It was Charles Lucas.
She had of course prepared herself for this inevitable meeting, now that she was in London once again, but she was a little taken aback that he was so suddenly in front of her after all this time. She hadn't expected to see him for another few days – not until Jane's wedding. She composed herself, however, and let him take her hand in his outstretched one for a few moments.
“Mr Lucas. How unexpected. You know Mr Brunel?”
The two engineers acknowledged each other with a curt nod.
“It's I who should say it's unexpected to see you. But I suppose you being here is not so unlikely. Are you well, Miss Thomas?”
“Yes, very well. Thank you.”
“I'm glad.” He looked down at her. His face was serious. “Have you seen Jane yet?”
“No. But I will see her this afternoon. She is coming to tea and I'm eager to see her,” she replied, with an air of forced coolness.
“She is longing to see you too, and glad you're here for her wedding. You do her a great honour by attending.”
“Thank you.”
“When did you arrive in London?”
“Yesterday.”
“It was an easy journey?”
“Yes.”
Brunel coughed and they both looked over at him. “If you have no other questions for me, Louise, I will leave you two alone.”
“Of course,” she said.
Brunel heaved himself out of the chair, kissed Louise's hand and left. They watched him go, and then Charles turned to Louise.
“You were here to meet with him?”
“Yes. He has been helping me with some estate matters.”
“Really?”
“Yes, roofing materials in the main, and some other things.”
Charles's face darkened. “I'm sure his advice was excellent, but I would have been more than happy to assist you and answer any questions you may have had. I'm disappointed you didn't think of coming to me.”
Louise looked away for a moment, then said boldly, “I did think of coming to you, but I thought you might find it petty.”
His shoulders dropped. “Yes, I suppose you would think that, wouldn't you? But you do me an injustice – since seeing Glazebrook firsthand I now understand your worry over it. Besides, I thought that day we agreed to start afresh.”
“Yes we did, but I didn't realise that also meant your views on estate matters had changed.”
“They have.”
“Oh,” Louise said.
“Will you promise to come to me, and not Brunel, the next time you need advice?”
His gaze was fixed on her face and she felt a little odd. Brunel had helped her family for years. But this was him.
Before Louise could answer, she glimpsed Lord Philip by the doorway. “Are you ready Louise? I'm eager to get going,” he said.
“Excuse me Mr Lucas, I must be going.”
“Of course.”
She took her leave and Lord Philip offered his arm. “You seem to have kept your composure while meeting that gentleman again. Wasn't he the one who caused you much trouble last year?” Philip asked once they were outside.
“Yes. But he has apologised and I have forgiven him. It's his sister whose wedding I'm attending.”
“Ah. Of course. Nothing like a wedding to get the gossips talking about another. I try and avoid them myself these days – get too fed up with people asking me when I'm going to tie the knot.”
“When are you going to marry, Philip?” she asked with a smile.
“Why, the day you accept me, Louise. And not a day sooner,” he replied in jest.
“It looks like we're both going to remain unmarried then.”
. . .
That evening, as soon as he arrived home, Charles enquired after Jane's afternoon visit to Miss Thomas.
Jane's face was animated. “It was wonderful to see her again. She looked so well. The Devon air seems to bring out a wonderful glow in her complexion. I'm sure she looks younger than I have ever seen her.”
Charles couldn't help thinking the same. Louise was more beautiful than he remembered. “So your friendship is as strong as ever?”
“Yes. We talked for hours, I hardly know what about. But that is the great joy, time flies when I'm with her!”
“You should invite her to dinner before the wedding. There is still two weeks.”
“I already did. But she does not have an evening free the whole time. I was disappointed, but she has promised to see me during the day whenever I choose.”
“You do not think it's because she wants to avoid Boyd?”
Jane paused for a moment. “No, no. I'm sure it's not that. He told me about his error. I spoke to her about it, and she was adamant that she wasn't offended and he didn't mean to be malicious. She simply said she had previous engagements that couldn't be cancelled. I didn't ask with whom; it would have been rude. Besides, it's none of my business. She told me they were all formed well before she arrived in London. If I had known I would have asked her before but I'm a little upset she didn't think about keeping an evening free for me.”
Charles knew that she had been offended by Boyd's remarks, and couldn't blame her for wishing to avoid him, but it was inconvenient. For him at least. He wanted to see her too, to spend time with her. He wanted to show her how he felt about her. If earlier in the day was anything to go by, he had much work to do.
He was finding it increasingly difficult to think of anything else but her. It was unlikely that he could he see her during the day as his work kept him busy, and with the wedding approaching there were more things to occupy him in the evening.
The wedding day arrived and all the last minute details were arranged. However, it wasn't the bride who was to be the most admired, by one set of eyes at least. As Charles walked into the church with his sister, all gazes fell on Jane. Charles, who never usually took much note of a woman's gown, thought Jane was resplendent in her white satin (without too much frippery) and he was proud to lead her up the aisle. At the first chance, as he led his sister up the aisle, he surveyed the congregation, and his gaze locked onto Miss Thomas. There she was, on the left, the bride’s side of the church. He could only see the back of her head, until she turned to see the bride, and her full beauty was once more for an instant shown to him. He dared not look at her for more than an instant, but it was long enough for him to wish that a different wedding was taking place.
It wasn't until after the ceremony that he was able to look upon her again. This time, he could take in her figure, and admire fully her elegant poise as she spoke easily with the other guests outside the church. She wore a becoming deep peach-coloured silk dress, just visible from under her light brown overcoat.
He resolved to dance with her in the evening. To hold her in his arms, or feel the touch of her hand against his once more. He had barely spoken to her.
The wedding breakfast was held in the nearby assembly rooms, and had been decorated with flowers and banners, making it, even to Charles's engineering mind, enchanting.
When the dancing started after the meal, he knew exactly where she was – seated amongst the elderly ladies and spinsters, those who didn't dance any more. He made his way over to her, but had to ask several of them to move out of the way in order to get to where she was. Eventually, he was in front of her. She was talking to his great aunt.
She noticed his presence and looked up at him enquiringly.
“Miss Thomas. Would you do me the honour of dancing with me?”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. She turned to her companion, but the old lady looked away, as if trying to make herself invisible. His anxious look of enquiry melted her veneer of studied indifference and she found herself replying, “Yes.”
He held out his hand to her; she took it lightly and stood up. The dance was the first waltz, and as it started he noticed that she was only a few inches shorter than he. But it was the touch of her hand once more and the feeling of holding her near that mad
e his attempts at conversation falter. Both were overawed by the situation they found themselves in, yet neither could utter a word of their feelings.
Eventually, Charles spoke, determined to try to begin to win her. “It was a fine wedding.”
“Yes. Jane is the most beautiful bride I have ever seen. She and Mr Boyd make a handsome couple. Their children will be very beautiful creatures.”
“I can still keep a close eye on her and make sure she is treated well. It will be a little strange having a partner as a brother, but he will be kind to her and look after her as she deserves.”
“I'm sure he will. And if he does not, he will have both of us to answer to, I'm sure.”
“You're a loyal friend.”
“You're a loyal brother.”
Even after this conversation, there was still a certain reserve in her manner towards him, despite the passion of the speech she made. He wanted to break through to the woman he once knew, but could think of nothing to say, until he remarked, “Jane tells me you have forgiven Mr Boyd for his inappropriate comments. You have a generous nature, forgiving us both.”
“Thank you, but you're wrong. It's not in my nature to forgive. It's something I was taught at an early age. Is it not one of the basic biblical principles? Forgive others, if you wish to be forgiven yourself. However hard it is.”
“I cannot imagine what you could ever do that would need forgiveness.” He looked down at her.
“A great many things, I assure you, although I shall not tell you what they are. But, when I forgive, I do not think that punishment should be avoided. Mr Risinger has taught me that lesson.”
Suddenly his countenance became more serious. “No, and I deserve a great deal of punishment for my behaviour to you. When I think of what I said that day, you should hate me.”
“Jane assured me in her letters that she had punished you enough!”
“Yes, I suppose she did.”
They were silent for a while, until Charles decided to change the subject. “I took your advice, Miss Thomas, and recently published an article on the Tamar bridge in the Engineering Journal. Did you read it?”
“Why no, I-I didn't. When was it published?”
“A month ago. I'm disappointed you haven't read it. You are, after all, the reason I wrote it.”
“I haven't been reading that journal of late.” Louise thought of the pile of unread journals in her workroom. She had neither the time or the inclination to read that particular publication recently.
“You have lost interest?”
“No, I have been too busy interfering with my tenants' affairs to read anything,” she smiled.
“I see,” he said back in a low tone. “I still have other matters in which I need your forgiveness.”
“Perhaps.”
But he was secretly pleased. Her manner was slowly softening and it reminded him of the conversations they had had when they first met.
“I had no idea you danced so well, Mr Lucas,” she said, after an awkward pause.
“Thank you. I'm not an engineer all the time.”
“You dance better than you play billiards, I feel,” she said nonchalantly.
“You know about my billiards playing?”
“Ashton told me,” she said, smiling up at him.
“He delights in telling everyone. But I must thank you for the compliment on my dancing ability. I assure you, most engineers do dance, but we choose our partners very carefully.”
“I must admit, I prefer country dances.”
“Really? Next you will be saying you prefer to dance the polka instead of the waltz!” he said, lauthing, but then suddenly stopped when her expression gave away the truth of his remark.
For the rest of the dance, their conversation was stilted. Louise felt her deepest wishes once more re-surface and with determined effort tried to detach herself from the wondrous moment she longed for; being held in his arms. Speaking was the last thing she could possibly attempt now that her had mind realised what was happening.
The dance ended. As they stood awkwardly afterwards, one of the servants approached and whispered something to her.
She excused herself and walked away. He saw her go into the hall, and after a few moments couldn't stop himself from heading in that general direction. He watched her from a far corner as she spoke to a servant boy who had delivered a note to her.
She took it with a quizzical frown and opened it.
He watched as she placed her hand on her side and nearly crumpled to the floor. He rushed over to her, and the two of them helped her to a seat.
“Miss Thomas. Are you unwell?”
She looked up in shock. “Yes – no. I . . .”
“Is it bad news?”
“Yes. I must leave immediately.” She turned to the servant who had brought the note. “Go directly to find Lord Philip. You must tell him to come to my house at once. Tell him it's imperative he comes and that I insist on it.”
The servant nodded and left quickly.
“Miss Thomas, I do not wish to pry, but have you received bad news? Is it about Mr Risinger?” Charles asked with an urgent tone.
“Yes. The worst news.” She handed him the note.
It was from Mr Russell, her lawyer.
Miss Thomas,
Prepare yourself for the gravest of news. Mr Risinger has taken the child. I do not know how he found out where she was, but he took her last night and had many hours for his escape before the discovery was made. He left a ransom note – I have it here with me, he demands twenty thousand pounds and will kill her if you do not pay, or if you contact the authorities.
I will go to your house shortly.
etc
He handed back the note. “I will come with you. You cannot travel alone, you have had too great a shock.”
Louise looked incredulous. “Mr Lucas. This is your sister's wedding. Your place is with her!”
No, he thought, my place is with you. But her words rang true, even if his heart was telling him to comfort her, to help her in any way he could. He let out a sigh.
“I shall be perfectly safe travelling alone. I do it all the time,” she continued.
“That is not what I meant. You should not be alone at this difficult time.”
“I shall not be alone for long. My cousin Lord Philip will be with me shortly. He has never let me down in my time of need.”
He knew from the determination on her face that further argument would be pointless. She was independent and capable, and he both resented and loved her for it.
“Then, if you will not let me help another way, tell me what I can do to help recover the child?”
“There is nothing you can do. Mr Russell has employed all the necessary people.”
“Well, he obviously has not, because this wouldn't have happened in the first place.”
This was the final straw for her. She had suppressed her emotions, trying to control them, but his last comment made her tears fall. He knelt down and took her hand. “I'm sorry. I should not have said that. I simply wish to help.”
“Thank you,' she said. “I would be obliged if you would tell Jane that I have had to leave early due to urgent business.”
He nodded, still holding her hand.
“And would you be so kind as to call my carriage?”
He reluctantly let go of her and returned shortly afterwards, bringing her overcoat and hat.
“Thank you,” she replied, pleased with his thoughtfulness. In the panic of the moment she had completely forgotten she would need them.
He paced for a few moments as they both waited for the carriage, but it wasn't long before he determined that he wanted to be more use than a messenger and questioned her as much as he dare about the previous whereabouts of the child. For he decided that, with or without Miss Thomas's approval, he had to do all he could to help find the missing child, and capture the evil perpetrator once and for all.
As he handed her into the carriage, he swore a silen
t oath to help the dear woman he loved so much.
Chapter 19
The journey from the wedding reception to her own house took Louise a mere blink of an eye, or so it seemed. Her fear for the child was such that she had never known. Only a few minutes before the news, she had been enjoying herself, being with friends, with him. But yet again, Mr Risinger ruined everything. These thoughts however, were quickly quietened. How could she be so selfish as to think of her own enjoyment when the child was in the hands of such a man? Her mind flashed images of him in prison, of him at her mercy. Would she show him mercy? She wasn't sure. The thought of him standing at the gallows was strangely comforting.
As the carriage pulled up, she quickly alighted, took a furtive look about the street and entered her house.
“Is Lord Philip here yet?” she asked the porter.
“Not yet, Ma'am.”
“Very well, bring him straight up the moment he arrives,” she replied, not giving him a further glance.
She went to the drawing room and paced the floor for several minutes. Waves of nausea made her sit down.
A few minutes later Lord Philip came in. Still with his coat and hat on, he entered the room and she flew into his arms.
Philip released her after some time and attempted to restore at least a small amount of optimism.
“Come now, Louise, surely he will be caught? He couldn't have gone far, it has only been a few hours, and the girl wouldn't have gone willingly. She will be wanting her parents. We do not know all of the details yet; perhaps Mr Russell has a clue already and they have found her. I'm sure it will all turn out all right. But it's despicable. Kidnapping a child, especially one he abandoned previously.”
“I know, that is the worst of it. He thinks nothing of her. He didn't care before whether she lived or died. I fear for her. I fear he will kill her anyway.”
“He won't because he wants your money. He won't be stupid enough to hurt her for that reason alone,” Philip said.
“What is keeping Mr Russell from being here?”
“I'm sure he will be here soon.”
“He had better be!”
“You look well-dressed, even for you. Wasn't it that wedding today?” he asked, trying to diffuse his cousin's anguish.
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