Page:Angna Enters - Among the Daughters.djvu/320

 a stenciled gold border. On his left forefinger was a massive ruby ring.

"You look magnificent," she said, hoping for a return compliment.

"I think Brooks did the toga well. I had this Cardinal's ring which seemed appropriate with the purple."

"It does indeed."

"You'd better see whether the maid has laid out Lucy's costumes correctly—in the Fragonard room, which the women will use. I hope no one burns a hole in that Aubusson bedcover, it belonged to Pompadour."

"Do I look all right?"

"Certainly, you'll do quite well."

His indifference was not reassuring.

Along the upper hall she passed a narrow white cell with a cot and prie-dieu on which was a copy of the Divine Comedy. On its kneeling board sat Hal, a tray of food on his knees.

"What's this?"

"Figente's retreat is the only place I could find to eat my supper. I have to eat now because I simply can't drink on an empty stomach. It does things to me, and Ray gets mad."

After rearranging Lucy's costumes she waited in the Fragonard room before going down, until she heard voices. Figente stood with a dozen strangers who eyed her curiously as she hesitated. He did not invite her to join the group but came up to her.

"For God's sake, Boswell, where have you been? Vedder has had the effrontery to bring three crashers and wants to show them the paintings we moved from here to the studio. Take them there, they're in the library. I hope those fellows have the grace to leave when they've looked."

What an unpleasant creature he can be, but then I was only invited because of Lucy. The bracelet is one of those grandiose gestures he makes to impress, she thought.

The uninvited guests with the art dealer were, of all people, Clem, Semy, and Herold. They greeted her joyfully, apparently unaware of their dubious status.

"Hot dog, some get up, pipe the bracelet," yapped Herold.

"It looks almost like the real thing," patronized Semy.

He just can't help being grudging even when he is trying to be nice, she thought. "It is the real thing. Those are Greek coins between the amethysts. Figente gave it to me for Christmas."

Semy took her arm and caressed the bracelet. "I see now that it 308