Chapter Thirty-Seven
Damian’s stomach tightened with the realization that they may have been chasing the wrong woman, especially since Fisher appeared confused.
“Grace?” he repeated
“Yes, Grace,” Georgie demanded. “She left a letter that she was coming to meet you.”
“Miss Wylde followed her sister to Southampton and we have been trying to catch up to you ever since,” Damian explained.
Some of the color drained from Fisher’s face. “Mr. Wynd.”
“If Grace is not with you, where is she?” Georgie demanded.
“We left her in London,” he answered.
“London?” Georgie cried.
They had come all this way and Grace was back in London where anything could happen to her.
“If you saw her in London, why is she not with you? You are the reason she left Carrera.”
Fisher glanced to the dark-haired woman beside him. She grimaced and Georgie’s heart sank.
“I swear, I was going to return to Carrera and pursue Grace, I promise.”
“Then why are you here with …
“Elizabeth…Fisher”
“You were already married?’ Georgie cried.
“No. It is not like that. I truly liked Grace. Loved her. She was my friend. We were close. She knew about Elizabeth, I just never thought…”
“My father is Gerald Montgomery,” Mrs. Fisher started to explain.
Damian knew the name. “He is a shipbuilder and merchant out of Boston, Massachusetts, is he not?” Damian had purchased a few of his ships, even though many were built in England.
“Yes. My father brought me and my sisters to England so that we could marry well. I met Harold during the crossing. He worked on the ship, and we fell in love but father would not allow me to marry so far beneath me. His belief, not mine.”
They may both be considered commoners in England, but Mr. Montgomery had more wealth than many of the lords he knew.
Montgomery probably hoped to dangle a large dowry in front of a title to make his daughters ladies.
It wouldn’t be the first time a wealthy American had come to England for the same reason.
“How long ago did you fall in love and arrive in England?”
“Three years,” Fisher answered.
“When we arrived in London, we parted, but through trusted servants in my household, we still corresponded,” Mrs. Fisher explained.
“I left London for Southampton because being in the same city was too much of a temptation, and that is when I went to work for you, Mr. Wynd.”
“My father betrothed me to a viscount, whom I did not even like.”
Just as Damian had suspected. Dowry for title with little thought to the daughter.
“When Grace and I first became friends in Carrera, I told her all about Elizabeth and how she was lost to me, but that I would always love her. Then Grace and I grew closer and I thought that I could love her, and a part of me did. It just was not the same as I had with Elizabeth, who I never thought to see again.”
“She loved you,” Georgie said.
“I know, and I feel horrible for what happened.”
“What did happen?” Damian demanded.
“When my father suddenly passed nearly a month ago, I did not hide in the house in mourning but left for Southampton as soon as I could get away. I was free to find Harold and now we just want to return to Boston.”
“You said that you saw Grace in London. What happened?” Georgie demanded.
“It was a chance meeting and quite unexpected but I am glad we crossed paths in the Port of London,” he said.
“Where exactly was that?” Damian asked. The odds of an accidental encounter at such a busy port were nearly impossible.
“Outside of the Trade Wynd office there,” Fisher answered. “Elizabeth and I had just left. We had inquired after passenger ships.”
“Was Grace visiting Trade Wynd?” If he said that she had, then Damian would begin to doubt his word because there had been no mention of any other visitors. Then again, he had not asked.
“She was about to enter the office and had hoped to gain the address of the office in Southampton. It had been her intention to send me a letter, which was no longer necessary since we met face to face.”
“The two of you had not corresponded?” Georgie asked.
“No,” he answered. “When I left Carrera, it was assumed that by the time any letter reached me in Southampton, that I would be on a ship already returning there for more marble.”
Damian supposed that made sense. The Charlotte Rose was barely in port a sennight after unloading before it was sailing back to Carrera for more marble. Except, Fisher had sailed on the Despoina, which was still being repaired.
Not that it mattered now.
“Her heart was not crushed?” Georgie asked.
“No. She was rather relieved and pragmatic. She had rushed in her decision to come to England to find me but after spending time with Viscountess Mountrath on a ship with nothing to do but think, she realized that her feelings for me were more infatuation and less love and that my appeal was that I would take her away from Carrera, which was no reason to pursue a man.”
Of her two sisters, Grace was the one who acted first and considered consequences later. However, she had never run away and sailed to another country before.
“Where did Grace go? What was she going to do?”
Had the two of them been chasing someone who had already left the country and was already on her way back to Italy?
“She decided to remain a companion for Lady Mountrath, who was going to travel to her estate where she would remain until the spring. Grace accepted the position because I think she was embarrassed by her rash actions and wasn’t eager to face your parents.”
“Are you certain that is where she is?” Georgie demanded, not that Damian could blame her since they’d traveled days and miles already.
“Yes. She had arrived at the Trade Wynd office in a carriage with the Mountrath crest on the door and an older woman was sitting inside. They were also accompanied by four outriders in livery for what I assume was protection.”
“Did she at least write home?” Georgie asked.
“I assume that she did.” Fisher shrugged.
“Did Grace happen to mention where Lady Mountrath’s estate is located?”
“Ireland, I believe,” Fisher answered.
“Clara,” his wife provided. “My father made me and my sisters memorize every title, estate, and location if they had a bachelor son. Lady Mountrath lives at Byrne House. She also has three sons, all bachelors, and now one is the Viscount.”
*
While she was grateful for a location, Georgie knew little about Ireland other than what her father had told her. But she was just as certain that they could find out where Clara was located easily enough. They just needed to get to Ireland.
“Thank you, Mr. Fisher. I wish you and your wife well in America.”
She then turned away from them and strolled down the dock until she found a place to sit.
“All this time I have been chasing the wrong woman across England.”
“You did not know it was the wrong woman,” Damian reminded her.
“Yes, but I upset your life, you spent so much money on this venture, and the woman was not even my sister.”
“But, had you not gone after her, you would always have wondered, at least until Grace finally came home.”
Georgie supposed that he was correct. She, her mother, and younger sister would likely have fretted with worry, waiting for news, and it was because of her mother being overset that Georgie had made her decision to go after Grace.
However, that did not erase the guilt for the difficulties she had put Damian through from the moment he caught her in Southampton.
Though, she wasn’t sorry for the time that they had spent together.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked, though she already knew his answer, Georgie did not want to make any assumptions.
“Book passage on a ship to Ireland,” he answered simply.
Except, it wasn’t so simple. She was taking Damian farther away from his home, his duties. Yet, she knew that if she told him that he did not need to remain to protect her, that he still would.
Besides, she wanted him with her, and not because she did not think she could take care of herself or fear of danger because she would be alone, but because she wanted more time with him.
She was not ready to no longer be his lover.
She had only gotten a taste of the passion they shared, and she wanted more, especially since she might never have a lover again.
“If Mr. Chisholm does not have a ship to take us to the proper port in Ireland, I am certain that he will be able to provide us with the name of someone who will,” Damian said. “He also needs to be made aware of what happened with his steamship.”
She studied the port and noted that there were several ships. How soon would one leave and were any traveling to Ireland?
Weariness settled around her. She’d been chasing her sister for weeks, ever since she discovered the letter and now to realize that they had been on the wrong trail was disheartening.
But at least she knew where her sister was.
If they got to Ireland and Grace was gone, Georgie would believe that it was because her sister had sailed home, which would mean that this entire trip had been a waste.
She blew out a sigh and stared into Damian’s blue eyes.
No, it had not been. It had been an unexpected adventure and she’d met a handsome man who was an excellent lover. She’d created memories to hold close in the future.