Turning about abruptly she began to retrace her steps, her bag suddenly feeling like it weighed a ton. She wasn’t even aware that she was almost running and crying until a gentle hand on her arm startled her and she spun about to find herself face to face with a strikingly pretty Chinese girl who looked to be about her age with coal-black hair that hung down her back like a shimmering cape, and deep, dark eyes to match. She was very poorly dressed but she seemed to be kind.
‘Missy is OK … yes?’ The girl seemed so genuinely concerned that Flora began to cry even harder and leaning against the nearest wall she let her chin droop to her chest.
‘Ah, missy is lost, yes? Do not worry, I will help you. My name is Jia Li.’
‘Th-that’s pretty,’ Flora hiccupped.
The girl gave a smile that seemed to light up the street and placing her hands together she gave a little bow from the waist. ‘Thank you, it means good and beautiful in my country. But now, how may I help you? It is not good to wander about alone around here, there are some bad people.’
‘I am lost,’ Flora confessed, wiping her tears and her nose on the sleeve of her dress in a most unladylike fashion. She gave Jia Li Alex’s address then and gently taking her arm the girl began to lead her through a twisting labyrinth of stinking back alleys, where old women sitting on doorsteps outside rows of old terraced houses eyed them cautiously, while children played in the gutters amidst the muck and the filth.
‘I think there is more upsetting you than you saying,’ Jia Li told her solemnly when they at last emerged onto a city street. ‘I sense something is very wrong but should you ever need help come to Yung’s Laundry back there.’ She pointed a thumb over her shoulder, pointing in the direction they had just come. ‘You will find me there if you need friend, missy.’
‘Thank you.’
The girl turned and hurried back into the alley and Flora found herself thinking that, even in her worn, shabby clothes, Jia Li resembled a rose on a dung heap. Then with a little jolt she realised that time was moving on and after taking a moment to get her bearings she set off for Alex’s home. It wouldn’t do to be late. If Toby were to arrive before her there was no telling what he might say and then the game would be up good and proper.
The moment she set foot through the front door she heard Toby’s hateful voice talking to Margaret in the drawing room and her heart sank.
‘Oh, miss.’ Patsy hurried to meet her with a frown on her plump face. ‘We’ve been real worried. There’s a guest in there to see you. Miss Margaret is entertaining him at the moment.’
Flora nodded as she handed Patsy her hat and coat, then smoothing down her skirt she stuck her chin in the air and marched into the drawing room to find Toby and Margaret taking afternoon tea together.
‘Ah, here you are.’
He rose to greet her with an oily smile but she ignored his outstretched hand and asked Patsy, ‘Fetch another cup in, would you, please?’
‘O’ course, miss.’ Patsy bobbed her knee and hurried away as Flora sank onto a chair and Margaret scowled at her. She’d quite enjoyed having Toby all to herself. Trust Flora to come back and spoil everything.
‘Been for a nice walk, have you?’ Toby asked genially, for all the world as if he had called in purely by chance. He had turned his back on Margaret now and Flora could see the angry colour seeping up the young woman’s neck, making her look even more unattractive, if that were possible.
‘Yes.’ Flora supposed that she should at least pretend to be civil to him in front of Margaret. She didn’t want her to suspect anything.
‘Right … well, nice as it’s been talking to you I have things to attend to,’ Margaret said huffily as she rose from her seat.
‘Please don’t let me stop you, Miss Ward.’ Toby inclined his head towards her and angry that he hadn’t tried to stop her leaving, Margaret stamped from the room slamming the door so loudly behind her that it danced on its hinges.
Flora meanwhile was rifling through her bag for the money, determined not to spend a second longer than she had to in his company.
‘Here! I believe this is what you’ve come for!’ She thrust the money towards him and he snatched it greedily as he gave her a slow, lazy smile and rose from his seat.
‘Thank you, that will do very nicely … for now,’ he ended threateningly and then he strode away as Flora sat staring after him with dull eyes. She was painfully aware that this could well be only the beginning of Toby’s blackmail, and it wouldn’t be long before he came back for more – again and again!
Her thoughts were interrupted when Patsy burst back into the room with another cup and saucer and informed her, ‘The master is throwin’ another dinner party tonight, miss. I forgot to mention it but I’ve laid your clothes out for you. Would you like to come upstairs and start to get ready when you’ve had your tea?’
Flora stifled a groan. The last thing she needed right then was to have to sit through yet another of Magnus’s boring dinner parties. Even so, she was painfully aware that while she was a guest in his house she didn’t have much choice but to fall in with his wishes, so with a sigh she followed Patsy upstairs.
‘I thought you might like to wear this one tonight.’ Patsy held up a green chiffon dress, and Flora nodded. She didn’t really much care what she wore. ‘And pardon me, but I peeked in your jewellery box and thought these pearls would look well with that outfit.’
Without stopping to think, Flora almost snatched them from her hand and threw them back into the box before slamming the lid. Patsy looked startled, and instantly repentant, Flora muttered, ‘Thanks, Patsy, but I don’t think that dress needs any adornment. It’s one I bought when I went shopping with my aunt and I’m sure it’s quite pretty enough on its own.’
‘As you wish.’ In a huff, Patsy sniffed before going into the bathroom to run the bath. She’d never seen Flora wear a single thing from her jewellery box since she’d arrived but she supposed it was up to her, at the end of the day. But if they were mine I’d wear them all the time, she thought as she tested the water with her elbow.
Back in the bedroom Flora stood at the window with the jewellery box clutched to her chest. How could she wear Connie’s jewellery? It would be yet another betrayal and suddenly the need to see Jamie was overwhelming. Oh, what have I done? she asked herself miserably, but silence was her only answer.
Soon after, Flora was sitting through another boring evening when once more yet another eligible man was paraded in front of Margaret. For a second Flora almost found it amusing for it reminded her of some cows she had seen being paraded in front of prospective buyers at a cattle market. This time, the poor unsuspecting chap who accompanied his elderly parents looked to be middle-aged. He was almost as far round as he was high and completely bald, and even Margaret didn’t attempt to flirt with this one. But then, even had he been handsome Flora knew he could never have compared to Jamie.
As always Magnus dominated the conversation while Alex sat silently at his side, sedately dressed as always in a plain, dove-grey dress with no adornments whatsoever apart from a strand of pearls that Flora thought looked identical to the ones in the jewellery box upstairs. The food as always was delicious but Flora was glad when she could make her excuses and slip away to her room. Once there she stood at the window for a long time, staring down at the street below and thinking of her family and Jamie as a wave of homesickness swept through her.
Connie had planned to stay here until she reached her twenty-first birthday then return to her home in London, but how could Flora ever do that? She knew Mrs Merry would guess immediately what she had done and then what would happen? The only other option was to instruct Mr Wainthrop to sell the house in London and remain in New York, but already Flora knew that she didn’t wish to do this. She had an idea that now Toby was aware of her deception he would take full advantage of the fact until there was nothing left of Connie’s inheritance and then what would she do? She had already taken a large sum of money out of Connie’s a
ccount and should she do this too often, Mr Wainthrop was sure to become concerned.
She supposed that she could simply draw enough money from the bank to obtain a return ticket to London but then what would she do when she got there? Her family believed she was dead, so she could hardly turn up now out of the blue, and Jamie probably didn’t even think of her now, which served her right. They would know immediately that she had lied and then she would be just as badly off there as she was here. The problems seemed insurmountable and that night Flora tossed and turned in her bed as she tried to come up with a solution to the mess she had got herself into.
Chapter Seventeen
A few days later Alex came down to breakfast sporting a black eye that would have looked more in keeping on a boxer.
She flushed as she saw Flora staring at it and after helping herself to a cup of tea from the pot she said sheepishly, ‘I er … had a bit of a run-in with my wardrobe door last night and walked straight into it.’
Margaret smirked as Flora frowned. The whole household couldn’t have failed to hear Magnus shouting at her the night before after he had returned late from his club and it was more than obvious what had happened, although Flora didn’t confront her about it until Margaret had eaten her fill and left the room.
‘So … how did you really hurt your eye?’ she asked gently and was dismayed when Alex hung her head and began to cry.
‘Magnus did that to you, didn’t he?’ Flora probed. She had heard the man shouting at her many times before although she had never noticed any bruises.
After a moment Alex reluctantly nodded. ‘Yes … but he’s sorry now. He has such a temper, you see? And I’m afraid I have a bad habit of speaking before I think.’
‘No, I’m afraid I don’t see.’ Flora was furious. Alex was such a kind gentle person and as far as she was concerned, she certainly didn’t deserve to be treated that way.
‘A long time ago, I did something very bad,’ Alex confessed then in a small voice as she glanced nervously towards the door. ‘It would have served me right if Magnus had thrown me out onto the streets but he forgave me. So you see, if every now and then I upset him I suppose I deserve it.’
‘You mean to tell me that this has happened before?’ Flora was horrified. ‘But no one deserves to be hit. Why do you put up with it?’
‘Because I have nowhere else to go,’ Alex replied simply and after taking a deep breath she went on, ‘Long ago, when your mother and I were young, I met Magnus when he was visiting England on a business trip. Your mother had recently married your father but your grandmother was very ill and she died shortly after, leaving behind a trail of debts. Magnus stepped in and offered to help if I married him and it seemed my only way out. I didn’t love him then but I thought it would come with time, so we married, he settled up my mother’s debts and I moved here to live with him and Margaret.
‘She resented me from day one, believing that I was trying to take her late mother’s place, although I swear that was never my intention. She was just a little girl then and I had dreams of us becoming friends. I knew that I would never be able to provide her with a stepbrother or sister. Magnus had quashed that dream when he informed me shortly before our marriage that following an illness he could no longer father any more children.’ Her eyes had become misty as her mind drifted back in time, but she suddenly jerked as if aware that she might have said too much and hurried on, ‘Oh, just ignore me, dear. This is nothing really. He didn’t mean to do it and it will be healed in a day or two.’
Flora clamped her lips shut. It was clear that Alex wasn’t going to say anymore but she felt desperately sorry for her and worse still for deceiving her. Alex scuttled out of the room then and left her alone with her thoughts. Flora sighed. Another boring day stretched ahead of her. She had soon discovered that being a lady of leisure could have its drawbacks, so after fetching a magazine from the morning room she decided to go outside and read in the morning sunshine.
She had no sooner settled in a chair in the rather pretty sunken rose garden when Patsy appeared. ‘Mr Johnson is here to see you, miss. Shall I tell him you’ll come in or shall I send him out here?’
Flora’s heart sank as she clenched her hands into fists so that Patsy wouldn’t see how they had started to shake, but she had no time to answer for at that moment Toby appeared.
‘You may go back inside,’ he told Patsy firmly and although she bobbed her knee and quickly turned about, Flora had seen the disapproving look on her face.
‘He’s no gentleman at all,’ Flora heard the girl murmur as she retraced her steps but then she was forced to give her attention to Toby who was staring at her with an amused expression on his face.
‘What do you want?’ she asked abruptly, desperately trying not to let him see how terrified she was.
‘Now is that any way to greet a visitor, my sweet Flora?’ He grinned as he took a seat next to her and began to study his nails. ‘You haven’t even offered me tea.’
‘I’m sure you’re not here to drink tea,’ she responded heatedly, glad that they were well out of earshot of anyone in the house. ‘So why don’t you just spit it out?’ She could hardly wait for him to be gone.
‘Very well, the long and the short of it is I’m in trouble again,’ he answered with no sign of remorse. ‘I must be on an unlucky streak at the moment so I need another fifty dollars.’
Flora went red in the face as she stared back at him. ‘You talk about fifty dollars as if it is nothing!’ she said incredulously.
‘Well, it isn’t to a little heiress like you, is it?’ The smile was gone now and he was glaring at her, making his usually handsome face look quite ugly. ‘But of course … if you’d rather I had a little word with …’
‘Oh, shut up!’ she snapped, knowing he had her over a barrel. ‘When do you need the money for?’
‘Tonight as it happens.’
‘Tonight!’ Flora swallowed hard before bursting out, ‘You do know that this can’t go on, surely? I’ve only just given you a hundred dollars! Connie’s solicitor back in England is going to start getting suspicious if I keep drawing large amounts of money out for no apparent reason.’
‘That’s your problem, darling, you worry too much,’ he drawled as he rose from his seat. ‘So, shall we say I collect it about six o’clock this evening?’
Flora so wanted to slap the silly smile off his face but she knew he had her hands tied behind her back and so she clenched her teeth as he casually strolled away stopping to pluck a delicate red rose from a bush and insert it into the buttonhole of his expensive suit on the way. She sat there seething for a time but then despair washed over her and lowering her head she began to weep.
Suddenly Margaret appeared with a smug smile on her face and Flora hastily mopped away her tears.
‘So …’ Margaret grinned maliciously. ‘Entertaining gentleman callers in the garden, now, are we?’
Flora frowned at her as she rose swiftly and snatched up her magazine. She had held her tongue and not reacted to any of Margaret’s sly comments up to now. She was a guest in Margaret’s home after all, but today she was in no mood for her spite.
‘Don’t be so ridiculous,’ she replied scathingly. ‘Toby was just passing and called in to say hello.’ She made to march past her but Margaret’s next comment made her stop dead in her tracks as a cold finger snaked up her spine.
‘Hmm, I saw him coming down the path. I was collecting some roses for the dining room.’ She pointed to the half-full basket on her arm. ‘But why would he call you Flora? And why would he expect you to hand money over to him? I heard him quite clearly.’
The colour drained from Flora’s face as she stood there trying to think of some plausible excuse. ‘W-we became friends on the Titanic,’ she faltered. ‘And it seems that he’s got himself into debt gambling so he called to ask if I would lend him some money to get him out of a tight spot. I don’t suppose he wants his parents to know about it. And he didn’t call me Flora, you
must have misheard him.’
Margaret grinned. ‘It didn’t sound like he was asking a favour to me. It sounded like he was demanding money from you. And wasn’t Flora the name of the maid who was supposed to be coming with Constance?’
‘I am Constance,’ Flora croaked. ‘And yes, Flora was the name of my maid, either you misheard him or he got mixed up with our names. I didn’t notice. He got to know both of us on board so if he did call me Flora it was just a mistake.’
‘It all sounds rather fishy to me,’ Margaret remarked, staring at her suspiciously.
‘I really think you’re reading too much into this,’ Flora answered as she struggled to regain her composure. ‘But now if you’ll excuse me I have to go into the city.’
‘I bet you do,’ Margaret gloated as Flora hurried by without another word.
Once in the privacy of her room Flora’s hand flew to her mouth as she began to pace back and forth in a panic. If Margaret were to voice her suspicions to Alex or Magnus the game would be up good and proper. Magnus had never attempted to make her feel welcome and Alex was far too afraid of him to stand up to him if he ordered her from the house. Worse still, he might choose to have her arrested for taking on Connie’s identity and for theft, and could she really blame him if he did? she asked herself, for she was painfully aware that every penny she drew out of Connie’s account was stealing.
I’ve got to leave, and soon, before I get found out, she told herself. But where shall I go?
Margaret was spiteful and vindictive and certainly couldn’t be trusted to keep her mouth shut for long. Snatching up her hat and coat, Flora hurried downstairs and slipped out of the front door unnoticed. She was quaking inside but she automatically took the route that was now familiar to her as she headed for the bank. Once there she withdrew the money that Toby had demanded and tucked it safely into her bag before going to stand on the pavement outside.
The rest of the day stretched endlessly ahead of her now. She didn’t wish to see Margaret again so eventually she began to wander aimlessly until she came to a park. Slipping through the gates she headed for the nearest bench where she sat watching nannies pushing babies in prams and young couples strolling arm in arm. The sight of the babies made her think again of the tiny girl she had held in her arms aboard the lifeboat, the poor little mite who hadn’t survived. The couples made her think of Jamie and she blinked away tears. I’ve been such a fool, she thought miserably. But there was no time for moping now and so after a while she pulled herself together with an enormous effort and, angrily dashing away her tears, she rose and set off again.
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