D is for Deception: A Langley & Porter Mystery

7 Camden

The opulence of the Keene mansion had been a sight to behold upon my first visit to the residence but it was nothing compared to the magnificence which awaited me as I arrived to the twins' birthday ball. I found myself frozen in the doorway, like no wealthy woman should be, gaping up at the spectacular crystal chandelier which had been installed purely for the celebrations and the matching champagne glasses making their way through the crowd on the trays of at least two dozen servants. Suddenly, not even Elena's elegant dresses seemed fit for the occasion.

"Gwendolyn!" someone squealed enthusiastically, and I blinked back to reality to find that Cecily had approached and was now gripping my arm in her excitement. Her hair was set into an obscenely high stack of curls and her lips were painted a red which, though a popular shade, did not match her olive skin. Her deep plum gown made me glad I hadn't selected an option of a similar color myself. Though I felt a tad ridiculous in the showy red dress of Elena's, it was the only option that I had been sure she'd never worn herself and I was fearful that one of these upper class ladies might recognize a Langley-made custom dress and make me for the fraud I was.

"Cecily," I did my best to beam at her the way a doting new friend would. "Happy Birthday."

She giggled and pulled me off into the crowd, telling me quickly of everything I had missed.

"You're late. Well, I supposed you did that on purpose. It is rather unseemly to be the first at a party, isn't it? My mother and father are entertaining their friends in the parlors over there, but this is where the real party is happening," she said with a wicked grin and pushed through the doors to our left. We entered an immaculate ballroom, packed to the brim with young adults laughing, dancing, or simply chatting in a corner. She beamed at my expression which must have displayed how clearly impressed I was and continued to push her way through the crowd, still speaking. "There's food, of course, and the most delightful champagne. Father even managed to get the most popular quartet in London. You've heard of them, right? Oh! And look at what father got me for my birthday."

She turned suddenly to face me and the momentum from her dragging me along nearly had me running into her but I managed to stop at the last minute, coming face to face with the gigantic diamond gleaming from a chain around her neck. My mouth dropped open and she giggled at the reaction.

"It's beautiful," I managed. She just smiled back at me.

"It's priceless," she boasted. "Or so father's appraiser says."

I smiled along with her but found myself wondering, not for the first time, how her merchant father could possibly afford something so lavish.

While I was lost in thought, Cecily was pulling me over to a group of rich young women who were giggling in the corner. She introduced me eagerly and I was greeted with judgmental glances and artificial niceties. I was stuck listening to them as their conversation turned back to the nasty comments they were making about the other young women in the room. They whispered to one another about how a woman across the room had engaged in an illicit affair with a man on the other side who couldn't stop looking her way or how another woman seemed to be unaware that her dangling earrings were composed of entirely fake emeralds. It all sounded like jealous drivel to me so, when a waiter approached with a tray of champagne, I nearly dove at the distraction and spent my time with them sipping and nodding so that I wouldn't have to speak, glancing about the room for the more interesting people in attendance.

George Keene wasn't in the ballroom but, from where I stood across from the door, I could see him greeting people in the hall from time to time, a smile on his face and an ever present interchangeable thug whispering something in his ear. His wife laughed shrilly from the parlor behind him and his older sons went back and forth between rooms, making the rounds and searching for the greatest form of entertainment. Their wives chatted happily with a few other married women near the hall.