She watched the look of dismay on Alexandra’s face. “That’s terrible! The two of you must go to Gran. I’m sure she would—”
“He was killed in an airplane accident.”
“Oh, Eve! Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I was too ashamed to tell anyone, even you.” She squeezed her sister’s hand. “And you know I tell you everything.”
“Let me talk to Gran. I’ll explain—”
“No! I have too much pride. Promise me you’ll never discuss this with her. Ever!”
“But I’m sure she would—”
“Promise!”
Alexandra sighed. “All right.”
“Believe me, I’m very happy here. I come and go as I please. It’s great!”
Alexandra looked at her sister and thought how much she had missed Eve.
Eve put her arm around Alexandra and began to tease. “Now, enough about me. Tell me what’s going on in your life. Have you met Prince Charming yet? I’ll bet you have!”
“No.”
Eve studied her sister. It was a mirror image of herself, and she was determined to destroy it. “You will, darling.”
“I’m in no hurry. I decided it’s time I started earning a living. I talked to Gran about it. Next week I’m going to meet with the head of an advertising agency about a job.”
They had lunch at a little bistro near Eve’s apartment, and Eve insisted on paying. She wanted nothing from her sister.
When they were bidding each other good-bye, Alexandra said, “Eve, if you need any money—”
“Don’t be silly, darling. I have more than enough.”
Alexandra persisted. “Still, if you run short, you can have anything I’ve got.”
Eve looked into Alexandra’s eyes and said, “I’m counting on that.” She smiled. “But I really don’t need a thing, Alex.” She did not need crumbs. She intended to have the whole cake. The question was: How was she going to get it?
There was a weekend party in Nassau.
“It wouldn’t be the same without you, Eve. All your friends will be here.”
The caller was Nita Ludwig, a girl whom Eve had known at school in Switzerland.
She would meet some new men. The present crop was tiresome.
“It sounds like fun,” Eve said. “I’ll be there.”
That afternoon she pawned an emerald bracelet she had been given a week earlier by an infatuated insurance executive with a wife and three children, and bought some new summer outfits at Lord & Taylor and a round-trip ticket to Nassau. She was on the plane the following morning.
The Ludwig estate was a large, sprawling mansion on the beach. The main house had thirty rooms, and the smallest was larger than Eve’s entire apartment. Eve was escorted to her room by a uniformed maid, who unpacked for her while Eve freshened up. Then she went down to meet her fellow guests.
There were sixteen people in the drawing room, and they had one thing in common: They were wealthy. Nita Ludwig was a firm believer in the “birds of a feather” philosophy. These people felt the same way about the same things; they were comfortable with one another because they spoke the same language. They shared the commonality of the best boarding schools and colleges, luxurious estates, yachts, private jets and tax problems. A columnist had dubbed them the “jet set,” an appellation they derided publicly and enjoyed privately. They were the privileged, the chosen few, set apart from all others by a discriminating god. Let the rest of the world believe that money could not buy everything. These people knew better. Money bought them beauty and love and luxury and a place in heaven. And it was from all this that Eve had been excluded by the whim of a narrow-minded old lady. But not for long, Eve thought.
She entered the drawing room and the conversation dropped as Eve walked in. In a room full of beautiful women, she was the most beautiful of all. Nita took Eve around to greet her friends, and to introduce her to the people she did not know. Eve was charming and pleasant, and she studied each man with a knowing eye, expertly selecting her targets. Most of the older men were married, but that only made it easier.