final stipulation.'
She wants to hang me in public by my thumbs. 'Yes?'
Brad Rogers looked uncomfortable. 'Your grandmother does not wish ever to see you again, Eve.'
Well, I want to see you one more time, old woman. I want to see you dying in agony.
Brad's voice trickled through to the cauldron of Eve's mind. 'If you have any problems, you are to telephone me. She does not want you to come to this building again, or to visit any of the family estates.'
He had tried to argue with Kate about that. 'My God, Kate, she's your granddaughter, your flesh and blood. You're treating her like a leper.'
'She is a leper.'
And the discussion had ended.
Now Brad said awkwardly, 'Well, I think that covers everything. Are there any questions, Eve?'
'No.' She was in shock.
'Then if you'll just sign these papers ...'
Ten minutes later, Eve was on the street again. There was a check for $250 in her purse.
The following morning Eve called on a real-estate agent and began looking for an apartment. In her fantasies, she had envisioned a beautiful penthouse overlooking Central Park, the rooms done in white with modern furniture, and a terrace where she could entertain guests. Reality came as a stunning blow. It seemed there were no Park Avenue penthouses available for someone with an income of $250 a week. What was available was a one-room studio apartment in Little Italy with a couch that became a bed, a nook that the real-estate agent euphemistically referred to as the 'library,' a small kitchenette and a tiny bathroom with stained tile.
'Is—is this the best you have?' Eve asked.
'No,' the agent informed her. 'I've got a twenty-room town-house on Sutton Place for a half a million dollars, plus maintenance.'
You bastard! Eve thought.
Real despair did not hit Eve until the following afternoon when she moved in. It was a prison. Her dressing room at home had been as large as this entire apartment. She thought of Alexandra enjoying herself in the huge house on Fifth Avenue. My God, why couldn't Alexandra have burned to death? It had been so close! If she had died and Eve had been the only heiress, things would have been different. Her grandmother would not have dared disinherit her.
But if Kate Blackwell thought that Eve intended to give up her heritage that easily, she did not know her granddaughter. Eve had no intention of trying to live on $250 a week. There was five million dollars that belonged to her, sitting in a bank, and that vicious old woman was keeping it from her. There has to be a way to get my hands on that money. I will find it.
The solution came the following day.
'And what can I do for you, Miss Blackwell?' Alvin Seagram asked deferentially. He was vice-president of the National Union Bank, and he was, in fact, prepared to do almost any-
thing. What kind Fates had brought this young woman to him? If he could secure the Kruger-Brent account, or any part of it, his career would rise like a rocket.
'There's some money in trust for me,' Eve explained. 'Five million dollars. Because of the rules of the trust, it won't come to me until I'm thirty-five years old.' She smiled ingenuously. 'That seems so long from now.'
'At your age, I'm sure it does,' the banker smiled. 'You're— nineteen?'
'Twenty-one.'
'And beautiful, if you'll permit me to say so, Miss Blackwell.'
Eve smiled demurely. 'Thank you, Mr. Seagram.' It was going to be simpler than she thought. The man's an idiot.
He could feel the rapport between them. She likes me. 'How exactly may we help you?'
'Well, I was wondering if it would be possible to borrow an advance on my trust fund. You see, I need the money now more than I'll need it later. I'm engaged to be married. My fiance is a construction engineer working in Israel, and he won't be back in this country for another three years.'
Alvin Seagram was all sympathy. 'I understand perfectly.' His heart was pounding wildly. Of course, he could grant her request. Money was advanced against trust funds all the time. And when he had satisfied her, she would sent him other members of the Blackwell family, and he would satisfy them. Oh, how he would satisfy them! After that, there would be no stopping him. He would be made a member of the executive board of National Union. Perhaps one day its chairman. And he owed all this to the delicious little blonde seated across the desk.
'No problem at all,' Alvin Seagram assured Eve. 'It's a very simple transaction. You understand that we could not loan you the entire amount, but we could certainly let you have, say, a million immediately. Would that be satisfactory?'
'Perfectly,' Eve said, trying not to show her exhilaration.
'Fine. If you'll just give me the details of the trust ...' He picked up a pen.
'You can get in touch with Brad Rogers at Kruger-Brent. He'll give you all the information you need.' 'I'll give him a call right away.' Eve rose. 'How long will it take?'
'No more than a day or two. I'll rush it through personally.' She held out a lovely, delicate hand. 'You're very kind.'
The moment Eve was out of the office, Alvin Seagram picked up the telephone. 'Get me Mr. Brad Rogers at Kruger-Brent, Limited.' The very name sent a delicious shiver up his spine.
Two days later Eve returned to the bank and was ushered into Alvin Seagram's office. His first words were, 'I'm afraid I can't help you, Miss Blackwell.'
Eve could not believe what she was hearing. 'I don't understand. You said it was simple. You said—'
'I'm sorry. I was not in possession of all the facts.'
How vividly he recalled the conversation with Brad Rogers. 'Yes, there is a five-million-dollar trust fund in Eve Blackwell's name. Your bank is perfectly free to advance any amount of money you wish against it. However, I think it only fair to caution you that Kate Blackwell would consider it an unfriendly act.'
There was no need for Brad Rogers to spell out what the consequences could be. Kruger-Brent had powerful friends everywhere. And if those friends started pulling money out of National Union, Alvin Seagram did not have to guess what it would do to his career.
'I'm sorry,' he repeated to Eve. 'There's nothing I can do.'
Eve looked at him, frustrated. But she would not let this man know what a blow he had dealt her. 'Thank you for your trouble. There are other banks in New York. Good day.'
'Miss Blackwell,' Alvin Seagram told her, 'there isn't a bank in the world that will loan you one penny against that trust.'
Alexandra was puzzled. In the past, her grandmother had made it obvious in a hundred ways that she favored Eve. Now, overnight everything had changed. She knew something terrible had happened between Kate and Eve, but she had no idea what it could have been.
Whenever Alexandra tried to bring up the subject, her grandmother would say, 'There is nothing to discuss. Eve chose her own life.'
Nor could Alexandra get anything out of Eve.
Kate Blackwell began spending a great deal of time with Alexandra. Alexandra was intrigued. She was not merely in her grandmother's presence, she was becoming an actual part of her life. It was as though her grandmother were seeing her for the first time. Alexandra had an odd feeling she was being evaluated.
Kate was seeing her granddaughter for the first time, and because she had been bitterly deceived once, she was doubly careful in forming an opinion about Eve's twin. She spent every possible moment with Alexandra, and she probed and questioned and listened. And in the end she was satisfied.
It was not easy to know Alexandra. She was a private person, more reserved than Eve. Alexandra had a quick, lively intelligence, and her innocence, combined with her beauty, made her all the more endearing. She had always received countless invitations to parties and dinners and the theater, but now it was Kate who decided which invitations Alexandra should accept and which ones she should refuse. The fact that a suitor was eligible was not enough—not nearly enough. What Kate was looking for was a man capable of helping Alexandra run Kate's dynasty. She said nothing of this to Alexandra. There would be time enough for that when Kate found the right man for her granddaughter. Sometimes, in the lonely early-morning hours when Kate had trouble sleeping, she thought
