Page 56 of The Vanished

“Yes, please,” Honor exclaimed. “Now that I no longer have to try on dresses, I’m ready to indulge.”

“And indulge you shall. I asked the manager in men’s hosiery, and he recommended a pub just down the street. Passable food, warm beer, and a separate if slightly down-at-the-heel dining room suitable for the more respectable sort of clientele.”

Jesse intoned this in an upper-crust, nasal British accent that made the girls shriek with laughter. Perhaps it was still the alcohol talking, but Jesse really was good fun, Geneva decided as she handed him the parcels and allowed him to escort her to the door.

“Did you go to jazz clubs in New York?” Honor asked once they had been seated and had been handed menus by the smiling waiter, who smelled a healthy tip and would clearly bend over backwards to make certain they were happy.

“All the time. The best speakeasies are in Harlem. The alcohol is still flowing, the music is sublime, and everyone is your friend, at least until the sun comes up.”

“Speakeasies?” Honor asked, tripping over the unfamiliar word.

“Secret clubs that serve alcohol. There’s a prohibition in the United States. Nearly three years now.”

“Gosh,” Honor said. “Can they do that?”

“They can do anything they like, but that doesn’t stop people drinking. I actually think everyone is drinking more now.”

“Where do they get the booze?” Geneva asked.

“It’s smuggled in. Irish whisky, English gin, Russian vodka, Mexican tequila, Scotch, beer, schnapps, you name it.”

“Maybe we should have another fizz,” Honor said. “In solidarity.”

“I’ve created a monster,” Jesse said with a shake of the head. “Although an adorable one.”

Honor grinned happily at the compliment. “I’d like to see New York, even if they don’t allow anyone to have cocktails.”

“You’d love it. It’s a fizzing town,” Jesse said and raised an eyebrow to indicate he had absolutely intended the play on words. “There’s so much to do. The city never sleeps.”

“You must find us quite provincial,” Geneva said. “Will you not grow bored living in the country?”

What she really wanted to ask was what Jesse’s plans were. She couldn’t see him playing the country squire, not after the life he was clearly accustomed to. Would he close up the house and leave, or would he take matters further and sell the lot? He might take whatever was left once the death duties were paid and return to New York, never to give his English cousins another thought.

“I could never get bored with two such lovely ladies for company,” he replied smoothly. “It’s been a long while since I felt part of a family.”

“Do you think of us as family, then?” Honor asked.

“I’d like to. I know it must be awful for you, what with your father so ill, and me turning up out of the blue, but I will look after you both.”

“Will you?” Honor said, and her relief was palpable.

“Of course I will. As the head of the family, it will be my sacred duty.”

Honor beamed at him, but Geneva’s stomach soured at Jesse’s turn of phrase. The head of the family. That implied power and control. Not only of the purse strings but of their personal choices, and ultimately their very futures.

“So, what should I try?” Jesse asked as he perused the menu. “I don’t recognize half these dishes.”

“I thought you’d spent time in England,” Geneva said.

Jesse shrugged. “I ate at the mess, and we didn’t really eat when we hit the pubs. It was all warm beer and cold women.”

“I would think the ladies were very impressed by you,” Honor said. “You must have looked so handsome in your uniform. Do you have any photos?”

“I didn’t think to bring them with me.”

“Was it terrifying? The war, I mean.”

“It was, but also exhilarating. I haven’t felt so alive since. I suppose fear of imminent death will do that.”