Deliver us from Evil (38 page)

'One of them?'

'You know.'

Robert paused, and shook his head. 'They are not as Faustus was.' 'They kill, though, do they not?'

This time, Robert did not answer. Emily turned from him, and gazed out at the trees. A soft, silver drizzle was falling. She bent back her head, to feel it against her cheeks. How long was it, Robert wondered, since she had last stood in the rain? He watched her as she closed her eyes. He could not tell, such was the drizzle, whether there were tears mingling with the drops on her face. For a long while, she said nothing more; then at last she opened her eyes again,
I
cannot . . .' she whispered,
I
cannot endure . . .' She paused, and shivered; she took Robert's arm. Her stare, though, was distant, still into the rain,
I
cannot endure,' she said simply, 'to be near to them.'

Robert shook his head. 'Yet she is kind,' he insisted. 'She will do you no harm.'

'You cannot know that,' answered Emily. She clung to him fiercely, and at last met his stare,
I
know what it means,' she whispered, 'to have my blood desired. And
I
tell you again -
I
will not go near your friends.'

Nor did she. Robert persuaded her to continue in Godolphin's mansion; but she would not talk, nor eat, nor be in the same room with Milady, and Milady for her part seemed content to stay away. Yet even when she and Lightborn were both absent from the house, Emily would continue nervous and upset; for she found in the eyes of Godolphin and the other creatures there a constant reminder of what she had been, reflections of her own former suffering and state. To escape them, she would dress in breeches and walk, always walk, through the London streets, or across the fields and hills that stretched beyond the city. Robert was happy to accompany her; for such expeditions reminded him of their childhood exploits, and of a time when all had seemed innocence. Only in the evenings would he share with Emily more worldly pleasures; for it was then that he would show her what London had to offer, masques
at
the palace, theatres and balls, an endless, giddying swirl of delights, so that caught up upon
it
there would be no time to think, no time to remember. Yet in the very centre of the whirlpool, Emily herself remained the one fixed point: an opening on to a world of lost happiness, and a promise, it seemed, of happiness yet to come.

That he might not lose such a hope became Robert's single passion. Increasingly, he came to share in Emily's fears, and to welcome Milady's absence from his life. He began to wonder if Emily had not been right, that they should leave Godolphin's house; perhaps leave London altogether and travel the world, as they had always promised each other they would do when they had gazed at the stars as children in Woodton, and dreamed of all the wonders which lay beneath the sky. But still Robert could not bring himself to go, to abandon Milady yet again. He continued to live under the same roof, and Emily with him; and all the time, his fears and his dreams grew the more.

It was Lord Rochester, in the end, who decided him. They met by chance one night at the Theatre Royal. Savile was there too - and it was he who first observed Robert and Emily. He cried out drunkenly, and came lurching from his box to join them. He studied Emily greedily, then nudged Robert in the ribs. 'That's a fine little baggage you have there,' he whispered loudly. 'Damn the whore, but
I
love 'em demure.'

I
assure you, sir,' answered Robert furiously, 'that this lady is no whore.' He reached for his sword; but as he did so felt his arm being seized, and when he looked round saw Lord Rochester standing by his side. He too was studying Emily - not with lust, however, but with something almost like recognition. He bowed to her politely. 'You are newly arrived from the country, my Lady?'

Emily laughed shortly,
I
am afraid to answer you, sir, lest my accent should betray me even more than looks.'

'The freshness of them both, my Lady, does you nothing but credit.' Lord Rochester bowed to her again, then turned aside to Robert. 'Am
I
to presume, Lovelace, that your charming companion is Mistress Vaughan?'

'The very same, my Lord.'

I
am gratified to hear it.' A smile curved his heavy lips. 'You may remember, when last we spoke,
I
promised you the chance of a resolution such as this. For a source of certain joy is all we need in this world, if we are not to be the playthings of eternal restlessness.'

'As you see, my Lord,
I
now possess such a source.'

'And the Marquise?' Lord Rochester lowered his voice. 'Did she also obtain what she had desired?'

Robert smiled grimly,
I
see, then, that you have not heard.'

A shadow of surprise seemed to pass across Lord Rochester's face. 'Christ's wounds,' he murmured, 'she has not been injured?'

'Grievously,' answered Robert. 'Although as to her present condition,
I
could not comment, for
I
have not been with her now for several weeks.'

'Most wise of you.' Lord Rochester stood frozen for a moment, lost in thought, if you should see her,' he said at length, 'you might mention to her that
I
have in my possession
mummia.'

'Mummia?'
Robert asked, frowning.

'You remember -
I
spoke to you before of the Turk, with whom
I
met upon my travels. It was he . . . but no.' Lord Rochester shook his head. 'This should no longer be your affair.' He glanced at Emily; then laid his hand on Robert's shoulder and drew him away. 'Will you be advised by me, Lovelace?' he whispered in his ear.

'You know, my Lord, that
I
have been so before.'

'Very good. Then take Mistress Vaughan, and leave your blood-drinking friends behind, and go, go anywhere you may not be found. You have seized a fragment from the wreckage of your life. Cling to it, Lovelace. Do not seek to enter the maelstrom again.
I
speak as someone who is trapped in it myself

'But
...'

'Will you do as
I
advise?'

Robert stood in silence for a moment, gazing at Emily. Then he crossed to her, and took her by the arm. 'Come,' he whispered. 'We have a journey ahead of us.' He bowed to Savile; then more fully, as he passed him, to Lord Rochester. He left the box; and, as he descended through the crowds, felt Lord Rochester's eyes upon them, until they had reached the exit and passed into the street.

He told Emily, as they travelled back in the coach, that they would be leaving the next day. She stared at him in surprise for a moment; then kissed him silently and passionately. Robert saw the silver of tears in her eyes, and she clung to him throughout the journey back. Once arrived, he escorted her to her chamber; then went to discover Milady. He found her, as he had onc
e before, the morning after his
first taste of love, curled by a fire with wine in her hand. Then, as she had stared up at him, her eyes had been filled with a soft and lazy ecstasy, such as he would never forget; but now they seemed dulled and desolate. She gestured to him to sit by her side and Robert did so; he allowed her to reach out and gently stroke his cheek.

'Are you leaving?'

Robert nodded.

Milady continued to stroke his cheek. 'You no longer have any need of me, then,' she murmured at last.

'Do not say that, Milady, for you know it is untrue.' He paused. 'But you will also know, Emily can never be at peace here.'

'Will you marry her, Lovelace, be wedded in a church?'

'Yes,' said Robert slowly. '
I
wish to marry her.'

Milady laughed bitterly. 'And so you have come to me for my blessing, as though
I
were indeed your mother?'

'Who else should
I
ask for her blessing and her love, if not that woman who, Emily aside, is dearer to me than all the world?' Robert rose to his feet. He took Milady's hand, and kissed it. 'If you love me,' he whispered, 'then pray for my happiness.' He crossed to the doorway. 'Goodnight, Milady.' Then he turned and hurried away down the passage; and left Milady alone with her wine by the fire.

This day, much against my will
,
I
did in Drury Lane see two or three houses marked with a red cross upon the doors, and "Lord have mercy upon us!" writ there which was a sad sight to me, being the first of that kind that to my remembrance
I
ever saw.'

Samuel Pepys,
Diaries

R

obert retired at once to bed, but sleep would not come. Instead he felt a terrible restlessness, though whether with delight or dread he could not be sure. At length, he surrendered to it and crossed to his balcony. For a long while he stood staring out at the night, at the trees in the Park as they were swept by the wind; and then, as though on some sudden presentiment, he left his balcony and hurried to Emily's room. Not since she had been sick had he entered it at night; but now the door, which she usually locked, was open wide, and so he passed inside. She was sitting up in her bed. 'So you too,' she whispered, 'could not sleep.'

Robert went to her. Emily stared at him a moment, then stretched out a finger and slipped off a ring. She gave it to him: 'Put it on.' Robert did so. 'There,' she whispered. 'Will such a wedding suffice?' She smiled, and kissed him, as Robert took her in his arms. 'For did not Mr Webbe tell us once that it is not a priest who creates man and wife, but their own love only?' Again, she kissed him. 'And thus it is, that
I
answer myself

It was only later, as she lay pillowed upon his chest, that Robert first observed the marks: two of them, violent red dots, upon the otherwise pale skin of Emily's back. Immediately, Robert froze; and Emily, feeling him tense, lifted her face and stared at him sleepily. 'What is it?' she murmured.

Robert answered her by touching the marks. 'Can you feel them?' he asked.

Emily frowned. She twisted, and brushed them with her fingertips. 'They must be insect bites,' she said.

'They are not
...'
- Robert paused and shrugged - 'old wounds, perhaps, which you have somehow disturbed?'

Emily stared at him.
it
may be,' she said at last. She touched them again, then shook her head. 'Yet they do not feel as though they are. They feel somehow .
..
more fresh.' She smiled faintly at Robert. 'So what else can they be, but insect bites?'

She embraced him again, and curled up in sleep; and Robert thought - listening to the soft rhythm of her breath, feeling how calmly she lay upon his chest - that she was surely right, that there was nothing to fear. Gradually, he too began to drift into sleep; and then suddenly he was awake again, for Emily seemed in the grip of a nightmare, tossing violently and moaning as she slept. The sheets were sodden and, as Emily shivered, the sweat glistened on her skin. The two marks on her back seemed even redder than before; and when Robert touched them again, she screamed and jerked awake. Her shivering was terrible now. She stared at Robert as if she did not recognise him at all; then she doubled over, and began to vomit on the floor.

Robert sped to find Milady. He discovered her still by the fire. 'Have you been feeding on her?' he cried.

Milady stared up at him, baffled. 'You are raving, Lovelace.'

'The marks on her back - was it Lightborn or yourself?' Still Milady stared at him, puzzled; so Robert seized her by the arm and pulled her after him. As she began to understa
nd his accusations, so also she
began to reject them indignantly; and Robert believed her. 'Lightborn, then,' he exclaimed,
it
must have been him.'

Milady shook her head. 'Lightborn has been preying in Deptford these past two nights.'

Robert realised, to his surprise, that he felt sick with disappointment. He had wanted
it
to be Milady - had wanted it to be something he might seek to prevent,
it
may be nothing but a fever, then,' he said. He had paused outside Emily's chamber; Milady glanced at him, her face like a mask. 'Let us find out,' she replied.

But Emily was gone. The bed was empty, stripped of all its sheets, and the door which led out towards the stairway had been unlocked. Robert ran across to it; he went through on to the stairs and he saw, dropped at their base, one of the sheets. At the same moment, from the direction of the hall, there came the sound of a door slamming; and he ran as fast as he could down the stairs. But he was too late to catch up with Emily; for though he followed her through the main door out on to the street, when he looked up and down it the Mall appeared empty, and the Park as well, for as far as he could see. Milady joined him as he stood peering vainly on its edge. 'This city is a cruel place,' she murmured, 'in which to lose one you love.' She took him by the arm. 'We should start our search without delay.'