by Abigail Agar
By not telling Thomas about her and Michael, she thought that she was doing him a favour, but it was clear now how wrong she was about that. Minnie thought that would be the biggest mistake that she ever made, and now she thought that she might not be able to rectify it.
“There is a lady, is there not?” she asked him curiously. “I have asked around, trying to find you, and I have heard that there is someone who has caught your eye.”
Thomas could not keep the smile from his face. He wanted to protect Victoria from Minnie, but he could not keep the happiness away. “Yes, I suppose you could say that.”
“I see.” Minnie nodded slowly. She did not want to make things worse, but she needed to confess what she had done. Thomas would find out eventually, and she assumed that it would be better coming straight from her mouth. “Well, I suppose I should let you know that I have told people that you belong to me. I have said that you will be returning to America soon enough.”
“People will not believe that,” Thomas shot back firmly, needing to put this conversation to a very rapid end. “I have been setting down roots here. I have met someone that I wish to marry.”
The idea of Thomas having a wedding to someone that was not her brought out a rage in Minnie. She confessed the parts of the things that she did not intend to. “I have told people that you are only marrying this lady for her fortune and that you will be back to me soon enough.”
Thomas pushed himself into a standing position, bolting up as shock shot through him. He could not believe what he was hearing. “You did not tell people that, Minnie. Please tell me that you did not.” When she nodded, he found it very challenging to keep his emotions inside. “You do not understand, Minnie. In England, reputation is everything. By saying that, you have affected mine and Victoria’s. You do not know what you have done here.”
“I am sorry,” Minnie whined. “I did not mean ...”
“You never mean what you do, but you do it anyway. And this time, you have gone too far. You have come all this way just to wreck my life, again. I cannot believe it.” He tugged his fingers through his hair, pulling on the ends as the stress coursed through him. “Who did you speak to?”
“I do not know anyone’s names,” Minnie whimpered. “I do not know. I only had one mission in mind, and that was to get you back. I wanted to speak to you, to apologise for what I did, and to see if we can get things back on track. I had to come all this way because you ran away.”
“I did not run away; I simply wanted a fresh start,” Thomas said bitingly. “And you are only here because things did not work out with Michael; I am no fool. If you thought that he wanted you, you would not be here. If you can do that to me once, then I know for certain that you are capable of doing it again. I am not the right person for you, and that will become evident, eventually.”
“So you intend to marry an English lady that you hardly know? You would rather that than be with me? I am someone you know, someone that you love ...”
Minnie reached out, trying to hold onto Thomas’s arm. She figured that once she touched him, he would remember everything, and she could work her magic ... but he snatched away from her, not wanting her anywhere near him.
“I thought I loved you once, but I was wrong. What I have now is real.” He nodded to himself, really feeling the gravity of the situation. “And now I would like you to leave.”
“We can talk about this ...”
“I am done talking with you, Minnie. Now it is time for me to speak with Victoria. I need to make things right with her. She is the only one who is important to me.”
Millie could hardly believe it; she never thought that things would go this way, but they had. She only needed to look at Thomas to see that he really did love this other lady and that he would never want her again. Now, she would have to return to America with her tail between her legs, facing the true consequences of that she had done. It was going to be absolutely terrible.
Chapter Seventeen
As Thomas reached Victoria’s front door, he felt dreadful. Despite the fact that he had not done anything wrong, he felt terribly guilty for Minnie’s actions. There was no doubt in his mind that Victoria would have heard the rumours that Minnie had spread. London gossip always seemed to reach everyone’s ears – he had learned that much already – and she would certainly be hurt by it.
He did not know how, but he needed to fix it. As he raised his fist to knock on the door, he felt shaky and nervous, very much unlike himself at all. His confidence zapped away, but he held his head as high as he could manage. He wanted to tackle this properly like a man.
The door slowly opened, creaking as it did, and Thomas found himself staring at the butler. To his credit, Duke Turner had staff who never betrayed their emotions, which remained the truth even now. The butler’s expression was stoic and smooth as if he knew nothing.
It was possible that he did not, but Thomas was not naïve enough to believe that staff did not overhear everything that went on inside a home. They probably even knew about the kiss that he and Victoria had shared, despite the fact that happened out in the garden.
“May I speak with Duke Turner, please?” Thomas asked, knowing that he would have to speak with Victoria’s father first. “May you tell him it is of utmost importance?”
The butler stepped aside and invited Thomas in. Then he left him in the reception area of the house while he went to get his master. As Thomas waited, very impatiently, he continually darted his eyes towards the stairs as if he was attempting to summon Victoria down. He would have much preferred to simply discuss things with her, but that was not possible.
“Ah, Mr Jones.” Thomas span to see the Duke as he came to greet him. Luckily, he could tell by his facial expression that he did not think less of him for the rumours that had been spread. “I am most glad that you are here; I assume you have come to sort this mess out?”
“I have only just heard about it,” Thomas assured him quickly. “I came as soon as I learned about the terrible, untrue things that have been said about me.”
Duke Smith patted Thomas reassuringly on the back. “I will tell you now that I did not believe the rumours at all. I know what these women are like. I bet there is no woman from America at all.”
As the Duke laughed, Thomas knew that he needed to be honest. He did not have anything to hide anyway. “There is an American woman, and of course, she is someone that I know, but her words are not the truth. I am not trying to find my fortune with an English lady. I have my own money. The rumours that she has been spreading around are very much untrue.”
“So this woman,” the Duke felt compelled to ask, “is she an old flame?”
Thomas sighed deeply, knowing that this was going to be an issue. In England, the wealthy did not get to know their spouse until they were married, so he did not think that anyone would like his past very much. But still he wanted to be truthful. He could not lie; not now most of all.
“She is, but she left me for my brother. It was a very messy situation that has only gotten worse, which I am sure you can tell by the fact that she is here today. Things did not work out with my brother, so she has travelled halfway around the world to rekindle things with me.”
“Oh. I see.” Duke Turner was admittedly a little taken aback by this. It was not what he expected. “And is there any chance of that happening? She has come a terribly long way ...”
“No, there is no chance at all.” Thomas was firm as he spoke. “She is not what I want.” He knew that he had told Victoria that he would not say anything until she was comfortable to do so, but he needed to make the Duke understand how serious he was. “I put her back on a boat to America today, so she will not cause me any more trouble. What I want is to marry your daughter.”
Duke Turner nodded as he processed these words. He still liked Mr Jones a lot, and he was comfortable with him marrying Victoria, but her insistence that her parents were not to interfere with her life anymore stuck with him. He did not wish to
hurt her further, and from what he had seen, she was broken by this. She was fragile, and that upset him.
“I do not know how Victoria feels.” He was honest with Thomas. “I can send someone to go and get her, but I cannot guarantee that she will talk to you ...”
“There is no need.” Both men were stunned when they heard Victoria’s voice from nearby. Neither of them realised that she had hidden once she heard Thomas at the door to hear what he had to say. She had intended to avoid him completely, and had made the decision that she did not want to speak to him today, but now she felt that it was necessary to do so. “I am here.” She turned to her father and gave him a meaningful look. “I would like to speak to Thomas alone.”
The Duke needed to get away from the tense atmosphere anyway, so he nodded and moved backwards. He knew that he could not manage this; it had spiralled out of his control now. Much as he wanted to interfere, he had to let this happen. He had to let Victoria decide what she wanted to do.
Once he was gone, Victoria forced herself to look up at Thomas, hoping that he could see the fire in her eyes. She wanted him to know just how angry she was; he needed to know what he had done. Thomas did not react at first. He looked too stunned for words.
“So, you overheard all of that?” he eventually asked her. “You know the truth now?”
“I know what you told my father,” Victoria replied coldly. “But that does not matter. I am not interested in whether you were telling him the truth or not; it does not make any difference. I do not know anyone who has a romantic past; that is not how things are done here. In England, we wait until we find the person we want to marry. Your past, whatever the truth of it is, makes me uncomfortable.”
Thomas felt stunned to the core. He was not expecting this. He assumed that once he explained the truth to Victoria, everything would be just fine. He did not think that she would be upset by it. “But I am not from England,” he said, stating the obvious. “Things are not the same in America. And when I was with Minnie, I thought that things would be forever. I did not know what the future held.”
Victoria would not admit it to Thomas, but the thought that she was not the first woman that he had ever fallen for her, upset her. She did not realise it before, but she wanted to be special. She wanted to be the only one, just as he was for her. All of this tainted her experience with him.
“You kept a secret from me,” she whispered sadly, hanging her head low as she spoke. “You were not honest, and that is something I cannot recover from.”
Thomas stepped closer to Victoria with desperation coursing through his veins. “Please do not think of it like that; it was never my intention to deceive you. I did not mention anything because my life in America is long behind me. I did not think my two lives would ever mix. I left America for a fresh start, and that is what I got.” He tried to meet Victoria’s eyes, but she refused to see him. “Victoria, you are the first woman that I have ever loved. I love you very much.”
At that, she could not keep her eyes on the floor any longer. She snapped them up and looked at Thomas with shock. “Love? You love me?” She shook her head, realising that she did not ask the right question then. “You did not love your American girl ... Minnie?”
Thomas smiled at Victoria and cupped her cheeks in his hands. She knew that she should pull away, but she did not. The thought that he loved her was intoxicating, and the idea that at least she was the first person he had loved was really something. She did not know if it was enough or not, but for the moment, she wanted to stay where she was while she found out. Even if her father was watching, she could not pull herself backwards.
“I did not love Minnie. Maybe in a naïve way, I thought that I could, but we were never going to make things work.” Thomas brushed his thumb over Victoria’s cheek softly as he spoke. “She did me a favour by leaving me for my brother. That decision led me here, with you.”
He moved his lips towards her and kissed her gently. It was far more romantic and tender than any of the kisses that they had shared before, which made Victoria’s heart skip a beat. She could almost feel Thomas’s love bursting through her lips which left her dizzy and confused. She could not believe that she was back to a place where she did not know what to do again. It had been extremely up and down, a journey that she never expected or wanted to go on. She had only just told her father that she wanted to go, no matter what, and now she did not know all over again. Every time Thomas was near her, she felt all confused again.
“I do not believe it,” Victoria uttered in shock as she pulled back from Thomas. “This is unbelievable. I was so sure that I was part of a plan, so of course, I made the decision to go, but now I am unsure. I do not know what to think ...”
Thomas tried his hardest to stop Victoria before she went a little mad. “I understand that I have confused you, and I do not expect you to make a decision right now. After everything that we have been through here, it will not be straightforward. But I think you need to consider how you feel about me. If you do not love me, and you know for certain that you will never be able to do so, then we should put an end to this. I will not blame you for being unable to move forwards with this; I will understand and hold you no ill will.”
Victoria shook her head nervously. “I cannot make a decision right now. I need some time to think about it.” Her whole body trembled; she could not believe what she was saying. “You have been invited to have dinner with us when Eleanor arrives, have you not?” Thomas nodded, unsure of where Victoria was going with this. “Can I discuss things with you then?”
Thomas felt disappointed. That was not the positive answer he had hoped for, but he needed to understand. He had to give the woman that he loved the space she needed to make up her mind. He only wanted to pursue this if she did too.
“Of course.” He stepped back. “That sounds like a very good plan. I shall speak with you then. Luckily, it is not too far away. The end of next week. I shall see you then.”
Chapter Eighteen
The week passed by Victoria in a haze; she barely knew what was going on. Not only was she lost in the dilemma that she could not seem to shake off, no matter what happened, she was also very much embroiled in the preparations for Eleanor and her family coming to visit. The house staff was rushed off its feet, her parents were incredibly stressed, and she felt panicked all the time. It was almost as if the Queen was coming to visit rather than a member of the family.
Still, having something to do kept her busy, which she supposed was nice.
“Victoria, when you are done here, I would like speak with you,” the Duchess told her quietly. “If that is alright with you? Do you have the time?”
She knew that her daughter had the time, so this made Victoria very curious. If it was something that she would not discuss with her in front of other people then it had to be something that she wanted to keep a secret. She nodded silently, not trusting herself to speak.
The Duchess did not wait around, there were other people that could continue the work in the dining room without them. She was not sure that what she needed to say could wait. She walked towards her bedroom, wanting to ensure that not even the house staff could overhear them.
Once they were alone and the door had closed behind them, the Duchess indicated for the chair that she wished her daughter to sit in. Victoria gave her mother a very curious look while she tried to work out exactly what had happened, but she did as commanded. She tucked her skirts underneath herself and gave her mother an expectant look.
“I have not had a chance to speak with you recently,” she started. “I am sorry about that. Things have been incredibly busy around here.” The Duchess cocked her head towards Victoria, but her daughter did not speak just yet. “I understand that Mr Jones came to speak with you recently after we discovered the truth about the rumours, and I would just like to speak to you about that. This is not for me to pry; I would merely like to offer you my help, that is all.”
Victoria let out a deep breath
as the tight knot of stress uncoiled in her chest. She had become so stuck in her own brain that she forgot her mother was someone that she could speak with about this. While she might not be able to understand the whole situation, her mother had experienced marriage before. She may have some advice for her.
“Yes, Mr Jones did come, and he spoke with me about the rumours. Or ... he spoke to Father about it, and I overheard. He told him that the American lady is someone that he was involved with when he was living in his home country, and someone who left him for his brother.”
The Duchess gasped from shock. She had not ever heard anything so shocking before. If that had happened in England, there would have been terrible gossip about it for many, many years. She knew that things were different in America, but she had not realised quite so much.
“He did not come here to find an English lady to make his fortune; he came here to escape all of that. He has his own fortune and does not want mine.”
“I see.” The Duchess was not sure how to respond to that; it was not what she expected to hear. She needed to tread carefully before she spoke. “And how does that make you feel?”
“I do not know,” Victoria responded honestly. “Mr Jones has told me that he still wishes to marry me. He has even said that he loves me.” She twiddled her hands awkwardly as she let her mind wash over her decision once more. “He does not want me to leave to the countryside; he wishes me to stay and marry him, but I do not know what to do. I do not believe that it is straightforward. He has a romantic history, and I do not. Maybe I would be better forgetting all about Mr Jones and either making my move out of the city or searching for an English gentleman instead. Someone who understands the proper ways to behave.”
