Read Online The Luxe by Anna Godbersen - Free Book Online Page B

extravagant evening. And Buck was right: There was no pleasure like being envied on a mass scale. Not to mention the paper’s assistance in pushing her affair along. It had now been confirmed by the press and by the stars: Henry was going to be hers, really and truly, for all to see.
    Outside, the bells of St. Patrick’s rang three o’clock. It was time. “Buckie,” Penelope said, standing, “you have to go now.”
    Buck sighed. “But Penny, we haven’t even dished about the gowns yet….”
    “I know, Buckie, but there’s all week,” she told him firmly, walking over to the chaise that he was sitting on. She extended her arm and he took it, albeit a little sadly. The only time Buck irritated her was when he acted like a sullen puppy.
    Bernadine, the Hayeses’ head servant, stood at the front door with Buck’s hat in her hands. He thanked her and then she swept open the door to the glowing sight of Henry Schoonmaker, standing by himself on the steps. Penelopeclenched her fists with delight that he was here right on time, for once. Henry was dressed in his usual fitted black coat and his face was as handsome and uncreased as ever, but there was something unusual in his features. Penelope was used to a serenely playful Henry, but right now he just looked a little bit…confused.
    “Schoonmaker,” said Buck, extending his hand. “What are you doing here?”
    “Hello, Buck.” Henry shook the other man’s pudgy hand resignedly. Penelope tried to place his strange expression, but all she could think was that he looked like he had been caught.
    “Just paying a visit here and there, wanted to drop this off with Miss Hayes,” Henry continued tightly as he reached into his pocket and brought out a folded piece of card stock sealed with wax.
    Penelope’s heart instantly constricted in anger. Leaving a card ? What about their usual Sunday tryst? He could not breathe into her ear how unbelievably ravishing she looked with a card . It might be good news, she tried to tell herself, but then, Henry never took the time to write formal letters, and he was not in the least the shy sort who might put in a note what he could not say aloud.
    “Won’t you come in, and tell me what it’s about?” Penelope said slowly, taking the odious envelope out of his hand. She fixed her burning, determined eyes on him.
    “Go in,” Buck said. “I’m leaving, anyway.” He turned to kiss Penelope good-bye on either cheek. “Be good,” he told her as he kissed her right side. “But not too good,” he whispered into her left ear.
    Henry put a leather-gloved hand over his mouth, coughed, and nodded good-bye to Buck. He followed Penelope into the grand entry hallway as the door closed; she had managed to get him inside. Unlike those of the old houses, the Hayeses’ entryway was bright and shiny, with its black-and-white-checked marble floors and mirrored ceilings. Sometimes Penelope felt like a mere speck amongst the architecture, but she did like that her reflection could be found almost everywhere.
    “Bernadine, you can go back to your sewing,” Penelope told her servant.
    The older woman nodded, her weighty chin creasing several times as she did. “Mrs. Hayes wanted me to tell you that Reverend Needlehouse has decided to join the family for dinner this evening, and she insists you be ready to receive him at five o’clock.”
    Penelope rolled her eyes as Bernadine disappeared behind a door disguised by rich wall ornamentation. She could feel her temper rising. There were irritations everywhere: So Henry thought he could just slip away? So her mother wanted to curtail her afternoon? What was next? When the maid was gone, Penelope took a breath to calm herself. Then, withoutturning to face Henry, she said, “I get the feeling you were trying to leave me a note and skip away. You know Sunday is our day.”
    After a moment he replied in a stiff tone, “You have not even read my card, so how could you begin to guess at its