‘If Tilly doesn’t go, you don’t go.’
Patience tried one last time. ‘But how will you manage?’
‘Perfectly well. I shall eat at my club and Maud will see to the house.’ Maud was Tilly’s sister who lived close by and came each day for a few hours to do the washing and ironing and any other jobs Tilly designated. Maud’s husband, a miner, had been severely injured in a fall at the pit some years ago, and the generous wage William paid her had made all the difference to their standard of living. ‘But don’t stay away too long.’
Patience stood up, walking round to her husband’s chair and putting her arms round him as she rested her chin on the top of his head. ‘Thank you,’ she said tenderly. ‘You’re a wonderful man.’
‘And flattery will get you no more concessions.’
When Sadie answered the knock at the door in the late afternoon, she stared in surprise at the well-dressed couple standing on the doorstep, another woman peering out of the horse-drawn cab standing at the kerb. ‘Can I help you?’
‘I’ve come to see my cousin, Mrs Shawe. My name is Patience Aldridge and this is my husband, Dr Aldridge. She wrote to me about – about what’s happened.’
‘I’m afraid Mrs Shawe’s at the theatre but if you would like to come in?’ Sadie stood aside as the couple entered the house, and when she glanced at them and then back at the woman in the cab, it was William who said, ‘My wife was wondering if Mrs Shawe would like her to stay for a few days. Family, you know? And due to my wife’s condition, I was insistent our housekeeper accompanied her. I have to get home immediately, I’m afraid.’
Sadie thought quickly. She remembered Sophy saying something about a cousin who was expecting a baby about the time all the trouble occurred, but other than that she had no idea who this person was. Sophy never discussed her past. But she couldn’t very well say that.
‘How is she?’ Patience had taken a step forward. ‘Really, I mean?’
Making a swift decision, Sadie said, ‘Mrs Shawe would tell you she is all right, ma’am, but to my mind she’s far from well. I think you staying for a bit would be just the ticket, if you don’t mind me saying so.’
Patience’s thin shoulders relaxed. ‘Then that’s what I’ll do. And there’s room for Tilly?’
‘Of course, ma’am.’
The next few minutes were all bustle. The cab driver helped William bring Patience’s and Tilly’s bags into the house, and then Patience and William said a fond farewell and he set off back to the train station in the same cab. Blessing the fact that on Sophy’s instructions, Toby’s bedroom had been emptied of all his possessions, and new curtains and bedlinen bought in a pale lemon shade as befitted a guest room, Sadie placed Patience’s bags in it. Tilly was to have the other, smaller room, similar to hers, at the back of the house.
A few minutes later when she brought a tea tray into the drawing room Tilly jumped up, saying, ‘Let me help you with that, lass. And I’ll be obliged if you allow me to help you with the load, us turning up like this. I can’t abide sittin’ twiddlin’ my thumbs.’
The two women smiled at each other, each liking what the other saw, and Patience relaxed a little more. She didn’t want to tread on anyone’s toes, least of all Sophy’s servant’s.
By the time Sophy returned home from the theatre after her evening performance, Patience had been acquainted with the full facts concerning the happenings of three weeks ago, along with the life Toby had led his wife before the fateful night. She had listened open-mouthed, hardly able to believe what she was hearing, and then cried a little. But when Sophy walked in the door, Patience was calm and composed.
‘Patience?’ Sophy stared at her cousin in amazement as Patience rose from her comfy chair where she had been reading and came across to hug her. ‘What are you doing here?’
The two embraced, Patience holding Sophy tight for a long moment before she murmured, ‘I had to come as soon as I heard. I’m so deeply sorry, Sophy. William, too. He sends his fondest love and said if there’s anything he can do . . .’
‘Where is he?’ Sophy glanced about her as though she expected William to leap out from behind the furniture.