Samuel walked up the plush carpeted steps of Pennington’s grand staircase, and into the ladies’ department, hoping to find Amelia. Yesterday, he’d been told by the head of the department that Amelia was off work because she wasn’t well and now he was cursing the fact that he’d never been to her home or even asked her address.
If she wasn’t back at work today, his worry for her was going to explode. Her work ethic was second to none which meant she had to be suffering badly.
‘Excuse me? Mrs Woolden?’ He approached the same woman he’d spoken to the day before.
‘Oh, hello again.’ She smiled, lifting her hands from the gloves she was inspecting. ‘Are you looking for Miss Wakefield?’
‘I am. Do you know if she is back at work today?’
‘I’m afraid not, Mr…?’
‘Murphy.’ He touched his hat. ‘Mr Samuel Murphy.’
‘And you are a relation of Miss Wakefield’s? A friend?’
He smiled. ‘A friend.’
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she appraised him. ‘Hmm, well, I suggest you seek out Miss Pennington if you’d like to know more about Miss Wakefield’s whereabouts.’ She shook her head. ‘No, that won’t do. Why don’t you go to the jewellery department and speak to Miss Kennedy? I believe they share lodgings together and she is more likely to know how Miss Wakefield is feeling.’
‘I’ll do that. Thank you.’ He touched his hat again and flashed what he hoped was an amiable smile that didn’t reveal his need to make haste downstairs. ‘You have a wonderful day.’
He strolled from the department but, once he was out of sight of Mrs Woolden, shouldered his way through the crowds of shoppers and back downstairs. The jewellery department was so brightly lit with brooches, necklaces and earrings glinting and shining, that Samuel found it immediately.
He smoothed his hand over his jacket and tried to remain calm. Something was wrong with Amelia. Something serious, and he had to see her. Today. But would a friend of hers just tell him where Amelia lived? He very much doubted it.
He cleared his throat and approached the girl behind the counter. ‘Excuse me. Might you point me in the direction of Miss Kennedy?’
‘I’m Miss Kennedy, sir.’ She smiled, her blue eyes friendly. ‘How can I help you?’
‘I believe you live with Amelia Wakefield, is that right?’
The girl’s demeanour immediately changed, her gaze darkening with caution. ‘Can I ask who’s asking, sir?’
He held out his hand. ‘Samuel Murphy. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’
Her eyes widened and then she grinned. ‘You’re him? The man who saved Amelia and hundreds of others from drowning. Oh, my goodness, it’s so nice to meet you.’
Samuel breathed a sigh of relief, a rare heat warming his cheeks. ‘I wouldn’t say I saved hundreds although I wish I had.’
She gave a dismissive wave. ‘From what Amelia has told me about you, you deserve a medal. Are you wondering why she isn’t at work?’
‘Yes, I’m worried about her. I was here looking for her yesterday, too.’
‘She isn’t well at all, Mr Murphy. In fact, she hasn’t come out of her bedroom for almost two days. Barely touched the food our landlady left outside her door.’
Dread squeezed hard at Samuel’s chest. ‘If you give me your address, I’ll see if I can persuade her to see me. Something must have happened. I can’t imagine she’d miss coming to work over a cold or such like.’
‘Me neither.’ She frowned. ‘And I told her as much through her door this morning, even if she did make it pretty clear she didn’t want me bothering her. Here.’ She took a pen and paper from beneath the counter and scribbled down the address. ‘Take this. Good luck, Mr Murphy.’
Once he’d left Pennington’s, Samuel broke into a jog and made his way across town to Amelia’s lodgings.
Straightening the lapels on his jacket, he removed his hat and knocked on the front door, concern sitting uncomfortably in his gut.
Footsteps sounded behind the door and then it was pulled open by an older woman wearing an outside coat, her purse beneath her arm. ‘Yes?’
‘Good afternoon, madam. I am a good friend of Miss Wakefield and wonder if I might give her these.’ Samuel held up the bunch of roses he’d bought from a stall in town. ‘I understand she isn’t well and I’m hoping these will cheer her up.’
She stepped back and smiled. ‘I’m guessing you’re Mr Murphy?’
Pleased that Amelia had clearly spoken openly about their relationship, Samuel smiled and entered the house. ‘I am.’
‘Well, why don’t you go upstairs and see if you can rouse her to open the door. You’ll have better luck than me, I can tell you. Her bedroom is the second on the left.’ She looked at him, her eyes flashing with warning. ‘I’m going to trust you enough to leave you alone with her, Mr Murphy. I have some errands to run. I’m only breaking the rules because I know what you did on that ship. Don’t disappoint me.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
She nodded and walked along the short pathway into the street.
Slowly closing the door, Samuel looked up the narrow staircase, took a deep breath and started up the stairs. He hesitated outside Amelia’s door, uncertain how welcome he’d be when she was in bed. He knocked.
‘I’m quite all right, Mrs Cambridge. If I need anything, I’ll come down.’
‘Amelia? It’s Samuel.’
‘You need to leave,’ she said. ‘You shouldn’t be here.’
‘Of course I should, I love you. Open the door, Amelia. Please.’
A few silent seconds passed before the lock clicked and she pulled open the door.
Shock reverberated through Samuel’s entire body. In just three short days since he’d seen her, she seemed to have lost weight. Her skin was pale and her eyes too wide in her beautiful face.
‘What happened?’ He stepped into the room and took her in his arms, tucking her head into his neck and kissing the top of her head. ‘Are you sick?’ He held her at arm’s length and looked deep in her eyes. It wasn’t sickness he saw, but fear. ‘Amelia? What is it? Did someone hurt you?’
She eased from his arms, walked back to bed and slid under the covers, sitting up against the headboard. ‘You need to go.’
He placed the roses on a chest of drawers and sat down on the side of the bed. ‘Talk to me. Tell me what happened. Please.’
‘I don’t think I can.’ She squeezed her eyes shut. ‘I thought it would be easy enough to tell you we can’t be together when I next saw you, but now you’re here…’
‘What do you mean we can’t be together? I love you and you love me.’ His heart stuttered painfully. ‘Don’t you?’
Tears glistened in her eyes as she nodded.
‘Then…’ He took her hand and lifted it to his lips, pressed a kiss to her knuckles. ‘Let me help you. Has someone upset you at Pennington’s? Somewhere else?’
She ran her gaze over his face, her brown eyes sad and desolate. ‘Oh, Samuel. Promise me you won’t do anything.’
Caution wound a tight knot in his stomach as he struggled to not clench his fists. ‘Tell me, Amelia. Everything will be all right. I promise.’
She exhaled shakily. ‘Mr Evans grabbed me on the way home from Pennington’s on Tuesday night. He… pushed me into a shop doorway.’
Anger ignited and hummed through Samuel’s blood. He tightened his grip on her fingers and she pulled away. ‘Don’t be angry. It will do no good.’
He stood and pushed his hand into his hair, his body trembling. ‘He works at Pennington’s?’
‘Yes, but—’
‘I’ll bloody kill him.’ He snatched his hat from the chest of drawers. ‘I’ll bloody kill him.’
‘Samuel, please, listen to me.’
He stared at her, his love for her making his heart ache and his anger rise to a murderous level.
‘Don’t you see?’ She shook her head, her fingers tightly clenching the edge of the eiderdown. ‘This is the way it is for me. Men look at me and see something… I don’t know what they see, but they attack. Not you, of course, but others. I don’t want to be a victim, Samuel. Not anymore, but I just can’t go back into Pennington’s right now.’
‘You don’t need to go back.’ He shook his head. ‘We’re going to New York. You’ll be with me and I’ll keep you safe.’
‘I’m not coming.’
He stilled. ‘What?’
Her eyes glinted with unshed tears. ‘I’m not coming. You need to go without me. Build a life where you have a woman beside you who doesn’t invite trouble, who attracts beasts and violence. Please, Samuel, can’t you see who I really am? I’m just something to be used and discarded. You won’t want to be with me in time and as much as I can’t bear the thought of not being with you, it’s better we separate now than later.’
He slowly put his hat on the dresser, his mind scrambling for the words to make her understand, make her see how beautiful and mesmerising she was. Walking to the bed, he sat down next to her and took her hand. ‘You’re beautiful. You have eyes like melted chocolate that light up when you smile and laugh. Your figure must be the envy of a thousand women, but you seem unaware of it.’
‘Samuel, please.’
‘You are unassuming, kind and warm. But the men you’re talking about don’t value those things, Amelia. It’s the power they want. They use violence because they are too inept, too weak, to spend the time and care they should in the hope a woman might want to be with them. Their failings are not your fault. They are no woman’s fault. It’s these animals who need to change, to alter their actions and thoughts, not you. I love you. I want to marry you. Please, come to New York with me. Let’s get away from here and start again. Just me and you. Always.’
Her gaze travelled back and forth over his face to linger at his lips before she met his eyes. A flash of determination darkened them, colour seeping into her cheeks.
‘Do you really believe it is nothing I have done or am doing, that makes me look as though I want male attention?’
He cupped her cheek and looked hard into her eyes. ‘You have never done anything wrong, do you hear me? And neither has any other woman who has been attacked or assaulted. I love you with all my heart. So much so, I will stay here, in Bath, if that’s what you want.’
A tear rolled over her cheek as she softly smiled. ‘I don’t want that. I want you… and New York.’
Relief flooded through him and Samuel leaned forward, pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. ‘I’m glad.’
She pulled back and threw back the covers, her gaze full of love and trust. ‘Make love to me, Samuel. Let me feel our love. Please.’