The Swan Maid

by Dilly Court

  ‘This is a poor joke,’ Filby said, breathing deeply. ‘Very bad taste. I’m asking you politely to leave, but if you’re not gone in ten seconds I’m throwing you out. Fine clothes and all.’

  ‘If you touch me I’ll have the law on you,’ Lottie said coldly. ‘I’m not joking, Mr Filby. I’ve come to make you an offer you would be mad to refuse. Now, do you want to hear me out, or not?’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Lottie arrived home to find the house in an uproar. Everyone had crowded into the front parlour, including Ruby with Molly in her arms. In the midst of them a tall, thin man wearing an ill-fitting black suit, tinged with green and frayed at the cuffs, was standing firm.

  ‘If you don’t pay up now I’ll send the bailiffs in.’ He had to raise his voice in order to be heard above the arguments put forward by Grace and Jem. Harold added his support from a chair by the window, emphasising his words by banging his fist on the trestle table. To add to the din, Lad was jumping up and down and barking and Teddy was bellowing insults in language fit only for the barrack room.

  Jezebel advanced on the rent collector, white-faced and breathing heavily. ‘Say the word and I’ll throw this little worm out of the window.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ Lottie demanded.

  Everyone turned to look at her and there was a moment of silence. She was quick to notice that Gideon was missing, but she did not have time to wonder. Jezebel moved aside as Lottie advanced on the rent collector.

  ‘It’s Mr Clench, isn’t it?’ Lottie forced herself to sound calm, although inwardly she was seething. ‘I seem to remember you from when we first came to Leman Street.’

  ‘I am that man, miss.’ He looked her up and down as if totting up the worth of her costly clothing. ‘I’ve come to collect what is owing to the landlord.’

  ‘I told him we can’t pay it off in one go,’ Jem said gloomily. ‘He won’t listen to reason.’

  Clench shot him an angry glance. ‘The landlord has been more than patient, sir.’

  ‘No matter.’ Lottie opened her reticule. ‘There isn’t a problem, Mr Clench. I have the wherewithal to settle the debt.’

  A gasp of surprise was followed by a barrage of questions.

  ‘I ain’t sure you understand how much is due, miss.’ Clench licked his thin lips. ‘An amount I should think it unlikely that a young woman like yourself could lay her hands on with ease.’

  Jem grabbed him by the collar. ‘What are you suggesting, mate?’

  ‘Nothing,’ Clench said hastily. ‘Just that it’s a lot of money.’

  ‘I know exactly how much it is.’ Lottie dropped the coins into his outstretched hand. ‘Good day, sir.’

  ‘Out you go, cully. Don’t come back too soon.’ Jem marched him to the door.

  ‘Where did you get so much money?’ Ruby struggled to hold Molly, who was wriggling and waving in an attempt to attract Lottie’s attention.

  ‘I’ll take her,’ Lottie said, holding out her arms. ‘You look done in, Ruby. Why don’t you go upstairs and have a rest?’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere until you tell me where you’ve been and how you came by all that cash.’

  ‘Yes, dear,’ Grace added. ‘It is a great deal of money to come by.’

  ‘Did you rob a bank?’ Teddy asked, grinning.

  ‘No, I didn’t.’ Lottie glanced at the eager faces. She wanted to wait until Gideon was there to share the news, but it was obvious that nothing would satisfy everyone other than the truth. ‘I went to see Lady Aurelia.’

  Ruby’s expression darkened. ‘So you borrowed the money. That means we have another debt to pay off.’

  ‘Not exactly.’ Lottie placed Molly on the floor and she headed for Lad, crawling at surprising speed. The dog fled and Molly turned her attention to Teddy.

  ‘So what did you do, Lottie?’ Gideon’s voice from the doorway made them all turn to look at him. He took off his hat and strolled into the room. ‘Tell them what you’ve done.’

  ‘I bought an inn,’ Lottie said gleefully. ‘Lady Aurelia put up the money, and I intend to bring The Swan back to prosperity. I hope it will be a joint venture, as I need all of you to help me make it work.’

  Grace took a seat beside Ruby. ‘My heavens. How do you propose to do that?’

  ‘The days of the coaching inn are almost over,’ Gideon said coldly. ‘What made you decide to risk everything on such a wild venture?’

  ‘You don’t seem surprised. It’s almost as if you knew what I was going to say.’

  ‘I thought you were up to something, and I followed you this morning. When you walked into the house in Grosvenor Square I guessed that it was where Lady Aurelia lived. You and she were as close as sisters and I knew it wouldn’t be long before you went to her for help.’

  Lottie was conscious of the hurt in his eyes and the icy tone of his voice made her shiver. She could feel everyone staring at them and her feeling of elation was replaced by anger. ‘How dare you spy on me, Gideon? Why didn’t you ask me what I intended to do? I would have told you.’

  ‘You prefer to rely on that rich woman than to come to me. We aren’t officially engaged so I suppose I haven’t any right to criticise your actions, but I thought we had an understanding.’

  ‘All I understand is that you were injured in the service of your country, and you’re finding it difficult to find employment. That won’t always be the case, but for now I have the means to provide us with a decent living. Jem and I grew up working at The Swan. Who better than us to run it?’

  ‘And I am to be a kept man, I suppose?’

  ‘Don’t speak to her like that,’ Harold said angrily. ‘My daughter is a woman who should command your respect. It’s not for you to lay down the law to her. Lottie has had a hard life, but she forgave me for abandoning her to my worthless brother, and you might still be in India, waiting to be repatriated by an uncaring military, had it not been for Lottie and Lady Aurelia.’

  ‘Yes, you’re being a bit hard, mate,’ Jem said mildly. ‘Lottie’s just saved your ma from being evicted from her home, and she’s offered us a future.’

  ‘Which is more than you have at the moment, Gideon.’ Ruby moved to Lottie’s side. ‘I think you owe her an apology.’

  ‘I do too.’ Grace nodded in agreement. ‘You’re just like your pa when it comes to false pride, my boy. Mr Clench has had it in for us since the day we opened the pie shop. He’ll find a way to shut us down, unless I’m very much mistaken.’

  Gideon’s jaw tightened and his eyes flashed angrily. ‘I can see that I’m outnumbered.’ He turned to Lottie. ‘It’s obvious that you can manage very well without me, and I’m just a hindrance.’ He turned on his heel and left them staring after him.

  Lottie was about to follow, but Grace leaped to her feet and caught her by the arm. ‘Let him go, love. He’ll cool off in time and come to his senses. If you go after him now you’ll only make things worse.’

  Lottie shook her head. ‘I hate to admit it, but he’s right. I should have talked it over with him, but the idea came to me and I knew I had to act on it.’

  ‘You were right to do so,’ Harold said firmly. ‘That fellow Clench would have taken pleasure in sending in the bailiffs. I’ve met his sort before.’

  Teddy ran to the window and peered out. ‘There’s a queue. Shall I let them in?’

  ‘It’s dinner time.’ Jezebel headed for the door. ‘Come on, ladies. It’s business as usual. We’ve got pies to dish up.’

  Grace picked up Molly and followed Jezebel from the room, with Ruby and Teddy close behind, leaving Jem to lift Harold and carry him to a seat behind the counter. ‘Are you all right to take the money today, Harry?’

  Harold grinned and nodded. ‘I never thought I’d end up working in a pie shop, but I’m glad to be useful.’

  ‘I’ll open up.’ Jem hurried into the hall and a wave of sound wafted in as he opened the door to the waiting customers.

  Lottie was about to take Lad downstair
s when her father called her back. ‘What is it, Pa?’

  He leaned his arms on the counter. ‘Don’t be too hard on Gideon, love. It’s difficult for a man to admit that he’s not in control of his life. Gideon was a soldier, and now he’s nothing – in his own eyes at least. I know how that feels.’

  ‘But I don’t see either of you like that. You are still my pa and I love you, and Gideon is the same man he ever was. I don’t understand why he is so upset.’

  ‘Give him back his pride, Lottie. That’s all I can say.’

  ‘What can I do?’

  ‘That I don’t know.’ Harold sat back as a crowd of hungry customers filled the room, taking their seats at the tables and demanding service.

  Gideon remained distant, but Lottie was kept busy with her plans to take over the failing coaching inn. The others were behind her and eager to move from the house in Leman Street. Jezebel declared that she never wanted to see another eel, let alone skin one, and Teddy was tiring of the nightly trek to the foreshore and the early morning visit to the dock to haul in his catch. Lately, with eel supplies dwindling due to the excessive pollution, they had had to purchase extra supplies from Billingsgate Market, and this had eaten into their profits. Lottie had tried to talk to Gideon, but he had simply shrugged and wished her good luck with her venture.

  Disappointed and angry, Lottie confided her worries in Aurelia when they met one afternoon over tea at Gunter’s to discuss her ladyship’s part in the business.

  ‘You might say I’m a sleeping partner,’ Aurelia said airily. ‘Anyway, I think it’s a very clever idea.’

  Lottie toyed with a cream cake. ‘I’ve tried to talk to Gideon, but he’s simply not interested. I’ve given the matter a lot of thought and I want to establish a business as a carrier for the railways. We’ve got ample stabling and room for storage. If I succeed in gaining contracts to deliver goods transported by rail it will provide work for all of us.’

  ‘Does Gideon know what you’re planning?’ Aurelia put her cup down on its saucer, meeting Lottie’s eyes with a stern look. ‘You haven’t told him, have you?’

  ‘No, he’s still very angry with me, and hurt because he thinks I went over his head and didn’t consider his feelings. I don’t know what to do to make things better.’

  Aurelia sighed and reached for a pastry. ‘Farrell is a problem, too. The physicians have little hope of him regaining full vision, although he has some sight now. He also frets because he doesn’t want to be dependent upon me, which is patently ridiculous when we will never need to worry about money. It’s not my fault that I inherited a fortune.’

  ‘Poor Farrell. I remember how he was when he brought Gideon to The Swan. He was so charming and good-looking and he didn’t seem to have a care in the world.’

  ‘I want him to be that man again,’ Aurelia said passionately. ‘More than anything in the world I want him to be happy and fulfilled but, like you, I don’t know how to set about it.’

  Lottie stirred her tea, staring into the swirling liquid. ‘The first time I saw Gideon he was unconscious and being cared for by Benson and Jenkins. They’d been laying cables under the Strand for the Electric Telegraph Company, but the ladder had given way and he’d fallen into the trench.’

  ‘If only it had stopped there.’ Aurelia toyed with her pastry, breaking it into flakes. ‘But for the telegraph I would still have my looks and Farrell would have his sight.’

  Lottie dropped her teaspoon with a clatter and it landed on the floor. A waiter rushed up to retrieve it. ‘I’ll fetch you another, miss.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said automatically. ‘Aurelia, what did you say just now?’

  ‘I said that but for the telegraph Farrell would still be able to see.’

  ‘A blind man could send Morse code.’

  ‘Are you suggesting that my intended should become a telegraph operator?’

  ‘Not exactly, but both Farrell and Gideon know all there is to know about the telegraph system, from laying cables to sending messages. Soon the whole world will be connected by the electric telegraph. With your backing, Farrell could buy into the company, and Gideon could be at his side to offer help and advice. They would be doing what they were trained to do.’

  ‘Go into business?’ Aurelia frowned. ‘I’m not sure about that. Farrell is a gentleman.’

  ‘The world is changing and we have to keep up with the times. You said yourself that he’s frustrated by his condition and doesn’t know what to do with himself. This could be the answer for both of them.’

  ‘It’s certainly worth considering. As you say, they’ve had experience of setting up the telegraph system in the Crimea. Perhaps they could continue their involvement as civilians.’

  ‘Yes,’ Lottie said eagerly. ‘I know that money means little to you, Aurelia, but for us ordinary mortals it’s the means to keep us from the workhouse.’

  Aurelia shuddered visibly. ‘All right, you’ve made your point. I’ll contact my man of business. He manages my investments, and I’ve the highest regard for his abilities.’

  ‘But Gideon must never find out that I suggested it. He would never forgive me.’

  ‘The same applies to Farrell. And they say we women have delicate sensibilities. For myself I think we are more hard-headed and less romantic than men. We see the world far more clearly than they do, poor dears.’ Aurelia took a bite of the pastry. ‘Delicious.’

  ‘I will be so glad to get away from the smell of eel pie, tasty though it might be.’ Lottie raised her teacup in a toast. ‘Here’s to the future.’

  ‘The future.’ Aurelia drained her teacup. ‘I could do with a tot of brandy, although I am being very abstemious these days. Farrell knows instantly if I’ve been having a quiet tipple. He gets very perturbed if he thinks I am reaching for the bottle. We are already like an old married couple and we are yet to tie the knot. I am quite a reformed character.’

  ‘Do you miss your old life and the balls and assemblies?’

  ‘It’s very odd, but I don’t. I think our time in the Crimea and India has changed me for ever. I am not the rebel I used to be, in fact I am getting quite staid. I really must insist that Farrell makes an honest woman of me, although I think I’ll wait until he’s gainfully employed and feeling more like his old self.’

  ‘We’ll have to be careful that they don’t discover our involvement,’ Lottie said, chuckling. ‘Gideon is so stubborn.’

  ‘Let’s do it now.’ Aurelia summoned the waiter with an imperious wave of her hand. ‘We’ll visit my man Barnard together and put our case to him. His office is not far from Gresham Street and my carriage is outside. We’ll go there right away.’

  Barnard Coker’s office in Cannon Street was situated at the top of a four-storey building. His clerk ushered them in with a deferential bow, and Barnard rose from his desk. ‘This is an unexpected pleasure, Lady Aurelia. Please take a seat.’ He pulled up a chair for Aurelia and another for Lottie.

  ‘Miss Lane and I have come for some business advice, Barnard.’ Aurelia sat down in a swirl of lavender silk skirts and starched white petticoats.

  Lottie was not sure about Mr Coker. His smile was affable, but there was a shrewd, calculating gleam in his dark eyes that reminded Lottie of a bird of prey and made her feel nervous. She perched on the edge of the chair he hurried to provide for her.

  ‘I’ll come straight to the point, Barnard,’ Aurelia said in a no-nonsense tone. ‘I want some information and advice on a business project I have in mind.’

  ‘That’s what I’m here for, dear lady.’ He resumed his seat.

  ‘… So you see,’ Aurelia concluded, having described her intention in detail, ‘we need to act quickly but my name and that of Miss Lane must be kept out of negotiations. I don’t know how you will go about it, but I trust your judgement and your diplomacy to see that Mr Gillingham and Mr Ellis have no notion that we are involved.’

  Barnard was silent for a moment, his beady eyes shifting from Aurelia’s com
posed features to give Lottie a hard stare. ‘This won’t be easy, but I think I can see a way forward. You say that both the gentlemen in question were trained by the Electric Telegraph Company under the aegis of the Royal Engineers.’

  ‘That’s right.’ Aurelia nodded. ‘My late husband’s regiment.’

  ‘Ah, yes. Of course I should have offered my condolences, Lady Aurelia.’

  ‘I am out of mourning, as you can see,’ Aurelia said calmly. ‘I don’t hold with the tradition that widows have to walk round looking like crows for a year, and I detest mauve. I am a modern woman, Barnard. Miss Lane and I have already entered the business world in a small way.’

  Barnard’s brow creased so that his eyebrows met in the middle. ‘This is the first I’ve heard of it, my lady.’

  ‘I am a sleeping partner and Miss Lane is in sole charge of the company, but that is neither here nor there. What do you think of our chances to buy into the Electric and International Telegraph Company? I want Mr Gillingham and Mr Ellis to be approached separately with regard to their proposed involvement.’

  ‘It’s a delicate matter, but I understand perfectly.’ Barnard sat back in his chair, looking from one to the other. ‘Might I say that I think both gentlemen are extremely fortunate to have two such staunch supporters?’

  Lottie chose to ignore his last remark. ‘They must never know that we are behind this, sir.’

  ‘I promise you complete confidentiality, Miss Lane. Leave everything to me.’

  The Filbys were not going to go without putting up a fight, but the threat of the bailiffs and the debtors’ prison finally persuaded them to move out at the end of the month. Lottie and Jem decided to keep the ostlers on for a while. Even though the mail coach trade had virtually ceased there were still enough private carriages to keep the business going until they signed contracts with the railway companies.

  Lottie had tackled Aurelia on the subject of repaying the loan, but Aurelia had insisted that The Swan was Molly’s inheritance. She would support her daughter and pay for her schooling on the condition that her relationship to the child remained a secret. Lottie did not approve, but she was not in a position to argue. She loved the little girl as if she were her own, and Ruby doted on her too. Grace was her surrogate grandmother and Jem and Gideon took the place of loving uncles. Teddy was like a big brother, and although Jezebel pretended to be immune to the baby’s charms, Lottie had seen her making a fuss of Molly whenever she thought no one was looking. Jezebel had a heart, but she hid it well.