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and Jane a few times. He took tea with me here and dined with us. That is not love , you simpleton.” She sat down heavily on the sofa. “You do it, William,” she instructed my father. “I can speak to her no longer.”
    My father contemplated me for a few moments. “My dear child…”
    “Ach!” said my stepmother in disgust, and turned her face to the peacock-covered cushions.
    “My dear child,” my father began again. “I fear you do not understand the seriousness of this situation.”
    “What situation, Papa? That I have fallen in love with a young man who has fallen in love with me?”
    “Yes, that situation. And no, not that one.”
    “Get on with it!” demanded Mama.
    “As you know, the young man in question, Mr Shelley, cannot make you his wife,” said my father. “He is already married, although it is true that he and his wife are estranged.”
    “It is true,” put in Mama, “that he abandoned her to misery and humiliation!”
    I could not allow this. “It is not true!” I protested. “She has turned to another man, and is carrying his child.”
    My father looked at me with pity. “Mary, there is no doubt over the paternity of Mrs Shelley’s second baby. She was already with child when her husband left her.”
    “I do not believe you.”
    I knew my father’s intolerance of scenes, so was resolved upon keeping my temper and countenance. My tone was measured, my voice calm. I could not tell them that my “friendship” with Shelley had already become much more than that, and that I had reason to believe there would shortly be another child to consider, of whose paternity there was also no doubt whatsoever. The complexities of Shelley’s private life were more sensational than they, or anyone, knew.
    “I know more of what has happened between him and his wife than you do,” I continued. “You are repeating rumours in a way that grieves me, and will grieve Shelley when I tell him.”
    “Grieve Shelley?” said Mama scornfully. “And so it should!” She snapped her fan shut in a way that could have only been designed to irritate and pointed it at me. “You must never see him again. I forbid it.” She glanced at my father. “Your papa forbids it. You will stay at home and help in the shop, and Mr Shelley will be prevented from visiting. This situation is intolerable. We shall be the laughing-stock of London.”
    “Mama is concerned for your reputation,” said my father.
    “No she is not!” The bitter words came out before I could stop them. “She is concerned for her own reputation, just as you are concerned for yours !”
    The colour faded from Papa’s face. “My dear,” he said, taken aback, “I assure you that is not the case.”
    “I do not want your assurances!” My resolve to avoid a scene was faltering. “I want to know why you consider it so scandalous that Shelley should fall in love with me! I am not a fool, Papa. I know that when you married my mama she was already carrying me, and that she was never married to Fanny’s father at all. How can you disapprove so violently of my conduct?”
    He paused before he spoke. When he did, his voice was icy. “You do not understand, child.”
    “I do, Papa! I understand that you do not want your principles of freedom to extend to me and Shelley. To me because I am your daughter, and to Shelley because you persist in considering him as a benefactor, and you do not want your financial association with him tarnished in any way!”
    “Silence!”
    He was rarely angry, and I was frightened at the severity of his countenance.
    “Papa,” I ventured, “I do not wish to make an enemy of you. But I will not give Shelley up. I am resolved.”
    “Resolved upon ruin!” interjected Mama. “William, the girl has taken leave of her senses.”
    “Shelley is not what you think, Mama!” I protested. “He will care for me, and as soon as he is free of his wife he will marry me!”
    They both looked at me as if I had, indeed, taken