But not if Mrs. Darlington lost the entire one hundred thousand dollars, which Gideon felt sure would be the outcome of this scheme. How to explain that to Mrs. Darlington, though?

“I can understand your desire to leave an even greater legacy to your children,” Gideon said in an effort to flatter her and perhaps win her confidence. “It shows how generous and loving you are. The terms of your husband’s will are very strict, however, and I will have to discuss this request with my partners before making a decision.”

She frowned at this. “But you always just give me whatever I ask for.”

“When you ask for a few hundred dollars for a specific purpose, I am free to use my judgment. This situation is entirely different since it is such a large sum and you haven’t even told me why you want the money or what you plan to do with it.”

“I did tell you. I want to invest it.” She was annoyed now, but that couldn’t be helped. “I understand that you already have it invested for me, in fact.”

She had him there. “Yes, we do, but—”

“And are any of those investments earning a return of one hundred percent?”

“No, they aren’t—”

“And yet when I give you the opportunity to make an investment like that, you rebuff me.” She was as outraged as a tiny old lady could be.

Gideon drew a calming breath. One of them should be calm. “I am not rebuffing you. Your husband trusted us to protect your interests, so naturally, we are going to be careful about advising you.”

“I don’t need advice from you. I just need my money.”

Gideon nodded sagely, or at least he hoped he looked sage. “As I said, I will have to discuss this with my partners, but the first thing they are going to ask me is what you will be investing in, and if I can’t tell them that, I’m afraid they will never approve.”

Mrs. Darlington rolled her eyes in disgust. “Well, you can tell them they don’t have to worry. This is something of which Mr. Darlington himself would approve.”

“How can you be sure of that?” he asked kindly.

“Because he told me so himself just the other day.”

—

The scream was followed by a loud thump from another room, and for a moment everyone in the waiting room was frozen in place. Then everyone who was still seated jumped to their feet, and Mrs. Vanderslice cried, “Madame Ophelia!”

Elizabeth and Anna exchanged a look and then turned to where the scream had come from. A door marked the entrance to the other room, and she and Anna hurried toward it.