“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Allen,” William smiled, his front teeth slightly crooked, but that only seemed to add to his charm.
“I bid you both farewell,” Percival nodded to both.
"We shall keep in touch, old boy,” Alexander greeted him, watching as Percival left the room, followed by Collins.
The doors closed, leaving the two men alone. William dropped a black leather bag, which kept all his papers neatly arranged, and safe from prying eyes.
“You said to come immediately once the papers were ready,” William thought it would be a good idea to offer an excuse for this interruption of a prior engagement.
“Indeed, I did,” Alexander confirmed. “Which means that you are welcome at any time, as you are. Is everything in order?”
“I am happy to say it is,” William smiled broadly, picking out a single sheet of paper from a pile of others, which contained writing, signatures and several seals. “Only one signature, and you shall be the proud of owner of the old Miller residence.”
“Were there any problems?”
“None whatsoever,” William assured him. “That place has been abandoned for so long that they were happy to sell. The price you offered them was more than fair. You should have seen the look on their faces.”
Alexander had indeed offered a price that was well above the current owner’s expectations. The last thing he wished to do was make them feel like they were forced to sell.
“I still think you could have obtained it with a much lower price as well, but you would not take my advice on that,” William noted, sliding the paper across Alexander’s writing table, towards him. “Sign here.”
Alexander grabbed his quill pen and dipped it into the ink stand. He hesitated only for a moment, then he placed the tip down onto the soft surface of the paper, and scribbled his signature in large, exquisitely elaborate letters. Then, he proceeded to leave his seal through the ring which he preferred not to wear on his finger, and instead, kept in a small silver box on his writing desk, at an arm’s reach. Within a minute, the whole thing was done.
“Is that it?” he wondered.
William took the document and skimmed through it. “I should think so,” he smiled. “Congratulations. You own the house in the worst condition in all of London.”
Alexander couldn’t resist chuckling. “We shall see whether that will be true when I’m done with it.”
“You are still planning on making it into an orphanage?”
“Absolutely.”
William seemed confused. “Doesn’t London already have enough of them?”
“If it did, would children still be sleeping on the streets in the cold and rain?” Alexander pointed out.
“I suppose not,” William admitted. “It is nice to see you following in your father’s footsteps.”
“It took me a long time to find that path,” Alexander mused, placing the quill pen back in its stand. “But I suppose it was something I needed to do on my own. No one could show me the path. It was there the whole time, and yet, I was blind to it. It took the gentle guidance of someone who lived that life, the life of the street, to remind me that there is a life outside of these grand mansion walls, a life much greater than the sum of all this luxury, and that is the lives of those children. We need to help them, save them. They can’t save themselves, and they certainly do not deserve the life they were given.”
“Itisunfair, I admit,” William acknowledged. Alexander could tell that like many others including himself, William had not bothered to think much about the conditions of life of those poor children. All they could see was their filth, their sticky hands, but the rich kept closing their eyes to the hunger and pain in the eyes of these same children.
“That is why I plan on leveling it out somewhat,” Alexander concluded. “And with this,” he pointed at the paper in William’s hand, “I plan on starting that personal revolution.”
William smiled, shaking his hand. “If there is anything else I can help you with, you know you can count on me.”
“I know,” Alexander nodded. “And I truly appreciate it.”
A few moments later, Alexander was left alone with his thoughts. Right now, they were a confusing swirl of joy, sadness, and complete devotion. He had already gotten used to that amalgamation. He welcomed it. What he also welcomed was the fact that Marjorie would love to hear that the papers were signed, and that gave him a good reason to go and visit her the following day.
Then, a thought occurred to him. Marjorie’s garden was large enough to accommodate all the children for a picnic. He could make it into a little celebration of sorts. The children should know of it as well.
A smile crept up his lips as he thought of her. He would steal every precious moment he could with her, until the moment when it would no longer be appropriate. But he would cross that bridge when he got to it.
Chapter 19
“Get dressed?” Marjorie pouted at Annie. “But I’m supposed to stay in bed all day. I can allow myself at least an hour more of my uninterrupted, lazy morning, before I change my position in bed, as that is all I plan on doing today.”
