A Place Called Home (41 page)

‘When he realised that I couldn't go through with my plan he reverted to his old arrogant, boastful self. He told me how he'd cheated you out of your inheritance by obtaining a copy of my marriage certificate and that he'd altered the date so it looked as though you were born out of wedlock.'

‘I can't believe that even he would stoop so low,' Lucy said slowly.

‘There's nothing that man wouldn't do. He never forgave me for leaving him for Julius, and he was determined to destroy my happiness. He seems to have carried his vendetta on to the next generation, namely you, my dear girl.'

‘He ruined my sister's life,' Bram said angrily. ‘She was the sweetest person you can imagine, but he used her and then abandoned her. I think she died of a broken heart.'

‘That sounds so like him.' Christelle took a cigarillo out of the case and stood up. ‘I'm sorry, Miss Gant. I must have a smoke.' She moved gracefully to the range and lit a spill.

‘Pity you didn't pull the trigger,' Hester said with a grim smile. ‘If anyone deserved to be shot it's that bastard, if you'll excuse my language.'

Lucy stared at her mother, trying to understand what had motivated her to consider such a desperate action. ‘But what did he do to make you hate him so much? He's a despicable person but there must be something you're not telling us.'

‘This isn't easy for me.' Christelle inhaled smoke and exhaled with a sigh of satisfaction. ‘I don't like talking about it, but you were a baby at the time and we were living in dire poverty, even though Julius had found himself a job in a counting house. His meagre wages only just kept us from starvation. Then one day Linus turned up on the doorstep. He said that he had come with a message from Sir William. I was young and naïve and I let him in, and he forced himself on me. He took me on the floor like an animal while my baby lay sleeping in her cradle. When Julius came home he found me in a terrible state. It was all I could do to prevent him going after Linus there and then.'

‘That's awful,' Lucy said slowly. ‘But you were in London. The duel was in Paris.'

‘I thought Julius had left for work as usual next morning, but I discovered later that he had gone to Half Moon Street, intent on having it out with Linus. The servants told him that debt collectors had been hammering at the door and Linus had fled to Paris. When Julius returned home he told me what had happened, but he couldn't look at me, let alone touch me. Later that evening he walked out of the house and I never saw him again.'

Lucy sensed her mother's deep distress and she longed to comfort her, but she was at a loss to know how. ‘That must have been terrible,' she whispered. ‘I'm so sorry.'

Christelle tossed the butt of the cigarillo into the fire and sank down on her chair. ‘It was the worst time in my life. I had no money and no way of finding out what had happened to my husband. If it hadn't been for Ma I think we would have starved to death. Then one day Sir William came to tell me that Julius had followed his cousin to Paris, and they had fought the fatal duel.' She fixed her lambent gaze on her daughter. ‘Can you imagine how I felt? I was just sixteen and a widow. He offered to take you and bring you up as his own, but I refused. A decision I came to regret.'

‘That's quite a story,' Bram said warily. ‘It's so far-fetched it could be true; either that or you're an accomplished actress, Miss Arnaud.'

Christelle inclined her head. ‘Thank you, but I can assure you that every word is true. And it's Madame Arnaud.'

‘Did you go to France when you left us?' Lucy asked dazedly. She was shocked but somehow unsurprised by the things she had just heard. It was not difficult to believe that Linus had behaved in such a despicable fashion.

‘I couldn't afford the rent, small as it was. We moved north of the river and took a room in Whitechapel, not far from here. Ma did her best to earn money selling second-hand clothes in Rosemary Lane, but it wasn't the life I wanted for myself and I couldn't convince myself that Julius was dead. I was desperate to find his grave if only to say a last goodbye.' She lit another cigarillo. ‘I earned a little money by singing in the local pubs, and then I met a French sailor who promised to take me to Paris. He smuggled me onto his ship, but having got what he wanted he abandoned me in Calais. I'm not proud of myself for being such a young fool. I was still only sixteen and didn't speak a word of French. I had no money and I was stranded.'

‘Serves you right, if you ask me,' Hester muttered. ‘Women of easy virtue usually get what they deserve.'

‘Hester!' Lucy turned on her, scowling. ‘That's enough. Can't you see it hurts Mama to speak of such things?'

Hester shrugged her shoulders. ‘I've got to get on with supper or you'll all starve.'

‘I've told you everything,' Christelle said, rising to her feet and tossing the half-smoked cigarillo into the fire. ‘I confess that I didn't come to London to find you, Lucy. But suddenly, and to my surprise, I felt the need to see my girl and find out what sort of woman she had become. I asked Linus if he knew your whereabouts but he swore that he had no idea where you were living. He told me to go and see your friend Theodora Northam, although I don't think his intention was to be helpful; he simply saw a way to get rid of me. I still had the gun and he was probably afraid I might carry out my threat. I wish now that I had.'

‘So you went to see Dora.' Lucy stood up, facing her mother with a perplexed frown. ‘But she wouldn't have known where I was. I've been away.'

‘Performing in the circus,' Christelle said, chuckling. ‘My dear, you're more like me than you realise. She directed me to your man Goldspink and he told me everything. You've had quite an adventure, Lucy.'

Bram moved to Lucy's side. ‘What do you want from her, Christelle? If you didn't come to make amends for abandoning her, why are you here?'

She was silent for a moment. ‘I really don't know. Perhaps I do have some maternal feelings after all, or maybe it was just curiosity.'

‘And now you have satisfied your curiosity I suppose you'll be heading back to France.' Bram reached out to take Lucy's hand in his. ‘Do you really think it was the right thing to come here and rake up all the hurt from the past?'

‘I don't suppose I gave it any thought at all.' Christelle's laughter was shrill and mirthless. ‘That's the sort of woman I am, but Theodora told me how much Lucy has suffered and how she's handled all the bad things that have happened to her, and it makes me proud to have borne such a child.'

Lucy looked her mother in the eye with an unflinching stare. ‘But I'm no longer a child. Are you going to run away again and leave me?'

‘I have another two performances at Wilton's,' Christelle said evasively. ‘I have to honour my agreement with the manager, and then I should return to France.' She opened her reticule, turning her head to give Hester a whimsical smile. ‘No, I'm not going to smoke again. This is something much more important.' She handed a folded document to Lucy. ‘This is the genuine marriage certificate. I was going to give it to Goldspink, but I wanted you to see it first. He's already started proceedings to reclaim your estate, or what's left of it, from Linus, but he'll need this to take to court.'

Lucy took it from her and unfolded the sheet of paper. Her eyes filled with tears. ‘Thank you. I don't know what else to say.'

‘I suppose I should be grateful that you speak to me at all,' Christelle said with a sudden flash of humour. ‘Now I really must go and rest before my performance. Will you come and watch the show tonight? I could leave tickets for you at the box office.'

Lucy nodded her head. ‘We'll come, of course. I wouldn't miss it for anything.'

On stage Christelle was undoubtedly the star of the show. The audience clapped, cheered, stamped and whistled their approval, calling for encore after encore. Lucy sat with Bram in the gallery overlooking the stage and her heart swelled with pride. For all her faults, Christelle was her mother and she had eventually come to find her. She could have returned to France when she had done with Linus, but she had chosen to take work locally and await her daughter's return. Lucy knew now that the mother–daughter bond was there, even if it was tenuous, and if she had her way it would never again be broken. They might not have the close relationship she would have wished for, but she had a growing admiration for her mother's brave stand against a critical world and her determination to succeed. She turned her head to meet Bram's steady gaze. He smiled. ‘She's a star in her own right, Lucy.'

‘Yes, she's wonderful. I'm proud of her.'

He leaned forward to kiss her cheek. ‘Then you must tell her so. I think it took a lot of courage for her to come here and relive the past. I thought at first it was an act, but then I realised how important it was to her that you understood and accepted her for what she is.'

‘I do,' Lucy whispered. ‘I couldn't leave my own child, but Ma is different from the rest of us. I suppose that comes with a great talent like hers.'

Bram leaned back in his seat. ‘She's a popular lady. Perhaps now she'll return to London more often and make a name for herself here.'

‘That would be perfect,' Lucy said, leaning her head against his shoulder. ‘And tomorrow I'll take the marriage certificate to Mr Goldspink and hear what he has to say.'

Goldspink looked up from a sheaf of papers on his desk. The office was in its usual state of chaos, with open law books abandoned on the floor and parchment scrolls tied with red tape tossed seemingly at random into the corners of the room. Lucy perched on the edge of the chair with Bram standing at her side. ‘Now we have proof of your legitimacy it's a foregone conclusion that you will be able to claim your inheritance.' Goldspink peered at her over the top of his spectacles. ‘Or what's left of it, Miss Pocket. I'm sorry to say that the house in Albemarle Street has already been sold to pay off the majority of Mr Daubenay's creditors.'

‘I suspected as much,' Lucy said calmly. ‘Do you think he'll carry out his threat to bankrupt me? The money in question was for the upkeep of his children, but Bram is prepared to repay it if necessary.'

‘If anyone is going to be bankrupted it will be Mr Daubenay. You need not worry about the money you accepted in good faith and no doubt spent for the purpose for which it was intended.'

‘Yes, of course, and the children are safe and well.'

Goldspink took off his glasses and huffed on the lenses, wiping them on a grubby handkerchief. ‘Where are they now, Miss Pocket? I only ask because it might be better if you removed them from their present abode to a place of safety.'

Lucy's hand flew to her mouth and her stomach jolted as if she had missed a step on the stairs. ‘Why? What's happened?'

GOLDSPINK REPLACED HIS
spectacles, hooking them over his tiny ears, having had to search beneath tufts of grey hair to find them. ‘I'd say that Linus Daubenay is now an extremely desperate man. He'll do anything to save himself from the disgrace of bankruptcy, and from what you've told me he knows that his lies have been exposed. The children would seem to me to be his only asset. If he should discover their whereabouts who knows what action he might take?'

Lucy glanced up at Bram. ‘We must stop him at all costs.'

He laid his hand on her shoulder. ‘Don't worry, my love. He doesn't know where they are and has no way of finding out.'

‘I hope you're right, but I won't be happy until I have them safe and sound.' Lucy rose to her feet. ‘Am I correct in thinking that Marriott Park will be mine again when everything is settled?'

Goldspink nodded his head, beaming. ‘Yes, that is so. Mr Daubenay seems to have run through most of your late grandfather's assets, but you should be left with the estate in Essex, which has a substantial acreage of good farmland and an income from several small tenants.'

Lucy slipped her hand through the crook of Bram's arm. ‘It's a bit bigger than a country cottage, but it will make a wonderful home for us and our children.'

His lips twitched. ‘Hold on, Miss Pocket. As far as I know it's not a leap year. When the time is right, I'll do the proposing.'

Lucy tossed her head. ‘Why would I need to marry at all? I'm an heiress now, Bram. I'm an independent woman.' She turned to smile at Goldspink, who was watching them open-mouthed. ‘Thank you for all you've done for me, Mr Goldspink. I understand what you're saying, but the children are in a very safe place. Linus would never find them where they are now.'

They arrived home to find a carriage and pair waiting at the kerb outside the house. Lucy recognised it instantly. ‘It must be Dora,' she said excitedly. ‘I doubt if Piers would pay a visit after our last meeting.'

‘If that fellow is still bothering you I'll put a stop to his game.' Bram stopped to pay the cabby, leaving Lucy free to hurry up the front steps.

Bedwin let her in, but she could tell from his expression that all was not well. ‘What's the matter?' she demanded anxiously. ‘Is everything all right?'

‘Miss Northam is in the front parlour, miss. I think you'd best go in and hear what she has to say, although I couldn't make head or tail of it myself.'

Lucy burst into the room to find Dora seated by the window. She jumped to her feet. ‘I've done a terrible thing. I'm so sorry but he made me tell him, and I didn't know what to do. I came straight here in the hope of finding you, although I was afraid you might still be with the circus and if that was the case I would have been quite desperate.'

‘What are you talking about?' Lucy asked, pressing her down on the sofa. ‘Sit down and tell me what's happened.'