In the Palm of His Hand novel · Chapter 19 of 24
Chapter 19: Crowninshield's Table
Caspar Crowninshield's dining room smelled of beeswax and old money.
The table was long enough for twenty, and set for six, with a white cloth and a pair of silver candlesticks.
Crowninshield sat at the head of it in a grey three-piece suit with his gold cane hooked on the chair beside him.
He was thinner than I had imagined.
His white hair was combed straight back from a face.
His eyes were a pale, wet blue that did not leave my face.
"Mrs. Ransome," he said. "Sit by me."
"I'll sit by my husband."
A man along the wall shifted.
Crowninshield smiled.
"Of course. She has spirit, Calvin."
"She does," Cal said.
He pulled out my chair and sat beside me, so close that our knees touched under the cloth.
He had told me in the car what to expect.
Crowninshield's two sons, a nephew, and old men with thick wrists who ate without looking up.
None of the bosses, only the family.
The bosses came tomorrow.
A waiter went around the table pouring wine into the glasses.
He was a tired man in a black vest, with his sleeves buttoned at the wrist.
He smelled of peppermint, though I didn't place it until later.
I turned my glass upside down.
"I don't drink with strangers," I said.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of In the Palm of His Hand are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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