Women and Children First (40 page)

As soon as Juliette woke the next day, she rang and asked a steward to enquire at the front desk whether a message had been left for her. When the reply came back that there was none, her spirits hit rock bottom.

‘I’ll be leaving the hotel this morning,’ she told him. ‘Please organise an automobile and driver to take me to Saratoga Springs.’

She hobbled into the bathroom clutching her lower back, which ached from sleeping in an uncomfortable position. In the mirror, she saw purply-grey shadows beneath red-rimmed eyes. She had fallen asleep without pinning her hair into curls and it hung in limp, wayward strands. There was a stale taste in her mouth so she polished her teeth then splashed her face with cold water and got dressed. She didn’t feel like eating but knew she had to for the sake of the baby, so she rang for some baked eggs and corn bread.

‘I’m afraid we can’t get a driver for you until three this afternoon, ma’am,’ the steward told her when he brought the food. ‘Will that suffice?’

‘It will have to,’ she said. That meant it would be after dark when she got back to their cottage. Her mother would be going out of her mind with worry, so she scribbled a telegram, which merely read ‘Back later this evening [stop] Juliette’ and gave it to the steward, along with a tip.

Where are you, Robert?
she kept asking in her head.
How could you do this to me? Were you really so easily distracted?

Suffragettes had succeeded in getting women the vote in New Zealand, Australia and Sweden. Maybe Britain would follow suit one day. But women would never be equal when it came to affairs of the heart. Men held all the cards. They decided whom to marry and when. If they chose to have an affair or even get divorced, society might label them a rogue but they would still be invited to dinners and house parties. She, on the other hand, would have ruined her chances of making a good match. She might be able to hide an illegitimate child given up for adoption, but she doubted that she would be able to hide a divorce. Word would follow her back to England, and she would live her life a lonely spinster relying on her brother’s goodwill for a roof over her head and food on the table.

Juliette couldn’t bear to sit cooped up in that hotel room a moment longer, but it was only eleven and her driver wasn’t due for another four hours. She decided to go for a walk in Central Park to pass the time. If she met someone who recognised her and her pregnancy was revealed, so be it.

She tucked her hair under her hat and buttoned her boots, then walked down the stairs and crossed the road outside the hotel. The weather was cool and fresh after the storm, and sunlight rippled through the leaves, forming dimpled patterns on the path. She wanted to walk and walk and keep walking. It was her first taste of freedom in months. She’d been trapped within the suffocating heat of the cottage since early June, and before that she hadn’t gone anywhere in New York without Robert by her side. It felt good to stretch her muscles and fill her lungs with fresh air. She was slightly nervous to be alone in a strange city, but reckoned that if she stuck to a main path she should be safe. She could simply turn and come back the same way so she didn’t risk getting lost.

After a while, she came upon a beautiful fountain with tiers like a wedding cake. There was a statue of an angel resplendent on top with four cherubs huddled beneath, and the water cascaded over the tiers and splashed into a pool below. She sat for a while to admire the effect, and remained there resting on a bench until she began to feel thirsty. She remembered passing close to the café where Robert had bought her some rainbow sandwiches, so got up and headed back in that direction.

As Juliette entered the café, she was aware of a young man sitting with his head bent over a letter but it wasn’t until she sat down and looked closely that she realised she knew him.

‘Reg!’ she exclaimed. ‘It’s you, isn’t it? How are you?’

He looked alarmed, and quickly folded the letter he’d been holding. ‘Excuse me, miss. I’m fine, thank you.’ She saw him noticing her belly. Her condition was instantly obvious.

‘I don’t suppose I could join you? I feel rather awkward sitting on my own.’

Reg leapt up to pull out a chair for her, embarrassed to be caught reading one of Mr Grayling’s letters. She was a genteel, titled lady. What would she think if she knew he was on the way to the police to report a murder?

‘I’m leaving the city in a couple of hours but I wanted to see the park first. It’s beautiful, isn’t it …’ Her voice tailed off as her attention was caught by the letter Reg had been reading. She recognised the signature straight away. ‘My God, that’s Venetia Hamilton’s signature, isn’t it? Why on
earth
would you have a letter from her?’

Reg coloured and pulled it towards him. Of course. He remembered they knew each other. So her first name was Venetia? Juliette was waiting for an answer. ‘She is living with Mr Grayling, and I’ve been working for him. Do you remember him from the
Titanic
? They’ve been having an affair.’

Juliette snorted. ‘But he’s twice her age. I suppose it must be his money. Venetia only likes men with loads of money. She has a history in England of making men fall in love with her then leaving them if she finds out they aren’t wealthy or generous enough.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Honestly, her reputation is atrocious – especially since she broke off her last engagement – so I imagine she decided to try America. It seems somewhat disrespectful to Mrs Grayling that she pounced on him so quickly after his wife’s death, but Venetia never did stand on ceremony.’ She glanced at the letter again, wondering why Reg would have it. ‘Are you delivering this for her?’

‘No.’ He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to upset her in her condition, but Juliette didn’t seem the hysterical type. She knew Venetia and might be able to shed more light on her behaviour. Reg decided to tell her about seeing her with Mr Grayling on the
Titanic
’s boat deck and then watching him help her into a lifeboat on the night of the sinking.

‘She was on the ship? But we never saw hide nor hair of her.’

‘I believe she stayed in her cabin. She told me she wasn’t in the mood for society.’

‘I bet she wasn’t! She had just jilted Lord Beaufort, left him standing at the altar, and no one on board would have given her the time of day.’

A waiter came by and Juliette ordered a glass of lemonade, then asked Reg how he came to be working for Mr Grayling.

He explained that, then described his shock that Mr Grayling didn’t appear to be mourning his wife’s death. He told her that Molly had tried to blackmail him over his affair with Miss Hamilton, and that the night before last, he had killed her and attempted to kill him as well. That’s how determined he was that the truth shouldn’t come out.

Juliette gasped and clapped her hand over her mouth.

‘I’m sorry to talk of such distressing matters, ma’am, but I’m still rather in shock about it.’ He described what had happened in the garage and then his escape from the automobile as it plunged to the ocean bed. ‘I’ve just been in his house collecting my belongings and I found the letters and this.’ He showed her the key. ‘It’s the key to their suite on the
Titanic
.’

‘Why would he have the key with him?’ Juliette asked, wide-eyed. ‘Mother and I never used ours.’

‘My theory is that he killed his wife and left her in their suite when the ship sank. She was never seen in a lifeboat. It all makes sense. He wanted to be free to marry his mistress but she refused to give him a divorce, so he hatched a plan to kill her on the
Titanic
and throw her overboard. The sinking of the ship made it easy for him. He just locked her body in their suite and left her there.’

‘But that’s simply awful! How could he? I didn’t know her well but my mother said Margaret Grayling was a charming woman. Still, Venetia Hamilton does seem to have a knack for turning men’s heads.’
They can be so weak,
she thought bitterly.
How can men be so easily fooled by external appearances?

Juliette’s lemonade arrived but she no longer felt like drinking it. ‘I still can’t believe we sat and conversed at dinner with a murderer!’ she exclaimed. ‘You’ve had a narrow escape, Reg. Will you take this evidence to the police?’

‘That’s what I’m planning to do next. I sat down to get things straight in my head, because Mr Grayling is a distinguished gentleman and I fear they may be more likely to take his word than mine.’

‘I would be happy to write you a character reference,’ Juliette offered. ‘Let me give you our address.’ She took a notebook and pencil from her bag and wrote out the address in Saratoga Springs. ‘Please let me know what happens. It’s a shocking story.’

Reg still felt very anxious at the thought of going to the police, but the fact that one person believed him was reassuring.

He offered to pay the bill for their drinks but Juliette wouldn’t let him. ‘Please, allow me. You’ll need your money for whatever you decide to do next. Perhaps you would be so good as to escort me back to the Plaza Hotel?’

They chatted as they walked. Reg plucked up the courage to ask when the baby was due, and she waved her hand and said, ‘Oh, not for ages yet.’ Then she asked: ‘What are your plans? Will you stay in New York?’

‘I don’t know,’ Reg said. ‘I’ve been feeling homesick, but the thought of the voyage is daunting.’ He fingered the St Christopher in his pocket. ‘And I don’t think I have much to go back to.’

‘Yes, I’m dreading crossing the ocean again. How strange it will be.’

When they reached the hotel entrance, he walked her up the steps, past the footmen and into the plush reception hall. Robert Graham was sitting with his eyes glued to the door and as soon as they walked in he jumped to his feet and rushed across the room to throw his arms around Juliette, who looked rather stunned.

Reg stood for a moment or two, feeling awkward. They were locked in their embrace and she seemed to have forgotten he was there, so he took a step backwards then melted out of the door and back into the street.

Juliette didn’t have time to be nervous as Robert dashed up to her and swept her into his arms.

‘Darling, what’s happened? Are you all right?’ he asked. Feeling the bump between them, he looked down. There was a moment when she watched the truth sink in, then he exclaimed, ‘Oh, my love, is it really possible? But that’s marvellous news!’ He kissed her on the lips, oblivious to the hotel guests and staff milling around. ‘I’ve always wanted to be a father, but I never dreamed it would happen so soon. Thank you. Thank you with all my heart.’

Juliette was dazed. How could he believe that their one night of passion two months ago could have made her so massively pregnant? This wasn’t the place to tell him otherwise, though. Minutes before she had believed that their relationship was over, and now this … It was hard to take in.

‘Where have you been?’ she asked. ‘I’d quite given up hope of seeing you, and have a car booked to take me back to Saratoga Springs at three.’

‘Didn’t you receive my message? I was in California, trying to find premises for some new branches of the air conditioner company. I rushed back on the very next train when I heard you were here, but I asked my butler to send a message telling you I wouldn’t arrive until today.’

‘I didn’t receive any message. I thought you weren’t coming.’ She was confused.

‘You didn’t? But that’s preposterous.’ Linking his arm through hers, he marched over to the reception desk. ‘Do you have any messages for Lady Juliette Mason-Parker?’

The clerk looked at his pile of messages and instantly pulled one out. ‘Yes, sir. Here’s one.’

‘And why didn’t you pass it on?’

Suddenly Juliette realised what had happened and tugged at his arm. ‘I checked in as Mrs Robert Graham. I wanted a double room in case you could join me.’ She clutched her forehead. ‘What an idiot!’

‘Goodness, no, I’m the one at fault!’ he exclaimed. ‘I should have guessed you might do that. Oh, poor you.’ He smiled tenderly. ‘What must you have thought?’

Juliette blushed, remembering how badly she had misjudged him, and he took her hands.

‘Might we not spend some time together now that I have dashed across an entire continent to see you? Must you really leave at three?’

‘Let’s cancel the driver and go up to my room,’ she suggested. ‘I think we need some time alone.’

As soon as the door closed behind them, Robert started kissing her and her entire body strained towards him. They moved sideways towards the bed, entwined in each other, lips on lips and legs wrapped around legs. All thoughts of actresses and annulments left Juliette’s head as she dissolved into passion. She couldn’t stop kissing, couldn’t stop touching him, and he was the same. There was no time to be self-conscious about the expanse of her belly, no time to worry whether lovemaking was safe in her condition, because of the urgent need to be joined together.

As they lay in each other’s arms afterwards, Juliette waited for him to comment on the advanced stage of her pregnancy, but instead he stroked her face and spoke with awed wonder about how marvellous it was to see her and how much he had missed her.

‘You didn’t mention what it was that brought you to town,’ he questioned. ‘Your note made me concerned that there was an emergency, but perhaps you came so that you could share your happy news with me in person?’

‘No,’ she replied. ‘You will think me foolish, but I came to ask you a question.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Who exactly is Amy Manford and what is she to you?’

‘My niece,’ he replied straight away. ‘Why?’

She stared at him, bemused. ‘The gossip column in the paper kept saying that you had been seen out at the races and having dinner with an attractive actress named Amy Manford … I wondered why you didn’t mention it. That’s all.’

He frowned. ‘I’m sure I told you that my niece, my older sister’s girl, was in town and I was showing her around. I had no idea that she wants to be an actress. It’s possible she has mentioned that ambition to her friends but I very much doubt my sister will allow it.’ Suddenly his mouth widened into a broad grin. ‘You were jealous, weren’t you? Admit it.’

‘Of course I was! Why didn’t you write to tell me the papers were wrong?’

Still grinning, he touched the end of her nose lightly with his finger. ‘I have never read one of those columns in my life and don’t intend to start. Perhaps they are taken more seriously back in England, but here they are viewed as pure fiction. Were you really upset by them?’

Juliette was embarrassed. ‘Well … a little.’

‘But at least it has meant we are together now. How are your relatives? Must you rush back today? Might I not claim you for a while longer?’

‘I think you might,’ she breathed. She lay back in his arms in a glow of perfect happiness. She had forgotten how safe she felt with him, how much she liked the smell of him, and how his touch stirred every cell of her body.

And then he ran his hand slowly over her belly, feeling its expanse, exploring its contours. Juliette tried to suck it inwards as much as she could, but it was so huge, there was no disguising it, and just at that moment the baby chose to kick. She felt his hand falter and when she looked up into his face, he was frowning. Now was the moment when she had to confess. She closed her eyes and tried to summon the courage. She couldn’t bear to lose him. But what chance would their marriage have if it were based on a lie?

Before she could speak, Robert rolled over and got out of bed. ‘Please excuse me, but I have some business I must attend to this afternoon,’ he said and started to pull on his clothes. He wasn’t looking in her direction and his tone was noticeably cool.

‘Shall I see you later?’ she asked.

‘Yes, of course. I’ll pick you up at six for dinner. The staff should be able to prepare something at the house. We don’t want to…’

He didn’t finish the sentence, but Juliette knew what he had been about to say. They couldn’t risk being seen in public.

When he came over to kiss her goodbye, she turned her mouth towards his but instead he pecked her forehead, briefly.

He’s guessed
, she thought, as he hurried out of the room and closed the door without looking back.
It’s over. If only I had been brave enough to tell him myself.

It wouldn’t have made any difference, though. How could any man accept another man’s child? What had she been thinking? She turned her face into the pillow, too distraught to cry.