Informed
“Well, tonight, if you can’t sleep, telephone me, and we’ll talk,” she said with a shrug.
A half grin pulled at one corner of his mouth. “Telephone you? In the middle of the night?”
“Why not?” she asked. “It’s not as if I have something I need to do tomorrow. No one cares if Meg West has important information about Titanic to share.” She had been lucky to escape the inquisition. None of the men running the interviews seemed to realize who she was at this point, and she wanted to leave it that way, though Mr. Ashton had informed her that her mother had sent him a telegraph a few days ago asking if he’d heard from Mary Margaret. He had yet to respond.
“You really wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all,” Meg assured him. “In fact, I’d say come over, but something tells me Jonathan would immediately awaken and appear in my apartment the moment your slippers hit my living room floor.”
He laughed, and Meg was glad to hear the sound. “I honestly don’t think Jonathan would care at all, if it weren’t for my mother.”
She nodded. “Yes, well, Mr. Lane seems to be of the opinion that you and I cannot be trusted to conduct ourselves as responsible upright youths.”
“Mr. Lane might be on to something,” Charlie admitted, and Meg realized his mouth was quite near to her own now. She took a deep breath and his lips were on hers. His hand slipped up to cup her chin, and he drew her to him. There was a screech of wooden chair legs on the floor, and Meg found herself on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck, her fingers in his hair. Charlie’s hands had slipped down to her waist, and just as she was hoping they might find their way elsewhere, the door slammed closed behind her, making them both jump.
“Well, I can’t say that I’m surprised that leaving the pair of you alone for dinner has had this result, but I am a bit disappointed.”
She turned to see Jonathan’s words didn’t match his amused expression. Meg climbed off of Charlie’s lap and straightened the light green dress she was wearing, one Carrie had gotten for her the week before. “Jonathan—you frightened me. Don’t you know we still can’t handle loud noises?” she asked, breathing hard, though she didn’t think the startle had much to do with that.
“I’m aware, Miss Westmoreland, and I apologize. Perhaps more discretion on your part next time won’t lead me to have to make such grand entrances.”
“Jonathan,” Charlie said, shaking his head, “just because you promised my mother you’d serve as chaperone doesn’t mean you have to be so overly… present.”
“Of course it does,” Jonathan disagreed. “I’ve made her a promise, and I intend to keep it. Otherwise, my reputation might suffer.”
“That’s all right,” Meg shrugged. “In my experience, reputations come and go at the drop of a dime.” She winked at him, hoping he’d catch her drift. She was certain all the high society papers in Southampton had her painted as quite the hussy.
He laughed. “I can’t just change my identity and go off to another country.”
“Of course you can,” Meg replied, turning to face Charlie who was now standing behind her. “It’s easy enough if you’ve a mind to.” She smiled at her fiancé, realizing that Jonathan was about to sweep her away. “Remember what I said.” She held his gaze, and he nodded, letting her know he understood she meant he truly could call her if need be. She hoped that he would.
“Jonathan, avert your eyes,” Charlie teased, and then he stepped forward to softly kiss her lips. “Have a good night, Meg. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She smiled at him and turned to see Jonathan’s eyebrows raised, realizing he hadn’t averted his eyes at all. And she didn’t care. “Good night.”
“Miss Westmoreland?” Jonathan offered his arm.
Meg stepped forward and slipped her arm under his before giving Charlie one more smile.
“Jonathan, we’ve a few things to discuss when you get back,” Charlie called after him.
“Yes, we do,” Meg’s escort agreed, and she felt her stomach tighten, wondering if they were simply talking about the factory or if there was more.
She waited until they were away from the dining room and they were nearing the back door that led to the path to her apartment before she asked, “Does whatever you have to discuss have anything to do with me?”
Jonathan looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Why would you ask that?” They stepped outside into the cool spring air, and Meg shuddered, not sure if it was the shift in temperature or Jonathan’s lack of a quick declination that made her do so.
“It’s been a few days since we discussed meeting with the lawyers, and I’m of the inclination to think that I wouldn’t be privy to much of that conversation until I absolutely had to be,” she replied as they made their way around the small pond that sat between the two houses. The moon was up and a sky full of stars twinkled above them, but Meg paid little attention to the night sky these days; she’d spent enough time studying it while aboard the lifeboat there was no reason to pay it any mind now.
“It does have to do with the lawyers,” Jonathan admitted. “They want to meet with Charlie tomorrow to talk about your options.”
“And why do they not want to meet with me if they are my options?” she asked as they neared the stairs that led to her apartment.
“I suppose that is a valid question,” Jonathan admitted. “But they said they wanted to meet with him first, get a sense for exactly what has transpired, what your preferences are, and then meet with the pair of you.”
“Is the meeting here?” she asked, nodding at Charlie’s house.
“Yes.”
“When you go back to speak with Charlie, will you inform him that I’d like to come?”
“I will.”
“Good.”
“What if he says he’d rather you weren’t there?” Jonathan asked with an eyebrow raised.
Meg chuckled. “Do you think that’s a possibility?”
Jonathan opened the door for her. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Meg,” he said as she went inside and closed the door behind her. He knew Charlie wouldn’t deny her access to such a discussion if she wanted to be a part of it. Meg never imagined she might marry a man who would see her as a partner, but it was quite clear that was the vision Charlie had for their future, and she felt very blessed to have escaped her own reckless behavior. Charlie might be doubting there was a God, but Meg was quite certain there had to be divine intervention at work; it was the only way she could explain how she’d gone from a foolish little girl making damaging and dangerous decisions to the fiancée of one of the most amazing men who’d ever lived over the course of a few weeks.
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