Page 113 of The Missing Pages
In the rotunda outside his room, she furtively looked in each direction. There was no one nearby. The room was as she had always imagined. Dark oak walls. Shelves lined with leather books in rich colors. Her eyes fell to the desk. “The left corner.” She remembered his precise words. That was where she would find his secret drawer.
Ada ducked inside the room and placed her fingernail in the spot he had described to her that night at Delmonico’s. It was discreetly hidden, so only those who knew about it could find it as easily as she did.
From her bag she withdrew the book, so tiny it fit inside the palm of her hand.
Harry’s beloved “Little Bacon.” She had held on to ever since he had draped his dinner jacket around her shoulders that last, fateful night. He had told her that what had been closest to his heart would now keep her warm, and she had not realized he had purposefully given her the book when they were forced to part. Only hours later when she was rescued on theCarpathiahad she realized what was in the silk-lined breast pocket.
Inside the drawer, his childhood copy ofTreasure Islandwas there just as he described. Ada put the Bacon on top and quickly closed the drawer.
“Ma’am?” A security guard had seen her bent over the desk. “No visitors are allowed inside the Memorial Room.”
She blinked away her tears. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I had always hoped to see this room. It’s as beautiful as I imagined.”
The man nodded and waited until she stood outside the threshold.
She soaked everything in. The Tiffany lamp. The flowers on the desk. The painting with Harry’s warm brown eyes that she could look into for an eternity.
Eleanor’s words from that first meeting at Lynnewood Hall echoed in Ada’s ears. “The architect wants to re-create Harry’s beloved study,” she had said. “His room will be the heart of the library.”
Ada took in a deep breath and allowed herself to find peace. Finally, after all these years, she knew she had done what Harry would have wanted. She put another piece of his heart back into the room.
