Danielle Steel - Passion's Promise

Kezia was ten minutes late, and when she arrived, throngs of women were crowded into the hall. Two maids in crisp black uniforms offered tea sandwiches, and there was lemonade on a long silver tray. The butler was discreetly taking orders for drinks. And he was getting a lot more business than the long silver tray.

The couch and Louis XV fauteuils (“Imagine, eight of them, darling, from Christie’s! And all in one day! You know, the Richley estate, and signed too!”) were cluttered with the older women on the committee, enthroned like heads of state, clanking gold bracelets and covered with pearls, wearing “good” suits and “marvelous” hats, a host of Balenciaga and Chanel. They eyed the younger women carefully, criticism rich on their minds.

The room had a ceiling the height of two floors; the mantel was French, a “marvelous” marble, Louis XVI, and the ghastly chandelier had been a wedding present from Elizabeth’s mother. Fruitwood tables, an inlaid desk, an ormolu chest, Chippendale, Sheraton, Hepplewhite—it all looked to Kezia like Sotheby’s the day before auction.

The “girls” were given half an hour of grace before coming to order, and then their attention was demanded at the front of the room. Courtnay St. James was in charge.

“Well, ladies, welcome home from the summer. And doesn’t everyone look just marvelous!” She was heftily poured into a navy silk suit that crushed her ample bosom and struggled over her hips. A sapphire brooch of considerable size adorned her lapel, her pearls were in place, her hat matched her dress, and three or four rings that had been born with her hands waved her demi-glasses at the “girls” as she spoke. “And now, let’s get organized for our marvelous, marvelous fete! It’s going to be at the Plaza this year.” Surprise! Surprise! The Plaza and not the Pierre. How terribly, terribly exciting!

There was a murmur among the women, and the butler silently circulated his tray at the edge of the crowd. Tiffany was first on line, and seemed to weave as she stood, smiling amiably at her friends. Kezia looked away and let her eyes comb the crowd. They were all here, all the same faces, and one or two new ones, but even the newcomers were not strangers. They had just added this committee to their myriad others. There were no outsiders, no one who didn’t belong. One couldn’t let just anyone work on the Arthritis Ball, could one? “But my dear, you must understand, you do remember who her mother was, don’t you?” Last year, Tippy Walgreen had tried to introduce one of her strange little friends to the group. “I mean, after all, everyone knew her mother was half-Jewish! I mean, really, Tippy, you’ll embarrass the girl!”

The meeting droned on. Assignments were given. Meeting schedules decided. Twice a week for seven long months. It would give the women a reason for living and a motive for drinking—at least four martinis per meeting if they caught the butler’s eye often enough. He would continue his rounds, ever discreet, while the pitcher of lemonade remained almost full.

As usual, Kezia accepted her role as head of the Junior Committee. As long as she was in town, it was useful for the column to do it. And it meant nothing more than being sure that all the right debutantes came to the Ball, and that a chosen few of them were allowed to lick stamps. An honor which would enchant their mothers. “The Arthritis Ball, Peggy? How nifty!” Nifty … nifty … nifty….

The meeting broke up at five, with at least half of the women comfortably tight, but not so much so that they couldn’t go home and face their husbands with the usual “You know how Elizabeth is, she just forces it on you.” And Tiffany would tell Bill it had all been divine. If he came home. The gossip that Kezia was hearing about Tiffany these days was growing unpleasant.

The echoes she heard brought back other memories, memories that were long gone but would never quite be forgotten. Memories of reproaches she had heard from behind closed doors, warnings, and the sounds of someone violently sick to her stomach. Her mother. Like Tiffany. She hated watching Tiffany now. There was too much pain in her eyes, shoddily wrapped in “divine” and bad jokes and that vague glazed look that said she didn’t know exactly where she was or why.

Kezia looked at her watch in annoyance. It was almost five-thirty, and she didn’t want to bother stopping at home to get out of the little Chanel number she’d worn. Mark would survive it. And with luck, he’d be too wrapped up in his easel to notice. If he ever got a chance to notice; at that hour it was almost impossible to catch a cab. She looked at the street in dismay. Not a vacant cab in sight.

“Want a ride?” The voice was only a few feet away, and she turned in surprise. It was Tiffany, standing beside a sleek navy blue Bentley with liveried chauffeur. The car was her mother-in-law’s, as Kezia knew.

“Mother Benjamin lent me the car.” Tiffany looked apologetic. In the late afternoon sunlight, away from the world of parties and façades, Kezia saw a so much older version of her school friend, with wrinkles of sadness and betrayal around her eyes, and a sallow look to her skin. She had been so pretty in school, and still was, but she was losing it now. It reminded Kezia again of her mother. She could hardly bear to look into Tiffany’s eyes.

“Thanks, love, but I don’t want to take you out of your way.”

“Hell, you don’t live very far … do you?” She smiled a tired smile which made her look almost young again. As though being out with the grown-ups was just too much for her, and now it was time to go home. She had had just enough to drink to make her begin to forget things again. Kezia had lived in the same place for years.

“No, I don’t live very far, Tiffie, but I’m not going home.”

“That’s okay.” She looked so lonely, so in need of a friend. Kezia couldn’t say no. Tears were welling up in her throat.

“Okay, thanks.” Kezia smiled and approached the car, forcing herself to think of other things. She couldn’t cry in front of the girl, for God’s sake. Cry about what? Her mother’s death, twenty years later … or for this girl who was already halfway dead? Kezia wouldn’t let herself think about it, as she sank into the gentle upholstery in the back seat. The bar was already open. “Mother Benjamin” kept quite a stock.

“Harley, we’re out of bourbon again.”

“Yes, madam.” Harley remained expressionless and Tiffany turned to Kezia with a smile.

“Want a drink?”

Kezia shook her head “Why don’t you wait ’til you get home?” Tiffany nodded, holding the glass in her hand and gazing out the window. She was trying to remember if Bill was coming home for dinner. She thought he was in London for three days, but she wasn’t sure if that was next week … or last week.

“Kezia?”

“Yes?” Kezia sat very still as Tiffany tried to make her mind stick to one thought.

“Do you love me?” Kezia was stunned, and Tiffany looked horrified. She had been absent-minded and it had slipped out. The question again. The demon that haunted her. “I … I’m sorry … I … I was thinking of someone else….” There were tears flooding Kezia’s eyes now as Tiffany brought her gaze from the window to rest on Kezia’s face.

“It’s all right, Tiffie. It’s okay.” She put her arms around her friend and there was a long moment of silence. The chauffeur glanced into the rearview mirror, then hastily averted his eyes and sat rigid, behind the wheel, patient imperturbable and profoundly and eternally discreet. Neither of the young women noted his presence. They had been brought up to think that way. He waited a full five minutes while the women in the back seat sat hugged wordlessly and there was the sound of gentle weeping. He wasn’t sure which woman was crying.