smile. “How many years has it been?”
“Sixty plus,” he said.
“Then they’ll be so glad to see you that they won’t pay any attention to what you look like. Come on. Let’s go knock ’em dead.”
Out in the corridor, they called for the lift and waited for it to show up. “What can you tell me about these ladies?’ ” Ali asked.
“They were very young when I saw them last, but the two of them were little demons—always getting into trouble and mean as snakes.”
“Charming,” Ali said. “I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this.” From the look on Leland’s face, he obviously felt the same way.
When she was making reservations, Ali had expected the Highcliffto be a bit on the dowdy side, and it didn’t disappoint. In the conservatory, where afternoon tea was served, they were shown to a pair of brocade-covered sofas facing each other across a low polished wood table. Ali and Leland were comfortably seated on one of the two when the aunties arrived.
As they made their way toward their table, it seemed to Ali that Maisie Longmoor and Daisy Phipps fit right in with their surroundings: They were a bit on the dowdy side as well, women of a certain age, several years north of seventy. Ali had the momentary sensation that the two of them had just walked off the set of the old PBS sitcom Keeping Up Appearances . The twins were not dressed alike, but their brightly hennaed hair, tinted to the same shade, indicated that they utilized the services of the same colorist.
As soon as Leland stood to greet them, they dodged away from the hostess and made a mad dash for him, shrieking with joy. “Lee! Lee! Lee! How good to see you again!”
It took a moment for them to stop smothering him with kisses before they turned to Ali so Leland could make the introductions. Ali noted that Daisy was slightly more heavyset, while Maisie was the more outspoken. She was the one who immediately went to work to set the record straight. “I’m Leland’s cousin,” she announced formally. “I’m Maisie Jordan Longmoor, and this is my sister, Daisy Jordan Phipps.”
“I’m Ali,” she replied, holding out her hand in greeting but offering no further explanation of her presence.
Maisie instantly lived up to the advance billing. Remaining standing, she turned back to Leland and went on the attack. “I know there was all that unfortunate business. Still, we could never understand why you took off like that with never a word to anyone. Isn’t that right?” Maisie shot a questioning look in her sister’s direction. “It broke poor Aunt Adele’s heart, I can tell you that.”
Ali noticed the shadow that flitted briefly across Leland’s face. Clearly, he didn’t appreciate having his youthful transgressions bandied about in casual conversation so many years later.
Daisy nodded in vehement agreement to everything her sister said. “Indeed,” she added. “The poor woman was completely devastated.”
“She cried constantly after you left, wept her heart out for weeks and weeks,” Maisie continued, blissfully unaware that her tasteless remarks might be hurtful to Leland. “She was inconsolable, and of course, that was before your father died a few weeks later. That additional awful blow was just too much.”
Daisy nodded again. “Aunt Adele was utterly inconsolable.”
That seemed to be the way the pair of them worked, double-teaming as they went along, with Maisie doing the bulk of the talking and Daisy adding the occasional adverb as the conversation warranted.
They were still standing. From the way Maisie and Daisy goggled at their surroundings, Ali understood that the Highcliff Hotel wasn’t the sort of place the two women visited often, if at all. Maisie and Daisy were here as Ali’s guests, but Ali’s reaction was something less than hospitable. With introductions barely out of the way, she was ready to strangle them both.
Once they finally took their seats on the far side of the
“Sixty plus,” he said.
“Then they’ll be so glad to see you that they won’t pay any attention to what you look like. Come on. Let’s go knock ’em dead.”
Out in the corridor, they called for the lift and waited for it to show up. “What can you tell me about these ladies?’ ” Ali asked.
“They were very young when I saw them last, but the two of them were little demons—always getting into trouble and mean as snakes.”
“Charming,” Ali said. “I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this.” From the look on Leland’s face, he obviously felt the same way.
When she was making reservations, Ali had expected the Highcliffto be a bit on the dowdy side, and it didn’t disappoint. In the conservatory, where afternoon tea was served, they were shown to a pair of brocade-covered sofas facing each other across a low polished wood table. Ali and Leland were comfortably seated on one of the two when the aunties arrived.
As they made their way toward their table, it seemed to Ali that Maisie Longmoor and Daisy Phipps fit right in with their surroundings: They were a bit on the dowdy side as well, women of a certain age, several years north of seventy. Ali had the momentary sensation that the two of them had just walked off the set of the old PBS sitcom Keeping Up Appearances . The twins were not dressed alike, but their brightly hennaed hair, tinted to the same shade, indicated that they utilized the services of the same colorist.
As soon as Leland stood to greet them, they dodged away from the hostess and made a mad dash for him, shrieking with joy. “Lee! Lee! Lee! How good to see you again!”
It took a moment for them to stop smothering him with kisses before they turned to Ali so Leland could make the introductions. Ali noted that Daisy was slightly more heavyset, while Maisie was the more outspoken. She was the one who immediately went to work to set the record straight. “I’m Leland’s cousin,” she announced formally. “I’m Maisie Jordan Longmoor, and this is my sister, Daisy Jordan Phipps.”
“I’m Ali,” she replied, holding out her hand in greeting but offering no further explanation of her presence.
Maisie instantly lived up to the advance billing. Remaining standing, she turned back to Leland and went on the attack. “I know there was all that unfortunate business. Still, we could never understand why you took off like that with never a word to anyone. Isn’t that right?” Maisie shot a questioning look in her sister’s direction. “It broke poor Aunt Adele’s heart, I can tell you that.”
Ali noticed the shadow that flitted briefly across Leland’s face. Clearly, he didn’t appreciate having his youthful transgressions bandied about in casual conversation so many years later.
Daisy nodded in vehement agreement to everything her sister said. “Indeed,” she added. “The poor woman was completely devastated.”
“She cried constantly after you left, wept her heart out for weeks and weeks,” Maisie continued, blissfully unaware that her tasteless remarks might be hurtful to Leland. “She was inconsolable, and of course, that was before your father died a few weeks later. That additional awful blow was just too much.”
Daisy nodded again. “Aunt Adele was utterly inconsolable.”
That seemed to be the way the pair of them worked, double-teaming as they went along, with Maisie doing the bulk of the talking and Daisy adding the occasional adverb as the conversation warranted.
They were still standing. From the way Maisie and Daisy goggled at their surroundings, Ali understood that the Highcliff Hotel wasn’t the sort of place the two women visited often, if at all. Maisie and Daisy were here as Ali’s guests, but Ali’s reaction was something less than hospitable. With introductions barely out of the way, she was ready to strangle them both.
Once they finally took their seats on the far side of the
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