CHAPTER 8: What the Guest List Failed to Mention

Adelaide recovered the way proud women do, by pretending she had not been afraid.
'Victor,' she said, with a smile too thin to survive the light, 'this is an unfortunate family matter.'
Victor rose slowly with Clara's hand in his.
'It became my matter when it happened in my ballroom.'
The sentence moved through the guests like a dropped glass.
Julian looked sharply at Maren. She did not look away. He knew the Ashford name was connected to the building, of course. Everyone in the city did. What he had not known, because he had never cared to ask, was how direct that connection remained.
Victor turned to the woman with the folder.
'Please show Mrs. Whitcomb what she signed.'
The woman opened the folder and removed a copy of the venue agreement. Adelaide's signature sat at the bottom in blue ink, elegant and satisfied.
'The Whitcomb Foundation rented this hall under a charitable courtesy rate,' the attorney said. 'The courtesy was extended to Mrs. Whitcomb through Maren Ashford Whitcomb.'
Several faces turned toward Maren with new calculations.