Augusta frowned. "I simply don't know. But somehow Edward never quite gets around to asking her."
This did not surprise Micky. He could not imagine Edward's marrying, no matter how suitable the girl. What did he have to gain from marriage? He had no desire for children. But now there was an incentive: the partnership. Even if Edward did not care about that, Micky did. "What can we do to encourage him?"
Augusta gave Micky a sharp look and said: "I have a funny feeling that he might go ahead if you were married."
Micky looked away. That was perceptive of her. She had no idea what went on in the private rooms of Nellie's brothel--but she had a mother's intuition. He, too, felt that if he married first, Edward might be more willing. "Me, marry?" he said with a little laugh. Naturally he would marry, sooner or later--everyone did--but he saw no reason to do so yet.
However, if it was the price of financing the railroad ...
It was not just the railroad, he reflected. One successful loan would lead to another. Countries such as Russia and Canada raised fresh loans every year on the London market--for raifroads, harbors, water supply companies and general government finance. There was no reason why Cordova should not do the same. Micky would take a commission, official or unofficial, on every penny raised; but more importantly, the money would be channeled to his family's interests back home, making them ever richer and more powerful.
And the alternative was unthinkable. If he let his father down over this he would be never be forgiven. To avert his father's wrath he would marry three times over.
He looked back at Augusta. They never spoke of what had happened in old Seth's bedroom back in the September of 1873, but she could not possibly have forgotten it. It had been sex without intercourse, infidelity without adultery, something and nothing. They had both been fully clothed, it had lasted only seconds, yet it had been more passionate and moving and searingly unforgettable than anything Micky had ever done with the whores at Nellie's brothel, and he felt sure it had been a momentous passage for Augusta too. How did she really feel about the prospect of Micky's getting married? Half the women in London would be jealous, but it was so hard to know what Augusta felt in her heart. He decided to ask her directly. He looked into her eyes and said: "Do you want me to marry?"
