cousin has generously agreed to provide us with a place to stay for a considerable length of time,” Felix said. “Though, I suppose he is entirely within his rights to send us on our way earlier if he sees fit.”

  He laughed, and Mr. McDonough joined him.

  “Have you ever been to London?” Mrs. McDonough asked me.

  “Only three times,” I said. “All of them when I was much younger. Our grandparents lived there. Sadly, both have passed away in the past decade.”

  “I am terribly sorry to hear that,” Mrs. McDonough said, sounding for once as if she meant her words.

  “Thank you,” I said. “My grandmother and I were quite close. These earrings…they belonged to her, once.”

  “And that makes them all the more precious,” she observed.

  To my great satisfaction and relief, it seemed that Mr. and Mrs. McDonough did not know the real reasons for our trip to London. Felix and I knew the rumors would surely be flying around those we were acquainted with, but either they were too polite to tell us the truth, or they had not yet heard.

  I needed more time to discern which of those two it might be.

  “When you are in London, you must go and see a dear friend of mine. She owns a charming bistro in Chelsea, with the most divine foods,” Mrs. McDonough said.

  “Oh, isn’t that a coincidence? My cousin’s home is in Kensington, not more than a mile or so from Chelsea,” I said.

  “Well, then we must make plans to meet,” Mrs. McDonough said. “It will not do for us to be in the same city and not see one another.”

  “I would have it no other way,” I said, with a smile that I hitched into place.

  In truth, I did not know if I could endure an entire afternoon alone with her. I knew that being seen with her in New York would have certainly had its advantages, but in London there would be many who I might be better off investing my time in.

  “Well, well, well…”

  At the loud interruption, my eyes snapped up to see a new figure hovering behind Mr. McDonough’s chair.

  Victor Nelson looked a little worse for wear, with his jacket slightly askew on one shoulder, his cheeks blotchy, and his narrowed eyes rimmed with crimson. I recognized the look of a man who’d had a few too many drinks.

  Mr. McDonough turned in his seat and smiled an obviously false smile up at the newcomer. “Well, Mr. Nelson. Why don’t you join us – ”

  “I would rather sit with a wild bear than with you, McDonough,” Mr. Nelson snapped in a slightly slurred voice.

  “Now, Nelson,” Mr. McDonough said, getting to his feet. “Why would you say such a thing to a friend –”

  He reached out his hand, but Mr. Nelson swatted it away.

  “You are no friend to me,” Mr. Nelson said.

  The chill exuding from the pair seemed to spread through the room. Heads began to swivel in our direction and I heard whispers, as the other diners looked on like wolves watching from the shadows.

  “Nelson, what is this about?” Mr. McDonough asked. “You and I have no quarrel.”

  Mr. Nelson grimaced and took a step to the side, so that his view of Mrs. McDonough was no longer blocked by her husband. “Clarice, I don’t understand why you stay with this worthless buffoon. If you had given me a chance like I asked, then you and I could be – ”

  Mr. McDonough’s face reddened and his chest swelled. “See here, Nelson,” he interrupted. “I don’t care how drunk you are, you will not address my wife in such a way.”

  “I am about to secure an enormous business deal,” Mr. Nelson went on, smiling at Mrs. McDonough, as if he did not hear her husband. “Even you would not believe the money I am about to come into. It would make your sorry excuse for a husband look like a pauper – ”

  Mr. McDonough suddenly grabbed the front of Mr. Nelson’s coat and yanked him toward himself.

  Mr. Nelson’s body went willingly, with as much resistance as a ragdoll.

  I heard a few gasps from the tables behind us.

  Mrs. McDonough, seemingly stunned into silence, gaped at both men.

  This is starting to get interesting. It had been some time since I had witnessed such an entertaining scene.

  “You are exhausting my patience,” Mr. McDonough said in a voice barely audible to those closest to us. “If you walk away now, I shall be generous and pretend this encounter never happened.”

  Mr. Nelson tried to wrench Mr. McDonough’s hands away from him but he might as well have been trying to loosen iron chains latched onto him.

  “You do not deserve her,” he complained.

  “No one does,” Mr. McDonough said. “And you do not deserve your own wife, who should leave you after this atrocious display…”

  With a motion that seemed far too easy, he threw Mr. Nelson away from himself.

  Mr. Nelson fell a short distance away, his side slamming into the floor, skidding several feet.

  He pushed himself up on his elbows, and through clenched teeth, snarled, “McDonough, we are not finished! I am not the only one who wants to – ”

  “Do you really want to finish that sentence?” Mr. McDonough asked, taking a step toward him. “If you don’t wish to make a fool of yourself before all these fine people – ”

  “Liar,” Mr. Nelson spat, struggling into a sitting position. “You do not think any of these people are fine! I have heard the way you have spoken about – ”

  “Mr. Nelson,” came the voice of another diner at the table nearest us. “This is preposterous behavior, regardless of your inebriated state. You must stop immediately.”

  Mr. Dobbs, it seemed, had seen enough of the embarrassing display.

  Well, I suppose Mother and Father will be hearing about this exciting voyage one way or another, won’t they?

  Mr. Nelson staggered to his feet, glaring around at all the disapproving faces turned toward him. He might as well have been an actor in a play, with all the attention he was receiving.

  The entire lower floor of the dining room had gone silent. No one moved, even the stewards. Some of the noises in the balconies above had begun to decrease as well. As I looked up overhead, I noticed faces peering down to see what all the commotion and raised voices were about.

  Movement near the back wall caught my eye. I saw the blind pianist, Mr. Osbourn, and his sister making their way toward the side doors to exit the dining room. It was clear they were trying to leave discreetly.

  Mr. Nelson, who had swung around to take in his audience, must have noticed the movement as well, for he threw his arm out and pointed in their direction.

  “And you, Osbourn!” Mr. Nelson shouted, his voice bouncing off the chandeliers hanging overhead.

  Mr. Osbourn’s sister stopped, and she gave her brother’s arm a tug.

  “I apologize for my hasty departure, but I must prepare for my concert this evening,” Mr. Osbourn said. His raised voice was much smoother than I would have expected, with the pitch of a tenor. “I do not wish to be rude, but – ”

  “Wait right there…” Mr. Nelson said, taking a few steps in that direction.

  Mr. Osbourn obeyed. His sister whispered something to him, but he held a hand up, as if to soothe her. His other hand, the one that gripped his white cane, remained at his side.

  “What is it that you want?” the pianist asked.

  A mirthless grin smeared itself across Mr. Nelson’s face, even as his eyes squinted, as if the room slipped in and out of his focus. “You don’t even know who I am, do you?” he barked.

  Mr. Osbourn remained stationary. “From what I have come to understand, your name is Mr. Nelson, and – ”

  Mr. Nelson laughed, a terrible sound that could have shattered the very chandeliers above our heads. “You wound me, Osbourn. How could you forget me? How could you forget the history that we have?”

  Murmurs bubbled up around the room.

  “I am sorry, but I do not recognize your voice,” Mr. Osbourn said. “I may be a musician, but I must admit that I have a terrible memory when it comes to – ”

  “You insulted my very being, Osbourn,” Mr. Nelson hollered. “How could you possibly have forgotten that?”

  “Insulted you, sir?” Mr. Osbourn asked.

  “I do not ask for a great deal, Osbourn. All I wanted was to provide a special evening of entertainment for my lovely wife, a private concert. She is a great admirer of your talent, after all.”

  Mr. Osbourn shifted his head slightly down toward his sister, who had leaned up to whisper to him again.

  The motion seemed to enrage Mr. Nelson, who let out a wordless shout, taking a wide step toward the pair. “Do not ignore me, Osbourn! I offered you a substantial sum!”

  The eastern doors of the dining room opened and half a dozen of the ship’s crew members str
eamed inside.

  It’s about time, I thought. I wonder what kept them so long.

  The crewmen hurried through the tables as Mr. Nelson continued to shout at Mr. Osbourn. “You cannot possibly understand how I have felt – how my poor wife felt – being turned down by – ”

  His voice was cut off when a pair of the ship’s crew grabbed him by both arms and started to walk him back toward the doors.

  “The captain would like a word with you, sir,” one of the crewmen announced.

  “No! Unhand me!” Mr. Nelson cried, struggling. “Don’t you idiots know who I am?”

  Evidently, they did not care. The crew members quickly dragged the shouting man from the dining room, the doors closing behind them, shutting out the sounds of his last protests.

  3

  “Do you remember Mr. Howard’s benefit dinner last summer?” Felix asked as we made our way from the dining room. “When Nicholas Vernon chased Miss Bianca halfway across the estate, only to have that glorious cake specially made for the dinner thrown in his face?”

  “You mean the cake in the shape of a lute?” The question came from Mr. McDonough, who walked out alongside my brother.

  Our bellies were quite full by now, and my eyelids growing rather heavy as we wandered out onto the dark deck of the ship.

  “The very same,” Felix said, and the two shared a laugh.

  “Goodness, that was almost three years ago now, wasn’t it?” Mrs. McDonough asked, drawing her fur shawl closer to herself, as if hoping it might swallow her up. “Though, as young as you both are, I imagine that does not seem so recent.”

  “What is the old saying?” I asked. “Time moves quickly when one is having fun, and I can hardly think of a second in my life where I was not enjoying myself. How could I not?”

  I realized I might have been a bit overzealous with my words.

  Mrs. McDonough’s smile tightened to a thin line, and I sensed a change at once. The flash in her eyes as she turned to look at her husband told me that I might have been very wrong about what she did or did not know about the real reasons for the trip my brother and I were taking to London. “Come along, dear. I should like to fetch something from our cabin before we head to the concert.”

  “Of course, dear,” Mr. McDonough said, the echoes of a genuine smile still stretching across his face. “Thank you both for the enjoyable conversation, especially after that lunatic was dragged out.”

  “Certainly,” I said, inclining my head. “We were quite happy to share our meal with you. And would of course be happy to, at any time.”

  Mr. McDonough nodded at me, and extended his arm to his wife. “We shall see you at the concert,” he said.

  “We look forward to it as well,” Felix said.

  I watched them walk away, my nerves tingling. As soon as they turned the corner, I balled my hands into fists and spun around, skulking away down the deck in the opposite direction.

  “Lillian, the theater – ”

  “Come with me,” I said under my breath.

  I forced a smile on my face as Mr. and Mrs. Dobbs came out of the dining room, and gave Felix’s arm a good tug, so that he begrudgingly followed after me.

  I took a sharp right down one of the narrow gaps between the outer deck and the inner halls of the ship, and let out an exasperated sigh.

  “What is the matter with you?” Felix asked, ducking into the hall with me, closing the door behind him. “How could you – ”

  “They know, Felix,” I said.

  He blinked at me, his dark brows knitting together. “Who knows?”

  “The McDonoughs,” I said in a low hiss. “They know about why we are going to London.”

  “How can you be sure?” he asked, and I saw a spark of nervousness in his deep blue eyes.

  “I could see it,” I said. “Mrs. McDonough tried to hide it, but did you not see the way they wanted to go to the theater alone tonight?”

  Felix glanced over his shoulder, back out toward the deck. “Did you not hear Mr. McDonough? They wanted to go back to their cabin – ”

  “So they did not have to be seen accompanying us to the theater,” I said in a low voice.

  “They sat with us at dinner, Lil,” Felix said, his expression becoming worried. “Are you feeling all right? Maybe it would be best for you to have a lie down – ”

  “I’m fine,” I snapped. “But I am telling you. They know. At first, at dinner, I thought we were in the clear. They said nothing at all. Mrs. McDonough played her part, I played mine. Everything was cheery. Before they left, though, I could see it in her eyes, Felix. She has heard the rumors and she believes them.”

  My chest rose and fell more quickly than I would have liked, and so I drew in a sharp breath through my nose, forcing my heart to slow.

  “She pities me,” I said. “I suppose I should not be terribly surprised that news of my broken engagement has spread. And if they know my personal business, we may be certain they know yours, as well.”

  “She was kind enough not to mention it, if she did know,” Felix said, though some of the certainty in his words had disappeared. Doubt had crept in as he thought over the dinner, as well.

  “Is that kindness?” I asked, my words sharp.

  “Well, we certainly did nothing at dinner that might have offended them,” Felix said, rubbing his earlobe, his eyes distant. “Mr. McDonough and I were having a fine conversation.”

  “Yes, at Mr. Nelson’s expense,” I said. “That would be easy to make conversation of, given his ridiculous performance this evening.”

  “Then why did they join us in the first place?” he asked. “If they believed us to be somehow disgraced, why bother?”

  I let out a groan of frustration. “Felix, really, can you truly be this slow to comprehend it?” I snapped. “They would surely have joined us in order to appear generous. They will want to be seen as the first to welcome us back into the fold. They did not mean a word they said.”

  “Do such people ever mean a word they say?” Felix asked.

  I turned my face up to him, glaring.

  “Do we ever mean a word of it?” he asked. “I mean, come now. You are sitting here complaining about their insincerity, but you lied through your teeth when you complimented her shawl.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “It might not have been to my taste but I can certainly recognize a handsome piece when I see one.”

  His brows furrowed. “You complimented her for the sole purpose of drawing an equal compliment from her.”

  “I did no such thing,” I said, folding my arms. I turned to the doors and tugged them open, stepping back out into the cool night.

  “You most assuredly did,” Felix said. “I know you all too well, and you only ever compliment a woman so that she will return – ”

  I rounded on him. “And you wanted nothing more than to keep Mr. McDonough laughing so that you did not have to deal with the awkward reality of Mr. Nelson’s behavior.”

  He stopped, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I suppose you would have preferred that we discuss Nelson’s outburst?” he asked. “Even though we were all there to witness it?”

  I hesitated, the wind coming up over the side of the ship to whip down the deck, ruffling both the hem of my dress and Felix’s jacket.

  “What would you have us say?” he asked. “Should we have speculated on what lead him to behave like he did? We all know that he took to the bottle before dinner. I imagine he won’t remember a thing come morning…which might be for the best.”

  I frowned. “But Mr. McDonough will not forget,” I said. “The way Nelson spoke to Mrs. McDonough – ”

  “This is not our problem to solve, is it?” Felix asked. “You always want to control how everything should be.”

  “And why shouldn’t I?” I snapped. “You don’t seem to care one bit that they know our business.”

  “What difference does it make?” he asked. “We are leaving New York. After this trip, it is highly likely we will never see them again if we choose to stay in London. For someone who does her best to seem as if she does not care what all these people think, you really do care. So much so that it cripples you.”

  I glared at him. “Aren’t you on my side?” I asked.

  “I am always on your side,” Felix said, taking a step toward me. “Which is why I am asking you to put this aside, to stop reading so much into what happened, and not ruin the rest of what should be a pleasant voyage. You do not need to lose sleep over this tonight.”