Free The Carriage House by Louisa Hall

emboldened.
    “Tomorrow morning. None of the wives work, so they’ll all be home. And we can’t waste any time. The demolition is scheduled for Thursday. It was supposed to be the week after next, but Jack Weld called an emergency meeting—while your father was in the hospital , of all things — which resulted in a date change.”
    “He’s a terrible person,” Izzy heard herself saying.
    “Yes, he is.” Adelia watched her for an extra moment, and Izzy wondered, as she always had, how much Adelia knew. Isabelle glared at her until she looked away.
    “How could he do that?” Elizabeth asked. “How could he call it an e mer gency?”
    “Because of the rodent problem,” Adelia said, flipping through her plans.
    “There’s a rodent problem?”
    “Yes, Elizabeth, there is a rodent problem. Because Mrs. Schmidt would rather let it be overrun by rats than allow your father onto her property to make the appropriate repairs.”
    “So tomorrow we go to the neighbors to ask for a stay.”
    “Yes.”
    “How are we doing this?” Izzy asked. “Divide and conquer?”
    “Yes. I imagine that’s the best way. Izzy, you and I will go together. We’ll head left, toward the club. We’ll speak to Ted and Mary Cheshire, Sheldon Ball, and Yusuf Uzmani. Elizabeth and Diana, you’ll speak with Jack and Elaine Weld and Suzanne Legg. And I’d like you to speak with Anita Schmidt.”
    “The very Heart of Darkness itself,” Izzy said.
    “We need to propose the idea of removal,” Adelia went on, ignoring Izzy. “I don’t believe it will go over well, coming from me.”
    “We can do that,” Elizabeth said, without consulting Diana.
    “You might not get Anita herself. She’s been sick: she had a tumor, or something awful like that. We sent her a beautiful bouquet of flowers, though little good that did. Her grandson is taking care of her. What is his name again?” Adelia pinched the bridge of her nose, attempting to remember. “I’m blanking on his name right now. Anyway, he’s the one you’ll speak to, most likely. What is his name, Di ? ”
    Izzy watched Diana. She was sitting even straighter, focusing on Adelia’s battle plan, but Izzy could see that a faint flush had risen to her cheeks. Arthur, Izzy wanted to say. Arthur was the name of Anita Schmidt’s grandson, whom Diana was in love with once.
    “Oh, God,” said Elizabeth. “ God, what is his name ? Di, you dated him, didn’t you?”
    “Arthur,” Di said. She was a good soldier. “It’s Arthur.”
    “Yes, of course,” Adelia said. There was an almost wistful tone to her voice. She made a note. “Anyway, Arthur has been caring for her for several months now. I imagine he can be talked to about these things.” She considered her pad, blinking more deliberately than usual. A surprising softness spread momentarily over her face. “He’s improved, you know,” she said. “Since he was younger. He seems more confident. He grew out of that little slouch he used to have.”
    Diana sat very still.
    “I saw him at the supermarket the other day,” Elizabeth said, as though she had produced a crucial piece of evidence. “He’s grown into his face. I think he owns a restaurant in New York. Maybe even two; I think he’s opening a new one. Addie Ball told me it got excellent reviews. She went on and on about the pork ribs. But anyway, I saw Arthur at the supermarket. Mrs. Cheshire was telling him how to pick good eggplants, and he was listening as if he didn’t own a restaurant. It was sort of adorable. I remember I used to think he was arrogant, for a kid who wasn’t overly impressive, but he was definitely different.”
    “Still,” Adelia said, calling her minions back into order. “We have to remember that he is his grandmother’s child. He will not contradict her orders. If we’re going to build an alliance with him, it will be a delicate one. He clearly loves Anita, hard as that may be to believe.”
    “She raised him, didn’t she, Di?”