by Dilly Court
‘No, I won’t have that,’ Lily insisted. ‘I don’t know why you appeared out of the blue on that stormy night, but it seemed like a miracle.’
He shook his head. ‘Can’t claim holy intervention, Lily love, it was one of my many cousins who knew Labrosse’s men by sight. We were just having a drink in the bar when Jean Paul told us that there was trouble brewing. It ain’t often a chap gets to use his fists without being arrested for being drunk and disorderly, so I couldn’t resist the challenge. Anyway, I’ll write it up for my paper with me as hero for once.’ He returned her embrace. ‘This ain’t goodbye, girl.’ Releasing her, he produced a newspaper from his pocket which he handed to Lily. ‘I bought this off a newsvendor just now. It seems you’re famous and so is your bloke.’ He tipped his hat and sauntered off into the crowd.
‘What is it, Lily?’ Molly demanded eagerly. ‘What does it say?’
Lily unrolled the paper and gasped as she saw her portrait reproduced on the front page. The title Lily in the Flames leapt out at her in bold type. She held it up for Gabriel to see. ‘Look, it’s the painting of me that you sold to Sir Cloudesley.’
Gabriel steadied the fluttering sheets of paper with his good hand. ‘Well I’m damned.’
‘Is that all you can say?’ Molly snatched the newspaper from him and waved it in front of Armand. ‘Look, it says that it’s being exhibited on loan to the National Gallery. Lily and Gabriel are famous. We’ll be invited to all sorts of important events and charity balls.’
‘You’ll be rich as well as famous, old boy,’ Armand said, slapping Gabriel on the back and immediately apologising for causing him pain. ‘I’m sorry, I forgot your injury. It was fortunate they didn’t wing your right arm because I think you’ll be inundated with work if this is anything to go by.’
‘I’ll need it to support my wife,’ Gabriel said, smiling at Lily. ‘But first I have to make my peace with the men in her family.’
‘I too will have some explaining to do.’ Armand slipped his arm around Molly’s waist. ‘I don’t know if they’ll allow Molly to marry a penniless foreigner. But for my papa’s untimely intervention we would already be a respectable married couple.’
There was a hint of spring in the air as they reached the old inn on Pelican Wharf. The sky was the colour of a robin’s egg and the sun sparkled on the river, turning the tea-coloured waters of the Thames to viridian green. There was a faint flush of new growth on the trees surrounding the Prospect of Whitby, and even the city stench seemed less noxious as they waited for someone to let them into the house.
Lily had expected Aggie or Grandpa to be the first to greet them but it was Prissy who opened the door. Her face broke into a huge grin and she flung her arms around Lily with a cry of joy. ‘You’re home. I was beginning to think you was all lost at sea.’
‘We sent you a telegram,’ Molly said, sweeping past them. She paused in the hallway, sniffing the air. ‘I can smell lavender and beeswax. Someone must have been polishing. Everything is shiny.’
‘That’s me,’ Prissy said proudly. ‘I been working night and day to put this old house right, and you’ll find another difference too. Come inside, all of you.’ She ushered everyone in before closing the door with the air of a proud hostess. ‘Go on through to the kitchen and you’ll see what I mean.’
‘Where’s Ma?’ Lily asked anxiously as a feeling of guilt assailed her. She had put her mother almost completely out of her mind during their frantic days abroad, but now she had to face the fact that Ma might be in bedlam for all she knew.
‘You’re just in time for dinner,’ Prissy said, grinning. ‘I’m sure there’s plenty to go round.’
Taking off her mantle and tossing it on a chair together with her bonnet, Lily entered the parlour and was struck by the difference that had been made in less than a fortnight. Everything gleamed, from the brass candlesticks on the mantelshelf to the highly polished floorboards and furniture. A fire burned in the hearth and there were daffodils in a pewter mug on the dining table. The windows, which before had been caked with grime inside and out, were now sparkling clean. The reflected rays of the sun on the water made diamond-shaped patterns on the ceiling. ‘You have been busy, Prissy,’ Lily said appreciatively. ‘I know Aggie couldn’t have done all this.’
‘And why not, you cheeky young madam?’ Aggie waddled in from the kitchen, holding out her arms to Lily. ‘So you’ve come back.’ She gave her a fond hug and then held Lily at arm’s length. ‘Where’s the wedding band then? Has he made an honest woman of you?’ She shot a darkling look in Gabriel’s direction. ‘Good Lord what happened to you?’ She glanced over his shoulder at Armand. ‘And you too, both of you with arms in slings? What’s been going on in them foreign parts?’
Molly rushed forward to hug Aggie. ‘I’m going to be married very soon, so don’t get in a state. I’ll soon be Madame Labrosse, although poor Armand nearly died when our carriage overturned, and Gabriel was shot by Armand’s Pa. What d’you think of that?’
‘I think I’d best sit down,’ Aggie wheezed, collapsing onto the nearest chair. ‘Best go and fetch the missis, Prissy. She needs to hear all this.’
Prissy nodded and disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing seconds later with Charlotte, who was enveloped in a white apron, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. ‘My dearest girls, you’ve come home.’ She held out her arms. ‘Come to Mama, darlings.’
Moving automatically, as if they had suddenly reverted to their childhood, Lily and Molly walked into their mother’s embrace.
‘You look so much better, Ma,’ Lily murmured.
‘See my ring, Ma,’ Molly said, waving it beneath her mother’s nose. ‘It’s a real diamond, none of your French paste for me.’
Charlotte smiled. ‘You haven’t changed at all, my little firethorn.’
‘I prefer to think of her as a briar rose,’ Armand said, smiling. ‘I hope we have your blessing for our forthcoming nuptials, Madame Larkin.’
‘I prefer to be called Mrs Faulkner,’ Charlotte said with dignity. ‘As you see I am in mourning for my dear departed Everard.’
‘We haven’t forgotten him, Ma.’ Lily beckoned to Gabriel. ‘We have something to tell you also.’
‘Not now, darling,’ Charlotte said, making an obvious effort to control her emotions. ‘I have a meat pie in the oven and I don’t want the pastry to burn. My boys will be home soon and hungry as hunters.’ She hurried into the kitchen, mopping her eyes on her voluminous apron.
Lily turned to Prissy, eyebrows raised. ‘She’s cooking dinner?’
‘That’s right,’ Prissy said proudly. ‘It’s a talent she’d forgotten she had in all those years of being waited on and pampered.’
‘And it’s given me a rest from all that peeling of taters and chopping onions until me eyes were red raw,’ Aggie added with a pleased grin. ‘I got time to play backgammon with your grandpa, and she does the marketing too. It’s been a godsend.’
Lily and Molly exchanged looks of astonishment. ‘We’ve been gone such a short time,’ Lily said faintly. ‘It seems everything has changed.’
‘It’s all due to her,’ Aggie said, pointing at Prissy. ‘She’s worked wonders in the house; she’s got the old man eating out of her hand and he’s not the only one.’
Prissy’s face was suffused with a sudden blush. She shrugged her thin shoulders. ‘That’s enough of that talk, Aggie. I only done me bit.’ She cocked her head on one side as if listening to a sound unheard by anyone else, and she turned to look out of the window.
Following her glance, Lily realised that it was the sight of Matt, Mark and Luke striding along the quay wall that had made Prissy’s eyes light up and her lips tremble with emotion. ‘Which one of them has made your heart beat faster?’ Lily whispered.
Prissy gave a guilty start. ‘I dunno what you’re talking about. I’m going to help the missis serve dinner.’ She hurried into the kitchen, closing the door behind her.
‘It’s Matt she fan
cies,’ Aggie said, as if reading Lily’s thoughts. ‘She’s got him wrapped round her little finger. You’ll see.’
Lily ran to open the front door. Matt was first over the threshold and he stopped short, staring at her with surprise written all over his strong features. ‘Lily, you’re here.’
‘We’re home, safe and sound. Well, Molly and I are fine, but Gabriel and Armand have been injured.’ She reached up to kiss him on the cheek, inhaling the familiar smell of smoke and charred wood that clung to her brothers after attending a fire.
Bestowing a perfunctory kiss on her cheek, Matt strode into the living room with Lily hurrying after him. Glancing round, he shot a darkling glance in Armand’s direction. ‘I’ll deal with you later, Labrosse.’
Mark stood in the doorway, grinning. ‘You’re safe and sound, Lil. That’s all that matters. That goes for you too, Molly. We thought we’d never see either of you again. It’s good to have you home.’
‘I second that.’ Luke caught Lily up in his arms and kissed her on the tip of her nose. ‘You’re famous, little sister. Have you seen the newspapers?’
‘I have,’ Lily breathed. ‘It’s wonderful, isn’t it? But Gabriel deserves all the praise; I just sat for him doing nothing.’
Matt’s stern gaze rested on Gabriel. ‘I want to speak to you – in private.’
His tone was anything but encouraging and Lily’s heart sank. ‘Why, Matt? What are you going to say that can’t be heard by all of us?’
‘That’s between the two of us.’
‘No, it isn’t. It concerns me too. Gabriel has asked me to marry him and I’ve said yes.’
‘We’ll see about that,’ Matt said grimly.
‘Hold on, old chap.’ Mark clapped him on the shoulder. ‘Give the poor sod a chance to explain.’
Matt shook him off impatiently. ‘Give an account of yourself, Faulkner.’
‘Stop it,’ Lily said urgently. ‘Don’t talk to him like that.’
‘This is men’s business, Lily. Keep out of it.’
‘Don’t speak to her in that tone of voice.’ Gabriel spoke for the first time, his face pale and his eyes flashing angrily. ‘I love Lily and I intend to marry her as soon as the banns are read.’
‘Over my dead body,’ Matt said coldly. ‘One Faulkner is bad luck, but two spell disaster. Our family has suffered once thanks to your father and now you want to drag my sister into a life of debt and depravity.’
‘Matt, no,’ Lily cried passionately. ‘It’s not like that. Artists are respectable people; they just live differently to us.’
‘You were brought up to be honest and decent, Lily. I’m not having you mix with the likes of them. You saw what it did to Ma. She’s just getting over it now, but you’ll go the same way if you marry him.’ He turned on Gabriel with a savage snarl. ‘Get out of my house. Come near my sister again and you’ll be sorry.’
Gabriel opened his mouth as if to argue, but Mark moved to Matt’s side, fisting his hands. ‘I’m sorry, mate, but you heard him. You ain’t ruining our little Lily.’
‘Luke.’ Lily turned to him, holding out her hands. ‘You know better than this. Help him.’
He shook his head. ‘Those friends of Ma and Everard let me down too, Lily. I took my poems to the publisher and he threw them out. Laughed in my face, he did. They’re not interested in people like us unless it’s to poke fun at our clothes and our way of speaking. You’ll be just another oddity to exhibit, not a real person to them.’
‘That’s not true,’ Gabriel protested angrily. ‘I love Lily and I’ll protect her for the rest of my life. I won’t let anyone hurt her.’
‘Get out,’ Matt said angrily. ‘Go and don’t come back. If you try to see her again you’ll have us to contend with.’
Gabriel hesitated, his emotions clearly written on his face as he gazed at Lily. ‘All right, I’m going now, but I’ll come back for Lily as soon as the banns are read.’
‘I’m coming with you.’
Lily attempted to follow him but Mark barred the way. ‘Let him go, Lil,’ he said softly. ‘He ain’t worth it. Like father, like son. You’re one of us again. Don’t spoil it.’
‘But he’s injured,’ Lily sobbed. ‘He needs someone to look after him.’ She broke free from Mark’s restraining hands, facing her brothers with tears running down her cheeks. ‘He saved Molly’s life, you idiots. And I love him.’ She made for the door but Matt slammed it shut, leaning against it with his arms folded across his chest.
‘No, Lily. It won’t do. I’m not having my sister running off to live with an artist. You’ll stay here even if I have to tie you to a chair.’
She turned to Nell who had emerged from the parlour, her face pale with anxiety. ‘Tell him he can’t do this to me, Nell.’
‘Matt’s right,’ Nell said slowly. ‘And Eugene would say the same thing.’
‘Damn Eugene,’ Lily cried passionately. ‘And damn you all for treating me like this.’ She pushed past Nell, making her way into the kitchen where she flung herself into her mother’s arms. ‘Ma, tell them they can’t do this to me. I love Gabriel and he loves me.’
Charlotte stroked Lily’s tumbled hair back from her forehead. ‘My darling, I know how you feel, I really do, but I think Matt’s right in this. You should stay here with us and give Gabriel time to sort out his finances and find a home for you …’
‘But we have a home. There’s the house in Cock and Hoop Yard. We were happy there, Ma.’
Prissy laid her hand on Lily’s shoulder. ‘We don’t have it now. I went to collect our clothes and someone else was living there. So I went round to see Mad Maggie and she told me that Gabriel had only paid a week’s rent in advance. When we left all of a sudden they didn’t know what had happened and they let the house to a juggler, his missis and seven nippers who are all part of their stage act.’
‘You must understand that I’m only looking after your interests, Lily.’ Matt had come into the kitchen unnoticed by her. She could not bring herself to look at him. She had to hold back the bitter words that filled her mouth like bile.
‘And a fine way you chose to do it,’ Prissy said, shaking her head. ‘You men are all the same, you think with your fists. Can’t you see that the poor girl’s in love? Ain’t you got no heart, Matt Larkin?’
Lily held her breath. If anyone else had taken that tone with Matt they would have been cut down to size, but he eyed Prissy warily, looking distinctly uncomfortable.
‘I did it for the best,’ he murmured.
‘You fly off the handle and then regret it.’ Prissy wagged her finger at him. ‘I think you should apologise to Lily, and to Gabriel when you see him next. He intends to do the right thing by her; it’s not history repeating itself and you’ve got to put the past behind you. This is now and then was then.’
Charlotte released Lily with a gentle pat on the cheek. ‘Prissy’s right, Matt. Give him time to put his house in order.’
Matt shuffled his feet, looking for all the world like a small boy caught stealing jam tarts from the pantry. ‘There’s already been talk. Lily’s name has been bandied round the docks. She’s left us open to the local gossips.’
‘Let them talk all they like,’ Prissy declared stoutly. ‘Words can’t hurt us if we stick together. Now go and wash that dirt off your face, Matt Larkin. I ain’t sitting down to eat with a sweep.’ She shooed him out through the scullery into the yard.
Lily stared after them in disbelief. ‘Am I imagining things or did Prissy just take Matt in hand?’
‘Love is a wonderful thing, darling,’ Charlotte said, opening the oven door and lifting out a pie with a tempting golden crust. ‘Call the others in for their dinner, Lily. We’ll eat like a civilised family for once.’ She paused as she placed the steaming dish on the table. ‘And don’t look so tragic. Gabriel won’t let you down, he’s too much like his dear father, and Matt will come round given time. Just wait and see.’
‘I haven’t much choice, it seems.’ Lily
wiped her eyes on her sleeve and went into the parlour, where she found the rest of her family waiting in silence. Grandpa Larkin scuttled towards her, holding out his hands and beaming.
‘My little Lily. I just got in from the pub and they told me you’d come home. Don’t take no notice of Matt, we’re all on your side.’ He shot a warning glance at Mark. ‘And don’t you say nothing to upset the girl. Just stop and think how you’d feel if old Cobbold said you couldn’t see young Flossie ever again.’
Mark met Lily’s gaze with an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry, Lil. It’s just that we don’t want to see you hurt. After Ma getting all tangled up with them arty folks it’s no wonder Matt behaved as he did.’
Nell rose to her feet, holding her hand out to Lily. ‘We all love you, Lily. We just want you to be happy.’
‘Like me and Armand,’ Molly said, smiling up at Armand and tucking her hand through the crook of his arm. ‘We’re going to be married as soon as possible.’
‘So how will you support a wife now that you’ve been sacked by that libertine of a father?’ Grandpa demanded.
‘I have contacts in London,’ Armand replied calmly. ‘I had already been offered a position as manager in a rival shipping company here in London before I proposed to Molly. I didn’t say anything at the time because I had a feeling my papa would react badly. I hoped and still hope that Papa will come round in time, but I will accept the job now. Molly and I will be comfortable enough.’
‘Shall I have a carriage and pair then, Armand?’ Molly’s eyes shone. ‘And new gowns and a hat with feathers and flowers on it?’
‘In time, ma chérie, but for now we will have to live in the small house I bought some time ago in Cinnamon Street.’
‘Do you hear that, Lily? I’m to have my very own house. You shall come and visit me and take tea with me in my parlour.’ Molly did a little dance, twirling round on her toes and clapping her hands.
‘But what about this house?’ Lily asked anxiously. ‘Your father owns it and he won’t hesitate to throw my family out on the street.’
