Line by Line

by Jennifer Delamere

  Maybe a touch of fresh air would be good for him, too. It might clear his brain. He grabbed his hat and went out.

  He bought a hand pie and an apple from a street vendor, then made his way to the church park. Sure enough, Alice sat there, absorbed in her reading as she munched on a piece of cheese.

  “May I join you?”

  She looked up, surprised, then smiled when she saw the food he was holding. “I see you are eating a clerk’s lunch today, Mr. Shaw,” she teased.

  “Never hurts to economize.” He took a seat next to her on the bench. “What are you reading?”

  “It’s the Telegraphic Journal and Electrical Review.”

  By now, Douglas knew enough about her reading preferences that he wasn’t surprised at her choice. The journal was filled with technical articles, mostly about advances in machinery and other updates in the field of telegraphy. He liked that Alice had a hunger to learn new things. He was the same way. Even so, he found the journal could be dry reading sometimes, aside from an occasionally humorous anecdote. “That doesn’t seem terribly suitable for light lunchtime reading.”

  “Oh, but the article I’m reading is fascinating!” she replied. “It’s about the future of telephone service in England. I think you’d be interested to read it—especially given the number of times I’ve heard you mention to Mr. Henley that we ought to get one installed.”

  “Have I been that obvious?” he joked, and they shared a smile. He really did like how Alice picked up on things at the office. “One day I might actually get him to agree to it. I’m certain the telephone will be hugely important to our business in the future.”

  “The article discusses how the government will be taking over licensing and operation. It’s going to be run by the postal service, like the telegraph service is now.”

  “So I’ve heard.” He frowned. “I believe that’s a terrible idea. It will cause England to lag behind. There are so many technical issues yet to be worked out. Private industry always solves those problems faster than the government.”

  “Yes, there’s been an ongoing debate about it.” She grinned. “The letters section of the journal has gotten quite heated.”

  Douglas noticed the pleasant way her face lit up when talking about something that interested her. She looked particularly nice today. Perhaps it was due to the pretty blue scarf she was wearing. A gentle breeze ruffled the nearby trees, and he thought about how refreshing it was to be sitting outside on such a nice day, discussing a topic that was intriguing, relevant, and potentially vital to their business.

  He sat back on the bench and began to unwrap his pie. “Care to tell me more about it?”

  “Certainly,” she replied, looking pleased that he’d asked. As they ate, Alice shared highlights from the article. After summing up the main points, she added, “The article notes that there is an upcoming lecture in London on this very topic. The speaker has been involved in the installation of telephone exchanges all over England, almost from the beginning. I definitely plan to go.”

  “That lecture is bound to be filled with useful information. I believe I’ll go, too.” Douglas said this without hesitation, genuinely enthused at the idea. He turned toward Alice as he spoke. Their eyes met, and suddenly there was a moment of silence. A long moment of silence. The ease with which they’d been conversing stalled into something unexpectedly awkward.

  Sometimes he forgot that Alice was a woman—which was absurd, because he never really forgot it. It was just that so often it didn’t seem to matter. But of course, in other ways it did matter a great deal. He couldn’t just casually offer to go with her someplace, as he would with Carson or Hal.

  “I’m not trying to intrude on your plans, by any means,” he hastily assured her, leaning back to put more distance between them. “I didn’t mean to imply—”

  She blinked and turned her head, breaking their eye contact. He waited, unsure what to do next, while she seemed to be collecting herself.

  After a moment she shrugged and said casually, “It’s a public lecture. Open to anyone. I think it’s important that we stay current with all technical developments when it comes to communications. After all, that is critical to a firm such as Henley and Company. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  “So it is.” He took a breath, relieved that she hadn’t gotten the wrong idea.

  “My friend Mrs. Bennington will be going with me,” Alice continued. “She’s interested in the telephone, too, although strictly from a user’s point of view.”

  She said this last part with a smile, which seemed to indicate that the discomfort of a moment ago had cleared. Douglas still felt there was something different in the air between them, but it didn’t necessarily strike him as negative, only as, well, different.

  “I take it Mrs. Bennington is not employed as a telegrapher?”

  “Oh no. She’s not employed at all. She’s supported by a rich husband.”

  There was a note of dismissal in Alice’s voice, the same he had heard that day in the filing room when she’d talked about her sister’s marriage. She really did seem dead set against the idea.

  “Does getting married generally stop a woman’s interest in learning?” he inquired with a smile.

  “Well, I do get Lucy to go with me to the monthly lectures at the Ladies’ Improvement Society in Bloomsbury, so there’s that.”

  It was another playful dig at her friend’s expense.

  “That sounds like a lofty title for an organization,” Douglas said.

  Alice shrugged. “It covers topics of general interest but nothing terribly advanced or technical. I’m hoping this lecture on the telephone will have more detailed scientific information.”

  “Where is the lecture to be held?” he asked.

  “It’s going to be at the Alexandra Palace on Saturday afternoon.”

  Douglas gulped. Of all the places for it to be. And on the very day of the tea dance. It brought him back to the reason he’d stepped outside in the first place—to forget about the problem of the Tilneys’ ball. Amazingly, he had forgotten about it. Until now.

  For a few panicked moments, he thought about changing his mind. But then he reasoned that he wasn’t likely to run into Hal. After all, Saturday was the busiest day of the week there, as thousands of Londoners made the most of their half holiday. The lecture would be held inside, while the tea dance would be at the outdoor pavilion on the other side of the grounds. It would be simple enough to come and go without getting anywhere close to the dancing.

  “If I happen to see you there, perhaps the three of us can sit together,” Alice suggested.

  “Yes, that’s a fine idea.”

  That solved the problem. They were going together but not going together. It was very simple, and there was nothing at all untoward about it.

  Gathering her things, Alice rose from the bench. Douglas followed suit, preparing to go with her, but she paused, saying hesitantly, “Perhaps we shouldn’t return to work together. I wouldn’t want the, er, office gossips to get the wrong idea.”

  She’d used the plural, but Douglas was sure Alice was referring to only one person: Archie Clapper. It was wise of her to exercise caution. He nodded. “In fact, there is an errand I need to do at the bank. I may as well take care of that now.”

  They parted ways, with Douglas heading toward the bank while Alice went toward the office. Even if nothing had changed in regard to his problems, he was grateful for this time with her. It had been a pleasant and much-needed diversion.

  Unlike the dance at the Tilneys’, he was certain the lecture at Ally Pally was something he was going to enjoy.

  When Alice returned to the office, she noticed that Archie’s previous good mood seemed to have evaporated. Also, the stack of outgoing messages was back on her desk.

  “Did you not have time to send these after all?” she asked.

  “No,” he said, giving her a dark look. “Too busy.”

  From the way he said it, she guessed the real reas
on was simply that he’d changed his mind. “Well, thank you anyway for the offer. I’ll get to those now.”

  “Did you have an enjoyable lunch?” He said it like an accusation.

  “Yes, very enjoyable!” His attitude couldn’t dampen her enthusiasm.

  The half hour she and Douglas had spent conversing had been . . . well, electrifying. There was no one outside of her father and brothers with whom she could have had such a stimulating conversation. Given that they were in Ancaster, her opportunities were few and far between.

  Her smile had the effect of deepening Archie’s frown. What had caused the change? In an effort to distract him from whatever was bothering him, she said, “I was reading the Telegraphic Journal. There is an interesting article about telephones in there. On my way back, I even paused to look into that new telephone exchange they’ve just opened up on our street.”

  That was true. She’d had a brief but interesting conversation with the manager there and was looking forward to telling Douglas about it later.

  Impulsively, she extended the journal toward Archie. “Would you care to borrow it?”

  He accepted it with a nod, although he was still looking at her with suspicion. When he left for his lunch break a few minutes later, he took the journal with him.

  Once he was gone, Alice went over to Mavis. “Were there a lot of incoming messages while I was away?”

  “No,” Mavis said, confirming Alice’s suspicions. “It’s too bad, because Mr. Clapper was acting strangely the whole time and having work to do might have helped.”

  “What do you mean by ‘acting strangely’?”

  “After you left, he got up and looked out that window to the lane. Did you walk that way?”

  Alice nodded.

  “Mr. Shaw left a few minutes after that, and I saw Mr. Clapper get up again and look out the window. Then he just sat at his desk and glowered for the rest of the hour.”

  Alice let out a sigh of frustration. Her efforts to thwart the office gossip had been to no avail. She went to her desk and began sending the messages, trying to take her mind off Archie Clapper and his penchant for seeing the worst in everything.

  She was surprised, therefore, that when Archie returned, he seemed to be in much better humor.

  He gave the journal back to her. “Thank you. That was very interesting.” He gave her a smile that she gauged was sincere, though it looked so odd on his face that she was tempted to avert her gaze.

  She went back to work, still puzzled, but deciding things had somehow turned out all right. Even if Archie’s brand of friendliness made her instinctively cringe.

  CHAPTER

  Sixteen

  Alice, are you running from a fire?” Lucy teased breathlessly as she tried to keep up.

  “I’m sorry.” Alice forced herself to walk more slowly. “I don’t want to be late for the lecture.”

  Lucy wiped a bead of perspiration from her forehead. “Why are you so excited about the telephone? People are already saying it could replace the telegraph one day.”

  “Do you think I should ignore it and hope it goes away?” Alice smiled. “I say that’s all the more reason I should learn what I can. If my occupation is in jeopardy, I want to be informed of it.”

  These things were all true, but the real reason Alice was in a hurry was to ensure she had time to meet up with Douglas before the lecture began. Getting to the Alexandra Palace grounds had taken longer than planned, and now they had to hurry to reach the lecture hall on time.

  “Mr. B. wants to have a telephone installed at our house,” Lucy said. “He says it will be a mark of distinction to have one. But he also teases me that he worries I shall enjoy having a telephone far too much. He says I shall ruin him by running up exorbitant fees by constantly making calls to my friends!”

  Alice took in little of her friend’s ramblings because her attention had been arrested by a surprising and unwelcome sight: Archie Clapper was standing outside the lecture hall. Alice got the impression he was looking for someone—and she didn’t want to guess who that person might be.

  The knot in her stomach tightened when he caught sight of her. He gave a quick smooth to his hair, straightened his coat, and began walking toward her. “Why, good afternoon, Miss McNeil,” he said, taking advantage of a brief pause in Lucy’s stream of words. “What a surprise to see you here. Although I suppose it’s not such a surprise, is it?”

  “No?” Alice said, at a loss.

  “It was in the Telegraphic Journal. I couldn’t help noticing that the information about this lecture had been circled. In pencil,” he added, as though that point were somehow significant.

  While Alice was still digesting this, Archie gave Lucy a little bow. “Good afternoon, madam.”

  Lucy was as dumbfounded as Alice. Her surprise was probably a reaction to Archie’s greeting. Although Lucy had only seen him from a distance, she knew from Alice’s descriptions that his manner was not normally so polite.

  Utter dismay took over Alice’s surprise when she grasped the meaning behind Archie’s words. He thought that by circling that information and then handing the paper to him, Alice had left him a hint. In other words, she’d unwittingly followed another key in the spinster book: “The method of communication is so easy and so unsuspect. You have only to put faint pencil marks against the passages and lend the volume to him, and he will respond.”

  Archie stood looking at her expectantly. Was he waiting for some sign that he’d correctly deduced the meaning of the circled passage?

  A few stragglers rushed by, intent on getting to the lecture hall.

  “I believe the program is about to start,” Alice croaked.

  She said this in some vain hope that she might find a way to break free, but unfortunately Archie took it as confirmation that he should join them. He nodded. “Yes, we should go in. We wouldn’t want to miss anything.”

  When they reached the door, Archie opened it for them. As Alice passed him, she caught a distinctive smell. He’d put bear grease in his hair. To impress her. It was almost too much. The very last thing she needed was Archie’s attentions. She realized now that she preferred him when he was rude and distant. In fact, any kind of animosity short of attempted murder would have been preferable to this.

  Lucy said nothing. Clearly, she was as stunned by these events as Alice was.

  Alice was still desperately trying to think of a way to separate from Archie when she saw Douglas. He was standing at the end of a row of chairs near the front. He lifted a hand to get her attention, then frowned when he saw Archie. Archie didn’t look any happier to see him. Looking irritated, Douglas walked forward to meet them.

  “Your attention, everyone!” bellowed a man standing at the lectern. “Please find your seats! We’ll begin in five minutes.”

  At this announcement, many latecomers who’d been milling about began to scramble to find a place to sit. Now swimming upstream, Douglas skirted the crowd in order to reach them.

  “I’ve got three seats saved in the second row,” he said. “My apologies, Clapper. I didn’t realize there would be a fourth person.”

  Douglas didn’t sound the least bit sorry. The two men stared at one another, sizing each other up.

  Archie’s face twisted into a sneer. “Don’t bother about me. I’ll just take a seat in the back.” He tossed a sour look at Alice. “It’s my fault for being too late.”

  Douglas’s eyes narrowed as he caught the insinuation behind Archie’s words. Evidently deciding to let it go, he turned to Alice and Lucy. “Right. Let’s go, then.”

  Alice breathed a sigh of relief as they moved away with Archie making no further objection. She knew she would pay for today’s events later, though. It wasn’t a happy prospect.

  “It’s very kind of you, Mr. . . . ?” Lucy said as Douglas ushered them forward. She must have been confused as to why this man was saving them seats. They hadn’t been introduced, and Alice hadn’t told her he would be here. The smile on Luc
y’s face indicated she was finding Douglas more than acceptable as company, however. Compared to the alternative of Archie, who wouldn’t? Even so, Lucy’s admiring gaze made Alice recall her own reaction upon meeting him. If she, who never paid attention to such things, had been bowled over by this handsome man, she had no doubt Lucy would be even more susceptible.

  They paused at the row where Douglas had saved them seats, and Alice quickly made the introductions.

  Lucy gave a nod of recognition when she heard his name. “So nice to meet you, Mr. Shaw. Alice has told me about you, although she didn’t mention that you were so—” She paused, catching herself just in time, and started again. “That you were so, er, interested in telephones.”

  Alice was grateful that Lucy refrained from what she’d evidently wanted to say, but it didn’t stop her cheeks from burning in embarrassment. She ought to have prepared Lucy a little better. “We’d better find our seats,” she reminded them.

  They made their way to the chairs Douglas had saved, which were in the center of the row. Alice ended up seated between Douglas and Lucy.

  “Clapper didn’t come here with you, did he?” Douglas said once they were settled.

  “Of course not!” Alice answered vehemently. “We happened to meet on the way in.” She wasn’t ready to admit her unintended role in bringing about the meeting.

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “Thank you for saving us,” Lucy said. “My heavens, it appears all the employees from Henley and Company have come to this lecture today.” She caught Alice’s eye, and her expression transmitted loud and clear how impressed she was with this particular employee.

  “Was Clapper being rude to you?” Douglas asked with concern.

  “No,” said Alice. “He was being nice—which was far worse.”

  This statement brought a gleam of amusement to Douglas’s eyes, and the corners of his mouth moved as he seemed to suppress a smile. Alice returned the look, pleased he’d understood her so perfectly.