“Mathew?” Nelle breathed as she leaned toward the window and squinted against the glare. “And Pearl?”
They slipped out of sight as Nelle’s mind raced to catch up with what she’d just seen. Had she only imagined it? Why would Mathew be at the station? And how could she be imagining Pearl again? In fact, this was one of the very questions the doctor had asked her— if she’d seen Pearl since Waterbury. When Nelle told him no, he’d said that they might be able to rule out a diagnosis of schizophrenia. This thought wasn’t the least bit comforting now.
Nelle kept her face pressed against the window, as if the train would somehow backtrack to the station and she could have a second look. But the buildings flew by, followed by field after field. Finally, as forests replaced all signs of civilization, Nelle sank back into her seat. I couldn’t have seen Mathew and Pearl standing together on the platform, she told herself, worrying that her mind wasn’t going to let go of its imaginings. Perhaps going to California will be a mistake after all.
As the train slowed for the next stop, Nelle looked at the other passengers in her compartment. The two older women looked like they were sisters or at least related. They were both crocheting, which reminded Nelle of Mrs. Brown, her parents’ former housekeeper. Nelle missed Mrs. Brown too, but the woman had decided to take another post after Nelle had gone to Waterbury.
Very few new passengers had boarded. So Nelle had thought they would be on their way soon again. Then their compartment door opened, and a porter stuck his head inside.
“Miss Thompson?” the porter asked.
Nelle was so startled that she didn’t speak for a moment.
“I’ve a telegram for Miss Thompson,” the porter said, looking among the women.
“That’s me,” Nelle finally said, holding out her hand. The porter gave her the telegram and then disappeared back into the corridor. She looked down at the message, her hands trembling as she read it.
To Nelle. Missed you at station. Boarding next train. Meet me and Pearl at next stop. Mathew.
Nelle sucked in a breath. Was this really happening? She turned over the telegram. The paper was real. Glancing up at the two women, she decided not to ask them for verification. If the telegram was real, that meant Pearl was also real and Mathew was trying to find her.
She heard the final call for passengers from outside her window. So she rose from her seat, unstrapped her suitcase, and lifted it down—all to the curious gazes of the two women.
Opening the compartment door, Nelle stepped into the corridor. At the far end, the porter saw her and came to help her with her suitcase. It wasn’t all that heavy, but he carried it for her anyway.
“I’m getting off here,” she told him.
“Are you all right, Miss?” he asked, peering at her beneath his dark gray hat.
“I think so,” she said in a faint voice. “At least, I think I will be.”
He stepped off the train and set her suitcase down on the platform. “Are you sure?” he asked.
She nodded. “Someone is meeting me here. Thank you for your help.”
The young man hesitated, then seemed to realize that he’d better get back onto the train before he was also left behind.
Nelle watched as the train started to pull forward, feeling disconnected from the people surrounding her, greeting their families and stepping into waiting carriages. Had she really just stepped off the train? Was Mathew really coming for her?
After the train departed, Nelle stood there, unmoving, for several moments. She looked down at the telegram that she still clutched in her hand. The words remained unchanged, the paper still tangible. She released along breath then picked up her suitcase and walked toward the station house.
Inside, the train schedule was pasted to the wall. It was easy enough to see that the next train should be coming into the station from the city in about forty minutes. So she found a bench close by and sat down, thinking back to what she’d seen when first departing—Pearl and Mathew—maybe it hadn’t been her imagination. Maybe the telegram was real and Pearl was real and the apothecary shop was real.
Time crept forward ever so slowly. Finally, the sound of an approaching train reached her. Nelle stood on shaky legs, grasped the handle of her suitcase, and headed outside to wait on the platform. Tears formed in her eyes as she watched the approaching train, peering into each car as it slowly passed by. As it slowed down, she gazed at the windows, wondering if Mathew and Pearl were looking out through one of them.
Finally, the train came to a full stop, and the porters climbed off, helping the few disembarking passengers with their luggage. Nelle’s body felt like it was shaking all over. A man got off with a small child and another woman. Two men climbed off the train together, the younger man helping the older man. A woman also stepped off, alone, looking around, and then waved to someone across the station.
It was quiet as the porters climbed back onto the train. Was that it? Had Mathew meant another train or another station? Or, was the paper in her hand merely her imagination also?
Then a man stepped off. Although his face was turned, so Nelle couldn’t see it, she knew it was Mathew by the breadth of his shoulders, the tilted of his head as he looked up, and the way he extended his hand to help another passenger down.
Holding her breath, Nelle watched as a petite Asian woman descend the two steps, dressed in a yellow silk dress topped with a russet-colored fur stole. Her hat angled over her elegantly twisted black hair. Pearl. It had to be her.
Nelle took a step toward the man and the woman; they had not spotted her yet. With another step, Mathew turned, his gaze meeting hers. Even at this distance, Nelle could see the deep gray in his eyes. And then she met Pearl’s gaze. Nelle could hardly breathe. The woman smiled as she walked toward Nelle, her arms outstretched.
Within moments, Nelle was caught up in the small woman’s embrace, breathing in the familiar scent of jasmine blossoms and feeling the softness of Pearl’s silk dress against her skin. Pearl was real, all real. When Nelle drew away, her vision had blurred with tears. But she could still see every detail of Pearl’s face, her exquisite eyes, her delicate cheek bones, and her lovely smile.
Mathew stood near Pearl, watching both of them, his eyes filled with emotion.
“Mathew,” Nelle said, looking at him. How had he done this?
He stepped forward and reached for her hand. Then he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Nelle let her eyes flutter shut, the familiarity of him racing through her, sending her pulse pounding. His nearness seemed to fill her soul, making her wonder how she had ever spent so many weeks apart from him.
“How…?” Nelle began, her voice shaking. “How did you find each other?”
“I had to leave without saying good-bye,” Pearl said. “And for that I’m very sorry. When I returned to Waterbury, I looked for you and discovered that you’d left.” Pearl’s gaze went to Mathew. “Your aunt sent me over to the Jansons’. When Mathew and his mother explained what a mess I’d left behind, I knew I had to find you.”
Nelle’s mind spun as she imagined this scenario. What had Mathew thought when he had seen Pearl in person? “Am I dreaming?” she whispered.
Pearl laughed, and Mathew smiled. Pearl took Nelle’s other hand in hers and leaned closer, saying in a soft voice, “Even with the confusion of my existence, this man at my side didn’t care about all of that, he only cared about you, Nelle.” She drew back slightly, gazing into Nelle’s eyes. “He loves you. And, if I were to give you one more bit of advice, it would be to let him into your heart and to trust in that love.”
Nelle blinked against the new tears forming in her eyes. She felt Mathew’s gaze on her, steady and unwavering. Pearl released her hand and stepped back.
Nelle turned toward Mathew. His dark gray eyes were focused intently on her.
“Thank you,” Nelle said, “for believing in me, and…” Her voice faltered. “I’m sorry that I didn’t answer your letters, I couldn’t—” she began to ex
plain.
Mathew shook his head as he stepped forward. “Don’t apologize,” he said gently. “I only wanted you to know that my feelings haven’t changed.” His voice dropped lower as he added, “Not with my engagement to Alice and not when we found the apothecary shop abandoned.”
Nelle felt her body tremble. Mathew had said as much in his letters, but now, with Pearl standing here, Nelle could finally allow herself to accept Mathew’s declarations. She hadn’t been imagining Pearl or her shop. Her mind hadn’t been broken by her parents’ deaths. And Pearl was real. Mathew’s love was also real.
As Nelle stepped forward into his arms, relief flooded through her as he held her close. She felt his heartbeat, his breathing, and his warmth as it wrapped around her into the most delicious comfort.
She didn’t want to let him go, not even as the train that had brought Mathew and Pearl pulled out of the station. “What now?” she whispered into Mathew’s ear.
He smiled down at her. “Now I ask you to marry me.”
Nelle’s breath left her chest. Before she could say anything, Mathew knelt down.
“Nelle, I love you more than life itself,” he said, reaching into his coat pocket and withdrawing a small black box.
Nelle brought her hand to her mouth, feeling another round of tears starting to form. As Mathew fumbled with getting the box open, Nelle let out a nervous laugh. When he opened the box at last, a rose-cut diamond on a silver band sparkled in the light.
Nelle wasn’t sure she could handle so many surprises in such a short time. But she knew one thing for certain—she wanted Mathew in her life, forever.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes,” she said again, louder this time.
Mathew grinned and rose to his feet. He scooped her into a hug. Nelle laughed as she clung to him. Then his lips found hers. Right there, in front of the people at the train station, Mathew kissed her. Nelle thought her entire body might melt as Mathew held onto her tightly, keeping her on her feet. His mouth moved gently over hers, and beneath his tender kisses, she could feel the passion submerged there.
Nelle was equally aware that she was kissing a man in full view of the public, but she also didn’t care much at the moment. Right now, Mathew was her entire existence.
When he finally pulled away, she thought for a second that she had to be dreaming. Every part of her body felt deliciously numb, and she couldn’t feel the ground beneath her feet.
“Now what?” she said again, giving him a teasing smile.
“Now we return to the city,” Mathew said, “where my mother is anxiously waiting in a hotel.”
“Your mother came too?” Nelle asked.
Mathew wrapped his arm about her shoulders and kissed her cheek, long and lingeringly. “She didn’t want to wait a moment longer to welcome you into our family,” he whispered.
Nelle brushed at the fallen tears on her cheeks. “I love her, too,” Nelle said.
Mathew laughed then, joined by Pearl. Nelle turned to Pearl and grasped her hands. “Will you attend our wedding?” she asked.
Pearl’s smile was ethereal. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Nelle smiled at Mrs. Janson as soon as she opened the hotel room’s door. Mathew’s mother had a rosy color in her cheeks, and her eyes were bright with health.
Mrs. Janson clapped her hands together. “You found her!” She stepped forward and hugged Nelle.
“I couldn’t believe it when Mathew said you’d come to the city,” Nelle said, her heart filling with wonder as she released Mrs. Janson and stepped back to study her. “You are well?”
Mrs. Janson kept Nelle’s hands in hers. “I am very well,” she said. “When Pearl came to our home looking for you, I knew I couldn’t stay behind,” she explained. “I had to come to the city. I wasn’t about to go to that train station.”
Nelle laughed and pulled Mrs. Janson into another hug.
“What’s this?” Mrs. Janson said, when she caught sight of the diamond ring on Nelle’s hand. Her eyes twinkled, and Nelle knew that Mrs. Janson knew exactly what had happened.
“I said yes,” Nelle said.
“Did you now?” Mrs. Janson said as she looked at Mathew.
He nodded, placing an arm about Nelle’s shoulders. “How soon do you think we could pull off a wedding, Mother?” he asked.
Mrs. Janson seemed to consider and then said, “Certainly before Christmas. We want Nelle to spend the holidays with us, don’t we?”
Mathew chuckled and leaned down to kiss his mother’s cheek. “I can’t think of anything better,” he said.
“What about you, Pearl?” Mrs. Janson asked.
Pearl clasped her hands together, a soft smile lighting her face. “I won’t be able to stay after the wedding, but I’d be honored to attend the ceremony.”
Nelle couldn’t wish for anything more perfect. She felt surrounded—absolutely surrounded—by love, and wondered if she might burst with too much happiness. They spent the remainder of the day together and ate at a fine restaurant in the evening.
Mathew booked a hotel room for Nelle and Pearl to share, and Nelle spent some time writing a letter of explanation to Dottie, knowing her friend would understand. When she finished, Nelle took it to the reception desk at the hotel to post it. Then she returned to her room to find Pearl standing at the balcony window, watching the light snow fall.
“I’ve always loved the first snow of the year,” Pearl said as Nelle entered and shut the door.
“Does it snow in Shanghai?” Nelle asked, joining her at the window.
Pearl lifted her shoulders. “I haven’t been there for many years,” she said. “I only remember a handful of times that it snowed there, and the snow effectively shut down the city.”
“Tell me about Shanghai,” Nelle said, hoping this time Pearl might confide in her at last. “Tell me about where you came from.”
Pearl was silent for several moments. Then she said, “I left my parents and my home at a very young age. For, you see, my heart had been broken.”
Nelle listened in rapt attention as Pearl told of how she had traveled for days on her own, practically destitute, before she had arrived in Shanghai. There, Pearl was coerced into joining a courtesan house but was able to flee. After sleeping outside on the boat dock, she was rescued by an older woman.
“Mrs. Tan brought me back to full health and taught me her trade,” Pearl said in a quiet voice as the snow continued to fall outside, covering the street below in a blanket of white.
“What was her trade?” Nelle asked softly, not wanting to break the mood.
Pearl turned to face Nelle, a smile on her face. “She was a matchmaker,” Pearl said.
Nelle stared at Pearl as her cryptic comments from the past began to fit together like a complicated puzzle.
“You…” Nelle exhaled. “You are a matchmaker?”
Pearl blinked, but she didn’t deny it.
Nelle’s mind raced through all the conversations she’d ever had with Pearl, her encouragement about Mathew, the counsel about Nelle opening her heart, Pearl’s advice about Nelle working through her grief over her parents’ deaths. She thought about Pearl’s return after her disappearance.
“You returned to bring Mathew back to me,” Nelle said.
A small smile played on Pearl’s lips.
Nelle had another question, one she didn’t know whether Pearl would answer. “How long have you been a matchmaker, Pearl?”
Pearl arched an eyebrow and reached over and patted Nelle’s hand. “Many, many years. Too many to count.”
Nelle digested this information, and then she asked what she’d been wondering all along. “You said your heart had once been broken. Did you ever have another chance at new love?”
“I’ve always had a chance,” Pearl said, looking back toward the window. The snow had transitioned now into thick, heavy flakes, slowly spiraling from the heavens down to the streets. “I’ve decided there is too much work to do, t
oo many people to help. Love is a complicated process and takes time and patience.” She cast a glance over at Nelle.
“You aren’t ever in one place for long, are you?”
Pearl gave a slight shake of her head.
“How many couples have you matched?” Nelle asked, unable to resist.
Pearl gave another small shrug. “I haven’t counted.”
Nelle had to smile, for Pearl was being as evasive as ever. Then one thing became clear. “You gave up your own chance at love to help others, didn’t you?”
This time Pearl didn’t look at Nelle. There was only silence for a moment before Nelle realized that the woman’s eyes were wet with tears. Nelle wrapped an arm about Pearl’s waist and leaned her head against Pearl’s shoulder.
“What was his name?” Nelle whispered.
Pearl was quiet for a long while. She finally said in the barest of whispers, “Chen Zhu.”
The way Pearl spoke this name carried with it the weight of loss and grief. Nelle recognized these emotions as ones that she’d battled ever since her parents’ deaths—a loss so significant, it was hard to put her grief into words.
So Nelle kept her arm around Pearl’s waist and her head resting on Pearl’s shoulder while, together, they watched the snow fall in the still New York City night.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“I will come with you,” Mathew told Nelle.
Nelle grasped his hand and squeezed. It was so wonderful to be able to have this man by her side, to be able to touch him whenever she wanted. They’d taken the train back to Waterbury. Mr. Bradley had picked them up at the station, driving the carriage along the snow-swept roads. The green fields that Nelle remembered were now covered with a vast whiteness, transforming Waterbury and making it feel smaller somehow. Pearl would be joining them in a few days for the wedding.
But first, Nelle needed to make amends with Aunt Corinne. Although, if I really think about it, Nelle reasoned, Aunt Corinne should be making amends with me and not the other way around.
Love is Come (Power of the Matchmaker) Page 19