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.I’ll tell Arabella you’re here.She’ll be glad of the company.’Running footfalls and a scream came from upstairs, followed by childish voices raised in a heated altercation.‘That new nursemaid has no control over those children,’ said Cornelius, his face set.‘I’m beginning to think you were right and I should hire a second nursemaid for when the baby arrives.’Arabella reclined upon her new chinoiserie day bed.Her hair was perfectly curled and she wore a silk wrap in her favourite blue but nothing could conceal the size of her belly or the puffiness of her face.‘Are you quite well, Arabella?’ asked Susannah as her father drew a chair forward for her.She was shocked by her stepmother’s appearance.‘My condition is extremely tiresome,’ said Arabella.‘The thought of another two months lying upon a chaise with nothing to divert me is hardly to be borne.’ She plucked fretfully at one of her curls.‘Cornelius, ask Jennet to bring me a dish of curds and cream, will you? And some of those candied figs.’‘As you wish, my dear.Shall you take a glass of something, Susannah?’Susannah shook her head.‘I must go.Henry needs me while he is ill.’‘Surely you have maids to nurse him?’ asked Arabella.‘Only young Peg and she’s no use as a nurse.’Arabella frowned.‘I thought you’d have more servants in a house such as that.’‘There is only myself and Henry so we have no need of an army of servants.Besides, when he is well, Henry is hardly ever at home.’‘That leaves you free to gossip with your friends, I suppose.And I daresay it will not be long before you are in an interesting condition yourself.’ Arabella’s gaze dropped for a second to Susannah’s stomach.Not much chance of that, as things stood, thought Susannah.They sat in silence until Arabella brightened as she thought of something.‘Horatia Thynne called upon me last week.’‘Horatia Thynne?’‘Surely you remember? Horatia caught Henry’s eye before he married you.’‘I never met her.’‘She told me an interesting thing.’ Arabella’s eyes sparkled with malice.‘Really?’‘Apparently, she turned Henry down! I’d assumed he decided against her, in spite of her fortune, since she’s not an attractive girl.Not so.Henry was determined to take her to the altar but in the end her father wouldn’t allow it.Henry was quite put out.’ She leaned forward.‘Horatia’s father had heard rumours that Henry visited houses of ill repute.’Susannah gasped.‘Then he was misinformed.’ A movement in the doorway caught her attention.Her father stood there, an expression of shock on his face.‘I wouldn’t be so sure of that!’ continued Arabella with relish.‘He’s a terrible flirt.’ She smiled.‘He flirted with me all the time he was courting you.’‘It’s time I went.’ Susannah stood up, unable to bear spending a second longer in her stepmother’s presence.Cornelius accompanied her downstairs.‘I am sorry for what Arabella said to you about Henry.I’m sure it’s simply idle gossip.’‘Of course it is! And I suppose Arabella has nothing else to amuse her at the moment.’‘The waiting makes her a little shrewish.’‘And you? How are you bearing the waiting?’Cornelius grimaced.‘I’m looking forward to having my sweet Arabella back again.And, of course, I’m anxious that there should be a happy outcome.Birth is a dangerous passage.’‘I’ll never forget what happened to Mama.’ Susannah gripped the handle of her basket until her knuckles went white.‘I think of it, too.’Susannah opened her mouth to say that Arabella seemed to be very big for seven months when she was struck by a thought.Perhaps her father had anticipated the wedding and the baby was actually almost at full term.Her face flooded scarlet at the thought; she gathered up her basket and went out into the fog.When she reached home, Susannah found that Henry had fallen asleep.He looked curiously young and vulnerable as he lay with one hand outflung on the pillow and his fingers curled over his open palm.She laid her hand on his brow and, finding it to be cool, opened the window a crack to freshen the air.Downstairs, she added some extra honey to Henry’s cough linctus and then boiled up the rue, wormwood and other herbs to make a decoction.As she finished, Henry opened the kitchen door.‘There you are!’ he said.‘I’m hungry.Where’s Peg?’‘I sent her to the market.You must be feeling better if you’re hungry.Shall I heat some soup or muddle you some eggs?’‘I could fancy some eggs.’ He pulled a chair up to the kitchen fire and watched her as she broke eggs into a basin.Henry’s appetite had indeed returned and he demolished a plate of eggs and several slices of bread in no time at all.Since his humour appeared to have been restored along with his health, she suggested they stay cosily by the kitchen fire and play cards.The rest of the afternoon passed very pleasantly.Later, as they undressed ready for bed, Henry put his arms round her and kissed her cheek.‘You’re a good wife, Susannah.’Lying next to him as he drifted off to sleep, she prayed that, in time, their marriage would become more than a convenience.If Henry thought she was a good wife perhaps he would, at last, grow to love her? Even if what Arabella had said was true and Henry had only married her as second best, at least it had saved her from a worse fate.After all, if it hadn’t been for Henry, she might now be struggling to teach the pudding-faced Driscoll girls to dance the gavotte.As for Henry visiting houses of ill repute, she dismissed that as pure spite on Arabella’s behalf.Besides, he appeared to have no strong need for a woman’s attentions in the bedchamber.And if ever he did, he must know that she waited night after night for him to come to their bed.Chapter 9Christmas Day dawned fair and clear.Susannah scraped the ice off the inside of the bedchamber window to reveal the snow-covered courtyard below.Frost had touched the trees with wintry fingers and the pale sun sparked diamonds off the tracery of branches.‘Henry? Come and see! I hoped it would snow; the sky had that heavy, yellow look yesterday.’Henry groaned and turned over.‘Too much wine last night.’ He pulled the covers back over his head.‘Come on, we have lain in bed far too long already.I still have preparations to make for the dinner and we mustn’t be late for church.’‘You’re always busy,’ Henry sighed.‘What you need is some more help with the housework.’‘I’ve been telling you that for weeks!’‘In fact,’ suddenly his eyes were alight with enthusiasm.‘What you need is a house slave.’‘No doubt! Meanwhile, if you’d help to carry the coal upstairs once in a while I’d be happy.’It took a great deal of chivvying to get Henry dressed but they arrived at the church in time to nod at faces they knew.The young parson gave a very dull sermon and Susannah’s thoughts began to drift.She had looked forward to this day all month, polishing the house from cellar to attic and planning the feast.The jollity of the Christmas celebrations was exactly what was needed to dispel the winter gloom and it was to be quite a party.Cornelius, Arabella and the children had been invited, along with Henry’s Aunt Agnes and William Ambrose as well as Martha and her family [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]