by Dilly Court
'If he don't come up to scratch we'll send Mick and Cyril round with the rest of the lads,' Gertie said, folding her arms across her chest. 'We'll see he does right by you, girl.'
Eloise hugged them both and she called to Joss who was standing on top of a heap of breeze crowing like one of the cockerels that stalked about amongst the hens.
'He'd make a good hill man,' Gertie said with a gap-toothed grin. 'We can always find work for an able lad.'
With a last loud crow, Joss ran down the heap, sending up a cloud of dust. Eloise beckoned to him, telling him to follow her, but he danced on ahead, jumping the puddles and occasionally landing in the middle of one with a hoot of laughter. Despite his wet boots and socks, Eloise couldn't help laughing at his antics. When she reached the entrance, she put Beth down on the ground and watched her toddle off after Joss who was chasing a rather tatty-looking chicken. Mick was standing by his cart, waiting for it to be unloaded. 'What's this, girl?' he demanded, grinning. 'Are you looking for work?'
'No, Mick. I've come to say goodbye. It's a complete miracle but my mother has returned from Africa and she's come to fetch us.'
Mick embraced her with a hug that almost stopped her breathing. 'I'm glad for your sake, Ellie. But we'll miss you and the nippers.'
'I'll bring them to see you. We won't lose touch,' Eloise said, when she caught her breath. 'Look after Peg; she's a wonderful girl and a dear friend.'
'And I knows it. My Peg's one of the best, and she's very fond of you. If our little 'un is a girl, we'll call her Ellie.'
' I 'd be honoured, Mick. If it hadn't been for you we might have perished on the streets. I'll always remember what you did for me and my children.'
'Aw. It weren't nothing, girl.' Mick's weather beaten face flushed a dull brick red. 'If there's anything else I can do for you . . .'
Eloise reached up and kissed him on the cheek. 'I'd be more than grateful if you could find us a cab, Mick. My mother is waiting for me at the Tranters' house.'
Later that evening, when Joss and Beth were fed, bathed and tucked up in their beds at the hotel, Eloise and Grace were sitting in their private parlour waiting for Barton to arrive. Eloise kept glancing at the black marble clock on the mantelshelf. Her stomach felt as though it was full of butterflies flapping madly around, and her mouth was dry. She got up every now and then to pace the floor, and to take yet another look in the mirror above the fireplace to make certain that her hair had not escaped from the elaborate style that Grace had fashioned. Curled and pomaded, her gleaming brown hair was piled on top of her head like a coronet. Her new satin-striped blue silk gown fitted her slim figure to perfection, and waterfalls of lace at the neckline and cuffs only served to emphasise her slender neck and wrists. The small train, lined with frills, swirled around her feet and ankles as she moved, revealing the occasional glimpse of blue satin high-heeled slippers.
'You look beautiful, Ellie,' Grace said, smiling happily. 'Your papa will have a fit when he receives the bill but it will be worth every penny just to see the look on Barton's face when he walks through that door.'
'He might be coming to tell me that everything is over between us, Mama,' Eloise said, nervously fingering her fan. 'You did tell me all that he said, didn't you?'
'Stop fretting, darling. I told you that we had a full and frank conversation. Now it's up to you to decide how you feel about him. Much as I liked him, I don't think life would be easy with a man like Barton Caine. You wouldn't get everything your own way, and bringing up another woman's child would be a challenge.' Grace rose to her feet. 'I hear someone coming. Now take my advice, Ellie. Follow your heart. Your babies are safe and well and no further harm will come to them, I promise you.'
Before Eloise had a chance to reply, the door opened and Barton Caine entered the room carrying a huge bunch of red roses. Eloise stood quite still, hardly daring to breathe as he formally greeted her mother, bowing over her hand and raising it to his lips. He was dressed in a well-cut black evening suit that emphasised his broad shoulders and slim waist, and at the neck of his starched white evening shirt he wore a wine-coloured cravat. To Eloise's dazzled eyes he looked breathtakingly handsome and completely unattainable. When he turned to her, she saw her own feelings mirrored in his eyes. His lips curved in a tentative smile as he held the bouquet out to her. 'I remembered your love of roses,' he murmured, 'but I'm afraid that they are from a hothouse and have no scent.'
Eloise took the flowers, and she met his gaze with a wobbly smile. 'They are beautiful, but not as honest and down to earth as garden roses.'
'In the summer I will fill the house with roses from the garden,' he said softly.
Grace rose to her feet. 'I think I ought to go and check on the children, Ellie.'
Barton moved swiftly to open the door for her.
'Take your time,' Grace murmured. 'Dinner can wait.' She gave him a brilliant smile as she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
'I trust that I find you well, Eloise?' Barton made a move towards her and then hesitated, eyeing her warily.
Eloise was startled to realise that he was as nervous and tongue-tied as she was herself and she made a vague movement with her hand, indicating the sofa. 'Won't you sit down, sir?'
The sound of her voice seemed to trigger off an instantaneous response and he strode across the floor, taking the bouquet from her hands and tossing it onto the floor. 'Damn it, woman. Do you always answer a question with a question?' He took her by the shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes.
A small sigh escaped her lips. 'No, sir.'
'You know my name, Eloise. Can't you bear to say it?'
'Why did you come here tonight, Barton?'
He answered her by drawing her none too gently into his arms and kissing her with all the ferocity of long pent-up emotions. She closed her eyes, parting her lips, and allowed her senses to revel in the taste of him as his tongue claimed her mouth, his teeth grazed her lips and his hands caressed her body. She felt herself melting into him until they were as one person, and she knew that she had come home. When he finally released her lips, he still held her in his arms, as if he would never let her go. 'I came to do just that, my darling. I came to tell you that I've been a complete fool all these weeks. I knew from the first moment I saw you that I loved you and yet I risked losing you by allowing my stupid fears and prejudices to rule my heart.'
'I lied to you about my children, but it was not from choice.'
He traced the outline of her cheek with the tip of his forefinger and a smile lit his eyes, turning them from the colour of a winter sky to the blue of midsummer. 'I know that now, of course. But until you ran away I had no idea that Joss and Beth belonged to you.'
'Did Phoebe tell you that?'
He nodded. 'Yes, of course. She had little choice, poor girl, when Matron questioned her about the missing children.'
'I'm sorry,' Eloise murmured.
'If only you had trusted me and told me the truth from the start.'
'You might have sent me back to Yorkshire. I feared that you would think as my father thought.'
He kissed her again, slowly and languorously, until she relaxed against him. 'I was a stiff necked fool,' he whispered as he nuzzled her neck. 'I might have thought that way once, but not any more. I love you to distraction, Eloise. This past week has been sheer torment. I thought I had lost you forever, and I was out of my mind with worry, until Grace turned up on my doorstep like an angel from heaven.' He cupped her face in his hands. 'I can see where you get your beauty, my love. Your mother is not only beautiful but she is a very special lady.'
Eloise blinked away a tear, but this time it was happiness that was making her cry. 'You'd better stop there, Barton, or I might be jealous of my own mother.'
He kissed her on the forehead, the tip of her nose and he brushed the teardrops from her eyelashes with his lips. 'There will never be another woman for me as long as I live, Eloise. I love you – no – I adore you. I'm asking you, most humbly, to be my w
ife. I want you and your children too, my dearest love.'
She drew away from him just far enough to look into his eyes. 'Do you really mean that, Barton? You already have one child who is not your own. You admitted freely that you cannot love Maria as you should. How would you feel about Joss and Beth?'
'I would love them because they are a part of you, my dearest girl. And I was wrong about Maria; I do love the little scamp. I suppose I always did, but I was afraid to admit it even to myself. My heart was closed and shuttered until I met you, Eloise. Now I see the world through quite different eyes.'
'Oh, Barton . . .'
He sealed her lips with a kiss. 'I so nearly lost you, Ellie. Don't ever leave me again.'
Eloise wound her arms around his neck and drew his head down so that their lips met. 'I'll never leave you.'
'Will you marry me, Ellie? I will do my best to make you happy, even though I cannot offer you much in the way of . . .'
She laid her finger on his lips. 'I don't care about material things, Barton. Once, I did. But if there's one thing I've learnt in the past months, it's that the only thing in life that matters is people. Love and family are more important to me than money. I would marry you if you were a dustman working the dust yard at King's Cross.'
'I am not alone, Eloise. There is always Maria.'
'And I will love her just as much as Joss and Beth, and our own children if we are blessed with a family. And most important of all, Barton Caine, I love you with all my heart and soul.'
'I wouldn't want to change anything about you, my dearest Eloise,' Barton said with a tender smile in his eyes. 'But I think that a mother's love is the most powerful of all.'
ALSO AVAILABLE IN ARROW
The Cockney Sparrow
Dilly Court
She sang with the voice of a nightingale . . .
Gifted with a beautiful soprano voice, young Clemency Skinner is forced to work as a pickpocket in order to support her crippled brother, Jack. Their feckless mother, Edith, has fallen into the clutches of an unscrupulous pimp, whose evil presence threatens their daily existence.
Befriended by Ned Hawkes and his kindly mother, Nell, Clemency struggles to escape from life in the slums of Stew Lane. She finds work with a troupe of buskers and is spotted by the manager of the Strand Theatre. Clemency looks set for operatic stardom, but a chance meeting with the mysterious Jared Stone brings danger and intrigue and threatens to change her life forevermore . . .
The Best of Sisters
Dilly Court
Would fate ever bring him back to her?
Twelve-year-old Eliza Bragg has known little in life but the cold, comfortless banks of the Thames. Living above her uncle's chandlery she has grown accustomed to a life of penury and servitude, her only comfort the love and protection of her older brother, Bart.
But one day Bart accidentally kills a man and is forced to flee to New Zealand. Alone, barefoot, beaten down and at the mercy of her cruel uncle, Eliza realises that her very survival is at stake . . .
Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
About the Author
By the Same Author
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Also Available in Arrow
The Cockney Sparrow
The Best of Sisters