Chapter One
Two Months Later
“It’s even dirtier than I remember.”
Thomas Sinclair glanced at the boy who stood at his side with an amused smile. “Take a deep breath of the fresh sea air now as it will be your last for a time.”
Campania, the steamship they’d traveled on from America, moved slowly toward the London docks. The bustling activity of sailors, clerks, and dockworkers who loaded and unloaded stacks of crates and barrels from carts and wagons became clearer as they drew near.
The skyline of the city was a welcome sight after Thomas’s months in America.
Dirty or not, London was home.
He’d felt it deep in his bones each time he returned from abroad. His trips away had been numerous because of his time in Her Royal Majesty’s Navy.
Now he wore a brown suit rather than a uniform, but that didn’t change how he felt. He heaved a sigh, reminding himself that he was home temporarily and would have to leave again soon after the new year. England didn’t hold opportunities to make a fortune.
At least, not for him.
He needed to stay the course in New York City where he’d already seen some success with his uncle’s assistance in J.P. Morgan’s banking business. His father’s youngest brother, who lived there, had allowed him the chance to learn the business without any prior experience or training, something no one in London had been willing to do.
Coming home for the holidays was a luxury he shouldn’t have indulged in. But he’d missed so many special occasions with his family while in the military that it had been easy to agree to his mother’s pleas to return home for Christmas.
Plus, there was the child at his side to think of.
Peter Schmidt was a lad of seven years whose parents had fled Germany and come to London with the hope of finding a new life nearly a year ago. However, their hopes were dashed when Peter’s father was injured in an accident at a sugar refinery. With no income, the family of five had been forced to move into a workhouse.
Unfortunately, Peter had been separated from his family at some point in the process. The details of what happened were unclear, but somehow, the boy had been shipped to America to work on a farm, along with five other boys. When he’d arrived ill and weak, the family who had arranged to take him had refused to do so.
Thomas had found him living on the street not far from his office and brought him home. Why he’d felt compelled to do so when there were others of all ages in a similar predicament, he couldn’t say.
Perhaps it had to do with the hopeless look of the lad. Perhaps it had been when Peter had caught the coin Thomas had flipped him then promptly given it to an older woman who sat in rags a short distance away.
His uncle had warned him not to so much as look at those living on the streets. “You can’t help them all,” he’d said.
While that was true, Thomas could help one. Well, two if he counted the money he’d later given the older woman in addition to bringing Thomas home.
His uncle had strongly disapproved when he found out. But Thomas had told him that he needed a valet and taking in the lad would allow him to train for the position. Luckily, his uncle had seemed to believe the lie.
Peter lifted onto his toes as if that would improve his view of the city. “What if we can’t find them?”
Thomas didn’t have to ask who. Peter missed his family almost more than he could bear. Only Thomas’s promise to return him home and help locate his parents had lifted him from the doldrums.
The boy had been working on his accent, trying to sound more British than German as he insisted it would help him find a position. The lad was determined to free his family from the workhouse if they were still there.
If...
The word had been ruling Thomas’s life for the past few months.
If he could make a fortune.
If Miss Melbourne would wait for him.
If he should have stayed in England or if it had been better to go to America.
His circling thoughts had nearly driven him mad of late. Thank goodness Peter had come into his life and distracted him from the never-ending ifs.
But one thing remained clear. If he wanted Miss Frances Melbourne to wait for him to make his fortune, he had to ask her.
