Chapter 11:

For the whole evening he had tried to concentrate on the conversation he was having with Miss Forbes. But he had a lot of trouble with that. He could not help glancing at Miss Ogden, who seemed literally captivated by Mr. Duval. He heard her laugh and in fact, it annoyed him. Why was she laughing exactly? Well, in that case he was going to do the same as her.

Arrived at dessert, he finally managed to convince himself to do exactly like the young woman and enjoy the company. Colleen was very nice, and he really had to focus on their conversation.

"What do you do for a living?" William asked curiously as he watched her put a piece of strawberry between her red painted lips.

"Nothing." she answered with a laugh.

William was speechless, not knowing how to react.

"I was a journalist for years. I traveled a lot and now I don't work anymore."

The young man nodded, but his detective him resurfaced. He wondered how she had become rich. Legacy? Wedding? In any case, it could not be her old job as a journalist. He knew almost perfectly well that this trade was as well paid as that of his friend George Crabtree and his own at the same time. And the least we could say was that neither of them was rich.

When dinner was finally over and the evening ended, the room slowly emptied. William once again spotted Magnus Duval giving Julia Ogden a hand kiss and they slipped away, immersed in what seemed to be a passionate discussion. He got up in turn and also kissed Colleen's hand, who appreciated this touching gesture. As he stood still holding the young woman's hand, he felt a pat on his back and turned to see a Thomas Brackenreid winking suggestively at him as he slipped out of the dining car with his wife and children.

"You and subtlety. It will always surprise me, Thomas." sighed Margaret as she tried to remove the clips she had in her hair, standing in front of one of the mirrors in the compartment.

"But…"

"No but frankly…William was so embarrassed. It was really not nice to force him to sit next to this woman. She's way too superficial for him." Mrs. Brackenreid said slightly.

Thomas got up from the bed after sitting there for a few minutes in his pajamas, watching his wife undress and get ready to go to sleep.

"Calm down sweetie…" he reasoned with her. "Murdoch needs to get out of his comfort zone. He needs a little one shot."

Margaret suddenly turned to her husband and shook her head. "Nonsense… That's not what he needs. His fiancée died…"

"It's been almost two years since she died, he has to get out of this bad patch." Thomas cut in a little more firmly. "Listen… He's bad. He needs to change his mind. And I mean that seriously. It pains me to see him like that, actually…"

"And do you really think that pushing him into the arms of a woman who only wants…well you know…is going to cure him?" she rolled her eyes before pulling away from her husband and slipping between the sheets.

She crossed her arms and watched Thomas join her wearily.

"I hope the boys are sleeping in their compartment…"

"You brood on them too much." Thomas answered tit for tat.

"Wait, they are 9 and 12 years old. »

"Yes, and me at their age I already accompanied my father on the hunt. He used to take me for…"

"Yes, but that was a different time. And what made you dream may not make our sons dream." Margaret concludes before turning off the light and getting comfortable to sleep.

Thomas sighed in the dark. He and his wife often argued over the education of their boys. And since the day before, it had been a little tense. Indeed, Thomas had taken a compartment for them and another for their sons, rather than one for four. And the least we could say was that she did not appreciate it. For her, they were too young to be responsible and not to exceed the limits. Whether it's when to go to bed, or just how many times to brush your teeth a day...

Note: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the sequel!