Chapter 1 #2
Aubrey glowered, a little irritated she could read him so well.
He opened his mouth to deny it, and to tell her about the brooch, but hesitated.
Though he was certain it had been his mother’s brooch, for it was a distinctive design, Miss Marwick may have come by it innocently enough, and he did not wish to risk starting a rumour that might hurt her reputation.
Not that Vinnie would gossip, but he felt reluctant to tell her all the same.
“Oh, don’t look so poker-faced. I don’t blame you. I think she’s fascinating. Della is head over ears for her brother, you know. Poor Hawk will have a fit if he finds out, and now you too!” She dissolved into laughter, apparently much amused by the allure of the Marwick siblings.
Aubrey huffed. “Stow it, Vinnie. I’m not in the mood for your teasing.”
“Whyever not?” she asked, blinking at him in sudden confusion, for Aubrey had never minded before. Indeed, they were good friends and got on famously.
“Oh, I don’t know. Ignore me,” he said, trying to sound more amiable than he felt.
Vinnie frowned, her expression puzzled as she regarded him. “Well, you’d best buck up, you dull dog, for the orchestra is beginning a country dance. Didn’t you promise that to Meg?”
“Oh, blast,” Aubrey said crossly, realising she was right, and hurrying off to claim his partner.
Ocean View Villa, Little Valentine, 23rd December 1815
Alice closed the front door with a sigh and leaned against it. Bloody, bloody hell. Idiot! She banged her head against the wood a couple of times for good measure as she cursed, not that it did her a bit of good.
Quick footsteps sounded from the back of the house and she braced herself, knowing exactly what she was in for.
“What on earth are you doing back at this hour?” Lill asked, bringing the lush scent of baking with her as she stopped at the foot of the stairs, wiping her hands on the tea towel she held and regarding Alice with confusion.
Alice groaned inwardly and yanked irritably at the clasp fastening her cloak.
She avoided her friend’s eye, though she was more than a mere friend.
Miss Lillian Brown had been a mother, big sister, and emotional support to Alice since she was a child, despite only being a few years her senior.
She was also the only person in the world Alice really knew, let alone trusted.
“You were right.” The words hung in the air, stark and heavy with guilt. Alice braced herself, knowing she would never hear the end of this. “I ought not to have worn the brooch.”
There was a stony silence. It didn’t last long.
“You bleedin’ halfwit! I knew it. Didn’t I tell you? Well, that’s it, then. We’re done here, we’ll have to move, and we’ve only just finished decorating my room, and it looks so pr-pretty…” Lill sobbed, lifting her apron to cover her face.
“Oh, Lill! No!” Alice said, feeling like a monster for having put them both at risk.
This was the first proper home either of them had ever had, the first time they had ever dared to put down roots and try to live a normal life, or as normal as Alice felt she could stomach.
“It was this young fellow who recognised it, and if I can’t handle him, then I don’t know what the world’s coming to.
I’ll get rid of the brooch, quick as I can, and then he’s got no proof.
Who on earth would believe Miss Marwick, well-behaved spinster, would be involved in such a crime, I ask you? It’s ludicrous.”
Lill sniffed, looking up at Alice dubiously. “You reckon?”
“Certainly I do,” Alice said, with rather more certainty than she currently felt. “We’ll not have to move, Lill. My word upon it, and moreover I swear I’ll not do such a reckless thing again. I don’t know what got into me.”
“Oh, aye,” Lill remarked with a snort, though she looked less wretched now, which was a relief.
“I do. One look at those sparkles and you fell madly in love. You’ve been desperate to wear the wretched thing ever since you lifted it.
All that ‘I’m saving it for a rainy day’ when you sold the rest of the set easily enough.
You wanted it for yourself, and don’t deny it. ”
“No, I don’t deny it.” Alice sighed as Lill took her cloak from her shoulders, wishing the weight that had settled there could be removed with such ease.
Lill chucked her under the chin, her smile fond. “Ah, not that I blame you. You deserve all the pretty things you want, my pet. You’re the one what takes all the risks to keep us in such fine style.”
Alice laughed and gave Lill an impulsive hug. “What would I do without you?”
Lill considered this for a moment as she hung Alice’s cloak up. “Well, you’d have starved before you were eight, that’s for starters, and been either transported or hanged more times than I can count.”
“I cannot deny that either,” Alice replied ruefully, peeling off her gloves and tossing them over the banister. “Well, nevermind. Put the kettle on, Lill, we’ll have a nice cup of tea, and I’ll read you the next chapters of Sense and Sensibility.”
Lill clapped her hands together with delight.
She had tumbled madly in love with Captain Brandon and thought Marianne a complete idiot, which was rich considering some of the useless oafs Lill had fallen for over the years.
“Tea and cake! I made a lovely fruit cake whilst you were out,” she said over her shoulder as she bustled off.
Alice picked up the lamp illuminating the hallway and followed.
The tantalising smell enveloped her as she reached the kitchen, easing some of her anxiety.
She could deal with Aubrey Seymour. At least she had settled her friend’s nerves.
She would not have Lill worrying, not about her, certainly not about leaving Little Valentine.
As strange as it was, this place had become their home.
They’d even made friends here, and carved a life for themselves, as precarious as it sometimes seemed, and Alice was not about to let that go, not for anything, or anyone.