Chapter 23: The Chair

The board met at nine that night in the same ballroom.

The roses were still on the chairs, and the gold carpet still had pearls caught in the pile.

Two cleaners had swept the aisle and left the rest.

I sat at a long table on the stage in the white dress, because nobody had thought to tell me to change.

Dinah sat on my left in her coat.

Dinah's mother and father sat in the front row.

The whole staff of the Grand sat behind them, and the pastry cook had brought sandwiches.

The chairman of the board stood up with the gray ledger under his arm.

He was an old man, and he was tired.

"The trust that held Mr. Pethick's shares was written to pass to a living Pethick daughter," he said.

"Until this afternoon, Mr. Ellingham held it as trustee."

"The trustee is under arrest. The trust is void for fraud."

"The shares go to the daughters, in equal part."

He turned to us.

"Miss Pethick. Miss Fenner. That makes you, between you, the largest shareholders of Ellingham Hotels."

Dinah looked at me.

I looked at her.

"We never wanted it," she said under her breath.

"I know."

"You want it, though."

"Yes," I said, and was surprised how easy it was. "I want to run it right."

"Then I'm going to second you."

She said it to the chairman, loud enough to carry.

"Move to elect Cora Pethick chair of Ellingham Hotels. I second."

There was a silence, and then the florid man in the second row stood up.

"Aye," he said.

Then another stood, and another.

The staff along the wall were clapping before anyone had counted.

The chairman held up his hand.

"There is one more matter," he said.

"A note was bought against a mill-town diner and the house behind it."

"It was paid for with company money that Mr. Ellingham had no right to spend."

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