Her brother, in a celebratory mood, left for his club soon after their meal, declaring he was devoting his entire day to “larking about” and for her not to expect him before dinnertime.
She had the flowers put in a vase and brought it into the sitting room where she could enjoy the scent of the roses while she supervised a footman in taking the window measurements she needed so that she could order the new drapes. When a moving dray arrived to take some items to the house on Red Lion Square, she oversaw the loading of the furniture and rugs onto the bed of the dray, and then she sent the footmen along to help with the unloading.
It was nearly half past one before she had time to eat. Just as she finished a plate of cold beef and roasted vegetables, Mrs. Bridwell hurried into the dining room, accompanied by the downstairs maid, Jenny. Charlotte took in the young maid’s ashen face and red-rimmed eyes and knew something was terribly wrong.
“I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” Mrs. Bridwell began without preamble. “But Jenny just came back from running an errand for me. I’d sent Rose along as well. According to Jenny, they’d only gone a few blocks when they were accosted by a seedy-looking fellow. But here, I’ll let Jenny tell you.” She drew the girl forward, and placed a comforting arm around the girl’s thin shoulders.
Jenny blinked and swallowed. “Well, there was a man. He took us by surprise, coming up behind us and grabbing us each by the arm before he pulled us around to face him. Near scared me to death, and Rose, too, I think. He told us not to make a scene if we knew what was good for us. I was too frightened to say anything, but Rose said, ‘What do you want?’ And then he replied that the price had gone up. I didn’t know what he meant by that, but Rose’s face went white as a ghost and she said ‘But she promised.’ Then he shrugged all careless-like and said, ‘She changed her mind, she has.’”
“Who is this she?” Charlotte cut in.
“I don’t know, and that’s for sure. Neither of them mentioned a name, just called her ‘she’ when they talked about her.”
“And you have no idea who this man was?” Charlotte asked. Jenny indicated she didn’t with a jerky shake of her head. “Go on then,” Charlotte prompted. “What happened next?”
“Rose told him she couldn’t give him any more money until she received her first wages. Then he said her sister could pay the debt right enough. And then Rose started crying and begged him to leave her sister be. He said she could take it up with her.”
“Did he mean she could take it up with her sister or this mysterious woman?” Charlotte asked. “Because Rose told me her sister worked at a posting inn in the Midlands where Rose comes from.”
“The woman, I think,” Jenny said. “Rose said she’d talk to her, and then the man said, ‘Well, c’mon. Mebbe she’ll let you work it off instead.’”
Charlotte didn’t like the sound of that. Somehow she didn’t think they meant Rose could work it off by cleaning rooms or laying fires.
“What did Rose do then?” Charlotte asked.
“She said she couldn’t go with him. That she’d lose her job if she did, but he just laughed and said ‘So what? We can give you another job. Mebbe one you’ll like better, eh?’ Then he laughed again. Rose didn’t say anything when he said that, just looked scared and hopeless. She turned to me and made me promise not to say anything to anyone. To go ahead and finish running the errand by myself and that with any luck she’d be back by the time I was done. And then she and that man walked away. Once they were out of sight, I came straight back here and told Mrs. Bridwell what had happened.” Jenny glanced uncertainly at the housekeeper. “I hope I did right breaking that promise.”
“You did the right thing, Jenny,” Mrs. Bridwell assured her, putting an arm around the girl’s shoulders. “There are times when it’s more important to break a promise than to keep it.”
“And they didn’t say anything that would indicate where they went?” Charlotte asked.
Jenny shook her head. “No, miss.”
She hesitated, and Mrs. Bridwell said, “Tell her what you found.”
Jenny reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Charlotte.
THE GOLDEN PINEAPPLE, CORNER OF BEDFORD AND MAIDEN LANE was written on it in an unlettered hand. Charlotte frowned and flipped the paper over, but there was nothing more. “Where did you get this, Jenny?”
A guilty look flashed across the girl’s face. “I found it in our room the other day.”
“She was snooping through Rose’s belongings,” Mrs. Bridwell said, “which I’ve made clear I don’t approve of, although I’m willing to forgive it this time, since it might hold a clue about where Rose has gone.”
“Do you know where this is, or what it is?” Charlotte asked. She didn’t recognize the street names.
“It’s near Covent Garden,” Mrs. Bridwell said. “I know something of the area because my brother has a small shop a few blocks from the theater. I’d guess The Golden Pineapple is either the name of a tavern or an inn.”
“Hmmm.” Charlotte studied the note. “It appears Rose owes someone money, which really doesn’t make sense to me, since she only recently arrived in London, and she was under Lady Serena’s care before I hired her. I don’t see when she could have incurred this debt, but I suppose that’s a question for a later time. Right now the one thing that’s clear is Rose has landed in a spot of trouble. It seems to me the only thing to do is to go to The Golden Pineapple to see if that’s where Rose is, and then perhaps we can get to the bottom of this. The sooner, the better.”
“I think so, too,” Mrs. Bridwell agreed. “But we’ll have to wait for the footmen to return. They’re all out at present. The two you sent off to help with unloading the rugs and furniture haven’t come back yet. And it’s Hopkins’s afternoon off. He’s visiting his brother. So there’s no one we can send after Rose. It might be best to wait for your brother to return from his club, in addition to a footman or two. That man Rose went off with sounds like bad news.”
Mrs. Bridwell’s suggestion made a good deal of sense, except that every minute they waited to go after Rose might (1) decrease any hope they had of rescuing her (and possibly her sister, if the sister were actually somewhere in London, as Charlotte was coming to suspect), and (2) even if they found Rose, by the time they did, she might already have been forced to “work off the debt,” which Charlotte was fairly sure meant being forced to work as a prostitute. She could only imagine how frightened and desperate Rose must be feeling right now.
Charlotte shook her head. “We’ve lost enough time. Call for the carriage. I’ll take care of this myself.”
Mrs. Bridwell looked scandalized. “Good gracious, miss. You can’t go running off on your own like that. And anyway, your brother took the carriage this morning when he left for his club.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Charlotte muttered, aggravated by this setback. “Well, I suppose it’s time to try something new.” At the housekeeper’s puzzled look, she added, “A hackney, Mrs. Bridwell. I’ll have to take a hackney cab. Since I’ve never ridden in one before, it will be a first for me.”
“But ladies don’t ride in hackneys,” Mrs. Bridwell said, making such a thing sound as improbable as if Charlotte had announced she intended to fly to The Golden Pineapple.
“They do in extenuating circumstances. Jenny, wait in the hall while I gather my things, and then we’ll be off.” Fresh tears welled in Jenny’s eyes, but she nodded.
“Shouldn’t you take Sally instead? Jenny’s a wee slip of a girl. At least Sally has some size to her, in case…” Mrs. Bridwell left the rest of the thought unspoken, but Charlotte knew what she meant. So did Jenny, whose eyes grew round and saucerlike in her thin, tear-streaked face.
“Sally started her courses this morning, and was feeling so miserable I insisted she lie down with a warming brick against her back,” Charlotte said, dismissing the idea. “Besides, Jenny knows what this man looks like, and that could prove exceedingly useful
.”
She spent the next few minutes getting ready. She went to Phillip’s study, unlocked the desk drawer in which he kept a stash of ready cash, and extracted some banknotes. She didn’t stop to count them; the amount would be more than Rose could possibly pay, even if she were to hand over her entire year’s salary. It ought to be more than enough to satisfy whoever was threatening the girl, and Charlotte doubted they’d try to extort more in the future, now that they were dealing with the sister of a peer of the realm, and not just a frightened maid.
She collected her bonnet, gloves, and reticule, then she and Jenny departed. There were no hackney cabs to be seen on the street, but that wasn’t uncommon, since the residents of the neighborhood owned carriages of their own.
“Come along,” Charlotte said, heading up Berners Street, toward Oxford Street, a main thoroughfare with shops and, hopefully, some cabs for hire.
As they walked, Jenny continued to emit the occasional sniffle despite Charlotte’s assurances everything would be all right. She only hoped they could secure a hackney before Jenny began crying in earnest.
Reaching their destination, Charlotte saw that, indeed, there were a few hackneys driving by. She raised an arm as she’d seen people do when hailing a ride. Despite Charlotte waving her arm in the air like a demented person, none stopped because every cab, it seemed, was already carrying passengers. After ten minutes of vigorous arm waving, she felt both idiotic and discouraged. Would an empty coach never come along? She let out a frustrated exhale.
“Perhaps we should go back and wait for your carriage,” Jenny suggested timidly. She still had tears leaking from her eyes. Charlotte reached into her reticule and drew out a handkerchief, which she handed to the girl.
“We can’t be discouraged,” she said, with false brightness. She didn’t add that securing a hackney was likely to be the easiest part of their mission, and so far they’d failed in that. Her own mood was rapidly heading toward tears as well, albeit tears of frustration.
They walked farther along Oxford Street in the hope of finding an empty cab for hire. As they passed a tobacconist’s shop, Charlotte heard her name being called. She looked around to see who had hailed her.
“Miss Hurst,” the male voice called again from behind them. She turned and saw, with no small relief, that Mr. Townshend was hurrying toward them.
“I thought that was you trying to hail a coach,” he said as he drew up to them. He tipped his hat politely, then added, “But I can’t for the life of me figure out why you’re doing so. Surely your brother, and Norwood, for that matter, don’t approve of your using hackneys to travel around town.” He frowned as he took in Jenny’s tearful expression. “What’s the matter? And whatever it is, let me help you.”
“If you wouldn’t mind securing a hackney for us, I’d appreciate it. Time is of the essence.”
“Of course. Naturally I’ll help you in any way I can, but you must tell me what this is about.” He stepped to the edge of the roadway and waved his arm while letting out a shrill whistle. “And it goes without saying, I’ll accompany you wherever it is you’re going.”
“We need to get to a place called The Golden Pineapple. It’s in the area near Covent Garden. I have reason to believe one of our maids has gone there.”
Mr. Townshend shot her a quick, questioning glance when she mentioned the need to visit the area around Covent Garden, but he didn’t offer any protest.
One hackney passed them by, but another slowed down, and when it came to a stop, he assisted Charlotte into it and turned to help Jenny, but the poor girl began shaking violently and crying harder. He glanced at Charlotte with a bemused expression.
“Jenny, it’s fine. Just climb into the coach,” Charlotte said. “We’ll rescue Rose and everything will be fine.”
Mr. Townshend frowned and his gaze sharpened at the word rescue, but again he didn’t waste her time by demanding explanations.
“No,” the girl said. “No, I’m scared.”
“I’m sure there’s nothing to be scared of. I won’t let any harm come to you,” Mr. Townshend said in a soothing voice. “Now come along like a good girl, so we can go.”
“No, no, no,” Jenny moaned. She pulled away when he reached for her arm to try to urge her into the carriage.
A crowd was gathering and someone shouted out, “Hey, wot’s going on there, guvnor?”
“Oh, very well, Jenny,” Charlotte said with some exasperation. This spectacle needed to end now before someone called a constable. “Can you make your way back home all right?”
Jenny nodded.
“Then go and tell Mrs. Bridwell that I’m not alone. That we ran into a gentleman acquaintance of mine and he’ll see to my safety. Can you tell her that for me?”
“Y-y-yes,” Jenny stammered, wiping her eyes with the cuff of her sleeve before loudly blowing her nose into the handkerchief Charlotte had lent her.
“Good,” Charlotte said. “Come along, Mr. Townshend. We must go.”
“Tell me again the name of the place where we’re going,” he said, “and I’ll inform the driver of our destination.”
She handed him the slip of paper Jenny had given her. He relayed the information to the driver, then he climbed in the hackney and thumped on its ceiling as a signal for the driver to go.
Looking out the window, she could see the receding figure of Jenny. The girl had turned back in the direction of Berners Street.
“Now then,” Mr. Townshend said, “suppose you tell me exactly what this is about, why you’re racketing around town without a proper escort, in a hackney coach, yet, trying to rescue someone named Rose, and whether or not Norwood knows what you’re up to.”
“To answer your easiest questions first, no, Lord Norwood doesn’t know what I’m doing, but that’s only because there wasn’t time to alert him. Or the means, for that matter, since all of our footmen were off running errands when I left. Phillip’s been gone all day, which is the reason for the hackney. He has the carriage.” She stopped. Mr. Townshend had crossed his arms and was shaking his head as a slight smile played about his mouth. “What?” she asked.
“You’re a redoubtable girl, Miss Hurst. I don’t yet know what you’re doing, but it’s clear you weren’t going to let anything stop you from doing it. However, I don’t think Norwood is going to be pleased when he finds out you intended to visit the area near Covent Garden with only a maid for protection. Not to mention, one who appears to be scared of her own shadow.”
“Jenny did prove to be a disappointment in that regard,” Charlotte said. “But I’ve got you now, so that should make him happy.”
He chuckled dryly. “I wouldn’t be so sure. Norwood is a jealous fellow where you’re concerned, and we’re alone. I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t plant me a facer next time we meet.”
She blinked. It hadn’t occurred to her until that moment that some might look askance at the fact that they were riding alone together. “I do apologize. I didn’t even think…I was so focused on getting to Rose, I didn’t give any thought to the impropriety of going off with you. And now I’ve put you in an awkward position. I should have realized how it would look before I agreed to let you come instead of Jenny…”
He held up a hand to silence her. “There’s no sense in worrying about that now. Indeed, I’m not worried about it. I thought about making the girl come with us, but I fear that would have involved hoisting her in here against her inclination, and with the crowd of onlookers that was gathering, I’m not sure that would have worked out so well either. I imagine the law might have been summoned and, well, things could have gone from bad to worse. The fewer people that noticed us go off together, the better.”
“I shouldn’t have let you come,” she said. “Although, in truth, I’m glad you did.”
“As if you could have prevented me,” he said, in a tone that convinced her she wouldn’t have succeeded in leaving him behind even if she’d tried. “However, I think it would be an excellent idea if you to
ld me exactly what it is we’ve embarked upon and why it’s necessary for you to visit the less-than-respectable environs of the theater district.”
“The new upstairs maid I hired—Rose—is one of the war widows Serena is trying to help, and I don’t know what she’s mixed up in, but it appears she’s being forced to pay money to protect her sister somehow. The details are fuzzy and were supplied by Jenny, who as you saw, is somewhat flighty by nature.”
“Why does it not surprise me that one of Serena’s projects is tangentially involved?” he murmured. “Was it Jenny who supplied you with the address we’re going to?”
“Yes, she found that paper among Rose’s things.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “So we’re likely to encounter some unsavory characters. I don’t have a weapon on me, but I am quite handy with my fives.” His smile held a hint of self-mockery. “And since I didn’t have a gentleman’s upbringing, I know how to fight dirty when the occasion calls for it. In other words, I’ll do everything necessary to ensure your safety.”
“Good heavens, I didn’t think it was a question of ensuring my safety,” she said.
She hadn’t been worried up to this point, but now she wondered whether she ought to be. The extent of her thought process had been that whoever Rose was mixed up with would gladly accept a generous sum of money, and that would be the end of it. She hadn’t considered that she might be putting herself in any sort of real jeopardy. True, these people had no hesitation about threatening a young maid, but she doubted they’d dare threaten the sister of a baron, especially one who was also the fiancée of an earl.
“I just intend to settle whatever debt my maid owes,” she continued. “And to accomplish that I brought these. It should be more than enough, don’t you think?” She reached into her reticule and held up a handful of banknotes.
His eyes widened in an expression of surprise and amused chagrin. “Whatever you do, don’t pull all those out like that. People in that neighborhood would kill over a stash like that. At least, some would, and we don’t know who we’re dealing with yet. Although, if I were to hazard a guess, they’ll turn out to be petty criminals, or they might not even be criminals at all in the strictest sense, merely individuals of low character trying to capitalize on your maid’s vulnerability. But either way, criminals or not, I suspect we’ll be able to settle the matter for the price of a few pounds.”
Not the Kind of Earl You Marry Page 24
