Page 59

That night Corinna was disconsolate and uncomfortable. The baby was lying against her spine and she had backache. She was also worried about the inhabitants of her house. Things were not going to plan. How much she wished for the ends to be tied in a satisfactory bow, but people were not ribbons and their lives and wills were contrary to order and reason. As she plucked at the coverlet, she thought this was why she loved painting. With her brush she made a pattern of the chaos of life; the lines and colours were all put in their pleasing place.

She wanted to talk to Alick but he was late to bed. She turned restlessly, trying to find a comfortable position in which to lie. The baby was larger than Emma at this stage in her pregnancy and more active, kicking her at inconvenient times and places. Cook and Polly assured her this was a sign she was carrying a braw boy.

Corinna was just falling asleep when the door opened and her husband entered, his face ghostly in the candlelight.

‘Are you still awake?’ he whispered as he put the candlestick he was carrying on the table.

Corinna struggled to sit up and said in a cross, sleepy voice, ‘Alick! I’ve been waiting for you. I need to talk.’

He cast off his banyan and clambered into bed. ‘I’m sorry, my darling. I stayed drinking with Zadoc. He’s off to Ireland tomorrow.’

‘Well, Eliza Gray is off tomorrow too, but she goes back to the circus. I’m so concerned for her, but she’s even more obstinate than you are! She says she cannot live on the charity of others. But you agree, Alick, we would be very happy for her to live here with us. She could help when the baby comes.’

‘Of course. I agree with you on all domestic matters, dearest Corinna.’

He looked pale and tired as he sank back on the pillows and she knew he was hoping she would stop talking and fall asleep, but she had to unburden herself. ‘Alick, what did you ascertain about your cousin’s marital plans? You know he’s asked Miss Gray to marry him?’

‘We didn’t talk of marriage. He was full of the success of his mare at Epsom. And was excited at tracking down his wider family in Ireland.’ He yawned.

‘If Miss Gray were to accept him, she’d have a good life. Certainly a comfortable one. There’s nothing about his character that gives you pause, is there?’

‘No. He’s not as interesting as me, of course.’ He looked at her mischievously. ‘He’s a steady but dull dog. Miss Gray’s a bit too much of a bright spark.’

‘But that’s often a good mix, don’t you think?’

‘Darling, come on now. It’s time to sleep. You can’t manage other people’s lives, you know that. This way madness lies.’

He put out his arms and she settled into them. ‘I just want her to be happy. She’s such an individual and brave young woman. I recognise my own unpromising beginnings in her story and I want things to work out well in her life, as they have in mine. She knows now she is truly an orphan, with no one to help her. I don’t want her to feel alone.’

Alick was almost asleep when he murmured into her hair, ‘I wish she’d marry Purfoy.’

This sleepy statement electrified Corinna’s tired body and she sat up, propping herself on her arm. ‘Why do you say that, Alick? She insists he’s the only love for her, but any chance of that having a satisfactory outcome seems to have turned to dust. What do you know that has changed?’ Alick’s eyes were closed and Corinna shook his shoulder. ‘Alick, answer me! This is important.’

He groaned and opened his eyes. ‘It’s just Rav’s so morose. Something’s disturbed his spirit. I can only think it’s Miss Gray. In my limited opinion, he needs a lively chit like her to take him in hand and lighten his mood. He’s no longer much fun to be around.’

Corinna slipped back into his arms again. ‘Can’t you speak to him about his feelings?’

Alick snorted. ‘You should know by now, Rav doesn’t talk about feelings. We men certainly don’t talk about his feelings. We’re not women, you know!’

‘Well, the least I can do is accompany Miss Gray back to the circus in our chaise. I’ll talk to Davey in the morning.’ She leaned across her sleeping husband and blew out the candles then gave herself up to wakeful sleep.

It was past noon when the Wolfe chaise drew up outside the house, Eliza’s valise and one of Corinna’s portmanteaus filled with her old clothes strapped on the back. Polly had given her a tearful farewell earlier. ‘It’s been an honour, miss, to help you with your hair and dress, and accompany you on your adventures.’ Eliza had hugged her with emotion. It was hard to leave these good, loving people, this warm and comforting place.

In the hall, Alick too was affectionate. When Eliza thanked him for being so welcoming when Lord Purfoy had brought her to his door in the middle of the night nearly two months before, he had taken both her hands in his capacious grasp and kissed them. ‘You are more than welcome, and always will be so. You have added such interest and cheer to our lives.’ Baby Emma pulled at her skirts and Eliza lifted her up to offer her a kiss.

Zadoc Flynn was getting ready to leave for the next stage of his tour but broke away from his arrangements to take her hand and say with unexpected earnestness, ‘You’re the finest rider I know and I am privileged that you rode Ohio to such an historic victory. Her illustrious future as a result of your skill will be shared by us both. When I return from Ireland, I will come and see you again, Miss Gray; there may be something I can do that will help and please us both.’ With the military formality he had learned from his father, he clicked his booted heels together and bowed over her hand but did not kiss it. ‘Farewell, Miss Gray, until we meet again.’

Corinna and Eliza climbed into the chaise and it set off towards the river and Astley’s Amphitheatre where the Prebbles Flying Circus was still in residence for the summer. When they were alone, Corinna took Eliza’s hand. ‘My dear, it has been such a pleasure to get to know you. I recognise so much of my young self in you and want the best for you.’

Eliza’s breath caught in her throat. In her young life, so little concern for her happiness or welfare had come her way, and any expressions of such care were irresistible to her. Having been starved of affection, she was overwhelmed when the Wolfes and Miss Fairley offered a liberality of kindness. To sit beside Corinna now and look into her lovely face, full of feeling, and know that someone as she was, with neither family nor wealth, mattered to her, turned Eliza’s heart over. ‘Mrs Wolfe, I cannot express my gratitude…’ Her voice faltered.

‘You don’t have to. But never forget there is a home with us. You could be a help to me in my confinement. And I would be grateful for a sitter for more of my portraits. You have a particular beauty that is compelling and a challenge to capture in paint.’

Eliza’s heart was heavy at her wilful rejection of offers of a life more comfortable than the one to which she was returning. She gazed out of the window as the carriage slowed in the traffic approaching Westminster Bridge. Horsemen, curricles, carriages and countless carts loaded with produce and firewood were jostling for preference. ‘I haven’t been this far east before,’ Corinna said, then pointed at the turreted red-brick edifice beyond the trees. ‘That must be Lambeth Palace. I wonder if old Lord Charles is in residence today.’

The Wolfe carriage started up the incline to the bridge and suddenly they were traversing the great grey-green river. Eliza had last passed this way at dead of night, on foot and whipped by a bitter wind. Now in comfort, she gazed out on the wide watery highway filled with a number of stately barges, with one and two sails flapping in the breeze. As they plied their trade up and down the river, small rowing skiffs weaved their way between them. Eliza’s eye caught sight of a huge barge that looked like a floating house. ‘Look at that! Imagine living on the river!’

Corinna craned her neck too, eager to see the sights. ‘All the boatbuilders ranged down this bank of the Thames. Such industry!’