Page 20 of Infamous

Beatrice only grinned up at her. ‘I’m hungry,’ she said. ‘Forgot my provisions. Do you have a biscuit? And then I will be on my way.’

‘You most certainly willnot,’ said Eddie, grabbing her by the back of her dress to prevent any sudden attempts to escape. ‘Thank you so much, Rose.’

‘She came to ask my father the best route,’ Rose said, pushing a few damp tendrils of hair away from her face – she clearly hadn’t trusted Beatrice not to do a runner either, and had carried her not inconsiderable weight all the way to make sure. ‘She almost gave us a heart attack – we were sitting in the drawing room and then suddenly there was thisfaceat the window, with the most demonic grin. We brought her in for some milk and tried to send a messenger, but I suppose none of you were at home to receive him.’

‘She hasn’t been to your house for ages,’ said Eddie, mildly impressed despite herself. ‘It’s a wonder that she remembered the route.’

‘I’m very quick-witted,’ grunted Beatrice, trying to pull herself away from Eddie’s iron grip and failing.

The rest of the Millers appeared at the end of the street, and there were cries of joy and relief upon seeing Beatrice wriggling like a determined fish in Eddie’s grasp; Amelia came running and picked her up, immediately bursting into tears, before Mrs Miller gently took Beatrice from her and led them in a procession the rest of the way home.

Only Eddie stayed behind, waiting until they were out of earshot before she spoke.

‘Thank you, truly. I know she’s not the easiest to catch, or to keep caught.’

‘It’s all right,’ said Rose. ‘I told her I was taking her down to the docks to catch a ship.’

‘Wise,’ said Eddie. There was a small and uncomfortable pause. ‘How are you? You didn’t seem particularly .?.?. pleased, last night.’

When Eddie had returned from her tête-à-tête with Nash, Rose had seemed out of sorts; she had shot Eddie a deeply questioning look, which Eddie had only met with a shrug and a smile. Rose and Albert had announced their departure at the rather early hour of eleven o’clock, and Eddie had quickly said her goodbyes before going back to the conversation she was having with Kitty Stuart. It had only occurred to her half an hour later that Rose had probably expected Eddie to go with her.

‘I just don’t think they’re particularly nice people, Eddie.’

‘Because your friends are sonice,’ Eddie said, immediately riled, thinking of every society party she’d sat through at Rose’s behest. ‘How many times have they made pointed little remarks about my dress, or made it clear that they’d rather I had stayed at home?’

‘Never!’ said Rose, looking shocked. ‘They were trying to be sweet, Eddie! They were actually complimenting your dresses!’

‘My dresses are hideous. Nobody with eyes could ever compliment them in good conscience, and therefore they must have been making fun of me.’

‘One of Mr Nicholson’s friends, a political writer, asked me all these questions about politics in China,’ Rose said, quite red in the face now. ‘And when I said I didn’t know, he acted as if I’d let the side down. As if it’smyjob to be his emissary to the East. He was talking to me like I was some sort of curiosity for him to examine. Somehow Trix manages to have better manners when she asks questions, and she’s seven years old.’

This gave Eddie pause.

‘Damn. Which friend? We won’t speak to that one.’

‘I don’t know, Eddie, because they were all practically the same—’

‘How could you say that? That was a room full of some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met in my life, horrible political writers excluded, and if you can’t see that—’

‘We’re interesting,’ said Rose quietly, stopping Eddie in her tracks. ‘You and I. We don’t need some horrible gentleman with a half-written manuscript about the revolution in France to tell us that.’

Eddie looked over her shoulder at the house, where all the lamps were now lit and Beatrice was probably being given a very angry bath.

‘I know that, Rose.Youdon’t have to tell me that. Look, I am truly sorry, I didn’t realise .?.?. but you cannot write themalloff, simply because of one ill-mannered ogre.Nashwould never say such a thing. I promise if you spoke to him properly, you’d understand.’

Rose snorted. ‘He’s not going to speak to me, Eddie. He doesn’t want anything from me. I have nothing to offer.’

‘What do you mean? You have lots to offer! You’re wonderful!’

‘That’s not what I .?.?. Never mind,’ said Rose, shaking her head. ‘I just think you ought to be careful. That’s all.’

‘Careful is my middle name,’ said Eddie, smiling tentatively. ‘Edith Careful-How-She-Goes Miller.’

Rose rolled her eyes but smiled back. ‘Your middle name is Hortensia, and if you think I’m likely to forget that in a hurry—’

She had to stop speaking because Eddie had grabbed her and put a hand over her mouth, laughing. Rose didn’t bother with violence, simply going slack against her and then biting gently at Eddie’s palm until she was released.

‘Let’s not quarrel,’ she said. ‘I can’t bear it. It feels like everything stops making sense when we do.’