The Titan Drowns: Time Travel Romance by Nhys Glover (highly recommended books .txt) 📕

‘But I have much to share with you about who I am and what I am really here for. When I have finished, you may no longer feel for me as you do now. If that proves to be the case, I will be greatly saddened, because I, too, have never been hot-blooded, as you put it. I have never been interested in men in that way, before. Before today. Whatever is happening between us, you are not alone in experiencing it.’

‘Oh.’

Eilish laughed a little more loudly than was polite and reached over to place her hand on Max’s. She stroked his long, square fingers with her thumb and felt a frisson of excitement pass between them.

‘Yes, oh.’

‘So… what is it that you are really here for?’

At that moment, the waiter returned to their table with small bowls of piping hot soufflé. Rather than answer his question, she made much of nibbling at her food and sipping the deliciously dry champagne.

As the soufflé melted in her mouth, she groaned softly with delight. Max’s head jerked up from his own plate and she saw something primal flicker behind his eyes. She gasped and gently put her spoon down, before the tremor that ran through her shook the utensil from her grip. What was this heightened emotion that was zinging through the air between them?

Suddenly, the layers of clothing she wore seemed too hot and confining. Her skin prickled.

‘You approve?’ he asked, when he could find his voice. It was slightly croaky, as hers would have been if she’d attempted speech in that moment. Instead, she just smiled and nodded as she took another cheesy morsel into her mouth and let it melt there.

They continued in a sexually potent daze until both bowls were finished. Then Max reached across the table and took her hand. He used his thumb to caress her palm for several moments.

‘Tell me this at least – is there a man to whom you are duty bound?’

‘No man, but I do have a duty to perform. It is that which might cause a breach between us.’

‘If you are a Marxist or a Unionist, there will be no breach…’

She laughed again and turned her hand so she could squeeze his. ‘No, that is not it, and we could play twenty questions all night and you would never guess. So please, let us just enjoy the evening and forget about wives and duty and the future. Let it be enough that we enjoy each other’s company and share this delicious meal while the string quartet serenades us with Mozart.’

‘Though my curiosity is going to drive me mad by the end of the evening, I acquiesce. I cannot think of a more pleasant way to spend my time. Have I told you how lovely you look tonight, even if that outfit might be better suited to the bedroom? Oh… I do apologise; I didn’t mean…’

She watched his face flood with heat. The devil in her wanted to make the heat rise a little higher. ‘It would suit the bedroom, well enough…’

His blush became a flush so brilliant that sweat broke out on his brow. She felt a tremor run down his arm and an answering one shivered through her. Thoughts of being with Max in her bedroom at Claridges and slowly disrobing for him made her blood pound fast and hard. Her teasing had backfired, succeeding in arousing her as much, or maybe more, than her intended victim.

It took the main course, the rest of the champagne and the delicious chocolate mousse before they were comfortable to look at each other again. In the meantime, they talked of politics and reform, of the arts and the latest Somerset Maugham play on the West End. Eilish even managed to introduce the subject of time travel with a well-positioned mention of H G Wells’ Time Machine.

‘The idea is too far-fetched. The possibility of stepping out of the river of time, as Heraclitus describes it, would be problematic at best.’

‘But what if it were possible? What would the future be like do you think?’ she pressed, gaze lifting to meet his again for the first time since her bedroom reference.

‘I have thought a great deal about where our world is going. We have automobiles, flying machines, all manner of new contraptions. Where it will end… I do not know. However, I worry that man is like a child with a loaded gun. He is not equipped to handle the dangers inherent in his inventions.’

‘Yes, I agree with you. The next war will hold that up to all thinking men…’ she shut her mouth suddenly as she realised her slip.

‘Next war?’

‘Yes,’ she floundered. ‘There is bound to be one with the state of the Balkans. And when it comes, all of these new inventions will be brought into play by whichever side can wield them.’

‘You believe the Balkans will lead to imperial involvement?’ His brow furrowed at the thought.

‘When Britain joined the Triple Entente it became inevitable. We will slide into whatever confrontation our allies require.’

‘But surely it safeguards us against the Prussians.’

‘Safeguards or seals our fate? Let us not go there. It makes me sad to think of all those soldiers who will die for nothing.’

‘Nothing? If there is a war, it will not be for nothing.’

‘You believe in war?’

‘I believe in Peace, but accept the necessity of war to safeguard our homes and our families.’

‘With God on your side?’ she asked with heavy sarcasm.

‘Yes, of course.’

‘What if the other side believes that same God is on their side? There will come a time when two enemies will sit across from each other, separated only by a desolate stretch of blasted landscape, and both will sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve to celebrate the birth of the Child of Peace. Whose side is God on then?’

He took the last sip of his champagne, which had long since lost its bubbles, and became thoughtful. ‘Jesus taught us that we must turn the other cheek, but it was also he who expelled the money lenders from the temple by force. I do not know where the line can be drawn between right and wrong, war or peace.’

‘I know what war can do. It is the last recourse.’ Eilish saw the images of her past flash before her eyes. She had been only twelve when the Last Great Plague took 999 of every 1,000 souls still remaining on the planet. Some said it was a biological weapon gone rogue. No one knew for sure. Nevertheless, the devastation of war had never been far away back in that terrible time. Now, standing here in this time before the worst of war had yet to be unleashed on the planet, it was hard to be philosophical about what was to come.

‘You are suddenly very sad, Eilish. Is it the state of your homeland that makes you so melancholy?’

‘My homeland?’ She was startled back to the present by his question. ‘Oh, you mean Ireland? Yes, partly. Never mind. How did we get on to this distressing subject?’

She looked around and noticed that most of the other diners had now left and the waiters were clearing tables.

‘I think it is time for me to go. It has been the most enjoyable evening I have spent in a very long time.’

Max came to her side to help her rise. She was glad of his help. Her head felt light and the ground seemed to be tipping, ever so slightly.

‘Steady there. You stood up too fast,’ Max informed her, drawing her closer to his body to support her. Eilish breathed him in, and the mixture of spicy male scent, leather and tobacco filled her senses.

‘Do you smoke?’ she asked absently, as he led her between the emptying tables.

‘A cigar after a good meal on occasion, that is all.’

‘Hmm… I can smell it on your clothes.’

‘I will have to have words with my Butler if that is the case. He assures me he airs all my jackets.’

‘Oh, do not do that. No one but I would probably notice. My nose is very sensitive to smells of all kinds.’

By the time Max had collected his overcoat and top hat and she her fur cocoon, they had made it outside. The chilly air helped clear her head and Eilish was starting to wonder how she was going to arrange to see Max again. However, the issue was resolved without her involvement.

‘Can I see you again tomorrow night? Possibly to see that Maugham play we spoke of?’

‘I would love to,’ she replied quickly, giving him a delighted smile.

At the bottom of the stairs, they paused. Max looked up and down the quiet street searching for a hansom cab. ‘Can I escort you home?’

‘No… no… I have an escort. There he is!’

Max looked in the direction she indicated and saw Luke prowling toward them, for all the world like a predatory cat. Max tightened his grip on her arm and his body went stiff.

‘It is just Luke. Luke, come and meet Maxwell Ingham. I have told you all about him.’

Luke was several inches taller than Max and somewhat larger in build, but her dinner companion didn’t seem to be cowered by it. Eilish could feel the testosterone simmering and was surprised that she rather enjoyed it. Even so, she hurried to alleviate any misconceptions.

‘Luke is my… associate. His wife is a good friend of mine.’

Both men looked at her as if she had lost her mind and she wondered if she had. Then Max backed down. ‘Well, I will leave you in this gentleman’s capable hands then. Where will I meet you?’

‘Oh, I am staying at Claridges. If you send me a note to tell me what time and what theatre…’

‘No, I will pick you up if you don’t mind. I will send a note to tell you the time. Goodnight, and thank you again for a very pleasurable evening. Luke,’ he nodded at the man who had taken Eilish’s elbow.

‘Bedford… my name is Luke Bedford. Nice to have met you, Ingham. I imagine we’ll see more of each other in the days to come.’

‘Will we?’ The tone in Max’s voice was steely and irritated. It was clear that, no matter what she had said to the contrary, Max saw Luke as competition. Jealousy was an emotion she had little experience with, and it befuddled her now. Why would he be reacting this way when he knew Luke was married? But then, so was he.

A hansom cab was passing and Max hailed it. With a quick nod of farewell, he made his way toward the vehicle and climbed in. They watched him go in silence.

‘Went well then?’

‘Very well. I think I am in love.’

‘Great! Just Dandy!’

Chapter Five

Max

The days passed by in a glorious haze. He saw Eilish every evening and spent all weekend with her, as well. If the whispers around town had started, then he didn’t care. They did nothing more than spend time together, often with the predatory Bedford as their chaperone.

He still didn’t know what to make of the man; working-class background, certainly, but not subservient. He reminded him of the Union leaders he’d come across at different times, especially since the beginning of the coal strike. And it was apparent that Bedford shared sympathies with the coal miners and knew something of their plight. However, he spoke with an American accent and seemed to be a self-made man, if his clothes and his accommodation at Claridges meant anything.