‘If you like, Josie,’ Ellen said, almost too happy to speak.
With the door slamming behind the exuberant Josie, Robert came back to Ellen and took the sleeping child from her. Deftly he wrapped her in a warm shawl and tucked her in the crook of his arm. Ellen stood up and shrugged on her coat and bonnet. She stood for a moment looking at Robert, standing holding his daughter in his strong arms. He was almost grey with tiredness and already the shadow of his beard was showing in the lamplight, but he had an air of peace about him that Ellen guessed reflected just how she felt too.
He gave her the weariest and happiest of smiles and the love that she had denied and stifled for the past months burst within her. He reached out his free hand.
‘Let’s go home.’
Twenty-Five
Josie nearly floored both Ellen and Robert as he unlocked the front door of number forty-five Cranberry Street. They stood back and let Josie have the run of her new home for a few moments. Robert slid his arm around Ellen’s waist and hugged her to him.
‘How do you like your new home, Mrs Munroe?’ he asked, as they looked down the hill towards the East River.
Mrs Munroe. She had never thought she would ever be that, not after Danny’s trial and her flight to America. But now she was.
Wearing a pale apple-green silk gown edged with Belgian lace covered with a deep green velvet spencer - the grandest outfit she had ever owned - she had walked down the aisle of the Mott Street Welsh Chapel on her brother’s arm to stand beside Robert. So, after a simple ceremony in the presence of Josie and Bobbie and her brother’s family, she had become what she had never thought she could possibly be: Robert’s wife.
Unexpectedly, but much to Josie’s delight, Patrick Nolan’s ship had arrived back in New York two days before, so he was able to be part of the wedding party. Seeing Patrick again brought back memories of Bridget, and Ellen wished her mother could have lived long enough to see her married to Robert. But she had to look forward and put the past - Danny, the Angel and Crown, her old life doing other people’s laundry in Wapping, all of it - behind her.
Following a recommendation from Henry Davies, his erstwhile medical officer at the London Hospital, Robert had been appointed Senior Physician at the New York Hospital. Although he intended to work in the poorest area of New York, he was adamant that his family would have the benefits of clean open countryside as they grew. Although there seemed to be new houses springing up all around them, the overall impression of Brooklyn Heights was one of a small rural town. Ellen turned and looked at the house Robert had rented for them.
‘I love it,’ she answered. Adjusting Robina on her hip she took a deep breath. The fragrance of freshly mown grass and spring flowers assailed her senses.
Robert beamed, giving her a glimpse of the boy he must have been. ‘There’s a stable and outbuilding at the back, and a chicken coop and pig pen already set for stock. I have already arranged for a fresh pail of milk to be delivered each day from the Connell farm down the road and I’ve also taken on his eldest daughter, Liza, to help you in the house.’
Fresh laid eggs and milk every day - and help! She looked again at the house that was now their home. It was timber-clad and whitewashed and stood in its own plot of land. It had steps up to a front porch which ran the length of the house and two good-sized rooms on either side of the front door with sash windows. Of course they hadn’t enough furniture yet to fill the two rooms, but, as Robert had told her, now he had bought a practice in Grand Street it wouldn’t be long before they could take a trip across the river to buy whatever she wanted for the house. They had already furnished the upstairs rooms with some comfort: a massive iron bedstead for them, a spindle four-poster with delicate drapes for Josie, a carved cradle for Bobbie. The living area downstairs was rapidly becoming a snug family home too, with woven rugs, sofas and a deep-buttoned chair for Robert.
‘Are you sure you want to stay in America, Robert?’ she asked, as she thought briefly about the home they had both left.
Robert lowered his head and kissed her hard.
‘I’d be happy to live in America, London, anywhere else as long as we are together. It is you, Ellen, only you, that matters to me and nothing, nothing else.’ He held her to him again for a long moment. Bobbie wriggled in protest at being squashed between her parents. Robert gave her a swift kiss on her baby curls. She smiled up at her father and grabbed his nose. ‘It might not be forever. Society won’t accept us as a married couple for a few years but things are changing.’
‘What about your family? How do you think your mother will react when your letter arrives about Bobbie?’ she asked, as a cart full of vegetables heading for New York trundled along the dusty road in front of their house towards the ferry.
‘I am certain she will be pleased,’ he replied, tickling his daughter under the chin and making her laugh. His face grew sombre. ‘I can’t say I have the same hope of my father.’
‘Oh Robert.’
He had told her of his visit to Edinburgh and how his father had reacted. Much as she would dearly like to, she couldn’t change what had happened, she could only love Robert and help deal with the hurt.
He looked intently at her. ‘You, Bobbie and Josie are my family now,’ he said in a firm tone. He raised one eyebrow and gave her a crooked smile. ‘Besides, my skills as a physician are as sorely needed here in the Five Points and the Bowery as ever they were in Wapping and Shadwell.’
Ellen picked up his lighter mood and gave a deep sigh. I suppose that means that I haven’t heard the end of drains and pumps then.’
Robert puffed out his chest. ‘I should think not. In fact I plan to follow up my successful publication of
Observations on the Diseases Manifest Amongst the Poor, with the Effects on Health of Sanitation and Overcrowded Living Conditions.
I have already written the first few chapters.’ He raised his eyebrows high and looked down at her. ‘Did I tell you the surgeons’ library in the hospital has two copies of
Observations?
’
Ellen let out a bubbly laugh. ‘I think you mentioned it once or twice.’
Robert joined her laughter.
‘Josie,’ Robert called, as his excited stepdaughter poked her nose out of the window beside them.
Josie reappeared on the front porch. ‘Ma, there’s a bath in a room all by itself up there.’
‘Take Bobbie from your mother,’ he said, lifting Robina from Ellen’s arms. He puffed in an exaggerated fashion. ‘I swear this child gets heavier by the day.’
‘I think you’re right. I’ll
have to stop
carrying her soon,’ Ellen said sending Robert a meaningful glance.
He didn’t notice her change of tone as he was struggling to stop Bobbie from wriggling out of his arms. For all that she had inherited her father’s serious ways of investigating her dolls and bricks, she was as lively as her sister ever was.
Ellen smiled to herself. It was early yet, she had only just missed one monthly flow. But her breasts were tender and she had been unable to eat breakfast for the last three days. That would cause a stir, especially if Robert’s next child arrived a little early. They had only been married six weeks.
‘Now let’s do this properly, shall we,’ he said scooping Ellen off her feet and holding her effortlessly in his arms. Ellen flung her arms around his neck although she was in no fear of falling. Josie squealed, which set Bobbie off giggling.
‘Welcome to your new home, Mrs Munroe,’ Robert said, stepping over the threshold and into the hall. She laid her head on his shoulder, knowing she was truly home and safe. She felt his lips on her hair.
Robert carried her into the front parlour where the settee and side table looked lost in the vastness of the room. He stood in the middle, holding Ellen aloft.
‘I don’t know about Bobbie getting heavier, you seem to be too, my dear,’ he said, his eyes twinkling at her. ‘It’s probably that little Munroe you have tucked under your skirt.’
‘Robert, how—’
‘For goodness’ sake, Ellen. I’m a doctor.’ He gave a quick look to where Josie had set Bobbie down and lowered his voice. ‘Besides, my new scientific study is watching you undress each night.’
She looked up into the deep-brown eyes that would hold her heart captive until her dying day. ‘Robert, I love you,’ she said simply.
‘And I love you,’ he replied. He set her on her feet but held onto her, taking her to the window. Holding her against him he looked deep into her eyes. ‘Do you know, my love, I used to dream about finding cures for diseases, and, who knows, one day I might succeed. But there is one thing I will never find a cure for. Love. Because I know there is no cure for love.’