A fitful night on a slow train

The Montagues were back on the platform when they were told the train had been delayed a few miles further south at Doncaster by the station mistress. She said the pipe connecting the water tank in the tender to the engine itself had broken, and a new engine needed to be attached to the train.

At the Countess' request, she let Johnathan and Edward into an otherwise closed waiting room, as she was not about to start looking for a hotel at this hour like a commoner.

"I know something is on your mind, my son." Johnathan said as the sat.

"Well, I..."

"I know that scene in the restaurant was odd for you. You're so used to seeing your mother as she is in private, not bound by the rules of society."

"Yes. The way she told you to be quiet seemed like a completely different person." Edward said.

"This is the world we live in, son." The Earl said "Women lead. Men obey. I was wrong to speak like that to her. She is a woman. My better. They are our betters, my child, always remember that."

"Yes father." Edward said.

He leaned his head against his father and drifted off to sleep.

It was well after midnight when he was awoken by a call of his name by his mother. The train was arriving. The two men stood and headed for the door.

"What the bloody hell do you call this?" The countess asked the station mistress on duty as the train rolled into the station.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but this was all the shed at Doncaster had."

The countess bit her lip.

"Look, I know my locomotives. I serve on the railways committee... THAT is a goods engine." She said as the train came to a stop. "They're not built for speed, We'll be lucky if we're in Scotland by dinner time..."

"I'm sorry Ma'am..."

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. It's not your fault, I'm just tired." The countess said "Come along boys... Let's get where we're going and get this over with..."

She helped them into a compartment as the Station mistress dragged their things down to the guard's compartment.

"Is everything alright, darling?" Johnathan asked his wife.

"That's a class 22 good's engine on the front." She said with a sigh.

"And what does that mean, mother?" Edward asked.

"Sorry, keep forgetting..." she said, remembering men were not versed in such technical details. to the two of them, an engine was an engine.

"Good's engines are designed to get big, heavy loads moving... but after that don't get much faster. the engine we SHOULD have reaches 60-80 miles per hour... this thing is lucky to make 40 and since it's night, they run slower... and we need to make stops and..."

"Let's just try to get some sleep." She ended.

Edward couldn't sleep, though.

The train rolled north, station stop after station stop. He looked out the window into the dark. Across the moors and the fields. He was pondering the world around him. He was always curious as a child and a little of that curosity was still there. He wondered just how better women really were than him... He pondered for a moment what it would be like if men were in charge, but then shook it off as ridiculous when he thought about army's of men in their gowns fighting wars. As the train approached Newcastle, he finally fell asleep, somewhat comforted for the first time in his place in the world as a man.