Page 50 of Walk on the Wildsyde

Clara did as she asked, too curious and too bewildered not to.

“Who told you I was Hamilton’s lover?” Mrs Scott asked bluntly.

“Is it true?” Clara demanded, feeling this was far more pertinent a question for the moment.

“First things first,” Mrs Scott said with some force, “I take it I am to thank that rat, Malcolm Stewart, for your distress?”

Clara nodded unsteadily as Mrs Scott said some very vulgar things under her breath. “Fellow ought to be horsewhipped,” she added savagely. “It was obvious last night he meant to cause trouble. Still, Hamilton will deal with him, I have no doubt.”

“Is it true?” Clara pressed. “Did he… Did he kiss me last night and come straight to you?”

“Ah, he kissed you!” Mrs Scott said, apparently delighted by this information. “I worried he might not act as swiftly as he ought, but the fellow had sense enough to act. That’s good.”

“Mrs Scott!” Clara said, her temper fraying.

“Hush, pet, drink your cognac,” Mrs Scott said, patting her hand. “I do hope you’re not going to be silly. You cannot have believed that Hamilton was a man with no experience? Of course, he has had lovers, and in a town like this it is difficult to be discreet, but he has always managed it. Yes, he was my lover, to answer your question, but no longer.”

“Since when?” Clara asked, her heart thudding very hard.

“Since the moment he laid eyes on you,” Mrs Scott said with a wry smile. “You silly girl, don’t you realise it ought to me sobbing and carrying on? I’m the one he cast aside. I’m older than you, and it’s been a long time since I was half so sweet and innocent. I knew I could never hold such a man, and so I shall not break my heart over him. You, though, you are the kind who could be the love of his life if you don’t mess it up.”

Clara stared at her, a little stunned by her words. “M-Me?”

Mrs Scott laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, youth really is wasted on the young. Yes, you, love. You’ve got him on a string, did you but know it. If you crook your little finger, that man will come running.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Clara said frankly.

“Is it?” Mrs Scott sipped her cognac and regarded Clara for a moment. “Try it,” she suggested, winking at her.

Clara stared at her. This woman had been Hamilton’s lover, surely they ought to despise each other, and yet she found she could not. Jealousy gnawed at her heart at the idea of Hamilton kissing her, taking her in his arms and… and she would not think about that. But he’d ended things between them, for her, because he wanted Clara, not Mrs Scott.

“Mr Stewart said he came here last night,” she pressed, needing to understand this.

Mrs Scott nodded. “He did. You’ll have to manage him, Clara, for he’s forever forgetting his hat or his watch or something. It was his watch on the last occasion, which I have had for some weeks as I’ve not seen him,” she added with a smile. “He came last night to fetch it, and we had a drink together to say goodbye, and I wished him luck with his beautiful Miss Halliday.”

“Truly?” Clara said, wanting so much to believe it, she hardly dared.

Mrs Scott put down her glass and took Clara’s hand, holding it between both of hers. “Truly,” she said, staring into Clara’s eyes. There was a wistful tone to her voice that told Clara she was not quite so sanguine about Hamilton leaving her as she let on and Clara wondered at it. Could she really believe everything the woman said about Hamilton. Yet she believed in him, and she felt in her heart that he would not do such a reprehensible thing. “That man is falling hard, Clara, so don’t be a fool for the sake of a little hurt pride. There aren’t many like him in the world, and you’d be an idiot to let him go. Don’t let the likes of Malcolm Stewart ruin everything for you both.”

Clara let out a shaky breath and nodded. “I won’t, and… and thank you, for speaking to me so candidly.”

“Candid is the only kind of speech I approve of,” Mrs Scott said with a laugh and reached for her glass again, holding it up towards Clara. “Here’s to you and Hamilton, may you fall madly in love and have the kind of romance the rest of us only dream about.”

“And may you find someone who loves and admires you as you deserve, which is a good deal, I think,” Clara said boldly.

Mrs Scott laughed, delighted by the toast. “I’ll drink to that,” she said, so Clara chinked her glass against Mrs Scott’s and the two of them drank to a wonderful future.