Chapter 14

CHAPTER14

The next morning, the fourth floor’s gable eaves filtered much of the light. The bed next to Ellie was empty and made. She’d overslept—no surprise since, after talking to Maeve and ignoring Ada’s knocking, she’d laid awake into the wee hours, searching for clarity about Lewis. She’d finally deduced that she’d rather work as a governess and die a spinster than marry a man who shared her aunt’s blindness to the rights of others. Finally, she and Maeve had prayed together, putting their lives in God’s hands.

But hadn’t Maeve said she and Adam were to leave on the morning train? She swung her legs out of bed only to breathe a sigh of relief when she spied the maid’s accoutrements on the dresser. There was nothing for it—she couldn’t hide up here forever. Her ballgown hung in the closet next to Maeve’s uniforms. She’d have to borrow a white blouse and black skirt.

She’d washed, dressed, and braided her hair when someone knocked. “Maeve?”

Instead, a well-dressed party of three loomed in the narrow hallway—Uncle Walter, Aunt Florence, and Lewis. Her aunt stepped forward. “May we have an audience, Ellie?”

However she felt about them, they were still her family. “You may, but I don’t see why Mr. Thornton should.”

Walter cleared his throat. “Hear us out, Ellie, and then you’ll understand.”

She opened the door wider. Ellie took a seat on one bed and Aunt Florence on the other. The men stood, Lewis remaining closest to the door he closed.

Holding his hat, her uncle took the lead. “After you left last night, everything was explained. The first thing you should know is that I was in on the plan for Gaspachi to take the necklace.”

“What?” Ellie glanced at Lewis.

Uncle Walter nodded. “It was Giovani’s idea, but Lewis and I agreed the mystery would drive donations. I allowed them to extract the necklace from the safe the afternoon of Ada’s party.”

“But Aunt Florence—”

“Was not to know. She’s a terrible actress.”

So Lewis hadn’t hoodwinked her family. “Did no one consider there might be casualties of your entertainment?”

Aunt Florence scooted forward. “Maeve and Adam have been reinstated. I can see where at times I might be a bit hasty. A bit careless with my authority.”

Uncle Walter frowned at his wife. “She had not even spoken to me about it. Nor does she have the oversight to fire my valet. I would not have let them be sent away.”

“And their engagement?”

He gave a somber smile. “As soon as I learned of it, I gave my blessing.”

Lewis moved closer, speaking at last. “I share your aunt’s chagrin. It never occurred to me that your servants would be blamed, but it should have. As a gesture of my conciliation, I’ve offered to fund their wedding trip. Now I need to ask your pardon.”

“We all do.” Aunt Florence threaded her gloved fingers together. “Ada lectured me last night. She made me see how inconsiderately I’ve also treated you. I…should not have said the things I did, well…about…” Her gaze snuck to Lewis and back, bringing heat to Ellie’s face. “Will you forgive me?”

Ellie resisted the urge to flop back on the bed in astonished fugue. This was everything she’d wanted.

“We all love you, Ellie.” Uncle Walter’s choked admission brought a burn to her eyes. She had wanted more.

All? She chanced a glance at Lewis, but the tears filling her eyes prevented her from seeing him properly. God had delivered more than she’d prayed for. “Of course, I forgive.”

“Thank you, my dear.” Aunt Florence rose, and she and Uncle Walter hugged Ellie. “Now can we please leave this cramped compartment? Come back to our rooms and dress properly.”

Well, she should expect only so much alteration in one day.

Nudging his wife, Uncle Walter harrumphed. “My dear, I believe Mr. Thornton would like to speak with Ellie alone first.”

“I would, if Miss Ellie is agreeable.” Lewis studied her, his expression giving nothing away.

He’d exonerated himself where the necklace and the servants were concerned. Whatever else he wanted to say deserved to be heard. She nodded.

Aunt Florence stiffened. “Very well. But put on one of Maeve’s hats, Ellie.”

“Yes, aunt.” She did as requested, and they all exited into the hallway.

At the top of the stairs, Lewis offered his arm. She rested her fingers on his sleeve, but they trembled. Would she finally know the truth of his feelings?

Aunt Florence spoke over her shoulder as they descended the steps. “Everyone was impressed by your cleverness last night, dear. Some are convinced it was all part of the show. Others are speculating as to how you found the necklace and stymied a magician.”

“That’s what I would like to know too.” Lewis paused on the second-floor landing. Her aunt and uncle drew closer.

“I was going to meet you in the tea garden, but I was conflicted. I didn’t know your involvement. I saw the head porter going into the basement, and I followed him. I snuck into the storage rooms while a worker unloaded a cart, but as I was trying to open the safe, they unknowingly locked me in.”

“Locked in!” Aunt Florence fanned herself. “What a terror.”

Ellie nodded. “At first. But then I realized my attempts to get into the safe had been successful. I found the necklace. I knew someone would return at some point, so I didn’t panic. Instead, I ended up locating the trap doors to the ballroom’s stage floor. I was able to position the largest one halfway up and climb out.”

Lewis’s face lit with wonder. “And you found the corresponding cranks in the wings so we wouldn’t know you’d been there.”

“Exactly.”

Aunt Florence shook her head. “Well, you might find you’re something of a celebrity now. Your exploits prompted generous giving to the hospital fund.”

“But you missed an amazing magic show.” Lewis placed his hand atop hers, measuring her reaction.

She met his eyes. “I’m very sorry for that. I had been looking forward to it.”

“There’s always next time. The Great Gaspachi seeks to improve with every performance.” Lewis winked.

“Come, my dear.” Uncle Walter pulled his wife away with him. “We’ll see these young people later.”

Lewis held Ellie’s gaze. “Walk with me on the terrace? Cora and her nurse are down by the bay. She wants to see you.”

“And I want to see her.” Ellie spoke past the lump in her throat. She descended to the lobby on Lewis’s arm. “I’ll miss her when we are cities apart. We’ll have to confer, you know, on the publication of our book.”

“Is it finished?”

“I confess, I don’t know the ending yet.”

Lewis held the door to the veranda. His deep voice murmured in her ear as she passed. “I believe Cora already gave it to you.”

Ellie wrung her hands as they moved along the oyster-shell path. “I’m not certain that ending makes sense. Would the bright-blue bunting even recognize that the plain brown one was the same species?”

He drew her arm through his again. “Oh, I think they would know.”

“How?”

Drawing her behind a lattice covered with a climbing vine and shaded by several tall palms, Lewis tugged their entwined hands to his chest. “You know in here. Don’t you?”

She couldn’t deny it in word or look. “But what an unequal union, the one bringing all the assets.”

A chuckle rumbled beneath her palm, and he lifted his hand to smooth her hair. “The brown bunting sells herself far too short. She has everything he needs and had given up on finding.”

Ellie couldn’t meet his eyes. Her lungs struggled to grasp oxygen as though she were part of the famous magician Houdini’s underwater act.

“Do you not know the assets you bring, Ellie Hastings?” Lewis’s sudden frontal assault demanded her attention. “Besides compassion and grace and intelligence and curiosity and beauty—” He hushed her when she made a sound of protest. “Yes, beauty. You bring what no other woman has brought. Love for Cora.”

“Cora?” Ellie’s heart started thudding. Was this all about his niece? Did he mean to offer her employment, after all?

Lewis folded her hands between his. “Ada told me about your false suitor. I’ve experienced my share of betrayal, too, Ellie. First, through my sister. You remember I told you I keep her story private?”

Ellie nodded.

“Without our knowledge, she became involved with a rake, eloped, and got herself with child.” His throat bobbed. “The scoundrel disappeared when she died having the baby.”

“Cora,” she breathed. How could anyone abandon their own child?

“Yes. Then there was my own near-miss. I was steps away from the altar when I learned my fiancée had no heart for my niece…my child. For she is my child.”

“Truly, you had as much cause for caution as I did.”

“Which is why I avoided women seeking prestige and standing—why I avoided you to begin with. Then there’s the matter of my side interest. Many think it odd, if not downright embarrassing. You found it fascinating.”

Ellie dipped her chin. “Your inventions spark so many wild ideas in my head.”

“You see?” Lewis squeezed her hands. “I could use a bright assistant to help me delight and inspire a new generation of children—much as your father’s stories have. But that individual would have to live and work very closely with me. If only I could think of someone…” The teasing fragment of a sentence couldn’t quite allay her fears.

She refused to put words in his mouth, so she reiterated exactly what she’d heard him say. “Thus, you find yourself in need of a governess and a clerk.”

“I find myself in need of a wife.”

She swayed in the Gulf breeze, closing her eyes. “Are—are you…you aren’t…”

“I’m asking permission to court you, Ellie. When the time is right, I will go to your uncle and make you a proper proposal. That is, if you are interested in the position.”

Ellie opened her eyes as the sun broke over the top of the hotel, brilliant and blinding, throwing Lewis’s intense gray eyes and dancing smile into shadow. “Do I need a reference, sir?”

“No. As far as I’m concerned, you’re the only candidate suitable. But I would take a kiss, if you’d permit that liberty.”

“Under the…” She cleared her throat. “Under the circumstances, I will allow a brief peck to indicate my acceptance of your…of your…” She lost her grasp on words as Lewis drew near. When his lips touched hers, her whole body went hot and limp. She forgot about any passersby, forgot about brief. Pressing her mouth to his, she rose on her tiptoes and lifted her arms around his neck.

Lewis’s open hand at her waist pressed her closer, his lips tasting hers like the hummingbirds sampling the tropical flowers on the nearby lattice.

The blast of a boat horn snapped Ellie into propriety. She stepped back and covered her mouth. “Oh my.” How had she behaved so wantonly?

But Lewis exhibited no dismay. He cupped her cheek with his hand and looked at her with such longing her knees quavered. “Just found another qualification.”

A fine mist of tears obscured her vision. “That was my first kiss.” And yet it had pleased him?

His eyes went wide, then he leaned down and tickled her lips with his. His breath fanned her face. “I can guarantee, it won’t be your last.”

Joy stole any clever remarks. Dragging in a shuddering breath, Ellie laid her hands against Lewis’s chest and her cheek on his shoulder. He stroked her back.

“I’m falling in love with you, Ellie Hastings.”

“And I love you, Lewis Thornton.” There. She’d said it. She’d exposed her heart and gone farther than he had, and she wasn’t afraid. She’d found a safe place. She leaned back and he beamed at her.

He’d just started to lower his head when a shrill cry pierced the muted sounds of the morning. “Poppy! Ellie!”

Ellie turned as a small figure in a sailor dress skipped ahead of one in dour gray. “Cora!” Her heart expanded with more love than she’d ever thought possible.

Lewis chucked her chin. “Shall we tell her?”

She nodded and opened her arms to embrace the unexpected gifts bestowed by a winter at the White Queen.