Mr. Fairclough's Inherited Bride

by Georgie Lee

  ‘My desire for quality matches yours, it’s the reason I wish to produce the engines in America where I can be involved in every step of the process, from using the finest steel for construction to making sure the best metal workers are employed. I can’t afford inferior engines that’ll burst boilers the first time they traverse a steep incline in cold weather. I need a sturdy, reliable engine, a true workhorse. I need yours.’

  Mr Williams glanced at his assistant, who momentarily looked up from his work at the mention of Mr Williams’s designs before ducking back down to concentrate on his paper. Silas didn’t care what silent exchange took place between them. What interested him was that Mr Williams made no move for the pens, giving him some hope that he’d finally won the man over, until he spoke. ‘That’s all well and good, but what’s to stop you from taking my designs and passing them off as your own?’

  Silas almost sighed in frustration. Not even investors were ever this difficult to woo. ‘I don’t dabble in such underhanded dealings.’

  ‘So you say, but I have nothing but your word to assure me.’ Mr Williams straightened the pens again, making them stand perfectly upright. ‘I can’t tell you how many men have come in here and given me their word only to betray me. I, and especially my investors, will need something more concrete than your promises.’

  ‘Do you know who Jasper King is, who his father was?’ Silas was reluctant to name his now very close family connection, wanting to stand on his own merit as he’d wanted to do in Baltimore, but if it won him the patent, then so be it. He had to overcome Mr Williams’s objections.

  The man’s eyes went wide at the mention of King Enterprises and he and Mr Cooper exchanged impressed looks. ‘I’m very familiar with Mr King and his late father’s work. They’re well-respected engineers whose innovations are legendary.’

  ‘Jasper King, the son of the founder, was instrumental in establishing my involvement in the Baltimore Southern. He’s also my brother-in-law. If you’d like, I can arrange for you to meet him and he’ll vouch for me, my trustworthiness and the solidness of the Baltimore Southern Railway.’

  ‘Yes, I’d like that very much.’ Not since Silas had first offered praise and appreciation of Mr Williams’s designs at the beginning of their meeting had Mr Williams’s eyes been so wide.

  ‘Then name the establishment where we’ll meet, somewhere more conducive to a business conversation than our present accommodations, and I’ll arrange it at once.’

  It took Mr Williams a mere second to come up with a name, one that almost made Silas’s wallet hurt, except in matters of business he refused to be frugal or to wince at spending. That was for the grocer’s bills and menial household expenses. ‘I’ve never dined at Rules. I understand their roast beef is some of the finest in England.’

  ‘Rules it is.’ Silas rose to his feet and extended his hand across the table. ‘I look forward to our dinner.’

  Outside, Silas tapped on his hat and walked off down the pavement, swinging his walking stick in time to his gait. While Silas had been meeting with Mr Williams, clouds had settled over town, but the darkness of the afternoon did nothing to dampen Silas’s mood. Despite the difficulties with Mr Edwards and his mother this morning, his time with Mary and this meeting reminded him of the difference between the boy who’d last walked these streets and the man striding down them today. He’d been lost then, full of energy with nowhere to direct it, his ambitions curtailed by the situation fate had placed him in. Today, he had purpose, position and a confidence that boy had lacked and it would see him through this business deal and whatever challenges at home and the Foundation awaited him. This was who Silas was and everything he’d longed to become, someone who made things happen and pushed through every setback to get the results he craved. He wished Mary was here so he could share his elation with her and all his plans for the Baltimore Southern once he had the patent. She would be thrilled in a way no one here had ever been about his plans and ideas. Silas whistled as he walked, London, for the first time ever, a place of opportunity instead of frustration and loss.

  Chapter Twelve

  ‘Hello, my darling wife.’ Silas picked Mary up by the waist and spun her around, making her laugh as she held on tight to his shoulders. Her laughter rang out against the walls of the front sitting room where he’d found her when he’d come home. He set her back on her feet, keeping his arms around her waist as he peered down at her. Outside, the clouds and the winter sun added to the darkness, but inside a cheery fire brightened the room. For a moment, Silas pictured her in his Baltimore house greeting him in his splendid sitting room with the same anticipation and excitement she held right now. The feeling hit him so strongly it left him without words until she broke the silence.

  ‘All went well with Mr Williams? He gave you the patent?’

  ‘Not yet, but he will. I must write to Richard about it at once.’ He tried to release her to go to the desk and pen a letter of his progress to Richard and to enquire as to how their friend was doing, but Mary held tight to his arms, keeping him close.

  ‘Your correspondence can wait.’

  ‘Yes, it can.’ In his enthusiasm, he’d almost forgotten the little stop between Mr Williams’s and here. ‘I have a present for you to celebrate my—I mean our impending victory.’

  He withdrew a slim velvet box from his inner coat pocket and held it out to her. She gasped when he opened it to reveal a strand of pearls. It delighted him to see her take as much joy in his success as she did his gift.

  She held them up, admiring the creamy roundness of the orbs that reflected the firelight. ‘You shouldn’t have.’

  ‘But I did.’ He had selected and purchased the gift, not Tibbs.

  ‘I’m glad you did. I love them.’ She fastened the pearls around her neck, then hurried to the mirror over the fireplace to admire them. He came up behind her, slowly turning her to face him. He bent down and kissed her, savouring the taste of her mouth and her body pressed tight to his. This enthusiasm and acceptance was everything he’d always wanted when he’d lived here and it was finally his. He longed to carry her upstairs and be alone, the two of them together in their belief in each other and their future.

  Tibbs clearing his throat in the doorway made them break apart. Silas slipped off his hat and overcoat and handed them to the valet, who carried the garments off to be brushed and hung. He’d forgotten how sooty the air of London was. Baltimore had its moments of bad air, but nothing like this old city. ‘And what did you do this afternoon?’

  ‘I helped your mother teach the Foundation women to sew.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘It went a great deal better than I expected. Your mother has a way with those women, all women who’ve been in their situation.’ She fiddled with his lapel, not meeting his eyes.

  ‘What did you expect?’

  ‘That she’d ask me to pack my things and leave, especially after her cool welcome.’

  ‘I told you that’s how she is with everyone who comes here.’ Clearly, Mary hadn’t believed it.

  ‘But working with fallen women is one thing. Having your son marry one is entirely different.’

  ‘Remember what I told you before.’

  ‘I’m not a fallen woman, but a prosperous businessman’s wife.’

  He took her hands and clasped them in his large ones, holding them against his chest. ‘Any time you are in danger of forgetting that, you come to me and I’ll remind you.’

  ‘I promise, I will.’

  The jingle of equipage for a carriage stopping outside the doors drifted into the room. The sheer size of the vehicle coming to a stop in front of the Fairclough home dampened the already dark light at the window.

  ‘Who could that be?’ Silas wondered.

  ‘A Foundation patroness, perhaps? The carriage is too fine for anyone else.’

  Silas moved aside the window curtain to ha
ve a look, Mary pushing in beside him to see.

  ‘It’s Millie, arriving like a queen!’ Silas hurried out into the hallway to throw open the door and greet his sister, stopping at the sight of her. Like Mary, she’d abandoned the plain dark dresses he remembered her wearing for a chic silk gown, her hair done up in ringlets by a talented hand instead of the simple chignon she used to wear. A fine set of gold earrings dangled from her ears, but the smile she offered him reminded him that beneath all the finery was the twin sister he remembered.

  ‘Silas!’ Millie threw herself into his arms and gave him a hearty hug. Then she leaned back to take him in as much as he did her before both of them burst out in laughter. ‘What a couple of peacocks we’ve become.’

  ‘The look suits us very well.’

  ‘You perhaps better than me, this is what you always wanted.’

  ‘And I’m not disappointed, especially in you. Imagine, my sister a marchioness.’ He raised her hand over her head and spun her around, making her expensive silk skirt flare out around her.

  ‘Sometimes I can barely wrap my head around it, especially since everything has happened so fast, and now you’re married and to an earl’s daughter of all people.’

  ‘I see Lottie didn’t waste any time telling you about my wife.’

  ‘She was at my house the moment she left yours. If all the business of being a marchioness hadn’t kept me away I’d have been here sooner. Whoever called a lady of the manor a lady of leisure should be horsewhipped. Leisure is not the best word to describe it.’

  ‘All those menus won’t write themselves.’

  Millie swatted playfully at Silas. ‘There’s a great deal more to it than menus. So many people on Cassius’s estate and in his Grosvenor Square house rely on us for help, advice or medicine when they or a loved one is sick. At times it’s like working here again and I’m glad. I want to be useful.’

  ‘You will be, more so than any other Marchioness of Falconmore before you, I’m only sorry I wasn’t here for the wedding.’ Silas escorted her into the sitting room where Mary waited for them. ‘Or you in America to see my wedding. Millie, this is my wife, Lady Mary.’

  ‘How wonderful to meet you!’ Millie clasped Mary in a tight hug before holding her out at arm’s length. ‘I have so many questions for you.’

  ‘For me?’ The reservation that had marked so much of Mary’s manner whenever they were in the house came over her again. He wondered what it was about Millie that made her uncomfortable. Millie was nothing like the other women of the class she’d joined and she never would be. All the titles, lands and jewellery might enhance her, but it would never change her. She was too confident in herself and who she was to allow it.

  ‘I’m forever choosing the wrong dish at dinner or irritating my lady’s maid by doing something myself. I need someone who can tell me how to do it all without looking down on me because I wasn’t born to it.’

  ‘I’d be happy to help you,’ Mary said with a smile that was more forced than natural. ‘It’s a great deal to remember even if you are born to it.’

  ‘It is, but now I have a sister to help me through it.’ Millie linked her arm in Mary’s and guided her to the sofa. It touched Silas to see his sister who had been raised so high easily accept Mary, but there was no mistaking the tension in Mary’s posture. ‘And congratulations on the birth of your nephew. Your sister and parents must be so happy.’

  ‘I imagine they are,’ Mary mumbled through a weak smile.

  The news about Mary’s family shocked Silas as much as Millie’s change in station. Mary rarely spoke of her family, but it seemed to him the announcement of a new member was something to share. He wondered why she hadn’t mentioned it, but he couldn’t ask as Millie cornered Mary in conversation, peppering her with questions about the wedding and her and Silas’s time together before moving on to how to deal with difficult housekeepers and what dances and foods were appropriate for a wedding ball.

  Mary’s stiff shoulders relaxed as the conversation flowed, her rigid smile softening into one of genuine enjoyment as she explained the difference between the courses and what to serve when. It gave Silas hope that whatever had troubled her at the start of this meeting was gone, never to bother them again.

  * * *

  Mary sat across from Silas’s sister, enjoying the ability to share with someone who didn’t look down on her everything she’d learned growing up, to help a woman as genuinely nice and kind as Millie to navigate a world Mary knew could be very harsh. However, it didn’t relieve the worry that had gripped her ever since Silas had recognised the woman stepping out of the carriage. Millie was friendly and grateful for Mary’s help and guidance but what would happen when she went home and told the Marquess about Mary or when Silas tried to take her to his house? Mary wasn’t foolish enough to believe that endearing herself to Millie would be enough to secure her acceptance in the Marquess of Falconmore’s household or shield her or Millie from the criticism that was sure to come once people learned that the disgraced Earl of Ashford’s daughter was polluting Grosvenor Square.

  ‘You’ll be at the wedding ball, won’t you?’ Millie asked.

  ‘It’s hard to picture you at a ball, much less hosting one.’ Silas laughed with an exuberance that Mary didn’t share. All she experienced was dread. ‘Look at you, you’d put the Duchess of Devonshire to shame.’

  ‘If it weren’t for the help of my wonderful lady’s maid and now you, Mary, I’d put my husband to shame. Tell me you’ll both be there.’

  ‘Of course, we wouldn’t miss the ball for anything, would we, Mary?’ Silas responded, laying his arm around her shoulder and giving her a hearty squeeze.

  The desire to flee out of the house and take refuge in Westminster Abbey and never come out, as if she were some sort of medieval criminal, stole over Mary, but she forced herself to remain by Silas’s side with a wide smile on her lips, afraid he might guess at some of the terror coursing through her. Silas was always so brave in the face of any challenge, from asking men for money to being quite sure he would receive the patent to the new steam engine. Mary wished she had his confidence, especially today.

  ‘No, we won’t miss it,’ Mary half-heartedly answered, already concocting a number of excuses she could employ to make sure she did not attend that ball. Just as she knew how to plan a menu, she knew the damage her presence could do to the new Marchioness and her family and she could not inflict that on them. She hated to act the coward, it’s what Preston had been, but she couldn’t face the Falconmores and have the Marquess stare down his nose at her or banish her from his house and his wife’s life, refusing to soil his good name with the likes of her. She didn’t wish to endure again the look that she’d seen on her father’s and her brother’s faces that last fateful day that they’d been together.

  * * *

  ‘Why didn’t you mention that you had a sister and a nephew?’ Silas asked once they were alone together in their room, dressing for dinner. Millie had stayed for over two hours, peppering Mary with questions about the proper protocol for the ball, including the dressing and placement of footmen and how to hold a receiving line, but obligations at her husband’s home had forced her to leave before dinner, much to her and, surprisingly, Mary’s disappointment. Mary liked Millie as much as she did Lottie, enjoying the life and energy they brought to the house. Foxcomb Hall or her family’s Mayfair town house had never been so cheerful, even when she and her brother and sister had been children. There had been too much minding of manners, keeping out from underfoot, rules and strictures for the manor to have the joy this simple house in this questionable part of London did whenever Silas and his siblings were together.

  They are my family now, too.

  Or at least they were for the moment, until her past forced Millie and her husband to turn their backs on her.

  Mary fiddled with her earring, the fastener on it biting into th
e delicate skin of her earlobe, Silas’s question as much as reality weighing her down. ‘Like your sister, I read about it in the newspaper this morning. No one told me because, unlike your sisters, my sister shouldn’t be writing to me and my brother wanted nothing more to do with me after it all happened. It’s why Ruth and Richard are so important to me. For the last few years, they’re all I’ve had. I don’t talk about my family because what can I say? They turned their backs on me, except for my sister, Jane, but she is so limited in what she can do.’

  ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t know.’ He twisted the signet ring on his finger. ‘Maybe you could find some way to see her and your nephew while you’re here.’

  ‘I can’t. Her husband wouldn’t allow it.’ She paced the room, anxious at the idea of reaching out to Jane. ‘I knew the Longfords. They lived close to us and we went to their house and they came to ours many times. Charitable and forgiving are not words I would use to describe any of them. Jane doesn’t need to have her in-laws or my parents come down on her for daring to defy my father to write to me and I don’t want to lose the one person in my family who didn’t forget me. If anything should happen to you like it happened to Ruth, and if Richard is gone then, I don’t want to be entirely alone.’

  Tears of fear clouded her vision and she did all she could to hold them back. She wanted to be brave like him, but the news of Jane and the fears of Lord Falconmore made it difficult.

  ‘Nothing is going to happen to me and you have my family. You will never be alone.’ He wrapped his arms around her and caressed her back. She clung to him, her tears wetting the wool of his suit. In the past she’d been ashamed of her tears and the self-pity and regret that echoed in every one of them. Alone with him she allowed them to flow. He didn’t look down on her for crying, but continued to hold and comfort her. She rested her head on his chest and listened to the steady beat of his heart beneath her ear. In the circle of his arms the distance from her family didn’t feel as all-consuming and the loneliness it had created in her life faded away.