New York, Six months later, 1897.

BANG! BANG! SMASH!

“Miss! MISS!” screeched a maid.

The commotion downstairs had reached the nth decibel, but the only thing that Lilly could discern was that the house was under attack. Since it was not Henry, everything else was very much in order.

She sighed as footsteps thundered up the stairs.

“Percy…Shou mun*,” she said calmly to her Chinese bodyguard, without bothering to look up.

“Shi*!” he bowed, moving to guard in front of the door as directed. 

CRASH!

Barging through the broken door, a very tall, very angry blond, holding a sword, walked in and took a moment to shake broken china out of his collar. Behind him, a very shocked maid, who had tried to prevent his entry, was still holding a portion of the serving platter that had been broken over his head.

Lilly cringed.

“Mary…thank you. You can go. That mess can be cleaned up later. Can you see to it that Hilly comes up with tea in an hour? Other than that I’m not to be disturbed,” Lilly said calmly, putting down her book.

“Zhu ren*?” Percy asked cautiously, keeping his eyes on the intruder. He stood in front of her with a chain whip taut in his hands, ready to take action.

“Lilly…” Max growled.

“Tui hou*,” she sighed to Percy, rubbing the spot between her eyebrows.

The bodyguard straightened out of his stance and came to stand by her side, still eyeing the man with the sword.

“You’ve given me quite the goose chase these six months,” said Max, breathing hard as he reined in his temper. He had definitely not expected to have to fight his way into her home.

“I actually expected a pistol, Max, not a sword,” she said, putting her chin on her knuckles. She smiled faintly. “This is a bit of a surprise.”

He tossed the blade to the side.

“Goddammit, you heartless woman! Did you intend to leave me for dead?” he roared thunderously.

She sat up, looking shocked.

“What do you mean?” she frowned, her fine brows knitting together.

Max looked like he was about to blow a fuse.

“I was unconscious for five days after you disappeared, three of them with a raging fever. If Charlie hadn’t found me, I would have been food for maggots!” he gritted. “Did you forget that I was injured saving your life or did that slip your mind once you had a taste of me?”

His voice dripped with sarcasm, but it couldn’t hide the hurt look in his eyes.

“I don’t understand…” she said, heart clenching. “I told Charlie exactly where to find you…did you not get my letter?”

After the first month without a response from him, Lilly had simply assumed that Max didn’t care. It had never occurred to her that something might have happened to her letter before it reached its intended recipient.

They stared at each other, not quite sure what to say, and then a series of rapidly changing expressions passed over his face.

“I never received a letter…” he said, deflating. Then he looked embarrassed. “May…May I sit?”

“Go ahead,” she said blankly, still trying to digest the situation.

Max made to sit beside her on the settee, but thought better of it when the Chinese bodyguard stepped in front of his mistress. Mildly exasperated, she said:

“Percy! Chu qu*!”

The man frowned in disapproval, but then he bowed and went outside, side-stepping the debris still littering the hall.

“Ehem…” Max coughed awkwardly and settled into one of the chairs across from her. “That’s quite the guard you have…”

“Indeed. He was…ehem…part of my inheritance…” she muttered.

“I…”

“You…”

“Go ahead,” he said graciously.

She took a breath.

“I’m so sorry Max…I had no idea that you were unconscious. When I left you, I only thought you were sleeping…” she paused, flushing as she recalled their tumultuous night together. 

Seeing Lilly’s expression and hearing her voice, Max immediately regretted assuming the worst of her. 

Of course, it made perfect sense to him now. Having been on the receiving end of his ardor right up until dawn, thinking him asleep was obviously a reasonable assumption for an inexperienced young woman to have had. If he was being completely honest with himself, he hadn’t been angry about his injuries…rather, he’d been hurt by the idea that she’d abandoned him immediately after lovemaking…but as she continued her explanation, it became clear to him that this was not the case at all.

“I was afraid that Henry would find me again, so I slipped back into camp and managed to get help from Charlie. He assured me that he’d find you and tend your wounds. With a few favors, he spirited me back to town. From there I was able to contact my solicitor, gain control over my inheritance, and come here to New York to wait for you…but a month turned into two…and then three…”

“And then six…” he said gently, finishing the sentence for her. His expression filled with tenderness when he realized what she was saying.

She nodded, moisture appearing on her lowered lashes: “Yes…and then six.”

Lilly didn’t bother going into the details of how she’d escaped Africa; running away from Henry had been as harrowing as trying to escape the lioness, but she had definitely left a letter with Charlie with specific instructions for locating a certain post office box in Cairo. There she’d left a second letter with her solicitor’s information, hoping that Max would contact her as soon as he recovered. 

However as the days stretched into months, she’d given up hope…and frankly she didn’t want to burden him. Theirs had been a brief encounter, and from what little she knew of men a single night of passion was rarely enough to command any sort of commitment on his part.

“Lilly…” he started, but she interrupted him.

“Since you’ve come under such circumstances, you must certainly resent me…” she said, feeling depressed. “Of course, the right thing to do would be to compensate you for your trouble. I’ll contact my solicitor to make arrangements in the morning…”

Max stood up with a crash and crossed the space to her in an instant, expression filled with frustration. Ignoring her cry of protest, he pulled her to her feet and into his arms.

“Max…wait…!” she cried, struggling.

“No! Lilly…Lilly just listen to me…I’m in love with you!” he shouted.

At this unexpected declaration, Lilly went limp, becoming paler than a sheet. At the same time, Max’s expression changed as soon as his arms tightened around her waist.

Sighing, she gave up and leaned against him, giving in to exhaustion.

His face took on a look of incredulity, and then he looked down to confirm with his own eyes what his hands were feeling.

“Lilly…either you’ve been eating like a horse over these last six months or you’re carrying our child…” he said, heart trembling with joy.

“Yes…” she replied faintly, but with an unmistakable softness. “Yes…”

“Lilly…I’m never letting you go…do you hear?” he told her, bursting with emotion.

Max swept her up into a princess carry, suddenly filled with an overwhelming need to see her, to touch her, to adore the new life inside her. When they’d first come together it had been in the dark of an African night…so more than anything, right now he wanted to see her under the clear light of a New York day.

“Lilly…where’s your bedroom…?” he asked urgently.

“That way, Max…” she laughed and pointed, feeling something well up deep inside her heart. 

“Lilly…” he murmured, kissing the top of her head ardently. “Lilly, I love you…”

***

Segal & Sons Barristers and Solicitors

“Shall we cancel the lease on that box in Cairo, Mr. Segal?” asked his assistant, poking his cheek with the back of his pencil.

Jeremiah Segal pursed his lips and then drummed his fingers on his desk once before flipping the top page of some documents that had just come in. He considered the question for a moment, and then said:

“Call the desk there…we can close it off if the letter’s been picked up. Since it’s been six months, I doubt the recipient intends to retrieve it,” he sighed, pushing his spectacles up his nose.

Poor Lilly…to think her lover would actually abandon her…

“They can’t still be open…isn’t there a seven hour time difference?” his assistant frowned.

“Yes indeed, but Nephi’s a reliable chap. He’ll answer the phone even if it’s three in the morning.”

“If you say so, Mr. Segal,” the young man sighed, picking up the receiver. “Yes…operator…yes, can you connect me to this number in Cairo…yes Ma’am, I understand the time there. That’s right…no 4…yes, thank you…”

Jeremiah listened with half an ear and then came alert when the assistant straightened.

“Mr. Nephi! Ah yes…about that box…oh? Well, what luck..! Yes, close it off then. Oh no, thank you, just the same address as last time. Yes, yes, that’s wonderful news. Wait…what’s that? Blond…yes, yes, marvelous…wait I didn’t catch that bit, can you say again…?”

On the other side of the world, in Cairo, the bleary eyed young postmaster grunted his frustration at the static on the line.

“I said I send telegram! Blond gentleman, sir. Green eyes!” Nephi shouted into the receiver. “No, no…green eyes, not…”

“That’s marvelous! Thank you!” the assistant responded blithely and hung up.

Mr. Nephi made a face at the receiver and then shrugged, hanging it back up. 

Back in New York, Jeremiah looked at his assistant.

“Well?”

“Good news! It seems that the letter was picked up!” the assistant grinned.

“My word! That is good news. I’ll have to telephone Miss Lilly directly,” Jeremiah smiled. Picking up the receiver he connected to the house and the phone was answered by Hilly, the housekeeper.

“…I’m afraid Miss Lilly is with a guest right now…Is it urgent? Shall I have her call you back, Mr. Segal?”

“No Hilly, that won’t be necessary. If you could just pass on that the blond man that she’s been waiting for has picked up the letter in Cairo…she’ll know what it’s for…”

“Blond? Why, the guest she’s with right now is blond. Very handsome young man too…” said Hilly, with as much bubbly girliness as could be generated by a woman in middle age.

Jeremiah was delighted.

“Excellent! Good! Good. Well that’s all, Hilly. Have a good evening,” he said, hanging up.

Good God, they’ve found each other! What a relief…he thought.

*** 

Linney house, London, two weeks later, 1897

It was evening and a very handsome blond man with green eyes sat in the lengthening shadows of his library.

His lips curved into a smile as he crushed the yellowed paper in his hand and then he reached for his lighter. When he put the corner of the letter to the flame, the burning paper lit the room, briefly illuminating the glass eyes of a mounted lion baring its teeth in the dark.

Henry Linney tossed the curled remnants into the fireplace. Only one corner remained, showing a partial address. If someone looked at it carefully, they might have been able to make out the words ‘New York’.

Henry’s smile widened.

“Well, my dear Lilly…after six months of hunting, I’ve found you at last…”

Fin.