I was of course being sarcastic and insincere, but Ella couldn’t know that, the poor girl! Somehow, when I spouted that outrageous lie just now, I had managed to make my voice sound horribly convincing!
‘Oh.’ Ella’s shoulders slumped and she looked even more lost than before. I had been right. She had been looking for advice on her own situation, and this obviously hadn’t been the answer she had been expecting. She had probably expected words of caution from her big sister.
‘That doesn't mean that you should, though,’ I added hastily. ‘If you ever were in that kind of situation, I mean, hypothetically. What I would do isn’t necessarily the best thing. You know I’m a reckless maniac who should probably be locked up for her own safety.’
‘Oh, Lill!’ Ella tried her best but couldn’t keep a smile off her face. ‘You shouldn’t say such things!’
‘Why not, if they make you smile?’ I teased and drew her closer towards me. ‘Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. Everything will be just fine.’
I was really an excellent liar. Later, when I lay in bed and watched Ella sleep with a peaceful smile on her face, I wondered how I had managed to give her so much reassurance. I certainly didn’t feel sure of myself or of my ability to help her. The unknown date when she would forever be snatched away from me was drawing closer.
What… what if I simply talked with her about it? Tried to talk her out of it?
But then I remembered the fire in her eyes when she had looked at Edmund, and I knew that talking wouldn’t do any good. It might only serve to destroy her trust in me. I only had one chance: find a way to get rid of Wilkins before it was too late! And I would do so, and I would make Mr Ambrose fully accept me, and the day after tomorrow I would challenge British chauvinism and demonstrate for women’s suffrage with my friends at the chauvinists’ convention in Hyde Park. I had a lot of obstacles in my way, but none of them were going to stop me! Least of all a certain detestable, handsome, rich businessman!
*~*~**~*~*
Taking a deep breath, I walked down the hallway. In passing, I nodded to Mr Stone.
‘Good morning, Mr Stone.
He smiled and nodded back at me.
‘Good morning, Mr Linton.’
For a moment I hesitated, wondering whether I should enter my own office, not that of Mr Ambrose. His words rang through my mind again: I shall simply have to find another method to… persuade you.
No matter how morbidly curious a part of me might be, I didn’t want to find out what that meant. I wasn’t suicidal.
Don’t be a chicken, Lilly! You know it’s far better to face his next attack head-on. If you don’t come directly into his office, he’s bound to see it as another attempt at time-wasting.
So I squared my shoulders, marched past Mr Stone’s desk and pushed open the door to Mr Ambrose’s office, ready for whatever might await me.
‘Ah, Mr Linton, there you are! How nice to see you! Come in, come in and make yourself comfortable.’
I was just over the threshold when the words and the scene before me registered, and I stopped in my tracks.
I had been wrong. I had not been ready for whatever awaited me. I certainly wasn’t ready for a Mr Rikkard Ambrose standing in front of me with a broad smile on his outrageously handsome face.
The Importance of Being Nice
‘Please, Mr Linton.’ That broad smile still on his face, Mr Ambrose gestured for me to come in. ‘Please don't just stand there. Close the door behind you and sit down, please.’
A smile.
He had a smile on his face.
Rikkard Ambrose had a smile on his face. And he had said please! I tried to remember whether he had ever said please to me before, and I couldn’t recall a single instance. And now he had said it three times in a row.
Maybe I was still asleep. Maybe this was a dream and I would wake up soon.
‘Won’t you sit down, please?’ He repeated, still displaying that dazzling smile.
Don’t be a fool, Lilly! A tiger smiles too - but that’s no reason to sit down next to it!
But Mr Ambrose’s smile… It transformed his whole face. Where previously there had only been harshness, there now was splendour and magnificence. It nearly took my breath away. If I had thought he was handsome before, that was nothing compared to the sight that was now in front of me.
He gestured to a chair, again inviting me to sit.
Don’t! Don’t do it!
I was about to take a step back - when Mr Ambrose stepped towards me and, looking deep into my eyes, took my hand. At the feel of his touch, a shock shot up my arm. His touch wasn’t harsh as I had expected, nor was it gentle. It was just right. My hand lay in his as if it had been made to be there.