Page 70 of The Lost Lord
Chapter 31
Three days later…
Richard found the warehouse manager where he’d expected, in the business offices behind the docks. As his English clothes had gone out to the tailor for alteration, he sported his rougher American-made suit.
His tension leached away at the familiar bustle of fishmongers, stevedores, the singsong come-ons from whores, and mudlarks squabbling over bits of metal found in the banks of the Thames. Here, he could relax. He blended in at the quay, which had been a great relief as news of his impending ascent into nobility had spread. Richard refused to acknowledge the congratulations of his old friends. They had shunned him after the fire and upon his return to England. Now Richard enjoyed the opportunity to return the favor.
His plan, if one could call it a plan and not another foolish impulse, was to return to New York and bunk with Howard in his warehouse office long enough to repay everyone for their losses. Richard didn’t know the exact cost to purchase a replacement for theThetis, but he imagined it might take him the rest of his life to make amends for the catastrophe. It must be more than one dilapidated cottage outside London.
“Are you certain you want to give up the space?” The man asked skeptically.
“Our ship was lost at sea,” Richard said. “So, yes. I’ve no need of it.” The blow landed afresh. It was not only the loss of tobacco and cotton, but the sailors who had lost their lives when theThetiswent down. He counted out several precious guineas. They would have been better spent on new clothing for his meeting with King George IV to finalize his new viscountcy, but he had made an agreement and knew Richard had no intention of welching on the deal even though he had no use for the space.
“You haven’t heard, then?” the man asked. “Before you surrender your contract, go down to the yards and ask after your boat. She’s come in.”
He grinned widely to reveal several missing teeth. Richard narrowed his eyes in his most lord-like fashion. “You’ve a poor excuse for a sense of humor, Mr. Wilson”
“I’m not laughin’ at you. I’m pleased as punch you’ll be a continuing client.” But there was humor in the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. Richard left him to his bemusement and made his way down to the wharf, with its familiar shrieking gulls and the smell of rotting fish and salt air, his heart beating.
Why do you keep making the same mistakes?
“Excuse me,” he stopped a fishwife. “Are there any new ships arrived in port?”
“That one struggled in just this morning. Landed perhaps an hour ago.” The woman pointed a stubby, gnarled finger down the last dock. “Can’t recall the name, I’m afraid. American.”
It couldn’t be. They had waited weeks for any sighting of theThetis, in vain. There had been the newspaper announcement. Richard picked up his pace, shoving through the crowds as his heart hammered in his chest. Cold perspiration dotted the back of his neck.
“Richard!” a woman’s voice called out. Richard shielded his eyes from the sun trying to find source. It couldn’t be Miriam. She had been on an entirely different ship going opposite direction. When the woman called name again, Richard’s heart pounded even harder. He rounded the end of the dock and headed for the end of the pier. Excise agents busied themselves with inspections while rough-dressed sailors secured the deck. The third time she called his name, however, Richard spotted Mrs. Kent’s familiar black-clad form. Standing beside her was a man of middling height in a buff-colored suit. Between them, Miriam’s tall, slender form took shape like a mirage.
“Miri!” he yelled. She bounced on the soles of her feet. The man beside her spoke with an officer, who waved them on a moment later. Miriam ran headlong down the gangplank and straight into his arms. Richard lifted her off the ground and spun her around. He nearly knocked over a basket of fish, prompting an outraged cry from a fisherman. Richard set her down, his heart pounding as he stroked her hair. “I missed you. I was getting ready to follow you back to New York. What are you doing…how?”
Miriam’s arms locked around his neck. She giggled breathlessly. “We passed theThetison our way out to sea. I nearly had to throw myself overboard to force the captain to flag her down. The captain put us into a dinghy, which was the single most terrifying thing I’ve ever done in my life. We rowed to theThetisand they pulled me aboard. I’m afraid my trunks are still on their way to New York.” Miriam laughed again as if she hadn’t risked life and limb. She glowed with pride and excitement. “There must have been a mistake in the newspaper. A ship named theThemiswent down where it was reported.”
Richard pulled her hard against his chest and tilted her chin up with one hand. “Don’t ever risk your life like that again,” he demanded softly.
“I don’t intend to. I’m here to stay, my love.”
He blinked. “You are?”
“For a while, I mean. I should never have let you send me away. I understand why you did it. But I made a promise to you, Richard, and I intend to keep it.” Miriam spoke quickly, a little breathless.
He thought he detected a wheeze at the edges of her words. Fear flared along his spine. “Shh. Let’s get you somewhere you can sit down.”
“I’m fine,” Miriam replied briskly. “Come. There’s someone I need to introduce you to.”
Behind them, the balding man and Mrs. Kent stood watching. Richard scanned the stranger’s face.
“This is Lizzie’s husband, Arthur Van Buren,” Miriam said quietly. Had he thought he knew regret? This cold slice of embarrassment made every other pang feel like a scratch in retrospect. How awkward to be formally introduced to the man you’d cuckolded for months.
“I’ve reformed,” was the first thing that popped out of Richard’s mouth. “I swear.”
Arthur’s sad puppy dog eyes were etched world-weariness around their caramel depths. “I trust Mrs. Northcote’s word on the subject. I have come to collect my wife. I understand she was quite taken with you for some time. I apologize.”
“You what?” Richard asked, flabbergasted. He shook his head. “I believe it is for me to apologize to you, not the other way around.”
“No. I’ve known what Lizzie is for some time, yet I hesitated to take action because I believed I could persuade her to take a better path. I was wrong.” The suffering etched in Arthur’s face looked a thousand times worse than anything Richard had experienced. At least he’d deserved his fall. Arthur had done nothing worse than to love unwisely.
“This is not a discussion for a public venue. Please. Come back to my brother’s home where we may speak privately.” It was all Richard could give him for now. It was both humbling and a relief to know that another man had loved Lizzie and been taken in by her. He was not alone.
