“Very well, I will meet him without you tomorrow, but I will not keep this secret for long. I cannot for a very practical reason.”
He smiled and asked what that might be.
“Sam told me he was leaving my service to return to Switzerland and marry Madame Cousec, and that you were his replacement. We cannot possibly place my uncle’s peace of mind over my well-being.”
“No, we cannot,” Antonio agreed. “And are you fine with this change of guard?”
“I will miss Sam terribly, but I am very pleased he had the courage to ask her, although I cannot imagine how she could keep her happiness so well covered…” Amy stopped talking as she noticed Antonio’s expression. “Sam didn’t ask her before he left?”
“No. He had thought he would only be gone a week. But when he arrived and matters with Nicolas went awry, he chose to stay until they calmed.”
“I wish he wouldn’t have done that,” she whispered. “Damn Nicolas! He causes no end to trouble!”
Antonio smiled. “I couldn’t agree more.” He stopped smiling as he realized that Amy looked very concerned. “Amy, what is it?”
“I just hope Sam’s not too late. There was a gentleman Madame Cousec had corresponded with for many years. In the letter she received just before I left, he had asked her to marry him. I had asked if she intended to accept. She said she wasn’t certain; there were other possibilities that she would prefer…”
“That sounds good,” Antonio assured her.
“Yes, but she went on to say she would need to decide soon, for there had been an offer to buy the school and she would have to give them the answer by the end of the month.”
“Did you ever mention any of this to Sam?”
“No. I tried once to discover if he truly loved Madame Cousec or just admired her, and he bit my head off. He warned me to stay out of his personal affairs, so I’ve done so. I had no idea he loved her. I knew he liked her, but he keeps his emotions very close to the chest.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Oh Antonio, what if he returns and Madame Cousec has left and married this other man?”
“I hope that does not happen, but if it does, then he’ll return, and you’ll have five protectors.”
Chapter 35
The knock on the door was so light that Tom Goodheart thought it was for a different door. It was only on the fourth round of knocking that he decided to investigate. He opened the door and came face to face with his dead sister.
“Amy?” His heart wedged in his throat.
“You know who I am then?” she asked in that familiar sweet voice.
“Of course.” Finally, he realized what her presence meant. “Is it my time?”
“Time?”
“To die. Is that why you have come?”
She pressed her hand upon his chest. “Are you ill?”
He touched her hand. She certainly did not feel like a spirit.
“You are fine,” she assured him. “Uncle, you are not dying, I promise you.”
The word ‘uncle’ confused him. “Why do you call me uncle?”
“Because you are my uncle.”
“But I’m not!”
The well-dressed lady behind Amy responded. “Of course, you are. The family resemblance is readily apparent. Now get a hold of your senses and invite us in! It is abominably rude to keep young ladies standing out in this hall.”
Tom looked at the elegantly dressed woman and the young ladies behind her, then his focus returned to Amy. He stepped back and stammered for them to enter. He apologized for the humble lodgings as he sought chairs for them all. When he was assured they were comfortable, the older woman ordered him to sit down. He took his seat and looked at Amy.
Finally realizing that this young girl could not possibly be his sister, he asked what he thought was a reasonable question. “Who are you?”
The older woman yelled at him. “She is your niece, which you clearly know!”
The dark-haired petite young lady leaned forward and studied him as if he were an exhibit at a circus. “Perhaps he thought you were your mother.”
Amy looked at him. “Is that it? Did you mistake me for my mother? Nelle said I favored her.”
His mouth fell open as he realized this beautiful young lady had to be the baby Amy had born. “You are Amy’s child?”
Amy nodded.
“Is she alive? Is your mother alive?” he asked in excitement. They had told him Amy and the baby were dead. But clearly, they had lied.
“My mother died when the ground gave way beneath her. With all her strength, she threw me into the arms of Uncle John before she fell to her death. I was but five-days-old when I lost her.”
He closed his eyes as his brief moment of hope faded. “I had been told you were both dead. Seeing you alive…I thought perhaps she lived as well.”
“I wish she had. I don’t know anything about her. Do you remember her?”
“Yes. I remember her every day, every hour. She is my moral compass and the source of all my courage and determination to help those without homes and food.”
“Because she was sent from her home for having me.”
“Yes,” he replied and suddenly excused himself to find a towel to blot his eyes.
Upon returning to the chair, the older woman gave him a lace handkerchief to use. He refused it, but she insisted she had brought an entire purse full of them, which she now distributed.
Seeing Amy’s face staring at him, desperate to hear more, he shared his memories. He was only ten when Amy left home, but every happy moment he had ever known centered around her. She had this wonderful joy inside her that could push away all the pain and misery.
Loud voices in the hall and then a banging on his door interrupted his story. Tom went to the door to find concerned neighbors wanting to ensure he was unharmed. Seeing the three dangerous men in his hall, he looked at the older woman.
“Are these men with you?”
The older woman nodded that they were.
Tom quickly assured the people he was fine and promised he’d be out to start serving breakfast right away.
He turned to the ladies. “I am sorry; I do wish to continue our conversation, Amy, but I have obligations. If the kitchen is not opened, the children will go hungry all day.”
“We will not delay you, but may we help you?” Amy asked.
“It is no place for ladies, you will soil your clothes.”
“Which is why we wore old clothes,” the older woman assured him.
Tom did not know how to respond. He found it inconceivable that the beautiful clothes they wore were the worse they possessed. Such wealth… He stared at Amy. How had Amy’s child come to be such a fine lady, so well-dressed? Nothing made any sense.
“Forgive me, Uncle, in the joy of meeting you, I failed to make introductions. “This is Mrs. Halloway, her daughter Catherine, and Domnika Post, my constant companion. Now let us not delay you any further. Let us go to the kitchens and you can put us to work. Mrs. Halloway is an expert in logistics, so if you have any inefficiencies, she will work them out in no time.”
Tom felt rather swept away by some immense wave, but with Amy’s face before him, he found it impossible to resist.
He had expected the women who worked the kitchen to object to the invasion of gentile ladies, but they all cowed beneath Mrs. Halloway’s commands and soon, to Amy’s prediction, the kitchen ran smoother. The addition of three strong men to assist in the heavy carrying and lifting of bags of flour and potatoes was certainly helpful as well. By eight o’clock, the kitchen emptied. All the women and children were at work except for the children who had arrived yesterday.
The children gravitated towards Amy. Soon she turned their fear to smiles.
“She’s a pure angel, that girl,” Mrs. Halloway declared.
“She is just like my sister.”
“How such parents had the two of you, I cannot fathom,” Mrs. Halloway observed.
“I don’t think they did.”
/> “Excuse me?”
“I don’t think they were really our parents. Even as a boy I was convinced of it by the way they treated Amy and me, compared to the way they treated the younger children. We were always ‘the boy’ and ‘the girl’ while the other children had names. Nor did we resemble them.”
“Odd because the name Goodheart seems to fit you and Amy quite well.”
“Yes, it fit Amy perfectly and with God’s help I have not harmed it. I believe the couple that raised us took my father and mother’s name and claimed us for their own, although why, I cannot imagine. When they bought tickets to America, they sailed under the name Larklin.”
“I understand you were left at port because they could not afford your passage.”
“Oh, they could afford it. They just weren’t willing to use one coin from their treasure chest on me. They tried to sell my services to the captain, but he had no need of a ten-year-old boy. Thus, I was dumped onto the dock. I didn’t think I would mind staying behind, but abandonment is a frightening thing. Even bad parents seem better than none when night falls on the docks.” He paused and looked at the woman. “You seem to know about me.”
“You don’t think I’d let that girl come meet a Goodheart without first determining if he earned the namesake.”
Tom sighed. “I’m glad you brought her.”
“Are you? You don’t seem glad.”
“It’s hard to see my sister alive, and then have to remind myself she is dead and the person before me is her child whom I do not know.”
“Do you want to know her?”
Tom did not answer immediately. There was something about Mrs. Halloway that demanded blunt honesty. “I cannot answer that just yet. Right now, I feel very unsettled. It is not just her likeness that disturbs me, but her differences as well.”
“How is she different?”
“She is stronger and more confident than Amy. My sister was a day dreamer, while this young lady appears to be one of action. Amy was shy…”
“And this Amy is not,” Mrs. Halloway agreed. “Well, you will need to decide soon whether you wish a relationship or not. Amy loves people very easily, and I would prefer her heart not be hurt more than absolutely necessary if you choose to cast her off.”
Tom felt as if someone had punched him in his stomach. “I would never do that, and I am offended you would even suggest it.”
“Couch it in the softest words you can find. I asked you if you wished a relationship to form, and you answered me honestly that you were not yet certain. That leaves me with the very real possibility Amy is going to find herself rejected by her Goodheart family for the second time in her life. I must be honest, for a man of obvious compassion and kindness, I had expected better of you.”
Tom sighed. “I spend every day of my life trying to rescue women and children that no one else cares about. You have no right to judge my compassion and kindness unless you can honestly say you do more than I. Can you say that, madam? With your elegant old clothes that no doubt cost so much that a woman here could have lived for a year with such money.”
“It is you who claim compassion and kindness, not I. But if you put yourself up against that young girl, then yes, you will fall short indeed. I never knew her mother, but I can tell you that she is a true angel, and I’ve never known better.”
“As you say, you never knew her mother. I did, and this girl cannot hold a candle to her.”
“I find that unlikely. What I find more likely is that you built the memory of your sister into something more than she ever was, and Amy’s likeness threatens to topple the saint you’ve lived your entire life to honor.”
“You know nothing about me or my sister!” he yelled.
“I know she was a mother, and as a mother I can tell you, there is nothing more important than your child. You can help a thousand women and children, but if you cast aside her own child, you have failed her.”
“She was not a mother; she was a mere girl—innocent and pure. The child was a product of rape. Amy would not have given herself to a man. I know this. There was no sin in her. This child you have named Amy, she comes from the rape of an angel. She is the cause of Amy’s death.”
“I thank you for being so honest and forthright. I am only sorry now that Amy met you at all. It would have been better if she had never known of your existence, but your appearance of compassion and the reality turned out to be very different indeed. I should have paid closer attention to your reaction to Antonio.”
Goodheart’s face pulled in disgust. “Carpella? Are you connected to him?”
“I am well acquainted with him.”
Tom snorted. “You would be.”
“I am becoming very put out with you. Antonio spent a fortune saving fourteen children for you and you dare hold him in contempt?”
“He didn’t save them. He contaminated them. When the people saw who brought the children here, none of the families want them anymore, in fear they will be letting the devil’s own into their house. I had homes lined up for twelve children, now I have twenty-six orphans no one will take. The only reason they haven’t chased the children away is because they fear Capella will burn down their homes in revenge.”
“And he’d be well justified in doing so.”
“These are good, honest people.”
“With as little true compassion as you. But this is one problem I can take off your hands. Round up the children. I will see to their care from here on.”
“I would gladly hand them over, but I cannot. The only person who can take these children out of here is the same devil who brought them. These people don’t want them, but they dare not let anyone steal what belongs to Capella.”
“Oh, for the love of God!” Mrs. Hallway exclaimed and called the giant man to her side. “Where are the girls?”
“In the carriage, waiting for you.”
“Oh, my lord, she overheard us…”
“Hard not to when Goodheart yells at the top of his voice.”
The giant gave Tom a glare that caused chills to run up Goodheart’s spine and turn his stomach over several times.
She paused and considered the situation. She then nailed Tom with a hard look. “We are leaving now. Please have the children ready. Antonio will be here within the hour to retrieve them.”
Chapter 36
With a feeling of certainty that something was wrong, Anthony asked the butler to have his horse readied. Thus, when someone knocked on the front door, he opened it, knowing Dodson was not available to do so.
“Are you the butler now?” Yardrow asked.
“For the moment. What can I do for you?” he asked, leaving him standing on the steps.
“An item was dropped on my desk this morning. Two men killed at Devil’s Gate. Witnesses won’t come forward, but whispers said it was Capella.”
“Yes, well I announced it to the entire street, so I’m sure if you torture a few long enough, they’ll admit it was me who shot two men attempting to steal my property.”
“And what property would that be?”
“My horse and a young girl I just bought at the slave market.” He leaned against the side of the doorframe. “There you have it, the confession you have always wanted. Did I shoot those men? Yes. Did I threaten the crowd if they didn’t clear the street and let us through that I’d burn down their homes? Certainly did. Did I buy fourteen children for a ransom and hand them over to Tom Goodheart so he could find families for them? Guilty as charged. I believe I just confessed to three, possibly four crimes in that. Are you happy you’ve finally caught the dreaded Capella and made the streets safer?” Antonio glared at him with contempt. “Of course, you could have stopped the auction and saved all forty-seven children, but no, you were fishing. Did you manage to reel that fish in?”
“It’s actually why I’m here. I had noticed you tried hard to save the girl and I was wondering if you still were interested in helping her?”
Antonio stared at him in shock
.
“Well, are you?”
“Yes, of course. I’m sorry, Inspector, your response took me by surprise. I thought I had a full understanding of your character, but clearly, I have not. For the man I understood you to be would not care a wit about a young girl.”
“Well, then we are in the same quandary, for neither would the Satan of South Side spend a fortune to save and protect children.
“The girl, has she been harmed?”
Yardrow sighed and nodded she had. “When I brought the bastard in and charged him, he assured me he would be out in an hour, and he was. And I was even told to return his property to him.”
“Do you have the girl with you?”
“She’s in the carriage I sent to the back of your house. Do you think I might come in now?”
Antonio stepped back and let him in. The real butler was there to close the door.
“Dodson, there is a girl in the carriage that pulled to the back.”
“It’s been taken care of, sir. The girl is in the kitchen being tended to by Mrs. Campbell. Do you have any idea when the ladies are expected back? They are needed.”
Antonio cursed. “Yardrow, I have to retrieve the ladies. Is our business concluded?”
“Just one thing more. The gentleman, Dewy Barthemore, he frequents the gambling den on Cavers Street and Madame Celeste’s on Bovery. I will leave, wishing you good hunting…for the ladies,” he added glancing at the butler.
Antonio wasted no time. He passed Yardrow within a block from his house. His journey was shorter than anticipated, for seven blocks down, he came upon their carriage returning. He ordered Brick to hold the carriage while he threw the reins to his horse at Gunter as he dismounted.
Entering the carriage, he knew at once the visit had gone badly. Amy’s misery was so intense that it physically hurt his heart. Mrs. Halloway insisted he go immediately to retrieve all those children.
“Are they in immediate danger?”
Love's Betrayals (The Extraordinary Life of Amy Winston Book 2) Page 18