sure I will, Sonny. Now don’t leave the poor thing alone too long.”
Sonny looked to Daniel for reassurance, but Daniel avoided his gaze.
Favor let a moment pass as she sipped her drink, and then she took her son by the arm, escorted him back into the library, and headed him toward the front parlor. Back in Daniel’s room, she said, “That kid’s going to need nursemaiding all his life.”
“He’s still young, Ms. Favor,” Daniel said.
“He’s a spineless dope. Not recognizable as Harry’s son,” she muttered, squeezing her temples between thumb and forefinger. She rubbed at the back of her neck, eyes shut tight. “You call Dick Pomeroy?” she asked, weakly. “I’m out of medicine.”
“Professor Pomeroy will arrive ahead of the others.”
“Good,” Favor said, with her eyes still closed. “DiSalvo is next, right?”
“He’s due any minute.”
“Show him into the parlor.”
“Sonny and his young lady are probably still there.”
“I know that!” Favor snapped. “I want Sonny to hear that I’m changing my will. Want to see if that will snap him around.”
“You’ve got DiSalvo until 8:20, and then it’s President Laughton.”
“Him you can leave in the foyer,” Favor schemed. “It’ll serve him right for opposing me on the board. Let him hold his hat for a good ten minutes in the front foyer. I want you to leave the doors to the parlor open so he can see me working with DiSalvo. I’ll take Laughton into the bar, then, when I think he’s heard enough. You be sure Sonny gets there too, if I don’t have him with me then. And please see to DiSalvo while I’m talking to Laughton. He gets hungry, so please bring him something.”
“I do recall, ma’am. I’ll see that he’s taken care of.”
HENRY DiSalvo pushed his boots through the white drifts on the steps to the wraparound front porch. The porch was lighted brightly by several hanging fixtures, but he had walked the last fifty yards up the drive in the dark. His face and glasses had been pelted with snow and sleet, and his long black coat was plastered white in front. He rang the door chimes, and Daniel, waiting for him inside, opened the doors immediately. DiSalvo brushed off his overcoat before entering, and, once he was inside with the doors closed, Daniel took his coat, gloves, and hat.
From a briefcase, DiSalvo took out a pair of brown penny loafers and stood, first on one foot and then on the other, to pull off hiking boots and put on the loafers. Daniel steadied the elderly gentleman by holding his arm.
“We are serving martinis and hors d’oeuvres now,” Daniel said, “and Madam hopes you’ll stay for dinner later this evening.”
“I could use a drink,” DiSalvo replied. “And Daniel, I had to leave my car about halfway down the drive. Stuck in the snow, I’m afraid.”
“I’ll see to it,” Daniel said. “Ms. Favor will join you in the parlor, Mr. DiSalvo.”
DiSalvo handed Daniel the keys to his car, and, knowing the house well, took the doors to his left, went into the spacious parlor, and walked to the far wall, by the fireplace. As he warmed himself at the wood fire, his eyes wandered along the mantel where several tall baseball trophies flanked a squat brass trophy depicting the low scrummage of a rugby team. He tilted the trophy back, bent his head low, and read the inscription on the bottom:
Ohio Athletic Conference
1970 Champions
Millersburg College
Henry Luke DiSalvo, Coach
Harry Newton Favor, Captain
He eased the trophy into place, turned his back to the fire, and reacquainted himself with the Favor parlor. The decor was French Provincial, and DiSalvo knew some of the smaller armchairs to be authentic Louis XIV. The long drapes on the front window had been chosen by his wife in France, twenty years ago, when the DiSalvos had vacationed with the Favors on the Continent. His Elaine was gone now, and so was Harry Favor. Feeling melancholy, he took a seat in front of the windows, on a divan covered in yellow flowered fabric. He opened his briefcase, set a black Thinkpad across his knees, and punched up the documents in the Juliet Favor account. From the file menu, he chose the second document on the list, Last Will and Testament. He began proofreading out of habit.
Soon Daniel reappeared with a silver tray of martinis and canapés and announced Favor and her son. Favor entered the room with an expansive sweep of her arms and said, “Tonight, Henry! All the details ready?”
“Right here,” DiSalvo replied and tapped the screen on his laptop. Awkwardly, he tried to rise to his feet holding the laptop open, and Favor said, “For heaven’s sake, Henry, sit down.”
DiSalvo dropped back onto the divan and said, “Tonight we’ll finalize, and by tomorrow I’ll have all the documents prepared for your signature. My calendar is yours for the entire day.”
“We should be done by 4:00,” Favor said. “They’re all going to try to see me early, I’m sure, but Daniel knows the appointment schedule. You’ve got Sunday scheduled for the second group, too?”
“Yes. The other academic departments,” DiSalvo said. “Those from Saturday’s banquet.”
Daniel crossed the room to DiSalvo and bent deferentially to offer the tray to the lawyer. DiSalvo selected a plate of crackers and pâté, which he set on an antique table beside the divan. He also took a martini and sipped lightly before setting the glass on a silver coaster next to the plate.
“Take a seat next to Mr. DiSalvo there, Sonny,” Favor instructed. “We’ve matters to discuss.”
“I want to call to see if Martha got home all right,” Sonny answered and turned to the door.
“Nonsense!” Favor barked. “Sit down and sit down now, Sonny.” Her eyes narrowed fiercely, and to cover her irritation, she stepped to the windows to make a show of adjusting the curtains. There she glanced out briefly at sleet raking the front porch, and sighed heavily.
“Where’s your Lexus, Sonny?” Favor demanded and turned to see her son taking a seat on a delicate antique chair. “Not the Louis XIV, Sonny! Show some common sense, will you. I swear, Daniel, show Junior where to sit.”
She turned back to look out the front parlor windows, and Sonny caught a reflection of her expression in the window glass. His eyes tipped to the carpet. “Martha took the car,” he muttered.
Spinning around, Juliet said, “You’re going to have to plow, Daniel. Too many people tonight not to plow it out at least once.”
“Right away, Ms. Favor,” Daniel answered. He set the martini tray on a round table with maple inlays near the fireplace and left through an ornate door to the large dining room.
“Sonny, I expected better from you, bringing a Plain Jane like that to see me. And to let her drive your Lexus! What’s wrong with your head?”
“She
