Cinderella Sister (12 page)

‘But it’s all true. I’m not lying.’

‘What do you expect from a Frenchman?’ Aggie said gloomily.

‘Well, I think she must have encouraged him in some way.’ Molly tossed her head. ‘Lily is jealous because Armand fancies me.’

‘If I was like you then it might be true,’ Lily retaliated with spirit. ‘But I was just standing at the sink, washing the dishes and minding my own business, when he came up behind me.’

‘It’s all right, Lily,’ Nell said, moving swiftly to her side. She gave her a hug. ‘Of course I believe you. Shame on you, Molly, for thinking such a thing of your sister.’

‘Oh yes, I’m always in the wrong and Lily never puts a foot out of place. Well, she has now and she’s made Armand go away. I’ll never forgive you, Lil. Never!’ Molly ran from the kitchen, slamming the door behind her.

‘I pity the man who takes her on,’ Aggie said, opening the oven door and prodding the capon with the tip of a knife. ‘That little madam could do with a good spanking.’

‘I still don’t understand why Armand left without an argument,’ Nell said softly.

‘He really had no choice,’ Lily whispered. ‘Don’t be too hard on him.’

‘Good riddance, I say.’ Aggie closed the oven door with an expressive thud. ‘Supper will be ready in half
an hour and those who don’t turn up on time will just have to eat it cold. I’m not ruining a prime bird by overcooking it.’

‘I don’t think I can face food,’ Nell said, holding her hands to her temples. ‘I have a headache, Aggie. I think I’ll go to my room.’

‘That’s all the thanks I get for my efforts,’ Aggie grumbled. ‘But your brothers will scoff everything, that’s for sure.’

Ignoring this last remark, Lily ran after Nell and caught up with her in the hall. ‘Armand’s ship doesn’t sail for another two hours. You could still say goodbye to him.’

Nell’s dark eyes widened. ‘I couldn’t – could I? I mean, it wouldn’t be a very ladylike thing to do.’

‘Bother being ladylike. I’ll come with you if you’re scared to go on your own. The ship is moored alongside Bell Wharf Stairs; it’s not far and you can’t let this chance pass you by. If you love Armand, then you must tell him so.’

Nell shook her head. ‘I couldn’t do that. We’ve only known each other for such a short time. What if he doesn’t feel the same way about me? I would feel so stupid.’

Lily took her by the shoulders and shook her. ‘Don’t be a goose. I’ve seen the way he looks as you. Give him a chance.’

‘All right,’ Nell said slowly. ‘I’ll go and see him, but you must understand it’s just to say goodbye. I don’t want you to come out with any embarrassing comments.’

‘I won’t utter a word. In fact, I won’t even come on board. I’ll just come with you for moral support.’

‘Very well then, but we’ll need our shawls. It’s freezing outside.’

‘Leave it to me. I’ll sneak them out while Aggie is looking the other way. If we hurry we can be back in time for supper and no one will ever know.’

A hand clamped on Lily’s shoulder, making her jump. She turned her head and found herself looking into Molly’s green eyes.

‘No one will ever know what?’ Molly demanded. ‘What are you two plotting?’

‘It’s nothing,’ Lily said vaguely. ‘We were just talking.’

‘You can’t fool me. I heard you say you’d be back in time for supper.’

‘It’s none of your business.’ Lily sidestepped her sister but Molly was too quick for her and she barred her way.

‘You two are going to see Armand, aren’t you? You were going without me, you sneaky bitches.’

‘Molly! Don’t use that gutter language in this house,’ Nell cried angrily. ‘Yes, we were going to say goodbye to Armand, but I think after all it’s a bad idea. I’ve changed my mind and I’m not going now.’

‘Well, I am.’ Molly made a move towards the front door and tugged at the handle. ‘Bloody door, it’s stuck again.’

‘You can’t go out like that,’ Nell said anxiously. ‘Don’t be stupid, Moll.’

Molly put her foot against the door jamb and heaved,
almost falling flat on her back as it opened suddenly and Matt burst in on a blast of frost-spiked air.

‘What’s going on?’ he demanded, staring from one to the other. ‘Where do you think you’re going, Molly?’

‘Don’t blame me,’ Molly said, glaring at her sisters. ‘They started it. They were going without me.’

‘It was just a misunderstanding.’ Nell shot a warning glance at Molly. ‘We weren’t going anywhere.’

‘I thought you were on watch tonight, Matt,’ Lily said in an attempt to divert his attention.

He turned to her and Lily was shocked by the bleak expression in his dark eyes. ‘I’ve just had a visit from the dock company’s solicitor. They want us out of the house by Friday. If we don’t leave voluntarily, they’ll send the bailiffs in.’

‘But they can’t do that,’ Nell said dazedly. ‘Why would they turn us out of our home?’

‘It’s a long story. I’ll explain everything later, but I’m afraid we have no choice.’

‘Oh, Matt, are you sure?’ Nell’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘There’s no doubt about it, I’m afraid.’

Molly let out a loud wail. ‘They can’t take our home away from us. It’s not fair.’

‘There must be a logical explanation,’ Nell insisted. ‘They can’t just throw us out on the streets for nothing.’

Matt met Lily’s anxious gaze with a slight shake of his head. ‘As I said, I’ll explain everything later, but as to the suddenness of it all, I think Labrosse may have had a hand in it. He was just leaving the office when I went in to see the dockmaster. He gave me a
filthy look in passing, although for the life of me I can’t think why.’

‘I can,’ Lily murmured. ‘I think it may be my fault.’

‘I don’t see how, Lil,’ Matt said, hooking his arm around her shoulders. ‘We’ve got to move out and that’s that.’

‘You can’t just stand by and see us thrown out on the streets,’ Molly stormed. ‘Where’s your fighting spirit, Matt? If I was a man I wouldn’t stand by and see my sisters evicted from their home. I’d biff old Labrosse on the nose for a start.’

Matt’s lips set in a grim line. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about, Molly. Luckily the rooms over the shop next to the fire station are still to let. We’re going to have to make the best of it and no arguments.’

‘If there really is no other choice, we’ll manage somehow,’ Nell said gently. ‘It might not be so bad, Molly.’

‘And the boys won’t have far to go to get to work,’ Lily added, making an attempt to lighten the mood.

‘That’s not funny.’ Molly choked back a sob and her lips trembled. ‘We won’t have room to swing a cat. It will be hell on earth.’

‘There are plenty worse off than us,’ Matt said severely. ‘But Molly’s right in one sense. The rooms are small so we won’t be able to take much with us.’ He turned to Nell. ‘We’ve only got two days to organise ourselves, so I’m putting you in charge of packing, and you’d best tell Aggie what’s going on before one of the boys blurts it out and upsets the old girl.’

‘What about Grandpa?’ Lily asked anxiously. ‘He’s going to be very unhappy.’

‘He’ll have to put up with it like the rest of us,’ Matt said grimly.

Nell laid her hand on his arm. ‘Would you like me to break it gently to him?’

‘No, this is my job. Don’t worry, Nell. I won’t give the old boy a heart attack, even if I could cheerfully throttle him at times.’ Matt strode across the hall and entered Grandpa’s room without knocking.

‘Oh, dear,’ Nell said faintly. ‘Poor Grandpa. He loves this old house.’

Molly gulped and sniffed. ‘This is probably his fault. He must have upset the dock company.’

‘That’s not fair,’ Lily cried angrily. ‘Grandpa was a valued employee; he’s just getting a bit forgetful in his old age.’

‘Stop being so damned fair-minded, Lil. It drives me crazy.’ Molly turned on her heel and flounced towards the staircase. ‘I’m going to sort my things. Heaven knows I haven’t got much but I’m not leaving anything that’s mine. So there!’ She paused at the foot of the stairs, glancing over her shoulder. ‘You’ll have to leave your paints and things here, Lily. There won’t be anywhere to hide them now.’ With an angry twitch of her shoulders, Molly raced up the stairs without giving Lily a chance to retaliate.

Lily glanced anxiously at Nell. ‘I don’t get them out until I’ve finished all my chores.’

‘It doesn’t seem to matter now,’ Nell said, shaking her head. ‘We’ve got more important things to worry about.’

As if to confirm her words, the door to Grandpa’s
room flew open and Matt strode into the hall followed closely by their irate grandfather.

‘I’ll not be turned out of my house by anyone,’ Grandpa raged. ‘This is my home and no clodpole of a dock company manager is going to take it away from me. The river runs in my blood and the only way I’m leaving here is in a wooden box.’ He retreated into his room, slamming the door and sending a shower of plaster floating down from the ceiling.

‘That went well,’ Matt said with a wry grin. ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do with the old boy, but I’d sooner live with a caged tiger than share a bedroom with Grandpa.’

Nell bit her lip. ‘Aggie is going to be just as difficult.’

Before joining his brothers on the night watch, Matt had obtained the key to the rooms they hoped to rent. It was still dark with at least two hours to go before dawn when Lily and Nell left the house next morning setting out to inspect their future accommodation. The move from their old home hung over them like a storm cloud, ominous and getting closer with each passing minute. They barely spoke as they made their way through the strangely silent streets. The denizens of the night had gone to earth, some of them sleeping off the excesses of their carousing and the effects of smoking opium as they huddled in doorways, apparently dead to the world. The day workers were just beginning to emerge from their homes, trudging wearily to their places of employment, shoulders
hunched, heads down, and the only sound the clatter of their hobnail boots striking sparks off the cobblestones.

Lily and Nell quickened their pace and their breath plumed into clouds around their heads in the ice-cold air. The rooms that Matt had found for them were above a tobacco shop, which was separated from the fire station by a narrow passageway leading to the stable yard at the rear. It was pitch dark in the alley with just a glimmer of light at both ends. They had to feel their way along the rough brick wall until they came to a doorway, which when unlocked opened onto a winding staircase. Nell went first, stumbling over the splintered edges of the stair treads with Lily close on her heels.

At the top of the stairs they came to a small landing with two doors, each leading into an empty room, but in the dim light from the street lamp outside their worst fears were confirmed. The smell of ale from the former beer shop next door seemed to have permeated the fabric of the building and was mixed with the odour of the stables and a strong smell of tobacco from the shop below. The two rooms were reasonably large and each had a fireplace, although the only facility for cooking was a trivet and a hook from which a blackened kettle hung over the empty grate in the front room. Festoons of cobwebs hung from the beamed ceiling and the skirting boards were pockmarked with mouse holes.

Lily shivered, wrapping her shawl closer around her body as she took in her surroundings. ‘This is awful, Nell.’

‘You’re right, but at least it will put a roof over our heads and perhaps later on we can find a small house to rent cheaply.’

‘It’s not going to be easy,’ Lily said, moving to the window and wiping away the grime to make a small circle of clear glass. She peered out at the street below. ‘The only good thing is that we’re next to the fire station. They boys won’t have far to go.’

‘You always look on the bright side,’ Nell said, chuckling. ‘We’ll be all right, Lily. It will just take a bit of adjustment, but we’ll get through this.’

‘I can see Luke,’ Lily cried, tapping on the window and waving. ‘I think he’s coming this way.’ She hurried from the room and ran downstairs to open the outer door.

Holding a lantern in one hand and a steaming mug in the other, Luke came towards her, grinning broadly. ‘It’s not exactly Buckingham Palace, is it?’

Lily shook her head. ‘It’s dreadful.’

‘I’ve brought you a cup of tea. Are you on your own, Lil?’

‘No, Nell’s here but we can share the tea. Ta, Luke, you’re a brick.’ She took the mug from him and made her way back up the stairs with Luke following her.

He stopped in the doorway, holding the lantern so that it shed a pale golden light around the empty room. He pulled a face. ‘It’s worse than I thought. You couldn’t call it home from home.’

Nell squared her narrow shoulders with a determined lift of her chin. ‘It will be when Lily and I have
done with it, but I’d best be on my way now or I’ll be late for work.’

‘I hope you don’t expect me to do this all on my own,’ Lily protested.

‘Of course not, but you can make a start and we’ll come back this evening after supper and finish it off.’ Nell turned to Luke. ‘And you needn’t grin like a fool, Luke Larkin. You can help by fetching some coal and kindling for the fire.’

Luke made a mock salute. ‘Aye aye, captain.’

‘When it’s clean and we’ve got some of our furniture in here, I’m sure we’ll be quite cosy,’ Nell said hopefully. ‘Now I really must be going or I’ll be in Mr Sadler’s bad books, and I want to ask him if I can have some time off tomorrow so that I can organise the move.’ She made for the stairs, pausing in the doorway. ‘I haven’t even thought how we are going to transport our furniture.’

‘Matt’s arranging to borrow a cart from one of his mates,’ Luke said cheerfully. ‘And a couple of the blokes on day watch are going to give us a hand, providing there aren’t any shouts. Don’t worry, Nell. It will all go like clockwork.’

Lily smiled and nodded, but in her heart she was not so sure.

As Lily had feared, things did not go exactly as planned. The next morning, Grandpa locked himself in his room, shouting through the keyhole that he had no intention of leaving his home. Taking her cue from him, Aggie sat in her rocking chair by the kitchen range, refusing to budge.

‘If he isn’t leaving, then neither am I,’ she said, gripping the wooden arms of the chair with the expression of a martyr about to be burnt at the stake.