As if understanding this, Jane changed the mood of her speech and said: ‘Love is the greatest blessing we can ever find. And if ever I wished great blessings upon anyone, it is upon my father, to whom I owe my life – not only the life that he begat, but the life that he recently helped to save. And I can think of no finer gift to offer him today than to say, Sir, you chose well. Your bride is a woman of exceptional gifts, of dedicated kindness, of touching loyalty and remarkably good taste in cream-and-green dresses; the butter-cream of her tea room confections, the green of samphire on the wild shores of her native Ireland. Ladies and gentlemen, noble Lords and Ladies, beloved friends and neighbours, let us drink a toast to Sir William and Lady Adeane!’

People rose – those who were not so constrained by their wide skirts or their intake of wine as to be unable to do so – glasses were refilled and the toast roared out over the dreamscape that was Camden Street, where the golden chairs had cascaded from the rooftop and cloths of white linen had settled on the tables, like snow.

A STORY OF GOOD AND EVIL

Jane stayed in Bath a few weeks more, to complete her recovery and when the autumn began snatching the leaves from the trees, she left for London.

She told herself that she wasn’t leaving for ever, and yet she understood that after all that had happened, her gift for nursing, and indeed her will to perform all the tasks which it entailed, had been taken from her. The very thought of extracting rotten teeth now repelled her. The perpetual stink which accompanied illness made her gag. And she knew that the patience and fortitude she had once shown, especially in the matter of the male species and their ailments, had now deserted her. She felt that she never again wanted to lay her hands on any part of a man’s anatomy.

Regarding herself solemnly in her looking glass, Jane saw that she looked older. The world, she thought, might take her for a woman of thirty or more. And this new appraisal of herself amplified the feeling that her youth was over and that she must now find some wiser, more independent Jane and some new direction for her life. She knew that many women in her predicament might be tied to financial dependence on their fathers, and she could imagine both the sorrow and the rage which they might feel. But, thanks to her beloved Emmeline, this was not Jane’s case. Her house in Tite Street awaited her. She had enough money to refashion her life. And then there was Julietta …

Once Jane was established in Chelsea, it became possible for Julietta to visit her as often as they wished. Having been near death, Jane’s response to finding herself once more in the arms of her lover felt so overwhelming to her that when sated by sexual pleasure Jane found herself saying to Julietta, ‘I love you too much.’