plunged into the pool. To her relief, none of them approached her with new problems to take care of.
She stopped at the rail and looked out over the river. The Nachtmusik wouldn’t be leaving for its next destination until late tonight. Even while they were still here in the dock, the guests seemed to be already settling in nicely and enjoying themselves.
Maybe the pressure will let up for a while, she thought hopefully.
As she stood at the rail and gazed at the Danube flowing peacefully past the boat, she remembered Mom and Dad taking her on boat rides on that lovely river. And there, up ahead of the boat’s mooring, was the Szécheny Chain Bridge. They had carried her across that bridge on their shoulders and then through the mighty Citadella and the wonders of Buda Castle.
She’d been trying not to think about Mom since she’d been in Budapest.
But now she couldn’t seem to help it.
What happened to her? she wondered, as she so often had over the intervening years.
She remembered Tia’s words: “I guess she wasn’t as happy as she made herself out to be.”
As London looked around at the cheerful pearl of a city, she wondered whether Tia might be right. Maybe marriage and family hadn’t been enough for Mom. Maybe their mother hadn’t met with some terrible fate. Maybe she’d simply left her New World life for a much more exciting life in the Old World.
Maybe she was more like me than I knew, London thought.
After all, London herself couldn’t imagine living her sister’s life.
But at least she hadn’t spent years trying to live that way. Her mother had been married with two daughters when she’d disappeared.
London felt a sudden ache in her throat.
Didn’t she care about us? she wondered.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a nearby male voice.
“Enjoying the view, I see.”
She turned and saw a tall and rather handsome man walking toward her. He was wearing the ship’s official dark blue suit, but she was sure she hadn’t seen him before.
And yet somehow, she was immediately intrigued by him.
CHAPTER SEVEN
London tried not to gawk at the good-looking stranger. Although his black-rimmed glasses made him appear bookish, he was elegant and stylish in an Old World manner. She hadn’t quite caught the words on his small, dignified nameplate when he stepped to the rail right next to her.
Who is he? she wondered, a bit surprised at her own reaction. She also had to wonder if she was blushing. During the year that Ian had been her boyfriend, London hadn’t given much thought to other men.
He was obviously an official on the staff, but which one?
“It’s a beautiful city,” she replied to his comment, pleased to begin a casual conversation.
“I cannot think of a city more beautiful,” the man replied. He turned toward her, extended his hand, and added, “I am Emil Waldmüller, resident historian on the Nachtmusik.”
London shook his hand and was impressed by his firm yet gentle grip. She guessed that he was in his forties, and she recognized his accent as German.
“I’m pleased to meet you, Herr Waldmüller. I’m London Rose.”
“Call me Emil, please,” the man said. “May I call you London?”
“Please do.”
“I saw you greeting passengers. You handled it well. You must be our new social director.”
“I am,” London said. She felt relieved that someone thought she had managed the boarding rush all right.
From Emil’s slight smile, London guessed that he’d gotten wind of Amy Blassingame’s fury at someone else getting that job. Perhaps he’d even witnessed one of her outbursts.
“Yours is a demanding task,” he continued. “Passengers are not always easy to please.”
“No, but I’ve been doing my best to serve people for years. I learned a motto during my years as an ocean cruise hostess. ‘The customer may not always be right, but the customer is always the customer.’”
“A wise saying,” Emil said with a nod. “Right or wrong, one must always err on the side of the customer’s wishes.”
Emil leaned on the rail and looked at London.
“I am sorry to add to your workload,” he said. “But I just met with a group of passengers who have a request.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“Well, our passengers have the rest of the day free, and of course many will be sightseeing on their own. But this small group is less familiar with the city, and they would at least like to go out to a nice restaurant before we leave—and so would I.”
London wasn’t sure whether Emil was asking her permission to take