“I’m sure you’ll find a partner who’ll do the work for you,” Pandora said sweetly. Already girls were looking with interest in their direction.
“I thought you’d be my partner,” Archie objected. He glanced at the terrace, where Owen had appeared. “Is that the way it’s going to be from now on? You’re going to wait on Owen hand and foot while Virginia and I get shuffled to the background?” He sighed theatrically. “If I had known that ten years ago, I wouldn’t have risked a broken arm to get your cat down from that tree.”
“Whiskers wasn’t my cat, I was taking care of him for the stable boy.” Pandora smiled at the memory. “And you’re the one who put him in the tree.”
“I was eleven. I thought cats liked trees,” Archie said in his defense. “Owen doesn’t deserve you as a partner, but at least you’ll get the best clues.” He glanced around for a waiter. “I’m going to find a cocktail. I need something to get me through the next hour.”
Pandora spotted Owen. He was dressed similarly to Archie, but he wore a vest instead of a sweater. She took one more gulp of her cocktail for courage and raised her hand in a small wave.
“Pandora, it’s wonderful to see you. Mother’s gone all out with the treasure hunt,” Owen said. “I hope you have your thinking cap on.”
“I’ve never been to a treasure hunt before,” Pandora admitted.
“It’s great fun; she hides things all over the house and grounds. At Christmas, she hid six live partridges in the pantry, and last July she hid a lion cub in the boathouse.”
“I’ll let someone else search the boathouse,” Pandora said with a smile.
“I talked to her about the Enrights’ party,” Owen continued. “The Enrights are away, but you’re as good as invited.”
A sparkling feeling formed in Pandora’s chest. Owen hadn’t forgotten about the party! And he hadn’t mentioned tennis. Pandora was right. Owen must be in love with her.
“Owen, I found you.” Lillian approached them. “I just finished helping your mother with the final clue. Are you ready?”
“I better go.” Owen turned to Pandora. “Have you chosen a partner?”
Pandora faltered. Her drink spilled on the ground.
“He’s around here somewhere,” she said offhandedly.
She hated not telling the truth. But she couldn’t let Lillian believe Owen chose her over Pandora.
“My parents and I attended a treasure hunt at the Ritz in Paris last year. That’s where treasure hunts started,” Lillian said knowledgeably. “One guest found a diamond bracelet in the chandelier and was allowed to keep it.” She put her arm through Owen’s. “The trick is to start early. While everyone else is fighting over the clues, you and your partner start looking.”
Pandora glanced around for Archie, but he was talking to a pretty girl wearing a lilac tea dress. Virginia had taken the car to Byrdcliffe, and Pandora didn’t know anyone else at the party. She was going to have to hunt for treasures by herself.
“He must be inside,” she said. “I’ll go find him.”
Even without a partner, the treasure hunt was more fun than Pandora expected. For a while, she forgot about Owen’s promises, about Lillian’s jarring comments, and concentrated on the clues. Archie and Owen were right, Mabel hid things in the most unlikely places. Pandora found a live lobster in the swimming pool. The gardener fished it out and gave it to the cook to boil for dinner. She found an American flag rolled up in the piano in the music room and a pistol that Mabel’s ancestor used in the Revolutionary War inside a head of lettuce in the greenhouse.
Archie and his partner found the most outrageous treasure: a six-foot Statue of Liberty wearing a diamond tiara. It stood in the statuary in the garden, but only Archie noticed that it was different from the others.
As the hunt wound down, the guests gathered on the lawn. “There’s one more treasure,” Owen announced, standing on the stone steps.
The guests each glanced at their sheet of clues, puzzled. All the items had been found.
“Please follow me to the front of the house,” Owen instructed.
Pandora’s feet hurt, and her head throbbed from the alcohol. She longed for something cold and sweet to drink.
The latest model Winthrop GT stood on the gravel. Pandora didn’t know much about cars, but she could tell it was expensive. It was lime green, with a white canvas top and leather seats. It had a spare wheel displayed on the side and a jump seat in the back.
“No, I didn’t drag everyone here to admire the newest car from Winthrop Motors,” Owen said when the guests gathered in a half circle. “Though she’s a beauty. She’s the 1926 touring sedan with the Winthrop-patented engine.”
Everyone laughed, and a few guests clapped.
“This treasure is a little different. I hid it myself, and it’s only for one person.” Owen took a piece of paper from his trouser pocket. “One might say it’s the Winthrop way of welcoming the Clarksons to Hyde Park.”
Pandora wondered what Owen was talking about. Owen’s mother had hidden the treasures and written out the clues.
Owen addressed Lillian, who stood in the front row.
“To find this treasure, think back to our drive from Nice to Monte Carlo,” he read from the paper. “Don’t be afraid to look thoroughly. Whatever oil or grease you encounter will be worth it.”
Pandora felt a small stab, as if she’d pricked her finger on one of the rosebushes. She knew that Owen met Lillian in Europe last summer, but she hadn’t realized they’d spent time together.
Lillian smiled prettily at the crowd. She ventured close to the car and opened the glove compartment. She looked beneath the seats and in between the spokes of the wheels and finally under the hood. Suddenly Lillian squealed and emerged, holding a small velvet box.
“Well done.” Owen joined her. “Your hands might be greasy. Let me open it for you.”
He took off his straw hat and dropped to one knee.
“Lillian Grace Clarkson,” he began. “I knew from the first time I saw you on the beach in Cannes, that you were right for me. You’ll be the perfect mother to our children and the best wife I could ask for. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate America’s birthday than asking you to marry me.”
Lillian stuck out her hand. “Yes, yes!”
Owen took out the ring and slipped it on her finger. The yellow topaz looked huge, even from a distance. It was a rectangular cut, surrounded by a burst of small diamonds.
“My mother insisted I use her ring, which is yellow topaz and diamond, that my father brought back from Brazil,” Owen said, addressing the guests. He turned back to Lillian. “I promise to add to it with the latest trinkets from Tiffany’s.”
Lillian kissed Owen and ran straight to her mother. A champagne bottle popped, and everyone started cheering.
Pandora’s stomach dropped, and she was afraid she might faint. She glanced up and saw the other young women crowding around Lillian to get a closer look at the ring. That ring should have been Pandora’s. She should have been standing in the center of the group, the diamond made even more sparkling by the joy in Pandora’s heart.