It would not be a long time before Thomas and Cora would see each other again. The next day, Benjamin did what he said he would. In the morning he ate breakfast with Cora and then they left to visit his place of work.
As they road through the streets in Benjamin's carriage Cora was mesmerized by all the sights she saw. There where tall buildings and cobblestone roads. People walked on raised, hard and grey ground beside the roads. Almost everyone dressed so much nicer than Cora had ever seen on the streets in Canada.
The carriage stopped in front of a grand building with large pillars holding up part of the building over the doors. There were two sets or two large doors. The door was opened for Cora and a man wearing white gloves put his hand out to help Cora exit the carriage. She thanked the man, but could not stop staring at the beautiful building.
Benjamin smiled and started up the large concrete steps before to the doors and Cora followed. He opened the door for her and she entered the building. The lobby was even more gorgeous than the outside. A large wooden staircase was in the centre to bring everyone up to the other levels. To the left of the stairs was an elevator, Cora had no idea what the strange black cage was and had no interest in finding out. It did not share the beauty of the rest of the building. There was a long desk to the right and a library across the open hall.
Sitting at the desk was a skinny old man. He lifted his bespectacled head when the two entered the room. "Ah, welcome Sir Benjamin; this must be the lovely Cora." Cora smiled and nodded.
"Come Cora, I will show you my office," Benjamin started up the stairs and Cora followed. Each floor they passed had a small room of chairs and a desk with a door behind it. "Those are the businesses I fund," explained Benjamin. "It helps keep an eye on how they are doing financially when they are all in one place."
Cora was so amazed by everything she was seeing she didn't even notice Thomas running down the stairs with his face in some papers. He stopped just before bumping into her and at first didn't even notice who it was standing in front of him. "Oh, I am so sorry miss, so wrapped up in my work I forgot to look where I was going."
Cora came back to reality and saw it was Thomas. There was a silence for a moment as they stood in each other's presence one more time. Finally, Cora spoke, "Oh no, it was my fault."
Benjamin chuckled, "Well if it isn't the two new friends, both clumsy as ever." They all laughed. "Thomas, I believe you remember Cora."
"Yes of course, how could I forget?" Thomas bowed slightly, "It is nice to see you again Miss Cora."
"Very nice," Cora said. Realizing Benjamin was there with them she quickly thought of a recovery. "Sir Benjamin is giving me a tour. Maybe he would be so kind as to show me your place of work before we leave."
"Of course my dear," Benjamin said. Everyone bid each other farewell and Cora and Benjamin headed up the stairs as Thomas went down. Thomas paused after a couple steps to watch as Cora disappeared from his sight.
While Benjamin went through his daily schedule with Cora, she did her best to seem interested. The truth was, the only thing on her mind was wondering when she would visit Thomas.
Finally, her wish came true. Benjamin and Cora were about to leave for a walk in the park, when on the way down the stairs Benjamin stopped. He turned into one of the small rooms and talked to the woman at the desk. "Come," he said to Cora. "We shall pay Mr. Thomas a small visit before we leave."
Cora was happy. She followed Benjamin in through a door that said Medical Practitioner on it. She read the words out loud, but quietly to herself. There was Benjamin sitting at another desk, but much larger and much messier.
"Sir Benjamin and Lady Cora, what a nice surprise!" Thomas stood up and walked around the table as he saw them. "Well," he said standing in front of them full of excitement to show Cora what he does. "Shall I give you a tour?"
Thomas turned and quickly walked over to a strange bed to one end of the room. When he walked, he seemed to glide over every step. It was almost like he never actually touched the floor. His feet moved so quickly and swiftly that he seemed to just float around like a ghost, like an angel.
"This is an examination table," he showed how it could be adjusted if the patient needed to sit up on it. "Sometimes I need to give the patient's a sedative to properly examine them. If they are in too much pain to allow me to poke at them or move certain limbs, the sedative calms them down enough for me to find what hurt the most and how I can help them."
"Back home, doctors come to our houses if we needed one." Cora recalled a time one of her sister's had a fever. They were all to stay away from her and sleep in their parent's room. The only person permitted to go in to see her sister was the Doctor and he came by every day.
"There are still some doctors who do that here, but I find myself much too busy in my practise to make house calls." Thomas was happy to share his work with Cora.
They all sat at some chairs and continued to talk some more. This was until Benjamin stood up from his seat and turned to Cora. "Well my dear, it seems we must get going. We wouldn't want to get caught in the dark." Cora agreed and they left Thomas's office.
The park was beautiful. There were small trees spread throughout the land. There was a gravel path that weaved through these trees and occasionally they would walk by a bench. There was a large hill in the centre and as they made their way around the hill, a small pond was on the other side.
"How are you liking England, I know it wasn't the most positive way of making a trip," Benjamin said to Cora.
"I was scared at first, but am getting comfortable faster than I expected," They sat on a nearby bench. "It is such a beautiful place. I feel I should write down how nice it looks in a letter to my family."
"That is a wonderful idea!" Benjamin told her. "Do you enjoy writing?" he asked.
"Yes, being the youngest daughter I was given many tasks a son would have been given," Cora went on to tell Benjamin about reading to her siblings before bed or in the winter when it was too cold to play outside. "When my father wanted to send letters, he found it easier to say to me when he wanted to tell the person and I would write it out for him. When I finished, he would read it, then sign it, and mail it off."
Cora told Benjamin about when she dreamed of being a writer. She would always start a silly, childish story, but found they weren't interesting enough and through them away. Eventually with the work she had to do, she gave up on the dream.
"Why don't you write my stories?" Benjamin asked. Cora thought it was a brilliant idea. It gave them something to do together and Benjamin had so many stories of when he was young and travelled.
When they pulled up to the front of Benjamin's mansion, Cora had fallen asleep. Benjamin picked her up and carried her to her bedroom. He ordered the maids not to disrupt her; she had had a long day. He told them if she was to wake up hungry, they were to get her food.
Cora slept right through until the next morning. She woke up in her clothes from the day before and very hungry. Benjamin had already left for work by the time she got into a clean dress and went to the dining room for some breakfast.
Cora got thinking more about her childhood dreams of being a writer. Now that she has so much time on her hands, and a much more exciting life, maybe she could try her hand at writing once more. She decided she would need inspiration before trying to write her own story.
Every day she would choose a story from Benjamin's wall of books and she would read as much as she could. Whenever Benjamin was not busy, he would take Cora to the park and they would talk about what she read.
No matter how many times Benjamin said they would discuss plans for a wedding, the topic never came up when they would talk. Cora grew more and more comfortable with Benjamin and even felt happy living with him. Of course, her heart still wanted to be with Thomas.
One afternoon, as Cora sat reading a story about a poor young man hunting a lion to prove to a King he was worthy of his daughter's hand in marriage; a maid informed her that there was a parcel for her. Cora was very confused but went to the front door to find out what it was.
When she took it from the man, he was very shocked. It was a heavy box and was sure she would have needed a man's help carrying it. Cora would be lying if she had said the task was easy, but little things like this made her feel more at home.
She opened the box in the sitting area where she loved to read. It was the same area that she had seen Thomas in the garden only a few weeks before. Cora could hardly believe her eyes. It was a type writer, with a letter attached.
The letter read; "Dear Cora, after seeing you so interested in the books, I felt you would like this. Love, Benjamin."
Cora was so delighted. She called for the chefs to bake up a small treat and she wanted to bring it to Benjamin's office immediately.
Cora trusted the driver to bring her where she wanted to go. And before long, there was a man opening the door for her and holding out his hand to help you out. She walked up the stairs with a small package in her hand.
Unlike the first time she visited the building, she took her time walking up the stairs to read the occupations on the doors. Some were words she had never heard before and some were as simply as Artist. Cora thought that they must be very skilled painters for a man such as Benjamin to invest in them.
When she finally got to Benjamin's office, she told the receptionist who she was and why she was there. The lady asked her to have a seat and went in to see Benjamin right away.
From the sitting room, Cora could hear the words Benjamin's booming voice made. "I thought I told you, no visitors when we are having a meeting." When the lady told him it was Cora there was a pause. "Bring her in, please." Benjamin said almost enthusiastically.
The lady waved Cora toward the down. When Cora entered, she said, "I hope I am not interrupting anything."
"Not at all," an older man said sitting to the side of the long wooden table. There were about ten men, all older, all in very expensive looking suits and all had papers in front of them.
"It is nice to finally meet you," another, heavier man said.
"I brought you these," Cora said to Benjamin, passing him the boxes of desserts. "As a thank you."
Benjamin chuckled and took the box, kissing Cora's hand as a thank you. "How kind of you, thank you Cora. We were all saying that we were getting a little hungry." The men all laughed.
Cora bowed her head and left the room. She said goodbye to the lady at the front deck on her way out. As she walked down the stairs she stopped in front of Thomas's office.
"Do you wish to speak with the doctor miss?" asked the receptionist.
Cora paused; all she could think was about this weird, heavy feeling in her stomach as the idea of seeing Thomas went through her head. "My stomach has been feeling rather odd lately. If he is not busy, I wouldn't mind a quick word."
The lady smiled, "Of course. I will see if he has time, his next appointment isn't for another hour." She disappeared into the doorway and Cora took a seat. She grew more and more nervous as each second ticked by on the big clock in the lobby. The clicking echoed up the staircase and the only thing making the sound quieter, was the sound of Cora's heart beating, getting louder with each heartbeat.
The lady exited and said the doctor would see Cora. Cora thanked her and entered the room. "What seems to be the problem miss Cora?" Thomas asked, in an almost teasing way.
Cora decided to play along, "I don't know doctor, my heart keeps beating faster and my stomach feels all funny. It feels as if there is something jumping around in there and tickling me from the inside."
They both laughed. "Surely you didn't just come to see me," Thomas said. "That could get us both in trouble."
"Benjamin bought me a type writer," Cora told him. "I want to become a writer and he wished to help. I came by to thank him." She paused and looked at her hands that she had folded in front of her. "But I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing you. It happens to rarely that I just couldn't pass up the opportunity."
Thomas stared at her for a moment, and then began to slowly walk towards her. She looked up, and seemed slightly confused at what Thomas was doing. He walked passed her and opened the door. "She is not doing so well, I do not wish to be disturbed." Then he closed the door and turned back to Cora.
A few moments passed, but it felt like much longer as they gazed into each other's eyes. All of a sudden Thomas was standing right in front of Cora with his hands around her face. He leaned forward and kissed her. Cora's hands dropped to her side then slowly found their way up the sides of Thomas until she was holding him.
Thomas picked her up and sat her on his examination table. The passion was something unlike Cora had ever experienced before. Though all they did was hold each other and kiss, Cora and Thomas both knew they yearned for much more. And yet, Cora could not go on.
She put her hand on Thomas' chest to hold him back. "This isn't right," she told him.
"You said yourself," Thomas pleaded. "Benjamin isn't marrying you for love. You deserve to be loved."
Cora sighed, "That's not what I mean." She paused, unsure how to continue. How could she get the jumbled up words in her brain to flow together. "I don't even know you Thomas. How do we know that this isn't just mindless passion? We know nothing about each other. How can you be sure this is love?"
Thomas took a step back, he knew she was right. He'd be lying if the thought didn't cross his mind too, but he just wanted to be with her so bad that he didn't want to second guess any of it. "How do we know that we'll get along?"
"Feelings this strong, how could they be wrong?" Thomas asked her. "You're right; we must get to know each other better. We have to do it in a manner that does not disturb Sir Benjamin."
They both thought for a little. "Well," said Cora finally breaking the silence. "When if my stomach is having trouble adjusting to fine British food and I need to visit a doctor?" Thomas agreed to the plan. It wasn't ideal, but made sense and lacked suspicion.
h