The maid curtsied and quickly left the room before Eliza could ask her anymore questions. Eliza slowly walked toward her father’s study. She looked into the parlor on the way, hoping her mother would be there to distract her for a while. The room was empty. Knots in her stomach, she stood in front of the study doors gathering her thoughts before knocking.
“Come in, Eliza,” her father said.
She turned the crystal knob, which stung her injured palm, and entered the room. Lord Covington sat in a chair next to the fireplace with a book on his lap.
“Hello, Father.”
“Come in and close the door. Take a seat next to me here by the fire. You must be chilled. I saw you arrive in an open carriage.”
Eliza walked over and sat in the chair opposite his, on the other side of the fireplace. “It’s been a long day,” she said.
“Was that Doctor Riley’s carriage?”
“Yes, it was. I was on my way home and he saw me in Regent’s Park. We spoke for a bit and he offered me a ride.”
“Why didn’t he come with you? I saw no one else in the carriage.”
“He was waiting for someone.”
“I see. And how is he? Gotten over you by now, I’d think.”
“Yes, Father, I’m sure. We are only friends.”
“Good. Good.”
“What are you reading?” she said, pointing to the book in his lap, changing the subject.
“I was looking through this old picture book your mother kept.”
Eliza got up and sat on the floor next to her father’s chair. Together they went over the photos and Lord Covington explained each one. What the event was, where it was taken, and all the details. She watched her father’s facial expressions go from joy at the earlier pages to somber toward the end when he got to a photo of his grandmother. Eliza treasured these dear moments spent with him; they melted her heart. Until she noticed the diamond broach her great-grandmother wore pinned to her dress.
That moment turned her heart to stone.
* * *
At dinner, Eliza ate very little and her mother took notice.
“If you don’t eat, you will get too thin and your dress will have to be altered.”
“Let her be, dear. She’s had a long day,” her father said.
Her mother sighed.
For the remainder of the courses, Eliza moved food with her silverware back and forth across the china without ever taking a bite. Her thoughts were miles away, but not filled with marriage plans, her wedding night, moving to another country, or regrets about James like her parents might have believed. Eliza felt an intense gnawing in her belly from the inside out over what to do about Catherine.
After dinner, she joined her father in his study hoping to discuss medicine and take her mind off of the predicament she was in.
“You seem bothered, Eliza. Pour yourself a bit of brandy and come sit by the fire.”
“I’m all right, Father. Professor Huxley announced the graduates today.”
“Ah, and it’s all coming down on you like a ton of bricks now is it?”
“I suppose.”
Eliza changed her mind and poured herself a bit of brandy, brought her father a snifter full and then sat down with hers, taking small sips while her father talked about his day.
“Mother said you were called in early today. Is everything all right with the Royals?”
“Yes, fine. One of the visiting little grand princes got a bit of the sniffles is all.”
“Oh.”
“We haven’t spoken much about you going off to America. I imagine this must be weighing heavy on your thoughts, but you shouldn’t worry. Henry’s a smart man. He won’t leave you alone in a strange place.”
“He’ll be busy working late nights, I imagine.”
“What will you do?”
“Bring my graduation papers, find work if I can. Volunteer at hospitals if I have to.”
“Do you think Henry would allow it?”
“If he doesn’t want me to go mad he will.”
Lord Covington laughed, then took a swig of brandy and swallowed. He said nothing.
“You don’t think he’ll want me to practice?” she said.
“I don’t know. We haven’t spoken about it.”
“If you do, can you mention it to him? Persuade him, perhaps?”
“I’ll try,” he said, then took another drink.
Eliza wasn’t comforted by their conversations this evening like she usually was. The talk only made her more nervous and upset about the future.
When she went to bed that night, she thought further on how to remedy the situation with Catherine. Dreams of hate and murder kept her mind occupied.
Chapter
12
“Mrs. Sutton, would you please send a note to Ann Williams this morning? Ask her if it would be all right if I call on her this afternoon.”
“Yes, Miss.”
“Well,” her mother said. “It’s about time. I’d almost forgotten myself.”
“Do you think she’ll see me on such short notice?”
“She hardly ever leaves the house these days. I’m sure she’ll be happy for your visit, but why the sudden interest?”
“It’s been too long, and I may not get another chance. Exams are next month, then graduation, then the wedding, and then I leave.”
“Don’t make it all sound so rushed.”
“But it is.”
“Oh Eliza, you have such a talent for dramatics.”
“I do not.”
Eliza’s father entered the room. “It’s too early for bickering, ladies.” He took a seat at the breakfast table. “If you continue, I’ll leave without taking a single bite.”
Eliza and her mother both leaned back in their chairs and finished eating their toast.
“I say, now that’s more like it,” he said.
* * *
During classes, Eliza debated whether to go and work with James as she’d promised. Then it came to her that it would probably be best if she went when it was time to meet Catherine again. The vivid dreams and nightmares she’d had the past couple nights—in bits and pieces—had given her an idea. A plan she knew would work if done exactly right. She just needed time and a clear mind to devise it and see it through.
More than ever, she looked forward to visiting with Ann Williams later that afternoon. Eliza hoped she might improve her friend’s melancholy situation and forget about her own tumultuous one. At least for Eliza’s sake, she was sure Ann would leave her house to attend the wedding in December. Eliza hated to see any acquaintance of hers upset or sad.
On her way home, she stopped at White’s Chocolate House on St. James Street and had a cup to drink, then picked up several pieces of eating chocolate for Ann. For the first time in days, she didn’t feel the presence of anyone watching her. She was certain then that it was Catherine who had been following her the entire time. There was no detective, no one her father had hired. Eliza was fortunate the woman never approached her in public. It was also good she hadn’t gotten hurt. Catherine could have attacked her and simply stolen the broach. These thoughts made Eliza’s heart beat harder and faster. She clenched her hands into fists. A slow-building heat full of rage moved from her chest upward, coating the skin around her neck and head with fire. Eliza, who was certain her face must be brick red, took in deep breaths to try to calm herself before arriving home earlier than usual. She didn’t need any unwanted attention from her mother.
There was no one in the foyer when she came through the front doors, so she ran upstairs and began to change into something more appropriate for her visit with Ann. After she was dressed, Nanette came in and helped her fix her hair.
“Did Mrs. Sutton say that Mrs. Williams would see me? We could be doing this all for nothing.”
“She did, miss. The carriage is waiting for you out front.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, and don’t forget the little box of eating cho
colates I saw on the foyer table. If Lord Covington or your mother sees them they might very well disappear.”
Eliza laughed. “Funny how they say they dislike it, but behind closed doors…”
Nanette smiled. “I’ll meet you downstairs to help you with your coat and hat.” Then she left the room.
Moments later, Eliza was out the door and in the carriage to go just up the street. Any other day she would have walked, but it was drizzling out, and she wanted to look her best for Ann, whom she hadn’t seen in quite some time.
When she arrived at the Williams’s home, she was greeted at the front door by one of the maids, then brought to Ann who had been waiting for her in the atrium with a tray of tea and cookies on a side table. The Williams’s house was lovely and Eliza had always thought it suited them.
Doctor Jonathan Williams was recently knighted by the Queen and worked sometimes alongside Eliza’s father on more difficult cases. Ann had married him when she was 22. He was ten years her senior and it was a bit of a scandal because of his rank in society at the time, but then it was all soon gotten over because of his excellent skill and reputation.
Since then, Ann had gone into a deep depression because her father’s tin business went under and as hard as she and Jon tried, she was unable to get pregnant. All the solemn news was too much for Eliza to handle with everything she had going on in her own life. She tried her best to comfort Ann and divert her attention when she could, but all Ann’s woes, along with being unable to get pregnant, kept Eliza away. But she had the excuse of medical school and her own wedding to plan. Ann of all people knew the amount of work and education involved with becoming a physician.
When Eliza entered the room Ann looked up and stood to greet her. “You look absolutely radiant,” Ann said in a monotone voice. Her face was peaked and expressionless.
Eliza smiled. She had hoped her attire and attitude would bring some cheer to her friend, but it didn’t seem to have worked. Despite her kind welcome, there was deep hurt and longing in Ann’s eyes. “Forgive me for not coming to see you sooner. How have you been?” Eliza said.
The two women hugged. “Please, sit down,” Ann said, pointing to the spot on the settee next to where she had been seated a moment ago.
Feeling the weight of the day’s classes, and work, along with the sad expression on her friend’s face, Eliza sank into the cushion when she sat. The Williams’s maid began pouring them cups of tea. “Just a bit of milk in mine, please,” Eliza said.
After the servant left, Eliza reached for Ann’s hands and turned to face her. “Please, my dear friend. Tell me how you truly are and don’t hold back.”
Ann’s eyes immediately filled with tears. Before Eliza could pull a handkerchief from her sleeve, her friend was crying. Eliza handed it to Ann, and she dabbed her eyes. “I’m sorry, it’s just that things have been…well, they’ve been horrible.”
“Please, tell me. What is it?” Eliza said. “Is it Sir Jon?”
Ann nodded.
“Has he done something against you?”
She nodded again.
“This is horrible news indeed,” Eliza said. “Another woman?”
Her friend nodded again.
So, the rumors are true. Doctor Williams practiced at the London Hospital in East End. He performed abortions on prostitutes as well, but overcharged for them, which was not honorable in Eliza’s eyes. She’d also heard stories that he might’ve been having affairs with some of these women. It disgusted her. She could feel hatred rising from the pit of her stomach.
Ann slowed her crying to whimpering. Eliza offered her the cup of tea the maid had just poured. She raised the cup and saucer and took a small sip. “Thank you,” she said.
“Don’t think of it,” Eliza said. “Thanking me, I mean.”
“I can do nothing but, and not about thanking you, but about her.”
“Do you have a name? Is it someone you know?”
Ann shook her head, and then after a whimper, she said, “Mary Kelly.”
“I’ve not heard the name before.”
“She might be a prostitute.” Ann started crying again and Eliza took the teacup from her shaking hand and set it down on the table. Then she held her friend while Ann cried for at least ten minutes more.
“I will never quite understand how you endure it,” Eliza said.
“Maybe after you’re married it will come to light.”
“I hope not. I’d like to leave some of the ways of English marriage behind when we go.”
“That’s a shocking thing to say.”
“And what you’ve told me isn’t? It pains me to see you like this.”
Ann wiped her face one last time with Eliza’s handkerchief, then handed it back to her. There were very few signs on her face that showed she had just been crying. She looked almost the way she did when Eliza first walked into the room. It was simultaneously sad and amazing to see her friend so changeable. Eliza worried that Ann might be skirting the edge of mental illness, possibly mania, and she wanted to help her friend before it was too late. Time was running out, though. She would be leaving very early the next year. Eliza wondered what she could do.
It was all the fault of the East End harlots. Eliza’s hate for them had been gradually worsening, and this last bit of news had brought it to its peak. The prostitutes used to be a means of learning the worst cases of venereal disease and the female anatomy, but now they’d become a nuisance. Eliza thought about how it could be that these women’s lives could be so intertwined with women like herself and Ann Williams. It just didn’t seem possible. Times were changing, and she could already feel its effect on her.
And she didn’t like it.
* * *
It had been three long days since Catherine threatened Eliza with a scheme of blackmail. Three days during which Eliza’s loathing for the whores of the East End continued to grow.
She worked alongside Doctor James Riley, but he couldn’t have enjoyed it the same way he did before, since Eliza was now always so distant and deep in thought about meeting up with Catherine and her visit the other day with her friend, Ann Williams. James tried several times to be humorous, or strike up a conversation, and failed miserably at getting her attention. It wasn’t until he asked how she and Henry were getting along that she woke from her daze.
“What?” Eliza whispered.
“Have you heard a word I’ve said? What has your mind so occupied these days?”
“I’m sorry, James. It’s the exams, the wedding, moving. Tell me something, do you know Sir Jon Williams very well?”
“I wouldn’t say I know him very well, but I see him on occasion here and we talk about medicine. Why?”
“Have you heard any rumors about him?”
“These halls are filled with talk about other people, but I don’t bother paying attention to any of it and neither should you.”
“Do you think it’s true he sees prostitutes?”
“Well, of course he sees them. Sir Jon is here every Friday to perform abortions.”
“That’s not what I mean, and I think it’s wrong of him to make them pay so much.”
“He accepts what they can afford. It’s better than having one done on the street.”
“You don’t understand what I’m trying to say.”
“And what exactly is it? You think Sir Jon is having an affair with a prostitute? Don’t be silly. You need to get that notion out of your head. Talk like that can ruin your career. And his. Let’s take a break and have some tea. Then we can discuss what it really is you’re trying to say.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I know I made you promise to work with me a few more times, but I understand you’re busy, and if you’d rather not—”
“James, I’m all right. A promise is a promise. Let’s just finish up the day and go home.”
Doctor Riley lowered his head. “My intention was for us to enjoy the last few times we would see one another doing something we both
love, not for you to be in a rush and leave.”
“Forgive me. Truly, I’m in no hurry to go. I never was. Please believe me when I tell you that I want to spend these moments with you. The memories I’ll take with me and cherish always.”
Eliza saw James’s eyes well up. He turned away and spoke. “Don’t apologize. It was my own selfishness that wanted this and if it hurts me, then only I’m to blame.”
She took him by the arm. “I think I’d like some tea now,” she said, and then she led him down the hall with a broken heart and a mind seething with rage.
* * *
Eliza left the London Hospital in the rain and told the driver to circle around before heading to Mitre Square. He did, and it gave her a little more time to ready herself. She put on her black cloak and pulled the hood over. There was a small pouch of money underneath where she kept the leather case of instruments. Eliza pulled it out and pushed it down into the pocket of her coat.
The driver stopped and pounded on the roof of the cab. Eliza stepped out, paid the man, and started walking in the rain. It wasn’t long before she felt someone following her. I know this game, and I can play, too. She ducked down an alley, picked up her pace, and made a few quick turns, then stopped. Twenty feet in front of her, stood Catherine, looking side to side down backstreets in a frantic search.
“Lose something?” Eliza said.
Catherine swung around and gasped. “There you are, Miss. Thought you might be trying to give me the slip.” She went over to where Eliza was standing.
“I would never do something like that.”
“I knew you were a smart girl. Now, tell me your plan.”
“Remember I told you if the broach went missing, the police would go looking for it?”
“I do.”
“Well, I’ve found a jeweler who will disassemble it for me so that I can give you the loose diamonds to sell individually. They’ll be unable to trace it that way.”
“Shame to break up such a pretty piece.”
“Do you want the deal or not? It’s the best I can do.”
Only the Thunder Knows_East End Girls Page 20