Poison Ivory by Tamar Myers

Author:Tamar Myers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2009-11-25T16:00:00+00:00

You can always tell a family’s history by the amount of silver that is displayed in the dining room. Dora’s sideboard was groaning from the weight of a bath-size sterling punch bowl and cups the size of margarine tubs. A massive tea set took up most of the dining room table, and two glass cabinets were so full of silver odds and ends that it was impossible to keep the doors securely latched.

But instead of using her heirlooms to make and serve the tea, Dora boiled water in a red enamel kettle and poured it into a blue and green painted mug that had once belonged to Truman Capote.

“I bought it at Disney World,” she explained. “There’s a shop there that sells all kinds of things that were once owned by celebrities.”

“Were you a fan of his?”

“Not so much—not really. I just thought it would make a nice story.”

“And so it does.” I sipped from the same spot where presumably Truman’s lips had once pressed. “Ah, that’s good tea.”

“Here’s to Lady Grey,” she said, and held aloft an orange mug of humbler origins.

“I bet you must know everyone in Mount Pleasant.”

“Of course, dear—well, anyone who is anyone. I mean, I certainly don’t know all the carpetbaggers. And the Mexicans,” she added in a low voice.

“By carpetbaggers, may I assume that you mean Northern retirees?”

“You may. I suppose that I’ve met a few good ones along the way. I must have, don’t you think? But they so look down on us. Because they think we speak with an accent, therefore we must be uneducated.”

“I believe that attitude is changing. My husband’s cousin, by the way, is from an old Mount Pleasant family. They don’t live in the Old Village, but farther north along Rifle Range.”

That certainly got her attention. “What is his name?”

“Booger Smith. His daddy is Estus Claybill Smith and his mama is Rae Lee—shoot, I can’t remember her maiden name.”

“Pinochet. I know the family well. I used to babysit for Estus and his five brothers when they lived in closer to town. Why, I’ll be, Abby, you’re practically family.”

“Just as long as I’m not kissing cousins to Booger Smith; he comes by that name honestly.”

Dora laughed. “Like father, like son. Oh, the stories I could tell.”

I took another long sip of Lady Grey and carefully set Truman’s mug down. “Miss Dora, do you know a family named Bowfrey?”

My new friend scowled just as sternly as that unpleasant author who has thankfully taken her bad attitude with her to Charlotte. “A family, no, but a single woman, yes. She calls herself Lady—some sort of foreign aristocracy—and I tell you, Abby, she is bad news.”

I tried to adopt the demeanor of an eager young gossip. Sadly, it wasn’t hard to do.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Do you think she’s like the head of a smuggling ring or something?”

Dora’s pale blue eyes widened and she had to struggle to return her mouthful of tea into the cup, rather than spray it hither, thither, and especially on me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.