“I couldn’t sleep,” she said, shifting between her feet. “Are you leaving?” she asked.
“Yes, we thought it for the best.” Diana turned back to the desk and gathered up the notes again. “Owen and I are going to live together, somewhere far away from here, somewhere that no one will know we aren’t really husband and wife.”
“Truly?” Jessie asked, scrambling into the room and hurrying to Diana’s side. “You are going to give up this place?”
“For him, I am not hesitating,” Diana said, turning and bestowing a great smile on Jessie.
“How will you live?”
“Hopefully, something will come of my writing. As you said, Jessie, maybe it is not so ridiculous to hope to be independent. In the meantime …” Diana paused and took out one of the promissory notes. “I was going to take the equivalent of my dowry.”
“Take more.”
“What? I cannot do that.”
“You must.” Jessie pushed all the notes and coins towards Diana, urging her to place them in the small leather portmanteau by their feet.
“It is stealing. It is not mine.”
“Didn’t your husband vow to share all his worldly goods with you in church?” Jessie asked with a giggle. “In the eyes of the law, whatever is in this house is yours too.”
“But … I can’t,” Diana said, shaking her head.
“You must.” Jessie started putting the notes in the portmanteau before Diana could stop her. “Please, Your Grace. If all this money was gained from those fires, then it’s important it goes towards something good. A new life for you and Mr Arnold is certainly a good thing.”
Diana smiled a little, startled by Jessie’s eagerness to help her.
“Wait, maybe there is more we can do with it.” Diana held a hand over the bag, stopping Jessie from adding any more.
“Like what?” Jessie asked. Diana knelt in front of the bag and began to pull the notes back out, separating them and counting them up into piles. “What are you doing?” Jessie asked, moving to kneel beside Diana.
“This is for the house in Bath. This must be given to those children. Maybe Gilbert will not look after those children as he should have done, but we can at least see things are done right in his absence.” She pushed the pile forward before turning to the second. “This we can send to the tenants that were thrown out after the fires.”
“You would do that?” Jessie asked, picking up the notes and looking at her with wide eyes. “This is an awful lot of money.”
“I’d say it is the very least we can do.” Diana chewed her lip, wishing she could do more, but it was not within her power to buy back the land and build the houses again. With a little luck, maybe the courts would order Gilbert to do as much, but at least in the meantime, the money would be something.
“What of this money?” Jessie asked, pointing to the third lot. Diana took it warily between her fingers. It was more than she had initially intended to take, but she began to think that maybe Jessie had a point. After all Gilbert had done, was it not fair to take a little more?
“I suppose Gilbert will not be needing it where he is going,” Diana said, smiling slightly. “Maybe we could take it.”
“Do. Take it,” Jessie said, gathering the money from Diana’s hand and placing it in the portmanteau another time.
“Jessie,” Diana said, reaching for the maid. “I do not know how to thank you.”
“Thank me?” Jessie said in surprise, lurching backwards. “What for?”
“You are the reason I can be free of him at last!” Diana said with glee, fighting the tears of happiness in her eyes as she blinked them away. “I only wish there was something I could do for you. Some way I could show you how grateful I am.”
“There is something. Perhaps,” Jessie said nervously, looking down at the portmanteau between them. “Not as an act of gratefulness, just something you could do for me.”
“Anything, Jessie. What is it?”
Jessie took her time, fiddling with the edge of the portmanteau before she looked up, finding Diana’s gaze with her own.
“Take me with you?”
“I’m sorry?” Diana said in surprise. Jessie abruptly moved closer towards her.
