The Pursuit of Lucy Banning,A Novel (Avenue of Dreams) Page 21

  Daniel sat in the supple leather chair and soaked up the surroundings. He had loved this room since the day the Bannings moved into this house. The rich wood of the partners desk, the first editions collection, the charcoal drawings in tasteful frames, the matching fountain pens in their brass stand. Not everything in the room was valuable, but it was all sentimental. Samuel kept such interesting mementos of his contact with clients. Nearly every item in the room carried a story Daniel could tell as well as Samuel himself.

  He ran his fingers through his hair, then laid one hand on top of the neat stack of papers on the lower right corner of the desk. With the other, he stood his briefcase on the desk and opened it.

  Lucy was looking forward to a hushed house and a midafternoon respite. It would have been more convenient to learn that her Thursday afternoon class had been canceled before she got all the way down to the university, but at least Archie had not yet disappeared with the carriage. Now that her class attendance was no longer secret, she was free to use one of the family carriages at her convenience—and if she did not, her mother would accuse her of using the streetcar. The week had been stressful, and Lucy intended simply to go to the lecture and come right back home, so she had arranged for Archie to drive her. Generally Archie did not stray far, and Lucy was back in the carriage within ten minutes of discovering the lecture would not happen.

  Drained by the week thus far, Lucy had no complaint about a reprieve from class. After staying up all Sunday night with Henry and pressing through Monday, Lucy had fallen prey to exhaustion at last on Monday night. In her waking hours, however, she was still unsettled knowing Daniel had seen her at Mrs. Given’s house. Daniel had not reappeared at the Banning home since Monday evening, when he targeted her with several barbs meant for the others to perceive as humor. Lucy had once thought she knew him so well, yet in the last few weeks Daniel had become erratic to the point she could no longer predict his movements. Every tidbit of conversation with her family became of interest to her. Perhaps someone had seen or spoken to Daniel or knew something she did not know of his activities.

  Charlotte was off the rest of the day, of course, since it was Thursday. Lucy had pressed some coins into Charlotte’s hand with strict instructions that if anything was wrong—anything at all—she was to send a cabbie with a message. Lucy looked forward to hearing a good report on Henry’s health at the end of the day. For now, though, she was grateful simply to have some extra time with no demands.

  Archie let her off in the front of the house, opened the front door for her, then proceeded with the horse to the carriage house. Lucy went directly into the parlor, where she sank into the settee and let her head fall back. If she could just have twenty minutes, perhaps she could manage the stairs. After a moment, she removed her hat and unbuttoned the tweed jacket she wore over a blouse and skirt.

  Her head rolled toward the door when she heard a sound she could not quite identify. Was that someone shuffling papers? A scratching noise? Shuffling steps? She listened again. The distinct sound of a book dropping emanated from her father’s study down the hall, but why should anyone be in there? Surely her father had not come home early twice in the same week.

  Lucy closed her eyes again.

  Definitely someone was in the study. Penard perhaps?

  Lucy leaned forward, then finally stood up and crossed the room. She was certainly not going to sit there pondering a mystery when all she had to do was step down the hall and look through a doorway in her own home to solve it.

  “Daniel!” she said, surprised a moment later. “I wasn’t expecting you here.” She had the vague impression he’d been sitting in her father’s chair. His leather briefcase with brass corner mounts stood open on the desk.

  Daniel casually closed his briefcase. “Your father and I were supposed to meet,” he said. “He has a client seeking investment advice and thought perhaps I could help.”

  “Father usually holds that sort of meeting at his office.” Lucy guardedly moved around the desk. Was that book with the red binding out of place? “He didn’t mention anything at breakfast.”

  Daniel shrugged. “I telephoned him at the office this morning. I suggested perhaps this would be more convenient, but apparently he was not able to get away after all.”

  “He’s rather particular about these things.”

  “Miscommunication happens to everyone.” Daniel smiled at Lucy—that smile she had stopped trusting a long time ago.

  “I’m sure he’ll be sorry he missed you.” She smiled back.

  “We’ll reschedule. No harm done.”

  “Perhaps I could offer you some refreshment.” Before Daniel could respond, she pushed the annunciator button behind her father’s desk. “Mr. Jules and I will have some refreshment in the parlor,” she said when Mrs. Fletcher answered.

  “Yes, Miss Lucy,” came the answer. “I’ll send Bessie with the tea cart.”

  Lucy lifted her shoulders and smiled brightly. “Let’s go to the parlor. I believe Mrs. Fletcher has been baking today. No doubt Bessie will bring us some delightful pastries.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t have time.”

  “Maybe Father will turn up if you wait a few more minutes,” Lucy suggested.

  “It’s already well past the appointed hour, so that seems doubtful.” He stepped toward the hall.

  Lucy fell in step with him to try another tack. “Daniel, perhaps we can talk about the other night.”

  “Is there something you wish to confess?” he asked.

  “No, of course not,” she answered quickly. “I knew Charlotte had gone to see . . . a friend . . . and when I learned she hadn’t come home, I simply thought I’d see if I could help.”

  “Are you sure it’s appropriate to get involved in the servants’ private lives?”

  “Of course I don’t mean to intrude,” Lucy said, “but Charlotte had expressed some concern for her friend and it weighed heavily on my mind.”

  “She shouldn’t be troubling you. You’re fraternizing entirely too much with the staff. No doubt it comes from involving yourself with the urchins at St. Andrew’s.”

  Lucy flared. “Never mind. I thought perhaps you would understand, but I see I was mistaken.”

  They stood in the foyer, glaring at one another.

  “Will you take tea in the parlor, miss?” Bessie asked, pushing the rolling tea cart across the marble floor.

  “I won’t be staying,” Daniel announced, and he went out the front door.

  “Miss?” Bessie queried.

  “I’m sorry to have troubled you,” Lucy mumbled. “I guess I don’t need the cart after all.”

  Bessie wheeled the cart around to return to the kitchen, leaving Lucy sighing. She knew no more about Daniel’s activities in the last three days than when she stumbled on him in the study.

  But what was he doing in the study in the first place?

  The answer came just before eight o’clock. Lucy dressed for dinner and waited in the parlor with her mother and her brothers as usual. Samuel stormed down the hall from his study.

  “What the blazes happened to my drawing?” he demanded.

  Lucy was instantly alert. “What drawing?” she asked.

  Leo said, “I thought you got all your things back weeks ago.”

  “I had a new pen and ink drawing on the front of a card,” Samuel bellowed. “It was a gift from someone on the Expo board of directors to show the work of one of the artists who will be exhibited.”

  “Calm down, Samuel.” Flora stood and took his arm. “We’ll sort it out.”

  “No, we won’t,” he said through gritted teeth. “You know perfectly well that my other missing items turned up under suspicious circumstances. It was not my imagination.”

  “That’s true,” Flora agreed, “but perhaps if we stay calm we can retrace your steps and determine the last time you saw the card.”

  “I saw it this morning,” Samuel insisted. “I just received it a few days ago, and only this morn
ing I laid it on my desk. Now it’s gone.”

  “So it disappeared today?” Lucy asked.

  “Yes! I want to know what happened to it!”

  “Father,” Lucy said, “my class was canceled today and I came home early. I found Daniel in your office.”

  “What was he doing in there?”

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted. “He said he was expecting you for a meeting.”

  “Nonsense.”

  “So you didn’t have a meeting scheduled with Daniel today? He didn’t telephone you this morning to arrange it?”

  “Didn’t I just say that was nonsense? Clearly he was mistaken.”

  “Daniel is rarely mistaken,” Lucy mused. “But he was in your office this afternoon. Perhaps he found your drawing.”

  Samuel looked at his daughter as if she had suggested walking on the moon. “You suspect Daniel?”

  “I’m only saying he was in your office today. Alone.”

  Leo jumped in. “You have to admit it’s possible, Father.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Samuel said. “Why would Daniel take an ink drawing?”

  “Why would anyone take anything from your study?” Lucy pressed. “Only a few weeks ago the finger was pointing at me. Surely you don’t believe that.”

  Samuel’s silence was disconcerting.

  “Father,” Leo said, “you can’t seriously think Lucy took your things.”

  “Lucy’s behavior has been odd the last few months in many aspects,” Samuel remarked. “University classes, breaking her engagement, all that time at the orphanage.”

  “That hardly makes me a thief!” Lucy exclaimed.

  Leo moved toward her and put a hand on Lucy’s shoulder, but the gesture did nothing to calm her.

  “Daniel took that card,” she insisted, on her feet now. “I’m sure of it. Who is to say he did not take the other things as well? He’s had the run of the house for years.”

  “He is the trusted son of our oldest friends,” Samuel pointed out.

  “And I’m your daughter!”

  The clock in the foyer announced eight o’clock and Penard promptly appeared. Lucy lost her appetite.

  31

  Lucy had neither seen nor heard from Will for two weeks and four days. Not an hour went by that she did not wonder where he was, how he was—why he was wherever he was. In their leisure time, Will and Leo had been nearly inseparable since Will moved to Chicago. Even if Will pulled back from her, he would not pull back from Leo. The more time that passed, the less satisfied Lucy was that Will would leave town without telling Leo and make no effort to send word of his decision. As she sat in her philosophy lecture on Tuesday afternoon, Lucy made up her mind. As soon as class was over, she was going to Will’s office and she was not leaving without answers. She would instruct Archie to drop her downtown and promise to take a cab home later.

  She was right where he wanted her. He could not have arranged this encounter more satisfactorily. It was only a matter of time—only a few minutes—and Lucy Banning would regret a great many things.

  Lucy presented herself in the stone lobby of the building and studied the list of occupants. Will’s firm was on the fourth floor. She marched to the elevator and told the attendant where she wanted to go. On the fourth floor, the glass doors with the brass handles intimidated her fleetingly, but she pressed through them. A young man behind the counter hunched over a typewriter, studying the impressions he’d just made. He looked up at Lucy over his spectacles.

  “May I be of assistance?”

  “I’d like to see one of the partners,” Lucy said calmly, “or perhaps a manager.”

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “No, I decided to come on short notice.” The young man seemed slightly suspicious, which made Lucy impatient.

  “May I ask the nature of your business?”

  “I am inquiring about one of your employees.”

  He squinted at her. “Can you be more specific?”

  “I would prefer to speak with one of the managers,” Lucy said.

  “I would like to help you, ma’am, but I must understand the nature of your inquiry before I can direct you.”

  Lucy swallowed. “I’m inquiring about Mr. Will Edwards. My name is Miss Lucy Banning.”

  In response to her last name, the young man stood immediately. “I’ll see what I can do. Please have a seat.” He gestured toward a trio of green velvet upholstered walnut chairs.

  Lucy selected a chair and sat stiffly, holding her gloves and satchel on her lap. The clock on the wall underscored how slowly time seemed to be moving. At last, the young man returned.

  “Mr. Jensen has agreed to see you without an appointment,” he said.

  Not one of the names on the door, Lucy noted. “May I inquire what Mr. Jensen’s position is?”

  “He looks after the daily business affairs of the office. It would seem the partners are occupied with clients at the moment. Would you like to see Mr. Jensen?”

  Lucy stood up. “Yes, of course.”

  She followed the young man through a maze of small offices and drawing boards spilling rolls of paper in every direction. Young men sat on stools with fine pencils and straight edges in their hands. On one desk, Lucy saw a nameplate that said “Will Edwards,” and her stomach flipped. He was still an employee.

  “Right here.” The young man gestured to an open door.

  Lucy stepped into the modest office and met the eyes of a middle-aged man with gray hair and wearing a snug striped silk vest. She extended her hand.

  “I’m Lucy Banning. Thank you for seeing me.”

  “Frank Jensen.” He took her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Banning, though I’m not sure I can be of any assistance. I understand you’re inquiring about Mr. Edwards.” He motioned for her to sit.

  “Yes, that’s right.” Lucy arranged herself on a high back slatted oak chair across the desk from Mr. Jensen.

  “Mr. Edwards is on leave at the moment.”

  At least he had not been dismissed. “When do you expect him back?” Lucy asked.

  “The leave is of an indefinite nature. The partners approved an urgent request.”

  “Do you know if Mr. Edwards left town?”

  “I don’t have any details.”

  “Has he contacted anyone at the firm while he’s been on leave?”

  Mr. Jensen shook his head. “I really couldn’t say, Miss Banning. We have two telephone lines, but any number of people use them on a given day. The mail is distributed promptly when it arrives. We don’t keep a central log of these matters.”

  “Of course not.”

  Mr. Jensen leaned forward on his desk. “May I ask if you have a particular concern about Mr. Edwards?”

  How could she answer that question?

  “He’s a friend of my brother,” she finally said, “and I was hoping to put my brother’s mind at ease. He was distressed at Mr. Edwards’s rather sudden departure after some . . . unfortunate miscommunication with a client.”

  “Ah, you refer to the missing drawings. Yes, that did cause quite a stir around here, and I admit it seemed prudent to remove Mr. Edwards from further contact with the client. His request for a leave came at an advantageous time for all involved.”

  “But he has not been dismissed?”

  “No. At least not yet. He’s clearly a talented architect, and the partners are most anxious for a successful arrangement, despite the current circumstances. My understanding is that he is welcome to take up his post again as soon as he has worked out his personal matters, though there may be additional supervision.”

  Lucy stood. “Thank you, Mr. Jensen. You’ve been most helpful.”

  In the lobby a few minutes later, Lucy paused to lean against a wall and gather her thoughts. She still did not know why Will would take a sudden leave of absence, but at least it seemed to have been voluntary, and his employers had every expectation it was temporary. This was consistent with Leo’s inquiries
at Will’s rooms. In his initial questions, Leo must not have pressed enough at the firm to learn that Will’s leave had been approved.

  But what would take Will away? And why had he avoided her before he went?

  “Hello, Lucy.”

  Lucy flinched at the sound of Daniel’s voice and looked up at his face leaning close to hers.

  “You look tired, Daniel,” she observed—and meant it. “Have you been sleeping?”

  His bloodshot eyes glared at her, and she stiffened.

  “Why are you here, Daniel?” she asked softly.

  “You know why.”

  “Do I?”

  “Don’t play me for the fool, Lucy.”

  She held her silence and intentionally slowed her breathing.

  “Leo came by the bank yesterday,” Daniel said, “with some silly notion that I might have an ink drawing that belongs to your father. I can’t help but think you are responsible for his suspicion.”

  “You were in the study the day the drawing went missing. You had opportunity.”

  “That’s as good as twisting a knife in my back.” He leaned toward Lucy, then put one hand on the stone wall behind her.

  Lucy’s instinct was to duck away, but Daniel’s second hand went up, caging her in against the stone wall.

  “You were in the study, and the drawing did go missing.” She spoke the truth flatly, then squeezed to one side and glanced around the lobby.