Page 73 of Infamous

‘See? Valentine understands. Now, if the rest of you could just—’

He was cut off by a very odd noise. It was almost like the groaning of a ship in the wind, the yawning distress of a hull being bent to breaking point. It only lasted a second or so, and then there was an ear-splitting crash somewhere above them, so explosive that it sounded as if somebody had actually shot a cannon at the house. Rose gasped, and Kitty jumped to her feet; there was a moment of eerie silence, and then they heard a distant and very furious shriek.

‘Bloody fucking hell,’ said Nash, looking rattled. ‘Has the sky fallen in?’

*

The sky had not, but the ceiling of the long gallery had. It appeared that the hole in the roof had worsened, which had in turn allowed all manner of rain and debris into the bedroom above, and that ultimately the ceiling had given in to the inevitable and cracked open, dumping its contents into the room below. Mrs Hall was beside herself. She had been entering the long gallery at the time of the collapse, and had now been firmly steered away by Henry so that she might politely continue her hysterics in the privacy of the servants’ quarters.

They all stood staring up at the hole in the ceiling, watching as scraps of rotten wood and leaves and slow trickles of rainwater continued to fall into the room. Ignoring Dayo’s shout of warning, Nash strode out towards it to get a better look; he peered up, one hand shielding his face from the water, and then swore loudly.

‘Well. I suppose .?.?. Christ. God damn it. If we ever need to land a balloon in the house, we can just .?.?.Shit!’

‘I would ask how bad it is,’ ventured Kitty. ‘But there only seems to be one answer.’

‘Don’t—!’ Nash started, but he seemed to catch himself and broke off, scrubbing his hand violently through his hair. ‘Do not mock me right now, Catherine. There is an enormous fucking hole in my inheritance.’

‘I suppose .?.?. I suppose there might be a way to salvage it,’ said Rose. ‘I suspect Henry might know. Although I imagine a lot of the damage has already been done, over time .?.?.’

‘Oh, do shutup!’ Nash shouted. Rose flinched as if hit, and Eddie’s mouth fell open. ‘I have put up with your mousy presence until now, but even I have my limits. No, I’m sorry – do you think it is theleastbit helpful to say such a thing now?’

‘Nash,’ Eddie breathed, horrified.

‘Good God, man,’ said Albert, his face a brilliant red. ‘Is there any need to be so unforgivably rude?’

‘Oh, please, Albert, we aren’t in London now, there’s no need to stand on ceremony – I will speak how I wish to in myown damned house.’

‘She was trying to help,’ Dayo said firmly, crossing his arms and taking a small step in front of Rose, who was rigid and pale with shock. ‘And in return, you have insulted her.’

Nash seemed to sense that the room was against him. He rubbed at the back of his neck, wilting.

‘I suppose .?.?. I spoke out of turn. As I’m sure you can understand, I have just had an enormous shock, and I .?.?. Look, Miss Li, I did not intend to—’

‘That’s quite all right,’ Rose said stiffly, finding her voice. ‘There is no apology necessary. If anything, you have just proven to me that I am an excellent judge of character, so for that, I thank you. As for my presence in your house, you needn’t worry – Albert and I will depart in the morning.’

She turned and left immediately, Albert shaking his head as he followed her out. Dayo wasn’t far behind. Valentine went to Nash and gave him a friendly shake of the shoulders.

‘Idiot. We shall find a way to fix it.’

Eddie assumed that Valentine meant the ceiling, and not any friendship with Rose, which had never really existed in the first place. Nash glanced over at Eddie, who was still frozen to the spot, reluctant to reignite his anger but unable to let his behaviour pass without reproach.

‘Youreallyshouldn’t have done that,’ was all she managed before she went in search of her friend.

*

‘I am not at all surprised,’ Rose said, picking up a dark pelisse and frowning at it. Juno had found her way into the room and was staring up at her, looking mournful, as if she knew what a trunk was and considered it a dire omen. ‘Is this yours or mine?’

‘Yours,’ said Eddie. ‘Could you slow down for one second?’

‘No,’ said Rose, carefully folding the coat and placing it in her trunk. She really did look magnificent when she was angry – and good Lord, was she angry.

‘Look, Anne will do that, or Mrs Hall—’

‘MrsHall? I imagine the poor thing is having a stiff drink for the shock. I can pack my own trunk, Eddie. Anyway .?.?. as I said, I amnotsurprised. You know I have always considered him to be a presumptuous, arrogant sort of man. I will be very glad to see the back of this place.’

‘But you can’t mean that. I mean .?.?. I don’t want you to go,’ Eddie said uselessly, sitting down on the edge of the bed. ‘You cannot leave me here by myself in this room. I shall rot.’

‘Then come back to London with us,’ Rose said, shrugging, as if it were that simple. ‘You can write just as well there – perhaps better, I imagine, now that it’s so ludicrously cold here. Nash is not some .?.?. some magicalconduitfor talent, Ed. You are plenty talented on your own.’