Chapter Sixteen
London was not what Lucy expected. No, it was better! The Chinese believed that nothing outside of the middle kingdom could ever compare to what the emperor had built. And so despite everything her father had said, she had low expectations. And how surprised she’d been!
The sheer press of bodies was the equal to Canton. And the excitement that generated filled her with joy. London was alive as every big city was, and she adored it. Granted, she was coming to the city as the pampered daughter of a wealthy man, or so they pretended. Therefore, she should be accepted everywhere, right?
She was not.
Her mixed race was stamped upon her face and sidelong glances followed her wherever she went. But that was nothing! Compared to the beatings she’d endured in China, sniffs of disdain meant nothing. She was finally off the boat, finally in London, and now she could step into her future.
Because she had coin if she wanted it, plenty of food and a soft bed on which to sleep. Life had never been so good for Lucy. Especially now that she had a secret goal.
She meant to learn everything she could about English customs. If she married Cedric, then she would have to learnwhat was expected of a countess. She must live as he would need her to live.
That was task one. Task two, as always, was to find the coin that he needed. She would fill her dowry with as much money as she could manage. Her father had already promised her all the money from the sales of the spice. And so she worked with Captain Banakos to learn how that was accomplished in England.
Her father hired dancing instructors, paid for English clothing and found a woman to teach her and Grace how to act in England. It was hard, especially when the maid was a sour, angry woman who delighted in chastising them. But Lucy did the best she could given that she was not ‘out’ yet, as if any of the young English girls had done half the things she had in her life.
They hadn’t, but she was English now, according to her father, so she had to sit in itchy dresses, practice pianoforte as if she wanted to master a musical instrument and wait interminably for Grace to choose a husband.
It was maddening, and she was feeling the strain every second that she sat and stared at a city she could not venture out into. Her only relief was when Captain Banakos visited to explain what he’d done when selling her two boxes of spices.
Two weeks after docking in London, they received an invitation to return to the boat for a time. The message came from Cedric, along with coins for a hackney, and directions to the ship. Clearly, he did not mean to escort them. And equally clear was the fact that he was inviting Grace, not Lucy. But Lucy insisted she go along. After all, she was the savvy sister when it came to cities. Grace had spent most of her childhood hiding from the glorious places she’d visited. A boat was safety to her. Travelling through a busy city was intimidating.
And so Lucy got to go, as well as the nursemaid chaper one whose greatest joy seemed to be catching the foreigners in doingsomething un-English. Their father was occupied elsewhere and that was good. The fewer people who saw her reunion with Cedric, the better.
She couldn’t wait to see him again.
She wanted to show him what she and Captain Banakos had done with the sales of the spice he had so generously allowed them to store in his cabin. That money would soon be in her dowry, and she wanted to see his face when he saw the exorbitant sum.
She needed to show him that she had found her solution. Unfortunately, when they arrived at the boat, Cedric was not there. Grace, naturally, did what she always did. She changed into sailor’s clothes and lost herself among the sails. Which meant that Lucy could do exactly what she loved most.
She went below decks to the captain’s quarters to run through the accounts. And she too lost herself in the click-clack of the abacus beads and the steadily growing numbers of profit reported there.
They had done well with the spice sales. She now possessed in her dowry more money than she had ever had in her life. Surely Cedric would see that total and drop down on one knee before her this time. And she would not dismiss him like her sister had. She would happily take him into her arms, her bed, her life. She didn’t hear when he arrived on the ship. Captain Banakos was the one who told her after he finished giving a duke a tour. And what was a duke doing looking atThe Integrity? She had no idea except that she wanted to go on deck to find out, but her chaperone glared her back into place.
‘A lady does not seek out gentlemen. They come to her.’
Privately Lucy thought the woman was bitter because she couldn’t control Grace and now took out all her distemper on Lucy. But there was little she could do. She needed to learnEnglish customs and so far, this sour woman was her best source.
So she stayed put. She worked on the account book. She pictured Cedric down on one knee before her. And she waited.
‘Who is this duke?’ she asked the captain, who had started working at a central table studying maps.
‘He’s Lord Domac’s cousin. I expect they’ve met your sister by now.’
Of course they had. And as always, Lucy was the afterthought, the one left to wait on someone else’s pleasure. In China, she had expected it. In England, she was beginning to tire of it, especially when Grace seemed to be able to do whatever she wanted.
She knew she shouldn’t be bitter. After all, it was thanks to Grace that she was here in the first place. If she’d stayed in China she would have no future at all. But it was so hard to be patient when Grace had every opportunity—every man—and Lucy had nothing but the account books.
What a child she was being, sulking when she was the luckiest girl alive. Or perhaps, the second luckiest after her sister. She returned to the safety of numbers. She scratched her sums in neat rows. And she waited.
Eventually, the captain went up to see what was happening. Lucy could hear men’s voices filtering down to her, but she couldn’t make out any words. Which meant she ended up sitting and waiting, which is all proper English girls seemed to do.
Thankfully—eventually—her patience was rewarded. She was making some final notations in the account book when Lord Domac finally, gloriously, knocked and entered.
‘There you are,’ he said, his voice so warm it sent tingles down her spine.
She turned immediately, her gaze eagerly scanning him. He looked leaner, if that was even possible, but his clothes lookedfine, at least to her. It was the wariness in his eyes that made her pause.