The Constant Heart (40 page)

Rosina bit her lip. She was momentarily at a loss for words. Sukey looked so happy that it seemed too cruel to tell her the truth.

'What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?' Sukey threw herself down on the sofa. 'Come and sit beside me, Rosie, and I'll tell you all about it.'

Rosina sat down, making play of arranging her skirts while she tried to think of a way to broach the painful subject.

'Aren't you pleased for me?' Sukey asked, pouting. 'He's terribly rich and really good-looking. To tell you the truth, I didn't much like him at first. But he must have liked me, or he wouldn't have come to the Crystal Palace bringing a diamond ring with him and all prepared to propose.'

'Sukey, there's something you don't know.'

'What is it, dear? If it's about that evening I'm not sure I want to know. Tell the truth, I don't remember a thing about it after the fireworks. Don't tell me that I did something terribly naughty with Roland.' Sukey stifled a giggle, covering her mouth with her hand.

'Don't you recall anything?'

'Absolutely nothing. I don't remember anything until I woke up on that horrid horsehair couch with the most dreadful headache imaginable. I can tell you, Rosie, I was so relieved when the engagement ring fell into my teacup. My reputation would have been quite ruined if it had got out that I spent the night in a hotel with an unmarried man.'

'I was there, Sukey. Pa, Bertha, Caddie and Walter were there too.'

'I know that now, but anything could have happened to me while I was under the influence of all that champagne.' Sukey leaned towards Rosina, cupping her hand round her mouth and whispering, 'I might not be a virgin now, for all I know. So it's a good thing that Roland is a gentleman, as well as being rich as Croesus and handsome into the bargain.'

Rosina took Sukey's hands in hers. 'Nothing untoward happened that night. We looked after you and Roland shared a room with Harry. You were as safe as if you'd been sleeping in a convent.'

Sukey's mouth drooped at the corners. 'But he had bought me a ring. I know we only met briefly at Cremorne Gardens, but it must have been love at first sight. I've read about men falling hopelessly in love like that in penny novelettes. It is so romantic – he must have intended to propose to me all along.'

'I'm so sorry, my dear. It was all a terrible misunderstanding. Didn't you recognise the ring?'

'It's a diamond solitaire. Just the sort I always wanted.'

'It is Harry's mother's ring, Sukey. The one he gave me when we became engaged.'

'No. That's impossible. I don't believe you.'

'I'm afraid it's true. Look! I'm not wearing his ring.' Rosina held out her left hand. 'There was a terrible row – you slept through it all. But I broke off my engagement to Harry and I threw the ring at him. Roland must have picked it up and put it in his pocket. Apparently he forgot it was there, and when he came to see you the ring fell out of his handkerchief into your teacup.'

Sukey's eyes filled with tears and her lips trembled. 'He told you this?'

Rosina nodded.

'Why didn't he come to me first? He should have told me himself.'

'He didn't want to hurt you. And he was afraid that your father might sue him for breach of promise.'

Sukey leapt to her feet. 'I don't believe you. I want to hear it from his lips.'

'He's gone abroad on business. I really am so sorry, Sukey.'

With tears pouring down her face, Sukey wrenched the ring from her finger and threw it at Rosina. 'You should have told me sooner. You ought not to have let me go on dreaming of a rich husband. I've told everyone I could think of and now I'll be a laughing stock.'

'What can I say? It was all a terrible misunderstanding.' Rosina picked up the ring, trying not to look relieved. She was desperately sorry for her friend, but now she had the ring in her possession she would be able to give it back to Harry and he would drop the charges against Walter.

'You'd better go,' Sukey said, mopping her eyes with a lace-trimmed handkerchief. 'I thought you were my friend, but you could have saved me from this humiliating situation. One word from you and I would have known that it was all a mistake, but you chose to keep quiet and allow me to make a complete fool of myself. I hate you, Rosina. I never want to see you again.'

'But, Sukey . . .'

'Go away. Leave me alone.' Sukey collapsed onto the sofa in a flood of tears.

Reluctantly, Rosina left the parlour and let herself out of the house. She hesitated on the doorstep, gazing down at the diamond ring lying in the palm of her hand. Who would have thought that such a small object could cause so much distress? She was deeply troubled by Sukey's plight, and yet part of her was rejoicing that she held the evidence in her hand which would prove Walter's innocence. Walter! Her heart seemed to miss a beat. For that split second on the wharf she had been convinced that Walter and Will were the same person. Had she been dreaming? Was it simply wishful thinking or an overactive imagination? She had never seen Will in daylight. She had never seen him unmasked. But the Walter who had stood up to Harry on the wharf had seemed like a completely different person to the young man who had toiled quietly in her father's counting house. She closed her fingers around the cold, hard diamond.

'And where do you think you are going with my daughter's engagement ring?'

Rosina spun round to face Captain Barnum. She had been so deep in thought that she had not heard the door open behind her. Towering over her, Ham Barnum seized her by the wrist and forced her fingers open. He took the ring from her hand. 'That belongs to Susan.'

'No, Captain Barnum. It does not. I've explained the mistake to Sukey. I'm terribly sorry, but it's all true.'

'I don't care whether it's true or not. The fact is that Mr Roland Rivers gave my daughter an engagement ring. I intend to sue him for every penny he's got. I'll not have my daughter's good name ruined by a libertine.'

'You mean as you ruined my mother's good name?' Rosina glared up at him, unafraid and furious. 'Now you know how my grandpa must have felt when you seduced my poor mother.'

Barnum flinched as though she had slapped his face. 'Shut your mouth, girl. You don't know what you're saying.'

'You know it's true, but that is all in the past now: what matters is that Walter has been accused of stealing the ring and he is innocent. Please give it back to me, Captain Barnum. If you don't then Walter will go to prison for a crime that he did not commit.'

'Bah! That young man deserves all he gets. I've suspected him of stealing from my boats all along, although I couldn't prove it. He thinks he has some grudge against me, of which I know nothing. Let him rot in jail for all I care. And you, young lady, keep away from my daughter. If you ever come near my house again I'll have you thrown out like the common little slut that you are.'

Rosina threw herself down on her knees in the dust. 'Please, Captain Barnum. I'm begging you . . .'

Barnum went into the house and slammed the door.

Walter's last chance was gone. She rose slowly to her feet, too shocked even to cry. The only person who could save him now had travelled abroad and might stay there indefinitely if Captain Barnum carried out his threat to sue him for breach of promise. She must see Walter. She must find out what had happened to him. Rosina ran, ignoring the concerned comments from the men on the docks as she raced over the cobblestones heading for the dock police station. She arrived breathless and dishevelled with her hair tumbling loose around her shoulders and perspiration streaming down her face. She barged in through the doors, not caring what the men inside would think of her. She marched up to the counter where the desk sergeant was writing something in a book.

'Where is he?' she demanded. 'Mr Walter Brown was brought in here a little while ago. I want to see him.'

Without looking up, the sergeant continued to write. 'Take a seat, miss.'

'No, I won't take a seat. I want to see Walter. I know he's here.'

'Take a seat, miss, or leave the premises. I'll see to you in a minute.'

Rosina paced the floor, wringing her hands. She could not rest until she discovered Walter's fate. After what seemed like hours, but the large white-faced clock on the wall indicated that it was only a few minutes, the sergeant put down his pen and stared at her. 'Now what was it that you wanted, miss?'

She gripped the edge of the counter, her knuckles showing white beneath the taut skin. 'My friend, Mr Walter Brown, has been wrongly arrested. Please may I see him?'

'You may.'

Her heart leapt in her chest. 'May I see him now?'

'You can see him in court tomorrow morning, miss. He'll be up before the magistrate on a number of charges.'

'But that's impossible. You've got it all wrong.'

The sergeant glanced over his shoulder as an inner door opened and Harry strolled into the room. 'Do you know this young person, Mr Gostellow?'

'What are you doing here, Rosie?' Harry demanded, frowning. 'You shouldn't have come.'

'You're absolutely right, sir. May I suggest that you escort the young lady from the building before she gets herself into trouble?' The sergeant glowered at Rosina.

She forced her lips into a smile. 'Please, sergeant. May I just see Mr Brown for one minute? That's all I ask. One little minute.'

Harry took her by the arm. 'Come away, Rosina. You're making a scene.'

'I'm sorry, miss. Best do as Mr Gostellow says. You can't do no good here.'

Before Rosina could protest any further, Harry had steered her out of the police station. 'You little fool; you'll only get yourself into trouble. Go home, Rosie. There's nothing you can do to save your lover. Walter Brown will go to jail for a very long time. If they can find enough evidence against him he will probably be hanged for piracy, and, if not, I can assure you that after a few years in prison he will wish that they had stretched his neck on the gallows.'

The magistrate ordered that Walter be held in custody at Newgate pending trial in the Crown Court, and without bail. Rosina caught only a brief glimpse of him as he was led into the dock and then taken away to the cells after the charges were read and he had put in a plea of not guilty. She left the courtroom in a daze. What chance did Walter stand when Harry could afford the best brief in London? It was all so terribly unfair, and she quite simply did not know which way to turn. As she walked homewards from East Arbour Street in Stepney, she racked her brains trying to think of someone to whom she could turn for advice. It was raining, and after the heat of the previous few days the moisture evaporated in hissing steam as it touched the pavements. She had not thought to bring an umbrella, and by the time she reached Ratcliff Highway she was soaked to the skin. It was less than three months since her birthday when she had collected her new bonnet from the milliner's shop. So much had happened in that short time: she had been a carefree girl then, with the world at her feet; now she and her family were facing ruin and the man she loved – for she was certain that Walter and Will were the same person – was facing imprisonment or even death if the case of piracy could be proved against him.

'Rosie? Come inside, girl. You'll catch your death of cold.'

Old Jamjar's familiar voice brought her to a halt. The shrill chatter of the exotic birds inside the shop echoed in her ears; it sounded as though they were mocking her sad state. 'Mr Jamjar?'

He hooked his arm round her shoulders, guiding her into the dark recesses of his shop. Fronds of potted palm brushed her forehead and the fuggy atmosphere of the interior made her gasp for breath. The pervading odour was a choking combination of damp earth and bird droppings, but old Jamjar seemed impervious to the smell. He helped her to a chair. 'You look done in, girl. What were you doing all alone and wandering about in the rain?' His wrinkled face was close to hers and his beady black eyes were filled with concern.