Chapter 5: Brunch at the Club

The doorman at the Ashcroft Club had my name crossed off his list.

He said it softly, looking at Leander instead of me.

"Miss Ashcroft is no longer a member, sir."

"Then I'm her guest," Leander said. "And you're going to let us through."

The doorman looked at Leander's shoulders and stepped aside.

The terrace room was full. Forty guests sat at round tables with mimosas and phones beside their plates.

At the head table Bethany sat in my grandmother's pearls, restrung in a hurry, with Helen at her side.

Sheldon stood behind her chair, one hand on its back.

Every head turned.

"Marin," Helen said, in the voice of a woman greeting a late niece. "How lovely. Come and sit."

"Thank you, Helen," I said. "I'd rather stand."

I walked to Bethany's table. Leander stopped two paces behind me and watched the room.

"I'm glad you came," Bethany said. Her voice shook, but she smiled for the phones. "I wanted everyone to meet the real me."

"I want to meet you too," I said.

I meant it. She had Gregory's jaw, and I wanted to know what else she had.

"Tell me about the house," I said. "You've been living there a week. Which stair on the back staircase creaks outside my father's study?"

Bethany blinked. "The front staircase, you mean?"

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