Love Engineered (3 page)

Ashton, his partner, had approached him immediately after he had escaped her questions. “What did Miss Thomas have to say to you?” he said in an excited voice.

“Miss Thomas?”

“Yes.” Ashton raised his eyebrows in surprise and indicated to her. “That is the famous Miss Thomas.”

“Famous Miss Thomas? I really had no idea.” Charles said in a nonchalant voice. He vaguely recalled the name.

“Don't give me that Charles. You must have heard of her – everyone in the engineering field has.” He paused a moment, then said in a panicked voice, “I hope you were not rude to her? I was rather hoping this year we would be invited to her annual Engineers' Dinner. The invitations haven't been sent out yet.”

So that is where he had heard the name before. Charles took a step back and regarded his partner, his face incredulous.

“Of course I wasn't rude to her. I was pleasantness itself. But I do not think you should expect to be invited if you have never even spoken to her.”

Ashton relaxed. “Yes, exactly. I know how you generally dislike the gentry, but on this occasion you must not let it manifest itself in your behaviour to her, of all people.”

“I only dislike them because they get in the way of my work. They look down on me and those like me. I have met too many who have tried to stop progress because they are scared of change and don't like the lower classes earning an honest living.” Charles shifted about then continued, “I will never forget how Mr Rustling and his cronies tried to call a halt to so many of my replacement railway bridges. And for what reason? Nothing else than to cause trouble because they had nothing better to do with their time. They are all the same.”

Ashton rolled his eyes. “You must try and stop thinking about Mr Rustling, it will only make you irritable for the rest of the day. But Miss Thomas is very beautiful, is she not?” he said, his voice suddenly soft. “I'd been told by many that she was lovely, but I never believed it was true. I just thought people exaggerated it due to her wealth.”

Charles relaxed his shoulders and noticed how Ashton's dark eyes scanned Miss Thomas. She was certainly the sort of woman a man's eyes were naturally drawn to. “Yes, I suppose she is uncommonly pleasing to look at.” She was moderately tall, and with dark hair the colour of jet. His eyes were drawn to her figure, which curved in the right places. There was nothing wanting in her appearance.

“Uncommonly pleasing to look at!” Ashton had scoffed. “You really must learn how to appreciate the female form Charles.”

“I assure you I'm quite capable of doing that,” he responded.

His mind wandered back to the present, and Mr Bagshawe's steady, condescending voice at the lecture. Occasionally, his glance would fall upon Miss Thomas, and as time wore on, he became more absorbed in watching her reaction to what Mr Bagshawe said. He noticed she wrote things in her notebook, and sometimes, from what he could see of her face, for he was slightly to the left of her, her brow would contract in a frown. Several times he saw her shake her head and mutter, then sigh heavily. He glanced at his sister. Jane noticed none of it. If she was bored, she showed no sign, her blue eyes fixed on the speaker at the front.

When Mr Bagshawe finished speaking, the floor was opened for questions, and Charles immediately waited for Miss Thomas to ask her question first, in the same way as yesterday. She was beaten to it by a gentleman near the back. One corner of his mouth was pulled into a slight smile as he saw frustration etched on her face.

Then at last there was silence after the question was answered. He watched and waited as she put up her hand.

“Mr Bagshawe, all you have done this afternoon is talk about your career and those who have opposed you in your plans to build the sewer system. Why have you not explained the sewer design fully?” she asked in a crisp voice.

Mr Bagshawe's jaw dropped, his face went red and he spluttered, “I'm sorry madam, I do not have the time left to explain the design.”

“Clearly, because you couldn't stop talking about yourself!” She crossed her arms.

There was a deathly hush throughout the place.

Mr Bagshawe pulled at the bottom of his waistcoat and his abundant mustache twitched. “The plans are available at the central library, and they are too complicated for most to understand.” He dismissed her with a wave of his arm.

“I'm sure most of the people present, including myself, will take great offence at that remark. And if we wanted to know about your career and those who oppose you, we could have read it in the Times! You seem to like to print a letter complaining about them every week.”

“Madam please! I have never heard such insolence. I came here out of the goodness of my heart, not to put up with such audacity.”

“Well I for one would rather you had stayed at home, for you have wasted my time. I may as well have asked a beggar in the street outside to explain the sewer system for all I have learned today.”

With that, Mr Bagshawe became bright red, and shook a little. He refrained from speaking further and they stared at each other for a long moment. Then a gentleman standing at the side stepped forward and coughed to bring everyone to attention. “The Institution of Civil Engineers would like to thank Mr Bagshawe for coming today and speaking.” He began to clap and the sound of faint applause from came from one or two others in the audience, then stopped.

Charles turned to his sister. “Jane, what do you think of that? I have never seen anyone look so angry, it took all the self will I could muster not to laugh at him.”

“It was a shame they had to have such a public argument, but I feel that the lady was right, I was so bored halfway through I had to stop myself from yawning aloud. He does seem to be full of his own self-importance.”

Charles agreed. “He is well known in engineering circles to be arrogant. Do you see now why I'm glad I wasn't his apprentice?”

Jane placed a reassuring hand on her brother’s arm. “You had a lucky escape indeed.”

They drifted out of the hall among the throng of people, and outside saw Miss Thomas waiting for her carriage. A moment later, they were joined by Ashton.

“I didn't realise you were here,” Charles commented to his partner. “How did you enjoy the lecture?”

“I wasn't in the lecture. I came for one reason, and one reason only.” He turned to look in front and pointed. “I thought Miss Thomas would be here, and I was right. Charles, go and speak to her and I will approach shortly afterwards. You can introduce us.” Ashton adjusted his cravat and smoothed his hand over his brown hair.

Charles's eyes widened in disbelief. “I will do no such thing.”

Ashton sighed. “Charles, you're not thinking. Sometimes I need you to help me advance our contacts. Miss Thomas will be a very advantageous acquaintance to have. Please do as I ask.”

The stared at each other for a few moments, until Charles dropped his shoulders and relented.

“Very well, for the partnership I will do it.”

“Good. Now quickly, before she is gone.” Ashton shooed him away and he walked over to Miss Thomas before he changed his mind. He presented himself with a small bow.

“I hope you do not mind my impertinence at approaching you, but I wished to say that you were kinder to me yesterday than you were to Mr Bagshawe a moment ago,” he said, smiling a little. He watched her reaction, hoping for a positive response and noticed she faltered for a moment.

“I'm sorry to have said things in the heat of the moment,” she commented in a serious voice. “I do not like having my time wasted by such arrogance and conceit.”

“Mr Bagshawe is well known for those attributes.”

“Yes, I have heard. But all I know is that he didn't deserve to speak today. I was disappointed. Out of the three, yours was the only lecture worth attending.”

“Thank you,” he replied in a sincere tone, and was secretly pleased.

She stared at him for a moment as though taking in his features and it unnerved him a little. Her gaze was confident and easy, her eyes clear and expressive. He wondered what to say next, and cursed Ashton for insisting he do this. He was never one for idle chit-chat, especially with people he didn't know.

Especially with a woman.

He glanced over to Ashton and his sister, but they were deep in conversation and he couldn't get their attention.

He was relieved when Miss Thomas spoke. “I was sorry we were interrupted from speaking yesterday after the lecture,” she said.

“You were?” He tried to disguise the surprise in his voice.

“I still have many questions to ask about the bridge design.”

“Ah.” He nodded, and noticed she looked at him with anticipation.

“Then I hope you will have the opportunity to ask me more shortly. In the meantime, allow me to introduce my sister, Miss Jane Lucas, and my partner, Mr Ashton.” He indicated to where the pair were standing, and they moved over to them.

The introductions were made and Jane greeted Miss Thomas with openness, but any conversation between them was thwarted by Ashton, who interrupted straight away. He took Miss Thomas's hand and refused to let it go.

“May I take this opportunity, Miss Thomas, of saying what a pleasure it is to meet you. I have been looking for a chance to make your acquaintance for a long time.” Charles rolled his eyes at Ashton's sudden politeness and courtesy. The usually rough and plain-speaking man was clearly trying to impress. Charles hoped he wouldn’t babble too much.

“You have?” Miss Thomas pulled her hand away from Ashton's hard grasp.

“Of course. The name of Thomas is well known and respected amongst the engineering world,” he said through a grin.

Charles let his mind drift as he heard Ashton's words rattle on. Miss Thomas was polite and gave the appearance of being pleased and interested in what Ashton said. He suspected she was hiding her true feelings. Eventually, when Ashton paused for breath, Miss Thomas turned to Jane.

“Miss Lucas, I'm pleased to meet you. Did you attend the lecture today with your brother?”

Jane squared her petite shoulders as she was suddenly the centre of attention. “Yes, and I thought you were right in everything you said to Mr Bagshawe. I took an instant dislike to him.”

They continued to talk of the lecture and then of London. After five minutes of conversation, it was clear to all of them that the two ladies had taken an instant liking to each other.

“Are you attending the final lecture tomorrow?” Jane asked her. “I promised Charles I would sit with him, but after today I think I may try and avoid it.”

A glint of humour crossed Charles's face, it was so typical of Jane. “She makes it sound like I forced her to come, but it was her idea.”

“I do intend to come to the lecture tomorrow,” Miss Thomas said, amused at brother and sister. “But if you can spare your sister afterwards, Mr Lucas, would you allow her to come to tea?”

“Of course,” he replied and tried to ignore the look of glee on Ashton's face.

“That is most gracious of you. Thank you,” Jane replied. “My mother will be more than happy for me to call.”

“Your mother? She must come too,” Miss Thomas said, the tone of her voice implying that she wouldn't take no for an answer.

Miss Thomas's carriage pulled up and Charles watched as Ashton eagerly took the role of helping her safely into her carriage; he bowed deeply over her hand as they bid farewell.

They stood and watched the carriage pull away. Ashton mumbled to Charles, “Maybe the best route to that acquaintance is through your sister. You'd better nurture it as much as you can.”

“You ask too much. How can I cultivate such a thing? Friendships between women are a mystery to me. You had better leave me to my bridge.”

He was about to walk away when Ashton put a restraining hand on his arm. “Do what you can.” Then he added, “For the partnership, and an invitation to the Engineers’ Dinner. We must cultivate our connections, especially now your reputation is growing.”

“Very well. But try and give me more warning next time you want me to make a fool of myself.”

. . .

Jane and her mother arrived on time the next day. From the first floor window Louise watched them as they alighted from the carriage and she ran down the stairs to prepare herself to greet them. When they entered they couldn't have guessed at her previous exertion.

Louise was eager to impress them because they were Mr Lucas's relatives. She had been surprised but pleased when Mr Lucas had approached and spoken to her yesterday. No, not totally surprised; he had introduced his partner who was clearly the reason behind him speaking to her. She couldn't be annoyed at Mr Lucas for his so obvious introduction and for some reason she felt she could forgive him a great many things and she wasn't sure why. One thing was certain, she had taken an instant liking to Jane Lucas. She envied her having such a brother, and one so talented in his field.

Louise's house was by no means small, though not the largest in the vicinity. Like so many town houses, it was terraced, with six marbled steps leading to a covered porch-way supported by four pillars. Inside there was a library, which Louise added to frequently. The dining room was small compared to Glazebrook's, but the walnut table was crafted with such care, it suited the room perfectly. The bedchambers numbered only five but were large enough to be comfortable. During any stay in London she occupied one of the smaller rooms at the back of the house away from the noise of the street.

The ladies were shown into the drawing room, where Louise waited in anticipation.

“Miss Lucas, I'm very pleased to see you again,” she said the moment Jane entered.

“And I you,” she replied. “This is my mother.”

Mrs Lucas curtsied and Louise was surprised at how small she was. Despite her stature, she seemed to dominate the room. She didn't look much older than fifty and although her hair was grey, her eyes were bright blue.

“This drawing room is delightful!” Mrs Lucas seated herself next to Louise on the sofa.

“Thank you,” said Louise. “Though I cannot take praise for a room I didn't decorate or furnish.”

“Who was it?”