One of the events Elvira attended most recently was the marriage of The Viscount Woodward to Miss Dorothea Reed, a mining heiress. She didn’t tell me too much about it, but there was a write-up of their wedding in the society pages and it didn’t hurt me to read it. I wish them both well. When Vincent found out that Fortitude was his child, he wrote to me from his new home in Pimlico. He said he was sorry, that his family would take her in, but I never wrote back. I think he’s seen her. Once, when I went to St James’s Park and watched her play, there was a carriage that parked up close by. I saw it a couple of times after that, but I never marked the livery or tried to find out who was in it. Sometimes, if it’s raining and I feel a little down, I do wonder to myself what her life could have been like. Gowns and parties, yes, but what if they’d have steamed out her curls and bid her keep out of the sun? No. I want her to be proud of who she is and for that reason I can’t help but feel she’s better off with her mama. But I’m equally confident that, if living with Vincent was the best thing for her, I would’ve known it and not hesitated to give her to him. Nosizwe and my own mother taught me that.

I’m in my bedroom now, looking out of the window while my little girl plays in the garden. I was never sure I wanted to be a mother, but the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew she’d be my greatest love. Sometimes, I wonder if ever there’s been a child that is so adored as she is. Elvira and Ethel both dote on her and she’s got her Uncle Barky around too. Of course, I tell her all about her grandmother and the sacrifices that she made for us both, and Mrs Bradley who did so much for me as well. It’s important to me that she grows up with both of them in her heart. When she gets a little older, I’ll tell her about her Uncle Eustace. Of all the trouble we used to get into together and how deeply we loved one another. I wish she could have known him, but if I tell her all the stories maybe it will feel as though in some way he’s here with us.