Quickie becky child care: Quickie Becky Child Care Development – DC
Quickie Becky Child Care Dev
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About the Provider
Description: Quickie Becky’s goal is for all children to learn through daily activities developed through a creative curriculum. We implement a loving family oriented child development education to build a relationship with each child. Our mission is to provide quality education in a safe, secure, happy and healthy environment. We strive for professionalism by providing love, guidance, positive reinforcement, and constant communication to meet the individual needs of every family. Our ultimate goal is to be partners with families, teachers, staff, and children to promote a love for learning.
Additional Information: Quality Rating: Gold *; Mission: Quickie Becky CCDC Mission Statement Our mission is to provide a safe, high quality, developmentally appropriate environment for children. Our focus is to provide a stimulating early care and education experience which promotes each child’s school readiness through social emotional, physical and cognitive development. Our goal is to support the children’s desire to be life-long learners. The staff is committed to the families we serve, providing support and encouragement.;
Program and Licensing Details
- License Number:
CDC-909622 - Capacity:
176 - Age Range:
0 – 5 years - Achievement and/or Accreditations
NAEYC - Capital Quality Designation:
Quality - Enrolled in Subsidized Child Care Program:
No - Schools Served:
Ward 4 - Initial License Issue Date:
Dec 18, 2005 - Current License Issue Date:
Feb 13, 2018 - District Office:
District of Columbia Child Care Licensing Unit - District Office Phone:
(202) 727-1839 (Note: This is not the facility phone number.)
Location Map
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Inspection/Report History
Where possible, ChildcareCenter provides inspection reports as a service to families. This information is deemed reliable,
but is not guaranteed. We encourage families to contact the daycare provider directly with any questions or concerns,
as the provider may have already addressed some or all issues. Reports can also be verified with your local daycare licensing office.
Date | Type | Code | Resolution Date |
---|---|---|---|
2019-12-31 | Annual Inspection | ||
2019-10-21 | General Health and Safety | 122.19 | 2019-10-24 |
Type: Failure of a Licensee to ensure that the Facility’s premises remain clear of insects, rodents, and other pests and excrement of insects, rodents, and other pests |
|||
2019-09-24 | Monitoring Inspection | ||
2019-04-22 | Administrative | 164. 1 | 2019-06-28 |
Type: Failure of a Licensee to ensure that a Center Director shall be physically present at the Facility at all times during the Center’s peak hours of operation when the majority of children are present, and maintain on the premises a record of days and actual hours of work at the Facility, except that a Center Director may be absent from the Facility if he or she has designated an authorized representative of the Child Development Facility, who shall be physically present at the Facility when the Center Director is absent. This authorized representative must meet all the qualification requirements of a Center Director and who assumes full responsibility for the Facility’s management and operations in the absence of the Center Director. |
|||
2019-01-15 | Annual Inspection | ||
2018-10-05 | Administrative | 127.1 | 2018-10-09 |
Type: Failure of a Licensee to establish and maintain respectful and professional communication with the parent(s) or guardian(s) of children enrolled. |
|||
2018-07-12 | Monitoring Inspection | ||
2017-11-28 | Renewal Inspection |
If you are a provider and you believe any information is incorrect, please contact us. We will research your concern and make corrections accordingly.
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Quickie Becky Child Care – Washington, DC 20011
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19
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(202) 882-1722Add WebsiteMap & Directions6135 Georgia Ave NWWashington, DC 20011Write a Review
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Phone: (202) 882-1722
Address: 6135 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC 20011
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“Billion Dollar Loser” – What to read on vc.
ru
Key ideas of the 2020 startup bestseller “Billion Dollar Loser” by American journalist Reeves Wiedemann from the MakeRight.ru team. The book follows WeWork founder Adam Neumann and his rise and fall.
9649
views
Since its early days, WeWork has promised to revolutionize the workplace, making it less boring and more engaging for all employees. Within ten years, WeWork was able to raise billions of dollars in investments.
Reeves Wiedemann’s book is based on over two hundred interviews with entrepreneurs and investors who have been involved in the development and life of WeWork. But as is often the case, rapid growth ends in a painful fall. After an unsuccessful IPO, Neumann was ousted from the board, and the company was in for a sad fate.
Let’s take a look at some of the book’s important ideas.
Stormy start and rapid demise
Founded in New York City in 2010 by Adam Neiman and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork subleases office space, both coworking and office space. Powerful corporations and tiny firms use its services.
However, its founders weren’t just about renting real estate: they wanted people working remotely to get to know each other and communicate. Growing up on an Israeli kibbutz where everyone knew each other, Neiman wanted his office spaces to bring people together, to change the idea of what an office should be like.
The prototype of the company called Green Desk opened in 2008, when the entire buildings were empty after the financial crisis, and many workers went freelance or opened their own companies. It was profitable for them to rent tiny offices, which were sometimes just a couple of tables separated by glass partitions.
Neiman and McKelvey got the trend right and were able to profitably rent vacant buildings and attract tenants. By 2014, WeWork had become a business incubator for many startups, where large investors invested, including Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and others.
By the beginning of 2015, WeWork opened its offices not only in the US, but also in Israel and Europe, and in 2017 it began to work in India and China. The company planned to become a world leader not only in coworking, but in all office spaces.
The ambitious Neumann proclaimed that he was about to become the first trillionaire in the world.
He planned to organize within WeWork (later We Company) not only offices, but also open kindergartens and schools and apartments in the spirit of communal apartments with a shared bathroom and kitchen.
By 2019, Jared Kushner and Softbank, among others, invested in the company, but despite the huge money, WeWork was making losses instead of profits. Expenditures grew faster than revenues due to rapid expansion, and more and more funds were needed to stay afloat.
Neumann was not embarrassed by this: he openly stated that he did not plan to make a profit yet, focusing on expansion. But such a policy did not suit investors, as well as many other things in the management style of the founders of the company, including their business model. This led to the fact that Neumann and McKelvey left their leadership positions.
You can make money even in a crisis, if you catch the trend in time
In 2008, Adam met architect Miguel McKelvey and they quickly became friends. Miguel, like Adam, grew up in a commune, but not in a kibbutz, but in a community of single mothers, whose husbands left for one reason or another, and they raised their children together, often moving from place to place.
Miguel graduated from a college of architecture, opened an English language learning site for foreigners called “It’s English Baby!”, lived in Japan for a few years, but decided to return to architecture in New York. In one of the buildings, which was built according to his project for a children’s store, he met Adam.
He ran into him several times in the elevator – a tall, long-haired guy was either shirtless or without shoes, which did not prevent him from chatting freely with passengers, even when they had already left the elevator. Adam’s audacity and looseness were balanced by Miguel’s calmness and accuracy.
Miguel, like Adam, was used to communicating freely with people both in his commune and in Japan, and could not understand why none of the neighbors in the house where he lives talk to each other. She and Adam discussed the idea of redevelopment of living quarters, where people would not have the opportunity to hide from each other.
They learned that their landlord was renovating an empty building. Adam’s friend was engaged in dividing large office spaces into smaller ones and renting them out to small companies. What if you try to do something like this, combining the energy of Adam and the architectural talents of Miguel?
Adam asked a landlord named Guttman if he would let them use one of the empty floors of his high-rise building as offices. Guttman suggested another option: an old coffee shop with brick walls, wooden beams, and virtually no walls.
Neumann said he was not going to build walls. Instead, he would divide the floor with partitions into small offices and rent each one separately. Guttman thought about it and asked for a business plan.
Miguel worked on the plan. He decided that the new space would be called Green Desk to emphasize the environment and attract the customers they needed. He designed the logo, printed business cards and flyers, and brought Guttman the floor plan and business model spreadsheet.
It was all done overnight, but they managed to give Guttman the impression that the plan had been worked on for weeks. Guttman agreed to renovate the premises, and Miguel and Adam each invested $5,000 to refurbish it. Adam hasn’t left his baby clothes yet, and Miguel is fully focused on Green Desk.
He designed the interior space. Simple furniture was purchased from IKEA, and glass partitions were installed between it. Miguel advertised on Craigslist and gave tours to interested tenants. The boundaries of future offices were marked with duct tape on the floor.
It seemed that the opening time was the most unfortunate. Small businesses collapsed, large companies merged, laid-off employees became freelancers and worked from home. However, when Green Desk opened in May, there was no end to customers.
All the laid-off people came who wanted to work from home, but the walls of the house made them feel sad. The offices were rented by fashion designers, calligraphers, private equity firms, the Gothamist website, and many others.
Now the once-empty space has become a mini-community where residents of different mini-offices can meet in the kitchen and chat over a cup of coffee.
The lease was flexible, which made the clients even more attractive, and also brought them together with a sense of camaraderie. This was facilitated in every way by Adam and Miguel, having arranged a party for all the tenants.
Guttman offered to expand Green Desk to other Brooklyn properties. But Adam and Miguel increasingly discussed bringing people together. In the digital age, people are hungry for physical contact: maybe we should spread such office spaces around the world?
Newman, McKelvey and their third partner Hakley sold shares in Green Desk to Guttman. Hakley took his share and flew home to Israel, which Adam had also dreamed of back in the days of the children’s clothing trade. But now he wanted more.
A good idea is often hindered by ill-conceived management
Adam and Miguel decided to create their own project, which they called WeWork. Adam besieged the homeowners in Manhattan (in Brooklyn, they were not supposed to act on an agreement with Guttman). One of them introduced Adam to a young real estate developer, Joel Schreiber, in Manhattan.
Schreiber did not have a free building, but he was willing to invest in the project and invested 15 million in it in exchange for a third of the company, which had not even been created yet. Soon a building was chosen, in which it was planned to open floor after floor as they were reconstructed.
Adam was telling prospective tenants that there would be a gym in the basement and that he would build a park in the wasteland across the road. 10 years have passed since then, and there is still no gym or park.
Miguel was in charge of decorating the space. He decided that he would lay the Internet cables himself to save money. For a business to take off quickly, its costs had to stay low. He wanted the occupants of the building to feel not in an office, but in one of the loft-style boutique hotels. He returned the painted brick walls to their original color, furnished them with home furnishings, and left the windows open to let in more light.
Individual cabinets consisted of glass cubes held together with aluminum supports. The cubes made each office seem bigger and brighter, both defining a personal space and creating a sense of community.
The first 17 tenants were musicians, founders of technology startups, architects. Others followed them. People were drawn to the living space, with brick walls and creaky, century-old floorboards that didn’t feel like a typical soulless office space.
Tenants were willing to pay for thoughtful design, a sense of community and flexible lease terms. The building even had its own lawyer, to whom anyone could turn to at any time. Soon all the places in the building were filled. WeWork leased this first building on Grand Street for 5 years.
The next one has already been rented for 15 years, and the Zars company, whose founders Adam managed to inspire and charm, has invested a million dollars in its repair and reconstruction. The building was located across from the Empire State Building, and Adam, while still in the process of being refurbished and refurbished, hung the posters so that they could be seen by visitors to the Empire.
The business was expanding and needed new employees. WeWork didn’t offer big paychecks, but it promised new, unusual ways of working. Adam told them that the company would revolutionize and transform the world, which not everyone liked.
Adam, having barely opened the first offices, has already begun to tell his friends that he is building a business for 100 billion. At the same time, he walked in a T-shirt and jeans, with shoulder-length hair and did not always put on shoes.
He saw himself as at least the founder of the next Google. From employees, the founders demanded hard work, including weekends, dedication and sharing the company’s ideas. At the same time, the salary was quite low and was not going to grow. Miguel, who handled practical matters, assured employees that this was a temporary phenomenon associated with problems of growth and expansion.
Adam and Miguel split the roles. Miguel was the creative director responsible for the design of the premises and management of the construction process. It included accounts, sales, bookkeeping, programming, and office equipment.
Adam oversaw WeWork as a whole, approving the layout of each new space, but most of the time he stepped into the role of visionary CEO looking for potential partners. He knew how to win over a person, infect with his dreams: Adam saw WeWork as a community.
He began to form a team of his friends and relatives from Israel and the USA. Ordinary employees gradually began to experience the emerging hierarchy.
When Adam saw some people in shorts and worn t-shirts, he called a meeting and told them to dress appropriately as they represent the premium brand WeWork.
When he was told that he himself wears a T-shirt and jeans every day, Adam objected that his T-shirts cost a lot of money and that he looks like a person who wants to imitate in them.
The company grew rapidly, but the benefits were almost non-existent for those who did most of the work.
Adam and Miguel promised employees a share in the company, but the date of this event was constantly delayed. When someone complained, Adam said he wasn’t getting what he paid for and could have found someone else for less money.
Many of WeWork’s new hires arrived there, fresh out of college, in their first jobs, and were excited about any job amid the recession and financial crisis. The company promised to take care of social life in the workplace, but two years later it only started offering health insurance and no parental leave was offered at all. Everything was postponed until later, all forces were given to growth.
Adam was heavily influenced by Rebecca, although she was not directly involved in the design and construction of WeWork. She calmed his seething energy, inspired, together with him made plans for the work of the company, and he consulted with her on every issue. Since she did not become an actress, she will be a muse.
Adam and Rebecca visited the center of Kabbalah, an ancient teaching that was presented in a new way in New York. The Kabbalah Center was founded by Philip and Karen Berg. In this new version of Kabbalah, instead of God, they talked about energies and pleasures, they sang and waved their hands at worship services.
There was a brisk trade in books about endless joy and complete satisfaction, candles, water allegedly from a holy spring, which was collected in Canada. The center has been visited by many Hollywood celebrities and fashion designers wearing red threads around their wrists to protect them from negative energies.
Adam was not religious, like his parents, but under the influence of Rebecca, he was imbued with Kabbalistic ideas in a new way. In addition, the center could meet potential investors with the help of Rebecca and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Gradually, the influence of Kabbalah began to penetrate into the management of WeWork: employees began to be involved in teaching. Adam believed in his special mission and emphasized this more than once in his public speeches, in which he was especially good.
Awakening from illusions can be painful
In August 2018, Masayoshi Son made plans to move SoftBank’s headquarters to WeWork’s Japan office. He believed that the company had a lot of potential, that it was as promising as Alibaba. He told his deputies to stop worrying so much about numbers and rely on intuition. It seemed to him that everything was in order with the company.
By 2019, WeWork (the name changed to The We Company) was considered one of the most promising startups and was estimated at $50 billion.
SoftBank and its venture fund VisionFund were considered the largest investors, as well as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase and others. Against the backdrop of such a high assessment, Adam decided to conduct an IPO and submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission Form S-1 – a statement of the status of a company that was preparing for a public offering.
This report was prepared by a whole team led by Rebecca. It was more like a novel and full of high-flown words. Rebecca and Adam even gave it the name Wingspan – “Wingspan”. However, the report could not really explain what exactly WeWork is doing and why it has such great potential.
Many analysts have noticed a clear discrepancy between this self-presentation and the specific activities of the company. Ironically, this report was the impetus for Adam’s downfall.
The We Company’s financial condition was embarrassing, especially with the discrepancy between losses and profits. For every dollar earned, the company spent two, so it could not even become self-sufficient, while spending a lot of money. Moreover, Adam openly said that he was not going to make a profit while the business was expanding.
It also seemed strange that multi-year contracts were signed with landlords, which did not take into account fluctuations in demand for real estate, which depended on many reasons. In addition, The We Company was essentially just renting and subleasing space, like many other companies that are not worth billions of dollars.
It also drew attention to the fact that many properties belonged to Adam, who rents them out to his own company. In addition, he managed to sell WeWork his rights to the We trademark. No one could stop him, even if he wanted to: he completely controlled The We Company, neither the board of directors nor investors could cancel his decisions.
The top managers were almost all his relatives and friends, and Rebecca had the right to appoint a new head of The We Company in the event of Adam’s death or retirement. Adam believed that this was necessary in order for WeWork to be controlled for generations. Not necessarily by his children or grandchildren, but by any of his descendants to keep WeWork on track.
When all this came out, investors were shocked. The We Company has postponed its IPO. Wanting to settle the scandal, Adam returned the money for the We trademark to his company, limited his control over the company, and revoked Rebecca’s right to appoint a new leader.
He tried to make presentations to convince investors that things were better than ever and to attract new ones, but the participants began to ask him uncomfortable questions, in particular about the salary of employees, which almost everywhere does not even reach the minimum. The difference between the report and reality was also appreciated by dissatisfied WeWork employees, who were surprised to read how management cares about their prosperity.
The publication of the report caused bewilderment of WeWork investors. Masa summoned Adam to him. SoftBank’s investment in WeWork was more than $10 billion, which did not bring him any profit before the release of Wingspan. But since the release of the ill-fated report, SoftBank shares have fallen 10 percent. Both WeWork and SoftBank began to realize that the real price of their IPO could be much less than $47 billion.
There was an uproar in the press. Adam tried to reassure the employees by reciting the prospects ahead, but now he was addressing them not from sky-high heights, as he used to, but in difficult circumstances, and he succeeded much worse.
Fewer people believed that he was in control.
WeWork’s public valuation has been reduced to 10-12 billion. SoftBank bought back 750 million shares. Everyone urged Adam to cancel the IPO until better times, until he gets his affairs in order. Adam did not agree, deciding to postpone it only for a few months.
After that, more problems hit WeWork. The media vied with each other to discuss his eccentric behavior, love of tequila and marijuana, a ban on meat and low salaries of employees. All this was done not without the participation of the WeWork board, which decided to get rid of Adam, unable to rectify the situation.
In the end, SoftBank also refused to support Adam. He was removed from his position as head, and Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham were appointed as new interim leaders, who began to fire Adam’s friends and relatives from leadership positions.
Investors turned their backs on it, even though it was their efforts that inflated this bubble. There have been massive cuts in staff, space and costs. Softbank was going to keep WeWork afloat, but on the condition that Adam leave his company for good.
Adam received $970 million when he left the company for a controlling stake; Softbank lent him half a billion, forgave nearly two million personal expenses, and gave him another $185 million for a personal consultation. In return, Adam gave up a controlling stake and left the post of chairman of the board. He is not allowed to set up an office rental company within 4 years. Miguel followed him.
Adam alone cannot be considered guilty of what happened: none of the employees of the company, even among relatives or friends, tried to object to him or stop him, none of the investors explained what could and could not be done. As the company grew, his ambitions were fueled and unchecked, which ultimately led to his downfall.
He returned to Israel as a millionaire, as he wanted, but his main dream did not come true – he never built an ideal community where people live side by side with each other in peace and brotherhood.
The book reveals well the character and personality of the protagonist. Adam Neumann chose the right time to develop his business – he took off when everything around him collapsed. But he lacked the foresight to understand that the world does not stand still, and in order to stay afloat, you need to look around and objectively evaluate yourself.
Success immerses a person in the illusion of omnipotence, inspires faith in one’s chosenness. And it is very important to wake up in time so as not to go astray.
The Magical Power of Love read online by Patricia Matthews (Page 7)
Margaret shook her head.
— To the corridor, yes, but the door to the living room was not locked, just like yours.
Rebecca let go of Margaret’s hand and leaned forward.
— But the outer door to the living room was locked. I know because I did it before bed. It is still locked, you can check.
Margaret sighed convulsively.
— In that case, how could they get in to us?
– Maybe there is some secret passage in this house. The books often mention all sorts of secret passages in old houses. In any case, this is the only logical explanation, unless, of course, this is a ghost.
Margaret put her hand to her mouth.
– Oh! You don’t have to say things like that! You don’t think it was…
— Of course not. Don’t be silly, Margaret,” said Rebecca angrily.
Margaret shuddered.
– Wow, while I was sleeping, someone walked around my room, looked at me as I sleep … touched me … Rebecca, what should we do? Should I say Feliz or even Edward? After all, this is their home.
“No, Margaret, I don’t think we should say anything to them,” Rebecca said thoughtfully. – At least for now. Let’s wait a little.
— But what to expect? I mean – do we really have to wait until he appears again? And how to fall asleep, knowing that at any moment someone else may appear in your room?
— That’s the whole point, don’t you understand? It is quite possible that the nocturnal visitor is not entirely a stranger.
— You mean it’s someone from the Molino family? Can’t be!
— Oh, Margaret, don’t be such a fool. If there is a secret passage here, then who else, besides family members, can know about it? Keep in mind that a limited number of people live on the island. Can’t you imagine that it was one of the servants? The fact of the matter is that they would never dare to do such a thing, even if they knew about the secret passage, which is unlikely.
“It’s still possible,” Margaret insisted stubbornly. Have you forgotten about Dupta? As far as I know, he is not a member of the family, and you yourself just recently said that he is strange. And then she remembered. – You know, I saw him in the evening when I was returning to my room. He walked down the corridor and looked at me somehow very unpleasantly. You don’t think it could be Dupta? You may well have been right when you said that he hates us. What if he planned to kill you and me right in bed?
Rebecca shifted as she made herself comfortable.
– I don’t think it’s him. And don’t be so dramatic, Margaret. Whoever it is, as long as it hasn’t done us the slightest harm or even tried to do it. Is not it?
Margaret was silent, not ceasing to think about how her breasts were caressed.
“And yet,” she finally said, “I don’t like it very much. I want to know what to do. We must do something.
Rebecca yawned widely.
— I think we should try to sleep right now. You can stay with me if you want, we will not extinguish the candle. And in the morning we will examine both rooms and the living room and try to find a secret door. If we find it, then maybe we can somehow block it. After that, we will wait and see what happens next, and then we will act according to the circumstances.
Feeling more confident as some course of action was suggested, Margaret slipped into bed and lay down next to Rebecca. Reassured by the presence of her cousin and the light of the burning candle, she soon fell asleep.
But Rebecca, not right away. For some time she lay and thought, turning over the suspects in her mind. The list included all members of the Molino family (master, mistress and their two sons), as well as the butler Dupta. Which one of them is doing such a strange thing? And most importantly, why?
— Listen, I think I found it. It’s here! Rebecca tapped the lower part of the living room wall, to the right of the fireplace, her face red with exertion, and finally heard thuds. Do you feel different sounds? Leaning to the right, she began tapping the adjacent panel.
Margaret nodded excitedly.
— Oh yes! Here the sound is completely different. Much more uniform and clean. She walked over to Rebecca, who now dug her fingers into the gap between the panels. But how do you open it?
“There must be a special secret spring here that you need to press,” Rebecca said absently, “and it is usually hidden behind some kind of ornament. Remember when we used to stay with the Erlingtons at their country house when we were kids? They had a secret passage there, and Will Erlington Jr showed it to me. The passage began from one small salon and went through the whole house underground and further to the stable. Will told me that this move was made so that the owners could have time to escape when enemies approached. The spring that unlocked the hidden door was hidden in the center of one of the carvings that lined the panel. Will knew a great deal about such things, and he also told me that such secret passages exist in many old houses.
Rebecca straightened up and looked around the panel.
– But there seems to be no frame here. Let’s take a look by the fireplace. Will said that sometimes the spring is hidden behind one of the bricks, which must first be moved.
They rapped and tried to move all the decorative bricks that framed the fireplace. By chance, Margaret pressed the base of a delicate stone leaf and immediately screamed. It seemed to her that her fingers went into the wall, and after that a slight movement was felt on the right.
– Finally! Rebecca exclaimed. – You found him!
Frightened Margaret stepped back, and at this time the entire panel, located to the right of the fireplace, slid to the side almost silently, revealing a dark passage.
Rebecca leaned over and looked inside.
– I can’t see anything – it’s dark, like at night in a cave, but I can feel the movement of air. I wonder where does it lead? She wrinkled her nose. – Wow, what a smell!
Margaret took her hand, as if afraid that Rebecca would disappear into the darkness.
— Where it leads, I don’t care at all. My only concern is that the hidden door is right here in our living room. You said if we find the door, we’ll try to block it. But how to do that?
Rebecca peered thoughtfully into the darkness.
— Hmm, I don’t think there’s a problem here. It’s just as well that there is a secret door in the living room. We’ll just have to carefully lock the doors leading from the bedrooms here, and also into the corridor.
– But that means we won’t be able to use the living room. And besides, what if we need to meet you at night?
— Firstly, no one bothers us to use this living room during the day, and at night, if necessary, it is enough just to move the bolt and enter. I must confess that now that it has become known where our mysterious visitor comes from, I feel much better.
Margaret turned away abruptly.
– I’m not so sure about myself… You see, I feel uncomfortable just thinking that someone in this house is doing such things.
“I understand,” Rebecca said with a sigh. – I feel the same way. Maybe because we opened this passage…
– No! cried Margaret excitedly. “You shouldn’t even think about it. This is reckless in the extreme. Who knows what is there? We’ll do as you said, which means we’ll lock the doors. Perhaps nothing like this will ever happen again.
Rebecca placed her palm on the spot Margaret pressed and the panel slowly clicked into place.
– Very good, but still I decided to do one thing: talk to Felice. I won’t tell her about what we found here, but I’ll just ask, as if inadvertently, if there are secret passages in this house. So at least we’ll find out if she knows about it or not.
— Why not ask Jacques? Today after dinner we will ride again with him.
Rebecca looked at her attentively:
— What if Jacques is the one doing it? Margaret’s hand went to her throat.
– Don’t talk like that, for God’s sake! It can’t be Jacques!
– But we don’t know who it is. Is it true? We have no idea. And until we find out, I think it’s safer to talk to Felice. Anyway, she is a woman.
Chapter 6
The day was hot and lazy like in summer. In the afternoon, Rebecca, Margaret, Jacques, and Armand sat in the small drawing room, finishing their last game of whist.
Armand spent much more time at the Dream House after that party, and Rebecca suspected she was the reason for his frequent visits to the island. His manners began to improve markedly. Rebecca was flattered that she had made such an impression on him, and she was also pleased that she and Margaret had two cavaliers to accompany them on their walks and horseback rides. As far as possible, she tried to make sure that Jacques was always next to her, and Armand – with Margaret, much to the displeasure of the latter.
Rebecca often thought of her brothers, each in a different way. Thoughts of Armand raised dark feelings in her, delightful and frightening. As for Jacques, there seemed to be complete clarity: she was in love and wanted to marry him. After all, she needs to marry someone. None of the young army officers who hunted her in packs in India were suitable for this. The military – although her father and uncle were an exception to the rule – seemed to her mattresses, but with a pretension. The problem with Jacques was that, according to her calculations, it was high time for him to propose to her, and for some reason he pulled and pulled.
It usually didn’t take any effort for Rebecca to lure a man, and it never crossed her mind to do anything herself. And then she found herself doing her best, using all her tricks, all her tricks, all her charms, to win Jacques’ heart. To this he only replied that he tried to be in her company as often as possible, devouring her with admiring glances, but still did not say a single word to somehow express his feelings. Everything would be fine, but the date of the return of Rebecca and Margaret to India was approaching with catastrophic speed. Maybe, if they were alone with Jacques, he would dare to say what – and she knows this for sure – boiled in his heart. Rebecca decided that it would be so, because she really did not want to leave this sweet island and this, as it seemed to her, delightful life.
They had been here for three months now, and Rebecca became more and more fascinated by the island, its bountiful abundance, the calm, measured lifestyle that the Molinos led. Edward arranged two more receptions in honor of his English relatives, from which the girls took great pleasure. The mysterious nocturnal visitor did not appear again, and Felice, when Rebecca asked her about the secret passage, said she knew nothing about it. And gradually the whole story was forgotten.
Getting to know the Molino family better, she discovered some peculiarities. One of them concerned Edward. Rebecca was right then when she told Margaret that he was a womanizer. In general, he did nothing scandalous, but his desire to touch Rebecca was noticeable when there was no need for it; during the dances, he also held her in a special way. We should also add here his unambiguous glances, which he sometimes threw at her. All this told Rebecca that she had to be careful with him and never be alone. Although Rebecca considered herself very sophisticated with men, tolerant of their weaknesses, she believed that since Edward was her mother’s cousin, married, and older than her father, it was very indecent for him to show her any signs of attention, whether they are even dexterous and refined. Nevertheless, he was very kind to both of them, to her and Margaret, and entertained them luxuriously, in a royal way. She did not feel any unpleasant feelings for him, believing that she understood him, which means that she would be able to cope with him.
Another problem was Felice. Rebecca thought that it would be easier to understand her, but it turned out not to be so. Feliz to this day remained unsolved for her. Rebecca always seemed to have a talent for everything related to understanding people, the motives of their actions and other things. She was intrigued, even a little offended, by the fact that in the case of her aunt, she had never been able to understand what Felice really was.
Felice’s inconsistency and inconsistency in her behavior seemed mysterious. When alone with Rebecca and Margaret, she was extremely talkative, witty, lively, and charming. In the presence of Edward, she suddenly became completely different – depressed and inhibited.
Another strange feature. Felice was not fragile and sickly, and most often looked full of health, but there were days when she seemed to be visited by bouts of some incomprehensible ailment. Sometimes she did not leave her rooms for whole days, and when she finally did appear, she was very pale and moved stiffly, as if it was difficult for her to walk.
However, Felice never discussed her health with them, and Rebecca didn’t feel like talking about it, although she was very curious.
— I have to go back to Le Chesn tomorrow morning. Armand put his cards on the table and looked at Jacques. How would you like the idea of inviting Rebecca and Margaret there? We can take a basket of provisions with us and have a picnic there. I’ll show them around, and then you’ll bring them back home. Well, of course, if the ladies are interested in my proposal at all.
— Great idea! Jacques looked at Rebecca, then at Margaret. — What do you say to that? True, there is not much to see there – cotton fields all around – except for one wonderful place by the stream.
Either way, it’s great fun for the day.
— Amazing! Margaret responded immediately. Isn’t that right, Rebecca?
Rebecca also liked this offer. She had long wanted to see the plantation where Armand spends so much time, but she did not want to show it.
“Well, I guess this is probably really interesting,” she said in a bored voice. “If you all want to go, then I think I have no reason to refuse.
The place that Jacques was talking about turned out to be really wonderful. A green meadow full of bright wildflowers was surrounded by a narrow, clear stream. Massive, branchy oaks grew here and there along its banks, giving the plantation its name. The cavalcade of four horsemen halted their horses as Jacques began to point towards the high ground at the far end of the meadow.
– Do you see that hill opposite? There used to be a planter’s house. They say he was quite handsome.
Rebecca looked curiously where Jacques was pointing. There was nothing to be seen but the dilapidated stone walls.
— You say he was handsome? She narrowed her eyes. – What happened to him? With a house, I mean.
“He burned down,” Armand said in a strange, hoarse voice, which made Rebecca look up and down with surprise. “Burned to the ground the same night that Jean Molino and his wife died.
— How awful! Margaret sighed. Did the inhabitants of the house at least manage to escape?
“Most don’t,” Armand said without taking his eyes off the ruins. — The owner of the plantation, his wife and two servants died in the fire.
Rebecca looked at Armand as he spoke these words, and she had the feeling that the tragedy that took place here many years ago had something to do with him and that he knew much more about it than he just said. Apparently, this is another mystery of the Molino family.
— And who were these people? she asked when the silence had gone too long.
Arman was silent.
– The Hantoon family, – Jacques finally answered for him. — Richard and Elizabeth Huntoon. They had a child, a daughter, Elisa. Fortunately, she was saved. The nanny woke up in time and managed to carry the girl out before the fire reached their room.
— And then what happened to the child? Margaret asked.
– She didn’t have any relatives, so she and her nanny, a black woman named Bess, were taken to the Dream House. The girl grew up with our father as a sister, especially since they were about the same age.
— But one of the adults was supposed to be with them? Rebecca burst out. Were they both orphans?
— My grandmother’s sister and her husband moved to the island. They ran the business until the father was old enough to accept the inheritance. Jacques smiled sadly. But maybe stop talking about sad things? After all, we came here to have fun. Rather than talk about death and destruction, let’s enjoy the scenery.
It seemed that Armand did not hear his brother’s words – Rebecca saw how tightly his lips were compressed.
Suddenly he spurred his horse and directed it to a huge oak tree on the bank of a stream. The rest of the horses followed as well.
“Jacques, I have one more question, if I may,” Rebecca said as she caught up with him. – And how did everything turn out for her then? Well, this girl, Alice? Did she get married and leave?
He shook his head:
— That’s another sad story, Rebecca, and today it seems we’ve talked about sad things more than enough. I suggest we rush over to that shady oak tree. Now we will settle down comfortably there and begin to empty the basket that mother ordered to collect for us.
He brought his horse to a fast gait, and Rebecca, not satisfied with the answer, was forced to follow him, determined to find out at the first opportunity what had become of this girl.
They miraculously settled down in the shade of a luxurious oak tree, spread a linen tablecloth, and the conversation naturally turned to more cheerful topics.
After several glasses of good wine, even Armand seemed to have left his usual sullenness, and very soon all four, laughing merrily, began to carry on an easy conversation.
After finishing their meal, they went to the small white wooden house where Armand lived when he worked on the plantation. There were only three or four rooms, but they were very clean and unusually comfortable. Rebecca was a little surprised.
There were several pieces of expensive furniture in the house, and they were all concentrated in the living room, which apparently also served as a library, since one of the walls was lined with bookcases full of books. There was also a very decent grand piano, and some good pictures hung on the walls. She studied the paintings, but the names of the authors were unfamiliar to her, with the exception of Gilbert Stuart [Stuart, Gilbert Charles (1755-1828) – a famous American artist. He painted a number of portraits of prominent political figures. The portrait of J. Washington by his work is reproduced on the hundred dollar bill.]. In general, the house did not differ in anything special, only one thing was not clear: who is watching all this?
“It’s so comfortable here, Armand,” she said nonchalantly. — I wonder how many servants work in the house?
Arman shrugged his shoulders:
— Only one, or rather, one. After all, the house is quite small.
He went to the fireplace and took an elegant silver bell from the shelf.
As soon as the clear pleasant ringing subsided, a slender mulatto appeared in the doorway. Her high cheekbones and relatively thin lips did not match her amber-brown skin and black hair, though not very curly.