The boy didn’t deserve her bad temper, and she wanted to make him happy. Although she wasn’t ready to see Tristan again. The thought sent a fresh wave of doubts through her.
“Change of plan, Doyle,” she said. “Instead of Victoria Station, I’ll go to Aldersgate Station, and I would like to send a message to Lady Vaughan.”
“You look awfully tense,if you don’t mind my saying,” Jane said as she and Effie walked towards Aldersgate Station.
“I’m just tired. I didn’t sleep well.”
“Because of what I told you?” Jane asked. “You’re disappointed by Montcrest, aren’t you?”
“He proposed,” Effie blurted out before she could stop herself. Perhaps she needed to tell someone.
A gasp came from Jane. “He did not! What did you say?”
“I refused. Between what you told me and his proposal, which was too close to a business deal, I wasn’t convinced.” But she wasn’t convinced now about her reasons for rejecting him.
They stopped in front of the station under the dark shadow of the building.
Train stations were growing all around London at an alarming speed, and maybe that was the reason for the barren, uninspiring façade. No ornaments or clever design, but instead it was designed as if the architect didn’t care about beauty and elegance. It was only a square, boring pile of bricks that made her sad for some reason.
Things happened too fast in London, and beauty was sacrificed for speed. Like a hasty, practical marriage proposal.
“I didn’t want to be the cause of your refusal,” Jane said. “After all, he’s a marquess with a solid financial situation. A good match. Rumours would follow you everywhere if you married him, though.”
“That doesn’t worry me. I just want to find a gentleman who understands how important practising veterinary medicine is for me, respects my choices, and doesn’t treat me like a broodmare.”
“My, my. You’ve been reading those suffragettes’ pamphlets again.”
“No, I just want a proper gentleman.”
Jane touched Effie’s shoulder briefly. “I think you’ll have more luck finding a dog with those qualities.”
“So, you think I should have accepted his proposal? I thought you disapproved of him.”
Jane hooked her arm through Effie’s and resumed walking. “I would have left him to wonder about my answer for a while, instead of giving him a quick, flat rejection.”
“What’s the difference?”
“That you would have kept him on pins and needles. Something a man like him hates.”
“I don’t want to be cruel.”
Jane sighed. “You’ll never understand how things between a man and woman work.”
They walked up the short flight of stairs to the main hall of the station. The inside was less disappointing with its soaring ceiling and Grecian columns, but it was so crammed with people she could barely see anything else.
They made their way through the excited groups of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, a band of musicians, food vendors, and journalists. The thick smell of a coal and oil engine was the same as in any other train station.
“So many people.” Jane craned her neck. “Where’s your friend?”
“Over there.” She led Jane towards platform number one where Rowan was standing next to a shiny locomotive blowing steam.
She smiled when Rowan spotted her and ran towards her.
“Lady Effie.” He removed his flat hat and bowed. “Lady Vaughan. Thank you for coming.”
Jane shielded her eyes with a gloved hand from the light coming through the glass ceiling. “We wouldn’t have missed it for anything in the world. Is that the new locomotive your family is inaugurating?”
“That’s her.” Rowan stretched out an arm towards the shiny black machine. “Tristan said I could ride with the machinist for the first stretch if I wanted to.”
