Dancing at the Savoy: A Samantha Duncan Mystery (Samantha Duncan Mysteries Book 9)

by Daisy Thurbin

  Samantha told him how she had thrown herself into her work after Robert’s death, and that it was only since she had retired from teaching the previous year that she had begun to make friends and expand her social life. She explained how much she enjoyed the conference circuit and that she had even begun to travel a bit for pleasure with her friend and former colleague, Annie.

  He told her that he had been in the Diplomatic Service for nearly twenty years, but that he had left when his wife became ill about fifteen years earlier. He explained that they had needed a lifestyle that put less demands on her, and allowed him to stay put.

  “Peggy had family in Williamsburg and it seemed like the right place for us to settle down. I took early retirement from the Service and was fortunate to get a job at the College here. Peggy died ten years ago.”

  He told her that his daughter lived in California with her husband and teenaged daughters and that his son was an archaeologist who specialized in Native American artefacts. He did not mention whether the son was married, so Samantha presumed that he was not.

  By the time they got back to the farm, Samantha felt that she had known Alex for much longer than the few hours they had spent together. She had learned that they were almost exactly the same age, except that his birthday was in September and hers was in June.

  “I don’t know when I’ve had such fun,” Alex said as they sat in his big farmhouse kitchen and ate the remains of some leftover chicken and salad for their lunch. “I hope we’ll get another chance to ride out again while you’re here.”

  “I had a wonderful time,” she agreed, “but I really should get back. I want to have a look at Colonial Williamsburg before I have to get myself ready for tonight. Will you be coming to the Reception?”

  “Now that I know I’ll have someone to talk to besides my stuffy colleagues,” he laughed. “Speaking of which, I hope you won’t be offended, but would you mind terribly if I call you Sam? Samantha sounds awfully formal.”

  “Actually, no one ever calls me Sam any more except my Cousin Julie out in California. All the other kids over here did when we were children, but at home it’s always been Samantha; even my sister calls me that. But sure, why not. In fact, I think I’d like it.”

  It was nearly three o’clock before Samantha got back to the Cedars. She was about to go upstairs to change her clothes when Barbara came in.

  “I was just going up to get into something a bit more respectable to go out and have a wander around Colonial Williamsburg before it got too dark,” Samantha explained. “Would you like to come with me?”

  “I’d love to. I’ve already been to Jamestown Village today, but believe it or not, I’ve never visited Colonial Williamsburg.”

  Samantha changed into her other jeans and the older pair of brogues and threw on a rather decrepit cashmere jumper over a tee shirt. It was not exactly haute couture but she thought that it looked more presentable than her riding gear.

  They made a loop from the visitors’ centre around past the blacksmith’s and the other workshops, down past the shops and restaurants and the old church and courthouse. By the time they got back they had only an hour and a half before they would need to leave for the Reception.

  Samantha took a long hot bath and washed and blew dry her hair. She selected the black cashmere trousers and the new Armani jacket and a cream coloured silk blouse that she had bought for a previous conference. She decided that the new black brogues would do nicely with the rest of her outfit. She surveyed the result in the full length mirror; she thought that the ensemble looked quite smart. She checked to make certain that everything was tucked in before she went downstairs. She found Barbara in the living room and suggested that they go over to Miller Hall together.

  The chairman of the Fine Arts Department, Joseph MacKenzie, greeted them at the door to one of the smaller rooms and gave them each a clip-on name tag. There were already about a dozen guests and local faculty members there. Alex stood over by the hors d’oeuvres table talking with two other men and a woman. She saw him look up and see her. He smiled and then turned to say something to the people he had been talking to before he crossed the room.

  “Barbara, I didn’t know you and Samantha knew each other,” he said as he gave both women a quick peck on the cheek.

  “Well, that makes us even. Samantha, don’t tell me that Alex was the friend you were meeting today,” Barbara exclaimed. “Alex and I’ve been friends since we were practically in nappies.”

  “I’m not sure I’d put it exactly like that,” Alex laughed. “But we do go back a long way. Our parents were friends and we were part of the pack of kids that seemed to be in and out of each other’s houses all the time when we were growing up in Fredericksburg. Then Barbara grew up and married one of our mob and broke my heart,” he teased.

  “Don’t pay attention to a word he’s saying, Samantha. Alex never so much as looked at another woman once Peggy’s family moved to town when we were in sixth grade.”

  “How’s Howard, anyhow? Still with the Natural History Museum?”

  “I think he’ll be there until they kick him out,” Barbara said. “He loves all the travel and of course he’s been with them practically since he left University. But I suppose we’ll all have to think about retiring sooner or later.”

  Alex introduced them to his colleagues who were there and to one or two of the visiting academics whom he had met before. It occurred to her that she and Alex had not talked about the Conference at all when they were out riding. She had no idea what his Paper was on. She only knew that it was scheduled for the last slot on Sunday.

  When Samantha saw one or two people start to drift out, she asked Barbara if she was ready to go; it had been a long day. She looked forward to getting back to her room and chilling out for an hour or two before it was time to turn in. She wanted to be in good form for her presentation the next day.

  “I think we’ll head back to our B & B,” she told Alex before she went to find Doctor MacKenzie to thank him for the Reception.

  “I’m about to leave as well,” he said. “I’ll walk you two to your car.”

  Samantha and Barbara had agreed to meet for breakfast at eight. Samantha laid out her suit and blouse and shoes for the morning. She also retrieved the little black velvet drawstring bag from her new toiletry case and removed her emerald earrings and the replica Faberge pendant that Julie had made for her. She put them on the small table near the alcove next to her pouch so that she would remember to put them on in the morning. She hoped that her Paper went half as well as the rest of her visit had gone so far.

  ________________________

  Five

  Barbara was seated at the table when Samantha came down.

  “I thought I’d change after breakfast,” Samantha explained when she saw that Barbara had already dressed for the Conference. “I’m afraid that I’m like that Peanut’s character that manages to get dirty even if he’s sitting in a chair; but that’s a lovely suit you’re wearing.”

  “Thanks. I’ve had it for a while, but I save it for conferences. I’m afraid I couldn’t resist,” Barbara said sheepishly and glanced at her rather delicious looking plate of food.

  Samantha was back to her usual soft boiled eggs. If she had Grace’s ‘very berry’ French toast every morning she figured that they would have to roll her onto the plane by the time she went home.

  She excused herself and went up to her room to get ready. She wanted to get there a few minutes early and make certain that she knew the layout of the room, and to find a seat that didn’t require a lot of awkward stumbling over anyone’s feet when it came her turn at the podium. She checked one last time that she had her memory stick and her notes. She was ready.

  The Conference was in the same building as the Reception, but in a different room. The tables had all been arranged in rows with an aisle between. Someone had already set out the bottles of water and glasses, copies of the Programme and notepads and pens, although few people used them
these days. USB portals ran along the back edge of the tables. Samantha put her notes on the second table from the front at the end nearest the aisle. She walked over to the podium and checked to make certain she was familiar with the computer and the remote device. Most venues used some sort of Mac these days, but she wanted to make sure.

  It was still twenty minutes before the kickoff, so she went back out to the foyer area. A small group stood chatting over by the coffee machine. She recognized most of them from the evening before. No sign yet of either Alex or Barbara. Barbara’s Presentation was after lunch and Alex’s was not until the next morning, so there was no need for them to arrive early.

  Joseph MacKenzie arrived a few minutes before ten. Samantha waved when she saw Alex and Barbara came in soon after. They came over to where she stood talking to a smartly dressed middle aged woman who taught at William and Mary.

  “I see you’ve met Mary,” Alex said as he introduced his colleague to Barbara. “She’s first up this morning.”

  Just then Doctor MacKenzie called out above the other voices in the room to announce that it was time to begin. He welcomed the participants, gave a few opening remarks about the Fine Arts Department and the College and introduced his colleague, Professor Mary McIntyre.

  Professor McIntyre walked confidently up to the rostrum. She thanked the Chair for his generous introduction and began her talk on the talent behind the famous Hummel figurines.

  “I suppose that most people give little thought to the artist behind mass produced figures such as Hummel,” she began. “To tell the truth, I never gave them much thought either until my grandmother left me her collection about five years ago.”

  She explained that she had always been vaguely aware of the fifty or sixty little porcelain figures that her grandmother had kept in a gilt framed glass curio cabinet in what she had always thought of as the ‘good living room’. She told them that what she really wanted to talk about was not the figures themselves so much as the inspiration behind them.

  “Berta Hummel, or Sister Maria Innocentia as she would become, was an artist in the true sense,” Professor McIntyre said. “But before I tell you how her work became almost a household name, I want to give you a brief glimpse into her background.”

  She told them that Berta was one of six children born to shopkeepers in a small Bavarian town in Germany just after the turn of the twentieth century. She explained that her parents spotted her talent for sketching and painting at an early age and sent her first to a specialty art school and later to the prestigious Academy of Applied Arts in Munich, where she graduated with distinction. She said that young Berta loved her art, but that above all, she felt that she had a true religious calling and joined the Franciscan Order at the Convent of Siessen upon her completion at the Academy. She told them that the Franciscans recognized young Sister Maria Innocentia’s special gift and assigned her to teach art in their local Catholic school.

  “Of course it wasn’t long before people outside the convent also became aware of her talent,” Professor McIntyre said. “One such person was a Herr Verelag who owned a publishing house in Stuttgart. He had seen her sketches of young children and approached the Franciscans about using them for a new line of postcards.”

  Professor McIntyre explained that by that time it was 1937 and Hitler was in power. She said that it had always been a struggle for the convent to support itself, and then when the Nazis confiscated half of any incomes for their cause, it was that much more difficult. She told them that this was the reason that the Mother Superior leapt at the chance to earn money in order to support their convent and school.

  “Sister Innocentia and Adolph Hitler were bound to come into conflict,” Professor McIntyre said. “Hitler, a failed painter, hated Berta Hummel. Not only was she recognized as a talented artist, but many of her works represented a stark contrast to the very ideology that he espoused.”

  She described one particular watercolour sketch entitled The Volunteers that Hitler had found particularly offensive. Professor McIntyre projected the slide of the painting onto the wall. It was of two very young boys; little more than babies, really. They wore short pants and the familiar brown shirts of S.A. thugs. Sister Innocentia had depicted them as unkempt and inept cowed toddlers as they marched in the familiar goose step of the Nazi regime. Beneath the painting she had inscribed in old German cursive, ‘Dear Fatherland, Let there be Peace’.

  “Needless to say, the Fuhrer was not best pleased. He and his regime were the antithesis of the serene young woman who saw the world through artist’s eyes.”

  She went on to talk about the Hummel figures themselves and how they had come to be so popular. She explained that industrialist Franz Goebel had been searching for a new line of porcelain for his manufacturing plant near Oeslauby. When he came across the Hummel postcards, he thought that the little figures might be just the thing to boost flagging sales. Mary told them that when he approached the Franciscan sisters with his proposal that they readily agreed to give him exclusive rights.

  “But the real breakthrough came with the Leipzig Trade Fair,” she said. “That’s when they really took off. Then, after the War, thousands of American GIs bought the little figures to take home as souvenirs. They spread the Hummel name all the way across the Atlantic to America.”

  She gave a brief description of some of the more notable figures. As she spoke, she projected the images onto the screen behind her. They were primarily of children, singly or in pairs, engaged in various activities.

  She explained that popular as the figures were, the greater art by far was Sister Maria Innocentia’s private work. She told them that more than 600 of her paintings and sketches from her pre convent days and even more from after she joined the Order survive, and that the largest collection was held by the Hummel Museum in New Braunfels, Texas.

  Professor McIntyre had presented her Paper in an informative if somewhat chatty style. Samantha remembered the small collection of Hummel figurines that her own mother had passed down to Ella. She thought that nearly everyone in the room must have seen them in their own homes when they were growing up, or else at some aunt or grandmother’s house. Most likely, like her, they had never really given them much thought as true works of art until now.

  Samantha felt that Mary McIntyre’s presentation was a good one to follow. It had been interesting enough to hold the audience’s attention but it had lacked the stellar quality of a Martin Hennessey or, for that matter, that of Mary’s colleague, Alex.

  Joseph MacKenzie called for a quarter hour break between presentations. Samantha was just as happy to have a bit of a breather before it was her turn in the spotlight.

  Samantha congratulated Mary on her Paper and told her how it had brought back memories of seeing many of those same figures in her Grandmother’s home on visits with her during her childhood. Alex and Barbara were in deep conversation and she did not want to interrupt them. Alex had just started across the room in her direction when Doctor MacKenzie announced that it was time to resume.

  Samantha sat back down until Joseph had finished his introduction. Then she collected her notes, made certain that she had her memory stick and made her way to the rostrum. There were only about a dozen people in the audience. She presumed that it was a combination of it being exam time at many colleges and universities and so close to the Christmas season when people were rushing around doing other things. As usual, there were more women than men.

  Samantha opened by telling them that she had already submitted her proposal to the Conference Committee on a different topic when she saw a documentary about Rembrandt Bugatti on television that had peaked her interest in the early twentieth century artist. “For those of you who thought my Paper was about the famous automotive designer, you may want to leave now,” she joked. “Ettore was indeed from the same illustrious Italian family of artists, artisans and engineers, but today I want to talk about his talented younger brother, Rembrandt.”

  She explained that
the Bugatti family traveled in rather grand circles, and that it was not unusual for Rembrandt and Ettore to find luminaries such as Puccini, the sculptor Ercole Rose, or the painter Segantini sitting around their parent’s dinner table on any given evening.

  She told them that before she began the research for her Paper, she had had only a cursory knowledge of the artist and had never seen any of his original sculptures. She said that Bugatti was what was known in art circles as an animalier because of his focus on animals in his work. She said that to better understand their anatomy, he had spent countless hours at both the Jardin des Plantes in Paris and the Antwerp Zoo, the largest in Europe at the time. She explained that she and her friend had visited The Sladmore Gallery and Gardens in London and were struck by how lifelike Bugatti’s wildlife sculptures appeared in what was more or less their natural surroundings.

  She projected the first slide onto the screen. It was of the lioness that she and Annie had admired in the gardens there. She asked her audience to notice the way Bugatti had perfectly captured her strength and agility, and pointed out the way the muscles on her flank fairly rippled as she stealthily walked through the high grass.

  “It’s as though the mother lioness is on high alert for any danger that might threaten her cubs,” Samantha said.

  Samantha took the same care with all of the slides. She had taken photos of a number of the bronze figures when they were at the Gallery, but apart from the one of the lioness, she had used the images she had downloaded from the internet. They were clearer and did not catch the odd foot or retreating form of other visitors as many of hers did. She was careful to leave each slide on the screen for long enough for everyone to appreciate the points she made about them in her commentary.

  Most of the slides were of the sculptures she had seen at The Sladmore, but she also included some of Bugatti’s other work that demonstrated his wide range, including a few of young women with rather indistinct facial features. She included one that she especially liked entitled Walking Panther from the Musee D’Orsay in Paris, and one of his earliest of a horse and donkey yoked together that she found particularly poignant. She also showed them a slide of the hood ornament that he had sculpted to adorn his brother’s famous automobile.