No Greater Love Read Free Page A

engagement present. They were sailing on a brand-new ship, on her maiden voyage. And all of them were enormously excited.
    They were still sitting in the dining room at Havermoor Manor, and Alexis was starting to laugh out loud, as George said something outrageous in an undertoneand then made more vapor with his breath in the frigid air. Bertram was starting to chuckle at his children, when Rupert stood up at last, and they were free to go. Bert came around the table to say good-bye to him, and shook his brother-in-law’s hand. And for once, Rupert was actually sorry to see him go. He liked Bert, he had even come to like Kate over the years, although he was still rather tentative about their children.
    “It’s been wonderful staying with you here, Rupert. Come back to see us in San Francisco,” Bertram said, and almost meant it.
    “I’m afraid I’m a bit beyond it.” They had already agreed that Liz would travel to San Francisco for the wedding with Charles’s parents. She was just relieved that Rupert would let her go at all, and she could hardly wait. She had already picked her dress in London with Kate and Edwina.
    “If you feel up to it, come.” The two men shook hands again. Rupert was glad they had come, and now glad again that they were going.
    “Do write and tell us about the ship. She must be quite something.” He looked envious, but only for a moment. And this time Liz was not envious at all. Just thinking about boats of any kind made her desperately seasick. She was already dreading the crossing in July. “Will you write about it for the paper, Bert?”
    Bert smiled. He seldom, if ever, wrote anything for his own paper, except for an occasional editorial, when he couldn’t restrain himself. But this time, he had to admit, he had thought about it more than once. “I might. If I do, I’ll send you a copy when we run it.”
    Rupert put an arm around Bert’s shoulders, and walked him to the door, as Edwina and Kate rounded up the younger children with Oona, the Irish girl, and saw to it that everyone went to the bathroom before they left for Southampton.
    It was still shockingly early, the sun was just coming up, and they had a three-hour drive ahead of them to Southampton. Rupert had delegated his chauffeur and two of the stableboys to take them to Southampton in three cars with what little luggage they still had. Most of the trunks had gone down the day before, and would be waiting for them in their staterooms.
    And within a few moments, the children had piled into all three cars, Edwina and Phillip with some of the luggage, and George, who insisted on sitting with the stableboy who was at the wheel, Oona with Fannie and little Teddy and the rest of their bags in another car, and Kate and Bertram were going to ride in Rupert’s own Silver Ghost with Alexis. Liz had volunteered to come with them, but Kate had insisted that it was too long a journey. They would see each other in four months anyway, and it would be too lonely for her coming back alone in the empty convoy, instead the two women embraced, and for a long moment, Liz held her fast, not knowing why she felt so emotional this morning.
    “Take good care … I’ll miss you so….” It seemed so painful seeing her go this time, as though she just couldn’t bear too many more partings. Liz hugged her again, and Kate laughed, straightening the very stylish hat that Bertram had bought her in London.
    “It’ll be August before you know it, Liz,” Kate whispered gently in her sister’s ear, “and you’ll be home again.” She kissed her cheek, and then pulled away to look at her, wishing that Liz didn’t look so worn and so dejected. It made her think again of Edwina’s moving to England when she married Charles, and Kate could only pray that her daughter’s life would turn out to be happier than her sister’s. She hated the thought of her being so far away, just as she hated the thought of leaving Liz here now, as Rupert harrumphed,