Off they continued on to London, the buildings and steam overhead growing larger with every clip-clop of the horses’ hooves.
Verity started the morning comfortable enough. Eager to ride, she had the opportunity to wear her old riding habit. It might not be the most recent fashion, but she thought she would still look well enough. Riding an unfamiliar horse was easier than she had expected, too, so she started with high hopes.
Even when her husband had little patience for conversation, leaving her to enjoy the quiet of the journey, she was hardly put out. This was the city where she had been raised.
Somewhat, at least. My father’s grand estate included a private park and pond. I always had at least two servants at any given time to keep me company. There wasn’t much of London that I saw until I debuted. This should feel like home.
And yet Verity began to sense that it wasn’t quite home any longer.
Down they came into London, where the streets swamped them at once. Already she had noted the stench, breathing slowly through her nose. Then, there was the smoke. It made the sky so gray, not at all sunny and bright like it had been that morning. And with all of that came the noise.
A loudbangmade her jump as a large door slammed shut. Someone cackled loudly, though she couldn’t see who it was. Three nut sellers were calling to the passersby, trying to shout over one another beside a small market where everyone was arguing and bartering for goods.
“I want three, Mummy!”
“Oi, don’t touch my goods!”
“Pecans to eat! Enjoy an afternoon treat!”
“Get out of my way!”
Verity swallowed hard as the noise began to overwhelm her. She didn’t recall how intimidating the city could be. Did London host half a million people yet? There were already so many of them here on the street.
When they turned right, she hoped they would escape the noise, but even as they lost the pedestrians, they soonfound themselves stuck in the middle of countless horses and carriages.
“Stay close,” her husband said just loud enough for her to hear. “We’re not far from the house now.”
Inhaling deeply, Verity looked around anxiously as their carriage fell behind them. She started to move closer to Tristan, who gazed about with a dark scowl.
“What an adventurous place a city can be!”she remembered her father crying out one morning when he returned late with a jolly smile.“I saw miracles and magic all night long. Someday, little sparrow, I shall take you with me. We’ll see it all together.”
Her father loved London. He was a visionary with dreams of what a splendid metropolis it could be. The center of not just an empire, but the world. How she had adored listening to him and his ideas. His excitement had always been so infectious.
Although they rode together frequently to church on Sundays, he’d only joined her a handful of times once she debuted. His health was failing him, and he preferred lectures to ballrooms, cigar rooms to teahouses.
What would he say now, I wonder? How miraculous it is that so many people fit here like an odd-moving puzzle? That we could do away with the smoke for some odd improvement?
Taking a deep breath, Verity turned to Tristan. He might not live here frequently, but he knew where they were going, and he had to be more comfortable than her.
“It’s quite a crowded afternoon,” she told him, pulling her horse back when a landau whizzed by. “Goodness me. It’s all very… exciting.”
That earned her a scoff.
Tristan fixed the hat on his head before shaking his head. “Do mind the horse’s step. It’s a mess on these streets. What an awful place London becomes every year.”
“Indeed,” Verity muttered, forcing a smile as she tried to soothe her horse. It must have sensed her anxiety, for he shied from a passing wagon. “Lead on, then.”
Although she was tempted countless times to race right off the street and out of the mess, she forced herself to stay put. She kept her chin up, shoulders back, and hands steady.
Eventually, her horse calmed down and they reached a less crowded street. Then a smaller street. And finally, they rounded a corner to a large gate crowded by trees that opened for Tristan.
Verity relaxed her grip on the reins. The creature kept following after Tristan, or else she would have stayed put.
When he said ‘house,’ I thought it would be another townhouse. He doesn’t seem interested in staying here often. And yet this house… it’s practically a castle.
It took all of her energy not to leave her mouth hanging open as she eyed the tall iron fence peeking through the countless trees and shrubbery. A grand roundabout sat before the front steps, with a fountain and flowers in the middle. Off to the side, where they were headed, were the mews, also well-maintained, with flowers everywhere.
“Are you confident we have come to the right house?” Verity had to ask when they came to a stop.
