Chapter 17: Return to England

New York, London, Berkshire, Autumn 1865

Lady Carter kept her promise and took Rose and Raven Feather on a shopping tour through all the fine stores along 5th Avenue. From Lady Carter's reaction to the offerings, Rose and Raven could gauge whether a garment was appropriate or not according to English standards. Much to her dismay, the experience taught Rose how much there was to learn for her to fit in. If Lady Carter noticed she never let on but was friendly and helpful without showing even a hint of superiority. Rose thought and hoped that she had found another true friend.

She also came away from the afternoon with enough dresses and accessories to last her through the ship passage and the first weeks in England. A few noses were held high by shop attendants and customers over Raven, but as Lady Carter had predicted, they became positively subservient when Raven produced a purse filled with Gold Eagles to pay for her first purchase. Lady Carter winked and smiled at them and Rose realised that everybody – not just whores – had their price.

The new friends even visited a few art galleries. At one gallery, Rose and her friends made the acquaintance of a rather young painter who specialised in landscapes. Not only landscapes, but mountain landscapes from the American West. He had returned from an expedition to the Yosemite territory in the last year, and his paintings showed spectacular views.

Rose fell in love with a canvas that showed a place called Yosemite Valley. The painter had captured a morning scene with mist hanging over a creek and the sun rising behind a rocky bend. It was so eerily reminiscent of the South Park region that Rose for once did not consult Jim before making a major purchase. $27 was a princely price, but it was a large painting and it would forever remind Rose of the happy times near Tarryall. The painter, a Mr. Albert Bierstadt, rolled the canvas up in person between large sheets of paper, and in his German accented English he gave instructions how to transport, store, and later mount the painting.

Over the remaining week, Rose and Lady Carter met a few more times and they developed a tentative friendship. Jim and Sir Anthony on the other hand rediscovered the comradeship of their school days. That was an advantage, for Sir Anthony was able to help with the transfer of funds from America to England being a director and shareholder in his father's bank house. Together they set up the connection between the First Philadelphia Bank and Lambert & Norton Bankers, to channel Jim's earnings to London where he would have the use of them.

Jim and Rose spent two evenings watching theatre plays, and they dined in the best restaurants New York had to offer. The time passed almost too fast, but when they had to transfer their belongings to the Scotia, Rose's wish to see all that New York had to offer was almost fulfilled.

Their two cabins were side by side with the Carters' and they shared a table during lunch and dinner. The latter arrangement was beneficial for there was a strong resentment against the presence of Raven Feather among many of the American passengers. Among the British travellers curiosity ruled over disdain, and Raven was often approached by passengers who would not pass on the opportunity to make the acquaintance of a 'Red Indian', even if she was thoroughly 'civilised'.

One passenger in particular began to follow Raven around as the Scotia ploughed through the Atlantic waves. His name was Colonel Oliver Wendell Burton, an English officer who had served in British North America and was returning home via New York. From 1858 to 1859, he had led an expedition into the Western Territories, and he had, as he proudly told Raven, even spent a whole winter with a northern Lakota band when he was thrown from his horse and had broken his leg. To Raven's delight, Col. Burton even spoke some Lakota, and he was eager to reacquaint himself with the culture of 'those noble braves' who had accommodated him during his recovery. Very soon Col. Burton was constantly seen around Raven causing tongues to wag in the dinner room.

It was towards the end of their passage when Raven asked Jim and Rose for a meeting in privacy. They retired to their cabin and Raven calmly told them that Col. Burton was courting her. She admitted to having feelings for the weather-beaten frontier officer and she asked Jim and Rose for their understanding if she would not share their bed anymore.

Jim and Rose felt both saddened and relieved. Their unique relationship with Raven had been at once fulfilling and confusing. Raven hastened to assure them that she loved them both. She pointed out, however, that they would be under scrutiny once they arrived in England and that sharing a bedroom then would be out of the question. In the end the three friends hugged for quite some time. Raven kissed both Rose and Jim with deep feeling before they rejoined their friends in the dinner cabin. For the remainder of the journey, Col. Burton joined them at tables.

After eighteen days, the Scotia put into Liverpoool, and England greeted the Tremaynes with gale force winds and a drizzling rain. They spend another night in their cabins while Jim and Sir Anthony organised their travel onwards to London. They were able to secure a first class compartment on a train that left on the next morning. The train was a fast one, travelling at over twenty miles per hour, but they did not reach London before late evening.

Col. Burton bid his farewell promising to call upon Raven at Hamden Gardens, and the Tremaynes found hospitality for the night in the Carters' city house on Bond Street. Exhausted from the long journey and the dreary weather they slept late into the next morning. After breakfast, Jim busied himself finding transport to western Berkshire. He also endeavoured to convert the two thousand American Gold Eagles he had carried along into almost £2,800. Afterwards, Jim met Sir Anthony's father, Lord Lambert. It had seemed like a lifetime ago that Jim had seen the man, over ten years to be more exact. At High Matcham, Lord Lambert's country seat, Jim had met Priscilla Bywater during the annual New Year's soiree he and his father held for their neighbours.

Lord Lambert shook his hands and expressed his delight over Jim's good fortune in the gold fields. After all, Jim was a neighbour's son who had gone missing overseas, and people had been worried. His Lordship offered the services of his bank house should Jim want to invest his gains for profit, an offer that Jim accepted immediately. Lord Lambert had not become a millionaire by being imprudent with funds and Lambert & Norton enjoyed the reputation of a reliable institution.

Meanwhile, Rose was whisked off by Sarah Carter to an impressive mansion on Cavendish Square. Here, at Lambert House, Rose met a woman in her late fifties whose face showed a mature beauty that let Rose guess at the breathtaking allure she must have possessed as a young woman. Lady Lambert received her daughter in law with obvious pleasure and a motherly hug and when introduced to Rose gave her a friendly welcome.

"Oh dear! You just arrived from America? You must be exhausted after such a long journey. Whence did you come again?"

"From Denver, in the Colorado Territory. We had a few stays en route, though, and we met your son in New York."

"Imagine, Mother: Rose's husband went to Eton with Tony, and they met by chance in a hotel in New York!"

"It just goes to show that the world is not as big as people make it seem," Lady Lambert stated with a smile. "Now, I do know New York from a stay in '48, and I visited Boston in '31, but I have never heard of a city called Denver or of a Colorado Territory. Can you perhaps show me their location on our globe?"

To Rose's surprise there was a huge globe in a study next to the tea room. Rose took a few moments to get her bearings, but then she was able to point at what was annotated on the globe as Western Kansas. "This area is now the Colorado Territory, and Denver should be here, on the South Platte River."

"Truly amazing!" Lady Lambert opined. "It must have taken you months to travel to the East Coast alone."

Rose smiled wryly and nodded, explaining how they had traveled on horseback, by mule wagon, and by train. Lady Lambert made sympathetic noises, and then she recounted how she herself had once traveled on horseback from Suez through the Egyptian desert to Cairo. She showed Rose the route they had taken from East India and Rose was surprised at how adventurous this Lady was or had been.

Lady Lambert rummaged through a cabinet and produced a book. "Here, my dear. I even wrote a book about my experience, if with the help of a dear friend. Come to think of it I really must acquaint you with Colleen MacAllister."

Rose knew that Colleen MacAllister was an author of travel books and adventure stories, and she had read one of her books during the ship passage, a loan from Lady Carter. She thanked her hostess for the welcome gift and promised to read it at her earliest convenience.

They stayed for another hour, and Rose related some of their adventures. She was careful not to reveal anything about the years before she met Jim. Their story was that she had come to Fort Laramie accompanying her friend Amanda who was to be married and that she met Jim Tremayne who was the best friend and partner of Amanda's groom. That was no outright lie and she delivered it without even so much as a blush.

When questioned further, she revealed that she was an orphan and that she had come to the West with her fiancé to meet his family, but that the man abandoned her forcing her to earn her keep using her singing voice.

Lady Lambert almost shocked Rose when she frankly admitted to herding sheep for a livelihood before she met Lord Lambert. She laughed when she said she knew a few things about being miserably cold. When Lady Carter excused herself for a moment, the older woman leant forward and lowered her voice.

"We shall have to sit together some time and work a bit on your story, my dear. It is not bad but liable to incite more questions than you may care to answer. I like you, my dear, and I can help you."

Rose felt dejected. On her first day out she had already let down her cover. "Is it that obvious?" she asked.

"No, not at all, my dear. Most of the little signs I saw will be attributed to you being an American. That is as far as most people will think. Don't worry too much. I know your husband's mother and his brother's wife. They will help you fit in. Once you have settled down, I would like you to visit with me. By all means, you must also bring your Indian friend. I have met only one Red Indian in my life. It was in Boston, and I fear he rather looked like a bookkeeper and decidedly not like a savage."

Rose had to smile. "Raven does not look a savage either, Milady. She is an avid reader, and she looks like a school teacher only with darker skin."

"You have to bring her! She will also draw attention away from you," Lady Lambert added with a wink.

On the next morning, a large Clarence Brougham carriage owned by Lord Lambert took the Tremaynes and their baggage to Reading and then onwards to the Tremaynes' lands. Jim was apprehensive as Rose could tell. When she asked him he admitted to being nervous. After all, he joked, he was bringing his intended home for the first time. Rose herself was not at ease either feeling self-conscious.

Rose found that the house to which they drove up was smaller than their Denver City home. It was older, too, by a century or more. It consisted of three wings which enclosed a cobbled court yard. The wing to the left, the east wing, seemed older. It looked well kept and smoke came from the chimneys, but it looked empty. The central wing and the west wing showed the signs of habitation. The carriage came to a lurching halt in front of the steps.

"We're here," Jim said with a nervous smirk. He kissed Rose. "I love you."

He alighted from the carriage before he helped Rose, Raven, and Samantha. The latter were holding the children, and they quickly wrapped them into blankets. They had not finished when the two-winged door flew open and a man came running down the steps.

"Jimbo! By Jove, it's you!" A heartbeat later, Jim found himself in the violent hug of his brother. "Jim, old boy, you're back at last!"

"Ed, you old rascal!"

They stayed like that for a minute at least before Edward Tremayne let go of his brother. He had tears in his eyes and used his coat sleeve to dry them off. His eyes then focused on the women with Jim.

"My brother Edward; Ed, this is my wife Rose," Jim introduced.

Rose was glad that she did not carry Bobby, for Edward almost crushed her with his hug.

"Welcome to Hamden Gardens!" He held Rose at arm's length. "Oh dear, my brother is a lucky man!"

"Not as lucky as I am to have found him," Rose answered firmly, but then she gave her brother in law a beaming smile.

"Please meet our daughter Samantha," Jim continued the introduction. "Adopted daughter," he added with a laugh, since Edward looked incredulously at the young woman.

Edward recovered his wit immediately. "I should have known, Samantha. You are far too pretty to be my brother's daughter."

"Thank you, Uncle Ed," Samantha answered with a mischievous smile, causing laughter all around. "Please meet your nephew, Robert."

Edward briefly inspected the wrapped boy before Jim made the last introductions. "Ed, this is Mrs. Linkletter, our very good friend and companion, and her daughter Julie."