Girl in the Beaded Mask Read Free

and a red-and-black feathered mask, like a large, dramatic bird.
    â€œDarling Lulu!” he cried. “At last you’ve been able to come to my little soiree.”
    Lulu quickly slipped on her own silver beaded mask and took his hands as he kissed her cheek. “I’m so excited to finally get a look at it! It’s gorgeous.”
    â€œYou haven’t seen anything yet.” He gave her his arm and led her around the side of the lit-up house.
    A smooth, green lawn sloped away from the back terrace, ending in a shimmering lake. Two huge, open-sided tents were set up there, one of them with a dance floor and a jazz band and the other with a buffet and a champagne fountain, interspersed with large flower arrangements of exotic lilies and orchids.
    Both the tents were crowded with people, men in elegant black evening suits and black masks, women in butterfly-bright beaded and embroidered gowns. They twirled around the dance floor to the raucous strains of “Ain’t We Got Fun.” Shrieks of laughter filled the summer night air.
    â€œWhat do you think, darling?” Bertie asked.
    â€œIt’s absolutely wizard,” Lulu answered, trying to look at everything at once. “It’s definitely no staid deb dance!”
    â€œJust a little soiree I throw together at the last minute,” Bertie said happily. He led her into the buffet tent, which was just as packed with people as the dance floor. The long, white-draped tables were covered with trays of smoked salmon, caviar on blinis, stuffed mushrooms, lobster patties and glistening French chocolates, all presided over by a huge ice sculpture of Poseidon.
    A bartender was busy mixing up sidecars and pink ladies, but Bertie snatched two glasses of champagne from a waiter’s tray and handed one to Lulu.
    She sipped at it, giggling as the bubbles tickled her throat. “Delicious,” she said.
    â€œNow, darling, there is someone I particularly want you to talk to,” Bertie said. “He desperately needs cheering up, and I think you are just the one to do it.”
    Lulu studied the crowd around her, but she didn’t see the man she had come to find. David had to be here somewhere, and she had to find him. “I don’t know, Bertie….”
    â€œTrust me. I have a sense of these things.” Bertie led her out of the tent and down a winding pathway toward the edge of the lake. A few couples strolled there, and some people were even in boats out on the water.
    There were fairy lights strung in the trees, twinkling through the thick leaves, but they cast only a little light and everything was in shadows. The moon shone on the lake.
    â€œOver there,” Bertie whispered. He gestured at a figure standing at the water’s edge, next to a pavilion-shaped swimming cabana.
    Lulu gasped. Even in the shifting moonlight, she knew it was David. No one else had such broad, strong shoulders, or stood so straight and still. The stars glistened on his glossy dark hair, and he looked so lost in solemn thought even in the midst of the wild party.
    He was there, right there in front of her. Lulu’s heart pounded in her ears, and she gulped down the rest of her champagne. It warmed her down to her toes and gave her courage.
    â€œI’m sure you remember David Carlisle?” Bertie said. “He was friends with poor Bill, too.”
    â€œI remember him,” she whispered.
    â€œHe’s become a terrible recluse, I’m afraid. But I managed to lure him here. Hopefully we can make him have a little fun.”
    â€œI do hope so.”
    Bertie beamed at her. “I knew you would see it my way, darling! Now I must run and do my duty as host. You go and see what you can do with our friend there.” He took her empty glass from her hand and rushed away with a swirl of his cape.
    Lulu looked back to David. He hadn’t moved from his place by the water. He still stared out at she knew not what, shutting