“I hope you were able to get all my trunks loaded,” Veronica said. “It would be horrible to arrive in London without all my things—I shopped very specifically, as you know, Father.”
“I do know,” he replied, sounding tired, though tolerant. “And if you’ve forgotten anything, I’ll bring it with me when I come. You’ll have everything that you need.”
The next several minutes were spent getting settled on the train, watching Veronica receive last-minute instructions from her father, watching Veronica roll her eyes at the last-minute instructions from her father, and making sure that the porter really had properly tagged all the trunks. Anna felt almost shabby traveling with her two moderate pieces of luggage, but she hadn’t seen the point in dragging everything she owned on such a short trip. Veronica was moving to London, though, so her situation was understandable.
As the train began to pull out of the station, Veronica gave one wave through the window, apparently considered that good enough, and leaned back, closing her eyes. She was either asleep within minutes, or very good at pretending.
Liam leaned over and said in Anna’s ear, “Mr. Miller told me a few new things about this case. I’ll fill you in later.”
“All right.” Anna studied his eyes. He seemed troubled. “Is anything wrong?”
“Just a little more complicated. Nothing to worry about.” He looked down at her hand, where a simple gold band glittered on her finger. “Do you like it?”
“I’m not used to it,” she replied. It felt odd and foreign, like she was trying on a piece of jewelry that belonged to someone else. “But I do like it.”
“Good.” He flashed her a smile. “Hopefully it won’t be too hard to take it off when the time comes.”
“You never know. I might have grown quite attached to it by then.”
The conductor came through the car just then, checking their tickets. Veronica seemed irritated at the interruption to her nap, but settled right back to sleep as soon as the man continued on his way. Anna studied her as she slept. She was an uncommonly pretty girl, with dark lashes that fanned out on her cheeks. Anna wondered how she’d met her fiancé—she certainly didn’t seem excited about the journey or the wedding, and she’d indicated that this was her father’s idea and not her own. She’d never met Miss Miller before, but it seemed they had something in common, at least—fathers who didn’t understand what their daughters really wanted.
The train ride was more comfortable than Anna had anticipated. Mr. Miller had paid for better seats than the average. Even at that, though, the constant vibration of the wheels on the track was wearing on Anna’s nerves, and when the train slowed and pulled into a station, she was relieved beyond measure to get out and stretch her legs.
“Thirty minutes, folks,” the conductor said, moving down the length of the car. “We’ll board again in thirty minutes.”
Veronica stood up and shook out her skirts. “I trust there’s somewhere to eat nearby.”
Liam bent over and looked out the train window. “There’s a sign for a restaurant across the street.”
“Good. I hope it’s decent.”
They waited for the throng of passengers to exit the train, then followed. Liam’s eyes darted back and forth as the threesome crossed the platform, and Anna wondered what had him so on edge.
The hostess at the restaurant seated them at a corner table, and it looked to Anna like all the other train passengers had the same idea. She hoped they’d all be fed before it was time to board again.
“This menu seems rather rustic,” Veronica said, flipping it over to make sure she hadn’t missed anything on the other side. “I suppose I’ll have to wait until we arrive in New York if I want to eat in a real restaurant.”
Anna thought the food sounded delicious, but perhaps she was a little rustic herself. “How long will we be in New York?” she asked.
“Two days,” Liam replied. “We board the ship on the morning of the third day.”
“Will we get to tour the city much while we’re there?”
“That’s definitely my plan,” Veronica replied. “I prepared as best as I could with the meager selection I could find in Denver, but New York has the best selection of ladies’ goods anywhere, and I must complete my trousseau. Mrs. Mason, I’ll show you all the best shops. You’ll be spoiled for shopping anywhere else again.”
Anna smiled, thinking that sounded terrible. “I’ll look forward to it,” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
The waitress came around and took their orders, and Liam checked his pocket watch. “We have twenty minutes,” he reported.
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back,” Veronica said, rising from the table. She glanced around and then edged her way between tables. Anna assumed she was heading for the privy.
“Follow her,” Liam whispered to Anna.
“Why? She’s not likely to get lost between here and there,” she replied, chuckling.
“I’ll explain later. Just follow her, please.”
Anna nodded and stood without saying anything else, taking the same path Veronica had taken a moment before. She felt awkward, hovering around while someone else attended to a private matter, and she hoped she didn’t look conspicuous. When the door opened and Veronica was on her way back, Anna ducked around and hoped she hadn’t been seen. She didn’t know how to explain why she was hovering.
The food had arrived while the ladies were gone from the table, and Anna’s soup smelled delicious. She wasn’t very good at making soup, and she studied it while she ate, trying to figure out what they’d done differently here. The broth was somehow richer.
“Is something wrong, Miss Miller?” Liam asked. Anna looked up and noticed that Veronica was barely nibbling at her food.
“Nothing much, I suppose,” she said, pushing her plate away. “I’ve just grown used to the way our cook does things.”
“The train’s not stopping again for a while yet. You’d best get enough on your stomach to hold you over until then,” he advised.
She reached out and took a slice of bread from the plate in the center of the table, then slathered it with butter. It wasn’t a hearty meal, but Anna figured it was better than starving to death.
They finished eating just as the train’s first warning whistle sounded. Liam paid the tab, and they walked the short distance back to the train station. Anna didn’t feel ready to board—she would have enjoyed walking around a bit more—but that wasn’t an option. Veronica pulled out a novel, Anna took out a sketchbook, and they kept themselves occupied for the next length of their journey. It was difficult to draw with the motion of the train, but Anna did a passable job of capturing the landscape out the window, and at least it gave her something to do.
Chapter Five
“Liam Mason, traveling with my wife, Anna, and my sister, Elizabeth,” Liam told the desk clerk at the small hotel where they’d stop for the night. Mr. Miller had told Liam that Veronica would never consent to spending the night on a train and had provided extra money for hotels, and Liam had to admit, he was glad—a chance to sleep in a bed and to take a break from the train was welcome. “We’d like two rooms, separate but next to each other, if possible.”
Veronica stood off to the side, her lips pressed together. Liam didn’t know if she’d been informed that she was traveling incognito. Either way, at least she wasn’t correcting him, and that was something.
“Yes, sir. I have just the thing. Rooms five and six, which are up the stairs and down the hall.” The clerk pulled two keys from the pegboard behind him. “Follow me, please.”
They’d each brought just one bag from the train and entrusted the care of their other things to the stationmaster, who had vowed he’d keep them under lock and key overnight. Veronica hadn’t been amused, saying that her father would have the man’s head if her trunks went missing, but she’d come to realize—after Liam explained it—that they really didn’t have a choice but to trust that everything would be handled we
ll.
The clerk showed them to their rooms and bid them goodnight, disappearing down the stairs again. Liam turned to the ladies. “The two of you will share a room, and I’ll take the single next door.”
Veronica looked astonished. “I’m not going to have my own room?”
“I’m sorry, no.”
“But . . . but you’re newlyweds. Surely you don’t want to be separated from your wife.”
Liam shook his head, recognizing her comment for what it was—she was trying to cajole him. She didn’t care one bit for his sleeping arrangements—she just wanted her own way. “You’ll be sharing with Anna.”
Veronica opened her mouth as if to say something else, but then closed it and spun on her heel, entering the room with the larger bed.
Liam caught Anna’s elbow and tugged her close. “Wait until she’s asleep and then meet me right here in the hallway,” he whispered.
“All right,” she replied, giving him a quick smile before stepping away and going inside as well.
Liam watched the door close, but didn’t go into his own room just yet. He had spent every moment all day sitting next to Anna on the train, their arms sometimes brushing against each other, and he’d been very aware of her light perfume and the fabric of her dress and each breath she took. Even with all that nearness, though, he felt far distant from her, unable to speak freely, and a spot in the center of his chest ached because of it. He was a newlywed, as Veronica had pointed out, but he was a man who’d barely spoken to his wife at all since he put that ring on her finger. He prayed for chances to change that, to spend time with Anna. Just sitting next to her on the train wasn’t enough, and he was surprised—in a good way—to discover that.
***
“I’m not used to sharing a bed, so I suppose I should apologize in advance if I kick or steal the blankets,” Veronica said, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the bed in question. “My bed at home is much larger than this, and I’ve gotten rather used to sprawling however I like.”
Anna had her own room as well, but that didn’t seem relevant. “We’ll do the best we can,” she said.
They’d found their dinner at a tiny restaurant down the street from the hotel. It hadn’t been very filling, but they were too tired to do much about it, so they’d agreed to get some sleep and then look for a better breakfast before boarding the next train. As Anna changed into her nightdress, she wondered if that had been the right choice—her stomach was still growling.
They were both ready for bed quickly, not having much else to do but change and wash up, and soon they had extinguished the light and lay there in the darkness. The bed was fairly comfortable, although Anna could have done with another blanket, and it was difficult not to drift off. It was important that she stay awake, though—she was supposed to meet Liam in the hall as soon as possible.
She thought it might be almost time because Veronica was so very still, but then she heard a sniffle, followed by a sob.
“Miss Miller? Are you all right?”
“Yes.” A moment later, she added, “No. Oh, Mrs. Mason, I’ve never been so miserable in my life.”
Anna fumbled with the lantern, and the room was bathed in light again. “Please, call me Anna. Now, tell me what’s going on.”
Veronica sat up in bed and leaned against the headboard. “I don’t want to go to England. I don’t want to get married. I don’t want any of this. But my father insists, and I don’t have a choice, really.”
“You don’t want to get married?”
“No! I’ve met my fiancé a grand total of once, when he was here last summer to sign some business contracts with my father. He’s a pleasant man, but he’s thirty-five, and I’m only nineteen, and that just seems so . . . awful. He came to dinner at our house, we sat next to each other at dinner, we chatted over a game of cards, and that was it—we haven’t so much as exchanged letters since. But he informed my father that I was the most charming girl he’d ever met, and he promised me a life of luxury and a title—Lady Westcott.” She sniffled again. “My father said yes, he told me that’s what I was to do, and it was all arranged. I just want to go home.”
Anna grabbed her fresh handkerchief from the nightstand and handed it to Veronica, who dabbed her eyes. “I’m very sorry,” she said. “Won’t your father’s mind be changed?”
“No, and I’ve given up trying. I’m resigned to it now. I keep reminding myself of all the money I’ll have and the nice dinner parties and so forth, and Father’s solicitor investigated the Westcott estate and says it’s simply beautiful. There are stables full of horses, which is wonderful because I love to ride. There are gardens and fountains, and even a little river that runs through the property, and a boathouse. The mansion itself has twenty-four bedrooms—isn’t that marvelous? And I’m to have all the dresses and slippers and gloves that I want, and I’ll have some wealth of my own from Father in addition to Lord Westcott’s money. So you see, I’ll be very well cared for.”
Anna nodded. “It does sound lovely.”
“It will be, and so I’ll go through with it. This is an important business arrangement for Father, and I won’t ruin it for him. I’ll just . . . I’ll just have to find a way to pretend to be happy.”
“You said that Lord Westcott is pleasant?” Maybe Anna could help her by focusing on the positives of the situation.
“Oh, yes. He’s tall and handsome, with a small mustache, and he has a very cultured accent. He showed interest in me and what I like to do, and I think we’ll get along tolerably well.”
“Is there any chance at all that you might fall in love with him?”
Veronica seemed to consider that. “A very slim chance, I’m afraid. He’s handsome, yes, but I don’t feel that certain sparkle a woman should feel around a man. I keep thinking about our age difference, and I can’t imagine overcoming that obstacle.”
“Maybe in time,” Anna said. “As you get to know him.”
“Maybe . . .” Veronica sighed and wiped her eyes again. “I don’t plan to cry at all once we get there. I’ll get it all done now, before he sees me, and then I’ll be the charming and doting fiancée he’s expecting. Honestly, I’d be ungrateful if I turned him down. He’s giving me everything he has, which is considerable. Did I mention that the estate has a two-story library? I’ll have books to read for years on end—I won’t ever run out of things to do.”
“That many books? I may have to come for a visit,” Anna said with a laugh.
“You’re coming out to the estate, aren’t you? I believe you’re supposed to escort me all the way to Lord Westcott’s door. And then you can see the library for yourself.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful.” Anna actually wasn’t sure about the minute details of their assignment—Liam was the one who knew everything. “You might want to check my bag before I leave—I might be tempted to take a few books home as souvenirs.”
Veronica smiled. “I’d let you. Oh, I wish this trip could somehow go faster. I’d just as soon get it all over with. That’s the best way to handle things that terrify me—the apprehension and the waiting make it worse.”
“I agree. Now, do you think you’ll be able to sleep tonight? You’ll need your rest if you’re to make it the rest of the way without becoming overly fatigued or ill.”
“I probably can.” Veronica paused. “Thank you for listening to me, Anna. I realize I’m not the easiest traveling companion because I’m so set in my ways, but you’ve been very kind to me.”
“You’re welcome. And this will be a good experience in the long run, I’m sure of it.”
“I am too,” Veronica replied, although her voice didn’t sound confident.
Anna extinguished the light again, then lay in the darkness, waiting. She’d sensed that something wasn’t quite right with Veronica’s wedding arrangements, but she hadn’t imagined all that. What would it be like, forced to marry a man she barely knew and to live in a country across the ocean from her home? Yes, she would have al
l the money she could ever want, but did that make up for everything she would lose?
Finally, Veronica’s breathing turned slow and rhythmic, and Anna decided to chance it. She slid out of bed, threw a shawl around her shoulders, and made sure she had the room key before opening the door and slipping out into the dimly lit hallway. She only hoped that Liam hadn’t given up on her.
***
Liam had been waiting in the shadow of his doorway for quite some time, and he wondered if Anna had gone to sleep. He wouldn’t have blamed her—it had been a long, exhausting day, and he wanted nothing more than to get some sleep himself. But he had to touch base with Anna and make sure she knew what they were getting into, and there hadn’t been a chance all day.
At last, her door opened and she came out into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind her with the slightest click.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Veronica didn’t go to sleep for the longest time. She was upset, and we talked for a little while.”
“What was she upset about?” Liam asked. Anna looked beautiful with her hair softly tumbling around her shoulders, and he was finding it hard to concentrate on their client.
“This wedding wasn’t her idea at all, and she’s having to talk herself into it,” Anna replied. “She’s decided it’s for the good of the family and her father’s company, but she doesn’t believe she’ll be happy.”
“That’s too bad,” Liam replied. “That probably makes you even more glad that you can get rid of me when this is all over.”
An Agent for Anna Page 4
