by Dilly Court
‘Well, if it isn’t young Essie Chapman, rigged out like a lady. You must have done well Up West, missy.’
The inference was clear but she chose to ignore the insult. ‘I’m looking for Ben.’
‘I could tell you where he’s living now, but I don’t think his woman would be too pleased to see her man’s old girlfriend on the doorstep.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘I thought I’d made meself clear, darling. Ben took up with Nancy Styles. I reckon he gave up waiting for you to get off your high horse and give him what he wanted. But I’m still available, sweetheart.’ He lunged forward and grabbed Essie round the waist. His face was close to hers and the stench of his sweaty body and bad breath made her gasp for air.
‘Let her go, Tyce.’ George’s voice echoed off the dock buildings.
Tyce twisted Essie round, holding his arm around her throat in a suffocating grip. ‘One move and I’ll break her pretty little neck. I’ve been waiting too long for a bit of satisfaction from this tease.’
Daylight was fading fast and the shadows were deepening but through a mist of pain Essie saw two figures hurl themselves at Tyce. Jack dived for his legs and George dragged her to safety.
‘Are you hurt, Essie?’
‘No. I’m all right, but how did you know where I was?’ she asked breathlessly.
A loud splash made her turn her head to see Diggory Tyce flailing about in the water. Jack came towards them, grinning.
‘I enjoyed that. I don’t know the fellow but I recognise the type.’ His smile faded. ‘What were you thinking of, wandering around this area on your own?’
‘Come on, Essie. Let’s get you away from here.’ George tucked her hand in the crook of his arm. ‘Jack and I arrived in Curzon Street to see you drive off in the cab. You’d been worrying about the old man for days, so I guessed where you were going and we followed you to White’s Rents. I couldn’t allow you to face the old man on your own.’
‘How did you know I was here?’
‘You’d just left when we got to Pa’s house. Sadie told us you’d gone looking for Ben. The rest was easy.’ He glanced at Tyce, who was thrashing about and yelling at the top of his voice. ‘It doesn’t look as though he can swim.’
‘Hard luck,’ Jack said grimly. ‘I’m not jumping in after him. Perhaps the rats will recognise one of their own and save him.’
‘He’s an old lecher but you can’t stand by and watch him drowning.’ Essie stared anxiously at the man, who appeared to be going down for the third time.
‘Riley is over by the cranes. I saw him as we came to your aid. He’ll throw a spar or something for the old devil to cling on to. Tyce will live another day, but you’ve got to keep away from this place. We’ve moved on, Essie. Limehouse is no longer home.’
Essie leaned on his arm. ‘You’re right, and we’ve got to get Pa away from here, too.’
‘You can’t mean to take him to Curzon Street in the state he’s got himself into?’ George said, quickening his pace.
‘What else can we do, George?’
‘Look, I don’t wish to interfere.’ Jack fell into step beside them. ‘I don’t know Mr Chapman, but I’ve had experience with this sort of thing. Drink took my father at a relatively young age, which is why I’m careful not to overindulge … Anyway, that’s not your problem. I have a large house overlooking the river, and I’ve lived there alone since my sister married and moved away. We can take him there and hire a woman to nurse him through the worst stages. It won’t be easy and you shouldn’t have to put up with it, Essie.’
Essie came to a halt, gazing at Jack as if seeing him for the first time.
‘That’s very kind of you, Jack,’ she said slowly, ‘but I couldn’t impose on you like that. He’s our father and it’s up to us to look after him, but I would be grateful if you could help us get him into a cab. We’ll take him home.’
Parkinson was clearly not amused and Mrs Jackson managed to convey her disapproval of their guest without saying a word. Her tight-lipped, disdainful expression spoke volumes, and the maids acted as if a wild animal had escaped from the zoological gardens and been locked away in a bedchamber close to George’s room. Despite her appeals, George refused to have anything to do with their father.
‘I’m sorry, Essie. I know we couldn’t leave him in the old house, but you shouldn’t have brought him here. He’ll be as mad as fire when he sobers up, and who knows what he’ll do.’
‘I know, but what was I supposed to do, George? I’ve sent the under footman and the head groom to undress Pa and do the necessary. They’re young and strong and they won’t stand for any nonsense.’
‘But, Essie, we can’t keep him prisoner here. He’ll go mad for want of a drink, and if we give in and let him have what he wants he’ll be even worse. We should have taken Jack up on his offer.’
‘Pa is our responsibility and it wouldn’t be fair to foist him on Jack. I can’t think why he would want to take Pa on, anyway.’
‘I think he had an ulterior motive,’ George said, grinning. ‘That was a cracking dinner, Essie. We’ve certainly fallen on our feet with this establishment. I could get used to living like a lord.’
Essie put down the cup of coffee she had been sipping. ‘What do you mean by ulterior motive?’
George stretched his booted feet out in front of the fire with a sigh of contentment. ‘What do you think I meant? You’re a lovely girl and you’re worth a fortune. What man in his right mind wouldn’t want a wife like you?’
‘A wife?’ Essie shook her head. ‘What nonsense, George. I hardly know Jack Manning and he certainly doesn’t know me.’
‘I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’s smitten, or I’m a Dutchman.’
Essie rose from her chair. ‘You’re talking nonsense, and I’m going to bed. We’ll talk about Pa in the morning, and he might be more receptive to suggestions when he’s sobered up.’ She headed for the door. ‘Good night, George.’
Essie slept badly. She was exhausted, but worrying about her father’s future kept her awake until the small hours. It seemed that she had just fallen asleep when she was awakened by the housemaid who came to light the fire. She returned with a cup of hot chocolate and a jug of warm water, and went through the routine of plumping up Essie’s pillow so that she could sit up in comfort. Essie drank the chocolate, barely appreciating the velvety sweetness as her thoughts returned to the problem of her father. She knew him well enough to realise that he would hate Curzon Street. Jacob Chapman would never settle away from the river, and that in itself gave her an idea. She put her cup down, swung her legs over the side of the bed and was about to ring for Miss West, the lady’s maid that Mrs Jackson had assigned to her, when she changed her mind.
Miss West was not the sort of person who would smile easily or with whom Essie could share a joke, and having a relative stranger to help her with her toilette was unnerving and embarrassing. Essie washed, dressed and sat down at the dressing table, smiling at her reflection in the mirror as she picked up a silver-backed hairbrush. It was a small rebellion against the life she had been compelled to live, but a significant one, and she brushed her long hair until it gleamed like satin, and secured it in a chignon at the back of her neck. Miss West was useful when it came to a more elaborate coiffure, but Essie was in a hurry. She had allowed herself to drift, but now she was determined to take charge of her affairs.
Her father’s door was unlocked and she went in without knocking. He was still asleep with his mouth hanging slack and a dribble of saliva running down his chin. The room stank of stale alcohol, sweat and his desperate need for a bath. She drew back the curtains, allowing the sunlight to flood the room. The fire had not yet been lit, but the servants had been told to await her instructions.
She shook him gently. ‘Pa, wake up. It’s me, Essie.’
Jacob opened one bloodshot eye. ‘Go away.’
She shook him harder this time. ‘No, Pa. Wake up, please.’
&n
bsp; ‘What’s the matter?’ Jacob snapped into a sitting position, groaning loudly. ‘My head is pounding.’
It was impossible to be sympathetic, but Essie managed to restrain herself. ‘I’ll have a seltzer brought to you, Pa. But first I need to talk to you.’ She perched on the end of the bed. ‘I don’t suppose you remember anything that happened last evening?’
He squinted at her as if finding it difficult to focus. ‘Where am I? This ain’t my home.’
‘No, Pa. It’s my house. I live here now.’
‘You must have taken up with a wealthy toff, or else how could a girl like you end up in a house like this? You was a good girl once, Esther Chapman.’
‘I’m not dependent on anyone, Pa.’ Essie tried to explain how she came by her money but Jacob seemed to have it fixed in his mind that she had sold herself to a rich man, and nothing would convince him otherwise. In the end she gave up. ‘Never mind what you think, Pa. You couldn’t be more wrong, but the important thing is what are we going to do with you? You’re in a terrible state. You can’t work and your house is wrecked.’
‘Get off the bed, girl. I’m going home.’
‘I’ve just told you that’s impossible. You haven’t any money and you’re ruining your health with drink.’
Jacob swung his legs over the side of the bed, grimacing with pain. ‘That’s my business, not yours. You run away and took me boat. You’re a bad girl, Esther.’
She could see that this conversation was going nowhere and she stood up. ‘All right, Pa. You can go home, but first you have to have a bath and I’ll have to find some clothes for you.’
‘What’s this?’ Jacob gazed down at the nightshirt that Mrs Jackson had found for him, it having belonged to a servant who had run off with a set of silver spoons and never been seen again. ‘How did I get this garb?’
‘It doesn’t matter, Pa. Get back into bed and I’ll send the servants up with the bath and hot water, and a glass of seltzer. When you’re ready you can have some breakfast and I’ll get a cab to take you back to Limehouse, if that’s what you really want.’
‘Of course I do,’ Jacob said crossly. ‘I’m going home and you can’t stop me.’
Chapter Twenty
Once again Essie had to call on the services of the burly footman and the under groom in order to persuade her father to take a bath. Jacob’s roars of fury and the sound of splashing, cursing and thumping on the sides of the tub echoed throughout the house. Essie was halfway down the main stairs when George appeared on the landing above her. His hair was tousled and he was still wearing his dressing robe.
‘What the devil’s going on, Essie?’
‘Pa is taking a bath.’
‘It sounds as though all hell has been let loose. Maybe we should do what he wants and leave him in Limehouse.’
‘Go and get dressed,’ Essie said wearily. ‘I’ll be in the dining room if you want me.’
‘Did you hear what I said?’
‘Yes, George, but I’m not listening to you. I’ll find a way to help Pa, whether he likes it or not.’ Essie continued down the stairs, but she paused when she reached the main hall. Someone was rapping on the door and she was curious. She waited for Parkinson to open the door, which he did at a leisurely pace, taking a step backwards as Falco pushed past him.
‘Essie, you look beautiful this morning.’ Falco tossed his hat and gloves to the housemaid.
‘What are you doing here so early in the morning, Captain?’ Essie asked curiously.
He crossed the floor in long strides and raised her hand to his lips. ‘Lady Alice asked me to tell you that she will be here at midday. She intends to take you to her modiste.’
‘But I have plenty of new gowns,’ Essie protested. ‘I don’t need more clothes.’
Falco held his hand to his heart. ‘Never say that, mia cara. A lady can never have too many beautiful things. You should allow Lady Alice to guide you in such matters. She has superb taste.’ He hesitated, cocking his head on one side. ‘What is going on upstairs? It sounds as if someone is being murdered.’
Essie sighed. ‘Come into the dining room, and I’ll tell you.’
Falco needed no second bidding. ‘I didn’t have time for breakfast.’
In the dining room Essie sent the maid for a pot of coffee and she motioned Falco to take a seat. ‘That is my pa,’ she said, sighing. ‘George and I brought him here last evening.’
‘I don’t understand.’ Falco eyed the silver serving dishes on the sideboard. ‘Do I smell bacon?’
‘You can have what you like, but first I need your advice.’ Essie pulled up a chair and sat down beside him. ‘When I came home I found that Pa had taken up with a dreadful woman who took everything he had, leaving him destitute, and he has turned to drink. He used to be a good boat handler and was well respected, but now he’s a wreck of a man and I don’t know what to do with him.’
‘I would like to meet him, but first I will take advantage of your kind offer.’ He stood up and sent to the sideboard. ‘I am very hungry.’
Essie helped herself to a small amount of buttered eggs, in complete contrast to Falco, who heaped his plate with food and proceeded to demolish it as if he had not eaten for days. He barely noticed when George entered the dining room, followed by the maid with a silver coffee pot and a jug of cream.
‘Falco. This is a surprise.’ George took his seat at the head of the table, a privilege that Essie had bestowed on him as her elder brother.
‘I was just telling him about Pa,’ Essie said hastily. ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do, George. Please don’t tell me to send Pa back to Limehouse, because my conscience wouldn’t allow such a thing.’
George shrugged. ‘You should have let Jack look after him. Pa would have been able to sit and watch the river all day.’ He wandered over to the sideboard and began lifting the lids on the serving dishes.
‘Yes, and drink rum or jigger gin while he was idling his time away.’ Essie turned to Falco. ‘What would you do in similar circumstances?’
He gulped and swallowed. ‘This is excellent bacon. As to your father, did you say he was a waterman?’
‘He’s worked the river all his life.’ Essie laid her hand on Falco’s sleeve. ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’
‘Maybe, but I would like to meet him first.’
George returned to the table with a plate of kedgeree. ‘What’s all this?’
Essie pushed her plate away, the food untouched. ‘I’ll go and see if Pa is ready.’
‘Send the maid,’ George protested, digging into his plate of food with relish.
Essie shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t dream of it. This is for me to do.’
The bedroom carpet was soaked and the two men who had been wrestling Jacob in an attempt to keep him in the bath were dripping with water. Jacob himself was wrapped in a dressing robe with a towel around his head. He glared at Essie.
‘This was your idea, of course.’
‘You certainly needed a bath, Pa. You only have to look at what’s left in the tub to see it’s true. It looks like Limehouse Hole at slack water.’
A snigger from the footman reminded Essie of the task in hand. She turned to him, frowning. ‘Did you find clothes that will fit my father?’
He snapped to attention despite his sodden livery. ‘Yes, Miss Chapman. The items belonged to Briggs, the groom who was sacked for drunkenness.’
‘I want to go back to Limehouse,’ Jacob said gloomily. ‘It ain’t too much to ask. I’ve been manhandled and half drowned, so the least you can do is to allow me out of this bordello.’
‘Pa, don’t say such things. This is my home, paid for by my own money.’ Essie glanced anxiously at the two servants who were staring straight ahead, although the groom’s lips were twitching. ‘Don’t repeat any of this below stairs. You may go now and you’d best change out of those wet clothes.’ Essie turned to her father, frowning. ‘Get dressed, Pa. I’ll wait for you on the landing.’
‘I want you to come downstairs and have some breakfast before you go anywhere,’ Essie said tactfully. ‘There’s bacon and eggs, as much as you can eat.’
Jacob stood up, allowing the robe to fall to the ground. Essie hurried from the room – she had no wish to see her father naked as a newborn babe.
Falco had finished eating and was sipping his coffee when Essie ushered her father into the dining room. George sat back in his chair, eyeing Jacob critically.
‘Well, Pa. I hardly recognise you.’
Jacob rubbed his newly shaven chin. ‘I didn’t ask to come here and be molested.’ He glanced down at the coarse tweed trousers and jacket that had once belonged to a groom. ‘And I don’t normally wear duds like this.’
Falco eyed him critically. ‘I hear you’re a waterman, sir.’
‘Sit down, Pa, and I’ll bring you some food.’ Essie guided her father to a seat opposite Falco.
‘I was born and raised on the riverbank, cully.’
‘Have you any experience of seafaring?’
‘Who are you? Why are you asking me all these questions?’
Essie set a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her father. ‘I’m sorry, Pa. I should have introduced you. This is Captain Falco of the Santa Gabriella. It was his ship that took me and Sadie round the world, quite literally.’
‘Was it you who sunk me boat?’ Jacob demanded, pointing his knife at Falco. ‘If it was, you owe me.’
‘Shut up, Pa,’ George said impatiently. ‘Falco is trying to help you. We had a chat when Essie went upstairs to fetch you, and we think we might have the solution to your problem.’
‘I ain’t got no problem other than you and your sister.’ Jacob spoke with his mouth full, making it hard to understand what he was saying, but Falco nodded.
‘You are an independent man. I respect that, which is why I’m offering to take you on as part of my crew.’ Falco picked up the coffee pot and refilled his cup. ‘I have agreed to go into business with your son and his partner, but I am still captain of the Santa Gabriella and part owner. I need a man with experience of the river. You could be very useful.’