“I rather thought him destined for the stage, with all his comedic routines and jokes.” They shared a smile. How would he find any pleasure in his mornings with her gone? “I’m going to miss you terribly, you know.”
She glanced up, as if afraid others in the room had heard, but with no mother, sister, or aunt present, who would censure? “That is a very kind sentiment, Captain. We have had some lovely mornings.”
“At least you’ll still be here for Christmas.”
Manfred came toward them, loudly requesting a round of Beethoven to drown out the idiocies of his cousin. Judah chuckled and made his good-byes. Magdalene was not working the next day, but he was.
“Captain?”
Judah pushed himself up and rubbed his eyes as his valet put a candle on the bedside table. His valet yawned, then quickly covered his mouth. In the dark, Judah wouldn’t have caught him if not for the man’s gesture.
“We both sleep in on Sundays. I am sorry for the inconvenience, Lawrence.”
His valet sneezed. “I am sorry, Captain. I did not wake early as planned. I think I have a fever. I slept badly.”
“What time is it?”
“Nine a.m.”
Half asleep, Judah couldn’t remember what his plan had been. “That’s all right, then. Plenty of time to intervene.” Judah reached for the dressing gown at the foot of his bed.
“It is too bad the boy is too stubborn to stay away.” Lawrence coughed.
“We do not know enough about his personal life to understand. Perhaps he is beaten if he doesn’t come home with money each day.”
“Very likely,” the valet said with a sniff. “It is often said that the lower classes value a shilling over a life.”
“Bring me my shaving water, will you? I’ll have breakfast downstairs by the fire.”
Judah dressed himself and reached for a case on top of his wardrobe. He loaded his gun, planning to tuck it into his greatcoat. Lawrence had opened the curtains. It looked a pleasant day for November. Though still dark, it wasn’t raining or particularly windy.
The meeting of the Social Democratic Federation had been announced for two-thirty p.m., so he had plenty of time to find Eddy and buy the newspapers. He thought that after, they could have a friendly chat over tea and buns in his office, and discuss the boy’s future.
Lawrence came back in and put a steaming bowl on his washstand.
“Thank you. I think you should go back to bed.”
“I have many duties.”
“I do not care. I am sure Penny does not want your illness any more than I do.”
“Thank you, Captain. I shall stay in my room as much as possible.”
“Thank you.” He did not want the illness to spread through the household or Redcake’s. After a large breakfast, he perused the papers he’d been too busy to read the day before, seeing that two thousand police and four hundred troops had been ordered in and around Trafalgar Square. This was a worse situation than he realized.
He heard a banging at his front door and sent Penny to open it. Then he picked up his mail, finding a note from Alys in response to his thanking her for dinner the other night.
Penny came back into the warm kitchen. “I put her in the parlor, Captain. Miss Cross, that is.”
He glanced at his pocket watch. It wasn’t much after ten a.m. Had George been making trouble again? “Thank you, Penny.”
A few moments later, he opened the door to the freezing parlor. Magdalene was looking at the embroidery on a pillow Beth had given him, still fully dressed in her outerwear.
“I’m sorry. I should have told her to bring you straight to the kitchen. I was not expecting callers today.”
She set down the pillow. Her face was pale, but seemed unmarked by violence. “It is fine. I came because I am so worried about Eddy. Did you find him? Do you know there are five thousand police out? Cavalry men with swords? The streets are madness.”
This was the bucolic England of his dreams? “You should have stayed at home. I was about to leave.”
“Every time I fell asleep last night I remembered seeing that boy’s blood on the rock next to the old stone wall. Do you know? I cannot remember his full name. We called him Jamie. That is all I recall. I can’t let Eddy die too.”
“You are not in charge of him, not even for a game of follow-the-leader, Magdalene.” He took her by the arms and forced her to look at him. “He lives on those streets. He has worked in the Square, side by side with all the homeless who’ve been moving in as long as I’ve been here, and he’s never run into serious trouble.”
“How can you say that, with the beatings he’s taken?”
“He says they are from home.”
“I think he lives on the Square, Captain. I’ve been thinking about it. I will wager he lives there along with all the anarchists.” She wrung her hands.
Judah shook his head. “He manages to keep enough money to buy his papers from day to day. I doubt he could do that if he was living rough.”
Magdalene’s look of assurance faltered. “I didn’t think about that.”
“Stay here, in the kitchen. Penny will take care of you. I’ll walk over to your house and tell your brothers you are safe, then I’ll go and find Eddy.”
“I should go with you.” She lifted her chin.
“No. Not with all those men about.”
“Do not worry about speaking to my brothers. Neither of them is home.”
“They aren’t going to this protest, I hope?”
“No. Manfred caught a train this morning on some errand for Lady Mews and George went to the twins’ school.”
“To visit them or make them return?”
“Visit. My uncle has been working hard to restore my brother’s good sense.”
“That is good news, at least. I shall find my coat and then I will depart.”
“I am coming with you. It is early yet. The protest is hours from now.”
“I do not want to look out for you as well. Stay here so I don’t worry, please.”
“It isn’t proper.”
“Are you afraid the other man will not want you if you are in my house alone?”
She pressed her lips together. “There could be gossip. That I had another relationship.”
“It would not be a lie. We’ve kissed, more than once. I am quite sure you enjoyed the experience.”
She stared at the bare planks on the floor. He hadn’t gone to the expenditure of rugs yet, save the one in his bedroom, and he’d brought that back from India.
“Am I such a bad choice of husband?”
“I was raised be a Society wife, not a tradesman’s wife. I never thought to want anything else.”
“Consider that your brother’s profligacy has ruined you for anyone but a relative.”
“It’s not as if I’m going to marry Geoffrey Cander. The baronet is my fifth cousin. Scarcely a relative at all. And, at least, the baronet does not dislike my family.”
“I can resolve the Lady Bricker situation. You cannot expect me to give up fighting for you.” He gentled his tone.
She said nothing and he was gratified that she hadn’t told him to stop fighting. He sensed a level of indecision still existed in her mind. Finding only one approach that made sense to him, he moved to her, put his fingers under her chin, and tilted her mouth to his.
He was gentle, at least that was his intention, but she met him with a cry almost like a sob. Her mouth opened under his, hot and welcoming. So, he plundered, licking her tongue until it tangled with his, the taste of his morning Assam mingling with her Darjeeling.
Then, he felt a pressure on his chest and realized she was pushing him away. When he forced his legs to obey and moved back, he saw tears were drifting down her cheeks. She wiped them away with a sniff.
“I will not be your problem for much longer. Please, go find Eddy.”
“You’ve never been my problem, Magdalene. You are my delight.”
“I am Miss Cross. We are no
t in the bakery.” Her back stiffened and her chin came up.
How he loved her stubborn little chin and those rosy, kiss-swollen lips. How he loved her. What a moment to discover this truth, so inappropriate yet perfect, when he was about to stride onto a battlefield to save their friend.
He held back his smile and said, “I apologize, Miss Cross,” with studied gravity. He opened the parlor door for her, then led her into his warm kitchen.
“Make Miss Cross a pot of tea, Penny, will you? And whatever else she needs. I’ll be back soon.”
“Be careful, Captain,” Magdalene said. “I wish you’d let me come with you.”
“I will be fine. I’m going in armed, just in case. But as you say, I have plenty of time.”
His estimate of time diminished rapidly when he reached the street and started moving toward Trafalgar Square. Everywhere, he saw people gathering. Pushing his way through the area, he saw that a march was planned for every direction.
Eventually, he realized there was no easy entrance and he began paying attention to any boy about Eddy’s size. He circled the Square, trying to avoid crossing the mass of humanity, then began to thread his way to Nelson’s Column. Soon, he realized there was no way Eddy could be in his normal spot, as Life Guards were guarding the monument on horseback. A few feet away from them, he saw a policeman raise his nightstick and hit a screaming man. The crowd surged toward the monument. Someone threw a drum into the air and two men with sticks attempted to rush a mounted soldier.
As this one scene occurred, he saw better dressed men attempting to pull a cart toward a fountain, to use as a stage, perhaps.
Where would Eddy stand? Had he gone home, wherever that might be? Or to the news shop where he bought his daily supply? No, that was wrong; Eddy bought direct from the publisher. Where was that office? He glanced around frantically, confused by the fact that everyone here was white. Who was the enemy when you couldn’t note them by their dark skin and tribal costume?
“Keep your swords in your scabbards!” he heard a subaltern yell from his position, as one of the mounted cavalry put his hand to his belt.
Judah walked over to the young officer and, steering clear of hooves, called up to him. “When you first came here, did you chase off a newsboy? He’s here every morning.”
“Not me,” said the subaltern.
Judah circled the monument carefully and found a captain, then, after introducing himself, repeated his question.
“Yes, he was here,” the captain said. “I told him to find another perch for the day. We’re in for some nasty business. You should go.”
“Did you see what direction he went?”
The officer shrugged. “That was hours ago.”
Judah thanked him, then began to wander the Square. For now, it was actually quieter than the streets around, since the march had yet to begin. He found a newsboy and made his inquiry.
“Eddy stands at Nelson’s Column,” the youth said. He was about Eddy’s age but looked less scruffy. Perhaps he still had a mother.
“I know, but he was chased off by the Life Guards. Any idea where he would be?”
“Check with the chestnut man who works the northeast corner,” the newsboy advised. “Eddy sleeps in the same building as ’im.”
Judah tossed him a shilling and went northeast, thrilled by this first crack in the mystery. Eddy didn’t live in the Square after all.
He recognized the chestnut seller by the round pan, smelling of charcoal, in which he roasted the chestnuts.
“Apples,” cried the street seller in an Italian accent. “Hot apples, chestnuts! Sixteen a penny!”
Next to the man was a hot potato seller, and she did a far brisker business, with a line of redheaded customers three deep. Judah remembered part of today’s protest was about the Irish question. He went up to the Italian.
“Have you seen Eddy Jackson recently?”
“Eh?” The man pretended to be deaf.
Judah got the point quickly enough and gave him a penny for six uncooked apples. “Now, my man, Eddy Jackson? The newsboy?”
“ ’ e’s at the Column.”
“Not today he isn’t. The cavalry is guarding it.”
“Try down by the Strand. ’e said he’d go there if he couldn’t get into the Square today.”
“Are you responsible for him?” Judah asked.
“Not me. Old ’ighmark is our landlord.”
“Is he a relative of Eddy Jackson’s?”
“I don’t think so. Eddy just came to ’is attention-like, as did the lot of us at one time or another, being the best in our trade.”
Judah glanced at the busy potato woman. “I think you need to consider changing trades.”
Now he was at the opposite end of the Square from where he needed to be. He dashed across as quickly as he could, aware that two-thirty was approaching. Enough people were present now that he could smell human sweat, along with horse dung and the smoky food smells of the vendors. The cart was in place for speakers and he could see banners being waved to the north. Clouds hung in the sky, promising precipitation. He picked up his speed to a fast trot, wishing he was on horseback.
Eventually, he muscled his way out of the Square and craned his neck in the direction of one street corner, then another. Thankfully he was a full head taller than many of the stunted protestors. How was he going to find one undersized newspaper boy?
Just then, he thought he heard Eddy’s shout, but a phalanx of policemen passed toward him, sticks in hand. He swore and dashed in the direction of the shout, only to see a ragged boy holding a very familiar cap, running fast.
Stepping in the boy’s path, he grabbed the cap out of his hand.
“ ’ey! That’s mine.”
“No it isn’t.” He took the boy by the shirt. “Stealing right in front of the bobbies?”
The boy wrenched away, tearing his shirt. He stuck out his tongue at Judah and ran.
A group was forming in the street. Judah began to step through, threading his way across to the corner. Women let him pass, but then a huge man stepped in his way and grinned, showing blackened teeth, and not nearly enough of them. Judah tried to step around him to the left but the man danced sideways.
With a sigh, Judah made a fist and slammed it into the man’s jaw. His eyes widened in surprise as he fell back a step. Judah feinted to the right and moved past him, shaking out his hand. His glove had absorbed a little of the blow.
Eventually, he made the street corner, to find Eddy, standing on a box, holding the Times high. As expected, the lad had no cap, and his lip was bleeding. His jacket had been half torn off his arm again, but he was still trying to earn his pennies.
Judah grabbed him. The lad winced as Judah pulled him down so he could speak into his ear. “I’ll buy the rest of the day’s papers. Come with me.”
Eddy looked at him with surprise, no sign of a smile today. Judah tugged at him. “Come.”
Eddy stepped carefully off his box, wobbling. On the other side, a boy ran by, grabbing a handful of papers, then moving off in the opposite direction.
“Oy!” Eddy shouted, but Judah kept a firm grip on him.
“I’ll pay for them, Eddy.”
Eddy looked at him, wild-eyed.
“You’re done for the day,” Judah repeated, overturning the box, then snatching the rest of Eddy’s papers and loading them in. “Miss Cross wants you.”
Eddy blinked. “That’s different then. Her brother beat her again?”
Chapter Sixteen
Magdalene heard rustling on the other side of one of two kitchen doors.
“That’s the tradesman’s entrance,” Penny commented. She sat at the other end of the table, calmly peeling potatoes, while Magdalene fretted. Penny seemed a severe sort, unlike her Hetty. She wondered if the servants mirrored their master’s personalities.
Judah brought Eddy in through the back door, dropping a box of papers next to the stove. Magdalene cried out when she saw Eddy’s bloody face
. Judah appeared undamaged, at least. Penny ran for towels.
Eddy smiled at her as she rose and came to him. “Miss Cross!”
“Your jaw is bruising,” Magdalene said, after she’d pulled him toward the gaslight and examined his face.
Eddy thrust his tongue into his cheek. “I think ’e loosed a few of my teeth.”
“I saw you were limping. What happened?” Judah tossed Eddy’s cap onto the table.
“Where’d you get that, guv?” Eddy snatched it and slapped it on his head.
“A little tosser ran off with it.”
He shook his head admiringly. “I never thought to see it again.”
Magdalene poured him a cup of tea from her cooling pot and added plenty of cream. “Sugar, Judah?”
“I don’t keep it on the table, but here’s a bowl of raisin buns from Redcake’s that I’d been planning to eat at tea.”
“Mind that lip,” Magdalene said as Eddy wrapped his hands around the teacup. “Is it madness out there?”
“More and more,” Judah said. “Little battles everywhere. People are going to die before the afternoon is over.”
“How am I going to get home?” She hadn’t thought this through.
“I sent a note to Hatbrook House, asking for the carriage just before dusk. Hopefully the streets will be clear by then and a fancy carriage will be left alone.”
“Smart idea,” she said, grateful she wouldn’t be compromised by spending the night here. She didn’t trust herself in a house at night with Judah, and the baronet might have second thoughts if he heard rumors about her.
“I met that Italian you live with,” Judah said, sitting next to Eddy. “Who is this Highmark?”
Eddy inhaled a raisin bun in two bites. “ ’e’s the man what will beat me bloody if you don’t give me the chink you promised for my papers.”
“Looks like you were beaten pretty well already.”
Eddy shrugged. “I didn’t want to go into the Square today. I knew it’d be dangerous, and them without money would be taking the day, likely enough. Not the toffs like you who have a penny to spare.”
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