Page 18 of Much Ado About Margaret
“Perhaps she is white soup,” Violet muttered, thankfully only loudly enough for Margaret to hear, and for it, she took her place as older sibling and nudged Violet sharply in her side. “What? I hate snobbery.”
“She is very rich now,” Maggie replied. “She is allowed to be snobby.”
“Encouraged to be, even,” added Winny, who almost never said a cross word about anybody.
Violet had already forgotten Regina, gently leaning in to Maggie to whisper, “Don’t look now, but our aunts are coming.”
“Oh dear,” Maggie breathed, but they were hemmed in by tables and guests on all sides, and there was no escaping them.
Like Eliza, Mildred had acquired a doelike mask for the event, and even their gowns were similar. Mildred’s was the more elaborate and expensive, but otherwise they might have been twins.
“What a triumph, eh?” called Lane to the two older women.
Aunt Mildred made a quiet sound of half agreement and dodged away from Ann. “It will be a triumph if everyone behaves themselves this evening.”
“What fun would that be?” Violet muttered.
“Come, niece, there are some uncommonly fine gentlemen I would like you to meet.” With that, her aunts tore her away from Violet, enveloping her in silk and perfume. Once more she felt small, squeezed between them, all but marched away from the familiar faces in the room. Queasy and warm, Maggie retreated behind her mask for safety. It served her well, for Eliza and Mildred toured her about the first floor, stopping here and there to make introductions. It was hard to know if the gentlemen were handsome or repugnant, though one had a cleft in his chin so deep that a morsel of food had gottencaught there. Maggie couldn’t stop staring at it while he went on and on about the punch.
She remembered a quarter of the names (Mr. Stanley, Mr. Gibson, etc.) and, an hour later, it was over. Her aunts encountered an old friend who had come in from London, and the distraction gave Maggie the perfect opportunity to slip away. Which she did, finding Winny and Violet had been following and watching from the shadows. They reunited inside an airy gallery running along the outer edge of the home. Gauzy white curtains billowed, stirred by the breeze cavorting through the corridors. A few short marble columns had been moved into that hall and topped with various plasters and Greek busts.
“Thank goodness we have you back,” said Winny, embracing her.
“I have so many thoughts,” added Violet, already laughing.
“And we will be forced to hear them,” Maggie teased.
“Delighted, I think you mean. Come now, we have been hard at work!” Violet insisted, turning red behind her mask. “And all for your benefit. Everyone here is already drunk and willing to share everything, so we made some inquiries.” She began pointing at the men who had made introductions. “That one hates reading. That one won’t have anything to do with yellow-haired ladies. Oh, he is an interesting case, loves reading but despises novels. This one in the stupid hat insists he is promised to a wealthy woman from New South Wales, whatever that is. The fellow with a squirrel mask just seemed generally disinterested in ladies.”
Maggie squeezed her eyes shut. “Violet, that’s a bear.”
Violet shrugged. Her eyes caught on something moving toward them, and Maggie followed her gaze. “Here comes one with all haste. Shall we inquire after his reading tastes?”
Before Violet could embarrass them both, the man, large and menacing, charged right by them like, well, a bear. His mask, however, was green and freckled, and not skillfullysculpted. Perhaps it was meant to be a kind of serpent. There was a vaguely familiar aura about him, but he came and went so quickly that Maggie did not have time to interrogate her memories. He shoved his way between them clumsily, leaving behind an imprint of sweat and stale liquor. Bumbling down the corridor, he spun in a complete circle, then seemed to find what he was searching for—a stone bench under the third archway of the open-air gallery. There was a cracked vase sitting at one end of the bench, a splash of pink roses blooming from the pot. As the girls watched surreptitiously behind their masks, the man slid a note under the vase, leaving the tiniest corner exposed. Then, with that same chaotic gait, he trundled back into the crowd.
Immediately, Violet trotted over to the bench.
“Violet, that isn’t meant for us,” Winny chided, catching up.
“Don’t be boring,” her sister muttered. “Oh, come along, you both want to know what it says, I won’t accept you pretending otherwise.”
“Just be subtle,” Maggie replied, while she and Winny shuffled together to form a barrier of skirts while Violet did her peeking. “What does it say?”
“Instructions for a clandestine meeting,” said her sister. Violet popped back up in front of them, grinning with devious delight. The bright feathers on her mask wobbled as she leaned in to whisper: “Blue and gold, our plan unfolds. Find me at midnight.”
“Find me at midnight,” repeated Winny, gasping. “Aunt Mildred would not be pleased to hear of such things going on at Pressmore.”
“She will never find out, because you will not be a prude and tattle on these lovesick fools.” Violet stuck out her tongue.
“I wonder what plan they could mean,” mused Maggie.
She did not have long to puzzle over it, for Ann had noticed them huddled up and whispering, and came to join them.
“May I steal your sister away? Only for a moment, I know how much you prefer her company,” Ann said, and the girls reluctantly agreed. They were off to giggle about the note under the flowerpot, no doubt, and Maggie hoped they would give a full recounting of their speculation. And parting from them, Maggie grew thoughtful. Ann nudged her. “I have decided this is a night for magic, my friend, not for frowns. What has turned your mood so?”
Maggie watched Winny and Violet disappear into the surging crowd. “My sisters,” she murmured. “My beloved sisters. I must marry and marry well for their sakes, but I’ve been so consumed by my book. Some days it’s all I think about—and maybe that makes me hopelessly selfish.”
Her mind twisted around squirrels and serpents and chins with food stains.
