Page 63 of Margins of Love
Eve stepped toward him and placed her hand on his arm, just as she’d done to show her support of Bustle-Smith in Brockton House.
“Oh my, to ask for your money back after I served your business for years. You merely paid me the wages I was due. And I am but a widow seeking to bolster my daughter’s dowry.” Bustle-Smith gave a conniving grin and tossed the books in the fire.
“No!” Eve jumped to the fire, but it was too late to retrieve the burning books. Rachel gasped. Gustav looked about the room. Was she caught?
Gustav helped Eve up by the arm then turned on Bustle-Smith. “You stole from us! You double invoiced to set money aside for Allison’s dowry?” Gustav stomped toward her. “I have witnesses. Do you think the ledgers are my only evidence of your blackmail?”
Bustle-Smith turned and looked around the room. Rachel pressed herself against the wall and something like a stick behind her, maybe a broom or a mop. She didn’t move for fear that it would fall and make noise.
“You have nothing!” Bustle-Smith sputtered. “Your witnesses are naught. A clan of impostors among our kind.”
“Carol, watch your tone!” Eve said. “I cannot imagine that dear old Barrister Thompson will appreciate such outbursts when Marvin weds Allison, it is so very unseemly, dear.”
“How did you know? I will make the announcement tonight,” Bustle-Smith said.
“Who do you think supplied the engagement ring?” It was a rhetorical question. “Fave had it delivered.” Rachel could not see Bustle-Smith’s reaction, she was still and turned away.
“We have every legal right. We work hard for our money. We support the community. We evensupportyour kind.” Gustav pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
“What he is trying to say, dear, is that we paid our dues to coexist peacefully,” Eve said.
“Enough is enough!” Gustav shouted.
“Do not shout at me in my house!” Bustle-Smith was resorting to last measures, but her tone put Gustav over the edge.
His fists curled tightly and a vein on his forehead pulsated.
Eve stepped in front of him and raised her hand to calm the situation. She inspected her finger,nails and turned her back to Bustle-Smith. “For all I know, dear, you sold us this house in installments.” Eve looked at Gustav but her words hung loud and clear in the air.
Rachel began to smile.
“It was all right there in the books, every installment. But I am a man of honor, and I kept my word up until the last money was paid,” Gustav at full speed was a scary bullet, Rachel thought. “I have so many witnesses and records, your contradictions would be hearsay. You didn’t think I brought all the ledgers, did you, Carol?”
“You may remove yourself from the premises by Tuesday night. We’ll need our second town residence for the season,” Eve added, now standing upright and tall on Gustav’s side.
“B-b-but you cannot!” Bustle-Smith said.
“Just have,” Eve said over her shoulder as she turned to the mirror to adjust her scarf.
“And make no mistake, Carol, you owe us for the little touch-ups of your country residence. What was it you had asked me for?” Gustav made circles with his hands, “Ah! Only the most basic renovations of the premises.”
Bustle-Smith sat back down on the ottoman. Her hands were folded in her lap.
“Those renovations applied to the house, not to your daughter’s dowry,” Eve declared matter-of-factly. “Financial fraud is a crime.”
“Imagine my surprise when I saw that you added a wing and upholstered mahogany beds, and what did you say, Darling, about the lights?” Gustav asked Eve.
“Imported crystals from Prussia,” Eve said, feigning disinterest while still fussing with her scarf.
“If you say I paid you for your services, then I congratulate you for the interior decoration of my summer home, Carol. Well done! It needs a few touches of… warmth, shall we say. But your services are considered completed. You are dismissed.”
Bustle-Smith bellowed. She could not get up. “You cannot leave me homeless. I have a child! I am Patroness of—”
“Almack’s? Not anymore, dear. See, ahm… you haven’t paid your annual charitable contributions”—Eve waved behind her, looking at Bustle-Smith in the mirror—“whatever it is you call your buy-in. I stopped the payment earlier today.”
Gustav smiled at Eve. Rachel felt a pang in her heart when she realized Gustav’s eyes were brimming with love, trust, and pride. They were a close family, the Pearlers. Too bad she could not be part of it because they weren’t Jewish.
“And your darling child, my dear, found herself a nice husband for this season.” Gustav smiled and straightened his back. “I will no longer sponsor her. Her ring was gift enough.”
