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“Carl doesn’t know. I couldn’t tell him before I left, because my father fired him and kicked him out.”
“He worked for you?” Quinn asked.
“In the garden. He knows how to grow the most beautiful roses,” Lena said, with a slight smile. “He can make anything grow. It’s rather miraculous, actually.”
“Is there a way to tell him?” Quinn asked. “Shouldn’t you give him a chance to know the truth and then decide what to do?”
“I don’t know where he is but, yes, I could probably find him. He can’t take care of us anyway, even if Father would allow us to marry. The whole thing’s hopeless.”
“You love this man? Carl?” Quinn asked.
“More than anything in the world.” Lena’s eyes grew glassy, and her voice took on a childlike quality. “He’s funny and brave. I’ll never love anyone else. I’m quite sure of it. I wish it were all different. All of it.”
“We do not ask for love, yet it comes anyway,” Quinn said. “Sometimes in the most inconvenient package. Almost never, actually, is it in a pretty box with a perfectly tied bow. Who we love is not always who we thought we would or what people want or expect of us.”
“Yes, I didn’t want to love him. It just happened. One day, everything changed. The flowers were brighter.” A single tear ran down the side of Lena’s face. “I’d rather have never seen how red the roses or pink the hydrangeas and lived in peace without this most impossible love.”
“You poor child,” Quinn said. “Whatever shall we do?”
I leaned against the back of my chair for support, completely exhausted, knowing that I, too, had fallen in love with an inconvenient person.
“How can you be so kind to me?” Lena asked Quinn.
“It’s not that I’m kind. Not really. It’s that I’m happy and blessed, and when one has all that I have, it is easy to be generous to others.”
“I’d like to be generous,” Lena said. “But all I can feel is shame and desperation. When I tell Father that James and I will not marry, he will be done with me. He has no use for anything or anyone not perfect. I’ll have no place to go. Do you think if I had a mother, I could be saved? Maybe I wouldn’t have done what I did.”
Quinn pulled Lena into an embrace, stroking her hair. “The motherless never learn how to mother themselves,” she murmured. “Anyway, you’re not alone. You have us now. Stay here as long as you like. We will figure out a solution to all of this.”
I was weeping myself by then. The compassion of Quinn Barnes was something to see. If I hadn’t witnessed it with my own eyes, I would have doubted it to be true. Perhaps she was more connected to God than the rest of us, I thought, as Lena sobbed into the comfort of Quinn’s arms.
“Come along with me,” Quinn said to Lena. “Let’s run you a bath and get you a cup of tea. Most things seem bearable after one or both.”
Quinn glanced back at me before she guided Lena toward the stairs. “Wait for me in the sitting room, please, James? I’ll only be a moment.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said.
Wiping my eyes, I sank back into the cushions of the chair. A sheath hung over the windows, filtering the afternoon sun. I let my eyelids shutter, exhausted by the emotions of the day. I no longer knew what to do or think. As much as I’d have loved to simply walk away, Lena and I were connected now. She was my friend. I wanted her to find happiness. I wanted her to be safe. Would Quinn and Alexander’s generosity extend to an unmarried, pregnant woman? It would cause a scandal, even here in Emerson Pass.
A commotion coming from the foyer interrupted my temporary respite. Jasper entered the sitting room, his tie slightly askew and a lock of his silver hair escaped from the thick pomade. I’d never seen him flustered and not thought it was possible. He came close to me and spoke softly into my ear.
“Mr. West, Mr. Masters has arrived back from his business, and he’s brought your father with him.”
I had no time to comprehend fully what was said because my father and Mr. Masters appeared in the sitting room, followed by Alexander.
I’d not seen my father in two years. He’d aged considerably. His shoulders seemed to have permanently slumped, and his white hair was so thin I could see his shiny pink scalp underneath. He wore a fine suit but it hung too loosely, as if he had recently lost weight. I was so taken aback by his arrival that I could only stare dumbly at him.
“Aren’t you going to say hello to me?” Father stuck out his hand, and we shook.
“What are you doing here?” I managed to ask.
“Your future father-in-law was kind enough to send for me. He wanted us to meet properly and discuss Miss Masters’s dowry before the wedding. He tells me you’ve decided to marry here in this wild country before returning to New York. Your mother will be sorry to miss the wedding, but perhaps we can have another party in England next year.”
“No reason not to do it here,” Mr. Masters said as if anyone had asked. “Among your second family. Time is of the essence, son. Your father and I have many business plans, which we’ll discuss over the next few days.” He turned to Alexander. “Your wife won’t mind hosting a little wedding party, will she?”
Alexander glanced over at me, a look of alarm in his eyes. “We’ll do whatever it is that James wants.” His mouth formed a thin, straight line and a muscle in his cheek pulsed, as if he were holding back what he wanted to say.
“When did you decide to come to America?” I asked. “How did you get here?”
