The Best of Sisters (46 page)

‘Darling girl.’ Freddie took her gently by the shoulders. ‘You can tell me anything; you know that. Haven’t I always been more like an elder brother to you, or maybe a rather young uncle?’

The tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes seemed to dry up in an instant. White-hot fury consumed Eliza so that she was shaking all over. She brushed Freddie’s hand away with an angry cry. ‘Yes, and that’s the trouble.’

‘Liza?’

‘You’re not my brother or even a damned uncle, and I never thought of you as such.’ Eliza moved closer to him, glaring up into his face with her hands clenched. ‘I love you, you stupid dolt. I’ve always loved you.’ She beat her fists against his chest, pummelling him harder with each word. ‘I love you.’

For a moment that seemed to expand into eternity, Freddie met her angry stare with a look of bafflement. ‘You love me?’

She looked away, biting her lip. She had never meant it to happen this way. Wasn’t it always the man who declared his passion for the woman in penny novelettes? Now he would think she was cheap or silly, or both.

‘Liza, my own darling.’ Freddie lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to look him in the face. ‘Are you sure? I mean, I’m not at all the sort
of man that I would have picked for you, had I been your – er – older relation.’

‘I don’t care about all that. You’re not old and I don’t think you’ll ever be old, Freddie Prince. Not if you live to be a hundred.’

‘My darling girl, I was a convicted felon, transported to a penal colony on the other side of the world. I’ve done many things that I’m not proud of. How could a sweet and wonderful girl like you love someone like me?’

The tender yet diffident look in his eyes meant more to Eliza than a million words. She slipped her arms around his neck, linking her hands and pulling his head down so that their lips were almost touching. ‘As easily and naturally as breathing in and out all day.’

‘I don’t deserve you, Eliza.’

‘But do you love me, Freddie?’

‘With all my heart, all my soul and all my life, my dearest, dearest Eliza.’

She closed her eyes, giving herself up to the sweet sensation of their first kiss. She had waited for this moment for so long, imagining how it would feel to be held in Freddie’s arms: how it would feel to be kissed by the only man she had ever loved. And she was not disappointed. Their bodies seemed to melt into one being as he kissed her with slow caresses of his lips that grew more intense and demanding as she responded eagerly, hungrily and greedily, wanting more
and more. Her ears were filled with music; her senses were soaring towards the skies and her heart was pumping wildly, sending fire to every part of her body. She had come alive, as if being awakened from a long sleep.

When at last they drew away to gasp for air, Eliza sighed with ecstasy. ‘Do you believe me now?’

Freddie smiled into her eyes, tracing the outline of her full lips with the tip of his index finger. ‘Oh, I believe you, my darling. And I love you more than you could ever imagine possible.’

Eliza turned her head to look at Daisy’s unmade bed. ‘Then take me, Freddie. Make love to me as you made love to her.’

His smile faded into a troubled frown. ‘Don’t say things like that, Liza. Don’t even think it. I was telling the truth when I said I had never been Daisy’s lover.’

‘I don’t care. I want you to make love to me more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I may be a wanton and no better than Daisy, but I can prove to you that I’m a grown woman.’

Freddie’s furrowed brow smoothed and his eyes crinkled at the corners. He dropped a butterfly kiss on Eliza’s pursed lips. ‘You are a woman, my love. You don’t need to prove anything to me. And when I do make love to you it will be with the blessing of the church and in our own bed.’

Eliza’s heart gave a hitch inside her chest. ‘Are you proposing to me, Freddie Prince?’

He kissed her again. ‘Don’t be forward, Eliza Bragg. You wait until I’ve got a ring and can do the whole thing properly.’

‘I want the world to know that we love each other, Freddie.’

‘All in good time. But it would be wise to wait until everything in the house is resolved.’

It must be kept secret, this wonderful love that filled Eliza’s heart and soul with such joy that she wanted to dance and sing. She wanted to run out into the foggy street and proclaim it to the passers-by. She wanted to climb down the slimy stone steps to the foreshore, wade through the stinking, slimy mud and detritus and give her joyous news to the river. The dark waters would carry the message into the swirling depths that had swallowed up her father so many years ago. He would be able to rest more peacefully now, knowing that his only surviving child was happy in love. But Freddie was adamant that they must keep their happiness to themselves, just for a little while longer, until Daisy had moved into the house in Bird Street, and to give Davy time to reach a decision about the sail loft. Eliza had wanted to disagree, but wrapped in Freddie’s arms, in the twilight gloom of the bedroom, she listened to his voice and felt his heart beat to the same
rhythm as her own. She was so happy that it hurt.

‘Now, darling,’ Freddie said gently. ‘Tell me what happened in Miller’s office. How did he take the news that he was Tommy’s grandfather?’

When she had finished relating the events of the afternoon, Eliza glanced anxiously up into Freddie’s face for signs of distress at Daisy’s fickle behaviour. She could have cried with relief when he threw back his head and laughed. ‘The minx! Well, good for Daisy. She’s a survivor. And at least the boy will have a future. But there’s one thing, Liza.’ Freddie’s expression hardened. ‘I won’t have you working in the chandlery for Miller or even for Tommy. The business I intend to start here will be ours, although I certainly don’t expect you to slave away in the shop.’

Eliza snuggled up to him, taking his hand and placing it on her belly. ‘I will be too busy having our babies, Freddie.’

He chuckled. ‘You forward girl, have you no shame?’

She smiled up into his eyes. ‘None at all. Kiss me again, Freddie.’

In the days that followed, Eliza found it almost impossible to keep silent. She lived for the quiet moments that she snatched alone with Freddie
when everyone else in the house was going about their daily business. Daisy had enrolled Tommy at a dame school not too far from Bird Street, but, as usual, Dolly and Tommy shared nursery teatime. They ate their meal of bread and jam, cakes and tea, playing the royal game and picnicking on the floor by the fire. Eliza was amazed that they never tired of the game, although she suspected that in Dolly’s dreamland she really was the queen and young Tommy the prince. Not that it mattered much, as long as Dolly was happy. Occasionally she surfaced into the real world, but these brief excursions into reality only upset her, particularly when she remembered that Ted was no longer with her. Freddie had gradually weaned her onto a minimal dose of laudanum and she passed her days halfway between sleeping and waking, pleasantly muzzy and quite content. Eliza had no idea how much her mental state would deteriorate in the future, but at least it was a slow and painless process.

A week had gone by and still Davy had not given Freddie an answer. It was early evening and Dolly had been tucked up in bed by Ada. Daisy had not yet returned from Bird Street, where she went daily to supervise the work of redecorating the house. At least, that was her excuse. Eliza suspected that she was meeting Brandon on the sly, but she kept her thoughts to
herself. Millie had put Tommy to bed, and she said that he had been so tired that he had fallen asleep while she was reading him a bedtime story. Now everyone, except Daisy, had gathered for supper in the kitchen, as they did on these winter nights when the dining room was too cold to bear, and the chimney smoked, filling the air with smuts that floated down like black snowflakes.

Ada served them soup from a large iron saucepan on the range and hot bread from the oven. Freddie took his seat at the head of the table and Eliza sat at the opposite end, trying hard not to look at him for fear of giving away their secret. She felt that her face was set in a permanent smile and she was bursting to tell Millie, but Davy had taken a seat beside her and he looked anything but happy. Millie kept glancing at him with a worried frown puckering her brow, but she said nothing. Only Ada seemed impervious to the atmosphere in the room and she ladled soup into bowls, keeping up a constant flow of conversation and seemingly not bothered by the lack of response.

Eliza took a mouthful of vegetable broth, but she could hardly swallow. She nibbled a piece of bread and it almost choked her. Glancing at Freddie, she met his gaze and her heart did a somersault inside her chest. The look in his eyes sent thrills down her spine and she felt her
cheeks burning as she stared down at her plate.

‘What are you grinning at, Liza?’ Davy demanded crossly. ‘I don’t know why you look so pleased with yourself.’

Millie laid her hand on his arm. ‘Leave her be, Davy.’

‘I – I wasn’t grinning,’ Eliza said, breaking her bread into tiny crumbs. ‘I mean …’ She sent a mute plea for help to Freddie.

He cleared his throat with a loud harrumph. ‘Davy. Have you – er – thought about my proposition?’

‘What’s this then?’ Ada had been about to take the saucepan into her room to feed the boys and Mary, who had stayed for supper, but she stopped, casting an enquiring look at Davy. ‘What’s going on, son?’

Davy shrugged his shoulders, chewing on a mouthful of bread, and frowning.

‘What is going on?’ Millie asked, looking from Freddie to Eliza. ‘And where is Daisy? Tommy was really upset that she wasn’t there to tuck him in.’

‘Well …’ Eliza began, but Freddie banged his spoon on the table.

‘I can see that it’s time to set things straight. If you’ll sit down for a moment, please, Ada. This concerns you as much as anyone else.’ Freddie rose to his feet. ‘Davy told me some days ago that he did not want to go back to sea, and I offered
him a business partnership. I want to turn the top floor of this house into a sail loft and some of the ground floor rooms into a chandlery.’

‘Gawd’s strewth!’ Ada said, slopping soup from the pan and setting it back down on the range. ‘Whatever next?’

‘Oh, Davy. That’s wonderful,’ Millie cried, halfway between tears and laughter.

Davy held up his hand, frowning. ‘Hold on. I ain’t said I agree to it.’

‘But, son, you can’t turn down an opportunity like that.’ Ada clasped her hands together and her eyes sparkled. ‘It would be the answer to all our prayers. Me and the nippers could stay on here, and maybe Pete would give up his job at the brewery to come and help you make sails. It won’t matter so much then that your dad has taken up preaching and don’t earn a penny for it.’

‘And you need never go back to sea,’ Millie added. ‘We’d be a proper family: all of us together. You can’t turn down an offer like that.’

Davy turned to Eliza. ‘And what have you got to say about it, Liza? Say the word and I’ll stay and gladly accept Freddie’s offer.’

She knew that this was the time for complete honesty. Her feelings for Freddie were bubbling so close to the surface that Eliza felt she was about to explode. She rose to her feet and went to stand beside him, clutching his hand. ‘I would be
more than happy if you said yes, Davy. You see, I’ve just said the same to Freddie. We’re going to be married.’

‘You’re what?’ Daisy’s voice cut through the stunned silence like a cheese wire slicing through cheddar. She had entered the kitchen unnoticed in the hubbub. ‘Say that again.’

Freddie slipped his arm around Eliza’s waist. ‘We weren’t going to tell you so soon, but seeing as how the truth has come out, yes, I’ve asked Eliza to marry me and she’s made me the happiest man in London. No, the happiest man in the whole world.’

‘The truth is,’ Eliza said, smiling, ‘I asked him.’

‘You cunning little bitch,’ Daisy hissed through clenched teeth. ‘You got me out of the way so that you could make up to my man. Well, I’m telling you, sister-in-law, that I’m not having it. You can’t push me out of me own home and you can’t take Freddie away from me.’

‘That’s not fair, Daisy. You was making eyes at Brandon and suggestions that would make a doxy blush, and you’ve got the house in Bird Street. What more do you want?’’

‘You planned it that way. You was set on getting Freddie right from the start.’ Daisy moved so quickly across the floor that she seemed to be on wheels. She clawed her fingers at Eliza’s face and would have torn her flesh if
Freddie had not seen it coming and caught her by the wrist.

‘That’s enough of that, Daisy. I never made you any promises.’

‘Oh dear,’ Millie said, covering her mouth with her hands.

Davy helped her to her feet. ‘Come on, love. Let’s leave them to it. I got a bad taste in me mouth.’

‘Son, don’t go,’ Ada cried, catching him by the sleeve. ‘Give Freddie his answer, I’m begging you. For all our sakes.’

Millie sent him a beseeching look. ‘Please say you’ll stay. I – I need you.’

He frowned. ‘I’m glad someone does.’

‘What’s going on?’ Daisy demanded, stamping her foot. ‘Bleeding hell, I’ve only been out of the house for a couple of hours and everything’s changed.’

‘The business proposition stands,’ Freddie said, holding out his hand. ‘Shall we shake on it?’

‘Please, Davy,’ Eliza said. ‘Please do. We all need you, and we care about you. We all want you to stay.’

‘Well, I don’t bloody care,’ Daisy said, tugging at the strings of her bonnet and wrenching it off her head. She flung it at Freddie. ‘Will you tell me or do I have to scream?’

‘Don’t scream, for Gawd’s sake,’ Davy pleaded with a glimmer of humour lighting his
eyes. He took Freddie’s hand and shook it. ‘I accept.’

Daisy opened her mouth and uttered a loud screech.

‘All right,’ Freddie said hastily. ‘With my backing, Davy is going to set up business here, in this house.’

‘Oh!’ Daisy frowned. ‘Well that don’t concern me. In fact, none of this concerns me one little bit. She can have you for all I care, Freddie Prince. I never really wanted you anyway, and I’ll be taking up residence in my own house in Bird Street as soon as possible. I’ll be taking all me furniture, of course.’