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Thirty-Four

Liverpool, England

Two days later

The Compton Hotel in Liverpool was five floors of luxurious rooms and suites that had recently been rebuilt to accommodate the many Americans who had begun traveling to England.

The rooms were as well-appointed as any at Montague Club, and the expansive first floor held an array of shops and restaurants ensuring that guests would find everything to satisfy whatever they might need.

This is not where Simon had imagined staying as they waited to board the ocean liner to America.

Eliza had wired him the appointed time and place, and he’d arrived only a few minutes earlier.

He’d left the train station to find a veritable castle of a hotel.

After giving his name at the front desk, the clerk had given him a room number and he’d come upstairs.

The moment he’d knocked, Eliza had opened the door and practically jumped into his arms. He’d managed to barely get them both inside, shove the door closed with his foot, and set his portmanteau on the floor.

“I missed you.” She kissed him and then hugged him tight before kissing him again.

He’d missed her so much that he’d ached with it. “It wasn’t until you opened the door that I understood I feared that I might never see you again, or that I’d wake up one morning and realize you hadn’t been real at all.”

A curl had come loose from a pin and fallen down over her cheek.

He rubbed the silky length between his thumb and forefinger before pushing it back from her face.

He’d missed every part of her, from her deep brown eyes to the soft husk of her voice.

He kissed her softly, reverently, still not believing that he’d be able to keep on kissing her for the rest of his life.

“I’m real, Simon. This is real,” she whispered against his lips.

“How is Daisy?” he asked when he was finally assured that Eliza was here and whole. “Is she here?”

It was only then that he looked up and noticed this was no mere hotel room: it was a suite, and it was as grand as the rest of the hotel had indicated it would be.

They were standing in a marble entryway with arched doors leading off in different directions.

Each doorway was framed by marble pillars, and the doors were carved from a rich-looking wood.

A gas chandelier hung above them, sparkling with crystals.

“Yes, she’s here and well and excited to see you, but first there’s something you need to know.” She smiled at him, but there was uncertainty in her eyes.

A terrible heaviness settled over him. She was real and he still wouldn’t have her. “Is it about our marriage? Did the license not come through?”

“We’ll be married,” she hurried to say.

His relief was very nearly palpable.

Touching her, because he couldn’t stop feeling her, he used his thumb to free that plump lip. “Then does it have anything to do with this hotel?” He’d thought Dunn had made the hotel arrangements, but he couldn’t afford this.

She nodded. “A little. Come with me.”

She took his hand and led him into one of the rooms off the foyer.

It was a bedroom decorated in shades of rose and touches of blue.

The boots she’d worn the night he’d undressed her were lying forgotten by a winged chair, and her scent already floated in the air.

This was her room. Her bed. He went half-rigid just thinking of sharing it with her.

He pulled her to him instinctively, and she made a soft sound in her throat as she felt his growing desire for her against her stomach. Her eyes began to dilate as she looked up at him, but she said firmly, “Not now, but later. I promise. We really do need to talk.”

It was true, and he still needed to see Daisy. He’d never gone this long without seeing her. He missed her. Still, he kissed Eliza and let his hands roam down to her bottom. She kissed him back, but he reluctantly pulled himself away.

“Did Leigh or Rothschild pay for this suite?”

She hesitated for a fraction of a second, enough to make his suspicion rise again. “Neither. It’s a wedding present…from my father.”

“Hathaway?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Does he still believe you’re marrying Mainwaring?”

“No, he knows you’re the bridegroom. Well, I don’t actually know if he knows who you are, but he knows I’m marrying the man I love.”

“I don’t understand.” Simon had assumed that he’d be running from her father as much as from Brody. The man wouldn’t take kindly to the fact that Simon was eloping with Eliza and dashing his chance for an aristocratic husband for her. Connections meant everything to the wealthy.

“Jenny arranged to marry Lord David Felding on the condition that I be allowed to marry the man of my choosing.”

It took a moment for the words to sink through his almost instinctive refusal to accept them. “But I thought you mentioned she hadn’t planned to marry under Hathaway’s condition?”

“She hadn’t. She sacrificed herself so that we could marry.”

“But why?”

“Well, there’s more. You see, part of her condition was that I still be able to inherit my share. So, you’ll receive my dowry upon our marriage.”

“Your dowry?” he repeated stupidly as his legs sank out from under him and he sat on the end of the bed. He heard what she said, but it didn’t make sense.

She followed him down to sit beside him. “Simon, my father has agreed to give us the two hundred fifty thousand dollars. There are also some investments. I don’t know the particulars, but they earn an income of about twenty thousand dollars a year. You’ll be able to pay off your debt to Brody.”

“No…I…How?”

“Mr. Hathaway decided that he liked the idea of a duke for a son-in-law—not that there’s a legal relation—more than having Lord Mainwaring for a son-in-law.

You have to admit, it does work out in his favor once Lord David inherits, but even before then he has his brother’s ear.

Strathmore is a formidable ally to have on his side. ”

Simon rose, and tossed his hat on the bed so that he could rake his fingers through his hair as he paced. This was very much not what he’d expected. It was overwhelming and unbelievable. The entire course of their future had changed in only a few short sentences.

“Simon, what’s wrong?”

He couldn’t even articulate it. He walked to the window, taking in the busy street below. “I don’t know…That amount of money…”

She touched his back and he jerked in surprise because he hadn’t been aware of her approaching. He turned to see her staring up at him in concern.

“I don’t know how to…” What? He didn’t even know how to say it.

“Nothing has to change. We pay Brody enough to placate him, and the rest we put in the bank. You can continue to work at Montague Club if you like and I can attend college. We can get Daisy a nurse and decorate her room and send her to school or hire tutors. Buy her pretty dresses and toys. It simply means that we can do what we planned to do and it will be a little easier.”

“Do you still want me to be employed? To not be a gentleman and—”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” The smile he loved so much was back on her face.

“I want the life we talked about. I don’t want the life I would’ve had with Mainwaring.

I don’t want to spend my days on social visits and my evenings attending balls, though one or two a year might be nice when August, Violet, or Cora have them.

That’s all I want. I want to be with you and one day buy our own little house in Bloomsbury and raise Daisy and our children.

Perhaps I’ll become a reporter, or a professor, or I’ll work with the London Suffrage Society to pass legislation. ”

He slipped his arms around her waist as he felt the weight lifting from his chest. “You can be whatever you want to be. You know that I’ll support you in that?”

“I know.” She laid her head on his chest. He placed a kiss to her temple, breathed in her sweet scent, and thanked God that she had come into his life.

“I still believe we should board the liner tomorrow,” he said, serious again.

She looked up at him, her pretty brow furrowed.

“I don’t trust Brody. I don’t trust him not to take the money and try to come after me anyway.” He was so angry that Simon had double-crossed him, at least in his view.

“How long would we need to stay gone?” she asked.

He shrugged. “An extended holiday, a few months. Until we’ve given him time to calm down.”

“That sounds like a marvelous idea. Daisy will enjoy seeing the world.”

He hadn’t even had to ask her if Daisy could come with him. He loved her so much it hurt.

“Let’s go see her,” he said.

Eliza rose up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss, then took his hand and led him toward the door. “You should know that everyone is here.”

“Everyone?”

“Lord Leigh and Violet, Rothschild and August, Cora and Devonworth—who just got back from Rome but came straightaway—and then Lord David, since he’s all but family now, and Mr. Hathaway, too. Mr. Dunn, of course, and Jenny, my mother, and Heni.”

“As long as one of them brought the marriage license, then I’m happy.”

She squeezed his hand. “They did, indeed, and we’ll be married very soon, Mr. Cavell.”

He opened the door. “After you, Mrs. Cavell.”

She giggled and he watched her walk away from him, certain that he would be happy forever.