She awoke to find Edward fully dressed, standing by her bedside. Her head was aching and she was naked beneath the coverlet he’d thrown over her.
Dazed, she raised herself up, the coverlet pressed to her to cover her nudity. She spoke in a strained voice. “What has happened?” she managed to say.
Almost impatiently, the young man said, “You fell asleep. I had to cover you.”
“My clothes!”
He made a protesting gesture. “It’s getting late! Don’t ask a lot of silly questions! I have to get you back before seven!”
Tears brimmed in her eyes as the full realization of what had taken place finally struck her, and she reproached him with, “You’ve betrayed me!”
“Please,” he begged her, “Let us dispense with rural melodramatics! I’m going down to see if the carriage has come back. When I return I’ll expect you to be dressed. There is a basin and water on the commode!”
Having delivered himself of this he left the room. Desolate, she sat in the bed for long minutes, weeping softly. Then, still confused and dizzy, she forced herself to get up. She washed and hastily donned the items of clothing strewn on the floor by the bed. Her humiliation was great, but a greater anger was rising within her.
Putting on her pelisse and bonnet she stared at herself in the mirror. She looked as if she had been on a drunken spree. And somehow she knew it couldn’t have been the port. She’d been drugged! Somehow, while he was pouring out her drink he’d managed to place something in it. She’d heard of such stories and what happened to the girls who were victims of men such as Edward Blake. He had carried it out so well that he was evidently no novice at the game!
She hoped she could walk without staggering and she also prayed the deep shame she felt would not show in her face. How would she manage to conduct herself after she reached the house in Benjamin Square? How would she cope with the questions of Emma and the others about how she had spent her day? What a fool she had been! A trusting, ignorant fool!
Her grim reverie was broken by Edward’s return to the room. Seeing her dressed, he snapped, “The carriage is here! Thank goodness you’re ready! Even if we hurry I can barely get you back before seven.”
As they went down the stairs they were silent. From somewhere in the rear of the house there came high-pitched feminine laughter. Again Mary felt shamed and besmirched. She realized now that the charming Edward had taken her to a House of Ill Repute! Brought her to a brothel and raped her!
Edward helped her into the carriage and sat beside her. She edged as far away from him as she could. The driver started the vehicle off at a good clip. Neither spoke for a moment and then Edward turned to her and sullenly said, “Don’t pretend outraged country innocence! You knew what I had in mind and you wanted it as well!”
She stared straight ahead of her, shaking with rage. “I trusted you! Believed you! I was a ninny!”
“Don’t be so bitter!” he protested, his tone changing on the instant, “I do love you! I swear it! I just could not help having you! My need for you was beyond my powers of restraint!”
“Please don’t talk about it!”
“I must,” he said urgently. “I plan to speak to my father about you. He will talk to Mother. I’m sure if we handle this properly they will give us permission to marry.”
She threw him a scathing glance. “You expect me to believe that?”
“You must or our love will come to nothing,” Edward said with apparent desperation. “Just be patient for a few days. Remember that I love you and want you for my wife.”
“After what you did this afternoon you ask my trust?”
“I could not help myself,” Edward said unhappily. “Can you not understand?”
“No! You tricked me in a cravenly, cowardly fashion!”
“I shall make it up to you, I swear it!” he cried. “I love you beyond any girl I have ever known!”
“And did you treat those other girls as you have me?”
“Forgive me,” he said brokenly.
They made the balance of the journey in silence. The carriage stopped at the corner of Benjamin Square and Edward helped her to descend. Before she left him, he told her, “I swear I will speak to my father.”
“Please, let me go!” she said curtly.
He held onto her arm. “There is a guest room on the second floor,” he said tensely. “It is hardly ever used. Meet me there two nights from now. Come at midnight. I will be there and tell you what my father’s reaction is.”
“I’m late!” she groaned.
“Remember! Midnight! Two nights from now in the guest room on the second floor,” Edward whispered in her ear. His lips brushed her cheek as she pulled herself free from his grip and hurried down the street.
The chill of the foggy night helped clear her head a little. She made her way to the service entrance of Blake House and was fortunate in meeting no one on the way to her room. Emma was still at work in the kitchen so she undressed and quickly got into bed before her roommate came to join her. When Emma arrived she pretended to be asleep and did so well that Emma was taken in by her sham and moved about the room silently until she also got into bed and blew out the candle.
Only then did Mary dare open her eyes and stare up into the darkness. Tears seeped between her eyelids and slowly ran down her cheeks as she thought of the ugliness of it all.
Edward who had charmed her and whom she had trusted had coldly betrayed her. For a few moments she had actually hoped that he might truly be in love with her and serious about his wanting to make her his wife. There seemed little likelihood of that now! She was shamed that she had been so naive and had believed all he’d told her in the face of facts which should have made her suspicious. Because she’d trusted him! As a result she felt dirtied and cheap!
Emma woke her promptly in the morning. “Ten minutes to six,” the red-haired girl said. “You must have had a busy day! You were asleep when I came in and you slept like a log all night!”
Mary sat up in bed and nodded. “I was weary. I walked too far and had a difficult time finding my way back!”
“Did you see much of London?” Emma wanted to know.
“As much as I cared to for one day,” she said bitterly, getting up.
“You must tell me all about it!” Emma said.
“Later,” Mary said sharply as she went to wash her face. “There’s no time now!”
Luckily there was an accident in the kitchen that morning which made Emma forget everything else, including questioning her. The red-haired girl was carrying a big pot of boiling water across the room and some of it spilled and scalded her left foot and leg. A doctor was called in and took care of the burn and suggested that Emma be placed in a room by herself to rest until her foot and leg had healed.
Mrs. Birney found the girl another room and this left Mary alone. She was relieved and unhappy at the same time. Unhappy that her friend Emma should have had the accident but relieved at having her bedroom to herself and not having to answer Emma’s questions.
The first night she spent alone in the room she slept restlessly, having nightmares about Edward carrying her off to that brothel once again. She was sure she hated him but she could not get him out of her mind. And as the days passed she began to wonder if there might be any hope. If he truly would talk to his father and make some attempt to marry her.
The night when he had requested she keep a midnight rendezvous with him in the second floor guest room arrived. He was conspicuously present in the house all evening. The maid who served the family at dinner was excited that he should be home for a change.
The maid confided to Mrs. Birney, “Mr. Edward is spending the evening with his parents. Some fine lady must have jilted him!” And the maid and the cook had enjoyed a hearty laugh.
Mary had not realized the influence the charming Edward had over her. As midnight drew near she found herself awake and restless, tossing about in her bed. She gazed into the darkness and worried that she might be
losing the opportunity of a lifetime. Perhaps he had remained at home to bring her the news that his father had relented and they would be able to marry. If she didn’t keep the rendezvous with him she might miss hearing this welcome news and Edward might regret his impetuous offer.
This preyed on her mind until she could stand it no longer. She rose from her bed and put on slippers and a cape and quietly made her way from the bedroom.
The house was silent and she walked slowly like a wraith along the hallway and up the back stairs to the second floor. She knew the room Edward had mentioned and went directly there. Slowly opening the door, her whole body trembling, she gazed inside. The room seemed to be deserted. She stepped into its shadows and almost immediately Edward appeared from the darkness.
“You came!” he said with subdued triumph. “I knew you would!”
“I must be a fool!” she said, a tremor in her voice.
He folded her in his arms, kissed her and held her close. “Then you are the dearest fool I have ever known!”
“Did you speak to your father?”
“Yes, and he has asked for a week or two in which to consider it. Then he will talk to my mother. I’m sure he’s going to help us,” Edward told her happily.
Tears of joy filled her eyes. “He really is willing for us to wed?”
“I am sure he is! He only waits to persuade mother! But I know he can manage her and then it will be nothing but bliss for us!” He took her in his arms again and this time he led her to the bed.
They made love as they had before. This time she found it more pleasurable. She was not drugged and she had the happy knowledge that soon she would be Edward’s wife. It was enough to make her surrender herself to him with a joyful passion!
So great was their pleasure in each other that they were not immediately aware of the door being opened and Mrs. Higgins, the housekeeper, standing there with a lamp in her hand. She took in the scene grimly and then retreated without a word, closing the door.
Mary gazed up at Edward in terrified despair. “She must have heard me come by her room and followed me up here!”
Edward frowned. “It’s too bad! But don’t worry! I will speak to her and explain!”
“Will you?” she begged.
The handsome Edward kissed her on the lips. “Count on me,” he said softly.
And she did. So she was ill-prepared when a stern Mrs. Higgins called her into her parlor the next morning. She was summoned to the housekeeper’s room directly after breakfast.
Mrs. Higgins faced her grimly. “You know I saw you last night.”
She held her head down. “Yes.”
“It didn’t shock me. It’s not a new game but it’s a shame you were taken in,” the housekeeper said. “As it is I have no alternative but to dismiss you without references.”
Dismay turned Mary’s knees to water and she glanced up at the old woman’s stern face. “You can’t do that! Edward has promised to explain to you! He wants to marry me. He waits only his father’s consent!”
Mrs. Higgins said, “Mister Edward went to Brighton to be with the Prince Regent early this morning.”
Startled, she managed to gasp, “He promised! He must have had to go quickly! He’ll tell you as soon as he returns!”
The housekeeper sighed. “Poor little fool! How do you think I knew where to look? I went directly to that room because this has happened before. You are perhaps the fourth servant girl Mister Edward has toyed with in that same room!”
“No!” Mary sobbed.
“Yes. He expects me to dismiss you. To rid him of you. That is the way it went before,” Mrs. Higgins said.
“It’s not fair!”
Mrs. Higgins looked less stern for a moment. “I know that to be true, also. But I know my duty. You must leave this house by noon today!”
CHAPTER FOUR
Mary found herself now in a completely different London. The mean streets along which she made her way bore no relation to the stately magnificence of Benjamin Square and Blake House. She clutched the satchel with all her worldly possessions in one hand and her reticule in the other. She had only a few shillings as she’d received no money for her labors at Benjamin Square.
Mrs. Higgins had come to her and offered her some coins before she left, saying, “The mistress will pay you nothing since you have not stayed out the month. But I would like to give you this.” She thrust the coins at her.
Mary had turned away. “Thank you, no.”
“Have you any money?” the housekeeper wanted to know.
“A little,” she said.
“A little isn’t enough for a girl alone in London,” Mrs. Higgins worried. “I don’t want you on my conscience. Have you any friends you can go to?”
It was then she remembered the actors, Peg and Hector Waddington, and with a show of pride, she’d said, “Yes. I know a fine married couple who will take me in.”
“Heaven be praised,” Mrs. Higgins said. “And mind you’re wiser with men from now on, my girl.” With that the housekeeper withdrew.
Mary didn’t even take time to say goodbye to Emma. She could not do so without giving away the truth about herself and Edward and she was too shamed to do that. She left the house silently and with a feeling of disgrace.
The Waddingtons had given her an address in Beckett Street and she was now seeking out the house. Meanwhile she found the street crowded with poorly-dressed men, women and children. It was obviously a shabby section of the great city. The lower levels of the tumbledown wooden houses were occupied by shops. She passed green grocers, chemists, wig makers, fish shops and bakeries.
The odor of fish and chips and other delicacies seeped out into the air of the street and made her hungry. There were vendors with pushcarts shouting their wares and occasionally drunken men and women staggered by her. Barefoot urchins jostled her and shouted.
She finally found the house number she was seeking. The door was close by a pub. Mary went up the narrow, dark stairs and knocked on the first door. A sound of a dog barking loudly came from within.
The door was opened and a toothless old man with a shiny bald head peered out at her. “What do you want?” he asked in a surly tone.
“Forgive my bothering you,” Mary said. “I’m looking for the Waddingtons, a theatrical couple.”
The toothless one looked sour. “Those two!” he said with disgust.
“Yes. I understand they live here.”
“They did,” the old man said. “But not anymore!”
This was bad news. “They’ve moved?”
“Yes. This place wasn’t good enough for them now they’re important London actors,” the old man said bitterly.
“Where have they gone?” she asked.
“Why should they tell the likes of me?” he snapped. The dog, a mangy black and white terrier, came out on the landing to sniff at her skirt suspiciously.
“They didn’t tell you their new address?”
“They didn’t tell me anything!” the old man told her. And he gave the dog a kick and snarled, “Go back in there, Spot!” Spot whimpered and ran back inside with his tail between his legs as the old man slammed the door on her.
Mary stood there forlornly in the fetid darkness of the landing for a moment. She had hoped so much to find the Waddingtons, only to end with this shattering disappointment. Slowly she made her way down the stairs.
On reaching the street she almost bumped into an old woman who had emerged from the pub with a jug of beer in her hands. The old woman went on to enter the door from which Mary had just emerged.
Mary called after her, “One minute!”
The old woman turned and stared at her. “What?”
“I’m looking for the Waddingtons,” she said.
The old woman shook her head. “They left here a week ago!”
“Do you know where they went?”
“Somewhere closer to the theatre where they’re acting.”
“Can you tell me the name of the
theatre?”
“No,” the old woman said. And she turned and slowly made her way up the dark stairs.
It seemed hopeless. Mary stood there trying to make her mind what to do. A young thug came out of the pub wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and leered at her. She at once turned her back on him and rushed on down the narrow street. She was trembling and feeling ill.
She wandered aimlessly through drab streets filled with derelicts. They stared at her with everything from curiosity to avarice. There had been no such places nor people in the country to match the sordid squalor of the houses and their occupants in this London slum. As the day wore on she became weary and the pangs of hunger began to torment her.
The cries of an itinerant fish and chip vendor caught her attention and she salvaged some pennies from her purse and went to the man with his pushcart.
He served several ragged youngsters and then turned to her. “What’s it to be, Miss?”
“I’ll have some,” she said. “A penny’s worth!”
He curled up a cone of newspaper and filled it with the savory food. Handing it to her with a smile, he said, “You’ve got yourself a double portion because you’ve a pretty face!”
“Thank you.” She handed him the penny. Then clutching the cone of fish and chips and her satchel she found a deserted doorstep on which to sit and eat.
She was finishing the snack when she suddenly became aware of a yellowed sign posted on a building directly across the street. There was something about it which seemed familiar to her.
She picked up her satchel and crossed the street and read the announcement. It was an advertisement for Pilkington’s Circus, the World’s Greatest! Now featured in London on the vacant lot opposite Covent Gardens. Featured attraction, Madame Goubert, the Strongest Female in all the World!
Mary couldn’t have been more pleased if she had just read the name of an old friend. For she was sure the strong woman would remember and befriend her. The thing now was to find her way to Covent Garden. She remembered with bitterness it was one of the places which Edward had shown her on his tour of the city, the tour which had ended so disastrously for her!
Vintage Love Page 146