Moonlight Becomes You (15 page)

It was a subject that never failed to fascinate him. Or his listeners, as demonstrated by the fact that he was increasingly in demand as a speaker. In fact several national speakers bureaus had written to offer him substantial fees to be
the luncheon or dinner speaker at events as far as a year and a half away.

He found their correspondence most gratifying: “From what we understand, Professor, you really make even the subject of death very entertaining,” was typical of the letters he received regularly. He also found their response rewarding. His fee for such engagements was now three thousand dollars, plus expenses, and there were more offers than he could accept.

On Wednesdays, Earl's last class was at 2:00
P.M.,
which today gave him the rest of the afternoon to polish his speech for a women's club, and to answer his mail. One letter he had received recently intrigued him to the point that he could not get it off his mind.

A cable station had written to ask whether he felt he had sufficient material to do a series of half-hour, illustrated television programs on the cultural aspects of death. The remuneration would not be significant perhaps, but they had pointed out that similar exposure had proven beneficial to a number of their other hosts.

Sufficient material? Earl thought sarcastically, as he propped his feet on the coffee table. Of
course
I have sufficient material. Death masks, for example, he thought. I've never spoken on that topic. The Egyptians and Romans had them. The Florentines began to make them in the late fourteenth century. Few people realize that a death mask exists of George Washington, his calm and even noble face in permanent repose, with no hint of his ill-fitting wooden teeth that in life marred his appearance.

The trick was always to inject an element of human interest so that the people discussed were not perceived as objects of macabre interest but as sympathetic fellow humans.

The subject of tonight's lecture had led Earl to thinking
of many other possibilities for lectures. Tonight, of course, he would talk about mourning attire through the ages. But his research had made him realize that etiquette books were a rich source of other material.

Some Amy Vanderbilt dictums he included were her half-century-ago advice on muffling the clapper on the doorbell for the protection of the bereaved, and avoiding the use of words such as “died,” “death,” or “killed” in notes of sympathy.

The clapper!
The Victorians had a horror of being buried alive and wanted a bell hung over the grave, with a string or wire threaded through an air vent into the coffin so that the person inside could ring in case he or she wasn't really dead. But he wouldn't,
couldn't,
touch
that
subject again.

Earl knew he had or could find enough material for any number of programs. He was about to become famous, he mused. He, Earl, the family joke, would show them all—those sprawling, raucous cousins, those misbegotten descendants of a crazed, avaricious thief who had cheated and schemed his way to wealth.

He felt his heart begin to pound. Don't think about them! he warned himself. Concentrate on the lecture, and on developing subjects for the cable program. There was another topic he had been pondering, one that he knew would be extremely well received.

But first . . . he would have a drink. Just
one,
he promised himself, as he prepared a very dry martini in his combination kitchen-dinette. As he took the first sip, he reflected on the fact that often before death someone close to the soon-to-be-deceased experienced a premonition, a kind of uneasiness or warning of what was to come.

When he sat down again, he removed his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and leaned his head back on the convertible couch that also served as his bed.

Someone close
 . . . “Like
me,”
he said aloud. “I'm not really that close to Maggie Holloway, but I sense that she isn't close to
anyone.
Maybe that's why I'm the one who has been given the premonition. I know that Maggie is going to die very soon, just as I was sure last week that Nuala had only hours to live.”

*   *   *

Three hours later, to the enthusiastic applause of the audience, he began his lecture with a beaming and somewhat incongruous smile. “We don't want to talk about it, but we're all going to die. Occasionally the date is deferred. We've all heard of people who were clinically dead, then returned to life. But other times the gods have spoken and the biblical prophecy,
‘Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,'
is fulfilled.”

He paused, while the audience hung on his words. Maggie's face filled his mind—that cloud of dark hair surrounding the small, exquisite features, dominated by those beautiful, pain-filled blue eyes . . .

At least, he consoled himself, soon she won't experience any more pain.

31

A
NGELA
,
THE SOFT
-
SPOKEN MAID WHO HAD ADMITTED HER
yesterday, showed Maggie the supply closet where Nuala's art materials were kept. Typical of Nuala, she thought affectionately. They had been piled on the shelves haphazardly, but with Angela's help, it didn't take long to get them into
boxes and, with the assistance of a kitchen helper, stowed in Maggie's car.

“Mrs. Shipley is waiting for you in her apartment,” the maid told her. “I'll take you to her now.”

“Thank you.”

The young woman hesitated for a moment, looking around the large activity room. “When Mrs. Moore had her classes here, everyone had such a good time. It didn't matter that most of them couldn't draw a straight line. Just a couple of weeks ago, she began by asking everyone to remember a slogan from World War II, the kind that were on posters hanging everywhere. Even Mrs. Shipley joined in, despite the fact that she had been so upset earlier that day.”

“Why was she upset?”

“Mrs. Rhinelander died that Monday. They were good friends. Anyhow, I was helping to pass out materials, and they came up with different slogans like, ‘Keep 'em Flying,' which Mrs. Moore sketched—a flag flying behind an airplane—and everyone copied it. And then someone suggested ‘Don't Talk, Chum. Chew Topps Gum.' ”

“
That
was a slogan?” Maggie exclaimed.

“Yes. Everybody laughed, but as Mrs. Moore explained, it was meant as a serious warning to people who worked in defense industries not to say anything that a spy might overhear. It was such a lively session.” Angela smiled reminiscently. “It was the last class Mrs. Moore taught. We all miss her. Well, I'd better take you up to Mrs. Shipley,” she said.

Greta Shipley's warm smile when she saw Maggie did not disguise the fact that there was a grayish pallor under her eyes and around her lips. Maggie noticed too that when she stood up, she had to rest her hand on the arm of the chair for support. She seemed tired, and distinctly weaker than she had just yesterday.

“Maggie, how
lovely
you look. And how kind of you to come on such short notice,” Mrs. Shipley said. “But we have a very pleasant group at the table, and I do think you'll enjoy them. I thought we'd have an aperitif here before we join the others.”

“That would be nice,” Maggie agreed.

“I hope you like sherry, I'm afraid that's all I have.”

“I do like sherry.”

Unbidden, Angela went to the sideboard, poured the amber liquid from a decanter into antique crystal glasses, and served them both. Then she quietly left the room.

“That girl is a
treasure,
” Mrs. Shipley said. “So many little courtesies that would never occur to most of the others. Not that they're not well trained,” she added quickly, “but Angela is special. Did you collect Nuala's art supplies?”

“Yes, I did,” Maggie told her. “Angela helped me, and she was telling me about one of Nuala's classes that she sat in on, the one where you all drew posters.”

Greta Shipley smiled. “Nuala was positively
wicked!
When she and I came up here after the class, she took my drawing—which, of course, was pretty bad—and added her own touches to it. You must see it. It's in that second drawer,” she said, pointing to the table next to the sofa.

Maggie opened the drawer indicated and removed the heavy sheet of sketching paper. Looking at it, she felt a sudden chill. Mrs. Shipley's original sketch vaguely resembled one defense worker with a hard hat talking to another on a train or bus. Behind them a long-faced figure in a black cape and hat was obviously eavesdropping.

Nuala had drawn what was clearly her face and Greta Shipley's over those of the defense workers. The image of a nurse with narrowed eyes and an outsized ear floated above the spy.

“Does this represent anyone here?” Maggie asked.

Mrs. Shipley laughed. “Oh, yes. That dreadful sneak, Nurse Markey. Although that day I thought it
was
just a joke, all her snooping around. But now I'm not so sure.”

“Why is that?” Maggie asked quickly.

“I don't know,” she said. “Maybe I'm just getting to be a bit fanciful. Old ladies do that sometimes, you know. Now I think we really should go downstairs.”

*   *   *

Maggie found the grand salon to be a wonderfully attractive room, rich in both design and furnishings. The air was filled with the buzzing of well-bred voices that emanated from handsome senior citizens who were seated about the room. From what Maggie could see, they ranged in age from late sixties to late eighties, although Greta whispered that an attractive woman in a black velvet suit, with a ramrod straight back and lively eyes, had just turned ninety-four.

“That's Letitia Bainbridge,” she whispered. “People told her she was crazy to pay four hundred thousand dollars for an apartment when she came here six years ago, but she said that with the genes in her family, the money would be well spent. And, of course, time has proven her right. She'll be at our table, and you'll enjoy her, I promise.

“You'll notice that the staff serves the guests without asking what they want,” Mrs. Shipley continued. “Most guests are allowed by the doctor to have a glass of wine or a cocktail. Those who aren't are served Perrier or a soft drink.”

A lot of careful planning created this place, Maggie thought. I can see why Nuala thought seriously of living here. She remembered that Dr. Lane had said he was sure Nuala would have reinstated her application if she had lived.

Glancing around, Maggie noticed that Dr. Lane and his wife were approaching. Odile Lane was wearing an aqua silk shirt and matching long skirt, an outfit Maggie had seen in the boutique where she herself had shopped. On the other occasions when she had seen Mrs. Lane—the night Nuala died and at the funeral—she hadn't really focused on her. Now she realized that Odile was actually a beautiful woman.

Then she acknowledged to herself that even though he was balding and somewhat portly, Dr. Lane was attractive as well. His demeanor was both welcoming and courtly. When he reached her, he took Maggie's hand and raised it to his lips, stopping just before they touched it, in the European fashion.

“What a
great
pleasure,” he said, his tone resonating with sincerity. “And may I say that even in one day you look considerably more rested. You're obviously a very strong young woman.”

“Oh, darling, must you always be so clinical?” Odile Lane interrupted. “Maggie, it's a pleasure. What do you think of all this?” She waved her hand in an all-encompassing gesture, obviously indicating the elegant room.

“I think that compared to some of the nursing homes I've photographed, it's heaven.”

“Why did you choose to photograph nursing homes?” Dr. Lane asked.

“It was an assignment for a magazine.”

“If you ever wanted to do a ‘shoot' here—that
is
the expression, isn't it?—I'm sure it could be arranged,” he offered.

“I'll certainly keep that in mind,” Maggie replied.

“When we learned you were coming, we so hoped to have you sit at our table,” Odile Lane said and then sighed,
“but Mrs. Shipley wasn't having any of it. She said she wanted you with
her
friends, at her
usual
table.” She wagged her finger at Greta Shipley. “Naughty, naughty,” she trilled.

Maggie saw Mrs. Shipley's lips tighten. “Maggie,” she said abruptly, “I want you to meet some of my other friends.”

A few minutes later soft chimes announced that dinner was being served.

Greta Shipley took Maggie's arm as they walked down the corridor to the dining room, and Maggie couldn't help but notice a distinct quiver in her movement.

“Mrs. Shipley, are you sure you don't feel ill?” Maggie asked.

“No, not a bit. It's just that it's such a pleasure to have you here. I can see why Nuala was so happy and excited when you came back into her life again.”