"Where are we going?" Ruth asked as they entered London proper.
"Mayfair," Harry answered simply.
They had not talked at all as they drove. Ruth knew that Harry was ruminating about Nicholas Blake's treachery, and she couldn't blame him. She had an idea of what might happen next, but she could not help feeling grateful that he wanted to put it off till tomorrow. For in truth, Ruth was lost in thoughts of her own. She had agreed to marry him. It almost didn't feel real, actually. She had been shocked that he'd asked her—there, of all places!—and she had it in her mind to refuse him. But for reasons she would have to unpick later, she had said yes. And she did not regret it. And she would not change her mind. It was just that she was left rather…lost.
Where did they go from here? What would they do? How on earth were they supposed to find their way forward as husband and wife? Whose house would they live in? Would they buy a new house together? Would there be problems with the Service because they were married? Should they even continue at the Service at all?
All of these questions churned through her mind like a madly spinning carousel that wouldn't switch off. She knew she was getting ahead of herself, that they had time to figure it all out. She had meant it before, though, when she said that there was never time for much of anything between them. The timing was never right for them. So even though Harry had proposed at the wrong time and perhaps Ruth had said yes at the wrong time and they were about to go shopping for an engagement ring when she could count on one hand the number of times that she had kissed her fiancé.
But she had to believe that they would be able to make the time. Somehow. All of her questions would sort themselves out. And this was proof of that, actually. Harry was putting work aside for the day so that they could go get an engagement ring. Ruth wasn't actually certain how much of the day she would be spending with him, since he would probably want to be alone to deal with Blake, but if there was any chance for them to get married and find some happiness together, it had to start with spending time together off the Grid. This was a good first step, surely.
"What's in Mayfair?" she asked curiously.
"Cartier."
Ruth nearly had a fit at that. "Harry, you cannot buy me a ring at Cartier!"
He pursed his lips in displeasure at her reaction. "I will not get you anything outrageous," he assured her. "You'll pick out what you like. And one reason we're going to Cartier is because you have to ask for the prices, they're not written on little tags, so we'll get whatever it is you like and you won't be able to be afraid that it's too expensive. Besides, I have more money than I could ever possibly spend, and I am a knight of the realm. The future Lady Pearce will have an engagement ring from Cartier, even if she won't let me buy her another piece of jewelry for the rest of our lives together." He got on a bit of a roll at the end there, practically ranting.
It made her smile for some reason. He had a grumpy, sarcastic way of him that amused her. "You're being stubborn," she told him, knowing she was riling him up a little.
"Marriage is about compromise," he pointed out.
"Yes, exactly. What are you compromising on?"
"I am compromising by agreeing to allow you to choose any ring you want. And you are compromising by choosing that ring from Cartier."
"That is a poor example of compromise."
She saw Harry glance over at her as he was driving, and she allowed him to see her little smile and know that she was teasing him. He chuckled. "It probably is a poor example of compromise, but I wasn't very good at being married the first time. I'll have a lot to learn."
Ruth covered Harry's hand where it rested on the gearshift. "We'll both have a lot to learn. But it'll be different with us."
Harry turned his hand so he could hold hers. "Yes, it will be different."
He did not elaborate, but he did not need to. They fell quiet again. Ruth thought it was ridiculous to spend so much money on a bauble and even more ridiculous to pay the extra price that would come just because it was from Cartier.
A few minutes later, Harry parked on the street a block or so up from the boutique. He came around to open the door for her in that gentlemanly way of his. It was terribly old fashioned, but Ruth found she sort of liked it. She wondered how many sweet, chivalrous things Harry might do, now that they were engaged. How many things had he stopped himself from doing for fear of sending her running for the hills? And how many times had Ruth herself proved those fears right? She sighed to herself at her foolish mistakes of the past.
"Everything alright?" Harry asked, taking note of her sound of discontent.
"No, I'm fine. I was just thinking about how silly I was, being afraid of us being together," she told him.
Harry gave a sad sort of smile. "We're together now, though, aren't we?"
The mood had turned far too serious, once again. It was the way of things between them, she knew, but Harry wanted to celebrate today, and Ruth would not ruin it. So instead, she paused and placed her hands on his chest and gave him a small peck on the lips. "We're together now. And we always will be. That's what the ring is for, isn't it?"
His smile grew at that. "I suppose it is. Shall we?"
Ruth nodded and held his hand as they walked together. She carried her bag in the other hand and thought that she wasn't dressed properly to go to Cartier. Though Ruth did not own anything that would be proper to go to Cartier. The fact that the Nightingale file was still in her bag also did not escape her.
Upon entering the store, Ruth felt even more uncomfortable with her surroundings. But Harry was right at home. He spoke with such authority, asking the salesman to show them a selection of engagement rings. It was sort of wonderful, actually, having Harry be so comfortable anywhere and everywhere he went. Ruth had always been an awkward and nervous sort of person, though she was better able to hide it now. Her time away had made her warier but able to appear calm and inconspicuous. But with Harry commanding a room and Ruth knowing he would keep her safe, she could actually relax in a situation that would have otherwise made her quite uneasy.
"Ruth, what sort of styles do you like?" Harry asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Oh. Erm, I don't actually know. I've never really thought about it before."
The salesman's eyes narrowed in suspicion of such a stupid woman who had never given thought to what sort of engagement ring she might want. But he recovered well, as a professional at Cartier was expected to. "Perhaps the color of the setting might be a place to start, madam. Do you prefer gold or platinum?" he asked.
"Platinum, I think. Most of my jewelry is silver," she answered.
Harry gave a small nod in approval. He placed his hand on the small of her back as they followed the salesman. Ruth liked that he did that.
Rows and rows of sparkling rings bombarded Ruth's senses. She hardly knew where to start. They all looked beautiful. And not one of them looked like something she should wear.
Seeming to recognize that she was overwhelmed, Harry spoke softly to her, saying, "Perhaps pick one or two from each row that you like best, and we can narrow it down from there."
That was a good idea. She could concentrate on six rings at a time and make her selections amongst those. And before she knew it, she had only five rings to decide between. It was clear to everyone that Ruth had no clear preferences. They were all in platinum settings, but one was a sapphire, one an emerald, and three diamonds. The emerald and one of the diamonds were square cut. The sapphire was round, and the other two diamonds were pear-shaped. Three of the five rings had the center stone surrounded by smaller diamonds. One of the rings had a plain band while the rest had diamonds around them. There was no clear choice.
Ruth turned to Harry after staring at the rings for a minute or two. "What do you think?"
"I don't like the emerald," he said bluntly.
"Alright. I don't think it's right either. I do like the sapphire, something a little different. Though Princess Diana had a sapphire engagement ring, so that's not too unconventional," Ruth pointed out.
Harry looked at the rings and reached out but hesitated. Ruth thought she knew which ring he was going to pick out. Or she hoped she did. In that split second, she'd decided which one she liked best.
"Go on," she encouraged.
He glanced at her and then back at the ring selection. He picked up the pear-shaped diamond ring with a halo of small diamonds around it and all around the band. It was exquisitely beautiful and perhaps not what Ruth might have thought of for herself, but Harry himself was perhaps not who Ruth might have imagined as the man she would end up marrying.
Ruth smiled and held out her left hand to Harry. He slipped the ring onto her finger. Strangely, it fit perfectly. And it was perfect. The perfect ring for her. For them. "That's the one," she whispered, gazing at it with awe.
Harry took her hand and kissed the back of it. "Good," he murmured in response to her.
It only took a few minutes to pay, and he wouldn't let Ruth get anywhere near looking at a price, so she forced herself to accept living in ignorance of it. The ring stayed on her finger where Harry had placed it. And that was where it would stay.
They left the shop and found the London weather quite lovely. Ruth smiled in the sunshine. "What should we do now?" she asked. "Or do you need to…?"
"Not just yet. I'd like to spend some more time with you, if you don't mind."
She knew why he said things like that, asking if she minded spending time with him. Just because she had agreed to marry him did not mean that every problem between them had been solved. Far from it. And so, to reassure him and to try and do her part in bridging the chasm that still existed between them, Ruth reached out and took his hand, giving it a small squeeze. "I don't mind. Quite the opposite. You can come over to mine, if you want, even though it's a horrid flat, but that way you can leave whenever you want to and you don't have to kick me out of your house when you want to be alone to…to do what you need to do."
"Come over to mine," he requested softly. "I'll not kick you out. I can stop off and pick up the things I need on the way. Then we can have a quiet afternoon together."
"Does that mean you've decided how you'll handle things?"
"Yes."
Ruth wasn't sure if she wanted to ask what his plan was or not. She was curious. But she did not want to put him in a difficult position. "Good," she answered, leaving it at that.
They walked hand in hand back to the car. Harry opened the door for her once again. She got in and buckled her seatbelt and gazed at her beautiful ring. She was engaged to Harry. And she was going to spend the afternoon with her fiancé.