Murder on Trinity Place
Page 27
“You look lovely, my dear.”
“Thank you,” she said, and her eyes said she thought he looked pretty good himself.
“Judge Willoughby, may I present my bride, Miss Vane?”
An older man with snow-white hair and a small, pointed beard came forward to acknowledge the introduction. “I can certainly see why you’ve chosen to give up your bachelor ways, Jack. How very nice to meet you, Miss Vane.” He only shook the hand she offered, but she favored him with a smile as well.
“Shall we get on with it, then?” Jack said. “Mrs. O’Day, my cook, has a wonderful meal waiting for us, and she’s warned me not to take too long or it will be ruined.”
Jack offered his arm and escorted Jocelyn to the fireplace, where the judge had taken his place. Frank and Sarah stood to either side while the judge pulled a small book from his pocket, opened it to the proper page, and began the familiar ceremony.
Sarah remembered the day she and Malloy were married. It had taken two ceremonies to tie the knot for them, but they hadn’t minded a bit. When she glanced over at him, he was watching her with a look that told her he was remembering, too.
When the judge called for the ring, Sarah knew a moment of dismay, wondering if Jack had even thought of that, but he reached into his pocket and pulled one out. Sarah had to blink at tears when he slipped it onto Jocelyn’s finger.
A few moments later, the judge proclaimed them man and wife and told Jack he could kiss the bride. He turned to Jocelyn, gently cupped her face in both his hands, and kissed her tenderly. The roses in her cheeks bloomed and her eyes shone suspiciously bright, but she laughed in delight and the rest of them joined in.
After Frank and Sarah and the judge took their turns congratulating the couple, Marie O’Day came bustling in with a tray of glasses filled with champagne. Marie wore a neat black dress with a stiffly starched, snow-white apron, and she looked very pleased with herself.
When she’d served everyone, she took a moment to study the bride with a critical eye. If Jocelyn minded, she gave no indication. In fact, she studied Marie in turn. “Mr. Robinson says you have a marvelous meal in store for us. I can hardly wait.”
“I hope it meets with your satisfaction, Mrs. Robinson,” Marie said with a twinkle, making Jocelyn blush all over again at the use of her new name.
“If my husband is satisfied, I’m sure I will be, too.”
And that was the moment when she won Marie.
Malloy came up beside Sarah and said, for her ears alone, “We’re only two weeks into the New Year and already you’ve saved one woman from becoming a widow and made another a bride.”
“I can’t take much credit for saving Nelson, but I’ll happily claim the bride. Now, I think the best man should make a toast to the happy couple.”
Malloy raised his glass. “Attention, everyone.” When he had it, he said, “Best wishes to you, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson. May your troubles be less, and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door.”
Sarah thought that was a good wish for anyone.
Author’s Note
I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’m indebted to my friend, author Susanna Calkins, who suggested my victim could own a dairy when I was brainstorming with a few of my author friends. Neither of us knew about the history of milk in New York City, so imagine how excited I was when I read about the “milk wars,” which happened a few years before this story and resulted in outlawing swill milk and saved countless young lives. Sarah is absolutely correct when she says that in the mid-1800s, half of all children in New York City died before the age of five. Contaminated milk was a leading cause of those deaths, and other diseases claimed those already weakened from the bad milk. Even after the milk laws were passed, some dairies still sold doctored swill milk for a period of time. We’ve come a long way in food purity since then.
The Checkered Game of Life was a real game, invented by a young draftsman named Milton Bradley in 1860. Checkered referred both to the board, which was patterned like a checkerboard, and also to the checkered way life sometimes goes. No dice were included because of their connection to gambling and because many people would not allow dice in their home, so Bradley created an awkward cardboard device called a teetotum that spun like a top for players to use to determine how many spaces they could move. The game was played as I described, and even today it sounds like fun. One hundred years later, in 1960, the Milton Bradley company produced an updated version and called it simply the Game of Life, which you’ve probably played at least once. The new version is different from the original one, but the similarities are still very clear.
Fan favorite Black Jack Robinson originally appeared in Murder in the Bowery, so if you missed his story, you’ll want to pick that one up, too.
Please let me know how you liked this book. You can contact me through my website, victoriathompson.com, or follow me on Facebook, Victoria.Thompson.Author, or on Twitter @gaslightvt.
Discussion Questions
Remembering all the hoopla that surrounded New Year’s Eve 1999, were you surprised to find people felt completely different about the “turn of the century” in 1899?
Have you ever known anyone who developed an unreasonable obsession about something the way Mr. Pritchard does about the turn of the century?
Do you and your family have any special New Year’s Eve traditions?
Were you aware of the ways in which milk was adulterated in the Nineteenth Century? Does this change your opinion of the rules and regulations regarding food handling and preparation that we have today?
Many people enjoy Mrs. Ellsworth’s superstitions. Are you superstitious about anything? Do you have any special rituals (like First Stepper) that your family practices?
Were you happy to see Black Jack Robinson return to the series? Do you think his marriage will be successful?
While Americans did not traditionally have “arranged marriages,” as they did in European aristocracy, many families strongly influenced whom their children married. How do you feel about that? Do you think families have as much influence today on whom their children marry?
Have you ever played the game of Life? Were you aware of its history?
Why did you think Mrs. Pritchard was trying to prevent Frank and Sarah from investigating her husband’s murder?
Did you have a theory about who the killer was? Were you correct?
About the Author
Victoria Thompson is the Edgar® and Agatha award-nominated author of the Gaslight mysteries--including Murder on Union Square, Murder in the Bowery, Murder in Morningside Heights, and Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue--as well as numerous historical novels. She lives in the Chicago area with her family.
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