Cinderella Sister (34 page)

‘Quite so.’ Eugene nodded in agreement. ‘And the taproom of a public house is no place for ladies.’

‘We’ve been there before, even if it was in a private room,’ Molly said over her shoulder as she searched the dresser for glasses.

Grandpa eased himself into his chair. ‘And we was there to look after our women, so I don’t see the need for all the fuss. Pour the brandy, Molly. Me hands is too stiff with rheumatics to hold the glasses steady.’

Nell slipped Eugene’s coat off her shoulders and handed it to him. ‘I’m obliged to you, Mr Sadler.’

‘Must we be so formal, Miss Nell? Out of the schoolroom I think we agreed that you could address me by my Christian name.’

Nell shrugged her shoulders in an apparent show of indifference, but Lily was quick to see the colour flood to her sister’s pale cheeks.

‘What brings you to Pelican Wharf, Eugene?’ Nell asked, casting him a shy glance beneath her lashes. ‘What was it that couldn’t wait until morning?’

It was his turn to look embarrassed and for a moment Lily felt quite sorry for him. She had been away from the family for over a month and it was becoming apparent to her that things had changed in that time. She had always suspected that Eugene Sadler was in love with her sister, but it was obvious now that his feelings ran deep indeed, which was unfortunate for him as Nell only had eyes for Armand. She barely seemed aware of the emotions she aroused in the schoolmaster’s breast. Lily studied Armand’s face as he smiled indulgently at Molly, who had sampled the brandy before handing him the glass with a coquettish sidelong glance. There seemed to be a degree of intimacy between them that had not existed a month ago and Lily was confused; she had thought that he was in love with her beautiful elder sister, but now she
was not so sure. Her own feelings were equally complicated. Armand was like a knight from the stories about King Arthur that their mother used to read to them on cold winter evenings when they sat round the fire. He was everything that Lily had dreamed of, but had seemed as unobtainable as those chivalrous romantic figures from the past. Now, quite suddenly, something had changed, although she could not quite decide what. She moved to the window, peering out through the small leaded panes in the hope of seeing Matt and Gabriel reconciled and coming home, if not arm in arm, then at least not at each other’s throats. Her hand flew to her throat as she saw Matt striding purposefully towards the house. He was alone. Ignoring the others she ran from the room to open the front door.

‘Where’s Gabriel?’ she demanded anxiously. ‘Is he all right?’

‘He’s waiting for you in a hackney at the end of Pelican Passage.’

‘You didn’t hit him, did you, Matt?’

He shook his head. ‘No, but he deserved it for introducing you to that woman. Now Luke has gone the same way and you are to blame, Lily.’

‘Why? He’s not a child. If he wants to see Ma then it’s up to him.’

‘You encouraged him to write his stupid poems instead of living in the real world. He should have been on duty with us tonight but instead he chose to wander off to spend the evening with her and that libertine who turned her silly head.’

‘Matt, you’re not being fair. Everard is a nice, kind
man and he adores Ma. She loves him and they’re happy together.’

‘Are you telling me that it’s all roses living in Keppel Street?’ He took her by the shoulders, staring deeply into her eyes. ‘I know you too well, Lily. You’ve seen the way they live and I don’t think you like it one little bit.’

‘How do you know what goes on behind closed doors?’ Lily challenged. ‘What right have you to sit in judgement on other people?’

‘I made it my business to find out a long time ago. Do you really believe that the past left me unscarred? I was eighteen when Ma left us and I saw what it did to Pa. You were too young to understand but I knew it broke his heart and left him a shell of a man. After he was killed in that fire I went to see Ma and she was in such a state that she barely recognised me. God alone knows what she’d taken but I could hardly get any sense out of her. Then Faulkner came into the room and made up some excuse about her being out of her mind with grief.’

‘Perhaps she was, Matt. Maybe she felt guilty for leaving us all.’

‘I waited outside the house all that day, and in the evening I saw them drive off in a private carriage dressed to the nines, laughing and chatting as if nothing had happened. They were going out for the evening. Our pa was barely cold in his grave and you want me to believe that she has a heart.’

Lily stared at him in dismay. ‘Why have you never told us all this?’

‘I didn’t want to remember it but you’ve brought it all back by your selfish ambition to be an artist just like her. You’ve chosen your path, and you are welcome to it. Now go, before I say something I’ll regret.’

He snatched her damp cloak from the peg where she had hung it next to Nell’s shabby mantle. ‘There, take your velvet and fur and go back to the false life in Keppel Street. If you see Luke you can tell him he’s lost his job. Let him earn his living by scribbling silly rhymes if he can.’

‘No, Matt, please …’ Lily held her hand out to him but he opened the door and taking her by the shoulders, pushed her out onto the wet cobblestones.

‘Best hurry or he might not wait for you. Don’t be fooled by his gentlemanly ways, Lily. He’s got bad blood, just like his old man.’

The door slammed behind her and Lily found herself standing alone in the pouring rain. She pulled the cloak about her shoulders but she could not move from the spot. It was as if she had been turned to stone as she peered through the window at the achingly familiar family scene. Nell was seated by the fire in a high-backed Windsor chair drinking tea with Eugene standing by her side. In his hand he held a glass of brandy from which he took small sips, but his full attention was devoted to Nell. Viewing as an onlooker, Lily realised that for him at least there was only one person in the room. Nell seemed to inspire unconditional devotion, and yet again Lily felt a pang of envy for her eldest sister. She turned her attention to Molly, who was flirting openly with Armand, but he
seemed preoccupied and seized upon Matt as he entered the room. They appeared to be deep in conversation. She wished she could hear what they were saying.

‘What are you doing standing out here in the rain?’

Lily spun round to see Gabriel standing behind her. Rainwater was dripping from the brim of his felt hat and soaking his overcoat. ‘Matt turned me out,’ Lily whispered. ‘I can’t really blame him. He just doesn’t understand.’

Gabriel slipped his arm around her shoulders. ‘You’re soaked to the skin. Let’s get you home.’

‘I have no home,’ Lily said sadly. ‘I don’t really belong in Keppel Street, and no one wants me here.’

‘You’re talking nonsense.’ He led her through the curtain of rain towards Pelican Passage. ‘Of course you have a home with your mother and my pa. They love you, Lily.’

She shook her head. ‘They’ve been kind to me, but I don’t fit in with the way they live.’

‘You sound as though you disapprove of them.’ Gabriel’s tone was light but Lily’s heightened senses detected concern beneath his smile.

‘I don’t think that drinking to excess and taking drugs is a good thing,’ she said choosing her words carefully. ‘But it’s not just that. Did you know that they owe money left, right and centre?’

‘No one pays their creditors until they have to. It’s just the way things are done in London.’

‘No, it’s more serious,’ Lily insisted, stepping into a deep puddle and shivering as she felt the water ooze through the stitching on Ma’s fashionable boots.
‘Nothing in the house seems to have been paid for. Prissy tells me …’

‘Never listen to servants’ gossip, my love.’ They had reached the end of the narrow passageway and Gabriel handed her into the waiting carriage. ‘Keppel Street, please, cabby.’ He climbed in beside her and reached out to clasp her hand. ‘You’re cold as ice. I hope you haven’t caught a chill.’

Lily shook her head but said nothing. The ice was in her heart as Matt’s harsh words repeated in her head over and over again. Gabriel was being kind but he could not be expected to understand how she was feeling. She leaned against him, shivering violently as the cold numbed her body if not her mind. She closed her eyes, allowing the motion of the carriage and the drumming of the horse’s hooves to lull her into a dreamlike state. Gabriel held her hand, seeming to understand her need for silence.

When they reached the house in Keppel Street he handed Lily over to Prissy who put her to bed, clucking over her like a mother hen. She placed a stone hot water bottle wrapped in a piece of towelling at Lily’s feet, and warmed Lily’s cotton lawn nightgown by the fire before slipping it over her head. Lily suffered these ministrations in silence and meekly accepted a cup of hot beef tea which she sipped dutifully, although she would have much preferred a cup of ordinary tea, strong and sweet just like Aggie used to make.

Prissy gathered up Lily’s wet garments, tut-tutting over the muddied hem of her skirt and the sad state of the velvet cloak. ‘I dunno if this will ever be the
same again. What was Mr Gabriel thinking of, allowing you to go out in a rainstorm? I’ll have a few words to say to him when I sees him next.’ She tossed the clothes over her arm and blew out the candles on the mantelshelf and the washstand. ‘Now you go to sleep like a good girl. I’ll bring you a cup of tea first thing in the morning, but if you should feel poorly in the night just ring the bell and I’ll come running.’

‘You’re too good to me,’ Lily murmured, snuggling down beneath the warm coverlet. In spite of everything, she smiled to herself. It was almost like being at home again with Aggie fussing over her, but not quite.

Next morning Lily awoke to uproar. The sound of raised voices echoed throughout the house and she snapped into a sitting position. It was not quite light but Prissy must have done her work as a fire burned merrily in the grate and the curtains had been drawn back to allow the first light of dawn to filter into the room. Lily sprang out of bed and opened the door, cocking her head on one side to listen. She could make out Prissy’s high-pitched voice and that of Parsons, Charlotte’s personal maid, but they were drowned out by male voices demanding to be admitted. Lily snatched up her wrap and was still struggling into it as she ran downstairs to the landing on the second floor, where she almost bumped into Everard. He looked only half awake as he attempted to tie the sash of his brocade robe, padding barefoot down the stairs ahead of her.

‘What’s going on?’ Lily cried anxiously.

‘Go back to bed,’ he said shortly. ‘This doesn’t concern you.’

But of course it did, and Lily was not going to return to her room until she discovered what the fuss was about. She thought for a moment that it might be Matt and Mark come to make trouble, and when she saw Luke emerging from one of the guest rooms wearing a nightshirt that was too short for him and a nightcap askew on his copper mane, her worst fears seemed to be confirmed. ‘What are you doing here, Luke? Didn’t you know you were supposed to be on duty last night?’

He ran his hand through his hair. ‘Don’t shout, Lily. I’ve a terrible headache and I feel sick.’

‘You’ve been drinking,’ she said, sniffing suspiciously. ‘What happened last night?’

‘More to the point, what’s going on now?’ He leaned over the banisters, peering into the hall below. ‘By God, I think it’s the bailiffs, Lil.’

She breathed a sigh of relief. ‘I thought it was Matt and Mark.’

‘I wish it was them,’ he murmured. ‘I think this is serious.’

Lily moved to his side, craning her neck to catch a glimpse of the scene below.

‘You have until midday to pay the monies owing, sir. If the due sum is not received we are empowered to seize goods to that value. This is your last warning.’

‘But you don’t understand,’ Everard protested. ‘I can’t lay my hands on that sum at such short notice. I need more time.’

‘Seems to me you was given plenty of time, sir. I’m
afraid you’ll be facing the debtors’ jail if you can’t settle the matter to the creditors’ satisfaction.’

Lily exchanged a worried glance with Luke. ‘I knew things were bad, but I had no idea it was so serious.’

‘I’d best go home,’ Luke said in a low voice. ‘I shouldn’t have got so drunk last night but I had the best of times, Lily. You can’t imagine how good it was to be with people who understand me and who listen to my poems without making a joke of the whole thing. Everard’s friends said I’ve got a real gift for writing, and I should follow my dreams and give up working as a fireman.’

‘I think that decision’s been taken out of your hands. Matt was furious with you and he said you’d lost your job.’

‘When did you see him?’

‘Last night. It’s a long story.’ Lily moved away from the banisters. ‘Everard’s coming upstairs. I don’t want him to think we’ve been spying on him.’ She tugged at Luke’s sleeve. ‘You’d best get dressed. I’ll see you at breakfast.’

He paled visibly. ‘Don’t mention food. I’m feeling a bit queasy.’

‘I’ll see you later.’ Lily hurried up the stairs to her room and dressed hastily in a plain navy-blue merino skirt and a white cambric blouse. She sat in front of the dressing table and was brushing her hair when Prissy burst into the room. Lily swivelled round to look at her. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘They’re going to send the master to prison,’ Prissy said breathlessly. ‘Cook and Parsons are in a panic
downstairs. They say we’ll be out on the street afore the day’s out.’

‘Nonsense,’ Lily said with more conviction than she was feeling. ‘The master will sort things out. It’s probably just a misunderstanding with the tradesmen.’

‘No, miss. It’s worse than that. We know that the bills haven’t been paid for months. Cook says she’ll go to her brother’s house in Southwark, although she don’t get on with his missis, and Parsons is in her room packing even as we speak.’

Lily’s fingers trembled as she attempted to put her hair up and a lock of hair escaped.

Prissy hurried to her side, taking the brush from her hand. ‘Lord, miss. How will you manage without me?’ With a few deft strokes and the aid of ribbon and pins, she coiled Lily’s long hair into a coronet. ‘There you are, now you look a real bobby-dazzler.’ Prissy’s smile faded as she met Lily’s eyes in the mirror. ‘But where will we go, miss? I ain’t leaving you, even if we has to sleep in the Thames Tunnel with the tramps.’