Meet Me in Venice by Elizabeth Adler Read Free Book Online Page B

with lemon. Then the waiter arrived with the menus and began to tell them the night’s specials, and the talk turned to food.
    After that, though, Bennett put himself out to be amusing: he asked about her home in the French Concession, saying it was a place he had always wanted to live, and that he enjoyed its French Colonial history.
    “So do I,” Lily said. “Especially since my mother was French. That is, her parents were American and Austrian, but she was born and brought up in Paris and always considered herself a Frenchwoman.”
    Bennett had ordered a bottle of good Italian wine, a Chianti from the Frescobaldi estate. The waiter filled their glasses and she took a sip. She noticed that for some reason Mary-Lou was watching Bennett like a hunting dog, ready to spring; while he was Mr. Cool, the seasoned traveler, talking about Shanghai and Paris and New York.
    “Since your mother lived in Paris, you must know the city well,” he said, but Lily said she had never been there, and then she found herself telling him about how her mother had run away from her family to marry Henry Song.
    ‘“Not
great thinking,” she added caustically, “but then my mother never was a great thinker. I believe she was spoiled rotten by her father and always wanted her own way. Nothing ever changed,” she added with a grim smile. “She should have stuck with the Hennessys. She told me they were very rich. There wasGrandmother’s castle in Austria and fabulous old furniture and paintings, and of course the antiques store. Too bad she gave it all up.”
    “And is it all still there?” Bennett toyed with his grilled
branzino.
“The antiques store? And the castle?”
    “I believe so. Hennessy Antiques it was called then, though now it has probably changed, on the rue Jacob. My mother had a sister, you know. She married and had a daughter too, younger than I, Mother said. Grandmother’s family was rich, and all the aunts and uncles too. I imagine they left my cousin the family money, and probably Grandmother’s Austrian castle as well.”
    She gave Bennett a knowing glance, thinking of his marriage to the rich Yuan girl, and with a little dig at Mary-Lou who was looking far too pleased with herself, said, “Her name’s Precious Rafferty. Maybe you should go visit her next time you’re in Paris, Bennett. I’ve heard you’re always keen to know women with money.”
    Mary-Lou gave her a furious kick under the table but Bennett laughed and said what was the point of knowing people “without”? After all they could do nothing for you. “I can tell you and I are alike, Lily,” he said admiringly. “On our own and determined to get on in life.”
    “To get rich,”
Lily said, lifting her glass in a toast to Mary-Lou and their old mantra. Bennett lifted his glass too, thinking that the only words she should have added were “at any cost.”
    He thought about the necklace that Lily supposedly had inherited, wondering if that were true or whether she had simply stolen it. Mary-Lou’s story was so flimsy he had a hard time believing it,and desperate though he was to make money, the idea of dealing in stolen jewels did not appeal. His thoughts turned instead to Paris and the rich Hennessy granddaughter, the one who had inherited all the money, as well as the castle. An heiress was more his style.
    Claiming she was tired, Lily left before dessert. She thanked Bennett, who again held her hand too long, something she suspected he did with all women, young or old, attractive or not. He was simply practicing his charm. Bennett said he hoped they could get together again, and then Mary-Lou insisted on walking her to the door.
    “Well?” she asked, eyes glowing. “What do you think?”
    “He’s Ana Yuan’s widower and I think he’s out dating awfully early after her tragic death, if you want the truth. Which,” she added, looking at her friend’s furious face, “I suspect you do not.”
    “He can’t be expected to just sit