“What more indeed?” I said.
“I was amazed that she said yes to me. After all, I am her social inferior and she cares about these things. I was happy with what I had achieved and all would have been well if something hadn't happened.”
I looked up into his eyes. I could just see them sparkling in the light of the street lamps. “I fell in love. I didn't expect to, but I did. The moment you walked into that room on Ellis Island, I knew that I wanted you. I thought you were married to someone else. I thought you were possibly a murderess, but I wanted you more than anything in the world.”
“And yet you are still engaged to her.”
He put his hands on my shoulders. “I beg you to be patient, Molly. So much is at stake. If I break off the engagement, she'll have me ruined. I'll never get another promotion again. They could even find reasons to get me thrown out of the force altogether. Arabella likes getting her own way and she has a nasty temper when crossed.”
“So you will go ahead and marry her knowing that you love me?” My voice trembled a little.
“Of course not. I am paying her as little attention as possible. I want her to become bored and tired of waiting and to be the one who breaks it off. What I pray for is that she finds someone else and learns the meaning of love, as I have done.”
His hands on my shoulders tightened as he drew me closer. “I swear I love only you, but I can't throw away everything my parents have worked for. Will you be prepared to wait for me, Molly?”
“Not forever, Daniel,” I said. “I won't wait forever. And I'm not prepared to play second fiddle either. I won't go behind her back. It's not fair to her. Come to me on the day that your engagement is broken and I'll throw myself into your arms. But until then …”
“I understand,” he said. “You're a woman of principle. That's just one of the things I admire about you. As well as that lovely hair and those white shoulders and—” He broke off with a sigh. “Oh, dear God, Molly. I can't be so close to you and not touch you.”
Suddenly I was in his arms and he was kissing me. And to my surprise, I was kissing him back. Reason and caution always seemed to fly to the winds when I was in Daniel's arms. I wasn't sure how long we stayed in that cab. I know Daniel handed the driver another dollar at one stage, but time had no meaning. All that mattered was that Daniel loved me and we were here together, and, at that moment, there was no tomorrow.
Twenty–Eight
Of course the grim reality of the present overtook us soon enough. The cab deposited me at the station, which was seething with people trying to get out of the city. In spite of the great crush fighting to get onto the next train, Daniel found me a seat and handed me inside.
“You'll be all right now,” he said.
“Won't you be traveling with me?” I asked hopefully.
“Unfortunately I'm to stay on in Buffalo on the governor's orders,” he said. “He's arriving here himself in the morning to give a briefing. The whole country will be up in arms as the news reaches them. We have to make sure that innocent people aren't killed. Go straight home and stay there, please, Molly.”
So I took the night train back to New York. What a difference from the train I had traveled on only a day earlier. Stunned and grief-stricken people sat around me, staring out of darkened windows in silence or whispering occasionally. A woman was sobbing farther down the carriage. I stayed awake all night in fear that someone might recognize me and incite these people to do me harm. But by dawn the high banks of the Hudson came into view and we pulled into New York. I arrived home to find two very angry women.
“How dare you run away to Buffalo without telling us, Molly,” Gus chided as they fussed over me and handed me a cup of tea.
“I didn't want to get you involved in such a risky business,” I said.
“But we wanted to be involved,” Sid exclaimed. “Now we've missed all the excitement. It must have been very exciting …”
“It was horrible.” I shivered. “I thought I was going to be kept in jail, and then I was almost torn to pieces by a mob.”
“But why? I thought you went there to stop this person from killing the President. Why would they attack you?”
“Because we had to sneak into the theater and climb up onto a balcony to spot Leon. They thought we were his accomplices.”
Sid turned to Gus with a grin. “Ryan will never stop talking about this. He must have been thrilled.”
“Ryan was as upset as I was. And his play wasn't allowed to open last night.”
“Oh, yes, the play,” Gus said. “I'd forgotten about that. They've closed all the theaters in New York too. He'll have to wait until things are back to normal and that could be some time, if the poor President takes a while to recover.”
“At least Leon is in custody,” I said. “He won't be able to hurt anyone else ever again.”