by Abigail Agar
Jules snatched her arm out of Gregory’s grasp and snapped, “What do you think will happen to my reputation in the guild when it is discovered that some noble came to my rescue?”
The idea had not occurred to Gregory until that moment. He straightened and sighed. “You can tell them that I tried to coerce you into talking if you wish.”
Jules frowned at the nobleman. “Why don’t you go get the guards to let the rest of the guild go?” She eyed him. “You don’t really want anyone to know you are here. That’s why you implied what you did to the guard. Who is Lord Chapman?”
“He is a judge that I have known since childhood. He is not nearly as open-minded as I am,” Gregory assured the young woman.
Jules shook her head at the blond-haired nobleman. “I have to go tell my mother that I am okay. She will get word of the raid soon enough and worry for me.”
Gregory made no effort to hold Jules as she walked away from the square and towards the backstreets. Instead, he followed her. “I can try to help get the guild members released. I know a barrister who likes standing up for the underdogs,” Gregory offered as he caught up with her quick pace.
“Why should you do that?” Jules’ voice held no small amount of contempt and irritation.
Gregory shrugged. “Despite what you might think of my fellows, not all of us are eager for the working classes to crumble. Some of us understand that if that happens, then we will fall too.”
Jules did not respond. She just trudged ahead until they reached a building that was little more than a slum as far as Gregory could see. There was what looked to be some kind of fabric draped over a broken window. “You live here?” Gregory asked the question with obvious disdain.
“No one is inviting you in, Your Lordship,” Jules reminded Gregory as she slipped through the wooden door.
Gregory stared at the door for a long moment and then sighed. He resigned himself to waiting outside.
***
Mrs Kelley rushed over to her daughter as soon as she saw her. “I just heard from Mrs Yates that there was a raid nearby,” her mother said frantically.
“It was the meeting that I was headed to. Luckily, I got away, but a lot of the others were not so lucky,” Jules said remorsefully. “I should be there with them.”
Mrs Kelley scolded, “And what would you do when they discovered your bit of exaggeration?” Jules’ mother waved her hand at her daughter’s body.
“I know,” Jules sighed. “I still feel like I should be with them.”
The frown on Mrs Kelley’s face said enough. The woman shook her head at her daughter. “It is too dangerous to carry on with this ruse any longer. I understand why you did, and it was a valiant try worthy of any knight-errant, but darling, we need to flee the city. Work is barely coming in, and with the guild dispersed, we might as well start looking for somewhere out in the countryside or a smaller town.”
“We can barely get work in the large towns,” Jules countered. “We are not going to get anywhere on foot.”
There was a knock at the door before Gregory poked his head through, “I might have a way to help if you will accept it that is.”
“Who is this man?” Mrs Kelley asked suspiciously at the intrusion.
Gregory stepped inside and shut the door. He bowed deeply to the lady of the house. “Forgive my abrupt appearance. I was told to wait outside,” Gregory said apologetically, “but I could hardly help overhearing your tale of woe. I do have somewhere you can go outside of the city.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Jules said scathingly. “He’s that nobleman who likes to play at being one of us commoners. You remember the one I told you about?”
Mrs Kelley eyed Gregory dubiously. “He doesn’t look like much of a nobleman,” she commented to her daughter.
Gregory shifted and eyed the two women without amusement. He folded his arms. To tell the truth, he had put himself out already, and he did not really need the added ridicule. “I can see the family resemblance,” Gregory remarked as he spun on his heel.
“Wait,” Jules said. “If you could get my mother and sisters somewhere to go, then I would be much in your debt.”
Gregory stopped. He turned his head to look at the young woman. “Where would the advantage be in that?” Gregory eyed the women before he shrugged. “But I really do not have anything planned other than a ball that I wish very much to get out of, so I will see what I can do. I trust that I will be able to find you here again when I return shortly?”
“Yes,” Jules said with no trace of humour. Gregory dipped his head which caused his long blond ponytail to slip over his shoulder. When the man was gone, Jules turned to her mother, “Don’t argue with me on this. You, Tally, and Georgie have to get out of London. If the guards come here to find me, then they could very well throw you all in with me.”
Mrs Kelley grabbed her daughter’s arm with both of her worn hands. She pleaded, “Please come with us, Jules. If this nobleman of yours can help us, then we could be safe, or at least safer.”
“He isn’t my nobleman, Mother, and you will be safe, I promise. I have to stay here, just for a bit. If his Lordship is right, then there is a barrister who could help the boys, and I have to try to help them.” Jules gave her mother a hug. “I’ll go round up my sisters. You just gather what you can.” Jules gave her mother a quick hug before she ducked out the door.
***
Jules raced along the street toward where her sisters were helping to sweep the streets of ash and debris from the fire. “Tally! Georgie!” she shouted to the girls as she spied them.
Tally raised her hand and waved while Georgie gave Jules a curious look. “Whatcha doing here?” Georgie asked in confusion.
“I have a bit of a surprise,” Jules said as she bent down next to the girls and put her hands on her knees. “You and Ma are you going on a trip to the countryside,” she added with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
Tally whooped in joy, but Georgie crossed her arms and rubbed her nose with slender fingers as she asked, “What does that mean?”
“It means that Ma has gotten a new job, and you all will be leaving the city for some fresh air,” Jules said. “Now come along. Ma needs your help to get everything packed.”
Georgie did not look convinced, but she followed her sister anyway. Jules took Tally’s hand, and they walked back towards their home. Jules felt a hollowness sneak into her heart.
The building was where they had fled to when they had lost the house they had lived in before. They had fled to one of the buildings that Jules’ father had built because Jules’ had known that the building was empty.
When Jules led the two young girls up to the door of their building, she gave them an encouraging smile before she went in to help her mother. She had no idea when the nobleman might make a return appearance, and she wanted everything squared away. As much as she hated to trust the nobleman, there was something forthright about him that struck her as being different from his peers.
Inside, the two little girls ran up the stairs to the room they shared. Jules shook her head at the sudden enthusiasm the two had seemed to develop. Tally’s spirit must have won Georgette over because even the older girl seemed to be more optimistic about their impending move now. Jules listened to the pounding of their feet as they pushed and shoved along the way.
“Jules, could you help me get the bags from upstairs,” Mrs Kelley said from the stairwell, pulling Jules from her thoughts.
Jules nodded. “Of course.” She made her way up. Her mother’s room was the same one where Jules slept. The mattress that belonged to her grandmother was much too cumbersome to move.
An old suitcase, whose material was so worn and coarse that it felt more like threadbare carpet than the once fine piece of luggage that her grandmother had carried on trips abroad, sat next to the door. Jules pulled the heavy piece of luggage down the stairs carefully.
Her mother came up the stairs to help, and together they finished getting the
ancient piece of luggage to the bottom of the stairs in one piece. Jules was surprised that the fabric had held together, to be honest. She breathed a sigh of relief once it was resting near the door.
Mrs Kelley went back upstairs to supervise the younger girls. When they all came back downstairs, they sat on some old wooden crates that they had stacked up to use as a table at one point. Jules had gotten them from one of the shops nearby when they had closed down.
Georgie asked quietly, “What are we going to do in the country?”
Truthfully, Jules and her mother had no idea. Mrs Kelley lifted her shoulders and sighed, “Probably housekeeping or some such. It doesn’t suit a young woman to be so overly curious, Georgette dear.”
Jules smiled. She remembered her mother telling her the same thing when she was about Georgie’s age. Then a couple of years later, she had gone to apprentice with her father much to the chagrin of her mother who had assumed that Jules would take over her trade.
As it turned out, with the invention of those shiny textile machines, Jules was better off with masonry as a skillset. The true artisanship of seamstresses was quickly fading, and work was scarce for those who worked with textiles.
They sat there for so long that the hope faded from Mrs Kelley’s eyes. It was entirely possible that the nobleman had forgotten them or that it would simply prove impossible. Jules drew in a deep breath. “I should probably go see if I can’t locate him. He could have run into trouble with as on edge as the streets are right now.”
Mrs Kelley nodded, and Jules rose just as a knock sounded on the door. Tally practically jumped off her crate. Jules eased over to the door and called, “Who is it?”
“Just a foolish nobleman,” Gregory’s voice called back. Jules cracked open the door. Gregory’s grey eyes stared back at her with amusement.
Jules pulled the door open wide and said, “I was just coming to look for you.”
“I am grateful to save you the steps,” Gregory said with a smile. He looked over at Mrs Kelley. “Ah, these must be your other daughters,” he said, catching sight of the two little girls with Mrs Kelley.
Mrs Kelley smiled proudly, “Yes, Milord, this is Georgette and Talenda.”
“No one calls her Talenda,” Georgette spoke up. “Her name is Tally, and I’m Georgie.”
Gregory gave the little girls a deep bow. “I am deeply honoured to meet you, fair ladies,” he said with more conviction than he had when saying the same thing to ladies of the court.
Georgie grinned broadly at Jules. Jules just rolled her eyes at the nobleman’s antics. “Where will you be taking them?” Jules had no intention of letting her family go without first knowing their destination.
Gregory looked confused. “You do not intend to travel with them?”
“I have a duty to my guild and to the people around here to keep them as safe as I can,” Jules said firmly. “I’m not one to shirk my duties.”
Mrs Kelley looked between Jules and the nobleman. Gregory simply shrugged. “You cannot stay here,” he said reasonably. “You know that this will be one of the first places they come looking for all the people connected with the local activists’ and workers’ rallies. Who do you think people are going to point to first?” Gregory saw Jules’ mind working.
He soothed, “Your family is going to be staying at my estate in the country. If you wish, you can reside at my family’s home here in London until things are calmer. I know you wish to be close, and that’s the best I can offer at present.”
Jules gave her mother a nod. “As long as my mother and sisters are okay, then I guess I owe you, Lord.”
“Then it is all settled. We will need to return to my London estate to prepare. I hope you ladies are amicable to that.” Gregory gave them all a bright smile. “I have a carriage waiting for us just outside.”
Tally jumped up. “Am I going to get to sleep in a real bed?”
“Yes,” Gregory replied in amusement. Tally gave a whoop of joy before being silenced by her mother’s stern look. “Shall we?” Gregory held the door open but came over to take the luggage from Jules as she sought to help her mother get it outside. Outside, a man leapt down off the carriage and took the luggage from Gregory before placing it on the rack of the carriage.
Georgie tugged on Jules shirt. She whispered, “Won’t you come with us to the country?”
“I promise that I will eventually. I just need to finish up a few things,” Jules said to her sister softly.
***
Jules had never seen such fine things as filled the home of this strange nobleman. Her mother and sisters had been whisked away at once to go find their rooms for the night by an overly happy maid. “Miss Kelley,” the nobleman appeared at her elbow causing Jules to jump.
“Forgive me for startling you,” he said with a smile. “I fear that I have not really introduced myself, and here you are giving me your family for safe keeping.”
“Well, I know you are a Duke and that your surname is St Claire. I know of only one family that fits that description so you would have to be the Duke of Thornton,” Jules said logically. She noted the look of genuine surprise on the man’s face. “I might not emulate The ton, but my father always said that it pays to know who your adversaries are.”
“I warrant being an adversary?” Gregory asked in wonderment. “Here I thought I was being quite charming.”
Jules countered, “Lots of things can appear quite different than they actually are, Your Grace.”
“True,” Gregory admitted. “I am the first-born son and therefore got the privilege of accepting the mantle of the family title. However, it gets tiresome with everyone calling me by inflated honorifics all the time. I prefer Gregory, to be honest.”
Jules mumbled, “Gregory.” She shook her head. “What will you tell your family about why we are here?”
“I will simply tell them the truth. I hired your mother to do housekeeping and to be a private seamstress for my mother. Lady St Claire has several gowns made per season, and it would be a decent wage,” Gregory said.
Jules nodded. She did not want to hurt the chances of her family getting helped by the man, but it seemed to her that he was just creating strife for himself. There was no real reason for him to get involved in their woe.
“You must be very serious about getting out of those balls you seem to hate so much,” Jules noted aloud to the man.
Gregory laughed and dipped his head. “Nothing gives me more pleasure than to thwart my mother’s never-ending attempts to set me up with eligible ladies.”
“And here my mother thought I was set against marriage.” Jules laughed softly.
Gregory eyed the young woman in amusement. She still had her cap in place and looked her part very much, but Gregory knew better now. It still caused him pause to hear a young lady talk so opinionatedly on subjects that most of the gentler set chose to avoid at all cost.
“We might want to see about getting you dressed appropriately. I doubt that my mother will approve of your attire.” Gregory waved a hand at Jules’ breeches and cap.
“I suppose I do look a bit scandalous if you know my true alignment,” Jules admitted. “I guess that means I won’t be staying here under the guise of a young apprentice or man-in-waiting.”
Gregory scoffed, “Dear me, no.”
Jules smirked at the reaction from the man. “I promise not to look,” she said with a laugh at the expression on Gregory’s face.
A maid appeared in the foyer and gave them a curtsey. Gregory nodded to Jules. “I need you to go see that Miss Kelley is appropriately dressed for dinner.”