Chapter One
London Society has been invaded by America’s version of royalty!
Shipping king, Benjamin Rockford, has arrived on English shores for what some say is a scouting mission for possible expansion of his empire to the London dockyards.
Rockford Shipping has, in the last several decades, become a goliath in the trading world.
Mr. Rockford earned his fortune utilizing his in-depth knowledge of the seas and a keen sense of supply and demand to build a formidable fleet.
His holdings include warehouses along America’s Eastern coast and vessels numbering in the dozens; bringing his business across the Atlantic could mean proper competition for local companies.
Touting fairer wages and more desirable working hours, Rockford Shipping has the potential to become a real contender in the ring as the fight for shipping supremacy expands in our ever-growing world.
“You’re muttering to yourself.”
Victoria chose not to acknowledge her brother’s comment and merely pressed her lips together. The line they formed grew tighter and thinner the more she read the sheet that had been printed and delivered just that morning.
But business does not seem to be Mr. Rockford’s only aim.
He has brought his son and heir, Mister Luke Rockford, to continue his education at his father’s side so he might one day take over the lucrative venture.
This author feels it is notable that he has also brought his beloved—and admittedly entirely lovely—daughter, Miss Victoria Rockford.
The sophistication of London is a world away from the streets of New York City, but it appears Miss Rockford has already taken quite well to this broadening of her horizons.
The Rockford trio has already been sighted enjoying a performance at The Mask his business acumen could only be strengthened by the introduction of hardy English blood, after all.
“Well that’s rather insulting,” Victoria groused and balled up the gossip rag in her hands before tossing it across the table.
“You’d do better to ignore whatever they say,” her brother, Luke, commented somewhat distractedly. He had yet to glance up from the pile of correspondence that had been delivered that morning. His breakfast plate remained untouched.
“And you’d do better to remember to eat your food. Wouldn’t want you to start wasting away lest your ‘impeccable tailoring’ no longer fit.”
“Is that what’s upset you?” A quizzical smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Oh, to be a man with a steady future ahead and not a doubt in his mind—to have the luxury of being able to ignore the drivel in such tabloids.
“I don’t think I shall ever become used to this backhanded way they have of speaking here.
A single sentence can feel like a compliment and an insult at the same time.
How is that even possible?” She held up her hands like the precariously balancing trays of a scale and adopted an exaggerated English accent.
“The Rockfords are such a handsome family; they’d do well to marry Brits because their American bloodlines are sorely lacking.
We’re all so impressed with how well they use a fork and knife, though! ”
The last earned a chuckle from her brother. “Don’t take it to heart.”
“That is easy for you to say. Everyone is marveling at your intelligence and status as the crown prince of Rockford Shipping; meanwhile, I am whittled down to ‘entirely lovely’ and ‘fashionable.’”
“Only because they do not know you.” Luke set aside the letter, and his light hazel eyes met hers. “You and I shared the same education—if anything, you excelled in several areas where I struggled.”
“I do believe that was the first time I’ve heard you admit I am the smarter sibling,” she chirped with a grin.
Luke leveled a finger at her. “Not what I said, but I will let you have that small victory since you’re perturbed by that meaningless English tabloid.
” Victoria giggled and motioned for him to continue.
“They’re jealous. Our family scraped and fought for every dollar, every ounce of success, and we, from our ‘upstart’ country, have attained an unfathomable level of success in only two generations.
And now we’ve crossed the Atlantic and threaten their shipping industry. ”
“We are simultaneously objects of curiosity and derision.”
“They want to be us, and they resent that fact.” He shook his head at Victoria’s bark of laughter.
He explained, “We don’t have the constraints of a title, the loyalty to a monarchy, and we are not guilted into adhering to antiquated customs. We are foreign to them in more ways than one.
If they take interest in us for these things, then it is because we are fascinating, not because we are something to be looked down upon; do not ever allow anyone to make you feel less than because our family has worked for its good fortunes. You are and will always be a Rockford.”
Though she tried to take comfort in her brother’s words, Victoria knew the last was not necessarily true.
Luke may be unerringly proud of how far their family had come—she was, too—but she did not have the benefit of being intentionally deaf to all criticisms that came from carrying working-class blood in her veins.
She often wondered if his purposefully flippant nature was a trait all men shared, or if she simply noticed it more because he was her brother.
She’d had a lifetime of comparing and contrasting their personalities, after all.
They had yet to be in London a full two weeks, and they’d already been inundated with invitations and events they “simply must attend” if they desired to be “seen in the right circles.” Victoria didn’t know why it mattered so much; she’d only been informed that that was the case by a pushy, if well-intentioned, wife of one of her father’s associates who’d been tasked with chaperoning and showing Victoria around London.
This meant Victoria had seen a great deal of Mayfair drawing rooms and the inside of carriages, but little else.
She’d been forbidden to accompany her father and brother to the dockyards, so she’d taken her guide’s words to heart and busied herself selecting the most interesting from the steadily increasing stack of invitations.
The Rockford family had attended the opening night of a new show at one of the city’s premier theaters, which she’d thoroughly enjoyed and passed along her appreciation to the lead performers.
News traveled remarkably quickly for a city as large as London, and that appearance had resulted in a veritable waterfall of calling cards and finely engraved letters on the front table of their rented home overlooking Grosvenor Square in Mayfair.
They’d met the Duke and Duchess of Morton at the Mask his son has expounded upon it and takes great pride in the company’s charitable efforts.
Thorpe it is another thing entirely to witness the stares and hear the whispers as if I were a creature in a zoo. Eat your food, Luke.”
Used to her abrupt changes in topics, her brother merely shook his head and popped a single blueberry into his mouth, all the while never removing his eyes from the papers in his hands.
Victoria had learned quite quickly that the ton was morbidly fascinated with the “wealthy Americans”, as if they were some objects in one of the museums Victoria had yet to visit.
Some turned their noses up at their “new money”, though that wasn’t all that dissimilar from back in New York.
There, the line between Old and New Money was a fortress from which the Old imagined they could look down upon those grasping newcomers.
In London, the difference was how the Rockfords were viewed as interesting purely for their Americanness.
They were ogled for the diversity of their tastes, their accents and inflection, their views of the world, and it seemed that every well-off household in Town desired the novelty of being able to say they’d hosted “The Americans.” Victoria was used to being in the spotlight of Society, but she was unused to the reasons the English aristocracy found her fascinating.
As if sensing the sinking direction of her thoughts, Luke said, “I will eat my food if you stop your ruminating. I fear your brain will begin to make unpleasant sounds if you continue to seethe so violently.”
Victoria huffed and sat back in her chair, wriggling until her stays no longer bit into her ribs. “If only everyone could be as relaxed as you.”
He cocked a dark, wry brow at her. “I thought you enjoyed telling me how high-strung I am.”
“Single-minded.”
“See? There is your answer.” Luke popped another berry into his mouth and chewed. “Become single-minded and nothing else will bother you.”
Victoria rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, but a smile tugged at her lips.