Until Vienna (Romance on the Orient Express)

by Heather B. Moore

  “Ah,” Irene said.

  And here it came. “Ah,” Blanche said.

  Aunt Rowena leaned forward. “You are a bachelor, then?”

  Professor Haskins had just popped a bite of crème au caramel into his mouth, so everyone took their own bites of dessert as they waited for him to speak again.

  “This is a story I do not tell many people,” he said in a low tone. He was not looking at Gigi, but she felt as if he were speaking directly to her. “I was engaged a few years ago to a woman who decided that, although she was deeply in love with me, my income was not sufficient for the life she envisioned living.”

  “Goodness,” Aunt Rowena said. “How awful.”

  Blanche’s eyes narrowed as she studied him quite intently. “You are a renowned professor. Surely you can give a woman a comfortable life.”

  How Professor Haskins wasn’t bothered by the bold, and borderline rude, statement was beyond Gigi.

  He only looked slightly bemused. “Olivia would not agree with you.”

  Irene tutted and shook her head as if she were feeling every bit of the distress the professor must have experienced all those years ago.

  “We are very sorry,” Aunt Rowena said, her tone more brusque now. “I hope you do not hold Olivia’s actions against any other women.”

  “I do not,” the professor said as a smile played on his lips. It was a very slight one—one that only Gigi noticed. His gaze shifted to hers, and she didn’t miss the warmth in his hazel eyes. In this lighting, his eyes were more green than brown. “But I must say that my heart was broken enough that I declared myself a bachelor from then on.”

  No one spoke at the table. Not for a long moment.

  “But if you met the right woman, Professor Haskins,” Aunt Rowena finally ventured, “surely you would reconsider.”

  The professor’s gaze slid away from Gigi’s. Why did her legs feel watery?

  “I suppose one should never say never,” the professor said.

  Aunt Rowena beamed. “Exactly. That is what I say often. Don’t I, Georgina?”

  “Uh, yes, yes, you do.”

  The professor’s mouth had quirked again, but he didn’t look at her, which was probably a good thing since Gigi was feeling rather flushed.

  “Where do you live?” Irene blurted out. “That is, if it is no great secret.”

  “Not at all,” the professor said, digging into his dessert and taking another bite. “I live in Bloomsbury, near the University of London.”

  Gigi realized they were now on question number three. These women were clever, very clever.

  “Do you have good neighbors?” Aunt Rowena asked, bringing everything back to center.

  “My neighbors are friendly and resourceful.”

  “And what about your community?” Aunt Rowena continued. “Do you participate in social events?”

  Professor Haskins smiled. “When I have time, I’m not opposed to social events.”

  Aunt Rowena looked relieved. “Excellent.”

  But Gigi was quite finished with the interrogation of the professor. “Do we have time for a game of whist or is everyone too tired?”

  Irene covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. “I am going to retire as soon as my dessert is finished.”

  “I will too,” Blanche said. “We must be well rested for our adventures in Strasbourg tomorrow. Oh, but the two of you should stay and visit. You’re both young people, and you certainly have more energy.”

  “Yes, do stay,” Aunt Rowena said, patting Professor Haskins’s arm. “I can manage without Georgina tonight.” Her smile was bright, making her plans obvious.

  It turned out the professor could turn down Aunt Rowena’s subtle hints. “I’m afraid I must review my notes for our visit to the Musée Zoologique. Although I’ve been more than once, I like to add in new insights from the last time I was there.” He rose before anyone could protest. “Good night, ladies.”

  Gigi tried not to gaze after him, but she didn’t look away in time because he turned his head before disappearing into the next train car, and their gazes connected briefly.

  Gigi then noted with surprise that the other members of the tour had already left the dining car, and there was only one other table occupied—by a man dressed all in black. He had a dessert plate sitting untouched in front of him as he perused a newspaper. In his other hand, he held his smokeless pipe.

  “Well, the professor is even more eligible than I could have hoped for,” Aunt Rowena said in a lowered tone. Now she was acting discreet.

  “The poor man,” Blanche added, “to have his heart broken just because he lives on a professor’s salary.”

  “If that didn’t happen though, he wouldn’t be available for our Georgina,” Aunt Rowena said with a sly smile.

  Gigi didn’t know what she expected—that her aunt and her aunt’s friends would ask the professor questions, then leave the issue alone? No. Now they were even more determined. “I believe Professor Haskins made his case clear,” she said. “We should honor his wishes. Besides, I did not come on this tour to be paired up. I’d like to enjoy my time with the three of you.”

  Blanche smiled. Irene giggled. Aunt Rowena frowned.

  “I have a confession to make.” Aunt Rowena lifted her chin. “I did quite a bit of research on Professor Haskins before I booked this tour.”

  It was Gigi’s turn to frown.

  “Everything he said is true,” Aunt Rowena said. “I have already confirmed it, so I am pleased to announce that he has proven himself honest. This was number five on my list. The man my niece marries must be forthright and honest in all his dealings.”

  Gigi didn’t know if she was hearing her aunt correctly. Did this mean Aunt Rowena had planned to match Gigi with the professor from the beginning? Even before the tour? “Aunt . . . I don’t understand. I thought you wanted to go on the tour to see the museums. Has this been about matchmaking from the beginning?”

  By the flush on her aunt’s face, Gigi knew she’d guessed right. She regretted that they had an audience for this conversation. But they were already too far into it, and the other women had been witnesses to everything.

  “It is all my fault,” her aunt said, her voice trembling with emotion.

  “What is all your fault?”

  “Jimmy Dorsal.”

  Gigi went very still. How in the world could anything about Jimmy Dorsal be her aunt’s fault? Had they even met? Gigi tried to think back to an event where Aunt Rowena and Jimmy had both attended.

  “I . . .” Aunt Rowena began, her face flushing pink. “I overheard a conversation with Mr. Dorsal and another woman. I couldn’t see them since they were quite hidden behind one of those large potted plants at the Evans’ charity ball. Jimmy was flirting with her.”

  Gigi blinked. A man flirting with other women at a ball was commonplace enough, especially when said man wasn’t engaged or otherwise committed. Yet Jimmy wasn’t that type of man—unless he had intentions. Did he have intentions for another woman? Is that why he stopped seeing her?

  “I listened for as long as I dared,” Aunt Rowena continued in a halting tone. “He was sweet-talking her. Or so I thought.”

  Gigi’s stomach began a slow turn.

  “I moved away but kept within sight so I could see when the pair emerged from behind the plant,” Aunt Rowena said. “After a few minutes, sure enough, Jimmy left the location. Another minute passed, and the young woman came out too. I’ll never forget the red of her hair. She was a pretty thing.”

  Gigi nodded for her aunt to continue. The sooner this story was told, the better.

  Aunt Rowena reached for her nearly empty glass and took a sip. “The night before, you’d told your mother and me that you were keen on Jimmy. You begged to wear that new dress your mother had bought you for Christmas. You wanted to wear it early becau
se you hoped to impress Jimmy.”

  Now Gigi remembered the night clearly. She’d spent hours getting ready and even let her sister, Lillian, fuss over her, something that typically would have only made her more flustered. Jimmy had asked her to dance early in the evening, and Gigi had felt like she was walking on clouds the next hour. But when she saw him again, he seemed distant. He didn’t even look at her when they were in the same conversation with a group of mutual friends. And instead of asking her to dance again, which he’d mentioned when they’d first danced, he’d asked Mary Wright. But Mary wasn’t redheaded. She was a dark brunette.

  “I remember,” Gigi said in a small voice, wondering where her aunt was taking this story.

  “I brought Agnes with me to stand close enough to Jimmy so that he could overhear our conversation,” Aunt Rowena said. “I said a few things that would turn off any young beau.”

  Gigi’s stomach felt like it had turned inside out. “What did you say?” she whispered.

  “I told Agnes, ‘Last night, my niece Georgina confessed her devotion to a young man she’d been writing letters to. They’ve quite fallen in love over the written words between them.’” Aunt Rowena lowered her head, and her shoulders shook.

  Was she crying?

  Gigi felt like she could barely breathe. The moments ticked by with no one speaking.

  Then Aunt Rowena brushed at her cheeks and raised her chin. Sure enough, there were tears in her eyes. “I later found out that the redhead he’d been speaking to was his cousin, and what I’d thought were romantic words were really just words of familial affection.” Her voice broke. “I hope you can forgive me, dear Georgina. It wasn’t until months later that I realized my mistake, and by then, he’d already announced his engagement to another woman.”

  Gigi blinked against the stinging in her own eyes. How could this be real? How could this have happened? How could her aunt . . . ?

  “Since then, I have searched for a match for you,” Aunt Rowena continued. “But there has been one failure after another.”

  “What do you mean?” Gigi dreaded the answer.

  Aunt Rowena exhaled slowly. “The men who have paid you suit over the past year—Richard Turley, Phillip Brandon, and Reggie Mann.”

  ChapteR SEVEN

  Dear Lillian,

  We have settled in Strasbourg for two days. The city is quaint yet metropolitan, and homes along the Ill river are charming and colorful. I feel as if I’m in a completely different world. So much has happened since I’ve last written, and it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours. First, Aunt Rowena has made a list to get to know the professor better. Let me back up though. He knows all about Aunt Rowena’s matchmaking intentions, and we’ve had quite a laugh over it. We’re in cahoots together, you might say. But there is more. Last night, Aunt Rowena confessed to her role in turning Jimmy Dorsal away from me . . .

  Strasbourg was a beautiful city. As Gigi walked at the back of the tour group, she marveled at the colorful homes and clean cobblestone streets. They were walking to the Musée Zoologique, and then the professor would take them to some famous restaurant. She also noted the clothing that people wore, looking for inspiration. She loved the tidy hats and the heeled shoes worn by the women. The women also wore a lot more lace and ruffles at the neck. Interesting.

  Up ahead, the professor was giving a few tidbits to Blanche, who seemed enthralled with his every word. He hadn’t spoken directly to Gigi, except for a standard greeting when they’d been surrounded by the rest of the group.

  Her mind shifted from her fashion watch to the story he’d told of his broken engagement. Although he seemed quite recovered from the ordeal, his ego must have been broken enough that he’d declared himself a lifelong bachelor. Had he loved his fiancée so deeply? Gigi’s curiosity was not because she thought of him as a potential suitor. No, her curiosity was because she wondered if perhaps Jimmy Dorsal had been heartbroken over her.

  It was far in the past now, and although Gigi had been stunned at her aunt’s confession, Gigi also understood the mistake, as terrible as it had been. And those other men that Aunt Rowena had apparently sent Gigi’s way?

  Thankfully, the beauty and distance of Strasbourg helped Gigi not feel so weighted down by her cycling thoughts and questions. As far as she knew, Jimmy and Mary were happy together, and it would do no good for Gigi to harbor regrets or anger now. She assumed this on an intellectual level, but the aching in her heart had persisted all night.

  “Are you all right, Georgina?” Blanche asked, moving close and linking arms. The woman was decked out in rubies today. How much jewelry could one person bring on a train?

  “I am fine,” Gigi said quickly. “Sleeping in a new place each night is not exactly easy. But this trip is worth every discomfort.”

  “I agree,” Blanche said, but her brows pinched as she focused on Gigi. “Are you quite upset with your aunt?”

  “I was surprised. That’s all.” Gigi suspected that Aunt Rowena could overhear them since she was not too far ahead, walking with Irene. Besides, the tears shed last night were enough. It was time to move on. For everyone.

  “Yes, we all were,” Blanche soothed. “It certainly demonstrates how a single misunderstanding can muddy things up.”

  To say the least . . .

  “This is why you need to give the professor a chance,” Blanche said, thankfully lowering her voice this time.

  Gigi went silent. Now that she knew how much Aunt Rowena had orchestrated coming on this tour—and how sorry she was for everything—and how she was trying to make it up to Gigi . . . It was still overwhelming, and she would need to have a conversation with the professor. This was no longer a silly game they could laugh about in the dim corridor of a train. Her aunt had quite fixated on him and taken things to the extreme.

  “Ah, here we are,” Professor Haskins said up ahead.

  The tour members gathered around him as he stood in front of the ornate three-story building. “This museum was built in the early 1700s based upon Jean Hermann’s Gallery of Natural History. Inside, you will see an impressive collection of insects, birds, mammals, and marine invertebrates. Included are fish and reptiles, as well as animals that are extinct. Now this is not the typical art museum you might have expected to visit on our tour,” the professor said. “But you will see how these collections are art in and of themselves.”

  “Goodness,” Blanche murmured. “So many dead things.”

  Gigi suppressed a smile.

  Inside the museum, Blanche was proven one hundred percent correct. At first the group stayed together, but after the first hour, the two couples had split off, and Aunt Rowena and her friends were taking extra time in the room with polar bears and walruses. Gigi was impatient to move on, so she soon found herself in the area with several African animals.

  “The giraffe is magnificent. Don’t you think?” a male voice spoke behind her.

  Gigi didn’t need to turn to know that it was Professor Haskins. “Quite remarkable.” The elegant animal stood several feet taller than Gigi, and if she’d been at some distance, she might have believed the giraffe to be alive. She heard the professor’s steps grow closer, and from her peripheral vision, she saw him stop a few feet away from her.

  She peeked at him as he looked up the length of the giraffe. The professor was a fine-looking man, she decided, but his patience was more impressive. He’d done the right thing in telling her aunt that he was a confirmed bachelor, because if he’d been open to a relationship, then Gigi might have developed a small attachment to him.

  She looked away before he could catch her gazing at him.

  “It would be interesting to spend one’s life exploring and collecting natural history specimens,” he said. “Don’t you think so?”

  “Indeed,” she said. “It would also be exciting to discover a new type of animal or insect.”

 
“I agree.”

  She felt his gaze upon her. Looking over at him, she offered a half smile. “Are you interested in insect collecting?”

  “Not particularly, but I do find it fascinating.” He slipped his hands into his trouser pockets. “How about you?”

  “I’ll pass.”

  He chuckled, his hazel eyes warm and light, and her pulse went up a notch. “You know, you shouldn’t be so worried about the lists your aunt is making. I understand how some people get caught up in the business of matchmaking.”

  Should she tell him? “It’s more than that . . .” She took a breath, listening for any sounds of other tour members coming into this same display room.

  Professor Haskins took a step closer, and one of his brows quirked. “Don’t tell me she’s added to her list.”

  “Not exactly,” Gigi said. “It appears that we are on this tour because she has researched you in particular.”

  This surprised him, she could tell. Would it upset him too?

  “I’m so embarrassed to say this because my aunt is a dear but sometimes misguided woman,” Gigi said. “I hope that you will still find humor in this after I tell you, and please know I found out only last night in a tearful confession.”

  Now he was frowning. “What’s happened?” He looked truly concerned, but Gigi was afraid that would be changing in a moment.

  She told him everything. How her aunt had arranged this trip specifically so that Gigi would meet the professor—who her aunt had inquired about beforehand to make sure he met her approval.

  Gigi told him how she’d been attached to a man named Jimmy Dorsal and how her aunt had misread so many things. And she told him about the consequences that followed, including the other men who had attempted to court her. When Gigi finished relaying the details, she felt like she’d been pulled along on a bumpy wagon ride. Everything inside of her felt shaken. More so than last night. Maybe it was because she hadn’t fully processed it until speaking of the events aloud.

  “Miss Ballard,” Professor Haskins said in a soft voice. “I’m very sorry.”