Heart of Gold | B. Gold ✓

30 | The Photo

Fawnie was fine until she and Bonnie finally made it onto the very street Victoria lived on... the nerves she'd been ignoring until then finally made themselves visible. She seized Bonnie's hand tightly, "What if something goes wrong? Or... or... there's a trap set up by the Italians?" She kept her voice down as she expressed her anxieties to Bonnie.

The young man at her side squeezed her hand, "Everything will be fine, dove. If anything happens I'll be right by your side for it all." He tried to get Fawnie to smile but to no avail, she just gnawed on her bottom lip nervously.

Once they made it to the door, Bonnie was the one to lift the knocker and tap it against the wood three times. "Coming!" The sound of a different voice coming through the door made Fawnie's eyes widen in fear of it being Victoria. Even though the Shelby girl wanted to meet Victoria, actually meeting the woman seemed to be a fantasy.

Now that it was actually happening, Fawnie could hear her heart thumping in her chest. Her breathing picked up as the door was opened to reveal the very woman in the photograph. Fawn and Victoria's jaws dropped in sync. "I- mum who-" Victoria seemed to be at a loss for words as she looked at Fawnie's face with curiosity.

"It's those youngins I told you about on the phone, darling!"

Bonnie grinned at Victoria, "Nice to meet you, miss." Fawnie released her iron grip on Bonnie's hand so he could shake Victoria's. "I'm Bonnie and this is Fawnie."

Victoria gasped at the sound of Fawnie's name, "Faw- I... I'm Victoria, uh, come in I suppose." Bonnie had to practically force Fawn to enter the house as she looked around in awe, eyes wide with dread. "Mum says a Mr. Shelby is looking for me?" A dry chuckle leaves Fawnie's lips upon hearing her lie out loud. "What's funny?" Victoria asked innocently, eyes still on Fawn.

With a deep breath, Fawnie finally spoke up. "Nothing, miss... I just-" She squeezed her eyes shut and when a hand settled on the small of her back Fawn felt a little bit better knowing Bonnie was by her side. "I may have... told a fib in order to meet you. It's just that I found this photo of you and my brother in my baby album..." Fawnie held the yellowed photograph out for Victoria to grab.

"How did you get this-"

"I believe... you or someone sent it to my house. There was a postage stamp on the back." Fawnie leaned toward Victoria and settled her finger on the barely-there stamp, "It's hard to see but the Queen's face is there."

The older woman seemed appalled as she stared at the photo bug-eyed. "How old are you, Fawnie?"

"Turned eighteen just last summer." Victoria's already pale skin grew whiter. Fawnie watched in confusion as Victoria slowly backed up into the couch and sat down with a thump and a hand over her slack jaw.

Victoria placed the photograph on the table beside the couch and finally said something after a beat of silence. "Would you two... like some biscuits and tea?" She questioned as they just nodded out of respect.

Once Victoria left the room, Fawnie turned to Bonnie, "Did you see her bloody face, Bon!? She looked as though she'd seen a ghost!!"

"You're right about that, she was as pale as snow..."

"What do you think that means?" Fawn asked while gripping his forearm tightly.

Bonnie shrugged, "No idea... but she definitely recognized Mr. Shelby." Fawnie agreed with a nod as they settled on the opposing couch beside one another. "What if they were an item?"

Fawn's nose wrinkled at the thought of that, "Nah, he was with Greta at the time..." She made a noise of surprise, "What if he cheated on Greta with Victoria? That would make sense why she seemed so confused by the photo? Maybe things didn't end well between them?" She speculated out loud to Bonnie as they waited for Victoria to return.

"Sorry about the wait, my mum just made a fresh batch of biscuits and tea." Victoria set the silver platter down on the coffee table and began serving the young adults across from her.

Once Fawn was satisfied with her tea, she got down to business. "How did you know Thomas?"

A blush covered Victoria's cheeks, "We had a brief fling one summer... 1907, I remember it as though it was yesterday." This made Fawnie's eyes widen as she began to try and piece together the puzzle that was forming in her mind. "He was so sweet, I'll admit. But I knew it wasn't going to last for he already wooed Greta De Rossi the previous year. I was just the other woman."

"Tommy was... sweet?" Fawn asked in awe.

"Oh, he was the kindest young man around. And such a gentleman, even if he was using me as a distraction. He took me on the cutest dates, a lot of them were horseback rides out of the city and into the country where we'd dine in the fields... we took that photograph at the races... that was the last time I saw Tommy... I had to return home, to my studies, I'm sure you understand."

Fawnie nodded, "I do... so you were in Birmingham for a summer holiday?" Victoria responded with a nod of her head as she drank her tea. "I don't mean to pry but... why did you send the photo to Tommy?"

The bittersweet expression on Victoria's face made Fawn's heart clench, "I wanted him back, truth be told... I'd... I'd found out I was with child after I returned home. And I wanted to try and marry him so the baby wouldn't be a bastard, so my name wouldn't be drug through the mud... but he never responded."

All color drained from Fawnie's cheeks as she put two and two together.

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

What do you think Fawnie finally figured out?! Thank you lot for 23k+ reads! It means the world and I cannot wait to see your reactions to the next few chapters lads <3 I love y'all so much!