Mirror Image (21 page)

The Dawsons arrived from New York the next day, in Charles' new Packard,
and Geoffrey almost flew out of the car when they arrived, he was so
excited. He raced right past Victoria who was standing outside waiting
for them, and shouted at her. "Where's Ollie? "

"In the kitchen, " she answered as he raced by, and around to the back
door, as his father looked at her cautiously with a shy smile, feeling
somewhat awkward.

He wished he had his son's sure eye, but he didn't.

"Is he right? Are you Victoria? " It was ridiculous not knowing which
one his fiancee was, but in truth he didn't. At first, he had thought he
could sense who she was, but after his last visit with them, he was no
longer as certain. There were times when Victoria was as shy with him as
Olivia was, and other times when Olivia had relaxed, feeling that he was
family now, and she was as bold as Victoria had been with him right from
the beginning. It was becoming more confusing as he got to know them
better, instead of less, and the differences between them seemed less
distinct now. But as they became more at ease with him, he found that
they had a similar sense of humor, and laughed at many of the same
things. They had the same smile, the same laughter, the same mannerisms.
They even had the same sneeze. If anything, he was even more confused
now than he had been in the beginning.

And Victoria was laughing at him openly, as she nodded and confirmed
that she was indeed his future wife, and Charles looked much relieved as
he gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek and told her how happy he was to
see her.

"I think I'm going to have to buy you each a pair of very handsome
diamond pins with your initials, or I'll be making a fool of myself each
time we come here." They both laughed as she tucked a hand into his arm
and walked him into the front hall of Henderson Manor.

"That's a very nice idea, " she said, and then looked up at him, aching
to play with him a little bit. It was too hard to resist the temptation.

Having reassured him about who she was, she suddenly thought it would be
funny to turn the tables on him, and see how he reacted to it.

"How do you know I'm actually not Ollie? " she asked innocently,
confusing him suddenly, and enjoying it more than she should have.

"Are you? " He stepped away from her quickly, looking mortified at
having been so familiar with her. And Victoria nodded, pretending to be
her sister. But just as she did, Geoffrey came bounding in, with pink
cheeks and tousled hair, holding Olivia's hand as they came from the
kitchen.

"Hello, Victoria, " Geoff said nonchalantly, and his father looked
somewhat exasperated at the tack Victoria had played on him. Or had the
boy mistaken them too? Charles looked at both twins, unable to tell now,
but Olivia began shaking a finger at her sister. She had instantly
sensed what Victoria had been doing.

"Have you been torturing Charles? " she asked accusingly. She knew her
sister too well. It had always been Victoria who genuinely loved
switching.

"She has, " he said, flushing darkly, with a grateful look at his future
sister-in-law for ending the charade so quickly. "She was trying to make
me think she was you, " he explained, as Geoffrey laughed at him.

"And she had me completely bewildered for a moment." Geoffrey thought
his father was pretty silly for not knowing the difference between the
two women.

"Now, how did you know with such certainty? " Charles asked him in mild
frustration. It amazed him that a child so young could discern the
difference between the two, but he couldn't. Perhaps he was confused by
his own emotions, he wondered.

"I don't know." Geoffrey shrugged. "They just look different to me."

"He's the only person I've ever met, other than Bertie, who knows the
difference." Olivia smiled at the boy, and extended a hand to Charles
and he shook it. He turned to his fiancee then, and she was still amused
at what she'd done. She liked making him feel unsure of himself, and
putting him off balance, and he sensed that about her.

"I won't ever trust you again, Victoria Henderson, " he said to the
right twin this time, and Olivia laughed at him.

"That's very wise of you, Charles. I suggest you remember that!"

"what's going on here? " Edward Henderson came into the front hall and
he was pleased to see them.

They had a lively dinner that night, talking about New York, and
Edward's business deals. The steel mill had finally been sold, and
Edward was extremely pleased with the outcome, and the way Charles had
handled it. He was a quiet man, but he was masterful in business.

And at last, after dinner, Edward and Olivia left them alone.

Olivia went upstairs to check on Geoff. And Edward said he was tired.

and wanted to retire early. Olivia and her father walked slowly up the
stairs arm in arm, and whispered about how smoothly things were going.

He was very relieved about all of it, and Olivia nodded in agreement,
but she had mixed emotions.

But she forgot all of them the moment she saw Geoff upstairs.

Bertie had put him to bed, but he was not asleep, and he was lying in
one of their enormous guest beds, with his arms around a frayed,
tattered monkey.

"who's that? " Olivia asked with interest, as she sat down beside him.

"That's Henry. He's very old. He's as old as I am. I take him
everywhere, except to school, " he said matter-of-factly, holding him in
the crook of one arm, as he smiled at Olivia. The boy looked very little
in the big bed, and she wanted to lean down and kiss him, but she didn't
know him well enough yet to do that.

"He's very handsome, " Olivia said seriously. "Does he bite?

Monkeys do sometimes, you know."

"Of course not, " he said, grinning at her. He thought she was pretty
and funny. "I wish I had a twin.

You could play tricks on people all the time, like Victoria did on Dad
today. He really thought she was you.

And he got all embarrassed." He thought that was particularly amusing.

"How can you tell the difference between us? " she asked curiously,
wondering what it was he saw that others didn't. He had the innocence of
a child, and as a result, somehow, a clearer vision.

"You think differently, " he said simply. "I can see it."

"You can see how we think? " Olivia sounded startled. He was wise beyond
his years, she wondered if he always had been, or if it had come to him
when he lost his mother.

"Sometimes, " he answered her question, and then startled her even more.

"Victoria doesn't like me."

"Of course she does! " Olivia was quick to say, "she's just not very
used to children."

"She's used to all the same things you are. She just doesn't like them.

She doesn't talk to me like you do. Does she really like my father? " It
was a painfully direct question for a child his age, and for an instant
Olivia was not sure how to answer.

"I think she likes your father very much, Geoff. I don't think they know
each other very well yet, but they will in time."

"Then why are they getting married if they don't know each other?

That's pretty stupid." He wasn't entirely wrong, but life was a lot more
complicated than that, although she couldn't explain it. to him.

"Sometimes people get married because they know it's a good thing to do,
and they will grow to love each other in time. Sometimes those are the
best marriages, the ones where you begin as friends, and become a great
deal more over a lifetime." It sounded sensible to her, but Geoffrey
looked doubtful.

"My mom used to say that she loved us more than the whole world and then
some. She said she loved Daddy more than anyone in the world when she
married him, even more than her mother and father. And then she had me,
and she loved me just as much as him, " he lowered his voice
conspiratorially then, "actually she said she loved me more, but not to
tell him, it would hurt his feelings."

"I believe that, " Olivia said as her heart went out to him, for the
mother he had lost, and the childhood that had nearly been shattered
forever. "She must have loved you very, very much."

"She did, " he said sadly and then fell silent as he thought about her.

He thought about her often, and dreamed of her frequently. She was
always wearing a white dress, and smiling at him as she walked toward
him. But he always woke just before she reached him. "I loved her too, "
he said, holding tightly to Qlivia's hand. "She was so pretty, and she
laughed a lot .. . kind of like you do .. ." And then, without saying
anything, she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, and held him
close to her for a minute. He was the child she would never have now,
the gift that had been given to her unexpectedly, the child that had
come to her in place of her sister.

"I love you, Geoffy, " she said softly, and meant every word of it as
she stroked his hair, and smiled down at him, and he smiled peacefully
at her.

"My mom used to call me that .. . but it's okay .. . you can call me
that too. I think she'd like it."

"Thank you." She told him a story then about when she and Victoria were
young and gave a tea party for all their friends from school, and teased
everyone by changing places, and how confusing it got because everyone
expected them to know things they didn't. And he loved he'ring about it,
and chuckled deeply.

She sat with him for over an hour, and eventually he drifted off to
sleep, holding her hand in his own, the monkey on the pillow next to
him, and she kissed him again, and quietly left the room, thinking of
him and his mother. Olivia felt a strange affinity with her, almost as
though she knew her.

Victoria was already in their room. She was smoking a cigarette, and she
hadn't even bothered to open the window.

"I can hardly wait till you leave." Olivia rolled her eyes and pretended
to strangle on the smoke in the room, as Victoria laughed at her. They
were such good friends, and so happy together. Olivia hated the thought
of her leaving.

"Where were you? "

"With Geoff. Poor kid. I think he really misses his mother." Victoria
nodded, but made no comment.

"Charles has agreed to go to Europe on our honeymoon." She looked
pleased with herself, and Olivia smiled and shook her head.

"Poor man. You're a monster. Does he know you smoke? " Victoria shook
her head and they both laughed. "Maybe you ought to tell him, or give it
up, that's a better idea."

"Maybe he ought to start smoking."

"How charming, ' Olivia said, undressing slowly, and trying not to think
of Charles in any way other than as a brother.

"I told him you'd like Geoffrey to stay here. He liked the idea.

He doesn't want to take him to Europe. He's afraid the ship would upset
him."

"I think it would, " Olivia said, remembering what he had just said
about his mother. It was obviously all still fresh in his mind. It
hadn't even been two years, although it would be by the time they were
married.

"Have you set the date yet? " Victoria nodded, but did not look pleased.
They had just discussed it that evening. "June twentieth.

The Aquatania sails from New York on the twenty-first. It will be the
return leg of her maiden voyage." Victoria smiled with pleasure at that,
but not the wedding, and Olivia looked concerned as she said it.

"You don't think that will be traumatic for him? " Olivia asked, and
Victoria hesitated and then shrugged at the question.

"He wasn't on the ship with her. She was coming over from England with
Geoff. He was never on it."