ELUDING DESTINY
Chapter Fourteen
The moment dinner was over, Ruth
was on her feet. "Excuse me," she said. "I'm feeling a bit
fatigued. I think I'll turn in for the night."
The others murmured
condolences--all except Molly, Rose noticed. Instead, the heavyset woman
studied Ruth, her eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. Rose knew that Mrs.
Brown suspected something was going on, something more than lack of sleep.
Rose stood. "I'll be going,
also," she said. "To accompany Mother back to her room. Coming,
Mother?" She stepped from the table and headed for the doors, Ruth falling
into step beside her. The two women were silent all the way back to their suite.
Rose looked for Lovejoy, but he had disappeared.
Entering their suite, Ruth called
for Trudy and had her draw a hot bath. Rose went to her room and changed out of
her taffeta gown and into a nightgown and kimono, then took the combs out of
her hair and brushed it out. Returning to the sitting room, she saw that Ruth
had also changed and was resting on the loveseat, a steaming cup of tea in her
hands. She was staring blankly at the far wall.
Rose went to the table and poured
herself a cup. The hot liquid felt good on her throat, and she sank into a
chair, her body relaxing. She thought about probing her mother for more details
about her real father, but then decided she wasn't ready to hear more yet and
Ruth might not talk to her anyway, so she closed her eyes, resting her head against
the back of the armchair, and settled into another daydream about Jack.
They had just gotten on the
roller coaster in Santa Monica when Ruth's voice brought her back to the
present. "Rose." Rose, disappointed that her daydream had to be
interrupted again, sighed heavily and opened her eyes.
"Yes?"
"I've been thinking."
Ruth fell silent for a moment, and Rose waited, expecting this to be more about
her father. But when Ruth opened her mouth again, what came out instead was,
"I saw Mr. Lovejoy while we were at dinner. Just outside the
entranceway."
"So did I," Rose said
after a moment of surprise.
"Lovejoy was there, but Mr.
Hockley was not. I have not seen Cal since this afternoon. We talked outside
the Café Parisien. He was looking for you." Ruth looked distinctly uneasy
all of a sudden, shifting in her chair, distractedly setting the cup down on
the table. "I don't like this, Rose. Something is going on here. Where did
you leave Jack?"
"Why--just down the hall,
near the lifts," Rose said in confusion. "But I wouldn't worry about
Cal, Mother. I expect he is just off sulking. Probably he didn't want to show
his face at dinner tonight. You know how petulant he can be. Especially when
his reputation is involved."
But Ruth was shaking her head
slowly. "No. You're wrong, Rose. He wouldn't want to not show his face at
dinner this evening. He would have wanted to put on the appearance of
normalcy--everything being fine, just the same as ever."
"Then why wasn't he
there?"
Ruth was silent a long time.
"I don't know," she finally said, lifting her head. Her dark green
eyes met Rose's, and they were troubled. "That's what is worrying
me."