AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Walter had an ulterior motive, but his father was all unsuspecting.
The bus took them past the theaters of the Strand, the newspaper offices of Fleet Street, and the banks of the financial district. Then the streets became narrower and dirtier. Top hats and bowlers were replaced by cloth caps. Horse-drawn vehicles predominated, and motorcars were few. This was the East End.
They got off at Aldgate. Otto looked around disdainfully. "I didn't know you were taking me to the slums," he said.
"We're going to a clinic for the poor," Walter replied. "Where would you expect it to be?"
"Does Earl Fitzherbert himself come here?"
"I suspect he just pays for it. " Walter knew perfectly well that Fitz had never been there in his life. "But he will of course hear about our visit. "
They zigzagged through backstreets to a nonconformist chapel. A hand-painted wooden sign read: "Calvary Gospel Hall. " Pinned to the board was a sheet of paper with the words:
Baby Clinic
Free of Charge
Today and
every Wednesday
Walter opened the door and they went in.
Otto made a disgusted noise, then took out a handkerchief and held it to his nose. Walter had been there before, so he had been expecting the smell, but even so it was startlingly unpleasant. The hall was full of ragged women and half-naked children, all filthy dirty. The women sat on benches and the children played on the floor. At the far end of the room were two doors, each with a temporary label, one saying "Doctor" and the other "Patroness. "
Near the door sat Fitz's aunt Herm, listing names in a book. Walter introduced his father. "Lady Hermia Fitzherbert, my father, Herr Otto von Ulrich. "
At the other end of the room, the door marked "Doctor" opened and a ragged woman came out carrying a tiny baby and a medicine bottle. A nurse looked out and said: "Next, please. "
Lady Hermia consulted her list and called: "Mrs. Blatsky and Rosie!"
An older woman and a girl went into the doctor's surgery.
Walter said: "Wait here a moment, please, Father, and I'll fetch the boss. "
He hurried to the far end, stepping around the toddlers on the floor. He tapped on the door marked "Patroness," and walked in.
The room was little more than a cupboard, and indeed there was a mop and bucket in a corner. Lady Maud Fitzherbert sat at a small table writing in a ledger. She wore a simple dove-gray dress and a broad-brimmed hat. She looked up, and the smile that lit up her face when she saw Walter was bright enough to bring tears to his eyes. She leaped out of her chair and threw her arms around him.
He had been looking forward to this all day. He kissed her mouth, which opened to him immediately. He had kissed several women, but she was the only one he had ever known to press her body against him this way. He felt embarrassed, fearing that she would feel his erection, and he arched his body away; but she only pressed more closely, as if she really wanted to feel it, so he gave in to the pleasure.
Maud was passionate about everything: poverty, women's rights, music-and Walter. He felt amazed and privileged that she had fallen in love with him.
She broke the kiss, panting. "Aunt Herm will become suspicious," she said.
Walter nodded. "My father is outside. "
Maud patted her hair and smoothed her dress. "All right. "
Walter opened the door and they went back into the hall. Otto was chatting amiably to Hermia: he liked respectable old ladies.
"Lady Maud Fitzherbert, may I present my father, Herr Otto von Ulrich. "
Otto bowed over her hand. He had learned not to click his heels: the English thought it comical.
Walter watched them size one another up. Maud smiled as if amused, and Walter guessed she was wondering if this was what he would look like in years to come. Otto took in Maud's expensive cashmere dress and the fashionable hat with approval. So far, so good.
Otto did not know that they were in love. Walter's plan was that his father would get to know Maud first. Otto approved of wealthy women doing charitable work, and insisted that Walter's mother and his sister visit poor families at Zumwald, their country estate in East Prussia. He would
