"But I liked the liver," he said, then flinched as if I might hurl the pillow I was clutching in his direction. "I'll try and do something about it, Molly," he said. "I promise you I won't let my family starve." He gave a small sigh. "The trouble is I'm already run off my feet right now. I'll be in the middle of something and get a message from the mayor that he'd like to go over plans for the handling of carriages and automobiles at his reception and then from the German ambassador concerned about who will be guarding his battleship."

"As if a ship with that many guns can't guard itself," I said. "As it happens, I do have small savings of my own I was keeping for a rainy day. Those can get us through a few more weeks, but I'm not paying your employees."

"I can't let you use your savings, Molly," he said.

"We could always ask your mother for a loan," I said in a measured tone. Daniel's mother was, thankfully, involved with the Hudson-Fulton festivities in White Plains, otherwise we would have had the expense of hosting her as well. Although where we would put her these days escaped me. Our little house was nearly overflowing. But, luckily, the parades were not confined to Manhattan. There were to be parades all the way up the Hudson, both naval and land, continuing for weeks into October. We received daily letters from Mrs. Sullivan about how grand their parade was to be, and I will confess I was just as glad to have her stay at home. I didn't mention this to Daniel; instead I said, "I'm sure she'd be delighted to help with our current economic crisis."

"Absolutely not!" His face turned red again. "We are not letting my mother know our current predicament. I've said I'll sort it out and I will."

I suppressed an urge to grin. That was exactly the response I knew I'd get. Now he really would have an incentive to get that pay!

CHAPTER TWO

We didn't see anything of Sid and Gus until Wednesday of that week. I had to restrain Bridie several times from knocking on their door, reminding her that they were getting ready for their guests and it wasn't proper to barge in uninvited. I happened to see one guest arrive. Judging by the number of valises and hatboxes she brought with her I thought this might be Gus's cousin from Boston. The Boston Walcotts were known to be members of high society, and money was not lacking.

However, on Wednesday afternoon Gus knocked on our front door, to be greeted by excited whoops from both Liam and Bridie. I was alone with those two, Aileen having taken Mary Kate out in her buggy to do the vegetable shopping and Daniel working, as usual. His hours had become longer and longer since this whole performance started. He'd come in, grab a bite to eat, and then be off again, sometimes late into the evening.

"Well, isn't that a warm and wonderful welcome," I heard Gus's voice say. I had been in the kitchen, making a suet pudding. I wiped off my hands, hurriedly removed my apron, and came out into the hall.

"I wanted to come and visit you but my mother wouldn't let me," I heard Bridie complain. "She said you were busy with lots of guests."

"That is true," Gus replied, "but we are never too busy for our dear neighbors. I came to invite you over for tea to meet them."

"Is there cake?" Liam asked.

"I'm not sure you're included in the invitation, young man," I said, but Gus laughed.

"Of course he is. And yes, there is cake. Come on." She glanced back at me. "You'll have to meet my cousin, for which I apologize in advance. She's very much an old-school Boston Walcott and you'll see why I fled from my home as soon as I could." She fell into step beside me. "I received the request to stay with us out of the blue. She has friends appearing in a parade and wants to watch. She heard I had a charming little house nearby and since funds were tight for a poor single lady like herself she hoped I could find a small corner for her." She glanced at me and rolled her eyes. "I could hardly say no, could I? She's a fearsome spinster so don't be surprised if she finds everything wrong with you."

"But you have more than one guest staying?" I asked. "Sid mentioned fellow Vassar alums?"

"That's right," Gus said. "There were supposed to be two of them, but only one has shown up so far." I saw a worried frown cross her face, but she went ahead and opened their front door for us to enter. I heard the sound of voices coming from the front parlor. Since Sid and Gus had the habit of turning that room into something else—it had recently been a movie studio and then a Japanese shrine—I presumed that it had gone back to normal sofas and chairs in honor of the guests. Gus went ahead of us.

"Here they are," she said. "Molly and Bridie dying to meet our guests and Liam dying for cake."