Eve hesitated for only a moment. “I think it would be better if I stayed here, but I’ll see you as often as you want to see me. Oh, Gran, you don’t know how lonely I’ve been.”
Kate took her granddaughter’s hand and said, “Can you forgive me?”
Eve looked her in the eye and said solemnly, “Of course, I can forgive you.”
The moment Kate left, Eve mixed herself a stiff Scotch and water and sank down onto the couch to relive the incredible scene that had just occurred. She could have shouted aloud with joy. She and Alexandra were now the sole heirs to the Blackwell fortune. It would be easy enough to get rid of Alexandra. It was George Mellis Eve was concerned about. He had suddenly become a hindrance.
“There’s been a change of plans,” Eve told George. “Kate has put me back in her will.”
George paused in the middle of lighting a cigarette. “Really? Congratulations.”
“If anything happened to Alexandra now, it would look suspicious. So we’ll take care of her later when—”
“I’m afraid later doesn’t suit me.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not stupid, darling. If anything happens to Alexandra, I’ll inherit her stock. You want me out of the picture, don’t you?”
Eve shrugged. “Let’s say you’re an unnecessary complication. I’m willing to make a deal with you. Get a divorce, and as soon as I come into the money, I’ll give you—”
He laughed. “You’re funny. It’s no good, baby. Nothing has changed. Alex and I have a date in Dark Harbor Friday night. I intend to keep it.”
Alexandra was overjoyed when she heard the news about Eve and her grandmother. “Now we’re a family again,” she said.
The telephone.
“Hello. I hope I’m not disturbing you, Eve. It’s Keith Webster.”
He had started telephoning her two or three times a week. At first his clumsy ardor had amused Eve, but lately he had become a nuisance.
“I can’t talk to you now,” Eve said. “I was just going out the door.
“Oh.” His voice was apologetic. “Then I won’t keep you. I have two tickets for the horse show next week. I know you love horses, and I thought—”
“Sorry. I will probably be out of town next week.”
“I see.” She could hear the disappointment in his voice. “Perhaps the following week, then. I’ll get tickets to a play. What would you like to see?”
“I’ve seen them all,” Eve said curtly. “I have to run.” She replaced the receiver. It was time to get dressed. She was meeting Rory McKenna, a young actor she had seen in an off-Broadway play. He was five years younger than she, and he was like an insatiable wild stallion. Eve visualized his making love to her, and she felt a moisture between her legs. She looked forward to an exciting evening.
On his way home, George Mellis stopped to buy flowers for Alexandra. He was in an exuberant mood. It was a delicious irony that the old lady had put Eve back in her will, but it changed nothing. After Alexandra’s accident, he would take care of Eve. The arrangements were all made. On Friday Alexandra would be waiting for him at Dark Harbor. “Just the two of us,” he had pleaded as he kissed her. “Get rid of all the servants, darling.”
Peter Templeton was unable to get Alexandra Mellis out of his mind. He heard the echo of George Mellis’s words: I may take her away somewhere. I think she needs a change. Every instinct told Peter that Alexandra was in danger, yet he was powerless to act. He could not go to Nick Pappas with his suspicions. He had no proof.
Across town, in the executive offices of Kruger-Brent, Ltd., Kate Blackwell was signing a new will, leaving the bulk of her estate to her two granddaughters.
In upstate New York, Tony Blackwell was standing before his easel in the garden of the sanitarium. The painting on the easel was a jumble of colors, the kind of painting an untalented child might do. Tony stepped back to look at it and smiled with pleasure.