Free Darke London by Coleen Kwan Page B

neat solution.
    But this aspect of her past was too degrading to share with Julian. Lowering her gaze, she murmured, “He was not permanently incapacitated. With some effort he could maintain a facade of professionalism.”
    “So you and Phillip ran away to London. And Sir Thaddeus?” Julian’s voice roughened. “Was he aware of you?”
    “Of course not, or the marriage would never have happened.” Nellie rubbed her temples as a sudden headache hammered against her skull. “Sir Thaddeus had no idea even of Phillip’s whereabouts. Phillip had run away from home, so to speak. He was mortally tired of his father’s interference in his life, yet he was too afraid to stand up to him, so he left their London home without warning and simply disappeared. He put up at the local inn for a few weeks, but his funds ran out, and the thought of returning to his father was too distressing. I think that was what triggered his nervous collapse in the first place.”
    “Hmm,” Julian grunted, glaring at the empty fireplace. His skin, usually such a warm golden hue, had become grey and stretched around his taut mouth. “I don’t understand. Phillip was afraid of his father, yet he took you back to London to be married. Did he really think Sir Thaddeus would welcome you with open arms?”
    The derisive bite in his voice stung her. “What are you implying? Do you too think I’m unworthy to marry into the Ormond family, a nobody like me?”
    “I think nothing of the sort, dear girl. I’m merely pointing out that Phillip must have suffered some delusions if, knowing how his father worships the family name, he thought Thaddeus would approve of the marriage.”
    Nellie balled her hands, the artificial fingers gnashing against the metal glove. Grimly she made her hands relax. “I am no ‘dear girl’, and yes, Phillip had hopes of a reconciliation with his father, as far-fetched as that sounds to you.”
    “But his hopes were dashed, and he abandoned you to go crawling back to Thaddeus.”
    No! The denial leaped to her lips but found no voice. Sick at heart, she spun away from his scorn. She stared out the window at the trees bending under the wind, their branches bleeding like black veins against a charcoal sky.
    A footstep sounded behind her.
    “Nellie? I’m sorry, that was…uncivil of me.”
    Instead of derision she heard compassion, and it snaked through her defences, cracking open her reticence.
    She turned to him, seeking the warmth of his eyes. “No, don’t apologise. The truth is, everything started to go horribly wrong as soon as we reached London.”
     
    Her first glimpse of London was from a lurching third-class train carriage as they neared the end of their arduous journey. In her exhaustion, the city seemed like a monstrous dragon, breathing smoke and fire, heaving and groaning with millions of people, a restless, snarling, ravenous beast which, she feared, would eat her whole.
    With the city bursting at the seams, it wasn’t easy to find a place to stay, especially given their slender means. They managed to find dingy lodgings to the east of the city. It was only temporary, Pip assured her. As soon as things were straightened out with his father, more funds would be forthcoming, and they would be able to move to a more salubrious suburb of London. Nellie was more concerned that they were living together in sin, even though Pip slept on the floor. She was no puritan but was anxious they be married as soon as possible. At her behest, Pip obtained the special marriage licence required, and they were hastily wedded with little fanfare by a doddering, red-nosed vicar in a drab church. It was hardly the fairytale ceremony Nellie had pictured in her girlhood, and she couldn’t hide her disappointment. Pip kept on apologising and stressed several times that when their financial position improved they would be married again with much more pomp.
    The very next day they presented themselves to Sir Thaddeus at the family