Page 76 of As Many Souls as Stars
‘Listen—I’m finished with this party, I think. Want to go grab a drink somewhere else?’
Rosamund refused, as reflexively as breathing: an instinct born of centuries, really, to deny and push away, to isolate and hide. ‘I can’t.’
He slung an arm around her shoulder. Rosamund considered shrugging him off, but it seemed like a lost cause. ‘Yes, you can,’ he said. ‘I don’t bite, I promise. And I don’t know doodly squat about this town, so I could sure use a local to show me around.’
He wasn’t going to take no for an answer; that much was clear. On his head be it.
She said, ‘Fine. One drink.’
‘One drink,’ he agreed. ‘And then, I promise—you’ll never see me again.’
It wasn’t one drink. It was several, that night and the next, and then several more across the month, until Rosamund and Walter were definitivelyfriends—because Rosamund liked him, for all his bluster and his bombast, and liking someone was such a novelty that it felt worth the effort.
Building a relationship with Walt made it feel like she was planning for the future, like she hadn’t given up on escaping the deal. One afternoon, they went to Claridge’s for lunch, where Walt ate three entrées and ordered dessert immediately after.
‘Pa’s getting antsy,’ he told her, through a mouthful of peaches and ice cream. ‘This whole vacation was supposed to be a couple of weeks.’
‘How long have you been here now?’
‘Three months.’
Rosamund snorted and took a prim bite of her own ice cream, leaving a soft rim of red lipstick halfway down the spoon. She was wearing a scarlet dress to match, with a fringe so long it made a sound like a waterfall as she moved. ‘He’s still sending you money?’
‘He’s hoping I’ll pick up a British girl and bring her back with me. He loves you people, you know that? The whole upper-class fox-hunting set, I mean. No offense.’
‘None taken.’
‘I thinkhethinks that’s how we’ll really cement our fortune. Marrying a duchess, or something. I dunno.’ He took a sip of hiscoffee, nose wrinkling. He grabbed three sugars from the bowl and dropped them inside.
Rosamund looked at his cup with disgust. ‘Three, Walt? You’re an animal.’
‘Thanks, doll,’ he replied with a wink. ‘You know, you’re his dream daughter-in-law—my pa, I mean. He’d be over the moon if we got hitched.’
‘A shame you’re not looking for a wife.’
He chuckled. ‘Yeah. Real shame. You’re just torn up about it, aren’t you?’ He took another bite, and then, with his mouth half full, continued. ‘You know what’s so great about you, Rosie?’
‘What?’ she replied, swirling her spoon around the bowl.
‘The lack of expectation. As in, I could stand up right now, go over, and lay one on that waiter, and you’d just shrug your shoulders and keep eating your ice cream.’
Rosamund looked down at her bowl. ‘It’s good ice cream.’
Walter’s smile widened. ‘What about you?’
‘What about me?’
‘No secret torch for some English fella?’
‘I’m a lesbian, Walt.’
He blinked. ‘Oh. Then—hey. Wait a moment.’
‘What?’
‘I’ve just had theniftiestidea.’
They were married a week later at the Register Office. Walt wore a blue shirt with a red bow tie. Rosamund wore a white pantsuit with a seal-fur collar.
