Emily by Valerie Wood Page B

never seen it again. ‘I don’t suppose you know when he’ll be back, ma’am?’
    ‘Would he tell his mother! No, I have no idea at all. He will be admiring the treasures of Rome I wouldn’t wonder.’
    And not just the art treasures, Philip mused. He had an eye for other kinds of beauty too, had Hugo Purnell.
    ‘Between you and me,’ Mrs Purnell said indulgently, ‘I think he has gone to escape some youngwoman’s clutches! He wouldn’t have gone off in such a hurry otherwise. Will you have coffee, Philip?’
    She rang the bell and asked Emily to bring another pot of coffee and a plate of biscuits. ‘Talking of treasures,’ she chatted after Emily had left the room, ‘I think I’ve found one. Such a good girl. It’s so difficult to find staff nowadays and even harder to keep them. Not that young men like you have that problem! Put the tray here by me,’ she said when Emily came back. ‘Your parents,’ she continued, ‘they are well, I trust? And your sisters? They will soon be of marrying age, I suppose.’
    He smiled. ‘Not quite, ma’am. Anna is seventeen, Louise only fourteen. And yes, my parents were well when I last saw them.’
    ‘And what are you doing back in Hull? Not still studying?’
    ‘Yes, ma’am. I’m taking further navigational examinations next week, then I will be travelling to Portsmouth. I hope to be given orders soon after.’
    ‘Ah!’ She sipped her coffee and gazed at him from above the rim of her cup. ‘Hugo doesn’t owe you money, does he?’
    He hesitated. The loan was between him and Hugo, not his mother, but he needed the money. His pay as a lieutenant was adequate but only just, and though his family would give him a loan if he wanted it, he preferred to be independent and was loath to ask his father to help him out. Besides, he would be given a lecture on lending money to unsuitable friends. Not that Hugo was a particular friend, just someone he had known for a long time.
    ‘How much does he owe you?’ she persisted. ‘Come along, you might as well tell me.’
    ‘Fifty guineas, ma’am.’
    ‘Fifty guineas! Whatever would he need that kind of money for? He can never have spent his allowance already!’
    Philip didn’t answer. Hugo always had plenty of money when his allowance came, but he spent it. He spent it on gambling, wine and women. He had always spent money, even from the age of ten when he and Philip had first started at Trinity House as young cadets. But Hugo found the studying too arduous and he had had several brushes with the Brethren, mostly over non-attendance or being improperly dressed; he never wore his velvet stock and his uniform of blue tailed dress coat and white stand-up collar was usually crumpled or dirty; his tall beaver hat was battered and dusty having been kicked around on the way to school and he constantly missed church parade on a Sunday. He only just scraped into the upper school and eventually he was called before the headmaster and asked to leave, whereas Philip finished his schooling in marine science and was apprenticed to a master mariner to continue his career.
    ‘I wish he’d stayed on at Trinity House,’ Mrs Purnell sighed. ‘I don’t know what he will do with his life. I hope he marries someone rich,’ she added, ‘for his own money won’t last long at the rate he’s spending it!’
    Philip fidgeted. He wished he hadn’t stayed, he had no desire to hear any more about Hugo Purnell and if he never saw his money again, well, so be it.
    ‘You will get your dues, Philip. I will go to the bank this afternoon and arrange a promissory note. Where are your lodgings? I will have it sent round.’
    He thanked her and said she mustn’t trouble herself, he would call again before he left town. But she insisted. ‘I will send Emily,’ she determined. ‘Say no more about it!’
    Later that afternoon, Emily took off her white cap and apron, put on her cloak and bonnet and looked in the mirror. She was quite pleased with