The Winds Of Fortune Episode 01
Miss Minnie Vandunlan looked out of the window at the gardens of Gusher House and smiled. The grass was an emerald green and the leaves of the trees were incandescent.
It was a fine morning, and it should be a pleasant walk into the city this afternoon.
She and her sister were due to meet a group of friends at the Pandora Club, and she was really looking forward to it.
She wandered over to an armchair and sat beside her sister, picking up her copy of “The Great Gatsby”. She flicked through it absently, then put it down.
Pearl cast her a sidelong glance. Set in 1929 “You’re restless today. Are you impatient to get into town?”
“I suppose I must be.” Minnie smiled. It wasn’t like her to be fidgety.
She loved the social whirl of their life in Rhode Island, but she was an intelligent girl and just as happy with her sister’s company, a newspaper or a good book.
“I suppose darling Theo will be there?”
Minnie blushed and nodded. “I think so. He said he would make every effort to come.”
“Then I’m sure he will.”
Minnie nodded and felt a warm glow spreading inside her.
She was a practical young woman of twenty-four, and although she enjoyed the company of her male friends, she had never swooned over the species, unlike some.
However, when it came to Mr Theodore Cranby, she had lost both her head and her heart.
Grandmother Louisa glanced up from her seat by the fireplace and nodded.
“Mr Cranby will be there. He is a decent young man, with proper principles and feelings. He knows how to conduct himself.”
The two girls smiled at one another.
“What we need now is to find another such gentleman for you, Pearl.”
Pearl swallowed a laugh.
“Yes, Grandmama,” she replied meekly.
Minnie grinned.
Her younger sister was a sweet, pretty girl, and she didn’t think Pearl would have any trouble finding herself a husband when the time was right.
She looked a picture today, with her gleaming bob and clear green eyes. Her drop-waist dress complemented her slim figure, and she was wearing the long pearl necklace that Grandmother Louisa had bestowed on her to match her name.
“What about that Henderson boy? He’s from a good family.”
“Oh, Grandmama, he’s too brash for our Pearl, don’t you think?” Minnie replied.
Her grandmother gave Minnie a level look. “Perhaps you are right.” She turned to her other granddaughter. “You do have a tendency to shyness, Pearl.”
At that moment, their mother, Carrie, sailed into the room, discarding her fur coat, gloves and cloche hat as she went.
“Darlings, here you are.”
She came over and kissed her daughters, bringing with her the scent of the outdoors, cigarettes and Chanel.
She turned to her mother-in-law.
“Good morning, Louisa.”
“Good morning, Carrie.”
The older woman frowned.
“I suppose you have been to one of your meetings again.”
“Indeed I have.”
Carrie turned and smiled at her daughters, who knew very well that their grandmother disapproved of their mother’s support for women’s rights and her social campaigns.
“We have been discussing the possibility of funding a new children’s hospital this morning,” Carrie declared.
“At least that is good for society, unlike your suffrage shenanigans.” Louisa sniffed. “I shall never sully myself by voting.”
Minnie hid a smile and kept her thoughts to herself.
Personally, she was delighted to have been enfranchised last year and was proud of her mother’s work.
There was no point arguing with Grandmama, though. She was of a different generation and stubborn as could be.
Moreover, Minnie was fond of her.
Louisa might be set in her ways, but she was an intelligent woman and a fountain of kindness.
Her mother rang the bell, then sat down.
“It’s a fine day for your outing this afternoon, girls. It is delightful outside.”
A knock was heard at the door.
“Ah, Miller,” Carrie remarked. “Hang my things up and send up a glass of sarsaparilla.
“All that talking creates a dreadful thirst.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The butler bowed, quietly collected her outside apparel and left the room again.
“Your Theo will be there this afternoon, will he, Minnie? Such an interesting, handsome young man.”
Minnie nodded.
“I think so, Mother.”
“Wonderful!” Carrie clapped her hands and smiled round at them all.
At that moment, Minnie’s father entered the room and the atmosphere changed at once, like a sluice of cold water.
He had his overcoat on, his hair was dishevelled and he clutched a glass in his right hand.
Carrie showed no sign of noticing anything amiss.
She rose, went forward and kissed him.
“Grover, darling, where are you off to?”
“Into town, Carrie. I must speak to my broker.”
His face was pale and an anxious frown hovered on his forehead.
“I know I promised to take you for lunch, but business is most pressing.”
She stroked his hair into place and nodded.
“That is quite all right. Business is business.”
He nodded and thrust his trilby on to his head.
“Take care of yourself,” Carrie added, quietly removing the whisky glass from his hand.
Then she stood on tiptoe and whispered something into his ear, which Minnie couldn’t catch.
For an instant there was a flicker of a smile on his face, then it was gone.
“I have to go. I don’t know how long I shall be.”
With that, he left the room abruptly, leaving the women staring at the door as it closed behind him.
Minnie felt a sinking sensation.
Her father had not been himself for some weeks and seemed to be behaving more erratically each day.
What was wrong with him?
To be continued…