All three knew she wouldn’t, and Freddie pulled a pained face at the rest of the pie, torn between gobbling it up and forcing his little sister to eat.
‘No fraternising on site, Murphy. Don’t care if it is tea. Y’know the rules,’ a voice boomed over Essie’s shoulder.
Startled, she jumped up and knocked over the bucket.
Standing behind her with his hands on his hips was the foreman. Up close, he was younger than she expected. Perhaps a year or so older than her brother, with neatly combed dark hair and a ribbon of dark freckles over his nose.
‘Sorry, sir. I’m Freddie’s sister. It’s my fault. He didn’t know I was coming. I surprised him with a pie.’
‘A pie!’ He looked bemused. ‘Wouldn’t have picked you to have your sister running your errands, Murphy.’ He glanced over her shoulder at Freddie.
‘Sorry, sir.’
‘Back to work, the lot o’ you.’
Danny started to protest. ‘But, sir, it’s only been—’
‘I take it you want a job tomorrow, O’Brien?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Then get moving. You too, Murphy.’
The young men walked in single file back into the cellar. Essie could hear them cursing and muttering under their breath.
No doubt the foreman could too. But when he turned back to face her, he was wearing a wide smile. He didn’t run his eyes over her threadbare pinafore or comment on her too-big boots. Instead he extended a hand and said politely, ‘I’m Edward Hepplestone.’ He tilted his head at where Freddie and the navvies were digging. ‘Sorry if I sounded a bit gruff. It’s just that I’m under a bit of pressure to finish this job and move to the next. We’re a few weeks behind, you see?’
‘Esther Murphy,’ she replied, feeling his warmth as she put her small hand into his larger one and he shook it. With his touch, she tilted her chin a fraction, as she imagined a proper lady might.
He smiled—relaxed and easy—and she noticed how the smile reached all the way to his eyes. They stood studying each other in silence for a few beats before the spell was shattered.
‘Sir! Sir!’ called Danny.
‘What is it?’ said Edward, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.
Essie stepped sideways so she could see over Edward’s broad shoulder to Danny, who was shouting and waving his arms.
Freddie dropped his pick and reached down to pull out a clump of dirt bigger than his head.
Essie swallowed and blinked, not trusting what she saw.
When she looked again, Freddie was holding his find above his head. Dripping like water from the soil were loops of gold chains, giant green stones, cameos, some buttons and rings, a gush of sparkling coloured gemstones and what looked from a distance to be some small jewelled silver hooks.
The navvies tossed their picks and shovels aside and clambered across to Freddie from their section in the cellar, rubbing their hands together and craning their necks over the man in front of them to get a closer look, theorising about what had been found.
‘A green stone as big as m’fist!’
‘Chains of flowers as long as your arm.’
‘Looks like a perfume bottle.’
‘I swear on my life—they’re diamonds. Handfuls of ’em.’
Among the chaos and high-pitched chatter, the navvies pulled clumps of soil from the debris. Mr Hepplestone had rolled up his sleeves, and was squatting and pointing into the hole—shouting at everyone to leave the soil where it lay. At one point, he looked up and squinted across to where Essie stood just to one side of the jostling navvies. He raised a hand and gave her a small smile.
But was it meant as a friendly gesture or as an instruction for her to leave?
Essie lifted a hand and waved back, but then noticed Freddie and Danny staring at her, Freddie frowning and Danny looking a little forlorn.
‘Best be getting along, Es,’ said Freddie as he blocked her view of Mr Hepplestone. ‘You’ll be needing to get the girls from school. The lads are getting a bit—’
Before he could finish she was knocked in the side of her head by two men shoving one another.
‘Hey! Watch the lady,’ said Danny, giving one of the navvies a push.
But they ignored him.
‘Give it back. I saw it first.’
‘Pity your fat hand didn’t grab it!’
The filthy pair sounded like the twins fighting over Papa’s medals as they played cross-legged on the floor.
Danny offered to fetch a cool cloth for Essie and find somewhere for her to sit, but she assured him she was fine as she turned to walk away down Cheapside. Rubbing the side of her head, where a bit of an egg had developed, she glanced back over her shoulder at Danny, who was still watching her. She gave him a smile, and then looked across to where Mr Hepplestone stood knee-deep in the pit, his dark hair curling over his collar and the muscles in his arms visible beneath his rolled-up sleeves. He didn’t notice her leave.
Chapter 5
KATE
LONDON, PRESENT DAY
Kate’s stomach growled and she looked at her watch: 3.30 p.m. She had been taking notes all day without a break, interviewing Saanvi and Gayle while Marcus set up each shot.
It was almost time to go—their security pass required them to leave by 4 p.m.—but she wanted to squeeze in a couple more pieces.
To their left was a gold pomander, or scent bottle, studded with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and spinels. Kate imagined an aristocratic woman holding this bottle under her nose and sniffing ambergris, clove oil and cinnamon to mask the stench of rotting corpses blackened by the plague as she travelled through London in her carriage.
And there, sitting quietly on the last pedestal, was a tiny diamond ring: a solitaire.
The diamond was set into the gold bezel, and the gold band had been coated with white enamel. The ring was so simple. So small. Was it a mourning ring, or did it symbolise love?
It struck Kate that if she were to choose an engagement ring it would look something like this. She swallowed, feeling dehydrated and dizzy as memories of Jonathan continued to press down with the hot air in this tiny room. She could smell the linseed and oak in Jonathan’s hair as he finished sanding and installing the last of the kitchen cabinets in her brownstone, then lifted Kate onto a benchtop and proposed. Those warm eyes and impish smile …
Kate had accepted the proposal but was secretly disappointed it had not been accompanied by a ring. It turned out that the dreamy little girl sitting at Essie’s dressing table fossicking through beaded necklaces and colourful earrings had not disappeared completely underneath the tailored suits and silk shirts.
Jonathan must have read her feelings in her face, and who could blame her fiancé for looking bewildered? ‘But I thought you’d know exactly what you wanted. That’s why I didn’t—’
She’d stopped him mid-sentence with a long, slow kiss. Drew him closer with her legs and wrapped them around him as she ripped his work shirt off, showering them both with sawdust.
She took a deep breath.
Kate stepped back from the pedestal and tried to blink away her tears. Her grief felt exposed under the harsh fluorescent lights. She had managed to sign the divorce papers before she left, but she hadn’t yet posted them back to Jonathan’s lawyers.