"Ange, has it ever occurred to you that Rafe found a kindred spirit when he met you? You're both kind, sensitive, talented artists. And you're both smart enough to have found each other, two wonderful needles in a haystack," Nancy insisted.
"Smart or just lucky?" Angela murmured.
"Who cares which it is?" Nancy placed her hands firmly on Angela's shoulders. "You are beautiful and talented. And best of all, you're one of a kind—real haute couture—not some off-the-rack design."
Angela chuckled in spite of herself.
"Furthennore," Nancy continued, "you're as worthy of Rafe's love as he is of yours. You need to trust yourself and Rafe. He's in love with you, and you're in love with him. It seems to me that's simple mathematics."
Nancy stood up as if the subject was closed. "Now, listen. I'll bet the person who wrote this note is the same one who sent the china, and that person obviously has a stupid grudge against you for some reason."
"Or for no reason at all," Ned put in. "There are a lot of weirdos out there, Angela. It's probably just some crackpot who gets a kick out of playing nasty practical jokes on the rich folks at Sound view."
"Do you really think that's all it is?" she asked.
"Yep," Ned said. "If you want my advice— and even if you don't—I'd say bum that stupid letter and the clipping, toss the china into the garbage where it belongs, and get on with your life."
Angela managed a faint smile. "Sounds like a plan to me. Thanks, Ned."
Before she could remove the gift box, the clipping, and the note, Nancy said quickly, "I'll take care of these. Why don't you go to bed now, Angela? Rafe was right—you look worn out."
''I guess I will," Angela said. "But Fd better check on my mother first. Sleep well, you two. See you in the morning."
When the door closed behind Angela, Nancy turned to Ned. "Sorry, but although Angela seems to buy your practical joke theory, Vm afraid I don't," she said quietly. "I think Angela has a very real enemy out there," she said, gesturing toward the window. "And I'm worried."
Chapter Four
Nancy had trouble getting to sleep that night, and when she finally dozed off, she dreamed of shadowy, threatening figures that pursued Angela through a dark and frightening landscape.
When she came downstairs the next morning, she found everyone else already seated around the table in the sun-filled breakfast room. Angela and Ned were wearing bulky sweaters and jeans, but Howard was dressed for the oflSce in a three-piece suit. Felicia, wrapped in a soft pale-biue cashmere robe, seemed greatly improved.
"Sorry I'm late," Nancy said, sitting in the chair next to Ned.
He looked up from the stack of pancakes on his plate and grinned at her. "Morning, sleepy-head. I was kind of hoping you'd miss breakfast altogether so I could have all the "flapjacks for myself."
"Don't worry, Ned," Angela said. "You won't starve—Beatrice made enough for an army." Angela turned to Nancy. "You'll also find sausage, blueberry muffins, and eggs on the buffet. Please help yourself."
Nancy was relieved to see that Angela looked and sounded more like her old self. The circles under her eyes were less pronounced, and there was even a little color in her cheeks.
Nancy served herself a blueberry muffin and scrambled eggs, and Felicia poured her a cup of coffee from the silver pot.
"I hope you slept well, Nancy," she said. "I certainly did. I feel so much better this morning!"
Mr. Tremain patted his wife's hand. "That's wonderful, darling. But you mustn't overdo. Remember what Dr. Harvey said."
"I know. Rest, rest, and more rest." Mrs. Tremain sighed. "And I will rest. The only thing I insist on doing today is getting a look at Nancy in that gorgeous red velvet gown Angela's making."
"You will," Angela promised. "I'm going to fit it on her later this morning."
"While you're doing that, I think I'll take a walk,'' Ned said. "Unless you're making a matching velvet tux for me, that is."
Angela giggled. "You know, I never thought of that. But now that you mention it, it's not a bad idea."
"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Mr. Tremain asked. Before Angela could reply, he suggested, "Why don't you take Nancy and Ned horseback riding? The fresh air and exercise will do you good. You've hardly left the house all week. It shouldn't be too cold. According to the weather report, the temperature will be in the high forties."
"Believe it or not, Howard has bullied Angela into taking riding lessons," Mrs. Tremain told Nancy and Ned.
"Now, just a minute, sweetheart," Mr. Tremain objected good-naturedly. "I wouldn't call it bullying. I simply encouraged Angela to take up some healthy outdoor activity to balance all the time she spends hunched over her drawing board in that studio of hers."
"And you were absolutely right," Felicia Tremain said quickly. "It's done her a world of good. Angela's become quite the horsewoman."
Mr. Tremain smiled. "It's true. She even won two ribbons in hunter competition at the North Shore Horse Show last summer," he said proudly. "You'll be amazed when you see her take her mare over the fences in the riding ring.''
"Sounds like fun. I could use some exercise, too," Nancy said, and Ned agreed.
"Then that's what we'll do. But after the fitting," Angela said. "First things first."
"You must model your wedding gown for Nancy as well, dear," Mrs. Tremain said. "Wait till you see Angela in it, Nancy. She looks so beautiful, like a princess."
"Oh, Mother, please! You're embarrassing me," Angela protested, blushing. "It's not finished yet, and anyway, it's the dress that's beautiful, not me."
"Let's not hear any more of that," Mr. Tremain said. "You're a lovely, talented young woman, and don't you forget it." He glanced at his watch and stood up. "Well, I'm afraid I have to get going. I'll see you all this evening."
After they had finished their leisurely breakfast, Ned went for his walk while Angela took her mother and Nancy to a big, sunlit room on the third floor. It had once been used as a nursery for the original owners' children, but Angela had converted it into her design studio and workshop. Her drawing table was set up by the big bay window. Swatches of fabric, fashion sketches, and awards Angela had won at the institute covered the walls. A sewing machine stood in one comer, and dress forms held garments in various stages of completion, including Angela's wedding gown and Nancy's bridesmaid dress.
Here in her studio, surrounded by the tools of her trade, Angela blossomed. No longer shy and self-eflfacing, she immediately took charge. After she had settled her mother in a comfortable chair, she helped Nancy put on the red velvet gown.
"It fits you perfectly!'' Mrs. Tremain exclaimed in delight, but Angela's eye was far more critical.
"Not quite. I'll have to make a few minor adjustments to the neckline and nip in the waist a little before I set in the zipper," she said. "Nancy's slimmer than I remembered."
Nancy laughed. "Thanks for those kind words!"
For the rest of the morning, Angela tucked, ripped, and basted until she was satisfied with the result. After lunch, Felicia took a nap while Nancy, Ned, and Angela changed into riding clothes.
"I'm sure Ned's right about that awful 'wedding present' and the note," Angela said as the three friends walked to the stables. "I never should have taken the whole thing so seriously." Her anxiety of the previous night seemed to have melted away like the light dusting of snow that was turning to slush under their booted feet.
Nancy didn't want to distress her, so she kept her doubts to herself. But she couldn't get the last sentence of the note out of her mind: "Watch your step or you could be badly hurt."
Well, Angela's safe now, she thought. Nothing can happen to her while she's with Ned and me, and until the wedding, I intend to make sure that one of us is never very far away.
Angela had phoned the stable before leaving the house to tell Norris, the head groom, that they were on their way. Starlight, her gray mare, Ranger, a chestnut gelding, and Donovan, a sturdy bay, were waiting for them w
hen they arrived. A stable boy gave Angela a leg up, Nancy swung into Ranger's saddle, Ned mounted Donovan, and they trotted out of the stable yard.
Since the horses hadn't been out in more than a week, they were frisky, so Angela, Nancy, and Ned rode around the estate for a while to give the mounts a chance to settle down before tackling the jumps.
"You look great on a horse. Angle," Nancy called out to her friend. "Do you feel as good as you look?"
Angela grinned. "Well, I'm not sure I look so great, but I do love to ride. You can imagine
how surprised I was to find that out, after all these years of avoiding any activity that didn't involve a bolt of fabric. Til always be grateful to Howard for getting me into riding."
"Riding does have a nice way of clearing your head," Ned said. "I only wish I had the chance to do it more often."
"Oh, that explains why you look so rusty, cowboy," Nancy joked as she rode past Ned.
After a tour of the bridle paths that wound through Soundview's vast grounds, Angela led the way to the shore so they could take a brisk gallop along the beach. About a mile from Rocky Point, where a decrepit, abandoned pier jutted out into Long Island Sound, the shore became too rocky for the horses, so they doubled back, heading for the riding ring.
"Okay, Angela. Your stepfather said we'd be amazed by how well you jump, so amaze us," Ned teased.
Angela laughed. "Those ribbons Howard was boasting about were for fourth and sixth place, and there were only four riders in one class and six in the other!" she said with a laugh. "Why don't you each go around once, and then Starlight and I will give it a shot."
"All right. I'll go first," Nancy offered. Gathering up the big chestnut's reins, she urged him into a trot, then a canter. Ranger took the first jump without breaking stride and soared effortlessly over the other three with room to spare.
"Good boy!'' Nancy patted the horse's sleek shoulder as they rode over to the others. "Your turn, Ned."
"Well, here goes nothing!" He nudged Donovan's sides with his heels, and the bay gelding lunged forward at breakneck speed, hooves pounding on the spongy ground. "Hey, wait for me!" Ned yelled. "This is supposed to be a team effort!"
In spite of his clowning, Ned was in complete control, and horse and rider sailed over jump after jump without a fault.
Now it was Angela's turn. Watching as she took Starlight around the course, Nancy was impressed by her friend's skill. So was Ned. "I am amazed," he confessed. "For somebody whose idea of exercise used to be waving around a pair of scissors and draping fabric, Angela sure has made progress."
The mare had jumped the first three hurdles with ease and was now approaching the last and highest one at a canter. But as Starlight sprang over the double-barred gate, Nancy saw to her horror that the mare's girth had suddenly given way and was hanging loose. Angela lurched to one side, and a split second later she and the saddle crashed to the ground.
Nancy dismounted in a flash. "Take the horses!" she shouted to Ned as she raced across the ring. "VW go to Angela!"
Nancy dropped to her knees beside her friend's motionless body and pressed her fingers to the base of Angela's throat. To her immense relief, she felt a faint, erratic pulse.
"Angela, it's Nancy," she said urgently. "Can you hear me?"
After what seemed like ages, Angela's eyelids flickered, then slowly raised. "Nancy . . . Yes, I hear you. rm—I'm okay, I think. . . . Wind knocked out of me, that's all. ..."
"Thank goodness you're wearing your hard hat," Nancy said. "Without it, you could have been killed." Angela made a feeble attempt to rise, but Nancy ordered, "Don't move. You may have broken something."
Nancy gently manipulated Angela's legs and arms. Everything seemed to be in working order, so she allowed her to sit up very slowly.
"Oh, wow," Angela murmured groggily. "That's never happened to me before. I told you I'm not as good a rider as Howard thinks I am. When I felt the saddle start to slip, I didn't know what to do. I was scared out of my wits!"
"No wonder," Ned said. He had joined them after catching Starlight and tethering all three horses to the split-rail fence around the riding ring. "In a situation like that, there's nothing you can do except hope you don't break your neck. It's kind of like having the brakes of your car fail when you're driving."
"You were doing great until Starlight's girth gave out. It was just a freak accident. Even an Olympic rider would have fallen," Nancy said. "How are you feeling now, Angela? Do you think you'll be able to walk?"
"If not, I can always carry you," Ned offered. "I bet you don't weigh nearly as much as Nancy's suitcase."
Angela smiled faintly. "I think I can make it, if you'll give me a hand."
As Ned helped Angela to her feet, Nancy said, "Why don't you two start back to the house? I'll catch up with you after I ride Ranger to the stable and send somebody back for Angela's saddle and the other horses."
The Italian-style jumping saddle was still lying where it had fallen, and now something about the girth caught Nancy's eye. "That's odd," she murmured, examining it more closely. "These straps don't seem to be badly wom. In fact, it almost looks as though—"
"As though what?" Angela asked.
Nancy hesitated, then said reluctantly, "As though they've been cut partway through. The girth probably would have held up if you hadn't taken Starlight over those jumps. Stress must have done the rest."
Angela turned white as a sheet. Without Ned's support, she would have crumpled to the ground. "Then it wasn't an accident after all," she whispered. ^'Nobody uses that saddle but me. This was no practical joke—someone wanted me to fall. I knew it. Someone hates me enough to want me dead!"
Chapter Five
AGELA MADE Nancy and Ned promise not to say anything to her mother about what had happened in the riding ring for fear it would only worsen her condition. Nancy planned to tell Mr. Tremain, however, as soon as he got home from his ofl&ce in Manhattan.
When they returned to the house, Nancy helped Angela ease her aching body into a hot bubble bath, then persuaded her to rest in her room until it was time to get ready for dinner.
"Please don't leave me, Nancy," Angela begged, clutching her hand. "I don't feel safe anymore, not even in my own home!"
So Nancy sat beside her canopied bed, her thoughts churning while Angela finally drifted off into a restless doze. Nancy no longer had any doubts that her friend was in grave danger. But from whom, and why? Angela had spent most of the past three years at school in Manhattan, returning to Soundview only for vacations, and had had little contact with anyone in the area. . . .
Except Rafe, said a small, insistent voice in Nancy's mind.
She shook her head impatiently. Even if Rafe was the fortune-hunter George, Hannah, and the writer of the anonymous poison-pen letter made him out to be, he wouldn't gain anything if Angela died before they were married and she came into her inheritance. No, it had to be somebody else, and Nancy was determined to find out that person's identity.
At six o'clock that evening, Nancy, Ned, and a very tense and frightened Angela were waiting for Howard Tremain in the library. Angela's mother had sent word that she wasn't feeling well and would not be coming down for dinner. When Mr. Tremain strode into the room a few minutes later, Angela ran to meet him.
"Angela! Thank goodness you're all right!" he exclaimed, putting his arms around her. "I stopped by the stable to speak to Norris about last month's feed bill, and he told me you'd had an accident in the riding ring."
"Starlight's girth broke just as we were going over the last jump, and when her saddle slipped off, I fell/' she said. "But it wasn't an accident, Howard. Nancy thinks the straps that fasten the girth to the saddle had been tampered with."
"That's right, Mr. Tremain,'' Nancy said. "I examined them very carefully, and Fm positive that it wasn't ordinary wear and tear that made them break."
"It's a miracle Angela wasn't killed," Ned added.
"Now, just a minute," Mr. Tremain said, holdin
g up a hand as if to stop the conversation. "Let me see if I have this straight. You're suggesting that somebody deliberately weakened the girth of Angela's saddle, expecting that sooner or later she'd have a nasty fall, correct?"
Nancy nodded. "Do you know of anyone who might have a reason to harm her?"
"Harm her?" Mr. Tremain echoed, then gave an incredulous laugh. "Of course not! If anybody is to blame for Angela's accident, it's Norris. That saddle is quite old, and the girth probably should have been replaced long ago. I've instructed him to order a new girth first thing Monday morning. And I warned him that if he doesn't shape up, he'll be looking for another job." He smiled at his stepdaughter. "I hope that sets your mind at ease, Angela. Now, if you'll all excuse me, Til go upstairs to check on Felicia before we sit down to dinner."
As Mr. Tremain left the room, Ned shook his head. "I never thought Fd say this, but it looks as if you were wrong, Nancy.''
"For Angela's sake, I'd love to be," Nancy replied. "But I know what I saw, and I'm as sure as I've ever been about anything that those straps didn't break on their own. And don't forget the china and the letter."
Angela shivered. "I wish I could. You think they're all connected, don't you?"
"Yes, I do. I also think it's time you let Rafe in on what's been happening," Nancy told her, "You've kept him in the dark long enough."
"Too long, if you ask me," Ned put in. "Rafe's your fiance. If he doesn't deserve to know, who does?"
"You're right," Angela said. "I'll tell him everything when he comes over tonight."
Rafe arrived shortly after dinner. Howard Tremain greeted him, then went upstairs to spend the rest of the evening with his wife. As soon as the four young people were alone in the library, Angela sat down on the sofa next to Rafe. Holding his hand tightly, she told him the whole story.
Rafe listened in stunned silence. Even when Angela had finished, he didn't say a single word. He seemed to be in a state of shock.