Murder on the Lusitania Read Online Free PDF Page A

themselves in an equally resplendent room, decorated in the late Georgian period, and featuring fine inlaid mahogany panels, a richly modeled dome ceiling, and superb marble fireplaces.
    Second-class passengers enjoyed comfort without opulence. The public rooms were large, well appointed, and tastefully decorated, the facilities comparing favorably with first-class quarters on smaller ships. Public rooms in third class were unashamedly functional with bare wooden chairs and benches in abundance and a distinct absence of the luxurious fixtures and fittings that proliferated elsewhere. Almost twelve hundred people—more than half the number of passengers—would cross the Atlantic inthird class and its shortcomings might in time prove irksome. In those early hours of the voyage, however, they were so buoyed up by the general feeling of elation that they had no complaints and were as happy as anyone aboard.
    Genevieve Masefield chose to have supper with the Hubermanns, two sisters whom she had befriended on the train from Euston and who seemed to think that someone as young and beautiful as she needed a chaperon. Accordingly, they took her under their wing. Carlotta and Abigail Hubermann had been on a grand tour of Europe and were returning to their native Virginia with an endless supply of anecdotes, souvenirs, and objets d’art. Genevieve warmed to them immediately. Both in their early sixties, they were lively companions, pleasantly garrulous but never to the point of boredom, kind, considerate, and always eager to listen to others. Ladies of independent means, they were extremely generous with their time and money.
    “How long do you plan to stay, Miss Masefield?” asked Abigail.
    “A month or so, probably.”
    “Bless you!” said Carlotta. “You must stay longer than that. What can you see of America in a month? We will expect you to spend at least that long with us, won’t we, Abigail?”
    “We insist. You simply must come to Virginia.”
    “That’s a very tempting offer,” said Genevieve. “I don’t wish to spend the whole of my time in New York and it would be unfair to impose on my friends indefinitely. By the same token, I would hate to outstay my welcome in Virginia.”
    “There is no danger of that,” said Carlotta. “Is there, Abigail?”
    “None whatsoever. It is settled.”
    “Abigail Hubermann has spoken. No argument will be allowed.”
    “Well,” said Genevieve, smiling. “If you put it like that …”
    “We do,” they said in unison.
    They were seated in the lounge, ensconced in plush armchairs beside one of the marble fireplaces. The Hubermanns presented a strange contrast. Though they could be identified as sisters atonce by certain facial similarities, the resemblance ended there. Abigail, the elder of the two, was a thin, angular woman with bony wrists and a delta on blue veins on the backs of her hands. Yet there was no suggestion of fragility. Her energy seemed inexhaustible. Carlotta Hubermann was big, plump, and jovial, her fat cheeks tinged with red, her eyebrows arching expressively whenever she spoke. Both were maiden ladies but Genevieve had the impression that Carlotta’s private life had not been without its share of romance. Even in her portly state, she was still a very handsome woman.
    Abigail sipped her coffee, then regarded Genevieve for a moment.
    “I still think you should have reported him, dear,” she said.
    “Who?” asked Genevieve.
    “That steward about whom you told us. That kind of behavior is intolerable. In your place, I would have had him severely reprimanded.”
    “I didn’t wish to make too much of it, Miss Hubermann. Besides, it was not so much what the fellow did as what he was contemplating. I found it all rather amusing, to be honest. To be so open about it, he must have had success in the past.”
    “Have the man dismissed,” urged Abigail.
    “Don’t be so ruthless, Abigail,” said her sister. “It sounds to me as if Genevieve took the