What if Mr Brown and his family had not met Paddington that night? What if a shy, blonde baronet had been on that train instead?
It was the bear's look of dejected hopelessness that first touched Sir Anthony's heart. The small bear looked as unhappy as he felt.
"Hello" Anthony said as gently as he could so as not to startle him.
The bear stood and raised his hat with manners even more old-fashioned than Anthony's.
"Good evening. It still looks like rain" said the bear politely.
"Indeed it does" answered the baronet. "It is not a good night to be loitering on railway stations, young bear."
"No, no, it isn't. It's just that, well, I've only just arrived."
"May I ask where you have come from?"
"From darkest Peru" he answered as though this was a normal, everyday thing.
"Good heavens! Why ever did you have to come all that way?"
"It's a story as long as the journey. But, please, don't let me detain you" the bear said looking from Anthony to the tired-looking man waiting patiently behind him with the luggage.
"Don't worry about Stewart. He's my PA." The bear looked puzzled. "My Personal Assistant. I expect he just wants to get home. It's been a very long day."
"May I ask you one question before you go? Here in England...how does one find a home?"
Anthony regarded the bear with such pain in his eyes that the bear regretted mentioning it.
"Well, that is something I feel unqualified to answer, young bear. Do I gather that you are in need of a home?"
The bear nodded. "I don't seem to be doing the right thing, because no one has stopped to talk to me, except you."
"I think you are doing the best you can, and that is the right thing. It's just that many people can scare quite easily and don't understand. What is your name, young bear?"
"My bear name is...unpronounceable by most humans, and I don't have a human name, as yet."
Anthony looked around him thoughtfully. "What do you think of 'Paddington'?"
Paddington tried it out in a number of ways and thought it very suitable.
"Well, then, Paddington, I would be honoured if you would accept the hospitality I can offer you...while you look for your new home."
"Thank you. Erm, what is your name?"
"I am Sir Anthony Strallan."
"Thank you, Sir Anthony. I am very grateful."
...
In the taxi on the way to Anthony's town house, Paddington told him and Stewart about the earthquake, losing Uncle Pastuzo, Aunt Lucy's decision to move to the Home For Retired Bears in Lima, and his own desire to find a home in England.
"Tomorrow we will begin to make enquiries" Anthony assured him. "But for tonight, the priority seems to me to get some food into you, get you clean, dry, and warm, and make sure you get a good night's sleep. Don't you agree, Stewart?"
"Thoroughly, Sir. Master Paddington, may I enquire as to your nutritional needs?" Paddington stared at him blankly. "What do bears like you eat?"
"Oh! Marmalade, mostly. Bears like marmalade. But I like lots of other things too."
"That is quite fortunate, seeing as Strallan House only has whatever's in the larder until I can go shopping tomorrow" said Stewart, rather pointedly, looking sternly at Anthony. "I am not sure if you would have been happy with anything I could purchase for you at a kebab stall, which is the only other food available at this time of night."
"Oh, please don't inconvenience yourself on my account" Paddington said hastily. "I'm quite used to hunger now. My marmalade stores on the boat ran out about a week ago." He smiled at the two gentlemen, who were both horrified and ashamed of themselves at the same time.
"We will find you something, Paddington" stated Anthony, definitely.
And they did. There were two and a half jars of marmalade at the back of the pantry larder. Paddington and Anthony carried them to the dining room, while Stewart got the hot water going and made up a bed in one of the spare rooms.
"This is really very fine marmalade, Sir Anthony. May I ask where you got it?" asked Paddington between mouthfuls.
"Stewart gets it. We can ask him. I'll just go and make sure that all's in hand. Once you've finished your marmalade you'll be wanting to get to sleep, I'll wager."
Paddington was left alone. He continued enjoying Sir Anthony's marmalade as he looked around the room, staring up at the portraits hanging on the walls. Some of the men bore a very striking resemblance to his host: blue eyes and blonde hair certainly ran in the family. He was so interested in the paintings that Paddington didn't notice that he was leaving a trail of marmalade drops on the carpet as he walked around. That was, until he got to where he started and felt the stickiness underpaw.
The poor small bear was mortified, and filled with panic. What if Sir Anthony or Stewart returned and found that he'd dropped marmalade on the rather nice mat? They wouldn't want to look after him any more, and it was quite rude and ungrateful of him to have done such a thing. He looked round and saw a small, brass shovel hanging next to the large fireplace. Just the thing! He could scoop up the marmalade with that and all would be well.
Paddington worked quickly, scraping the marmalade up as he walked around the dining table. He arrived back where he had begun again, only to see that where there had been marmalade on the carpet, there were now large soot marks. He turned the shovel upside down, and, yes, it was covered in soot and coal dust. On top of that, all the marmalade that he had just cleaned up fell back onto the carpet.
He was getting more and more distressed, and more and more sure that one of the two men would soon come back and discover what he had done. He looked out of the door; the coast was clear at the moment. But he had to do something very fast. He ran down to the pantry once more and rifled through the cupboards until he found a bottle with a label on it proclaiming "Cleans until it Sparkles!"
"I don't know about sparkling, but if it cleans that will be good enough" said Paddington to himself. He took a duster and ran back to the dining room and liberally poured the contents of the bottle over the carpet rubbing it in thoroughly with the cloth.
At that moment Sir Anthony and Stewart did return to see Paddington kneeling on the floor and rubbing a mixture of marmalade, coal dust, soot, and silver polish into the eighteenth-century Persian rug.
Stewart almost fainted, and had to be steadied by Sir Anthony who had turned a pale colour himself.
"Paddington?" he asked tremulously.
"I'm really very sorry. It was an accident, and nothing seemed to make it any better. Only...any...worse."
"Sir, perhaps it would be best if you took Master Paddington up to bed, and I'll…try to sort this out." Anthony had never felt more sorry for his long-suffering man.
"In the morning will be fine, Stewart. We've all had a very eventful day."
Anthony smiled indulgently at the bear and held out his good hand.
"Come on, Paddington. Everything will feel better tomorrow."
"Will it, Sir?"
"Even if you've ruined the rug, it won't have been the worst thing to happen to me today" Anthony said as they climbed the stairs together.
"What was?"
"Today, young bear, I walked away from the only woman I ever loved. It should have been my wedding day, you see. I should be here with my new bride beginning our honeymoon. Instead, I jilted her, and I will never see her again."
Paddington looked closely at his new friend. He saw the pain and resignation in his eyes, and knew he hadn't done it to be cruel to the lady.
"Why did you do it, Sir Anthony?"
"Because she's young, and beautiful, and has so much life to live. Because she shouldn't have to be tied to an old cripple, to spend her youth caring for him. Because I don't deserve her. And because I love her."
TO BE CONTINUED...