by David Liss
Having obtained that information, the moment I could politely extricate myself, I did not fail to do so. I could see, however, that my inquiries, rather than incurring the suspicions of Mr. Blackburn, had instead endeared me to him.
THE ROUTINES OF MY NEW life took only a day or two to puzzle out, and I began then to post a schedule at the main warehouse. It indicated who worked when and for how long, what patrol each man was to take, and so forth. Those men who could read were obligated to inform those who could not of their requirements. While the newness of the system produced some consternation in its offing, the men soon discovered that they would work fewer hours if they all attended to their duties. Only Aadil and a small band of some three or four sour-looking fellows, who appeared to be his inner circle, indicated any displeasure with the new arrangement.
Despite the hardly insignificant fact that he continued to earn five pounds per annum more than his underlings, I could hardly be surprised that Aadil resented my intrusion in his little kingdom. Nor could I be surprised that he had gathered a following to himself, for men of force are wont to do so. What did surprise me, however, was that his circle appeared to extend beyond the limit of the rough laborers. On my second day at the warehouses, I wandered down a bit early to find two figures standing directly in front of the main warehouse, huddled together, ignoring the cold and the light precipitation of frozen rain. It was the East Indian himself, in close conversation with none other than Mr. Forester, the young member of the Court of Committees who appeared to hold Mr. Ellershaw in such contempt. The two men stood talking quietly. Aadil, who was tall as well as large, stooped like a giant speaking to a mortal.
I had no desire to intrude upon them, and while I could not imagine what these two worthies might have to say to each other, I hardly thought it my place to impose upon them. I therefore turned away, as though I had business in one of the smaller warehouses. They observed me, however, and while Aadil took only a moment to glare at me with evident displeasure upon his scarred face, I could see that Forester was rather alarmed, either by my presence or my having discovered him with the ruffian. He blanched and turned away hurriedly, dusting from his greatcoat the tiny chunks of ice that had landed upon him and melted.
Aadil marched over toward me, looking less like a man than a bull at a baiting. “You say nothing of him,” he told me. “It not your business.”
“I should hardly have given it any thought,” I observed, “had you not told me to ignore it. If you wish for people not to remark about your doings, you must treat them as though they are unremarkable.”
“You say anything, you be sorry,” he responded, and then marched off, his heavy boots crunching into the thick crust of ice on the soil.
Later in the day, I found an opportunity to take aside the plump and good-natured Mr. Carmichael, who—after my refusing to beat him—had become my closest confederate in the world of the guards. I could have had a worse, since he appeared to have a fair amount of influence with his fellow warehouse workers. When I knew Aadil was occupied with some task on the far end of the yard, I asked Carmichael about what I had seen with the East Indian and Forester.
“As to that,” he said, “you’d be advised to take no notice of it.”
“That’s what Aadil said.”
“He’s the reason you should take no notice of it. He and that Mr. Forester are about something.”
“What sort of something?”
He looked around to make certain we were unobserved. “I oughtn’t to tell you as much as this, but if it will keep you from inquiring further, maybe it is for the best. I don’t know exact what they’re on to, but it’s got to do with the third floor of the south warehouse, the one they call Greene House, on account of it being bought once, long ago, from a spark called Greene.”
“What do they do on the third floor of the Greene House?”
“I can’t say, as ain’t no one allowed there. Any deliveries or removals have to be done by Aadil’s men and no one else, and every time he brings something in or takes something out, Mr. Forester ain’t too far behind.”
“Have you asked him about it?”
“No, I haven’t done that any more than I would stick my head in the mouth of a wolf. You only have to look at the cove to see he don’t want you asking, and as you value your place here, you’ll stay away from the business.”
“Is not anything that happens in the warehouses now part of my business?” I asked, with deliberate obtuseness.
He laughed. “I’ve worked here now the better part of these twenty years, Mr. Weaver, and I can tell you as much as this: Craven House is a place of secrets and hidden alliances and graspings for power that would do any stage play proud. That’s how it’s always been. The men what want to get ahead have to plot and sneak to destroy their betters. That’s all. You ain’t got anything to gain by discovering what those two are up to, but on the other hand you got nothing to lose by not discovering it. To my mind that means it’s best left alone whilst you attend to your own duties.”
As for those duties, I was unsure of what I was to be doing with myself for ten hours a day. Once I had worked out the details of the schedule, I saw it would only be a matter of a few hours’ work each week to maintain it. Other than wandering about the warehouses and making certain the men appeared to remain vigilant and keep to their posts, I was at a loss. I mentioned as much to Mr. Ellershaw, but he told me only that I should continue my fine work.
Elias informed me that he had, as of yet, received no word from Ellershaw, and I thought it imprudent to pursue that matter as well, so I wandered about the grounds, chatted amiably with the watchmen, and listened to their gossip, hoping to stumble upon some reference to Cobb’s mysterious Absalom Pepper. No one spoke the name, and I dared not raise it myself.
On my second day, the same in which I observed the strange interactions between Aadil and Forester, I stayed late at night, on the pretense of observing the men as they went about their later rounds, and I attempted once more to search through Ellershaw’s papers. But to find a reference to a single man among so many documents would have required an astonishing amount of luck, and luck did not serve me in this cause. I remained awake nearly the entire night and discovered nothing, obtaining for my efforts only a headache from straining my eyes against a single candle.
ON THE THIRD DAY, however, I had an encounter of particular importance to these events. Late in the morning, I abandoned the warehouses for the kitchens of Craven House, where I hoped to take a glass or two of strong wine to fortify my fatigue against the further obligations of the day. When I entered that room I found it devoid of all servants save one, the lovely Miss Celia Glade, whom I had seen only at a distance or in crowded spaces since our encounter in Ellershaw’s office. She was in the process of setting up a tray of coffee dishes, no doubt destined for some director or other. I smiled at her when I entered the room, but I felt my stomach drop, as though I had been tossed from a great height. Here was a woman who knew my dark secret, or at least knew I had one. I was protected from her only because I knew she had one as well.
“Good morning, Miss Glade,” I offered.
She turned to me, and in an instant I felt a terrible fear wash over me—a fear that I was not in entire command of my own sensibilities. She was naught but a woman, a remarkable pretty one, yes, and no doubt a remarkable clever one too. But what of it? Was not London full of these? Had I not enjoyed my share of them? Nevertheless, as I stood in her presence I felt that there was something else about her, far beyond beauty and perception. She played a game, as I did, and she played it well. I believed I was in the presence of someone quite capable of undermining my efforts.
She curtsied at me and lowered her face deferentially, but she nevertheless kept her dark eyes fixed upon mine. “Oh, it ain’t right to address me in such lofty terms,” she said, deploying the accent of daylight hours, not the ladylike voice she’d used during our late-night encounter. “All the folks here calls me Celia—or C
elie, those what are my friends.”
“And am I your friend, Celie?” I asked.
“Oh, la! I hope so, Mr. Weaver. I don’t want to make no enemies.”
She frittered about so busily, her brow furrowed in concentration, that for the most fleeting of instants I had to question whether my late-night encounter could have been with this same woman. I could see nothing about her that revealed she was not what she wished the world to believe.
I pressed on. “As I recall, when we first spoke, your voice had a slightly different quality.”
“When I brung Mr. Ellershaw his medicine drink? I must surely have been taken with my work, or some very like thing.”
“As you say, Celie.”
“I must be about my duties, Mr. Weaver,” she told me. But as she brushed by, she nearly stumbled with her tray, and I had to reach out to help her right herself. In the confusion, she very deftly whispered two sentences in my ear. She said, “They’re always listening,” so softly I could scarcely hear it over the rattling china on her tray. And then she said, “The Duck and Wagon in St. Giles—tonight.”
“I cannot tonight,” I whispered back.
She nodded. “Of course. The dinner with Mr. Ellershaw. Two nights from now?”
“Two nights from now,” I assured her.
For a fleeting instant, she took my hand in her own. “Good.”
My heart thudded with buoyant pleasure as I watched her leave the room. I had forgotten, it would seem, that I had not been invited to an assignation. I felt a twinge of surprise that she knew I was to eat with Mr. Ellershaw. I had no idea of what it could mean, nor did I know if meeting Miss Glade at the place of her choosing was a sound idea. At best, I would receive some sort of explanation for her duplicitous nature. At worst, I would enter some manner of trap.
CHAPTER TWELVE
RIOR TO DRESSING FOR MY EVENING OUT, I WALKED FROM MY rooms to my uncle’s house on Broad Court. I had been remiss in my duties as a nephew since my involvement with events at Craven House—partly because I in no way wished to incur the ire of Cobb, and partly because I had been too busy to play the dutiful relative. Those were the reasons I told to myself, but if I am to be honest, I must admit to a further. I avoided my uncle because he seemed to me a living testament to my poor management of affairs. That his health declined could be laid upon no earthly doorstep, but that his finances declined I counted among my failings. To say I felt guilt would be to press the point, for I knew I had done nothing to lead to this end, but I nonetheless understood that I bore the responsibility—if not for his difficulties then at least for their resolution. If I had not yet devised a means of helping my uncle, that in no way diluted my desire to continue the pursuit.
When I arrived, I found that matters were far worse than I might have predicted. In the gloom of evening, a small gang of rough-looking fellows carried from out my uncle’s house a chest of drawers. Parked upon the street was a dray wagon attached to a pair of ragged horses that appeared themselves to be half dead from starvation and abuse. In the dray already were several chairs and a pair of end tables. A crowd had gathered to watch the pathetic procession, and the rough men were being followed by Mr. Franco, who barked at them to be careful and to avoid knocking the doorway in between bouts of cursing or naming the men rascals.
“What is this?” I hurried up the drive and placed a hand on Franco’s shoulder.
He must not have heard me for he spun around violently, and I believe, had the light been any poorer, he should have struck me and only later troubled himself to learn who had received the blow.
However, he did check his arm. Indeed, at the sight of me, his whole body appeared to grow limp. He shook his head and cast his eyes downward. “Creditors, Mr. Weaver. They’ve scented blood. I fear it may not be long before they descend upon your uncle like ravens. And they could not have come at a worse time, for your uncle—well, he does poorly.”
I turned at once to enter the house, paying no mind to a fellow attempting to balance a chair truly too large for a single man. I knocked him quite soundly but took no pleasure in his broad efforts to keep from tumbling.
Inside, the front rooms were well lit, no doubt to aid the creditor’s men. I rushed to the main stairs and up to the second floor, where my uncle kept his room. The door was only slightly opened, so I knocked and heard my aunt Sophia call for me to enter.
My uncle did indeed lie abed, but had this not been his house I should hardly have known him. He appeared to have aged a decade or more since I saw him last. His beard had taken on a new and deeper gray, and the hair on his uncovered head had grown far thinner and more dry. His eyes, open, were deep and reddened and heavily bagged, and I observed that each breath was a struggle for him.
“Have you sent for the physician?” I asked.
My aunt, who sat on the bed holding his hand, nodded. “He has come,” she said, in her heavily accented English.
She said no more, so I knew there was nothing more to say. Perhaps he despaired for my uncle; perhaps he did not know. When she showed no optimism for recovery, I could only presume there was none.
I came to the bed and sat upon the other side. “How fare you, sir?”
My uncle attempted a weak smile. “I do not do well,” he said. A rattling sound emerged from his chest, and his voice was heavy and labored. “However, I have walked this path before and, though dark and circuitous, I have ever found my way back.”
I looked to my aunt, who offered me a half nod, as if to say that he had suffered these attacks previously, but perhaps not so bad as this.
“I am full of remorse that this has happened,” I said, keeping my words vague. I hardly knew if he was aware of the outrage that transpired below.
“As to that,” my uncle managed, “it is of no moment. Minor setbacks. Soon all will be well once more.”
“I know it will,” I told my uncle.
I looked to the door and saw Mr. Franco hovering, as though he had something of urgency to discuss. I excused myself and stepped outside.
“The men are done,” he told me. “They’ve taken several pieces, but I fear that is the least of it. If word spreads, the creditors will show no mercy. Your uncle, sir, will lose his house. He will be forced to sell his importing concern, and in its current diminished state, he must sell it very cheap indeed.”
I felt my face grow hot. “Damn them.”
“I am certain you do what you can,” he said. “Your uncle and aunt know it too.”
“I am meant to attend this cursed dinner tonight, but how can I go with my uncle so unwell?”
“If you must go, then you must,” Franco said. “With whom do you dine?”
“Ellershaw and some other men of the Company. I hardly know any more than that. I must send a note excusing myself. Cobb cannot expect me to be his plaything while my uncle lies so gravely ill.”
“Do not excuse yourself,” Franco said. “If by attending this dinner you bring yourself any closer to your goal, I am certain your uncle would far prefer you do that than spend the evening looking sad by his side. No, you must find the strength to attend to your duties. Your aunt and I will make certain your uncle has all he needs.”
“What did his physician say?”
“Only that he may recover, as he has in the past, or he may decline. This attack, he fears, may be worse than what we have seen before, but he cannot say what that means.”
We whispered together for a few more minutes, while I attempted to inform him of some of what had transpired in recent days at Craven House. I kept the discussion brief, in part because I wanted to return to my uncle, but also because I had not entirely recovered from the revelation that my most private conversations appeared to be available to Cobb. I only said that I had, at Cobb’s request, become employed by the East India Company, where I looked into any of a variety of internal turmoils. But, I said, as Mr. Cobb’s agenda remained opaque, I could hardly say if I grew closer to my end or not.
During this
conversation, my aunt emerged from the bedroom with a look of some relief upon her face. “He is better,” she told me.
I entered and saw that, in the space of half an hour, he did appear remarkably changed. Though he still breathed with some difficulty, his face now had more color. He sat up, and his countenance was one of a normal man, not one about to leave this mortal realm.
“I am gladdened to see you so much improved,” I told him.
“As am I to be so,” he answered. “I am told you witnessed the unpleasantness below.”
“Yes,” I said. “Uncle, I cannot endure that this continues, yet I hardly know how to offer you relief other than by giving my full efforts to Cobb.”
“You must for all the world make him believe you do, but you must never cease looking for advantage.”
“I fear what happened today is but the beginning,” I said. “Can we afford to play games with this man?”
“Can we afford to let him turn you into his puppet?” he asked.
“Both of us,” my aunt said. “Both of us want you to fight him.”
“But so that he suspects nothing,” my uncle added.
I nodded. Heartened by his spirit, I told him I would do no less, and so I was determined, but I could not help but wonder how we would feel when my uncle was turned to a destitute man, homeless, broken, and without health. He was no fool and knew what bargain he made. I, however, was not certain I could endure it.
I SPENT WHAT TIME I could with my family, but at last I made to excuse myself, to return to my rooms, and change for the evening. Once I looked presentable, I hired a chair to take me across town and arrived with a satisfying promptness.
I could pretend to no surprise that Mr. Ellershaw’s house on New North Street, not far from the Conduit Fields, was a fine one—a director of the East India Company ought to have a fine house, after all—but I could not recall that I had ever been invited in the capacity of a guest to a finer, and I admit I felt an unexpected apprehension. I had no Indian calicoes to wear, so I put on my finest suit of black and gold silk, woven, I could not but reflect, in the cramped garrets of Spitalfields or the dark hall of a workhouse. And though I knew I wore upon my back the labor of the cheated and the oppressed, I could not but reflect that I cut a fine figure in these fine clothes. We are all of us Adam’s children, the saying goes, but silk makes the difference.