32

Rose, Thomas and Aurora stood at the end of the platform at Paddington Station. Although, Aurora wasn’t so much standing as hopping from foot to foot and walking nervously around in circles while keeping one eye firmly fixed on the disembarking passengers. The boat train from Bristol bringing travellers from New York had arrived just a few minutes before in a cloud of steam, and porters in their blue uniforms with badges saying Great Western Railway were still scurrying around and piling trunks on to trolleys.

“Maybe he missed the train,” said Aurora.

Rose squeezed her hand. She understood how Aurora must feel – when you long for something momentous to happen but also want to delay it because after it has happened there can be no going back to your old life.

“People are still coming down the platform,” said Rose soothingly.

They were, but just a trickle now. A whistle was blown and the train at the next platform began moving with a judder and a screech. Steam billowed across the platform they were watching so intently. As the steam began to swirl and clear, a man could be just glimpsed walking from the far end of the platform towards them. He was holding a large battered leather holdall and his head was low. He drew nearer.

“There he is,” said Rose.

“It may not be him,” said Aurora in a small voice.

The man looked up. There could be no doubt. It was Edward Frederick Dorset, the new Lord Easingford. He looked so like Ned, and yet here in the flesh the resemblance to Aurora was unmistakable too. The man raised his head, faltered, stopped walking completely and stared at his daughter. A look of wonder and confusion crossed his face. Then he smiled shyly and raised a hand in a gesture that was part wave and part salute.

“Go on, Aurora,” said Rose. “Go and meet your father. He’s come all the way from America to see you.”

Aurora looked uncertainly at Rose for a moment, and Rose whispered something and gave Aurora a little push to propel her down the platform towards Edward.

Thomas put his arm around Rose. She smiled up at him. “Don’t look so worried, Thomas. I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that I’m watching and wishing it was me, wishing I’d found my father.”

“And are you?” asked Thomas very gently. “It would be natural if you were.”

Rose shook her head so her chestnut curls bobbed vigorously. “There was a tiny moment, no more than a second, on that ghastly night when I thought that I might be the lost child and I thought how wonderful it was to know for certain who you are and where you came from.” What she didn’t say was that in that same moment she had also seen the loss etched on Thomas’s face.

Rose fingered the cuff of Thomas’s greatcoat. “You’ll always be my father, Thomas. Campion’s will always be my home.” She grinned. “And it’s just as well that it turns out I’m not a lady, or I’d have had to go back to Miss Pecksniff’s and that would have killed either her or me.”

Thomas smiled down at her. “Whatever happens I’ll always be there for you, Rose. Always. We’ll ask the police for reports of babies snatched from prams in the West End thirteen years ago. It’s more than we’ve ever had to go on in the past. Maybe we will find some trace of your parents. And I’m going to get Mr Cherryble to see if there is anything that might be done for little Effie’s mother.”

Aurora and Edward were walking towards Rose and Thomas together, unmistakably father and daughter. They were already chatting away as if they had known each other all their lives.

“Rosie,” asked Thomas curiously, “what did you whisper to Aurora just now?”

Rose smiled. “I just told her that if she didn’t like Edward Easingford she could always stay at Campion’s with us, and you would be her father. After all, we are almost sisters.”

Aurora and Edward had reached Rose and Thomas, and Edward put his hand out. “Mr Campion, I’m so pleased to meet you. Thank you for your letter. Getting the news that my daughter had been found has made me the happiest man alive.”

“Thomas, your lordship. Call me Thomas.”

Edward grinned. “You’d better drop the lordship too. I’m Ed. It’s what my friends call me and I hope we will be fast friends, Thomas.”

He turned to Rose. “And you must be the Rose that Lizzie Gawkin left on the steps along with Aurora.”

Rose nodded. “And you’re an actor. Just like Ned was.”

“Poor Ned,” said Edward. “To think that I found a cousin and lost him in the space of a few weeks. I feel as if I have lost a brother. Was he a good actor?”

“A good actor and a good man,” said Rose softly.

Edward nodded. “He must have been. Without Ned I would never have found Aurora, my lost daughter.”

“Are you a good actor, Ed?” asked Rose.

“I’m not sure it’s for me to say. But I’ve done a fair bit. I had just left Chicago to play Hamlet in New York when the news reached me from Thomas and I left for England immediately.”

“Goodness, Aurora,” grinned Rose. “He really must love you very much to have sacrificed playing Hamlet in New York for you.”

“Shall we go back to Campion’s?” asked Thomas.

“Yes,” said Aurora. “I want to show Edward everything. The best that Campion’s Palace of Varieties and Wonders has to offer.”

“And that includes our bicycle act,” said Rose. “It’s the hit of the season. We’ve had offers from all over, but we’ll never do it anywhere but Campion’s.”