by Dilly Court
He shrugged his shoulders. ‘I couldn’t say for certain but I think he’s the Commissioner of Police. It seems that your friend is here to further his career. Personally, I can’t stand cops. They’ll arrest a fellow as soon as look at him, as I found out to my cost some years back when I was a green youth.’
Irene felt disappointment and anger roil in her stomach. So Kent was everything that she had thought him to be and more. What a fool she had been to allow herself to be persuaded otherwise simply because he had partnered her in a waltz. She had always prided herself on being above silly girlish fancies, but in a moment of weakness she had allowed simple physical attraction to cloud her judgement.
She was startled out of her thoughts by Ephraim, who suddenly leapt to his feet. He moved to her side and executed a nifty bow from the waist. ‘I know this one, Irene. Would you do me the honour?’
Taken completely by surprise, Irene could not think of a valid excuse and she allowed him to lead her onto the floor. It was a complicated country dance and she had to concentrate hard on following the patterns set by the other couples, which involved changing partners many times. With a sinking heart she saw that Kent had partnered the young lady with the copper-coloured ringlets and rosy cheeks who had been so anxious to attract his attention earlier in the evening. Irene could only hope that she would be spared dancing with him a second time, but it was not to be.
‘Are you enjoying yourself, Miss Angel?’ Kent asked as the complicated pattern of the dance united them once again.
‘I am, and it would seem that you are too. You appear to have done your duty. Shouldn’t you be going home to your sister, Inspector?’
‘She is well cared for.’
‘That wasn’t the case earlier today. I suppose you were just doing your duty when Alice needed you most.’
‘Now you are just being difficult, Miss Angel. Are you trying to pick a fight with me?’
They were separated for a moment by the dance, but when they came together again Irene stopped, refusing to move another step. ‘Work comes first and foremost with you, doesn’t it, Inspector Kent? Your career means everything to you and you don’t care how you go about gaining promotion or who gets hurt on the way. You had my Pa arrested and thrown into jail because you couldn’t catch the real criminals.’
‘For God’s sake keep your voice down,’ Kent said in a low voice. ‘You’re making a scene.’
‘I don’t care,’ Irene cried, too distraught to care that all eyes were upon them.
He took her by the hand, clasping it to his chest so that she could not move. ‘You don’t know what you’re saying.’
White lines edged his mouth and his eyes were dark expressionless pools in his pale face. Irene knew she had gone too far but she could not stop herself. ‘Leave me alone. I don’t want anything more to do with you.’
‘You can’t accuse me of these things and not hear me out. We will settle this once and for all, in private.’ Kent released her hand only to take her by the elbow in an attempt to lead her off the dance floor.
Panic-stricken, she twisted free from him and raising her hand, she slapped him hard across the face.
There was a gasp from the onlookers followed by a stunned silence and Irene fled.
Chapter Fifteen
‘WHAT WERE YOU thinking of, Renie?’ Emily demanded, mopping her eyes with her handkerchief.
‘He made me angry,’ Irene said, turning away to peer out of the window as the snow-covered city streets flashed past. The carriage wheels clattered over the icy cobblestones and the metallic sound of the horses’ hooves shattered the silence that hung in a pall over the shuttered business heart of the City.
‘He made you angry?’ Josiah spluttered. ‘You made a spectacle of us tonight, Irene. You behaved outrageously and I won’t stand for it.’
Emily laid her gloved hand on his arm. ‘Please don’t be cross, Josiah. I’m sure that Renie is very sorry and will apologise to everyone concerned.’
‘You mustn’t upset yourself, Mrs Tippet,’ Josiah said gruffly, covering her hand with his. ‘It’s not good for you and the unborn infant, and that makes your sister’s behaviour even more despicable. I can see my position as alderman fading into the distance and all because of her.’
‘I am sorry, Josiah,’ Irene said with a sigh. ‘I acted on the spur of the moment. I didn’t think …’
‘No, you didn’t think. You behaved liked a harridan. I don’t know how I shall face my business colleagues after this. It only needs for the news to leak out that my father-in-law is a common criminal in league with the notorious Sykes brothers, and I will be ruined. What respectable man would send his wife to shop at an emporium run by people associated so closely with the underworld?’
‘Oh, no, dear,’ Emily said, sniffing and dabbing her eyes with her hanky. ‘Don’t say that.’
‘I do say it and I mean it. In future, Irene will not accompany us to any of the festive season functions, and she will stay within doors until this latest scandal blows over.’ Josiah leaned across the swaying carriage to put his florid face close to Irene’s. ‘Do you understand me, miss?’
‘Yes,’ Irene muttered, almost choking on the word. She had to agree if only to save Emmie further distress, but she was damned if she was going to obey Josiah. It would be worse than being locked up in Newgate.
‘You will stay by your sister’s side, Irene,’ Josiah continued, wagging his finger at her. ‘You will keep her company and look after your mother. If I find that you have disobeyed me, I will throw you out onto the streets where I think you truly belong, with the rotten cabbage leaves and turnip tops from the costermongers’ barrows.’
‘Oh, Mr Tippet,’ Emily sobbed. ‘Please stop.’
‘I’ll say no more, but your sister will do as I say, or she will leave our house.’ Josiah glared at Irene. ‘Don’t think I will relent. I mean every word.’
Irene discovered to her cost that Josiah was unshakeable in his decision to keep her indoors and out of sight. She was confined to the house. She had no money and no means of escape. She had once made an attempt to get out, but she had found the front door was firmly locked and Jessie had been put in charge of the key. It was insufferable that a servant should be placed in such a position of power, but Emily could do nothing to alter the situation, and Ma’s entreaties to Josiah fell on deaf ears.
Matters were made worse by Ephraim, who made it clear that he considered Irene had been dealt with quite leniently under the circumstances; and Ras seemed to think the whole sorry affair was a joke. He offered to smuggle Irene out of the house, but only if she promised to accompany him on one of his forays into the less reputable parts of the East End for a night of gambling and carousing. She might once have been tempted, but she did not entirely trust him. She had heard him staggering along the corridor to his bedroom in the early hours of the morning often enough, and seen him at breakfast, bleary-eyed and obviously suffering from the effects of over-indulging in cheap grog and opium. No matter how many times Josiah remonstrated with his son, Ras let it all wash over him like the waves on the foreshore. Irene would have found it amusing if it had not been so frustrating. If only she were a man. They got away with murder. Quite literally in some cases, as Vic and Wally Sykes were free to roam the streets while Pa was locked up in jail. There was no justice in this world, she thought bitterly, but she was not going to stand for being treated like a wayward child a moment longer than was absolutely necessary.
Christmas came and went and Irene tried to put a brave face on her continuing lack of freedom, if only for Ma’s sake and to keep Emmie from fretting. To alleviate the tedium of the long winter days, she read every novel in Josiah’s possession and her thoughts often strayed to Alice, who was doomed to this sort of existence for the rest of her days. She even went so far as to ask permission from Josiah to visit Alice so that she might apologise to her at least for the embarrassment she had caused Kent, but Josiah refused point-blank. ‘You will stay indoor
s until my wife has given birth,’ he had said. ‘After that I might allow you to accompany her in the carriage, but you will not roam the streets alone as you have done in the past. My one hope for you, Irene, is that I can find a respectable man to marry you and take you off my hands. To that end, once Mrs Tippet has recovered from her confinement, we will invite eligible bachelors to our home and pray that one of them might consider you worthy of an offer of marriage.’
Irene had been left speechless and also furious. She had retreated to her room and locked herself in until she could face Ma and Emmie without giving vent to her feelings. In the cold confines of her cheerless bedchamber she decided that she simply must escape from Josiah’s house, and the sooner the better. She had to face the fact that she would not be able to exist alone on the streets; it would be different if Pa was free to earn a living of sorts, even if it was from gambling. Together they could find rooms and maybe even persuade their old landlord to give them another chance to run the shop. She could do nothing unless Pa was released from prison, but perhaps the very people who were responsible for his plight might be the ones to secure his early release. Gradually she formulated a plan. Despite her hatred of gambling and everything that the Sykes brothers stood for, she decided to brave the evil ones in their den and put her case to them. But first she had to escape from the house without being accosted by a power-crazed Jessie or Cook brandishing a rolling pin.
The next day, after breakfast, she went to her room pleading a sick headache. Half an hour later, wearing Jim’s old clothes, she hid on the back stairs waiting her chance to escape through the tradesmen’s entrance. For several days now, she had watched from an upstairs window and timed the arrival of the various deliveries so that she knew almost to the minute when the butcher’s boy would call. He was the one who lingered longest, and even though she could not see her, Irene guessed that it was Jessie who was the unlikely recipient of his amorous intentions. Today was no exception, and she crouched on the staircase listening to his cheeky banter and Jessie’s coy responses. An impatient shout from the kitchen brought their flirtation to an abrupt end and Jessie scuttled off, carrying the tray of meat.
Irene could have cried with relief when she discovered that Jessie had forgotten to lock the outside door. It opened easily on well-oiled hinges and Irene made her escape. It was so good to be outside that she could have taken off her cap and thrown it in the air, but she forced herself to walk slowly without drawing attention to herself. The icy grip of winter had eased and there was a hint of mildness in the damp February air. Huge grey clouds hung ominously overhead, ready to spill rain on the city below, but at the moment it was dry and once she had reached the comparative safety of Wood Street she strode off with a determined lift of her chin and a spring in her step. She went straight to Blue Boar Court and knocked on the door.
After a moment or two she heard shuffling footsteps on the flagstones inside and the door opened just enough to reveal Blackie’s beady eye peering at her. ‘What d’you want, boy?’
‘You must remember me, Mr Blacker, sir. I’m Jim Angel, Billy’s son. I come to see Vic or Wally, whichever one of them is about.’
‘They ain’t interested in a sprat like you. Push off.’
He was about to close the door but Irene had been ready for this and she gave it a mighty shove, catching him off guard. She slipped past him. ‘Sorry, mister, but this won’t wait. Don’t bother to show me in. I knows the way.’
His large hairy hand reached out to grab her, but Irene was too quick for him and she scuttled along the narrow passage ignoring his tirade of threats as to what he would do if he caught her. She ran up the stairs and barged into the main saloon. The pungent smell of stale cigar smoke and the fumes of strong spirits assailed her nostrils and she almost tripped over the inert body of a punter lying on the floor with his legs under one of the card tables. She thought at first that he was dead, but he groaned and she could tell by the foul stench of his breath that he was dead drunk. She stepped over him.
‘Hello.’ Her high-pitched voice echoed off the smoke-blackened ceiling and the glasses behind the bar tinkled a response. ‘Is anyone about?’
She heard a door open at the far end of the room and she spun round to see Vic Sykes, the younger of the brothers, standing in the doorway, staring at her. ‘Who the devil are you and what do you want here?’
Irene took a deep breath. Her legs were shaking but she forced her dry lips into a grin and approached him with an attempt at a confident swagger. ‘Am I speaking to Mr Vic Sykes?’ she asked, feigning ignorance.
‘Never mind that. Answer my question, boy. Who are you?’
‘I’m Jim Angel, Billy’s son.’
Vic’s scowl lightened to a frown. ‘So you are. I reckon I saw you here one night with the old codger. How is your dad?’
‘Bearing up, mister, but he shouldn’t be in jail.’
‘That ain’t how the beak saw it, young ’un. Your dad got caught and that was his fault, not mine.’
‘I got a sick mother to support, mister. We’ve lost the shop because we couldn’t pay the rent. I know you could get my pa out of prison if it suited you. I’ve heard that Vic and Wally Sykes can do anything.’
He perched on the edge of the billiard table, eyeing her thoughtfully. ‘How old are you, boy?’
‘Fourteen, mister. I don’t expect something for nothing. I’m stronger than I look and I’m prepared to work for you to pay off the favour.’
‘You look younger and you sound like a girl. Come back when your voice has broken and you got a bit more flesh and muscle on your bones. Maybe I can find you work then.’
‘You got friends in high places, so they say,’ Irene said, determined not to be put off so easily. ‘My pa needs a good mouthpiece to get him off the hook.’
‘Lawyers cost money, kid. Why would I want to fork out for a tuppeny-ha’penny gambler like Billy?’
‘I thought you was his friend,’ Irene said angrily. ‘Some mate you are.’
Vic moved with panther-like swiftness and he grabbed her round the throat. ‘Cheeky little bastard, ain’t you? Well, listen to me, boy. If you want to live to see your dad released from Newgate you’d best keep out of my way. And you can tell Billy from me that he’d best serve his time and keep his trap shut or it’ll be the worse for him and his family. Got it?’
His fingers tightened on her windpipe and Irene struggled to breathe. Her eyes were watering and she could only nod her head in response. He released her with a violent shove that sent her crashing into one of the tables. It tipped over and she fell to the ground in a shower of gaming chips.
‘Get out of here,’ Vic snarled. ‘I won’t be so gentle next time.’
Although she was bruised and slightly dazed from the fall, Irene’s first thought was for her disguise, and her hands flew to straighten the cap that had slipped over one eye and was in danger of coming off to reveal her long hair. She scrambled to her feet and staggered from the room to the sound of Vic’s derisive laughter. Spots of light danced before her eyes as she made her way down the stairs to the passage below.
Blackie eyed her with contempt. ‘Give you a good hiding, did he? Don’t say I didn’t warn you, boy.’ He strode to the door and opened it. ‘Get out while you can. You know what will happen if you cross the Sykes brothers. Take my advice and keep well out of their way.’
Irene stumbled out of the building. She had known all about the Sykes brothers’ reputation for violence. Pa had always seemed to get on well with them, but Vic’s vicious treatment had shaken her to the core. She made her way to Cheapside but as she crossed the busy thoroughfare her mind was elsewhere, and she only narrowly avoided being run down by a brewer’s dray, to the obvious annoyance of the driver who swore at her and shook his fist. She was too shocked to retaliate but she managed to get to the far side without further mishap.
She had set so much store on the old adage honour amongst thieves; it had not occurred to her that the Sykes brothers
would abandon her father so completely. Unable to think clearly, she found herself walking in the direction of Robin Hood Court. It was only then that she realised how much she wanted to see Alice and to apologise for the humiliating scene at the Drapers’ Company ball. Irene cared little for Kent’s feelings, but she knew how devoted his sister was to him, and she would not upset Alice for all the tea in China. It hurt her pride to acknowledge it, but Irene was beginning to think that Kent might have been right in his estimation of the Sykes brothers; in fact she was slowly coming round to his way of thinking, but she would have died rather than tell him so.
She found Alice in her customary place on the sofa, reading a copy of Pride and Prejudice. Her eyes rounded in surprise as she gazed at Irene’s clothes. ‘Oh, my goodness. Is it really you, Irene?’
‘I’m afraid it is, Alice.’
‘I thought that girls dressing as boys only happened in penny novelettes.’
‘It was the only way I could get out of the house. I’ve been imprisoned in that wretched place just like one of the unfortunate females in popular novels.’
‘Then do sit down and tell me all about it,’ Alice said, setting her book aside. ‘You know how I love stories, and this one will be true to life and not from the pages of a book. I’m so happy to see you, but I was afraid that you might not want to visit this dull place again.’
‘It wasn’t that, Alice.’ Irene pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘I wanted to see you, but it’s been difficult, and I wasn’t certain that you would want me to call again after what I did to your brother at the drapers’ ball.’
‘What did you do? Edward never tells me anything.’
Irene had gone too far to stop now. She could have played down her part in the unfortunate scene, but the truth lay heavily on her conscience and admitting her folly to Alice was the nearest she could get to apologising to the man who had become the bane of her life. Taking a deep breath, she launched into a detailed description of the events that had led up to her abandoning Kent in the middle of the dance floor. Alice listened wide-eyed and enthralled, as if Irene was reading a chapter from one of her favourite novels. ‘My goodness,’ she exclaimed as Irene came to an abrupt halt. ‘Poor Edward. He must have been so embarrassed.’