“Might I join you, Lady Pennington?” he said amiably.
“By all means,” she said and smiled at him without any of their former animosity.
Perhaps their previous conversation and his honesty had gone some way to vindicating him. He sat down opposite her and smiled back warmly. Imogen looked at ease in a very pretty summer gown with small flowers embroidered all over the cream fabric. It made her look young and carefree, and he could hardly believe it was the same woman who spoke with such intelligence, passion, and clarity in the packed coffee house in Kensington.
“Would you like some coffee?” he said, lifting the pot.
“Yes, how kind,” she said and pushed her cup forward.
“I had not realized that you were acquainted with Lord and Lady Seaton, Lady Pennington.”
“I suppose I am quite well acquainted now. But I must admit, I can only claim acquaintanceship through Lady Redmond.”
“Oh yes, of course.” He smiled and lifted his own cup. She really did look so very beautiful that he thought he was suddenly going to become tongue-tied.
“I have not seen you here before for breakfast, Lord Reddington.”
“No, I am ordinarily a little too lazy to make my way out of the house before eleven.” He laughed.
“And what has changed?”
“The desire to be out of the house, I am afraid.”
“Oh dear,” she said and laughed. “Forgive me, but you wear such a look on your face that I cannot help laughing. I was not mocking you, Sir,” she said but continued to laugh.
“No, take your merriment where you will, Lady Pennington. There would be many who would say that I thoroughly deserve it.”
“No, that is not true,” she said lightly.
“Well, are you a regular visitor for breakfast here?”
“Oh yes,” she said and smiled. “The food is wonderful.” She had leaned forward to whisper. “Really wonderful. But I must admit that it is also a very handy sort of a place to arrange to meet somebody. In terms of finding patrons, I often find that I do a little better with them if I meet them here and they have enjoyed a thoroughly hearty breakfast.”
“That is very clever of you,” he said, enjoying the secretiveness of the conversation.
“Perhaps it is a little too clever of me,” she said and shrugged. “But it is a tactic that I have employed with great effect.”
“And you seem to have managed to secure the attention of Lord Toddington again. I mean, after the ball and what have you.” Heath tailed off feeling a little embarrassed. After all, she would now realize entirely that he had watched her throughout the entire evening of the Duke’s ball. But, of course, she would likely have realized that the moment he had followed her outside.
“Oh yes, and I am greatly relieved. Although I do not think he was particularly put off, rather he just made himself scarce after the Duke arrived. But he has not nursed any grudge towards me over the whole thing. In truth, he acted as if it had never happened, and I could not be more grateful.”
“And your morning meeting has been successful?” he said, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh very,” she said and smiled so brightly that he could almost feel her joy as if it were his own.
“You really do a very good job, Lady Pennington. I know I have not always been particularly supportive; quite the reverse, in fact. But I must admit that I do admire your efforts and your determination.”
“And you do not think it working in vain anymore?”
“No, I do not. If you can help at least one person, surely you have not worked in vain. I apologize for not seeing it before.” He smiled and thought that she looked at him quizzically, almost as if she was trying to work out if he was telling the truth or not.
In the end, he decided that he would not heap too many platitudes on her, lest she think him to be speaking falsely for his own ends.
“Yes, sometimes helping one person is all you can do. I have recently learned of a dreadful case in which I would very much like to help if I can. It is a family on the verge of the workhouse, and we have been approached by a friend of Lady Redmond to see if there is anything that we can do.”
“And what is the case?” he said and felt his interest suddenly excited.
“It is a family in Kennington who have fallen upon hard times. They are still quite young, and they have several little children already. The father works extraordinarily hard, but he was injured when working for a previous employer. It was not a devastating injury as such, but it has stopped him using his right hand to full effect. Since he is a right-handed man, he has found himself clumsy and has been dismissed from two further jobs since his accident.”
“And the first employer has made no recompense for this injury?”
“He dismissed him that very day, claiming that the man was no good to him if he could not work.”
“I fear that is the case everywhere,” he said, wondering if there was anything that could be done.
“But his hand is not injured irreparably. Lady Redmond and I had a physician look at him, and he said that the man simply needed to rest the hand for a few months, and it would return to its full capability.”
“That is good news at least, surely?”
“It is good for his long-term prospects, Lord Reddington. However, since he has been unable to afford his rent these last two months, his landlord is on the verge of turning the family out and making them homeless. They have no other family and nowhere to go, and the poor man’s only means of keeping a roof over his family’s heads is the workhouse. But I have seen inside the Lambeth workhouse where he and his family would go, and they certainly would not give him food and shelter for nothing in return whilst his hand healed. In truth, he would be set to work breaking stones or something similar, and his hand would never be the same again. If they walk through those doors, they will never walk out again.”
“And can the landlord not be spoken to? Can he not be petitioned to act with a little charity?”
“I am going to see him on Wednesday and attempt it. But I have seen inside the two rooms this family shares and can tell you that the conditions are truly appalling. Lord Reddington, you would not keep your hounds in such a place. There is mould on every wall and an infestation of something which eats at the woodwork. The children all cough continuously as if they have some infection or other. And yet their mother does everything in her power to keep the rooms and her children clean. It is truly heartbreaking to see such conditions and to see how hard people strive to keep their dignity.” She paused for a moment, and Heath was sure that he had heard her voice tremble. “Forgive me,” she said, and with an embarrassed look, she hurriedly dabbed at her eye.
“Not at all, Lady Pennington. It is an appalling set of circumstances, and it is truly sad. One would have to have a heart made of stone to find themselves unaffected by it.”
“Yes, but I fear that so many do have hearts made of stone. And I cannot help thinking that this landlord will be no different.”
“But he has agreed to meet you,” he said and looked at her reassuringly.
“No, he has not agreed. He does not know that Lady Redmond and I will be there. It is simply that he goes to demand his money on a Wednesday, and I intend to be there when he does.”
“I must admit, I have every faith that you will be able to do something that will affect the situation in a positive way,” he said and smiled.
At that moment, Lady Redmond began to make her approach.
“Ah, here comes Adeline. We are to meet with Lady Rossington in Southwark this morning, and I fear we are about to be late.” She smiled at him before looking away to Lady Redmond.
“Good morning, Lord Reddington. I trust you are well?” Heath knew that Adeline Redmond liked him; he could just tell.
And in truth, he liked her also. There was something vaguely bossy and comical about the woman, and he could not help thinking that she often had to hide an uproarious sense of humour. A sense of hum
our he would not mind hearing at some point.
“I am certainly very well now that I have eaten. But I believe I am keeping you from important business with Lady Rossington.”
“Yes, we do seem to spend a good deal of our time in Southwark these days.”
“Then I shall detain you no longer.” He rose from his seat as Imogen rose and then bowed politely at both women. “I wish you every success in your endeavours on Wednesday.”
As the two women walked away, Heath wished that he had found the courage to offer his assistance. If only he had been able to find the words and not worry so much that she would think it nothing more than a pose to win her approval.
As he sat back down and poured himself another coffee, he smiled to himself. At that moment, he fully determined to find out the address in Kennington and to make his way there and be ready to help regardless.
Chapter 25
Heath had already discovered the tiny house, two rooms of which were rented by Mr. and Mrs. Geddings and their four children. Prudence had definitely pulled out all the stops to get him the information he needed, although he had found it necessary to be absolutely honest with her before she would agree to do so.
“Why do you need to know anything about this family? Why do you need to know where they live?” The moment Prudence had asked the question, Heath had known very well that it was a means of getting him to reveal yet more of his feelings for Imogen.
“I should like to know so that I may assist if they need me to.”
“Assist?” Prudence said, and he could see the corners of her mouth turning up a little. He was about to be teased, and he knew it.
If he was honest, he relished the teasing. Everything about the London Season had seemed to him to herald a return to the relationship he and his sister had once enjoyed, however long ago that had been.
“What is it that you want to know, Prudence?” he said and laughed.
“I am not the questioner, Brother,” she said with a smile.
“No, it would seem that you have taken on the role of chief teaser when you know perfectly well that that is my role.”
“If you wanted to help, why did you not offer your assistance to Lady Pennington at the Seatons’ breakfast? Surely that would have made a lot more sense.”
“Prudence, are you going to help me or not?”
“Unless, of course, your courage failed you at the last minute,” Prudence continued to muse, ignoring his question entirely.
“Yes, alright, my courage failed me at the last minute. But if Lady Redmond had not approached at so inopportune a moment, I might well have gone on to offer my assistance. But I should not like Lady Pennington to think that I would assist only as a means of pleasing her, of gaining her approval.”
“I think that is a risk that you must take, Heath. If you take a risk, there is a chance that it might not work, and you might lose. If you do not take a risk, nothing will happen, and you will have lost for certain.”
“Yes, but you see I cannot take the risk without the information, my dear sister. We are back at the beginning.” He grinned at her.
“I can think of one way and one way only of finding out.”
“And that is?”
“Mrs Forsdyke is looking for volunteers for the soup kitchen in Southwark tomorrow. I know that Lady Imogen has already agreed to it. If you allow me to agree to it also, then I can find the information which you seek.”
“Oh, Prudence. Really, I have seen that soup kitchen. I have seen the dreadful streets in Southwark and do not think that I ought to allow you to go. I know how much you want to help, really I do, but I cannot risk your safety.”
“My safety? For heaven’s sake, Heath,” Prudence said and sounded entirely exasperated. “I shall be with the other ladies, and you could have one of the drivers deliver me to the door and collect me at the end of it. I think the risk is tiny, brother, but as I said before, if one does not take the risk, nothing changes. That applies to my life as well as to yours.”
“Oh, Prudence,” he said and heartily wished that she would change her mind if he looked worried enough.
“But of course, if you do not wish to assist Lady Imogen and Lady Adeline in Kennington with the wayward landlord, then you must do as you think is right.”
“In your own little way, you are actually bribing me, are you not?”
“Absolutely,” Prudence said nodded enthusiastically.
“Alright, you win.”
“Oh, Heath, thank you,” she said, and he realised quite what it meant to her.
“You may go on your little mission, my dear. But please do not forget my own little mission.”
“Do not worry, Brother. I shall not let you down.”
“Why would you let your brother down?” Their mother appeared so suddenly that he could not help wondering if she had been listening outside the door of the drawing-room.
She marched into the room with an expression which led him to believe that she must have heard every word of their exchange. Veronica Montgomery was wearing a dress of deepest mahogany, and the colour did not suit her at all. It seemed to drag the very flush from her cheeks and made her look pale, sallow, and in very poor humour.
“There is nothing in which Prudence would let me down, Mother,” Heath said and felt somewhat annoyed at the idea that his mother had eavesdropped.
“And you Prudence? Are you to stay tightlipped?” Veronica looked at her daughter so fiercely that Heath winced and wondered if she did have any true feelings at all for Prudence.
“Tightlipped?” Prudence said clearly playing for time.
“I shall not have Prudence serving the dregs of society in a disgusting soup kitchen,” Veronica hissed.
With her head held curiously high given that there was only family present, Veronica walked boldly into the room and made herself comfortable on the couch next to Prudence. For her part, Prudence immediately rose to her feet.
“The dregs of society, Mother?” Prudence said coldly. “What a dreadful thing to say.”
“It seems to me that you have both had your heads turned by the dreadful Lady Pennington. Really, I cannot see the appeal she seems to hold for the more gullible of our class.”
“Do you include the Duke of Dalton in that, Mother?”
“The poor man seems quite infatuated. Really, his married life is going to be a dreadful bore to him. Still, that shall be his problem to worry over and not mine,” Veronica spoke with confidence, and Heath found himself irritated by the obvious goading.
“I think I can say with certainty, Mother, that the Duke of Dalton will not have to worry about a boring life spent married to Lady Pennington. I think it is true to say that she has already decided to avoid an even worse fate herself.”
“Do not be foolish, Heath. The man is a Duke, and she is nothing more than the only child of an eccentric excuse for a Lord. I have no doubt that she will not inherit, and instead, the nearest male heir shall be found. She is that manner of sad and pathetic aristocrat who will need to marry well in order to stave off penury when her father dies.”
“Even if what you say is correct, Mother, I think it is true to say that Lady Pennington does not think as you do. She has greater concerns in this world.”
“She does not have greater concerns, Heath. She has silly little ideas which she has turned into high-minded ideals. Your efforts would be better spent trying to regain the affections of Miss Ravenswood.”
“Regain them?” Heath said and laughed. “Mother, Miss Ravenswood does not have affections. Not for me or anybody else on this earth. She has aspirations, and that is all.”
“You were dreadfully rude when she and her father came here for tea the other afternoon. I should not blame her for turning away from you altogether,” Veronica said haughtily.
“And I should not blame her either, Mother,” Heath said humorously. “In fact, I should thank her wholeheartedly.” Prudence tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh, and Lady Veronica turned
to look at her sharply. “And in any case, Mother, I could be unforgivably rude to Miss Ravenswood and her father, and yet still they would turn up at the church the following day if I made a proposal. It is impossible to be successfully rude to people who are as ambitious as Lord Ravenswood and his preening peacock of a daughter. You see, they will suffer any slight and bury any indignity in order to get what they want in the world. That is not the sort of woman that I should care to marry.”
“Heath, she is beautiful and extraordinarily wealthy. And as far as I can see, up until a few short weeks ago, that was exactly the sort of woman that you would have cared to marry.” The colour was coming back to Veronica’s cheeks, but it was in no way attractive. Two violent spots of red had appeared making her anger most plain. “I wish I knew exactly what it was that had changed you into this.”
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