by Blythe Baker
Mrs. Hutchins pursed her lips. “We will miss you terribly, but you seem happy to be reunited with your family, and that is all anyone who cares about you could want.”
I chanced a look at Graham, who had become suddenly very fascinated with the cold fireplace.
“I am happy,” I said. “Though, I am sad to leave you all.”
“I will try to arrange a parting dinner before you leave,” Mrs. Hutchins said. “I’ll talk to the servants at once. Lieutenant Collins, you will clearly be invited as one of Miss Beckingham’s closest friends in the city. Will you be free the next several evenings? I don’t know if there is time for a formal invitation to be drafted, but—”
Graham stood up quickly, his knee knocking the table in the center of the room and scooting it forward several inches. He bent down to right it and then stood tall. “I just recalled an important meeting I have today. I wish I could stay longer, but I’m afraid I have to leave immediately.”
“Oh,” Mrs. Hutchins said, standing up. “Well, let us show you out.”
“No, please,” Graham said, refusing to look at me. “Stay. I can see myself out.”
He bowed to the room and stumbled into the hallway like there was fire nipping at his heels. When the front door opened and then slammed closed, Mrs. Hutchins leaned back in her chair and shook her head.
“Oh my,” she mused to herself, though loud enough for the room to hear. “The poor man is even more in love with her than I thought.”
2
Mrs. Hutchins arranged for a hearty meal that very night as a train was leaving from the hill station the following day, and I intended to be on it.
“Very rushed,” she kept mumbling as she ordered the servants around. “No one will be free at such short notice. Just the three of us.”
The thought of such a small gathering seemed to vex her, but I found it perfectly suitable. The only other person I would have liked to say goodbye to was Graham, but he seemed uninterested in a goodbye, and I didn’t want to bruise his feelings any more than I clearly already had. So, I had my final dinner in Simla with Mrs. Hutchins and her son, who argued the entire meal about various things I hardly paid attention to.
Though I appreciated the effort, I was distracted with thoughts of travel and being in New York again. It had been so many years since I’d been in the city, and I was anxious to be reunited with it as much as with my cousins. Though, there was trepidation, as well, in regards to both.
“Did you have a filling breakfast?” Mrs. Hutchins asked me the next morning. “The food on the trains is barely passable, and I’d hate to send you away wanting.”
“It was delicious,” I assured her. “And I do not eat much while travelling.”
She wrapped her hand around my upper arm. “That explains the thinness. You travel too often for a young, single woman. Will you settle in New York?”
I grabbed my suitcase and held it in front of my legs. If I didn’t leave soon, Mrs. Hutchins would keep me talking forever. “I enjoy travelling, so I don’t have any thoughts of settling anywhere yet, but I’ll be sure to write to you from wherever I do settle.”
“That was never a question,” she said. “Of course, you’ll write. And I’ll write to you. We must stay in touch.”
“Absolutely,” I agreed. “But I’m afraid I really should be going. I want to get to the station early and you know it’s no short trip.”
Mrs. Hutchins hugged me once more and then instructed Jalini to open the door for me, and as soon as the door opened, I knew my hopes to get to the station early were thoroughly dashed as Graham was walking up the path towards the house.
“Lieutenant!” Mrs. Hutchins called, waving as if the man wasn’t already headed our direction. Then, she turned to me, eyes wide. “Do you see what he is carrying?”
Indeed, I had. A suitcase.
“What do you think he is doing with that?” she asked, growing more anxious with every passing second.
“We should wait and let him explain.”
Surprisingly, Mrs. Hutchins nodded and allowed Graham to mount the stairs and bow to us both before pouncing on him.
“Travelling somewhere, Lieutenant?”
For the first time since I’d made my announcement, he looked at me, a shy smile on his lips. “I believe that depends on Miss Beckingham.”
“Me?” I asked naively, feigning I had no idea what he meant.
He nodded. “If you’ll have me, I’d love to accompany you to New York.”
I’d expected the proposal, and yet it left me speechless. I had no idea how to respond.
“That is a long trip,” I said. “Do you have business in New York? And will the army permit you to leave on such sudden notice?”
His smile slipped. “I have had more than my share of business lately. And I was due some leave, so was able to pull a few strings. I’ve always wanted to travel to America.”
“It would be a pleasure trip, then?”
“Yes,” he said, head bobbing. “Though, I have to admit you are part of my motivation, Miss Beckingham. I would not rest well knowing you were travelling such a long way alone.”
I had a suspicion Graham was still not being fully honest with me. “I have travelled unaccompanied many times, Lieutenant. I’d hate for you to go so far out of your way due to unnecessary worry.”
“Graham,” he corrected again. “I have seen firsthand exactly how capable you are of taking care of yourself, but those memories do not ease the worry that has settled into my heart and mind. Though, I will not go with you if you do not wish me to.”
“I don’t see why Rose wouldn’t want you to join her,” Mrs. Hutchins said, stepping forward and laying a hand on my shoulder. “You two have become very close these last few weeks.”
True, we had. But part of the reason I had revealed so much of myself to Lieutenant Collins was because I believed I would leave Simla soon and never see him again. Did I want to continue our friendship across oceans? Or risk that friendship blossoming into something more?
Graham looked at me, his thin blond mustache twitching into a nervous smile. “Well, Miss Rose? Do you yet have a verdict? Should I walk this suitcase back to my quarters and unpack or are we off on a transatlantic adventure?”
There was so much hope in his eyes, so much excitement, dampened only by the possibility that I would refuse him. But his feelings could not factor into my decision. Upon arriving in New York, I would have to tend to my cousins, and perhaps help Catherine uncover some truth about her betrothed. I had business and secrets in New York City that Graham didn’t expect and might not be able to be privy to. And yet, he had been helpful to me in Simla on more than one occasion. Perhaps, even though he had never been in the city, he could be helpful again.
“Seeing as you are already packed, I don’t see how I can say no,” I said with a smile.
He all but leapt with excitement, his grin splitting his face.
“The car is leaving now, so you don’t have much time to regret your decision and back out,” I said.
Graham grabbed my suitcase out of my hands, his fingers brushing slowly across my knuckles as he did, and then walked down the stairs to load our luggage into the car. “Now, why ever would I regret my decision?”
I hugged Mrs. Hutchins once more and followed after Graham, hoping he would never find out the many answers there were to that question. And also that I wouldn’t come to regret my own decisions.
He held open the car door, offering me a hand as he helped me inside. When he slid into the seat beside me, he looked like a child on Christmas morning. “Do you think New York City is ready for the likes of us?”
3
The air smelled like spring. I could smell it even over the salt of the ocean, the musty dampness of the ship. I would recognize the smell of New York City—my city—anywhere. I hadn’t set foot on its shores for ten years, but seeing the shape of the city against the horizon felt like home. It felt like seeing my mother’s face, like walking i
nto the warm embrace of my father as a small girl. It was all I could do not to cry.
“Not as big as I thought,” Graham mused next to me.
I wanted to tell him that he would see once he walked the streets, once he moved through the neighborhoods. He would feel the immensity of it. Unlike in Simla, he would be an unknown in the city. Lieutenant Graham Collins would be a nobody.
But I couldn’t, of course. Rose Beckingham had never been to America. She’d travelled through Europe and Africa and India, but this would be her first trip to North America.
“Nothing is big compared to the ocean,” I said. “I bet the city will meet all your wildest fantasies once we reach shore.’
The look Graham gave me, his blonde brow lifted, lips fighting a rising smirk, made me blush. I didn’t want to know or discuss any more about his fantasies.
Getting off the ship was a mad dash of holding my skirts close so I wouldn’t be trampled waiting to go down the gangplank, finding our luggage, and searching for the driver I knew Catherine would have sent. I had managed a quick telegram before my departure, telling Catherine I heartily accepted her invitation and would be leaving on the next ship. I’d heard nothing back from her but I knew my cousin well enough to know she would have tracked my ship, known the expected arrival date, and been prepared to welcome me the way polite society dictated.
Graham walked over with his trunk rolling behind him, dodging and weaving around weary travelers eager to find their rest now that they’d reached their destination. “There is a good hotel a couple of streets down according to the porter.”
“If there is a room left,” I said, eying the steady stream of ship passengers nervously. “I can speak to my cousin about a room for you. I just forgot to warn them of your accompanying me. I’d hate to offer you a room that may not exist.”
And truthfully, after spending so much time together aboard the ship, I was ready to be rid of the Lieutenant for a stretch. He had been a nice travelling companion, if a bit too cautious. Out of a mistrust of everyone else on the ship, he hardly let me out of his sight except to sleep. And even then, I often imagined I could feel him listening outside my door so oppressive was his watchful gaze.
“I would hate to impose when you are reuniting with your family,” Graham said. “Besides, a male in the midst of so much female emotion would require a break from it all. It will be nice to have my own room at a hotel.”
“Female emotion?” I teased, eyes narrowed. “You make it sound like a poisonous gas.”
Graham laughed. “I hope I did not offend you. Mostly, I mean to stay out of the way of you and your family as you reunite.”
“That is kind of you,” I said.
He readjusted his trunk in his hand and looked around. “Do you see your family or the car nearby?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure it will become easier as the crowd thins,” I said. Graham nodded and dropped his trunk. I gestured for him to pick it up. “You do not have to stay.”
“Of course, I do. I cannot leave a beautiful woman alone so near the docks.”
“I am hardly alone,” I said, motioning to the swarm of people.
“Being surrounded by strangers does not make one any less alone,” he said.
I knew I would never be rid of him with argument alone, so I lied.
I stretched onto my tiptoes, looking over the crowd, and then gasped. “I do believe I see my cousin moving through the crowd.”
“Where is she? I can wave her down.”
“She has not seen me yet. And if you wish to avoid an outburst of female emotion, it would be best if you left now,” I said. “Tears will be shed during our reunion, I am sure.”
Graham twisted his mouth to the side. “You are certain it is her?”
“As certain as I am that there will be no room for you at the hotel if you do not beat this crowd.” I touched his arm gently, giving him a little push. “Please, secure yourself a place to stay and we will rejoin one another later. I slipped the address of my cousins’ aunt in your coat pocket.”
Graham frowned and reached into his pocket, smiling when he retrieved the note. “A man should watch his wallet around you, Rose Beckingham. I didn’t even feel you do this.”
He seemed genuinely impressed and surprised at my skills, perhaps most surprised at the fact that I was able to bypass his notice. But he gripped the address in his fingers as he waved goodbye, pulling the trunk behind him as he went.
The strangest part of being Rose Beckingham had been the constant attention. As Nellie Dennet, I went unnoticed all of the time. No one watched me walk down the street or sought out my company at parties. I was the help. A servant of sorts, unimportant in every way. But now, men the likes of Lieutenant Collins worried for my safety and fussed over me.
Achilles Prideaux did not fuss over me, though. Not in the same way, at least. He worried for my safety when I took undue risks during an investigation, but he did not stop me from investigating. He did not worry whether I could handle myself with strangers with bad intentions.
I wondered what Achilles had been doing since we parted. Had he found himself a new partner? A travel companion with innate skills and a pretty face? I couldn’t say why, but the thought twisted like a knife in my stomach.
Luckily, I didn’t have long to think about it because as it turned out, the lie I’d told Graham hadn’t been a lie at all. Catherine and Alice broke through a parting in the crowd and rushed for me before I could fully understand what I was seeing.
“Rose,” Alice cried, running for me and throwing her long, thin arms around my waist.
I returned the hug even though I hardly recognized the girl I was holding. “You cut your hair.”
It was the only thing I could think to say. Her long brunette hair had been lopped short, finger curls framing her angular face. The last I saw her, she had the roundness of youth in her cheeks. Now, she looked like a woman.
“Catherine convinced me,” she said, stepping away and running a nervous hand along her hair. She had traded in the poofy dresses of childhood for a boxy drop-waist silk dress that swayed around her in ripples of luxury, drawing passing eyes. Her lips were rouged, which I knew her father would detest, and her cheeks were washed in a vibrant blush. She looked like her mother. And Rose. The real Rose.
“We are single women in one of the greatest cities in the world,” Catherine said, stepping forward, arms open wide for a hug. “We both needed to look the part.”
I hugged her, pressing my face into her neck and smiling at Alice over her shoulder. Seeing them felt better than I had imagined. When I pulled away, I held Catherine at arm’s length. She looked as she always had, slim and elegant in an olive-green taffeta dress and black t-strap heels, her beaded purse clutched in her manicured hands like she was afraid someone would try to snatch it.
“London is the greatest city in the world,” Alice corrected with a frown. “But New York City is a close second.”
“Either way, you both look wonderful,” I said. “Like you belong here.”
“They have acclimated wonderfully to the city,” a third voice said. I spun in surprise and then saw the woman who had to be their Aunt Sarah. She looked exactly like Lady Ashton. She stepped forward and extended her hand. “I am their Aunt Sarah, and I’d love to be yours, as well.”
She was a petite woman, barely taller than a child, but she had a kind, warm smile, and I felt instantly at ease. I bypassed her outstretched hand and pulled her into a hug. “It is so wonderful to meet you.”
She returned the hug without hesitation. “I heard we would have met sooner, but you had business to take care of in Africa? And then Asia, correct? Busy woman.”
“Yes, I was sorry to change my plans at the last minute,” I said simply.
Catherine smiled from behind her aunt and tipped her head so subtly it was hardly noticeable. Clearly her letter had been true. She had finally forgiven me for abandoning them in lieu of exploring the world with Monsieur Prideaux.
/>
“But I am thrilled to be here now. Catherine and Alice know the city and can take me to all the best places.”
Alice’s eyes lit up. “I can, at least. Catherine has become quite boring now that she is engaged.”
I startled, turning to my cousin. “I almost forgot. You are going to be married.”
Her cheeks warmed and her lips pursed together in a tight smile.
“Is he here?” I asked, looking around in case another member of the party was waiting to step into the fold.
“No,” Catherine said, wrapping her arm through mine and pulling me into the crowd. I looked back for my luggage, but a man with a thick mustache and a black hat who I assumed was the driver was taking care of it. “Charles did not want to interrupt our family reunion. He said he would rather meet you at the house when you were less overwhelmed.”
“How thoughtful of him,” I said.
Catherine nodded, but her smile dimmed. I was eager to pull her aside and speak to her privately about the notes of urgency I picked up on in her letter. But now was not the time.
“Speaking of the man in your life,” I said. “I arrived today with a companion, who—”
Alice gasped and practically screamed. “Are you engaged to the French detective? Your letter explained that you went away with him.”
I jumped and hoped I did not look nearly as embarrassed as I felt. “No, unfortunately Monsieur Prideaux and I parted ways in Morocco. I have not spoken to him since.”
I heard Alice’s disappointed sigh behind me, but carried on.
“However, I brought along a friend from Simla. His name is Lieutenant Graham Collins. We met only a few weeks ago, but he wished to see New York and asked if he could escort me. I saw no reason to refuse him, so he is in the city, as well.”
“Friend?” Catherine asked, eyeing me for any hint of deception.
“Precisely,” I answered without hesitation. Though Catherine and Alice still shared a look I knew well.
“Where is he?” Alice asked, running ahead of us, her eyes wide and eager. It was nice to know that not everything about her had changed.