‘Ruby?’ Hannah wasn’t sure if she should wake her or not, she was sleeping so soundly with a small frown on her face. ‘I have to go now …’
Her sister opened one eye.
‘I was dreaming,’ she sighed.
‘Will you come to the fête today?’ Hannah asked. It was almost the end of July, and a week had passed since Ruby had lost her purse. They still hadn’t found it, but she’d been paid since then, so they’d just about managed to stay afloat.
‘Oh, I’m not sure.’
‘The other day, you said you were looking forward to it.’
‘I was, but I think I’d prefer to stay in bed – I need the sleep for my complexion.’
‘How have you become so vain?’ Hannah couldn’t help grinning, thinking back to the incident with the carbolic and lard: she still had freckles, but the dreaded wrinkles had failed to materialise, for which she was greatly relieved. To her surprise, though, Ruby burst into tears.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.’
‘You haven’t. It’s me. I don’t feel like doing anything.’
‘Oh? That’s a shame.’
‘I don’t know what it is, but sometimes I feel … empty … hopeless … I can’t describe it. I don’t see any point in going out when I know I won’t take any pleasure from it.’
‘I wish there was something I could do to help,’ Hannah said sadly. ‘I hate to see you like this. Let me give you a few shillings for the shopping, in case you feel up to going out later. I’ll hope to see you this afternoon – there’s plenty of entertainment, food and drink, and tours of the infirmary. There’ll be lots of people about: the great and good of Margate; Mr Fforde, Borough Surgeon …’
Ruby pulled a handkerchief from under her pillow and wiped her eyes. ‘Will Doctor Clifton be there? I’m yet to meet him.’
‘I expect he’ll be busy seeing his private patients at the clinic. Sister Trim is going to let us leave the ward to run our stall: guess the number of sweets in the jar. Of course, we might be called away to an emergency. According to Charlotte, last year one of the ladies had to be carted off on a trolley from the splint room in a faint, after watching Mr Brightside demonstrate how to saw through a plaster cast.’
‘Do you think Mr Milani will bring the lion cubs?’
‘I don’t see why he should – he’ll be entertaining visitors to the Hall by the Sea today anyway. What a strange thing to say.’
‘Not really. I’m sure he’d raise a lot of money, if people paid to pet them.’
‘I suppose so. Look, I must hurry.’ Hannah said farewell before leaving the house. It had been raining when she’d risen from her bed, but by seven, the clouds had evaporated, the sun was up, and the streets and beach were washed clean. By eight, she had a ward full of excitable children to get ready for the big day.
‘This is worse than when the animals came,’ Charlotte said, joining Hannah as she arranged fresh roses in a vase to brighten the place up. Their fragrance made her sneeze.
‘Bless you,’ Charlotte exclaimed.
‘Watch out! Nurse Bentley’s caught the scrofula,’ Charlie chuckled. He was out of bed with one of the other boys – thirteen-year-old Beckett from Deal, who was suffering from a bowed spine.
‘Let’s have none of your cheek,’ Charlotte said. ‘Everyone is to be on their best behaviour for Mr Fforde.’
‘Who’s ’e when ’e’s at ’ome?’
‘He’s our visiting surgeon, here to inspect every patient before he opens the fête.’
‘We don’t want any nonsense, or we’ll lose our places,’ Hannah warned.
Charlotte flashed her a glance of amusement as Charlie fell silent.
At ten, the doctors made their entrance: an entourage led by the Borough Surgeon, followed by Mr Anthony and Doctor Clifton, Doctor Pyle, then Mr Hunter and his medical student friends. They looked on as Mr Fforde made his examinations and held prolonged discussions over each patient. Hannah noticed that they were all smartly dressed – Doctor Clifton had made a special effort, wearing a new jacket and polished shoes, and she fancied that he was wearing a different cologne than usual.
As the doctors progressed slowly along the ward, another one appeared.
‘That’s Mr Piper,’ Hannah whispered aside to Charlotte as Sister Trim walked across to greet him. Two boys – one being pushed in a bath chair by one of the porters, and the other walking with a stick – followed him, and behind them came a woman wearing a stained blue dress with a frayed brown shawl over her head. She stopped and pulled it back to reveal her face, the glint of brown hair, and bare shoulders.
‘Ma!’ Charlie screeched. ‘It’s you! I can’t believe my eyes.’
‘My darlin’ boy.’ The woman hastened over and threw her arms around him. ‘I didn’t think I’d see yer again.’
A lump formed in Hannah’s throat as Charlie’s mother stroked his hair and cuddled him to her breast. He was crying. His ma was crying. Hannah noticed a tear rolling down Charlotte’s cheek.
‘How did you get ’ere?’ Charlie said between sobs.
‘Mr Piper said that somebody – out of the goodness of their ’eart – ’ad bought me a train ticket. I’ve never been on a train before – its joltin’ and rattlin’ put me in a fair state of petrification, but I’m ’ere now, safe an’ sound.’ Charlie’s ma gave a toothless smile.
He reached out and traced the lines on her face. ‘How are my sisters?’
‘They’re the same as ever. June ’as a babe on the way, Ellie’s got married over a broomstick for a third time, and Nancy is back in the … I don’t mind. I can keep a better eye on ’er in there. I’m workin’ ’ard in the laundry.’
‘I can tell – look at your poor ’ands.’
‘At least they stays clean.’ She chuckled, then grew serious again. ‘I wish I could make enough of a livin’ to make an ’ome for us, no matter ’ow ‘umble, but there we go. I’m goin’ back with Mr Piper later today, so I won’t be stoppin’ long. When are you comin’ back to London?’
‘Doctor Clifton says it will be quite soon. I’m much stronger, and me knees don’t ’urt like they used to.’
Hannah suggested that they sit out on the balcony while they waited for the fête to begin.
Sister Trim came across to her and Charlotte. ‘Mrs Merry will be here at any minute to watch the ones who are confined to bed. Nurse Bentley, you’re in charge of the Lettsom’s stall.’
Hannah fetched the jar they’d kept hidden in the sluice and carried it outside. It was filled to the brim with sweets: humbugs; pear drops; barley sugar; liquorice and aniseed balls. She put it on the end of one of the trestle tables which someone had labelled ‘Lettsom’, and waited with some slips of paper, pencils and a hat. It wasn’t long before Beckett turned up and offered to help.
‘It’s “Guess the number of sweets in the jar”,’ she explained. ‘It’s a penny a go.’
‘I wish I had a penny.’
‘If you help me, you can have a free turn.’ Beckett was one of Nurse Finch’s patients, but Hannah had got to know him well over the past two weeks. He was quite a character with his dimpled smile, green eyes and wayward ginger hair, and he’d sold several pennyworth of guesses even before Mr Fforde declared that the day’s entertainments could begin.
Hannah looked along the row of stalls: a coconut shy; a ‘test your strength’ game; food and drink stands selling jams, cakes and biscuits, mineral waters from the local factory, coffee and tea, and sausage rolls from the hospital kitchens. The aromas of hot doughnuts and fresh seafood made her stomach growl.
‘Trimmie’s let me go,’ she heard Charlotte saying from beside her. ‘She said I could help you here, so we can take turns looking after the sweets. Have you heard? Mr Hunter has volunteered to be put into the stocks. I’m going to enjoy this.’
‘And then you will forgive him?’ Hannah asked, smiling.
‘No …’ Charlotte said hesitantly.
‘Oh, you will,’ Hannah laughed. ‘I can see right through you – you’re in love with him.’
‘I’m not.’
‘If you weren’t, you wouldn’t be in the slightest bit bothered about what he gets up to.’
‘Well, maybe. All right,’ Charlotte confessed. ‘He has a kind heart, much like his cousin, and he’s good with the patients. I think he’ll make an excellent physician in time. There he is.’
Hannah could see the stocks from where she stood guard over the sweets with Beckett. A stampede of people came to watch as Mr Hunter took off his waistcoat and tie and handed them to his friend, before kneeling behind the stocks and allowing a helper to trap his wrists.
‘Roll up! Roll up! All monies received to be donated towards the work of this great house!’ he shouted.
Mr Hunter’s friends threw the first wet sponges at him, then Charlotte picked one from the bucket and aimed it at his head, sending rainbow showers of water through the air.
‘You could have wrung it out first, Nurse Finch,’ he bellowed, but he was grinning from ear to ear.
‘Nurse Bentley, I thought it was you.’ Mrs Clovis came up to the stand and beamed at her.
‘How are you?’ she said.
‘Not so bad. My joints are creaking a little, but I’m bearing up. I’d hoped I might have a word with Doctor Clifton if he’s here.’
‘I haven’t seen him since ward rounds,’ Hannah said.
‘Would you like to guess the number of sweets?’ Beckett interrupted. ‘I’ve been trying to count them, but there’s more in that jar than there are fish in the sea. It’s only a penny a go, and it’s all in a good cause.’
‘Perhaps I will, young man,’ Mrs Clovis said, taking out her purse as Charlie and his mother passed by, holding hands. When she’d made her guess, she turned back to Hannah.
‘I wished to say something to you … I was going to wait for a more suitable occasion, but I can’t have it on my conscience to keep it from you any longer. I don’t like telling tales, but I think you should know, as a respectable young lady.’
Hannah’s heart began to beat faster. Mrs Clovis was an exacting landlady – did she have some fresh complaint about Ruby leaving crumbs out for the mice or letting the doors slam? She drew Mrs Clovis to one side.
‘Go on,’ Hannah said.
‘It isn’t right that they aren’t married – I won’t have my house used as a … place for illicit connections.’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You heard.’
‘Whatever you’re talking about, it can’t possibly have anything to do with me.’
‘You need to ask your sister what she gets up to when you’re not at home.’
Hannah felt her forehead tighten. ‘What are you suggesting?’
‘I’m not suggesting anything. I’m telling the truth of it.’ Mrs Clovis was adamant. ‘There have been some considerable comings and goings – the visitor is of the male variety and he’s keeping company with your sister.’
‘You must be mistaken. I’ll speak with her, but I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation …’
‘I’m sure there will be,’ Mrs Clovis said with irony. ‘To my regret, Margate has become a town where anything goes. Men and women don’t care what they do, or who sees them do it. We can’t let this continue or people will go to Brighton for the summer instead. I’m sorry to bother you with it, but I must look after my reputation. Promise me you’ll have a word with her.’
‘I will. Thank you,’ Hannah said, relieved when Mrs Clovis left the stall on her way for a tour of the infirmary. She tried to put their landlady’s shaming and outrageous suggestion to the back of her mind – she would tackle Ruby later and reassure herself that Mrs Clovis was suffering an attack of delirium and would be forced to apologise.
‘I’ll look after this for a while,’ Charlotte said on her return. ‘You’re white as a sheet. Are you all right?’
‘I’ve just received some rather unpleasant news.’
‘What is it?’
Hannah pulled herself together. ‘Oh, it’s probably nothing, a case of mistaken identity or some scurrilous gossip.’
‘I’ve just seen your sister – she’s over by the coconut shy.’
Unsure whether she was relieved or annoyed, Hannah thanked Charlotte and went to find Ruby. When she saw her innocent, smiling face, she found that she couldn’t believe their landlady’s accusations, but she knew she’d have to ask Ruby for her version of events – later, not in front of the infirmary staff and half of Margate.
‘You’re feeling better?’ she asked.
‘Much better now. The weather was so lovely, I thought I’d come and find you. I’ve done the shopping and the money’s all gone. May I have another shilling – I’d like to try for a coconut.’
‘I haven’t any,’ Hannah said, rather more sharply than she intended. ‘I’m sorry. There’s a music recital in the marquee – we can go and listen to that instead.’
The tent was crowded, but they found seats towards the back. A young woman with blonde hair piled up on top of her head, and adorned with fresh flowers, was sitting on a makeshift platform, her fingers dancing delicately across the strings of a harp. She wore a diaphanous green dress and gold bangles down her arms, her appearance as beautiful as the notes that she played.
The music raised Hannah’s spirits. If it hadn’t been for Mrs Clovis’s accusations, she would say that she was the happiest she’d ever been, with her sister at her side, the camaraderie of the house, and the prospect of promotion. What’s more, Charlie had got to see his mother, thanks to her instigation. All was well, and she wished she could capture the moment and lock it away in her heart for ever.
As the performance came to an end with a final pluck of the strings, the lady bowed her head, her cheeks flushed as the crowd burst into applause. Hannah spotted Doctor Clifton standing in the wings with Mrs Knowles and one of the governors.
‘Bravo! Bravo!’
‘What a treat,’ Ruby whispered as the governor made his way across to join the harpist and held up his hands for quiet.
‘I’m very proud of my talented daughter, Miss Osbourne-Cole,’ he smiled. ‘I hope you will dig deep and support our wonderful Sea Bathing Infirmary so that everyone, young and old, can have access to its care and expertise.’ Hannah heard the jangling of coins in a bucket as the harpist got up, smoothed her dress and curtseyed, before Doctor Clifton stepped forward and took her hand to help her down from the stage.
‘Well done.’ Hannah could read his lips. ‘That was a magnificent performance, as I knew it would be.’
‘I need some air,’ the lady said.
‘Allow me.’ Doctor Clifton led her towards the exit. As he passed Hannah, he caught her eye, gave the ghost of a smile and looked away.
‘I should get back to the stall.’ She nudged her sister. ‘You will come and help.’ It was an order, not a question. She didn’t want to let Ruby out of her sight.
Ruby was delighted to join in. Beckett and Charlotte stayed on with them, the latter’s eyes drifting away to where Mr Hunter was standing at the coconut shy, waiting a turn with his friends. His hair was rumpled, and his shirt still wet, clinging rather indecently to his chest.
‘Have you forgiven him?’ Hannah murmured, still afraid that he was one of those impossibly handsome and unruly gentlemen whose escapades made them irresistible to certain young ladies.
‘I think he’s done very well,’ Charlotte said, grinning as Mr Hunter cast a smile in her direction. ‘He’s showing off, of course, but I don’t mind that. He’s raised plenty of money today, and now he’s promised to win me a coconut. If he succeeds, I’ve agreed to walk out with him – as long as Doctor Clifton and Miss Osbourne-Cole can be persuaded to accompany us.’
‘He’s walking out with her?’ Hannah felt sick when Charlotte nodded.
‘Letitia, yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t realise … If I’d known, I’d have mentioned it before.’
‘It seems I was the last to find out,’ Hannah said sadly. Why hadn’t Doctor Clifton seen fit to mention it to her? Then equally, she reasoned, why should he? He was under no obligation to her – she had rejected him. As far as he was concerned, he was a free man. Taken by surprise by her regret and jealousy, she pulled up one of the folding chairs and sat down.
Charlotte touched her shoulder. Hannah looked up, squinting into the sunshine.
‘It’s a shock, that’s all. I’ll be all right.’ She could hardly wait to return to the ward where she could try to forget Doctor Clifton and Miss Osbourne-Cole, and her irrational sense of betrayal. What had she expected? That he would remain unmarried out of respect for her, when she had put her vocation before love? Despite the laughter and sunshine, it was turning out to be one of the darkest days of her life.
And here they were coming to rub salt into her wounds, she thought as she saw them walking side by side towards the stall.
‘Good day, Doctor Clifton,’ Beckett said. ‘Come and have a go.’
‘I think we will,’ he said. ‘We’ve already guessed the weight of the pig and had a turn at hoopla, which I did very badly at.’
‘I thought you did very well,’ Miss Osbourne-Cole simpered. ‘It wasn’t your fault that the wind took hold of the rings …’
‘There’s bound to be some simple equation which can be applied to working out how many sweets are in the jar.’ Doctor Clifton frowned. ‘Has anyone any idea what the volume of a single humbug is?’
‘I haven’t the faintest clue,’ his companion said. ‘We should just count them all from the outside.’
‘I’ve done that,’ Beckett said, ‘and it always comes out different.’
‘I’m forgetting my manners.’ Doctor Clifton turned to Miss Osbourne-Cole. ‘You haven’t met Nurse Bentley and Nurse Finch.’
‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, and can I say what wonderful work you do?’
‘Thank you,’ Charlotte said.
‘I was most impressed with your recital,’ Hannah said politely, the words catching in her craw. ‘This is my sister, Miss Ruby Bentley.’
Miss Osbourne-Cole inclined her head in acknowledgement.
‘Delighted,’ Doctor Clifton said, his attention making Ruby blush.
‘Have you completed your calculations?’ Hannah went on.
‘I think so,’ he said, a quizzical expression on his face.
‘You are to write the number down on the slip.’
‘And give us a penny for it,’ Beckett reminded them.
‘What shall we do next, James?’ Miss Osbourne-Cole said.
‘What would please you?’ Hannah hated the way he deferred to his companion. She would walk all over him, if he let her. ‘The tour of the infirmary is very popular. The operating theatre is open for viewing.’
‘I’d rather not. I’d find it too upsetting – I have a delicate constitution and sensitive nerves.’
She wouldn’t make a good doctor’s wife then, Hannah thought bitterly.
‘There is an art exhibition – that might suit you better,’ Doctor Clifton suggested.
‘I’d like that. I do a little painting myself.’
As they turned away, Hannah spoke to Beckett.
‘It must be time to see who has won our competition. Would you be so kind as to empty the slips out of the hat?’
‘May I count the sweets?’ he said.
‘There’s no need. When I filled the jar, I wrote the number down and put it inside the lid. Let’s see who’s the winner,’ Hannah said, forcing a smile as she watched the happy couple retreating into the distance. She knew it wasn’t her – she had most definitely lost when it came to love.
After the fête and having finished her shift, Hannah made her way back to their lodgings, where she found that their rooms were tidy, the floors had been swept and the kitchen table scrubbed. On top of the table stood two bottles of stout, a small ham and a pan containing parsley sauce. She tasted it – it was still warm.
‘You see how I’ll make someone a good wife one day.’ Ruby was smiling with pride.
‘Thank you.’ Hannah was touched by her gesture. ‘Have I missed something? Is it a special occasion?’
‘I thought I’d make up for being a lazy clodpole and show you how much I appreciate your kindness.’
‘It isn’t because you’re trying to butter me up?’
‘Why would I do that?’
‘Only Mrs Clovis had a word with me this morning – she says that you’ve been entertaining a gentleman while I’m out … Ruby, tell me that it isn’t true.’
‘I’m not going to lie,’ Ruby said. ‘I should have told you before.’
‘Told me what exactly?’
The story came out in a jumble of words and apology.
‘You remember when we went to the Hall by the Sea and saw the cubs?’
Hannah nodded, dumbstruck. ‘That dreadful man, the lion tamer?’
‘My dear Antonio,’ Ruby sighed. ‘I promised him I wouldn’t tell you, but I can’t keep this to myself.’
‘How can this be? He has befriended you? How did you let this happen?’
‘I dropped my handkerchief and went back for it the next day – he’d found it and kept it for me.’
‘You did it deliberately.’ Hannah felt sick at the thought of her sweet and innocent sister flirting with a showman.
‘He was kind to me. He treated me like I was special right from when he first set eyes on me in the crowd.’
‘Why wouldn’t he? You’re quite a beauty! Ruby, this has to stop – for my sake as well as yours. Nurses are expected to have certain moral standards. I can’t be exposed to any scandal – it could ruin everything.’
‘I’m sorry, but—’
‘How did he know where to find you?’
‘I gave him our address – he asked me so amiably that I couldn’t refuse.’
‘How foolish can you be? Mrs Clovis says she’s seen him here on more than one occasion.’
‘He dropped by yesterday to give us tickets for the Hall by the Sea. I offered him tea and he stayed for an hour or so, no more. Don’t look at me like that – it’s very dull when you aren’t here, and you don’t need to worry about anything because he was the perfect gentleman.’ Ruby fixed her with a glare. ‘Don’t tell me I have to give them back – they were a gift and we should use them with good grace as he intended.’
‘Where are these tickets?’ Hannah felt the ire rising in her breast. ‘Let me see them.’
‘They’re on the windowsill over there.’
Hannah marched over, picked them up and tore them in two.
‘What did you do that for?’ Ruby exclaimed, her cheeks growing scarlet with annoyance.
‘You mustn’t associate with him any more – you’ll ruin your reputation and your chances of making a good match to a decent and respectable young gentleman. What man will take you on for his wife in future, if he gets wind of rumours of how you’ve encouraged the attentions of others?’ Hannah was more convinced now that there had been some truth in the story of Ruby and her involvement with the butcher’s boy. She was afraid that her sister may well have encouraged it.
‘You would have me marry some boring old doctor or engineer? Someone with stiff manners and unable to show affection? Anyway, it’s too late – I will not give him up. He’s the sweetest, most wonderful man, as well as being the most extraordinary lion tamer in the world.’
‘Who says so?’
‘He does.’
‘I rest my case.’
‘Hannah, I pity you for your cynicism. Can’t you accept anything at face value?’
‘I know enough of human nature to realise that some people present an image that isn’t of their true selves, but of the person they aspire to be. What is he to you?’
‘I count him as a friend,’ Ruby said, frowning. ‘I came to Margate friendless. What harm is there in making new acquaintances?’
‘You can’t be friends with any man, let alone a travelling showman. Even suggesting that you’re acquainted with him is too much.’ A thought occurred to Hannah. ‘Tell me – did you do things when he was here?’
‘A lady doesn’t talk of such matters.’ Ruby gazed down at her skirt and began tracing the pattern of the lace with her forefinger.
Was this her fault? Had she been too trusting?
‘You can’t possibly imagine that this man would make a suitable husband. How would you live? Does he have his own house?’
‘He’s settled in Margate for the summer and he has property in one of the Italian states …’
‘Why are we having this conversation? He can’t possibly support you. How old is he?’ Ruby remained silent. ‘There has to be at least twenty years between you. It’s no use – you must put all thought of him aside. He hasn’t offered to marry you, God forbid?’
‘Not yet, but I have every expectation that—’
‘You can have no expectation at all,’ Hannah cut in. Lust had taken hold of her sister’s senses, awkward as it was to think of it. ‘Antonio lacks both charm and charisma. He’s trying to buy you. Don’t you see? He’s trying to prise your innocence away.’
‘What gives you the right to judge him?’
Hannah tried another approach. ‘A woman’s virtue is all she has in the eyes of society.’
‘If it will please you, I’ll ask him if he intends to marry me,’ Ruby said more cheerfully.
‘You’ll do no such thing!’
‘I’ll do as I wish.’
Hannah thought for a moment. ‘Let’s just say that if he did by some miracle agree to marry you, where would you live?’
‘He shares a caravan, but it isn’t what it sounds like – it’s a proper little house on wheels with a wooden floor and shutters.’
‘You’d hate it – you’d feel too restricted.’
‘I wouldn’t spend every day stuck indoors. Antonio says that I’m not tiny enough for a freak, but I’m supple enough to train to be a dancer.’
‘You mean, he wants you to make a spectacle of yourself to support him?’
‘We’d support each other, Hannah. That’s what it means to be in love.’
‘You’ll promise me that you won’t seek him out again. As I’ve said, there must be absolutely no further association between the two of you.’
‘All you care about is yourself.’ Ruby’s eyes flashed with anger.
‘How do you work that one out when I’ve done everything for you, you ungrateful—’
‘You would make me unhappy because you can’t stand the thought of telling your friends at the infirmary that your sister is marrying a lion tamer. I’m seventeen, almost eighteen, while you are twenty-one going on ninety. You’re jealous because I have an admirer. In fact, I have many admirers – I turn heads whenever I walk along the street. And you have none. You’ll end up as a shrivelled prune of a spinster while I delight in marriage and children, lots of them.’
Hannah clenched her fists, furious and staring at Ruby as if she’d just found the maggot in the core of the sweetest apple.
‘You know, I think you’re losing your mind – if you’re not careful, I’ll have to lock you up, like Pa did.’
‘You wouldn’t!’ Ruby’s complexion paled, and she sank to the floor in a sobbing, trembling heap.
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. It was said in the heat of the moment.’ Hannah knelt beside her and reached out to stroke her hair. Ruby flinched. What had happened to her dear little sister? ‘All I ask is that you promise me that you won’t have any further contact with Mr Milani.’
‘You won’t have me put away, will you?’ Ruby cried. ‘I’m not a lunatic, you know.’
‘I know,’ Hannah murmured. ‘Look, all I want is to keep you safe from scandal and ruin. Society – whether we like it or not – judges a young woman’s reputation to be irretrievably damaged if she’s found consorting unchaperoned with a member of the male sex. It destroys any chance she has of marriage. If Mr Milani had good intentions and any measure of politeness, he wouldn’t turn up here and invite himself in without speaking to me first and making sure you weren’t left alone with him. Ruby, he’s compromised you. It mustn’t happen again.’
‘I am sorry. I should have thought about how it looked. I should have considered how it would affect you as well; your position at the infirmary; your friends’ regard for you if it became common knowledge.’
‘Thank you for the apology. It means a lot to me.’
‘I wish you’d stop talking now. You’re giving me a headache,’ Ruby grumbled.
‘You’d better go and lie down, then.’ Hannah watched as her sister dragged herself up from the floor and headed for the bedroom. The ham and parsley sauce stood forgotten, no longer inviting.
A little while later when Ruby was tucked up asleep in bed, Hannah took a walk down to the beach. She gazed at the water and listened to the sea breathing, the waves washing softly across the sand. What was she going to do? Ruby hadn’t actually promised that she wouldn’t see the lion tamer again, although Hannah felt that now she had been found out, she would think twice about allowing anyone to ruin her reputation. She needed occupation and distraction, but what would keep her out of trouble? Hannah didn’t know. She was afraid she was out of her depth.