“Different Joseph,” Monica reminded him.
“There’s more thanone?”
“Guess how many Johns there are.”
He looked like he couldn’t tell if she was joking or not. “John is a gospel, isn’t it?”
Monica left him at that. Later, she would have a chat with Abigail about religion, reiterating that her parents were not religious but it was up to Abigail to decide how she felt about it on her own.I suppose it’s all right to help her develop an open mind.Religiosity was more prevalent than ever in their social circles. Abigail should at least understand how it worked and what people generally believed.
Her main concern was Isabella having control over it. Or anything, for that matter.
After dinner, which was held in the main house, Eva took Monica aside while the others attended a screening of a new Disney movie.
“You should know,” Eva said as they stood on the frosty balcony near the family home theater, “that my mother won’t stop asking questions about Abby’s marriage prospects.”
Monica attempted to keep her cool, but the cold night air was not helping. Every time she considered what she heard, she realized that she wasthis closeto overheating out of distrust for Isabella. “What do you mean hermarriageprospects? She’s seven!”
“You know how my mother is. She had ten potential husbands picked out for me by the time I was Abby’s age.” Eva leaned against the railing overlooking the front driveway to Warren Manor. “This is more of the same bullshit. She’s a purist in every gross sense.”
“Yes, I know what you mean, having been on the end of that more than once.”
“Oh, don’t I know it. Henry was the golden boy until you came along.”
“Not quite. He refused to marry your mother’s prospects, such as Victoria Nicholson.”
“Please, I don’t want to hear about him and Vic when she tried to marry me off toDamon Monroe.” The full-body shudder that gave Eva was not from the freeze settling in on them. “Even you can appreciate how awful that would have been for both of us.”
“Damon likes his women docile but willful. So, yes, you would have been miserable.”
“Now imagine who she’s picking out for Abby. She was askingmeof all people what I think of the Monroes’ standing right now. He just had a son, you know.”
“An infant!”
“Doesn’t matter. Mom is thinking about uniting families like this is medieval Europe. Actually, you know what’s really interesting?” Eva slid her arms across the railing, bringing her head and torso closer to Monica, who buttoned up the front of her sweater and crossed her arms against the cold. “Speaking of Europe, she wanted to know what I thought about the Beaumonts of Nice.”
That certainly piqued Monica’s interest. “The Beaumonts? Whatever for? They washed their hands of American pursuits before I came onto the scene. Outside of Jean-Pierre…” She referred to the first-born son and first in line to inherit the grand French fortune. “He’s come to the Château quite a few times. Has a taste for ‘exotic’ women, his words.”
Eva rolled her eyes. “Explains why he spends so much time sex-pesting in Thailand from what I hear. Anyway, he has a son.Twosons, actually. Including a ten-year-old named Louis. You ask me, my mother is already writing the wedding invitations in her head.”
“This is absurd…” But it did align with an off-handed comment earlier.Isabella said something about Abigail taking French instead of Spanish.Winchester Academy offered three foreignlanguage courses for their elementary students, and Abigail was drawn to Spanish because she heard it the most. Monica encouraged it because it would come in handy later in life. French, though?Very on point for the wealthy.But the Warrens had no ties to France. They occasionally visited, but it was purely for retreats and to attend weddings.
“Mother’s friends with Lily Beaumont, Jean-Pierre’s mother.” Eva passed over her phone, which included a photo she had found of Isabella with a snotty-looking French matriarch who would have rather been anywhere else than posing with an American. “Don’t let that expression fool you. They’re close. I think they’re conspiring about something.”
“How is that possible? Abigail’s a child. They’re on another continent. Any ‘deal’ Isabella makes will be quashed by Henry and me before Abby even knows about it.”
“You know that. I know that. But does my mother?” Eva took back her phone. “She’s cooked in the delulu.”
“Be that as it may, I am aware of how people like her think. I see it all the time at work.”
“Bet you do.”
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Sounds like I should investigate the Beaumonts.”
“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. You’ve got enough going on.”
Monica didn’t need a reminder. Renovations on the Salon expansion began the next day, and her phone was already blowing up with calendar pings and texts from her contractors. She had a folder dedicated to the interior designer helping her shape the private space that would be reimagined as a haven for those looking for lessons, host parties, and one-on-one time with some of the hostesses who doubled as escorts.
Monica prayed that the Beaumonts – or anyone else, really – never knew aboutthat.
