The Shoemaker's Daughter Read Free Page A

man said as he handed her the candle, ‘the escaped criminal may be desperate.’
    As Hari secured the door, she wondered why she wanted to protect the stranger from the law, but there was something about him she trusted.
    She moved swiftly to the scullery and quietly opening the rear door, whispered into the darkness.
    ‘You can come in, now.’ She waited breathlessly but there was no reply from the shadows in the yard. With a mixture of disappointment and relief, Hari closed the back door and bolted it.
    After a moment, she sighed heavily, her brief adventure was over and the intriguing stranger had gone from her life as abruptly as he had entered it.

2
    Emily Grenfell clasped her hands together, sitting on the edge of her seat gazing through the small window of the coach as it rumbled along Mumbles Road in the fashionable area of Swansea. The journey from her home to the Assembly Rooms was a short one, but she was filled with excitement for she was at last being introduced into the social life of the town in a manner that befitted the daughter of one of Wales’s leading leather lords.
    Her father sat beside her and glancing at him she could see that he was quite puffed out with pride. His Albert gleamed rich gold against the fine cloth of his waistcoat, the fine watch lifted now from its hidden pocket to be scrutinized for the hundredth time, a sure sign that Thomas Grenfell was nervous. But then he didn’t enjoy the hustle and bustle of Swansea’s night-life, he preferred the warmth of his own fireside and the simple pleasures of a good cigar and a glass of brandy. It was simply out of duty to his only child that he was venturing out at all.
    Emily glanced at her aunt; Sophie was half asleep against her seat, her hands quiet in her lap. Emily smiled, her aunt could be a holy terror but tonight she would be on her best behaviour because the élite of the Swansea gentry would be at the Race Ball and Aunt Sophie had not found herself invited into the social circles lately, not since Craig’s arrest.
    Emily pushed the unpleasant thought aside, she would forget Craig and the trouble he was in, just for tonight, she promised herself.
    Emily suddenly felt a surge of elation, she was eager for the new experience of being introduced into what she considered was the world of adulthood. She glanced down at her magnificent dress and the rich emerald jewellery glistening on her hands and throat, her mother’s favourite gems.
    There had been tears in her father’s eyes as he’d handed her the satin-lined box containing the jewels and Emily, taking it, had felt a constriction in her throat for, with the gift, her father was recognizing she was now a woman.
    As though reading her thoughts, Thomas reached out a large hand and covered Emily’s cold fingers. ‘You do an old man proud, cariad ,’ he said softly, ‘I only wish your mother was here to see you today, she would have been so happy.’
    ‘I know,’ Emily said softly. She rested her head for a moment against his shoulder and then sat up straight, conscious that she must not ruffle her carefully coiffured hair.
    Gloucester Place seemed awash with the carriages of other guests attending the ball and Emily chafed as she sat waiting impatiently to move on, watched by ladies’ maids and servants of the lower orders who seemed to think that the spectacle was for their pleasure. Emily caught sight of the shoemaker’s daughter, a basket over her arm, and for a moment their eyes locked and then Emily looked away. It was enough that the girl had made the shoes which she was wearing for this special occasion, she certainly had no place in this night of Emily’s triumph.
    A gentleman strolled casually past the carriage, staring at Emily with bold eyes much to her father’s mixture of chagrin and pride.
    ‘You see, cariad , the gentlemen can’t keep their eyes off you.’ He laughed, ‘I’ll have no trouble finding you a good husband.’
    Emily stared at him. ‘But