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“Ah, it’s Diana. Good to see you.”
“Hi,” she said. “They didn’t tell me you would be here.”
The woman shrugged. “Oh, I wasn’t going to miss this.” Then she ran her eyes over her, inspecting the makeup and the gown. “It’s uncanny,” she mused. “You look just like her. Someday, Tony will get you to Grand Cayman. That man is very persuasive. You’ll love it.”
“Thank you,” she answered, though she knew that was never going to happen.
“It’s nothing. I know your sister wouldn’t approve, but that’s okay. Our secret.”
“Futurium has lots of secrets.”
The woman arched an eyebrow. “I’ll let that go. I’ll attribute that to the stress you’re under. Now, come with me into the hallway.”
She could see Damon and Rory watching her. “Is that allowed? Won’t they be angry if I leave?”
Lara looked at the two men and smiled at them. Rory raised his glass.
“See,” said Lara, “you can.” Then she placed her hand on Betsy’s lower back and pushed her forward from the room and into the corridor, and did not stop guiding her until they were around the corner and in a dead end where the carpet was especially worn and the sad yellow wallpaper had sepia stains from decades of illicit cigarette smoke.
“God, this whole place is a porta-potty,” the woman observed, looking around. “So, remember when you first met Tony Lombardo?”
“Yes. It was in my sister’s dressing room.”
“Good memory. Tony told you about our friend, Oliver Davies. Oliver met the real you in Moscow in 1995.”
She nodded.
“Apparently, he was like a schoolboy around the princess. Smitten.”
“Lots of people loved Diana,” she said evasively.
“He’ll be with us tonight. He should be here any minute.”
“I was told he was coming.”
“Oliver is a character. You’ll like him. I know I do. We’re going to surprise him with a present. Or, to be exact, you are. We have a replica of a tiara Diana wore when she was still a princess.”
“Oh?”
“Yes,” she said, pulling it from that attaché. It was entombed in bubble wrap, and she held it by one tip. Even through the plastic, Betsy could see what she supposed were costume diamonds, rubies, and emeralds along spikes that extended from the top like barbs. Or were they costume? These were crypto millionaires. Maybe billionaires. Perhaps every single stone was real.
“I wear it like a headband?” Betsy asked.
“Well, you would, but you’re not going to wear it. I had a better idea.” Then Lara handed her a pair of white satin gloves that Betsy could see would extend beyond her elbows. “Put these on.”
She obeyed. Her arms had been bare because Diana’s had been bare that night long ago at the White House. She was grateful for the gloves, because the AC at Fort Knocks was set on freezer and she was cold.
“I’m going to unwrap this bad boy and hand it to you, and you’re only to hold it by these two tips. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. You’re a fast learner. Faster than your sister, that’s for damn sure.”
Again, she was silent. She wasn’t sure what either she or Crissy would gain if she defended her.
“You’re going to place it in the hands of the first of the two men that Rory is going to introduce you to. This is Oliver. Really, stick it in his hands.”
“There will be two men?”
