Susan Krinard - Chasing Midnight

Griffin began circulating again, the back of his neck prickling at the thought of his sister alone with Allegra. Ten minutes passed, then fifteen. Hewas just about to go in and fetchGemmawhen the French doors swung open wide and Allegra sauntered out onto the garden walk.

“Ah,” she said, stretching her arms above her head, “what a beautiful day!”

Seldom had Griffin felt so astonished or so gripped with sheer terror. In his mind’s eye he saw not smooth, pale skin but blistering flesh, red as Allegra’s frock, turning sere and black in the harsh light of day. He abandoned Mrs. Higgenbotham and charged toward Allegra, ready to cover her body with his own and push her back inside the house.

Her face, cool and unmarred, turned toward him. He skidded to a halt seconds before he reached her, his legs trembling with reaction and relief.

There was nothing wrong with her—no burns on her cheeks, discolorations of her hands or peeling skin on her bare arms. She regarded him with a half smile as if to ask what the fuss was all about.

“Allegra,” he said. “What—”

“When can I open my presents, Grif?” Gemma asked, emerging from the house to take Allegra’s arm.

He stared at his sister, trying to make sense of her words. The party came crashing down around him like rotted timbers in an abandoned house, all chattering voices and screeching violins. The smells of human sweat and rank perfume overwhelmed his senses.

“Oh,” Mrs. Dearing cooed next to his ear, “is this the entertainment, Mr. Durant? Are we to have a Vaudeville show?”

It took Griffin a moment to realize that Mrs. Dearing was referring to Allegra, who examined the curious guests as a tigress might study a herd of plump, pampered deer in a royal park. “I’d be happy to give a little performance,” she said, licking her lips. “What would you like to see?”

Mrs. Dearing started, as if she hadn’t expected such a creature to speak. Her daughter, Elvira, drifted to her side, staring at Allegra with open fascination. Several of the young men began to converge around the garden walk. A group of Gemma’s friends whispered and exchanged looks of amazement and distaste.

Mrs. Higgenbotham approached with her neck extended like a goose about to snap up an insect. She raised her lorgnette to her faded blue eyes.

“Do I know you, dear?” she asked Allegra. “You seem very familiar…”

Griffin came back to himself. “Mrs. Higgenbotham,” he said, “may I present Miss Allegra Chase?”

“I do know that name,” the older woman said. “Or something very like it. It was in Huntington, wasn’t it? Yes, I do believe—”

“You must be mistaken,” Allegra interrupted. “I’ve never been out here in my life.” She made a show of admiring Mrs. Higgenbotham’s overly snug Vionnet tea gown. “What a lovely dress.”

“Thank you.” Mrs. Higgenbotham’s gaze fixed on Allegra’s bare knees. She made a faint choking sound, and Griffin found it advisable to lead her to one of the chairs under the awning. As soon as she was gone, others arrived to take her place. One of the boys gave a low whistle, while Jane Pomeroy looked Allegra up and down with the subtlest of sneers.

“The poor thing ran out of fabric,” Jane said in a stage whisper to a pair of her favorite confidantes. “Do you think we should give her enough money so she can finish the dress?”

Gemma stepped forward, fists clenched. “There’s nothing wrong with her dress,” she said. “So you can keep your catty remarks to yourself, Jane Pomeroy.”

Jane fell back in affront. Her mother dragged her away toward the tables. Griffin watched them go, his vision hazed with anger that seemed to have sprung up out of nowhere at all. He turned in a slow circle, his gaze traveling from face to face. The young men who’d been ogling Allegra with wolfish grins had the sudden urge to return to the punch bowl. The matrons with their cold, rigid faces beat a dignified retreat.

Griffin would have been glad to banish them all. Instead, he moved closer to Allegra, close enough to drown in her intoxicating scent.

“Gemma, go join your guests,” he said.

“Did you see how they looked at Allie? I—”

“This would be a good time for you to open your gifts.”

Gemma blew out her breath and stalked away. Griffin stood toe to toe with Allegra, his heart beating madly against his ribs.

“Are you mad?” he demanded.

She met his gaze with a raised brow. “They all survived the sight of me, didn’t they?”

He gripped her arm. “You know what I mean.

You’re in full sunlight. You could have been—”

“Mr. Durant!”

Mrs. Julia Pomeroy strolled up to join them, the crepe georgette skirt and sleeves of her mauve gown fluttering about her arms and legs as if to emphasize the youth she had lost and sought so desperately to recover. She linked her arm through Griffin’s and pinned Allegra with a hostile smile.

“Oh,” she said, her voice honeyed with malice, “did I interrupt? Do forgive me.”

Griffin bore the woman’s assault with all the calm he could muster. “As a matter of fact, Mrs. Pomeroy—”

“You weren’t interrupting anything important,” Allegra said, returning Julia’s smile with one that would have sent a less hardened woman scurrying for cover. “We were just discussing the beauty of the day.”

“How nice.” Julia’s gaze dropped to Allegra’s ankles and swept up to her knees. “There is a bit of a breeze off the Sound, though…are you certain you won’t catch cold, my dear?”

Allegra smoothed her dress over her hips with an insolent shimmy. “I’m very hot blooded,” she said, then looked at Griffin from under her thick black lashes. “I always find ways to keep myself warm.”

Julia’s lips twitched. “I don’t doubt it.” Her grip tightened on Griffin’s arm. “You won’t mind if I borrow Mr. Durant, will you, Miss Chase?”

Allegra concealed a yawn behind her hand. “Not at all, Mrs. Pomeroy. Just make sure you bring him back in one piece.”

If Griffin had been in wolf-shape at that moment, neither woman would have had any doubt as to his feelings at being caught in the middle of their spiteful games. As it was, he could only give Allegra a stare promising that their discussion was far from over.

He let Mrs. Pomeroy lead him away, forcing himself to attend to her wheedling conversation.

“Where did you find that…young woman, Mr. Durant?” she said. “I confess that I’ve never seen her before…certainly not anywhere on the North Shore. She’s a friend of Gemma’s?”

“In a manner of speaking.”

Julia laughed. “Dear, dear Gemma. She has always been so broad-minded and kind toward those less fortunate. Didn’t she rescue a stray kitten this winter?” She patted Griffin’s arm as if to let him in on her joke. “Where did she meet Miss Chase?”

Griffin had no desire to get into a protracted conversation about Allegra’s life and origins. He certainly had no intention of informing Julia Pomeroy of Gemma’s escapades in Lulu’s.

“One meets with awide variety of people in the city,” he said. “As you said, Gemma has never been swayed by prejudice against those different from herself.”

“So true. You must sometimes worry that her natural generosity might…lead her into awkward situations.”

“I am perfectly capable of protecting my sister from any detrimental influences.”

“I’ve no doubt of that. And it’s only to be expected that an elder brother should occasionally indulge his sister when she begs him to bring one of her little pets into the house.”

Griffin stopped. “You refer to Miss Chase?”

“Why, Mr. Durant, whatever put such an idea into your head?” She studied his face, her eyes narrowed like those of a cat with a bird in its sights. “Still, you can hardly approve of that young woman’s appearance.”