The Keys of Love Read Online Free Page B

can go round the back here and cross to the First Class deck. I have to go down to Second Class to see my troop.”
    â€œYour troop?”
    â€œI’m the leader of the orchestra. You could have seen ’em boarding.”
    â€œOh. Oh, yes. I did.”
    He smiled and held out his hand.
    â€œEddie Bragg’s the name.”
    Henrietta, hesitatingly, took his hand and shook it.
    â€œI’m Hen Harrietta Reed,” she told him shyly.
    â€œGlad to meet you, Miss Reed.”
    He gestured to the open gate.
    â€œSo you coming?”
    Henrietta glanced along the deck and then passed cautiously through the white gate.
    â€œSee now, you haven’t been struck by lightening,” laughed Eddie.
    â€œN-no,” smiled Henrietta. “I haven’t.”
    The breeze was stronger here and she had to clamp her hand to her hat to prevent it being torn from her head.
    â€œJust follow the deck round,” Eddie advised loudly. “You’ll find a white gate and you’re back in First Class.”
    â€œThank you very much.”
    They shook hands again and Eddie moved away.
    She watched him as he descended a twisting steel stairway, his coat flying out in the wind.
    A few seconds later she noticed a flat leather folder lying at her feet.
    Eddie must have been carrying it under his coat. It had probably dropped when they had shaken hands.
    She picked it up quickly and followed Eddie down and found that she was now on the Second Class deck.
    There was no sign of Eddie, so she moved along the deck, peering in through several glass doorways, unsure of where to find him.
    She came to another white gate.
    Once again it said ‘Crew Only’, but knowing Eddie Bragg, this would be no deterrent. She paused, opened it, and stepped through to see if he might have gone that way.
    She was now looking down into what seemed to be a cargo deck at the back of the ship.
    There was no cargo, but there were a large number of people. Shabbily dressed, pale and thin, they huddled together or paced the enclosed deck for warmth.
    With a shock, she realised that she was looking at the Steerage section where the poorest people travelled.
    Someone began to play a mouth organ.
    A gentleman shrouded in a full cloak of a material a good deal more expensive than his fellow passengers were wearing, turned away with a shrug of disgust and strode to a door at the back of the deck.
    As he turned, Henrietta caught sight of a thin nose, thin as the blade of a knife
    The profile so resembled that of Prince Vasily of Rumania that Henrietta’s hand flew to her mouth.
    â€œMiss Reed? Are you all right?”
    It was Eddie, standing at her elbow and regarding her with concern.
    â€œI-I’m fine. Thank you. It’s just that I thought I recognised someone I knew.”
    She peered over the rail again, but the gentleman in the cloak had gone.
    â€œSomeone you knew? In Steerage?”
    He sounded so surprised that she shook herself and gave a gay little laugh.
    â€œYou are right the person I knew would never ”
    Eddie’s eyes twinkled.
    â€œA he , eh?”
    Henrietta grew flustered. Mr. Bragg’s manner was more informal than she was used to from a stranger and she should by rights have been offended.
    But his face was so open, his demeanour so good humoured and thoughtful, that she did not think it right to correct him.
    The world of The Boston Queen was so unlike any world she had ever known and besides, Eddie was an artist. He was different. And, of course, he had no idea that she was the daughter of a Lord!
    â€œMr. Bragg. I believe you dropped this whilst we were talking.”
    â€œEddie, please, not Mr. Bragg. And yes, that’s my music folder. Thank Heavens! I was looking for it. My latest composition could have been lost had I not found it.”
    Henrietta’s eyes widened.
    â€œYou are a composer?”
    â€œYes, but alas, fair lady, I am far better known as a