‘Then we must see if we can grow some at Glanmore House. I do not think the conservatory is used much. Freddie is theone who likes plants, but he prefers to be outside. There will be plenty of space for us to grow some of these.’
He stared up at the plant, acting like they had all the time in the world to stand in the darkness and discuss fruit trees.
‘I used to work for Mr and Mrs Chorley,’ she blurted out. ‘Mr Chorley was the man on the edge of the ballroom, the one who you intercepted.’
‘I see.’ Still he did not press.
‘They were my last employers before… before Bentswood Street.’
Edward nodded, no change to his expression.
‘He was… he thought…’ She pressed herself into the wall again. She did not like to think about how helpless she had been when she had lived with the Chorley family. She had been with the family for six months before it had become too intolerable to bear. ‘He ruled his house with an iron will. Everyone was frightened of him and he liked it that way. I stayed as long as I did because of his poor children but then it… I…’ Her voice faded away as she remembered those last few weeks in which she had not known what on earth she was going to do.
‘I understand what it is like to live like that. It eats at your soul.’
‘Yes, it felt exactly like that. I wrote to Simon to tell him I could not take it any longer and asked if I could stay with him while I looked for another post. I now think Mr Chorley read my letter. It never arrived with Simon, at any rate. But I had drawn attention to myself and that was not the thing to do.’ She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stem the tears pricking the back of her eyes. She did not want to cry through this story; she had fought back, moved on. She was stronger than Michael Chorley had ever given her credit for.
‘He started to come into the children’s schoolroom. He criticised everything, wearing down my spirits until I felt like a speck of dust; one puff and I would be blown away. He was particularly cruel about my hair and, I am not vain, I do not care what I look like, but my mother had the same colour and somehow those words managed to cut me and he knew it.’ She huffed out a laugh, although she did not find anything about it funny.
‘Your hair is beautiful,’ he said. His words resonated with truth and something in her softened.
‘Thank you.’
‘I am not saying it to make you feel good. It is a fact. That is probably why he picked it. People who crave power are like that. My aunt was adept at finding weak spots in my brothers and me and grinding us down about it. For me, it was my music. Anything she would find to criticise, she would, until she stripped the joy away from it. This Chorley is the same; he is a liar and a brute.’ He paused. ‘Would you like to come out now?’
‘Not yet.’
‘That is all right. We can stay here for the rest of the night if need be.’
‘Thank you.’ She fiddled with the necklace Emily had given her to wear tonight; the chain was delicate and she had loved it on sight. She’d adored swirling around the dance floor all evening and had truly enjoyed the attention of her dance partners, especially relishing the annoyance on Edward’s face when he realised she was popular. How petty her satisfaction seemed now in the wake of his patient kindness. ‘My story is not finished.’
‘Ah.’ There was a world of sadness in that one word and her infatuation for this man deepened a little bit more.
‘He started to touch me.’
Edward swore under his breath.
‘Nowhere I could really complain about. My elbow more often than not. Over a few days, it became a grip and I realised he was so much physically stronger than me. I do not think he found me attractive; his disappointed frown whenever his gaze raked over my body suggested he found me slightly repellent. But one day, I think for a show of power, he forced his mouth onto mine. It was… it was not pleasant.’
Edward was standing tall now, his body taut.
‘Simon taught me how to defend myself. Mr Chorley was not expecting me to knee him where it hurt the most. While he was lying on the floor groaning and calling me all sorts of names, I rushed to my room and locked myself in. When night came, I climbed out of the window and ran.’
‘You were alone in the dark?’
‘It was less frightening than staying in the Chorley household.’
His dark eyes glinted, his expression unclear in the darkness of the conservatory. ‘I see. Go on.’
‘There is very little left to say. I managed to get to Simon.’ She skipped over the terror of those few days. The coaching inn where the staff had not been kind, the carriage that had seemed to take a thousand years pressed up against strangers, none of it was relevant. ‘But Mr Chorley had his address, doubtless because he had stolen my letter. He destroyed my brother’s home, the place where he met clients. We arrived back at the house as he was leaving; he did not even try to hide his face. He looked proud of the destruction. There was nothing of value for us to salvage; we were reduced to almost nothing because he could not control me. I believe he contacted all of my previous employers, frightening them into not writing a reference for me,and he spread rumours about my brother, which meant it was hard for him to find decent work and impossible for me. I do not know what we would have done if you had not come along and offered him the job. I will always be grateful.’
‘Your brother earned the job in his own right and Freddie offered you a place in our home because he liked you. There is no need to be grateful.’
‘That does not mean I will stop feeling it.’
They descended into silence.
‘I think I can come out now.’
