Wedded in Scandal (44 page)

“Two months! Don’t you think that in two months, the man would have presented himself?”

“Well, yes, that would be typical, wouldn’t it?” The man reached over and picked the bill of sale right out of Cordwain’s hand. No one disagreed. He had that kind of confidence that people went along with. As if he had the right to step in and solve the problem. Which he didn’t. But as he was working on her side, Penny saw no reason to stop him. Meanwhile, he was frowning down at the document. “It does look official, but—”

“’Course it is,” said Cordwain. “It’s this lying—”

“Call me names again, and I will scratch your eyes out!”

“You will not!” inserted the constable. “But I will blow this whistle until you are both too deaf to hear it. So stubble it, Cordwain. You got no cause to be saying things like that to her. Especially since you got the law on your side.”

“His side!” Penny cried. “But none of it is true!”

The constable grimaced. “Everything I got is legal and true, Miss Shoemaker. It says he purchased your shop and everything in it.”

“But how? I haven’t received any money, I haven’t talked to this solicitor person, I don’t know anything about this at all!”

The constable just sighed again, and the sound seemed to pull his shoulders down. It was the look of a miserable individual, but one who would do his duty no matter if it were wrong or not.

“It’s not
right
,” she said.

“Don’t matter,” inserted the toff. “It looks right from his end. He’s got no cause to stop it.”

“But it’s
wrong
,” Penny repeated, trying desperately to find a way to stop this. “All of it is just…”

“Legal,”
said Cordwain with a sneer. “All legal. Now get gone from here, girl. And take your brat with you. I can’t have the likes of you around my place of business.”

That was the final insult. The living fury beneath her skin broke free. She launched herself at Cordwain with the only weapon she had—her nails and her fury. But she never connected. Before she even realized she’d leaped, the toff had her around the waist. It was no small feat, given that he still had Tommy wrapped around his neck. And for a too tall, no-good toff, he was damned strong.

“We’ll have none of that,” he scolded, not winded in the least despite the way she was flailing in his one-armed grasp. “It’s too late; surely you can see that,” he continued.

He was right. While she was trapped by the toff, the constable had stepped between her and the bastard Cordwain. Jobby, too, had recovered and was now looking as dark and violent as she felt. Still, she would have fought on
if it weren’t for Tommy. All her struggles were putting the toddler in danger. Apparently the stranger knew that, too, because he was quickly shoving the boy into her arms even as he set her back onto her feet.

“There, now, hold the boy before he gets hurt,” he said.

“That’s right, you b—”

“Enough, Cordwain,” cut in the constable. “Damned if you don’t know how to make a bad situation worse every time I see you.”

The bastard puffed himself up, his face flushed and his mouth starting to open, but the toff was there beforehand, his manner somewhat bumbling but his eyes very keen.

“One question, Mr. Cordwain, if I may. Did you know this solicitor before the sale?”

“Wot? Why—”

“How close were the two of you?”

“I didn’t know the damned man before he took my money!”

“Well, that’s clearly not true,” said the gentleman with an eye roll. “You don’t just give a man money for a store out of the blue. How’d you know he was Tommy’s guardian? ’Specially since the lad’s sister didn’t even know.”

Cordwain’s brows narrowed and he looked to the storefront. “Everybody knows I’ve wanted this property. Been trying to buy it, but her dad wouldn’t sell.”

“I see,” said the gentleman, his brows drawn together in a frown. “But what has that to do with Mr. Addicock?”

“He contacted me. Said as he knew I wanted to buy it, would I do it now? And for a bloody high price, too!” Cordwain’s face snapped around to glare in their direction. “Had to spend all my savings for it. Every last groat!”

“Well, every last groat except for the men you’re paying right there.” He gestured to the three sour-looking thugs loitering around the shop’s front door. “Five men plus the constable to evict one woman and a babe? Seems rather excessive, doesn’t it?”

“I knew she would be trouble,” the bastard growled. “And I was right.”

“Huh.” That was it. Just a grunt more than a word, accompanied by a glance at the constable, who simply shrugged.

“No!” Penny cried. “No!”

“I’m afraid so, Miss Shoemaker. It’s the law. Do you have someplace to go? A relative perhaps? Or a friend?”

Penny stared at them. Cordwain, the constable, Jobby and his henchmen, then the toff last of all. They all stared at her like mutton. Blank male faces of differing personality, but all dumb, all blind. “Can’t you see…,” she began, praying that one of them would help her. After everything she’d done since her parents’ murder, everything she’d survived, this final humiliation was too much. It was—

“I’ll see to her, Constable,” the gentleman said. “Just let me get my bag.” Then, without so much as a by-your-leave, he strolled straight over to her satchel and flipped it over his shoulder.

“But—”

“Best go with him,” the constable said, giving her a sad smile. “Nothing to be done here.”

“But…” Her gaze traveled to her home. She’d been born in the upper story of that building there, as had her father. The shop had been her grandfather’s pride and joy, and her father’s after that. One month ago, she had found a way to save it. She’d just begun to dream of opening its doors again to show her wares just like a Shoemaker had for over fifty years. It couldn’t be taken from her. Not without warning. Not like this.

“Come now,” said the gentleman as he gently cupped her elbow. “There’s stuff to be done and it isn’t here.”

“But—”

“Just walk,” he ordered. Not harshly, but with enough authority that she obeyed. She spoke not a word, and to her added fury she found she was crying. Big, wet tears leaked down her face. She couldn’t stop it, and she damn well couldn’t hide it.

They were three blocks away when the toff finally said something that jolted her out of her misery.

“Tell me why I’m carrying a bag of body parts.”