“Then when?”
“We’ll go as soon as we have a free moment and can get away. I promise, Keira.”
I let out a sigh, knowing I could trust him, but not wanting to wait any longer than necessary.
“Promise me you won’t go alone,” he said.
“I won’t go alone. I promise.” I wanted his support as I faced my mother, because I wasn’t sure how I would be received.
She’d abandoned me and probably never expected to see me again.
But it was a chance I had to take.
17
We returned to 7 Buckingham Gate before anyone noticed our absence and I snuck back into my room before Gallagher came to help me dress. Aunt Maude joined us for luncheon, but neither Alec nor I told her that we had left.
I was wearing the locket again, still worried I might lose it, but confident that the work Alec had done on it would keep it safer this time.
As we rose from the lunch table, Alec said, “I have a meeting scheduled for this afternoon, so I will take my leave.”
“You’re not staying for morning calls?” Disappointment weighed me down more than it should.
He studied me for a moment, his gaze slipping down to the locket. “I’m afraid you’re on your own.”
“Not on her own,” Aunt Maude said, lifting her chin as she moved toward the door, her back to us. “Never on her own. I will be with her.”
Alec smiled at his aunt’s retreating form and then his face grew serious as he regarded me. “I wish you all the best today. Nodoubt you’ll be as charming and gracious as ever. You won’t need me.”
I would have protested, but he was right. I didn’t need him. I wanted him. And that was why he shouldn’t stay.
With a slight nod, he left the dining room, and I followed Aunt Maude to the front drawing room, where we would have a view of Buckingham Palace Road.
“Last night was a magnificent beginning,” Aunt Maude said as she took a seat in a mauve-colored wingback chair near the fireplace. “But we will not know if you were truly successful until your callers appear.”
I closed the drawing room door behind me and walked to the window, wondering if anyone would even come. My hand went to my locket, both for reassurance that it was still there and comfort, knowing my mother had thought enough about me to send it with my aunt and uncle.
“What is the history of that lock—” Aunt Maude’s words were cut short when the drawing room door opened and the butler, Rodgers, appeared. He presented a calling card to Aunt Maude on a silver salver.
My pulse escalated as I turned toward Rodgers and then Aunt Maude.
She did not look pleased as she read the name, but she nodded. “You may show him in.”
I wanted to ask who had come, but I refrained. I would know soon enough.
As Rodgers left the drawing room, I became so nervous, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I touched my hair, but every strand was in place, thanks to Gallagher. I looked down at my day dress, but there wasn’t a wrinkle in sight.
“You look beautiful, Clara,” Aunt Maude said with a regal air. “That’s why I chose you, remember?”
I did remember, and while I wished I had been chosen for reasons other than my beauty, it was the thing that had drawn Aunt Maude and given me this opportunity.
Footsteps echoed outside the room and then the door opened again, and Rodgers entered with a familiar man in his wake.
“George!” I was so relieved and pleased to see him, my voice rose higher than I anticipated. “How lovely to see you.”
George grinned, clearly pleased with my response. But before he formally greeted me, he walked over to Aunt Maude and gave her a slight bow. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Hill.”
Aunt Maude did not look pleased. “Hello, Mr. Vanderbilt.”
