Sitting in the living room, Elizabeth could faintly hear the noise of the radio. It was broadcasting the rally that was taking place that evening. She had put Charlotte to bed, the little girl still asking what was happening with Tommy. Elizabeth had said that they needed time away from him because of business. But Charlotte was too inquisitive. Elizabeth had promised her daughter that she had no intention of leaving Tommy, but Elizabeth was uncertain if that was true now. She didn't know if she could keep that promise. She didn't know if she had it in her to stay with him, knowing what could happen.
Listening to the radio as she sat with a cup of tea, Frances found herself slightly lost. The hotel staff did everything she usually did. She had no need to clean anything. She had no dinner to prepare. It was unusual for her. She didn't entirely know what she should be doing.
"Sit down, Frances," Elizabeth urged the woman, sensing she was feeling lost.
"Are you certain, Mrs Shelby?" Frances asked her.
"Of course," she said, sipping on her cup of tea. "We need to talk anyway."
"Yes, Mrs Shelby," Frances said, not pushing her for any information. She would let Elizabeth divulge what she had to at her own pace. Frances was not pushy. She perched on the chair across from where Elizabeth sat, hands folded neatly in her lap. She looked over to Elizabeth and arched a brow as the woman looked to the radio, clearly letting it take over her attention. Frances almost wanted to sigh. She was waiting to hear him. She wanted to hear him.
"Sorry," Elizabeth said, snapping herself out of her daydream and turning to look back at Frances as Mosley's voice began to speak. "I trust you know what is happening, Frances."
"I have an idea, Mrs Shelby," Frances replied.
Elizabeth nodded her head once. "Well," she said in a soft voice, "I do not think that I can go back to Tommy. I do not think that it would be wise…a lot has happened, Frances. I have tried to pretend that it is all fine and that we could get through it, but I don't see an end, especially since he involved himself with Mosley. I adore Tommy. I love him dearly."
"I know, Mrs Shelby."
"But Charlotte comes first," Elizabeth said sternly. "The Billy Boys…Mosley…Michael and the opium…it is all too much. And I have told him all of this throughout the years. I have tried to turn a blind eye as much as possible, but recently everything feels never ending and if I know Tommy, it probably never will end. He loves the business too much."
Frances remained silent and Elizabeth shook her head as Mosley continued to speak in the background.
"What I am trying to say," Elizabeth said to Frances, "is that I think our marriage is over. I know that I have to return to Birmingham tomorrow and I do not even know where to begin. I never thought that I would have to walk away from Tommy."
Frances shifted in her seat uncomfortably, chewing down on her lip for a brief moment. "I don't know what to say, Mrs Shelby."
"You do not need to say anything, Frances," Elizabeth promised her. "I just want you to know what is happening. I hope that things can stay amicable and I can…well…I have to take Charlotte with me. I have to take her away from Tommy and his business. I do not know how I will afford anything yet. I will go back to teaching. I love teaching. I…I would assume that Tommy would keep you at the mansion, Frances. He would be lost without you."
"Is that what you want, Mrs Shelby?" Frances asked from her.
"No," Elizabeth said with a sad smile. "I would want you to stay with both of us, but I cannot afford to pay you. I realise now that Tommy pays for everything that I have. I cannot let him do that once I have left him."
"Mrs Shelby, I know that it is not my place," Frances said and she chewed harder on the inside of her cheek, "but are you sure this is the right thing to do? He needs you. He loves you."
"I know," Elizabeth said and placed her cold cup of tea on the coffee table in front of her. "I love him too, Frances. I love him so very much, but he made his choice. If I stay with him it will always be 'one day'. One day he will give the business up. One day he will live peacefully with us. I have been waiting for that one day for years. I cannot wait any longer, for Charlotte's sake. Mosley is dangerous. The Billy Boys are dangerous. Being involved in illegal drugs is dangerous. It is too much."
"Maybe he means it, Mrs Shelby," Frances said and Elizabeth looked away from the woman and to the window, seeing the dark of the night as she let her thoughts consume her for a moment. "Maybe Mosley is the final thing he will deal with."
"No," Elizabeth said, voice lost and soft, "that is not how Tommy works. I should never have believe him all those years ago when I was a girl. He made a choice then."
France didn't entirely know what Elizabeth was talking about. She moved to her feet and straightened her dress out before wandering to the window and looking out onto the street.
"I found him after the war," Elizabeth recalled to Frances. "I had been living in London before the war and he came to visit me. He promised me that one day we could run away together. He didn't care about the business. He was only a bookmaker back then."
Frances shifted on her seat, listening intently to Elizabeth.
"Before we could do anything, war broke out," Elizabeth said, playing with the curtain as she leant against the wall, still staring out. She didn't blink once. "The war came and Tommy was shipped off. I went to see him in Birmingham, but while I was there my brother…he found me. He made me return home. He needed his sister to be a good and proper Kimber."
She almost chuckled at the thought.
"I never knew what happened to Tommy during the war. It was only once he came home did I see him. He had this grand plan to bring down my brother. He wanted to take over the race tracks from him. He thought that I had left him…Tommy thought that I had left him because he never received my letters. Pol told him I had gone…but I couldn't write to him while under Billy's gaze."
Elizabeth pushed the image of her brother to the side as she gulped and continued.
"Tommy's plan eventually brought him to the house where we lived," Elizabeth said. "He had brought this girl…Grace…with him. My brother wanted to woo her and she had been with Tommy during some dance. He had told her to go back with him and get him on side. It was all part of Tommy's grand plan to bring my brother down. I found her and my brother and tried to stop him. Tommy had the same idea. He came into the house and I remember…I just remember feeling sheer relief."
Elizabeth's shoulders dropped as her eyes widened and grew wet. "He was alive. Tommy was alive. I wondered why he hadn't tried to find me. It was only when I snuck out of the house did he tell me that Pol had told him I had moved on. She did it to save him. She did it because she knew if I was back with Billy then Tommy had no chance of helping me. But he did. Tommy helped me to get away from Billy. I thought that we could have London. I thought that none of it mattered because we had each other again. We could be together. And then he killed my brother. He saved my life because I know Billy would have shot me when he found me in Small Heath. He was going to do it and Tommy protected me. I…I thought that we could get through that. But…the business…he was involved in bad business back then. He was hiding guns from the police. I begged him to give it up. I begged him to give it up and leave it behind, but he never did. I walked away from him then. I told him I would not live that life."
She scoffed. "Not that I got far. One of their officers found out about me. He took me to the station and…he chained me up…had his men treat me like a common criminal. I came out with bruises and their taunts in my ears."
Frances moved to her feet, hands still nervously clasped together as she did her best to consider what she should do. Elizabeth seemed to be in a world of her own. She seemed to be reliving it all over again.
"I went back to the house. By then Tommy was on his way over. He came to say he was sorry and that we could have London. He said that he had made a mistake and I took his hand. I took his hand when he held it to me. Why did I do that? Why did I not just say no?"
"Because you loved him," Frances whispered and Elizabeth blinked quickly, making certain that no tears spilled from her eyes as she looked away from the window and dropped her hands to her hips.
"I was a fool," she responded in a short voice. "I always have been a fool when it comes to him. Deep down he is a good man and I know that. He just…he does not make it easy, Frances. He never makes anything easy."
Elizabeth went to the radio and turned it off, not interested in listening to Mosley anymore. She hadn't even been listening in the first place. Straightening out her hair behind her ears, she looked to Frances and nodded her head once.
"We will go back to Birmingham tomorrow and I will speak to Tommy about the practicalities," she said to the woman. "We should get some rest."
"Goodnight, Mrs Shelby," Frances said, "and…if you ever need anything…then I am here."
Elizabeth smiled at the woman and nodded her head. "Thank you, Frances."
….
Returning to the manor, Elizabeth did her best not to feel dread. Her stomach was in knots and her head ached once again. Charlotte was running ahead as Frances dealt with baggage, asking one of the footmen to bring it into the hallway. Elizabeth held her head up high and removed her red hat from her head, holding it in her fingertips. Entering the hallway, it was eerily quiet. Charlotte's footsteps and calls for Tommy were the only noises.
Elizabeth placed her hat on the sideboard before walking further into the house. Charlotte had gone into the study and returned solemnly. "He isn't there."
"Perhaps he is out," Elizabeth said to her daughter. "Go and check on your bedroom and make sure everything is fine."
"Okay," Charlotte agreed and rushed up the steps.
Frances finished directing the man on where the bags were to go, her voice curt as she finished her business. Elizabeth looked to her and knitted her brows together. "He is not here," she said.
"He is probably at the factory," Frances said. "I should go and check on the other staff, Mrs Shelby."
"Yes, of course," Elizabeth nodded her head and moved into the study, unbuttoning her coat. Removing it from her body, she tossed it over her desk, which was empty of papers. Tommy's was not in the same state. It was covered in a multitude of papers, strewn all over the place.
Elizabeth was about to go and take a look before she heard the door bang open loudly. She jumped back and saw Pol stood there, her face like thunder and her eyes wide and red. Her dress was crumpled and her hair was sticking up in different directions. She looked like she had not slept in days.
"Pol," Elizabeth said, "what is going on?"
"Did yer know?" Pol demanded from Elizabeth, striding towards her and Elizabeth held her hands up in defence. "Did yer know what he 'ad planned?"
"Pol, I went to Margate as soon as the meeting finished the other day. I have only just returned," Elizabeth said to her. "Me and Tommy…we…I told him that we were finished. I need to leave him for Charlotte's sake."
Pol stopped then. Her face did not soften, but she did not direct her anger at Elizabeth. Instead she directed it at Tommy's desk, picking up the papers and throwing them to the side, lashing out as she destroyed everything she could see. Elizabeth placed her hands over her mouth, stopping her from gasping at the woman's apparent rage. What had happened? What had happened to make Pol react like this?
"He fuckin' ruins everythin'!" Pol screamed. "He's taken 'im from me! He took 'im from me!"
"Pol, talk to me," Elizabeth begged her, not wanting to get close to the woman.
"Thomas," she snarled his name, her hands resting on the desk as she hunched over it, her breathing laboured "someone found out about his fuckin' stupid plot to kill Mosley. Someone found out and they betrayed 'im. Mosley's men killed Tommy's assassin before he could pull the trigger. They killed 'im and they stabbed Aberama…they stabbed him like he was nothin' but meat. He's gone, Liz. They took 'im from me."
"What?" Elizabeth asked, her voice low and full of concern. "Pol, no."
"All because Tommy couldn't 'elp 'imself. He couldn't 'elp 'imself gettin' involved and that is all he knows. All he knows is killin and killin' and killin'."
"Pol, I am so sorry," Elizabeth said and just then she saw him stood in the doorway. He breath hitched as she looked over to him. He looked like he hadn't slept all night. He was dishevelled, his face paler than usual. His gaze caught his wife's and he observed her for a few moments, wondering what she was doing back before he saw Pol. The woman whirled around to face him and he had the decency to look upset.
"I didn't know," Tommy said to Pol. "I never knew someone would betray us."
"I don't give a fuck what yer knew," she snarled and stepped closer to him. She was no longer lashing out, but she looked even more dangerous now. She looked terrifying. "Yer can never 'elp yourself. Yer goin' to push everyone away because all yer know is killin'. All yer know is death. I am finished with you, Thomas Shelby. You are nothin' to me."
Pol swept from the room then, her shoulder barging into Tommy's as Elizabeth followed her.
"Pol, wait," Elizabeth urged and the woman looked over to her. "Can you take Charlotte to your house, please? I will be there soon."
Pol nodded once and Elizabeth rushed to the bottom of the stairs. "Charlotte, I need you to come down."
Her daughter did so, bounding down the stairs as Tommy remained stood in the doorway to his study. He looked to his daughter as she smiled at him and then her face fell solemn. She looked distraught at the sight of him. Tommy couldn't even bring himself to look happy for his daughter.
Taking hold of her hand, Elizabeth helped Charlotte into a coat that was on the coat rack. "You are going to go with Aunt Pol for a while. I will be there soon, okay?"
"Why?" Charlotte asked.
Why. Elizabeth couldn't even answer that question.
"Just because," was all Elizabeth offered and Pol held her hand out to Charlotte.
"Come on, sweetheart," she urged and Charlotte took her hand, letting her lead her from the house as Elizabeth closed the door behind them, her forehead hitting the wood and her hands holding onto it.
"I never knew," Tommy said to his wife and she looked over to him slowly. "I don't know who betrayed me."
"Of course you don't," she responded, "because you have got your hand in so many pies that it could be anyone."
"Liz-"
"-Don't bother," Elizabeth demanded from him. "Don't bother trying to come up with some shit excuse for what happened. I don't want to hear it. I don't want to listen anymore. We're not talking about it. I am going to go and stay with your Aunt Pol because right now she needs someone."
"Liz…I need yer…please-"
"-Do not!" Elizabeth roared, interrupting him as she stormed closer to him. "You had your chance to have me! I gave you that chance two days ago and you made your decision. I am not coming crawling back to you. I am not doing that again."
Tommy said nothing as Elizabeth walked back into the study and grabbed her coat, Tommy still in the doorframe. She pulled it onto her figure and looked him over for a few moments.
"I want a divorce."
The words stung him. The words almost threatened to destroy him. Elizabeth tried to remain passive. She didn't need him to see her cry. She didn't need him to see her break down like she was threatening to. Instead she walked by him, but Tommy quickly grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving.
"No," Tommy firmly said to her. "I won't give yer a divorce, Liz. I won't."
"So what?" she asked from him. "We keep pretending that everything is fine? I am not doing that, Tommy. I am not doing this. There is no other option."
"Yer my wife," he said. "Yer said yer would always be mine."
"I will always be yours…but now...after everything...I cannot be with you. There is a difference."
"Yer can't do this."
"I can and I have made my mind up," she said.
"Liz…any other man…if anyone other man comes near yer…I swear to God…"
"What?" she asked him. "You will cut him? Christ, Tommy, do you honestly think I would even look at another man?"
He said nothing and she rolled her eyes, snatching her arm from his grip.
"I love you," she said to him, "I just don't like you."
Moving away from him, she picked her hat up and her bag that was still in the hallway. Leaving the house, she closed the door behind her. Tommy watched her go before slamming his fist against the wall and screaming loudly, the noise agonising as he closed his eyes and panted for breath, wondering what he could do now.
….
A/N: Do let me know what you think!
