The coachman had just pulled up in front of the Touro Park house, and all the lights on the ground floor were ablaze. Jack retrieved his top hat from beneath the bench where he’d sent it earlier, brushed it off, and set it back on his head. If there were guests, he couldn’t enter the house looking as tired and frustrated as he felt.Wilton opened the front door before Jack had even made it to the steps.“I take it my father has company,” Jack said as he entered.“No, sir,” the butler replied, closing the door after Jack. “Your father is not in residence.”“Then you have guests?”“Hardly, sir. Mr. Edward Maxwell has guests. At the moment, they are in the billiards room.”Jack started to ask the unflappable Wilton another question but decided to go to the source. He handed the butler his hat and headed to Eddie.“It’s about time you made it home,” his friend said when Jack came into the billiards room.Eddie, who was in his shirtsleeves, looked to be losing a game to Charles Vandermeulen.
