I don’t know many things about Nicholas,she thought bitterly,because we never spent much time together, nor did he put any effort into getting to know me.
And there it was, the cold, hard truth.
He did provide me with a house and a dowry,she told herself quickly, hating the idea of being ungrateful.But I could have done with a little less money and a little more brother.
“Wait,” she told Colin, and he stopped talking. “Please clarify this – the water comes from these rainwater cisterns,” she said slowly.
“Unless there’s a drought, then it gets delivered like to all the other households.”
“Right. And then, where does the water go… after?”
Understanding dawned on Colin’s face.
“That is the best part – no more nightmen or cess pits, it all goes directly into rainwater drains and out into the Thames.”
Elizabeth frowned, uncertain whether she approved of this system, but Colin had apparently decided that was enough conversing about cess pits for one day.
“Our last stop is the bedroom,” he announced and led the way.
*
“Did the workmanship on the bed seem familiar to you in any way?” he asked her at dinner later.
Elizabeth thought back to the dark mahogany bed with four intricately carved supporting columns and how the vines in thecarvings looked like they were spelling out the letter E over and over again.
“Not really,” she said cooly, deciding not to reveal what she had noticed.
Or believed she had noticed.
Her husband looked disappointed.
“I was certain you would recognise his work. I had Ward make the bed while we were in Norwich.”
“Robert?” Lizzie had difficulty understanding. “You had Robert make you a bed?”
“Makeusa bed. He is a carpenter, is he not?” Her husband asked defensively.
“Yes,” Lizzie tried again, more calmly this time. “I just didn’t know he was working for you.”
“What else would he have done in Norwich all those months?” Talbot said haughtily. “Besides, once I realised we would be sharing a bed every night, I thought it might be a good idea to have a very wide one.”
Lizzie smiled. “Itwasa good idea,” she agreed, and his eyes lit up.
She remembered Stevenson’s words about every item in this house being handpicked by Colin, and she realised he was trying to diminish the importance of the idea behind having the bed made.
She then remembered another thing that had been on her mind that afternoon.
“Why do you dislike my brother and his wife?”
Colin looked taken aback by the question. “Pardon?”
“I know this sounds unrelated to the topic at hand,” she said apologetically, “but I’ve been thinking about this ever since you introduced me to Mister Brandon and told me about your friendships from school. I realised that you’ve kept all your other friends close, including Stevenson, why not Nicholas?”
Colin sighed. “Let’s go sit in the library.”
Once they had both settled in their armchairs, Colin sighed again, more loudly this time, like he was preparing for something.
“You are right in assuming that I tend to keep my friends close, even if they’re idiots like Pratt and Stone,” he said with a weak smile. “Only, I wasn’t aware of how vital it was for me to do so until your brother’s wedding.”
