Of Night and Dark Obscurity

by Nicola Italia

  Caroline felt a knot in her throat. “Why are you saying these things to me? I care what happens to you. I care about Dickie. I do. I want to help you. I’m sorry things have been rough for you lately. But that’s going to change. I’m going to place you on the list. You’ll have a place in the new housing…“

  Annette wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She stood up and looked down at Caroline still seated. “No dearie. This place? East End? This is my place. And let me tell you there ain’t no place for you here. You play with your little building and you dress it up nice. But here? You don’t belong here just as I don’t belong there. It’s best you return to Mayfair. The air is better there anyway.”

  She staggered out and Caroline willed herself not to cry. She had spent weeks trying to make a breakthrough to help Annette, but it seemed the time spent in the workhouse had damaged her.

  She looked about the empty public house and sighed. She felt beaten as she pulled the cloak about her shoulders. She would hail a hansom cab and return home. She felt defeated and depressed. Maybe Annette was right. She was just playing house. Maybe the housing plan was a mistake. Maybe it would never work. Maybe this was all a silly dream and nothing could be done to help the slums of London.

  ✽✽✽

  Irene watched with glee as the singer paraded across the stage and then curtseyed in front of the audience after she was done. She was scantily dressed and Irene looked about the audience struggling to see if there was anyone she knew.

  The theater he had brought her to was out of the way and when she smiled into his face, he squeezed her knee playfully. She returned her gaze to the stage and felt his hand on the small of her back. She should not have come here but it was exciting. It was daring and she loved to be daring.

  Her grandmother and sister thought she was at her dearest friend Nell’s house playing cards and socializing, she was not. Her family was very dear to her but Caroline was too proper and her grandmother far too strict. She liked being in the world and living in it. She was young and alive. She was living for the moment.

  When she had captured the eye of her admirer, she had been thrilled. She had never thought to attract his attention. But now, as they sat close together in the darkened music hall auditorium, her heart raced. His hand was on her thigh, on her lower back, and his eyes were on her. She smiled widely, and when after the show he had suggested they drop by a quiet little café he knew, she agreed.

  At the café, he ordered them both absinthe, and when the small glasses filled with the peridot-green alcohol arrived, she eagerly took hers in hand.

  “Cheers!” She gushed, excitedly drinking the contents of the glass.

  He smiled and watched as she drank the entire glass, but he did not drink a sip and placed his full glass back on the table.

  “You don’t like it?” She giggled.

  “I do. But I prefer to watch and see how it affects you,” he told her.

  “Affects me?” She smiled.

  “Yes. It affects people differently. For some it alters the mood, for others they may see things. How do you feel?”

  “I feel fine. Really fine,” she smiled. “Though it did taste a bit odd,” she admitted.

  “That’s the anise,” he told her.

  “Ah-neece,” she said it phonetically and smiled at him.

  He placed several coins on the table and took her about the waist. “I have another place in mind to take you. You’ll love it.” He said softly in her ear.

  Irene allowed herself to be led into the carriage and as it bumped along the road she smiled at her companion.

  “Where are we going?” She asked him.

  “It’s a surprise,” he smiled back at her. “Do you like surprises?” He asked her.

  She nodded and smiled as the carriage took them along familiar London streets and beyond.

  When the carriage stopped again, he helped her out and they entered a dark street and then a small establishment that appeared empty until Irene’s eyes adjusted to the darkness. It was dimly lit with red lanterns littered throughout. There were people lying about doing nothing, which Irene thought very odd. But then, as he caught her arm and moved her along through the rooms, she saw the people were doing something.

  Many of the people were lounging about on couches and sofas with long pipes between their teeth. It was then that Irene caught the sweet smell in the air. Her hands suddenly felt sticky and warm inside her evening gloves.

  “What is this place?” She whispered.

  “Heaven,” her companion said, “or hell. Depending upon how you view it.”

  Irene felt a little dizzy from the absinthe she had drunk and she allowed herself to be led further back into the building until he settled on one room. The room was decorated in vibrant red and gold with a large sofa in the middle of the room.

  “It-it’s getting late,” she said suddenly. “I should be home,” she told him.

  “They won’t worry. They think you are with your friend, remember?” He said smiling.

  She nodded. “Yes, but I should go soon. I should,” she said.

  “Soon, my darling. After all, we haven’t yet sampled the goods,” he told her.

  Leading her to the red sofa, she sat down upon it just as a small Asian man stood nearby with a long pipe in his hand, preparing it for them. He handed her the pipe bowing before her but she shook her head.

  “No thank you,” she waved him away.

  Her companion smiled. “One puff. See if you don’t enjoy it. Then I’ll return you home.”

  Irene remembered the absinthe which had been delightful and she nodded. “One puff. Just one.”

  “Just one,” he agreed.

  Irene took one puff and closed her eyes. She felt as if she was floating and everything had a dream-like quality. She took another puff of the pipe.

  “You see?” He told her, touching her hair.

  Irene nodded. “Here,” she handed him the pipe.

  He took the pipe from her but did not take the drug. He handed the pipe back to her even as Irene gazed about the room. The red lanterns gave the room a dark and mysterious quality and she felt as if she was in another world.

  She heard the moans of a woman somewhere far away and took another long drag of the pipe. She leaned back against the sofa and smiled. She shouldn’t be here. It was deliciously naughty. She could never tell her friends she had been here, and her family must never know, especially Caroline. She would never be allowed out of her room again. She giggled lightly.

  She felt as if in a haze as she watched the Asian man leave the room, leaving her alone with her companion.

  “Do you like it Irene? The opium,” he asked.

  She nodded. “I do.” She looked around smiling and then his words seemed to penetrate into her brain.

  “Opium?”

  He smiled. “Yes. Opium.”

  Irene felt a part of her cringe at the word. She knew that opium was a dangerous problem and she had heard her father speak about his patients and the drug. But when her companion urged her to take another drag of the pipe, she did and she felt a rush of pleasure. She felt lethargic and at peace with the world.

  “How do you feel Irene?” He asked, removing his evening jacket.

  “I feel wonderful,” she smiled at him.

  “You see? The world is wonderful.” He touched her hand and moved to sit beside her.

  Irene felt his hand move along her arm and she enjoyed it.

  “Everyone in the world should experience this,” he told her, and she nodded. “Here let me.”

  He unbuttoned her jacket and removed it. “That’s better.”

  Irene looked up at the ceiling and focused on one of the red lanterns. “The color red is so pretty,” she told him.

  “It is.” He agreed.

  When she felt his hands moving underneath her petticoats she tried to sit up. He pressed her back against the pillows.

  “I merely want to look at you,” he said quietly.
/>   Irene shook her head. “I want to go home now.”

  He grinned and in the dark his teeth looked yellow and jagged. “Soon. But not now.”

  She heard the moans of the woman nearby and closed her eyes. She couldn’t stop him. She was powerless. His hands moved further up along her stockings and she saw him unbuttoning his pants.

  “Shhh,” he told her softly.

  She looked away from him and watched the red lantern high above her.

  ✽✽✽

  Caroline awoke from a deep sleep. It had been troubled. She was upset about her last interaction with Annette, which had been unfortunate, and she had not wanted to leave it that way. In the cab ride home, she had developed a headache and she had gone to sleep early without seeing her family.

  She didn’t know what had woken her. She felt something was not right and when she tied the dressing wrapper about her waist, it was then that she heard voices downstairs. She pressed back her hair and took the stairs quickly to see the gas lights were on in the front parlor.

  “Gran?” She asked as she moved into the room. “Oh. I’m sorry,” she said clutching at her wrapper as she saw two strangers standing next to her father.

  “It’s all right Caroline. Come inside.” Her father motioned to her.

  “Detective Chief Inspector Pierce this is my daughter Caroline, Caroline Derry. Caroline this is Detective Chief Inspector Pierce and Sergeant Felix,” her father said quietly.

  Caroline nodded at both men. The Sergeant appeared to be young. Perhaps a few years older than herself. He had a boyish face and kind eyes. The Inspector held an air of importance about him. Caroline was struck by how handsome he was, with brown hair that curled at the nape of his neck, and serious blue eyes.

  “They want to speak with you, Caro,” her father told her.

  Caroline looked up at the two men. “Yes? Is it regarding my social work?”

  “Your social work?” Val asked, intrigued.

  “Yes. I do various social work in the poorer sections of London. I have for some time. I help the women and their children with food and—” she stopped. “Well. I guess it’s not that much help when you think of it.”

  Everyone in the room seemed to realize that Caroline had spoken aloud something she had not meant to, and when she looked up at her father, she made a start.

  “Did something happen, Caroline? Something you wish to discuss later,” her grandmother asked her.

  “No. I mean nothing that drastic. Just a misunderstanding. One of my ladies, she doesn’t think she deserves better. She lashed out at me.”

  “Not physically?” Her father said sharply.

  “No Father. She never would. As I said, it was a misunderstanding.” She shook her head. “How can I help you gentlemen?”

  Val took out a small notebook and a pencil. “When was the last time you saw your sister, Irene Derry?”

  “Irene?” She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Exactly what I asked Miss. When did you last see your sister?” Val repeated.

  Caroline looked over at her grandmother who seemed tired and aged, and then at her father who hovered near the bar but only lightly touched the bottles and glasses, and poured nothing.

  “I saw her this afternoon. At tea,” she said.

  “As I told you Inspector,” Malvina interjected.

  “Do you know she was out this evening?” He asked her.

  Caroline watched him make notations in his notebook as she spoke. “Out? What do you mean out? She often spends the evenings with her friends. Ethel Church and Nell Lewis are her closest friends. They are both respectable girls from good families. She spends her time with them.”

  “That may be,” Val nodded. “Miss Church may be quite respectable. And her family too. But she hasn’t seen your sister in months. And she was not with Nell Lewis this evening, as we checked before we arrived here.”

  Caroline felt her cheeks grow warm as she looked at the handsome man before her. “What is this about? Why are you here? Has something happened to my sister? She must be at one of their houses,” Caroline insisted.

  “It seems that while your sister told the family she was spending the evenings at her friend’s house, she told her friend she was being courted by a gentleman caller. However, Miss Church doesn’t know the gentleman’s name and Miss Lewis knew very little about the man in question. Your sister Irene was very secretive about her gentleman’s name it seems,” Val said.

  Caroline blushed and Hubert interrupted. “My daughter is a young woman with a good reputation. She does not have gentleman callers like some lonely widow.”

  “I don’t know anything about Miss Irene Derry,” Val said sharply. “What I do know is what has been told to me by yourself and her friends. She is not in her bed and no one has seen her today, apart from afternoon tea and the maid who watched her leave this evening.” Val said matter-of-factly, looking at Caroline who had asked the question about why they were here.

  Hubert sighed heavily.

  “So, what is happening? She’s missing?” Caroline asked feeling uneasy.

  “It’s as the inspector said,” her father explained. “The maid went in to check on Irene and her bed has not been slept in. It seems she isn’t at either friend’s house as I believed her to be, and we don’t know where she is. The late hour caused me to have some concern.”

  She gets more brazen the older she gets, Prudie’s words echoed in Caroline’s ears.

  “Then she’s fallen ill,” Caroline said. “Has someone checked the hospitals?” She looked at the three men.

  “It’s after one in the morning Miss,” Val began. “She could very well be at a—“

  Caroline looked irritated. “She could very well be what Inspector.”

  “She might be at a hotel.”

  Caroline’s cheeks burned brightly. “A hotel.”

  “Just so.”

  Caroline ignored the man and turned to her father. “Did anyone check the hospitals?”

  “I did. I did before I called the police,” he said wearily.

  Caroline turned back to face Val and lashed out at him. “You have no right to say such things and make assumptions about my sister!” Caroline said, her eyes flashing bright and her cheeks flushed. “You don’t know her! She has never told me about any male callers.”

  “But she wouldn’t, would she, Miss Derry?” He said gently.

  Caroline looked away from his probing eyes.

  “I’m only trying to find out more about her to bring her safely home. I’m sorry to be blunt, Miss Derry,” Val said softly. “Do you know of any gentleman she was meeting? Now is the time for honesty. Perhaps she mentioned him in passing.”

  Caroline shook her head. “No. I don’t. She made frivolous comments about men, but I put it down to her age and I didn’t think much of it. I would never have thought her capable of sneaking out to meet someone. But if she did, and if that’s where she is, I know she will return soon and my father will deal with her.”

  “It does seem I called you out here on a fool’s errand Pierce,” Hubert admitted. “I know your father from university and it was decent of him to reach out to you, to have you come to our home at this ungodly hour.”

  Val shook his head. “Not at all Sir. The well-being of a young woman is at stake. I would ask you to do me a favor. If she returns home, you’ve no need to contact me. I will assume she is well. If she does not return by the morning, send word to me.”

  Malvina moved into the foyer with the sergeant and her son, leaving the Inspector behind with Caroline.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you Miss Derry. I also didn’t mean to besmirch your sister’s character, after all I know nothing about her,” he told her.

  Caroline took in the sight of his handsome face as she gazed up into his cool blue eyes. His eyes were filled with intelligence as he gazed into hers.

  “She’s young, Inspector. We’ve all been that age. Flighty, a little silly.” She said, trying to mask the
growing unease she felt at her sister not being home at this late hour.

  Val nodded. “I hope not to hear from your father. I hope your sister walks through the door any minute now.”

  Caroline nodded in agreement, and as they joined the others in the foyer, she looked at the door expectantly. Her father shook hands with both men and thanked them for coming. When he turned to Caroline after the door was closed, she could see his face was lined.

  “Father?” She asked.

  Hubert shook his head. “This is my fault. I’m gone too much. I work too much.”

  “No Father,” She said sharply. “You work hard to provide us with all we need. You are a good father. A kind father. Irene is—“

  “She is her own self,” he said quietly. “She listens to no one. She wants to experience life. She’s always been a bit wild. Even as a child.”

  Caroline remembered the words Prudence had said about Irene.

  “She’s out there perfectly fine. She’s forgotten the time. She never cared about conventions,” Caroline noted.

  Hubert adjusted the sash about his dressing gown. “I think I’ll stay down here,” he told her. “When she comes home, we’ll have a serious talk.”

  Caroline agreed. “I think that’s best. She needs to understand the chaos her freedom causes those around her.”

  He kissed her forehead. “Good night Caro.”

  “Good night Father.”

  ✽✽✽

  The night seemed to seep into every nook and cranny. He liked it that way. There were so many places to hide. So much could be done in the dark that could never be done in the light of day. He pulled on the reins and slowed the horse and buggy to a halt. The air was cold and his breath fogged as he breathed out.

  He felt a high that was almost orgasmic. It made him squeeze his eyes shut and almost gasp at the pleasure that consumed him. He felt like a god. He had the power of life. But even more importantly, he had the power of death.