The Christmas Card

by Dilly Court

  ‘What’s the matter with you, Alice?’ Beth’s angry voice made her turn with a start. Her mother stood in the doorway, her pale cheeks flushed and her blue eyes flashing. ‘What were you thinking of, sending him away like that? Are you mad? Can’t you see that the man is head over heels in love with you?’

  Carrie repeated the same sentiment that evening when she and Alice were alone in the kitchen, washing up the supper dishes. Alice had been careful not to mention Rory’s name when she was explaining her absence to Rose and Carrie over supper, but somehow it kept cropping up in conversation.

  ‘You can’t keep ignoring him, Alice,’ Carrie said, handing her a wet plate. ‘He came here looking for you a couple of days ago, and he was clearly distraught because you’d disappeared without a word. George knew where you were, of course, but I’d sworn him to secrecy. He tried to calm Rory’s fears but he was failing miserably.’

  Alice almost dropped the china plate. ‘Did you tell Rory where I was? Is that how he found Hazelwood House?’

  ‘I couldn’t lie to him, Alice. He’d been trying to find Smithson and he would have discovered your whereabouts sooner or later.’

  ‘You’re right, of course, and Jessie would have gone straight to her cousin Molly and the whole miserable business would have started up again.’ Alice put the plate on the table and picked up another.

  Carrie flicked greasy water at her. ‘Now you’re beginning to see sense.’

  ‘I’ll get you for that, Carrie Young.’ Alice dipped her hand in the rapidly cooling water, but she allowed it to trickle through her fingers. ‘You’ve just told me what I need to do next.’

  ‘I have?’ Carrie said nervously. ‘You’re not going to tip the bowlful over my head, are you? It was only a joke.’

  Alice smiled and shook her head. ‘You’re safe for now but I’ll get you next time. It was what you said about Smithson going straight to Molly that’s given me an idea as to how to put an end to all this nonsense once and for all.’

  ‘No!’ Carrie said, shaking her head. ‘You wouldn’t.’

  ‘Oh yes I would. I’m going to see Molly Bishop. It’s time someone did some straight talking.’

  ‘Alice, no. It’s too dangerous.’

  ‘Don’t tell anyone, least of all George. I’m going to find Jessie in the morning while she’s still reasonably sober, and she’ll take me to Molly. This has to stop.’

  The taproom in the Museum Tavern was relatively quiet, but as Alice had suspected, Jessie Smithson was seated in the corner with two of the women Alice had seen on her previous visit. One of them spotted her and nudged Jessie.

  ‘Look who’s come to see you. It’s the hoity-toity bitch who come with the good-looking toff.’

  Jessie rose somewhat unsteadily to her feet and came to meet Alice with a questioning look. ‘What are you doing here?’ she hissed. ‘I thought I’d seen the last of you.’

  ‘I want to see Molly. Where can I find her?’

  ‘You what?’

  ‘I need to talk to her, Jessie. This vendetta can’t continue.’

  ‘Dunno what that is, but take my advice and steer clear of Molly Bishop. She’s a wrong ’un, even if I says so meself; she being me cousin and all that.’

  ‘Is she still living in Blossom Street?’

  ‘You’re nuts. She’ll have your guts for garters.’

  ‘It’s a risk I’m prepared to take.’

  ‘All right, be it on your own head then, but don’t blame me if you come off worst.’

  ‘Never mind that now,’ Alice said impatiently. ‘I know that being related to both Molly and Flora makes this difficult for you, but I want to make things right.’

  Jessie glanced nervously over her shoulder. ‘White Lion Street,’ she said in a low voice. ‘The house with the blue shutters and lion’s head doorknocker. Molly bought the place with the ransom money, but unless I’m very much mistaken the cash will have run out by now and she’ll be after more, so you’d better watch your step or you’ll be the next one locked up in the cellar.’

  Alice put her hand in her pocket and took out a florin, which she pressed into Jessie’s hand. ‘Buy yourself a decent meal. I can’t say it’s been a pleasure knowing you, but I hope we can put all that in the past.’

  ‘I’m not doing Moll’s dirty work any longer. Me and Nat have made it up, and I got plenty of work laying out the dead. They don’t give me no trouble and they don’t talk back.’

  Alice was still chuckling as she left the pub and hailed a cab. ‘White Lion Street, please, cabby. The house with the blue shutters and the lion’s head doorknocker.’

  Eric the Axe opened the front door and his jaw dropped. ‘You!’ He leaned past Alice to look up and down the street. ‘You never come here on your own, did you?’

  ‘I need to see Molly,’ Alice said, hoping that Eric had not heard the slight tremor in her voice. She was quaking inwardly but she looked him in the eye with a determined lift of her chin. ‘Is she at home?’

  ‘Who is it? Shut the bloody door – there’s a draught.’

  The sound of Molly’s voice was invitation enough and Alice slipped past Eric, who was still peering out into the street. She entered the front parlour without knocking and found Molly sitting by the fire with her bare feet in a mustard bath. Her nose was red and her eyes were bloodshot and streaming.

  ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ she demanded thickly.

  Seeing the leader of the infamous Bishop gang brought down by the common cold made Alice want to laugh, but she managed to keep a straight face. ‘You’re unwell,’ she said, making an effort to sound sympathetic. ‘I’m sorry to intrude, but I had to speak to you.’

  Eric barged into the room, red-faced and angry. ‘She pushed past me, the little bitch. Shall I throw her out, or shall I give her a good pasting and then throw her out?’

  ‘Go away, Eric,’ Molly said, wiping her nose on a crumpled and none too clean hanky.

  ‘Yes’m.’ He backed out of the door, glaring at Alice as if he had been cheated out of a pleasurable pursuit.

  Without waiting to be asked, Alice took a seat in a chair opposite Molly. ‘Have you tried blackcurrant tea? Cook used to make it for me when I had a cold.’

  ‘Blackcurrant tea? Are you mad? What are you doing here?’

  ‘It’s very soothing,’ Alice said firmly. ‘Honey will help if your throat is sore, especially if mixed with lemon juice and hot water.’

  ‘Maybe I’ll just let Eric beat you up and toss you out onto the street.’

  ‘You won’t do that, Molly. We need to talk sensibly for once; woman to woman.’

  ‘Gawd give me strength!’ Molly lifted her feet from the bowl of hot water and mustard seed, and wiped them on a towel. ‘Say what you have to say and get out.’

  ‘All right, I’ll get straight to the point. I want you to stop your vendetta against Flora and her mother.’

  ‘That woman was the cause of my brother’s death. I can’t forgive that, and she kept Edmond’s child from me. That was cruel.’

  ‘Viola is my aunt,’ Alice said slowly. ‘She was just seventeen when she ran away with your brother. My family blamed him for seducing a young girl.’ She held up her hands. ‘I’m not saying that’s what I think because I’ve come to know her and she has a mind of her own. I’m sure she went willingly and that she loved Edmond, as he loved her.’

  ‘She turned him against me.’

  ‘You’re not giving your brother much credit, are you? It seems that he chose not to be involved in your criminal activities. You can’t hold that against him, or Viola for that matter, and he paid for it with his life. Was it you who sent the villain to rob and murder him?’

  ‘No. I never did such a thing. I loved Eddie, but he turned his back on me, and he sold my niece to that stupid rich cow. If he’d come to me with his problems I’d have taken Flora in and brought her up as me own.’

  ‘You would have condemned her to a life in the underworld, but Edmond wan
ted her to be brought up as a lady.’

  ‘Eddie was weak and foolish. He would have faced ruin sooner or later. I’ve seen it happen to gamblers – they never win in the end, and then they resort to drink, or drug themselves on opium or chloral. Viola would have lost her looks and ended up on the streets, selling her body to keep them from starvation, and Flora would have been lost to us all. I want her and I’m going to get her.’

  ‘I thought you were going to sell her to the highest bidder.’

  Molly blew her nose loudly. ‘That’s what I told you, but I never meant a word of it. She’s family and we look after our own.’

  ‘Maybe that’s true, but Flora is an innocent child and Viola has the means to raise her as Edmond wished. She’ll be a well-educated young woman, free to choose her own path in life. Do you really want to drag her down to your level?’

  ‘Her ma abandoned her,’ Molly said sulkily. ‘I wouldn’t have done that.’

  Alice met her angry gaze with a straight look. ‘I believe you, Molly. I think you have a lot of love to give Flora, but this isn’t the way to go about it.’

  ‘Oh, yes, and what do you suggest I do, Miss Know-all.’

  ‘Make your peace with Viola. She’s a reasonable woman and she wants what’s best for her child. You are Flora’s flesh and blood and she’s all you have left of Edmond. Why would you want to harm her?’

  Molly sneezed and blew her nose. ‘You’ve caught me at a disadvantage. I wouldn’t have heard you out if I’d been meself.’

  ‘I think you are being the real Molly Bishop now,’ Alice insisted. ‘The cruel brutal woman you show the world is not what you are underneath. I believe you when you say you never meant to harm Flora. It was all talk and bluster to make people scared of you.’

  ‘I grew up knowing nothing but life with the gang. Eddie was supposed to take over from Pa, but he wouldn’t have none of it. I had to be tough or I wouldn’t have survived out there.’ Molly lay back in her chair, closing her eyes. ‘I’m very unwell. I want you to go.’

  ‘I’ll leave when you’ve given me your word that you won’t try to take Flora away from her mother.’

  ‘The kid is scared of me. She’ll never forget what I did.’

  ‘Flora has been through a great deal in her short life, but she’s a bright child and she understands more than you think.’

  Molly’s eyes watered and she buried her face in her hanky. ‘It’s too late for me to change.’

  ‘That’s nonsense,’ Alice said stoutly. ‘Flora has a birthday coming up soon. Perhaps a party might be a good time for you to see her again and prove that you mean her no harm. If I can persuade my aunt to agree to such a meeting will you promise to come alone and with Flora’s best interests at heart?’

  ‘You’re a bloody witch.’ Molly sniffed and shrugged. ‘I ain’t promising nothing, but I’ll think about it. Now sling your hook. I ain’t in the mood for social chitchat.’

  As promised, Briggs returned at the end of the week to take Alice back to Hazelwood House. She had said her goodbyes to everyone, Carrie in particular, but her parting with George had been fraught with emotion. He had made broad hints as to his feelings, and Alice had had to make it clear that there could never be anything more than friendship between them. Carrie and Rose sympathised with both of them, but Alice knew that returning to live with the family in Five Foot Lane was out of the question. If she were to set up business in London she would need to find alternative accommodation.

  She brought this up over dinner on the evening of her return to Hazelwood House.

  ‘Yes, I see the problem,’ Viola said thoughtfully. ‘But there’s no reason why you can’t live in Hertford Street. There’s plenty of room.’

  ‘Please say yes,’ Flora added excitedly. ‘I’d like to return to London, although of course I love it here, Mummy,’ she added hastily. ‘But I do miss things like feeding the ducks in the park and ice cream at Gunter’s.’

  ‘I don’t know about that.’ Viola sipped her wine, eyeing Alice over the rim of the glass. ‘I applaud your courage for bearding the lioness in her den, but do you think she meant what she said, or was she having you on?’

  ‘You saw a lioness?’ Flora cried excitedly. ‘Did you go to the zoo, Alice?’

  ‘In a manner of speaking I suppose I did.’ Alice was quick to see the warning look in Viola’s eyes, and she reached for her reticule. ‘I have something for you, Flora,’ she said, changing the subject.

  ‘Is it a present from London?’

  ‘You might call it that.’ Alice brought out the silver filigree butterfly and placed it on the table in front of Flora. ‘I don’t know where you lost it, but I spotted it in a pawnbroker’s shop close to the British Museum.’

  Flora snatched it up and kissed the tiny wings. ‘How wonderful.’ She turned to her mother. ‘Rory gave it to me last Christmas. That nasty woman took it from me and I thought it was gone for ever.’

  ‘How clever of you to spot it, Alice,’ Viola said, smiling. ‘When we return to London we must invite Rory to dine with us. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Flora?’

  ‘More than anything.’ Flora pinned the brooch to her bodice. ‘I’ve never had a birthday party, but I heard some of the girls in school talking about the parties they had before they were sent away. Perhaps we could invite Rory to tea and I could have a cake and ice cream.’

  ‘Why not? Viola said casually. ‘It would be advantageous to know someone with so much experience in the printing business. Don’t you think so, Alice?’

  Alice gulped a mouthful of wine. ‘Yes, I suppose so, although I was thinking of asking Bertie Challoner for advice. He and Carrie are very close, and I’m sure he would be only too pleased to help.’

  ‘They’ll be our fiercest competitors,’ Viola protested. ‘It would be madness to believe anything he said. You’re good friends with Rory, aren’t you? And they’re only dabbling in the greetings card business. I’m sure you could use your charm to elicit valuable information, especially about this new mode of printing in colour.’

  ‘Uncle Rory has a soft spot for Alice,’ Flora said knowingly. ‘I heard my other mama say so, and I love him. We had a snowball fight in the square gardens, and we built a snowman, too. It was such fun.’

  ‘Then you shall ask him to your birthday celebration and we will have a party in Hertford Street.’

  Flora clapped her hands, eyes shining. ‘Can Mary come too?’

  Viola refilled her glass with wine and took a sip. ‘Why not? I’ve no idea how to organise a children’s party but I’m sure Alice will help. You could include the Young children too, and perhaps your friend Carrie would like to give a hand, Alice.’

  ‘I’m sure she would,’ Alice said, dazed by her aunt’s overt enthusiasm.

  ‘Then that’s settled. We’ll invite the person to whom we were referring earlier, Alice, and Flora will help you make a list of anyone else she would like to attend.’

  ‘I’m so excited.’ Flora jumped up from her seat. ‘May I go to my room and do it now, my mummy?’

  ‘Of course, dear. Off you go.’ Viola waited until the door closed behind Flora. ‘Well,’ she said, raising her glass. ‘Here’s to freedom, Alice. If Molly finds it in her heart to forgive Eddie and me, then you will be officially a miracle maker.’

  Alice drank the toast. ‘Freedom from fear,’ she said fervently.

  ‘And let’s drink to our new project. I’ve been working hard on plans while you were in London. In the morning we’ll go over them together, and then I intend to return to town and tell Philip to make up the necessary arrangements for a lease on the building I have in mind.’

  ‘Where is it?’ Alice asked curiously.

  ‘I own a property in Wheat Sheaf Yard that will be eminently suitable.’

  ‘I’m not sure where that is.’

  ‘It’s off Farringdon Street, quite close to the Dearborns’ establishment, as it happens. It’s very central and a good place to start up a new busi
ness.’ Viola stared at her over the rim of her glass. ‘What’s the matter, Alice? I thought you would be more enthusiastic?’

  ‘I am very excited, of course, but I’m rather tired. Would you mind very much if we talked this over tomorrow? I’d like to get a good night’s sleep so that I’m fresh in the morning.’

  ‘Of course, darling. I’m afraid I’m like the nightingale – at my best late in the evening and in the small hours. But I’ll endeavour to rise early so that we can get a good start.’ Viola twirled the stem of her glass between her fingers. ‘Before you retire for the night I just want to say that your ideas for Christmas cards are truly lovely. Rory thought so too,’ she added slyly. ‘Perhaps when you’re rested you’d like to tell me what passed between you two in London? I sense a change in you whenever his name is mentioned.’

  ‘There’s nothing to tell. Good night, Viola.’

  ‘I’m glad to hear it because we need his expertise. Without you I don’t think they’ll go ahead with the greetings card plan, for a while at least, so we need to step in as soon as we can. It’s tough in the business world, Alice. That’s something you’ll have to learn very quickly if you’re to compete with the male of the species.’

  Alice went to her room. She was tired and the feather bed looked welcoming, but she knew that she would not sleep. She undressed slowly and stood naked in front of the tall cheval mirror, seeing her whole reflection for the first time. The house in Doughty Street was too small to allow such a luxury, and Aunt Jane had room enough for dozens of such items, but the mirrors in Queen Square had been tiny, no doubt to discourage the sin of vanity. She cupped her breasts in her hands, closing her eyes as desire ran through her veins like a flame, and the memory of that kiss brought a blush to her cheeks. She would surely go to hell for the wicked thoughts that turned her into a wanton. She reached for her nightgown.

  Chapter Twenty-Four