Amelia sat forward on the settee in Elizabeth’s office and clasped her hands together. New York suddenly felt incredibly far away but, now she had returned to Pennington’s, she had no wish to be anywhere else but here. She hadn’t even gone home first but came straight to the store from the train station.
‘So…’ Elizabeth looked almost pained as she looked intensely at Amelia. ‘How are you feeling?’
Despite Amelia knowing it was inevitable her wellbeing would be the initial topic of conversation, the sinking and her state of mind about everything that had happened was too raw to discuss. Yet, how was she to avoid it forever?
She swallowed and forced a smile. ‘As well as I can be… I don’t suppose you’ve had news of Mr Weir?’
Deep in her heart, Amelia knew he had gone, but still, she purposefully held onto her hope that Mr Weir would be safe. Elizabeth’s silence confirmed he was dead.
‘Elizabeth?’
‘He’s dead, Amelia. I really can’t believe it.’ Elizabeth’s voice quivered. ‘I’ve spoken regularly with his family. They are understandably distraught but coping.’
Amelia stilled as sadness gripped her heart. ‘He was married?’
‘Yes, with two grown children. You can be forgiven for not knowing. Theoretically, he was married to Pennington’s. Mostly to my father, when he was here, then me. I fear that even when Mr Weir was home, his mind was at the store. We shall miss him. He was much changed from how he was when he worked for my father. More human, I suppose.’
Unsure what to say when she hadn’t really known Mr Weir very well at all before their trip, Amelia stood and walked to the side of the room where she’d left her bag. Reaching into one of the pockets, she extracted the watch Mr Weir had given her the last time she’d seen him.
Tears blurred her vision and she blinked them back, forcibly lifting her chin as she returned to Elizabeth in the seating area. ‘Here. His family should have this. Can you give it to them for me?’
‘His watch? He gave this to you?’
Amelia nodded. ‘And I gave him a comb from my hair. It… was as if he knew.’
‘Oh, Amelia.’
‘He was very kind to me when we sailed.’ Amelia managed a small smile. ‘Even if I suspect I stretched his nerves from time to time.’
Elizabeth placed the watch on the low table in front of them. ‘Oh?’
‘I was very insistent that I experience how things were in each of the class areas. Mr Weir seemed overly concerned that something might happen to me. I thought he had no reason to worry. Now I know I was wrong. If it hadn’t been for Samuel…’
‘Samuel?’
Amelia sighed as her heart filled with longing to see the man she’d fallen for. ‘He’s a seaman. He rowed me and many others to safety. Not to mention those he helped before we were ordered to leave.’
‘My goodness. He sounds the most marvellous of men.’
Amelia swallowed. ‘He is. Yes.’
‘Well, when you are ready, however long that might be, I want to hear everything and anything you wish to tell me. It’s important that you share as much as you can. The last thing you should do is keep the horror inside. That would be too much for anyone to bear and I don’t want you suffering any more than you already are.’
Not wanting to break a promise she could not keep, Amelia changed the subject. ‘Let me tell you more about what I learned in New York.’ She lifted her notebook from the table and handed it to Elizabeth. ‘Everything is in there, but my main feeling throughout my trip was that America is focused on creating an almost maniacal feverishness among its shoppers. The department stores want customers to shop without thinking, to grab what they want and forget about whether or not they really should buy that dress, that parasol, that brooch.’
‘Isn’t that a little boorish?’ Elizabeth frowned, her focus clearly back on work as she glanced over Amelia’s notes. ‘Don’t misunderstand me, I couldn’t abide the way my father wanted everything kept at arm’s length from the customers but, still, I don’t like the idea of people not thinking about their purchasing.’ She met Amelia’s gaze. ‘Wouldn’t such a way of shopping almost certainly result in returned items and refunds? Occasionally, that’s inevitable, but not considering how to avoid it from happening at all is not good business. No matter New York’s retail success.’
‘That’s just it, I didn’t see any evidence of regretful customers or purchases being returned. These customers were happy, Elizabeth. Almost heady with their pleasure and excitement. Pennington’s reputation could still be one of elegance and opportunity, but I think we need to adopt ways of building fun, too. I saw jugglers in RH Macy’s atrium and a brand new, top-of-the-range motorcar in the atrium of another store. People were agog with excitement.’ Amelia smiled, excitement growing inside of her. ‘Such things are meant to fuel people’s imaginations and encourage them to have a good time as well as shop. The atmosphere was addictive. Isn’t that what we want for Pennington’s, too? Customers who feel compelled to come back to the store time and time again?’
Elizabeth put Amelia’s notebook on the table in front of them, her green eyes amused. ‘You really do like this idea, don’t you?’
‘I do. After…’ Amelia sighed, sadness clouding her enthusiasm. ‘After all the suffering I witnessed during and after the sinking, I know the right thing to do is offer something that will help people grieving to get through this tragedy. Help the world to come to terms with such a devastating catastrophe. If Pennington’s can make people laugh and smile for just an hour or two of their day, is that so wrong? Neither you, me or Mr Carter can make people buy what they don’t want, but Pennington’s could be responsible for making people cast aside their worries and reservations, even for a while.’
Elizabeth nodded, her brow furrowed. ‘It’s certainly something to think about. Why don’t you leave your notes with me and I’ll speak to Mr Carter?’
‘Of course.’ Amelia stood. ‘I look forward to hearing his thoughts.’
‘Good. Now, please, get yourself home, you must be exhausted. The last thing I expected was to see you the day you returned.’
Amelia picked up her purse and coat. ‘I couldn’t wait. I suspected you and Mr Carter would want to see my notes and discuss my ideas, so I wanted you to have them as soon as possible.’
They walked to the door and Amelia left the executive floor to take the lift to the ground level. As she walked through the store, she breathed deep, absorbing Pennington’s and all it meant to her. Her time in New York had been exhilarating, but now she’d was back, and she’d seen Elizabeth, she wanted to stay. Stepping back inside Pennington’s had been like coming home.