“In the hall?” Grandmother Eileen almost tripped when the waitress she had been holding on to left to get her scotch.

“It’s delicate,” Madison whispered in a conspiratorial way she was sure would get her grandmother’s attention.

“Delicate?” she asked much too loud, and two people close by sent them curious stares.

“Yes.”

“Well, then.” With swaying hips, she staggered ahead.

“What are you up to?” Sherry asked quietly.

“Rescuing her from herself.” When Madison saw her grandmother’s new butler, who she didn’t know by name yet, she waved him over.

The butler followed them into the hall. “Yes, ma’am?”

“I need your help. Your discretion is obligatory.”

The maybe fifty-year-old man looked at her with a neutral expression. He was a professional. “You can count on me, ma’am.”

Leaning closer to him, she whispered, “I need your help to get my grandmother to bed. She’s had a few drinks too many.”

“I understand,” he said, as if Madison had asked him to get her coat.

She doubted her grandmother knew what a good servant she had in him.

When the butler had closed the doors to the parlor, Grandmother Eileen spun around and almost lost her balance in the process. She grabbed Madison’s arm for a second before letting go again. “So, talk.”

“Grandmother, I think you should go to bed.”

“What?” she screeched.

Sherry moved between Madison and her grandmother. “Did you hear about Olivia?”

“Olivia?”

Sherry nodded and wrapped one arm around her grandmother. Slowly, she led her toward the stairs. “It seems she’s been having an affair with her yoga instructor.”

Eileen almost toppled over. “Really? That’s scandalous!”

“It sure is.” She kept leading her up, step by step. “But you haven’t heard the worst part yet.”

“What’s that?”

They reached the first floor, and Sherry sent Madison and the butler a questioning gaze.

The butler pointed to the right and held up two fingers.

Sherry led her grandmother to the right. “Olivia is pregnant by him.”

“No!”

“Oh yes.”

Madison and the butler followed in silence.

She’s incredible. How had she known what to do? Then it hit her: Sherry’s mother was an alcoholic. She probably had years of experience handling her inebriated mother.

“Who did you hear that from?”

Sherry opened the door to Grandmother Eileen’s bedroom and switched the light on. “Sophia.”

“Sophia?” An uncharacteristic snort escaped Grandmother Eileen. “I wouldn’t even believe her if she told me she’s a woman.” She squinted. “What are we doing in my bedroom?” She sucked in a breath. “Isn’t one Fielding woman enough for you?”

Madison had to cover her mouth not to giggle.

But Grandmother Eileen seemed to have heard her anyway and spun around. She lost her equilibrium and fell.

Sherry tried to hold her up but failed.

Madison and the butler helped her and carried her to the bed together.