Page 65 of Infamous

‘Carried.’

Dayo shook his head, puffing on his pipe. ‘That poor woman.’

Eddie knew she had gone scarlet. She sat down on the edge of the bed and carefully studied her hands.

Valentine reached out and poked her right in the divot between her fingers.

‘I cannot say you are not in any way at fault, Eddie, but you were not the first and you will certainly not be the last.Youwill not make or break this marriage, so stop looking so pink and cowed.’

‘We went to the theatre once,’ said Dayo. ‘WithLiza. It was just after his first big publication, and everywhere we went, everybody set to muttering. We were seated in a box, and the lead actress appeared and gave a speech from the one adjacent about halfway through the second act. She was only there for around five minutes, but she and Nash caught each other’s eye, and during the interval we could not find him anywhere. When the curtain went up again the director walked out of the wings to inform us that the play could not continue as the leading lady had absconded from the dressing rooms.’

‘No,’ said Eddie. ‘WithNash?’

‘Yes,’ said Dayo. ‘And Liza was just sitting up there in the box with an empty seat next to her, apoplectic.’

‘You have to admit that one was rather funny,’ Valentine said, leaning back against the wall with a snort. ‘Honestly, you cannot take any of this seriously, or you get drawn into the charade. Treat it as its own bit of light theatre. I’m sure that is the spirit in which it’s intended.’

‘It’s not theatre,’ said Albert. ‘It’s her life. I have tried to talk to him about this, but he simply will not listen.’

‘Well, what sort of life do you think she imagined she would have, marryingNash? And besides, if you must know, quite frankly she gives as good as she gets. She is just much,muchcleverer about it.’

Somewhere far below them, a door slammed very loudly. Rose and Albert winced in unison.

‘Hang about,’ said Valentine, dashing over to the window. ‘I think that was .?.?. yes. Look.’

Eddie went to look, Dayo at her side. Dawn was just creeping over the hills, a bright and dangerous pink, and in the rosy light she could see Liza walking towards the trees, wearing her travelling cloak. Henry was striding to keep up with her, carrying two trunks.

‘Well,’ said Valentine, ‘that’s that, then. I suppose she called for a boat with smoke signals or whatever the hell it is Nash has rigged up.’

There was silence as they all considered this. Eddie watched Liza reach the woods and slow, her head half-turning towards the house as if she were considering looking back. But a moment later she was gone.

‘Time for bed,’ said Albert, getting to his feet and stretching. ‘Goodnight, Miss Li. Miss Miller. Everybody.’

Dayo and Valentine followed him out. Eddie stayed at the window for a while longer, shivering in a rogue draught and watching for the first glimpses of the sun, until Rose sighed from under her blanket.

‘I don’t suppose you’ll change anything by sitting there looking morose.’

Eddie rolled her eyes, but got up anyway and went to join her. As she clambered into bed, Rose lifted the blanket and then deposited it over her entire being, so that she looked like a small pink ghoul.

‘Well, you look nice,’ said Eddie, her voice cracking with fatigue. ‘What’s the occasion?’

‘I need to say something to you,’ Rose said quietly, made even quieter by the blanket. ‘But I don’t care to look at you while I do.’

‘Oh,’ said Eddie. ‘Well, fine. But I feel you should know that you look like a lost octopus.’

‘If only it were still dark,’ Rose said, ignoring this.

‘I shall close my eyes,’ said Eddie, leaning back against the pillows and letting them fall shut. ‘Although I cannot guarantee that I won’t fall asleep.’

‘Don’t,’ said Rose.

‘All right. Go on, then.’

‘Well,’ said Rose. The blanket quivered slightly, as if she were rearranging herself. ‘Fine.’

In the ensuing silence, Eddie actually did almost fall asleep; she was exhausted, and it must have been approaching seven o’clock in the morning.

‘I like girls,’ Rose said, the words coming out of her in a long exhalation. ‘Romantically speaking. Ionlylike girls. Oh, God. I actually just said that, didn’t I? I heard myself say it. I wasn’t sure how to tell you, before. To be honest, Ed, I thought you might have worked that one out on your own. But there it is. And I hope it helps .?.?. make sense of some things that I know you couldn’t quite understand before.’