The Hyde Park Headsman - Anne Griffin Perry [8]
Charlotte shot her a look of swift appreciation.
“All the same,” Emily went on, her eyes steady in spite of her laughter. “The lack of respectability can be very unpleasant, especially when you are older. It can be very lonely to be shut out, whatever color the inside is.”
Charlotte knew it was true, and why Emily had said it. Perhaps in her mother’s place she too would have opted for a brief, painful and glorious romance, but she was not unaware of the bitter price.
“I know,” she said quietly. “And Grandmama will never let her forget it, even if everyone else does.”
Emily gazed around the room thoughtfully.
Charlotte read her thought.
“Oh no!” she said decidedly. “Not here! We haven’t room!”
“No, I suppose not,” Emily agreed reluctantly, then suddenly she smiled again. “Were you thinking of Mama or Grand-mama?”
“Grandmama, of course,” Charlotte responded. “Mama would remain in Cater Street, naturally. It is her house. I’m not sure which would be worse, living with Grandmama goading and complaining all the time, or all by yourself with no one to talk to at all. Sitting every day wondering if anyone will call, and if you dare call on someone else, or if they will all send polite messages to the door that they are not at home, even when you can see the carriages in the drive and know perfectly well that they are—and they know you know.”
“Don’t.” Emily winced as if she had been struck. “I can’t bear to think of it. We’ll simply have to do something!” She looked at Charlotte. “Have you tried appealing to him? If he cares for her at all, he must realize what will happen. Is he a complete fool?”
“He’s an actor.” Charlotte shrugged in a sort of exasperation. “It’s a different world. He may not understand …”
“Well, have you tried to explain to him?” Emily demanded. “For goodness sake, Charlotte!”
“No I haven’t! Mother would never forgive me. Telling her is one thing; telling him is quite another. We have no business to do that.”
“We have every business!” Emily argued heatedly. “For her own sake. Someone’s got to look after her.”
“Emily! Can you hear yourself?” Charlotte demanded. “How would you feel if someone else, whatever their motives or however much they thought it was for your good, stepped in and tried to warn Jack not to marry you for your well-being?”
“That’s quite different.” Emily’s eyes were bright and sharp. “Jack married me. Joshua Fielding won’t marry Mama.”
“I know he did, but Emily, my dearest, Mama might have thought Jack married you for your very considerable fortune.”
“That’s not true!” The hot color burned up Emily’s face.
“I never believed it was,” Charlotte said quickly. “I think Jack is a charming and honest man, but if Mama had thought otherwise, would it have been right for her to interfere—believing it was for your sake?”
“Ah—oh.” Emily stood motionless. “Well …”
“Precisely.” Charlotte led the way to the second bedroom.
“It’s not the same,” Emily said behind her. “There isn’t any possible happy outcome to Mama’s romance.”
“It’s still not right for us to go to Joshua,” Charlotte insisted. “We’ll just have to keep on trying with her. Maybe she’ll listen to you. She certainly took no notice at all of me.” They stopped just inside the doorway. “I think I’ll do this room in yellow. It would be nice and warm. Daniel and Jemima could play up here in the winter, and on wet days. What do you think?”
“Yellow would be very nice,” Emily agreed. “You could put a little green with it to stop it being too sweet.” She looked across the room. “That fireplace needs a lot of mending. In fact you should get rid of it altogether and get another one. Those tiles are dreadful.”
“I told you, I agreed I will move the one up from the withdrawing room.”
“Oh yes, so you did.”
“You will find out about Captain Winthrop, won’t you?”
“Of course.” Emily smiled again with sudden optimism. “I wonder if it will be a case with which we can help. I have missed all the excitement. It seems like ages since we did anything important