Mr. Alcott? Sir?”
Samuel looked up from his desk to find the head teller standing before him. “Yes, Mr. Taylor?”
Taylor asked him a banking question, and Samuel managed an answer. Not that the question was very difficult, but moving his thoughts from Nusa and the foundling home to banking took some effort.
He could not get the children off his mind.
Or Ada.
Or how the one could ever be connected to the other.
Ada was the woman he was going to marry. She was beautiful, talented, and kind, but was from a class far removed from Nusa’s world. She’d offered to accompany him to Five Points, yet the thought of her in such an awful place made him cringe. Ada was innocent of such horrors. She worked with the other ladies of their set making items to sell in philanthropic fund-raising, but that was far different from walking the streets among rats who raced between piles of debris, or smelling the stench of garbage and worse, or seeing—and being seen by—rough men who would not treat her in the way she deserved.
He’d bowed out of their trip to the museum, and to Ada’s credit she had not complained. So tonight he would make it up to her. He’d take her to a romantic dinner at Delmonico’s. And if everything went as planned, perhaps on Christmas Day he would get down on one knee and propose to her. In fact, he hoped to go shopping at Tiffany’s in the next week or so and buy an engagement ring. He’d been saving for months in order to have enough money for a ring that would show her exactly how much he loved her. Although his grandfather was wealthy, Samuel relied on wages and a monthly allowance. He was due to inherit a fortune, but until then Grandfather wanted to “test his mettle,” which was fine with Samuel. He enjoyed the satisfaction of earning a living. It was how his grandfather and father had started out, so he was following in their footsteps.
But how much money did he have in his personal account?
Samuel took out his private ledger and looked at the bottom line. He had $212 saved for a ring. Surely that would be enough to buy Ada something beautiful.
He looked up when his grandfather came in his office, and he slid the ledger out of sight. “What can I do for you, Grandfather?”
The older man smiled—which was unlike him. Then he put a small red box on Samuel’s desk. “I have a gift for you, or rather a gift for you to pass along. It’s been in the safe here at the bank since your grandmother’s death and …” He pointed to the box. “Open it.”
Samuel opened the hinged box and saw a familiar topaz ring. “It’s Grandmother’s.”
“It’s her engagement ring. I thought you might want to give it to Ada. If you’d like. It’s just a thought.”
Samuel had never seen his grandfather so sentimental. And to give up his wife’s ring—this was monumental.
Samuel removed the ring from the velvet box. It was too small for even his pinky finger, and the gold filigree work around the smoky-colored stone was delicate. “Ada will love it, especially since it was Grandmother’s.”
“When are you planning to propose?”
Samuel started to say “Christmas” but suddenly felt an inner stirring that stopped him.
“Why the hesitation?” Grandfather asked. “He who hesitates is lost, Samuel. You know that.”
Samuel nodded. “I’ll propose soon.”
“Good. See that you do. Now … have you finished wading through the Morrison accounts?”
“Not yet.”
“Get to work, then.”
And he was gone.
Samuel sat looking at the ring, remembering it on his grandmother’s finger. How he wished she were here now to help him deal with his confusion over the pull he felt from the children, and the pull he felt from Ada. “What should I do?” he said aloud. “You always taught me to think of others first, and I want to help the children. But how? I work, I spend time with Ada…. How can I help one without slighting the other?”
He put the ring back in its box and set it on top of the ledger.
The ledger.
He opened it and saw the $212 he’d saved for a ring. Now he had a ring. Now he had $212 he could spend on something else.
Someone else.
A plan came to mind. Tonight he would talk to Ada about the money and the needs of the foundling home. Together they could come up with a way to spend it.
The children and Ada reconciled, Samuel got back to work.
Samuel took a bite of his squab and smiled. “You look ravishing tonight, my love.”
Ada felt ravishing. Her apple-green and cream evening dress boasted a heavily embroidered front edged with soutache braid. The short sleeves and side panels of the dress were decorated with rows of tasseled loops of Venetian pearl beads. She wore a rose and white aigrette of ostrich feathers in her hair and carried a matching feather fan. Her neck was adorned with the string of pearls her parents had given her for her coming-out three years ago.
She appreciated his compliment and looked around the restaurant. “I’m glad you got us a table away from the main dining room. I miss having time alone with you.”
“And I with you. And since we are alone, I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”
Ada’s heart added an extra beat. Was he going to propose? The setting was romantic; the evening was going well. Was the moment she’d been waiting for about to become a reality? She set her fork down, wanting her hands to be free when he knelt beside her and placed a ring on her finger.
She managed to keep her voice even. “What would you like to discuss?”
But instead of pushing his chair back and kneeling before her, he simply moved his plate forward and leaned his forearms on the table. “This afternoon I had some unexpected money come my way, and since it’s the Christmas season, I would like to use it to buy the children at the foundling home some presents. And Miss Hathaway mentioned that her stove was finicky, and it did look to be on its last legs. So I would like—”
Unwittingly Ada put a hand to her chest and gasped.
“Ada? Are you all right?”
All her wishes, dreams, and expectations rushed forward like waves upon a shore, only to pull back, leaving nothing in their wake.
He reached his hand across the table. “Ada, you’re worrying me.”
It’s your own fault, Ada. Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you create amazing romantic scenarios that can never be fulfilled?
She let her hand find its companion in her lap. She gripped them together, hoping to calm herself. “I’m sorry. You mentioned buying a stove?”
He sat back and studied her a moment. “And presents for the children. I thought we could go shopping together and bring them to the foundling home as a couple.”
She reined in her disappointment and managed a smile. “That sounds wonderful, Samuel. I’d be happy to help.”
She said the words. If only she fully meant them.
Obviously being kind and good was harder work than she thought.
Ada checked on Nana before she went to bed. When she saw her grandmother was sleeping, she started to close the door, but Nana called after her.
“Come back, child. I’m awake. I want to hear about your evening.”
In the time it took to walk from the bedroom door to Nana’s bedside, Ada decided not to mention her dashed hopes for a proposal. She didn’t want her grandmother to think she was one of those desperate girls who weren’t content until they had a ring on their finger.
“Turn up the lamp,” Nana said. “I want to see you better.”
Ada did as she was told, then perched on the edge of the bed.
“You look beautiful, child. Stunning and … and sad. What happened?”
Ada let loose an exasperated sigh. “How do you do that? How do you always see what I really feel?”
Nana patted Ada’s hand. “Because I love you so much.” She pointed to the water carafe on the bedside table. “My throat is sore. Pour me some water; then tell me what happened.”
Ada poured the water, then moved to the bedside chair and told Nana everything: her hopes and expectations, and the reality of Samuel’s commitment to the foundling home. “I’m very willing to choose presents with him, even go there to distribute them, for I’d love to check on Nusa. But it was a disappointment.”
“I thought you said you expected a proposal at Christmas.”
“I did, but when he arranged this romantic dinner for two, I just thought—”
“You thought like a woman, like a girl. Do yourself a favor and stop trying to orchestrate events to fit your imagination. Do you truly believe Samuel will propose?”
“Yes.”
“Then embrace that certainty and let it happen when it’s going to happen.”
“You’re right, Nana. I know you’re right.”
“Of course I am.” Nana leaned her head back, deeper in the pillows. She closed her eyes.
She was flushed and perspiring.
Ada rose and put a hand to her forehead. “Nana, you’re on fire.
You have a fever.”
“I’m not feeling very good right now, but it will pass.”
Ada wasn’t going to risk it. She ran to get her brother, the doctor.