Page 28 of The Midnight Carousel
‘I think that the mind is a powerful thing, and I would not wish your thoughts to cause you any distress,’ he says gently. ‘By chance, I rode that horse myself in Paris many years ago, and felt a yearning for a happy time with my mother. Perhaps nostalgia has played a part in your experience too.’
She fiddles with her napkin, silent for several seconds.
‘Well, Detective, I can’t say that I hold fond memories of that period in my life, but I appreciate your trying to make me feel better.’
‘Please call me Laurent,’ he requests. ‘We are dining together, so we are friends now, non?’
Her face lights up. It is rare that a woman’s beauty takes him by surprise.
At his age, he thought he had seen it all.
Striking redheads. Delicate blondes. Brunettes.
Strong features. Soft curves. But in this split-second, it feels to Laurent as though he is watching a rainbow grace the skies after years of drizzle.
‘So you must call me Maisie.’
‘Maisie it is.’
She mirrors his smile. Over at the other end of the table, Laurent catches James staring at them, frowning.
‘This party needs livening up,’ Nancy states loudly, flouncing to her chair. ‘It should really be the hostess’s job, but I suppose it falls to me to step in,’ she complains. ‘Let’s get the gramophone in here and start living a little.’
Immediately, Sir Malcolm signals to the footman that he should do as she bids. Perhaps music is a good idea. The room is a powder keg of emotions, and Laurent wonders who might explode first.
Well-versed in how to transform a woman’s disposition, Laurent sees it as his duty to distract Nancy, if only for the sake of the others present.
It is as easy to mould her into shape as the pieces of paper he crafts into birds.
He asks questions about the latest fashions and talks about what she should see in Paris, if she were ever to visit.
Soon she is giggling, singing along to one cheerful gramophone tune after another– although she fires daggers at Maisie if Laurent dares to try to bring her into their conversation.
He has seen it before: mothers jealous of daughters, aunts of nieces, threatened by someone younger and prettier.
But Maisie appears content enough to talk to Hugo while barely answering James whenever he asks her a direct question.
Laurent wonders what is going on between those two. He knows men of James’s type– jocular and confident– and has never trusted them.
The main course of roast beef smothered in another hot sauce proceeds smoothly through to a dessert of syrupy lemon cake with vanilla ice cream. There is no rich Camembert to round off the meal, but Laurent’s stomach is satisfied nonetheless.
‘Good news, everyone,’ Sir Malcolm announces, barely able to keep his inebriated body from tilting to the right.
‘James is going to work at Silver Kingdom as groundsman until he finds more suitable employment. Personally, I think it’s beneath the chap’s capabilities, but he seems quite taken with the idea. ’
Hugo speaks. ‘So this is more than a fleeting visit? Malcolm told me that this trip was to size up the place.’
James looks smug, confirming Laurent’s first impressions of him, while Maisie stiffens.
‘I like what I see of Chicago, so I’m thinking of staying permanently.
It’s even more buoyant than I expected, and certainly livelier than England, which is still reeling after the war.
’ He takes a sip of his drink. ‘I’m inspired by Sir Malcolm’s story of success– yours as well, Hugo– and can see that opportunities abound for an ambitious fella.
I’ve even managed to secure a three-month lease on a small apartment downtown. ’
There is the sound of Maisie scraping back her chair.
‘If you could excuse me a moment, please,’ she says, standing up.
Laurent watches her disappear from the room.
‘There she goes. Always making everything about herself,’ Nancy says in a voice loud enough to carry through the house.
‘I’m sorry dinner was so eventful. I invited you hoping to give you some nice company. Instead, I dragged you into this circus.’
Laurent is standing with Maisie in the hallway.
He is surprised to see Arnold wheeling the drinks trolley from the dining room, since he knows from his time at Silver Kingdom yesterday that this is the person who operates the carousel.
Although he would like to speak with him about the disturbed blankets, the man looks run ragged, and Laurent decides to wait until tomorrow.
The other gentlemen guests are retiring to the drawing room for another round of drinks, while Laurent excuses himself on the pretext of the punishing time difference between Chicago and Paris.
In truth, Laurent suspects that further drama is inevitable, given the amount of alcohol consumed, and despite the fact that he helped Nancy into a cab home, leaving Hugo at the party fuming.
Maisie chews her bottom lip, worry lines creasing her forehead.
Having spent dinner with the people closest to her, he now understands why she protects her vulnerability inside a hard casing like a walnut shell.
Wondering if she is thinking of James, he wants to ask what connection they share.
But he refrains. If she wished to tell him, she would.
‘Circuses are my second favourite leisure activity after amusement parks,’ he jests.
As she breaks into a smile, it feels like a beam of sunshine cracking through dark clouds. He smiles back, meeting her gaze for what feels like an eternity and a brief moment at the same time.
He has a sudden urge to do something for her. He thinks back to what she said about never having known her parents. It would not be difficult for a detective to dig up the past. More than anything, he wants to tell her: Look, you are found.