Come along then,” said Colin anxiously and he led them out of the library into the hall, and pushed the button for the elevator.

When the doors opened, there was an elevator man operating the controls. Tess didn’t remember that before. Maybe that was the policy at night. That made sense. Especially since he looked an awful lot like the doorman. People tended to be security conscious these days, particularly at night.

“Good evening, James,” said Colin quite politely. “I’ve invited Tess and Max up for dessert and a visit.”

James seemed to know Colin very well as he didn’t ask for the floor number. He just nodded. The elevator went up one more floor than it usually did. The doors opened on the 8th floor. Max noticed, because he always noticed things like this, that the elevator buttons used to only go to 7. Now, they went to 8. Curious. It must be a private floor. Had they walked into a different elevator than the one they used yesterday to visit Aunt Evie? Max and Tess’s room was on the first floor, so, he reasoned, he didn’t have that much experience with the elevator. But Max could swear the one they were in yesterday only had seven floors.

When they reached the 8th floor and the doors opened, it was even more unusual. The doors opened onto a hallway that only had one door. Not like the rest of the hotel, where there were hotel room doors, lots of them. This just had one door. And it didn’t even seem to have a lock, as Colin twisted the doorknob and let them right in. Well, actually, they were let in by what looked like a private doorman. He was dressed in an old-fashioned footman’s outfit, a red jacket with gold piping and pants that almost seemed to match. But then again, everyone at the party was dressed up, hair curled in tiny locks around women’s over-powdered faces; headbands, some with a flower tied on the right-hand side accenting the gaiety; dresses that fringed; sling back heels. Some of the men were wearing black patent leather loafers that Tess thought looked a little like slippers, but were probably comfortable to dance in, along with their somewhat formal suits; coats with tails; hats; an occasional red or black sash tied around a gentleman’s waist; and vests underneath their jackets. It looked almost as if it was a costume party. An effect that was amplified by the piano player performing at the black baby grand piano that was so shiny you could almost see your reflection in it. The top was propped up, for maximum sound level.