The Apothecary's Daughter (39 page)

‘This is Henry’s missus,’ said Topaz. ‘Come to see if Peg has been back to visit us.’

Susannah stood up. ‘Have you seen her, madam?’

‘Peg? Why, that conniving little piece of dirt! Cost me a fortune, she did. If she had been here I’d have whipped her to the
other end of the city.’ Mistress McGregor looked more closely at Susannah. ‘Henry Savage’s wife? You’re better-looking than
I’d have expected. Is that his brat you’re carrying? Henry brought nothing but trouble on us, even though we was so accommodating.
Topaz never had no time for other clients while Henry were around. Couldn’t get enough of her.’

Topaz laughed. ‘That’s the truth! If the plague hadn’t carried him off I’d have been worn out by now.’

Susannah couldn’t stop herself. ‘I don’t want to hear it!’

‘If a wife doesn’t do her duty by her husband, she’s only herself to blame when he looks elsewhere for his comforts,’ Mistress
McGregor cackled.

Gripping her hands together to stop herself from slapping the painted face, Susannah only said, ‘If Peg should come here,
will you tell her that she’s to come back to me?’

‘I’m not listening to any more about that girl. Your husband and
that doctor cousin of his, between them they nearly put me out of business. Now get out of my house!’ Mistress McGregor prodded
Susannah in the chest. ‘Go on. There’s no call for your sort here.’

Susannah lifted her chin and walked slowly towards the front door, hoping the three sniggering women wouldn’t see how she
was shaking. Once she was over the threshold she picked up her skirts and scuttled away, their mocking laughter ringing in
her ears.

That evening, still seething with shame and indignation, Susannah lay in wait for William. She hovered in the open doorway
of the Captain’s House, peering up and down the narrow street into the setting sun. At last she saw his tall silhouette, the
long black cloak flapping around his ankles and the beaked plague mask under his wide-brimmed hat. He held his staff up high
and passers-by melted away as if by magic.

‘There’s something of the actor about you,’ Susannah said as he stepped inside. ‘Does it make you feel powerful to be cutting
a swathe through the terrified crowd everywhere you go?’

‘Good evening, Susannah.’ His voice was muffled under the pointed mask and he struggled to untie the strings that held it
in place.

‘For goodness’ sake! Let me!’ Susannah yanked at the knots until the mask came free.

William rubbed his face where the mask had left red weals on his cheekbones. ‘Sometimes I think I’ll die of asphyxia under
that thing,’ he said, hanging it up together with his cloak on the hook.

‘I’ve got a bone to pick with you.’

‘Before or during supper?’

‘I’m in no mood for jesting, William!’

‘So I can see.’

‘Come into one of the storerooms. What I have to say to you can’t be said in front of Agnes.’

‘How intriguing! Do, please, lead the way.’

He followed her along the passage and into the flour and dry
goods store and waited politely while she closed the door firmly behind them.

‘You lied to me!’ she said.

He raised one eyebrow but his face was wary.

‘Why didn’t you
tell
me?’

‘About what?’

‘About how Henry died, of course! I’ve been to Mistress McGregor’s house.’

‘God’s teeth, Susannah! You went to Cock Alley?’

‘Obviously, since that is where Mistress McGregor lives.’

‘Cock Alley is no place for a decent woman. You should never …’

‘And that is where I found out, in the most humiliating way possible, about Henry’s …’ she waved her hand in the air while
she sought a suitable way to phrase it, ‘about Henry’s
excursions
to the house with the red door.’

‘I didn’t lie to you, Susannah.’

‘You hid the truth from me! You let me be humiliated by Mistress McGregor.’ The memory of it brought the heat to her face
again.

A muscle flickered in William’s jaw. ‘And in your distress, when I told you of Henry’s death, do you consider it would have
helped you to know that he died in the arms of a common whore?’

She bit her lip in an attempt to stop it trembling. ‘I met Topaz, Henry’s … paramour,’ she said. ‘Mistress McGregor told me
it was my fault that Henry visited such a place. She said that I wasn’t a good wife …’ Swallowing, she attempted to regain
her composure. ‘I tried so hard to be the wife Henry wanted but, whatever I did, it was never enough.’

‘Damn his eyes!’ William moved so swiftly Susannah had no chance of escape. He snatched her into his arms and covered her
face with fierce kisses. ‘He had a pearl beyond price and couldn’t see it. My cousin was a wastrel and a scoundrel and he
didn’t deserve even your little finger. I
burned
when I saw the way he treated you and I wish now that I’d given him the thrashing he deserved for the pain he caused you.’

Almost against her will, Susannah found herself allowing William to kiss her. Her anger melted like snow in sun as she lost
herself in his hard embrace. He pushed her back against the wall so that she couldn’t escape, even if she had wanted to. At
last he released her, leaving her shaky and melting with desire. She made a small movement towards him again but he held her
at arm’s length, his breath uneven. Susannah made a conscious effort to slow her own breathing. ‘I suppose it would not do
for Mistress Oliver or Phoebe to find us shut away alone in here.’

‘No, it would not.’

‘What really makes me angry’, said Susannah, ‘is that all the time Henry said he was working to increase his fortune, he was
spending mine. And on another woman at that.’

‘I know. I’m ashamed he shared my blood.’

‘Did you ever meet Topaz?’

‘I did. She was in a state of sobbing hysteria when I arrived at Mistress McGregor’s house that time. Henry had sent for me
when he fell ill but he was dead by the time I arrived. The house was in an uproar and I had to drag some of the girls back
inside as they tried to leave.’

‘But why did Henry choose Topaz?’

William was silent. Then he said, ‘Perhaps she reminded him of home. He grew up with black people all around him and they
didn’t seem strange to him. Why, even his nurse was more of a mother to him than his own.’

‘I suppose so.’

‘When I lived at the plantation for that year, I came to know the house slaves well. Ignorant people assume that they are
little better than animals but it isn’t so. They all had their own different ways, likes and dislikes, a sense of humour or
a choleric disposition; they feel happiness and sorrow, just as we do.’

‘And you found it possible to be friends with them?’

‘I did.’

More than friends, in Phoebe’s case, she thought, a sudden hot knife of jealously spearing her heart.

‘Whatever made you visit Mistress McGregor’s house in the first place, Susannah?’

‘I was looking for Peg. She’s disappeared.’

‘Peg? Oh dear.’ William sighed. ‘If I’d only thought …’

‘Thought what?’

‘I was going to tell you as soon as I came home but you were lying in wait for me with murderous intent and I didn’t have
the chance.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘The opportunity arose and I had to move quickly. I took Peg away early this morning.’

‘Took her where?’

‘To Merryfields. Roger Somerford, my tenant, was prepared to give her a position. We couldn’t have Peg throwing herself in
the river, could we?’

Susannah’s heart lifted. So Peg had been saved, after all.

‘Come,’ said William, holding out his hand. ‘We’d better leave this storeroom now. If you smile at me like that I’ll have
to kiss you again.’ His expression became sombre. ‘But perhaps next time you’ll trust me?’

The oppressive weather continued and Susannah spent her days reading to Agnes or sewing clothes for the baby. Forced by circumstances
to sit still for long periods of time, claustrophobia often overwhelmed her. The sensation of marking time grew stronger even
as her stomach grew rounder. Day after day, she sat daydreaming, with her stitching forgotten on her lap, staring out of the
tightly closed window while Agnes snored in the chair beside her.

The future held so many unknowns. Would her baby be born safely and would she survive to look after him? Did William truly
love her or was she a mere passing fancy? What, if any, were his intentions? And what would happen if Agnes passed away? These
anxieties made her head hurt and even oil of lavender rubbed on to her temples didn’t alleviate the ache.

‘Take the boy outside and let him have a run around,’ said Agnes, one afternoon. ‘I can’t stand to have him fidgeting near
me.’

Joseph let out a cry of glee as they went out into the garden. ‘You shall play with the whip and hoop for a while,’ Susannah
said, ‘and then we will continue with your lessons.’

She walked round the garden while the boy raced along the cloisters, bowling his hoop in front of him and laughing with delight.
Perhaps, she thought, when her baby was a little older he would be a playmate for young Joseph.

Once Joseph had run off some of his energy Susannah made him sit at her feet. He didn’t really take to learning but was a
charming child with a ready smile and was quite happy to humour her by attempting to copy the letters she drew on his slate.

‘This is an “O”,’ she said. ‘An “O” for orange. Make it nice and round like a ball.’

He bent his head over the slate, his pink tongue protruding between his lips as he copied the letter.

Susannah had spent a great deal of time studying the length of the boy’s fingers and his earlobes and the set of his shoulders
in the hours he had sat beside her. She wondered if she could detect some likeness to William in the shape of his eyes but
whereas Joseph’s eyes were merry and quick, his father’s were usually sombre. Sometimes though, when William looked at her,
he was unable to conceal the spark of humour in his eyes, and it was then that she thought she perceived some similarity.
She couldn’t dislike Joseph but she suffered torments of jealousy whenever she allowed herself to think about Phoebe, naked,
lying in William’s arms.

Footsteps along the cloister caused her to turn and a sudden burst of happiness made her smile. ‘William! We don’t usually
see you at this time of day.’

‘I was on the way to see my next patient and thought I’d call in.’

Pleasure coloured her cheeks as she made room for him to sit beside her.

He smiled, his brown eyes warm in the sunlight. ‘I see you are working at your lessons, Joseph.’

The boy looked up and flashed a gap-toothed smile. ‘It’s an orange,’ he said. ‘One day I’ll have an orange. And I’ll get one
for Mammy, too.’

‘Very creditable!’ William nodded approvingly. ‘And how are you today, Susannah?’

‘Hot and uncomfortable.’

‘These last weeks before a baby comes can be very trying.’

‘I’m filled with anxious thoughts as the time draws nearer. My days are taken up with trivial tasks and there is little to
distract me. And I do so miss working with Father.’

William squeezed her hand. ‘Before long you will have your child to keep you busy.’

‘But once he is grown, what then? As a woman and a mother, am I no use for anything else? Surely I could offer valuable assistance
in these difficult times? So many of the apothecaries have gone and I could take a small part in filling that void.’

‘Working in your father’s dispensary was really important to you, wasn’t it?’

Susannah nodded, the loss of it lodged sharply in her chest.

‘Perhaps …’ He paused, his gaze fixed on the ground while he thought. ‘Perhaps your father would welcome some help in the
shop for a day or two each week once the baby is weaned?’

‘Possibly. If Arabella allowed it. But Agnes has given me a home and she could hardly be expected to approve if I’m not here
to wait upon her.’

One after the other the church bells began to toll the hour and William stood up. ‘I must continue my rounds. I have a patient
waiting for me with a scurvy in his gums.’

‘Cloves boiled in rosewater, dried and then ground to a powder and rubbed on the gums is effective.’

‘And the strained rosewater can be drunk in the morning on an empty stomach.’ William smiled. ‘I have been to see your father
and he provided me with the very same powder and decoction you mention.’

‘Everything I know I have learned from him.’

‘And you were an excellent student. But now I must be on my way. I shall return in time for supper today.’ He patted the boy’s
springy curls. ‘Joseph, I look forward to seeing what progress you have made in a few days’ time.’

That evening Susannah made a special effort to dress her hair becomingly. She could do nothing to conceal her bulk except
to wear a lace shawl round her shoulders. She put on her mother’s pearl
pendant, which nestled between the fullness of her breasts and drew the eye away from her swollen abdomen. Thankfully, her
arms were still slender.

Agnes had been resting in her room and Susannah went to help her rise and to straighten her cap.