Chapter 5
Victoria was ready half an hour early, in her elegant black silk evening gown.
She was waiting in the formal drawing room when Bert arrived promptly at seven-thirty.
He had made a reservation at the Ritz Hotel for eight o’clock.
He’d never been to the house before, and was impressed by how beautiful it was, with billowing satin curtains, and heavy silk ropes with tassels to hold them in place.
There were French Aubusson and Persian rugs and English antiques.
Victoria walked Bert around the main floor, and showed him the impeccable garden filled with delicate white flowers.
It was a spectacular home. He had a quick glass of champagne before they left for The Ritz, and they chatted as he drove.
“What have you been up to?” he asked, obviously delighted to see her. He looked very handsome in his dinner jacket, and they made a striking pair. Bert found himself thinking of her father, and how pleased he’d be that they were having dinner together.
“I have been up to absolutely nothing,” she said ruefully.
“I feel like one of the maids. All I do is fix things around the house. I used to do a lot for my father. Now I have nothing to do. I’ve been to the library and read two books, one about Ancient Greece, the other about the Industrial Revolution in America.
I had a friend over to tea three times, and I’ve been repairing some antique cushions.
It’s pathetic. I feel like my brain is dying. ” Bert laughed.
“You’re looking very thin. Are you eating properly?” He worried about her and she was touched.
“I don’t like eating alone. It’s so boring.”
“Well, hopefully you won’t be too bored tonight,” he said to her and she laughed.
“How are things at your mills?” she asked him, and he looked at her in surprise. No woman had ever asked him that before.
“Very well, thank you. We managed to avoid a strike when I got back.”
“How did you do it?” She was paying close attention, and wanted to know how he ran his business and what it entailed.
“We raised their wages, there was no other way.”
“I’ve been reading about the cotton industry in Manchester. It sounds as though it gets pretty rough at times.”
“It can. That’s sweet of you to be reading about it.”
“It’s very interesting,” she said.
“That’s a lovely dress, by the way.”
They were chatting animatedly, as they walked into The Ritz for dinner.
The lobby was handsomely decorated, and the restaurant was beautiful, the women elegantly dressed, and heads turned as people noticed her when they walked in.
The headwaiter knew Bert, and had given him an excellent table.
He ordered champagne for both of them as they looked at the menu and decided what to eat.
For the rest of the meal, they talked nonstop.
Bert noticed that Victoria ate all of her Dover sole.
They’d had crab to start, and ordered soufflés for dessert.
She ate the whole meal while talking to him, and she came alive with interest when he told her what he’d been doing.
He didn’t ask her if she had made a decision about them, but Victoria brought it up over dessert.
“I think my father would be happy that we’re having dinner tonight,” she said softly.
“I was thinking that as we walked in,” Bert said.
“I miss him terribly. The house is so quiet without him. I never realized how busy he kept me, or how much time we spent with each other. We had such interesting conversations. He always taught me something. My life is so quiet now,” she said.
Without a husband and children, and now with her father gone, he wasn’t surprised.
She was young and needed more to do. “If I…if we…” she didn’t finish the sentence, “would you teach me about your business?”
“If you want me to. There’s a lot of poverty in the Manchester area up north. There are many charitable things you could do.”
“I’d like that, but I’d love to understand more about what you do. It sounds very interesting.”
“You’re welcome to visit anytime. Are you moving to Hampshire for the summer?” She nodded.
“For July and August. London is fun in September, there’s a lot going on then.
The summer is very quiet. There are a lot of parties in Hampshire though.
Would you like to visit sometime? We have a lake, you could fish.
” He smiled at the suggestion. She was animated when she talked about his business and shy when she talked about them.
It touched him. It was obvious that she had little experience with men.
There was an innocence about her that he loved, and at the same time with her very fine mind she was interested in a multitude of subjects, from history and literature to economics and politics.
Finally at the end of dinner she raised her eyes to his.
She looked very young suddenly as she spoke softly.
“I think I would like to accept your offer.” She hadn’t planned to say it.
It just came to her spontaneously as she looked at him.
He was a good man, she could see that he cared about her, and she loved talking to him and hearing what he had to say.
She knew she wouldn’t be bored with him, and he seemed very kind, and responsible.
She hadn’t known him for long, but she felt as though she had.
And she knew that the plan would have pleased her father, which was important to her.
“Are you sure?” he asked. He didn’t want to push her into a life or a marriage where she’d be unhappy.
“I believe I am,” she said bravely. “And you don’t mind not having children?” She didn’t know how one accomplished that, but she hoped he did.
“If you’re afraid of the same thing happening as happened to your mother, I’m sure we could find the best doctor in England to attend you at the birth. But if you truly don’t want a child, then we can see to that,” he said, and sounded reassuring and confident.
“I don’t,” she said. “I never have. I don’t think I’d be a good mother. I never had one, and it seems complicated to me.”
“Then there won’t be children,” he said decisively, and she looked relieved.
He could see that it mattered a great deal to her.
It had been a driving fear all her life, that one day she would be forced to have a child, if she married, or many of them, like Delphine, and it would kill her.
She didn’t want to be a breeding cow for any man.
The whole idea seemed repugnant to her. She’d rather improve her mind, and put her energies there.
“I’ve never been desperate to have children,” he continued.
“I was too busy working for many years to pay proper attention to a child, and I think you should, if you have them. I don’t have all that pressure on me of needing an heir for a title, or to carry on a name.
It’s simpler with my kind of background than with yours.
I would have liked to have a son to leave my business to, but that’s not realistic by now, and I’ve made my peace with it.
” He looked as though he had. He didn’t seem unfulfilled or unhappy, and he clearly enjoyed his work.
He felt certain now that being with Victoria would complete him in a way he hadn’t expected at his age.
She was the missing piece in a perfect picture.
She would be the heart of everything he did, if she married him.
It was all he wanted from her, to be able to love her and take care of her, and enjoy her company.
She lit up his life whenever he was with her.
He scarcely knew her but he had come to love her.
“And if you’re ostracized for marrying me?” He knew it was a real possibility. He knew it better than she did.
“I don’t care about that,” she said and meant it.
She didn’t care about his age either. She was more comfortable with older men than young ones.
They were familiar to her because of her father, and Bert was nearly twenty years younger than Alfred, and could have been his son, even though he was much older than Victoria.
“When do you want to get married?” he asked her gently, still finding it hard to believe that she was agreeing to marry him.
She had been thinking about it since she last saw him, and it felt right.
Their union, as he described it, made sense to her.
She felt certain it was going to be a blessing for both of them.
“Can we just do it simply? It doesn’t feel right to have a proper wedding without my father there.
We can announce it after we do it.” It felt like the right course to him too, a quiet wedding, an announcement in The Times and to their friends afterward, and a reception to celebrate when she was out of mourning.
“I’ll see how fast I can arrange it,” he said. “You’re not rushing into it, Victoria? You’re sure?”
“I’m sure,” she said solemnly, as he looked at her across the table, unable to believe how lucky he was. He had won the prize of a lifetime. “And I want to move to Manchester,” she added, and he stared at her, amazed.
“You can come back to London whenever you want to,” he promised her.
“Thank you,” she said softly, grateful for how reasonable and generous he was. She intended to continue supporting her father’s houses. She didn’t want them to cost Bert anything. And she could afford to pay for them herself with her inheritance.
They were among the last people to leave the restaurant.
He followed her out, unable to believe what had just happened.
He was going to marry Lady Victoria Oldbrooke, daughter of the late Lord Alfred Oldbrooke.
Long ago, it would have been his parents’ dream for him, socially.
Now he only wanted to do it because he loved her.
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