Vision Of Danger

by Wendy Vella

  “Call me Rupert.”

  Not under threat of torture.

  “Do you like Mother’s shawl?”

  “It’s lovely.”

  “I have others. Would you like one?”

  “No, I have plenty. Good day to you both.”

  “Go inside now, Mother.”

  Rose kept walking, but the hand that grabbed her arm stopped her.

  “Unhand me, Mr. Putt.”

  He was not an unattractive man. In fact he had blonde curls and big blue eyes that plenty of woman thought lovely. Rose thought him a rodent. She knew about his women, because she’d seen plenty of them coming and going from his rooms and heard them laughing. But it was the look on his face when he saw her that made her want to slap him.

  “What were you talking to that man about?”

  “Man?” Rose wrinkled her nose.

  “I saw you out in the street earlier. He looked at you like you were intimately acquainted.”

  “Nothing I do is any business of yours, sir. Now, I insist you release me at once.”

  From the day she’d moved in to Putt’s lodging house, Rupert Putt had pursued her. But Rose was made of stern stuff; her aunt had seen to that.

  “A man asked after you today, Rose. Have you been giving your favors elsewhere? Is my sweet Scottish lassie in need of companionship?”

  “How dare you!” Outraged, she tried to free her arm. “Be warned, sir, I will not tolerate such insults from you again.”

  He pulled her closer, his face now inches from hers.

  “You are no lady, Rose. No different from those that clean out chamber pots, so don’t try to put on airs with me. After all, you share a bed with Kitty.”

  “Get your hands off her, Rupert Putt!”

  Looking up the stairs, she saw Kitty Dodds stomping down. She and Rose shared a room. Her sky-blue eyes were narrowed and focused on the man before her, the skirts of her faded blue dress swishing with every step.

  “I’m not touching her, Kitty,” Rupert said slowly, his fingers still wrapped tight around Rose’s arm. His eyes, however, were doing a slow survey of Kitty’s body.

  She was well-proportioned, and, as she was talented with a needle and thread, she’d tailored clothes to accentuate that fact.

  “But maybe you’re jealous that I’m spending time with Rose? Maybe we should all spend some time together?”

  “I would rather take Amadeus to bed than have a bacon-brained idiot like you touch me!”

  Kitty’s screech made Rose wince. Wrenching her arm free, Rose stepped in front of her friend as she reached the bottom step.

  “Touch me again and I will not be responsible for my actions, Mr. Putt. Good day.” Rose turned, nudging Kitty. “Up you go.”

  “Let me teach him some manners,” Kitty fumed as Rose planted a hand in her back and pushed, to get her to their room. Once there, she slammed the door with her heel.

  “Much as I’d like to see that happen, you will not, as we will end up on the streets.”

  “He’s a braggart and a fool, and I can’t believe in my desperation I thought about giving myself to him.”

  Putt’s Lodging House had been Rose’s last resort after a day of searching tirelessly for somewhere she could afford to live. Upon entering, she’d found Kitty begging Rupert Putt to give her another few days to come up with money for her board. He’d said he’d take her as payment.

  “But you didn’t, as I arrived and moved in here with you,” Rose soothed.

  She sat on the bed. The only other option was a rickety chair that wobbled.

  “The sooner we leave here the better.”

  Rose watched Kitty pace. Six steps one way, and back again; the small room did not offer more.

  “We shall leave as soon as we can, Kitty, but for now you need to stay away from Rupert, as do I.”

  “I’ll kill him, I will, if he touches you again!”

  “And while that sentiment warms me to my toes, I have no wish to visit you in Newgate.”

  Rose didn’t know much about her new friend, only the small insights they’d shared in the early hours of the morning when they lay awake listening to the shouts and cries outside their tiny window. Like Rose, Kitty had been running away from the life she’d been raised to live when she moved to London, but unlike Rose, Kitty had been running for years.

  There were small insights into her upbringing that she saw glimpses of, like her strict need for cleanliness and her nightly prayers. She could curse like a sailor when required, but Rose suspected that was due to the fact Kitty had been on her own in London for a lot longer than she and had learned to adapt.

  “I’d like to see him get his one day, Rose. ’Tis grateful I am that you came along when you did.”

  “As am I.” Rose looked around their room.

  It was small and drab, with damp patches showing on the walls. A weak fire puffed pitifully in the grate, but it did nothing to dispel the general air of neglect, no matter how hard she and Kitty tried to make it more cheerful.

  “I brought us a fruit bun home. Mrs. Timms gave it to me.” Rose held it out, and Kitty pounced on it.

  “We’ll have tea... or what should taste like tea.”

  Rose snorted.

  “Do we have mending?”

  “Some, but I got most of it done. You need to rest up, as you have your interview tomorrow.”

  Kitty was two years older than Rose, and a great deal more world-wise.

  “Now tell me about your morning, as mine was in here, and as it’s dismal I need cheering up,” Kitty said, handing Rose a cup of what amounted to hot water. They then savored the bun.

  “We’re having these every day when one of us makes good,” Kitty said, closing her eyes as she took the first bite.

  “Fruit buns,” Rose scoffed. “We’re having cream cakes and champagne.”

  “Oooh, I like that picture.” Kitty scrunched her eyes tighter.

  “My day actually started out terribly. Someone tried to steal my money on the way to work. I’d just walked out the front door and a man snatched my reticule.”

  “What?” Kitty’s eyes sprang open. “And you’re only telling me now!”

  “I just got home, to be fair.”

  “Did you use that move I taught you? The one with the knee?”

  Rose shook her head.

  “Honestly, you’re like a newborn lamb out there on the streets. I worry about you.”

  “Someone intervened and helped me.”

  “Who?” Kitty looked at Rose. “You’re hiding something.”

  “I am not.”

  “Let’s hear it... all of it.” Kitty ran her finger over the top of the remaining piece of bun and licked the sugar off.

  Rose told her about the incident, leaving out no detail.

  “Oh, Rose, that is terrifying for you. I’m so glad that man was there to help.”

  “I must confess to being a bit rude to him in my shock.”

  “What? Why would you be rude?”

  “He unsettled me.”

  “Because?”

  “He was large and dark and, well, he was handsome. He also had a way about him that was stuffy and kind of superior.”

  “Nobility, do you think?” Kitty picked up her mending. She’d started her working life as a prostitute but soon realized that was not for her, and now took in mending.

  “I don’t know, perhaps.” Rose waved her hand. “It matters not as our paths will not cross again. What matters is that you are coming out with me this afternoon.”

  “Where to?”

  “The veterans at Ranwich House. I chanced upon one in the street. He was limping, and looked in need of help, so I walked him home. Oh, Kitty, the conditions they live in—”

  “Can be no worse than ours, surely?”

  “Perhaps not, but they are not able-bodied.”

  “And this has what to do with us?”

  “They have an old piano there, and I said I’d come and play.”


  “And I am to sing?”

  “We will sing.”

  Kitty exhaled loudly, like she did most things. The youngest of five children, she’d had to make herself heard or be stomped on, according to her.

  “Oh very well.”

  Getting to her feet, Rose hugged her friend.

  “You are my blessing, Kitty Dodds. Now pull on your coat, bonnet, and gloves, as there is a brisk wind about today, and we shall leave shortly.”

  “I’ll just return this to Mrs. Brown,” Kitty said, holding a worn dress in one hand. “I mended it for her.”

  When she’d gone, Rose found her bonnet and pulled it on.

  “Tomorrow my life will start to change.” She touched the locket around her neck. It had been the last gift her aunt gave her. “Tomorrow, Aunt Helen, I start a new chapter.”

  Rose had learned from Mrs. Timms, who’d heard it from her daughter who worked as a maid for a member of society, that a position for a piano teacher had become available. When she’d applied, handing over the references she’d been given in Scotland, to her surprise she’d been asked to come for an interview. It had gone well, and Rose received a letter just two days ago stating she had the position.

  Rose’s aunt had two passions in her life: being a midwife and music. A single mother after the death of her husband, she had taken in her sister’s only child when there was no other family, and taught Rose to embrace her passions from an early age. The only blight on her years spent under her aunt’s roof was her cousin, Herbert. He’d tormented her, but for the most Rose had managed to avoid outright confrontation. That had changed two days after her aunt’s death, when he’d tried to force himself on her. She hoped his head still hurt from the vase she smashed over it.

  Carefully Rose collected her aunt’s precious violin, the one thing she had refused to leave in the perfidious Herbert’s care.

  “Right then, let’s be off,” Kitty said, bustling back into the room. “This will be good practice for you.”

  “I’m nervous about tomorrow, Kitty.”

  “Who wouldn’t be? It’s not every day you get to work for the nobs, but let’s not forget the money will fill your belly.”

  “And yours.”

  “I’m not your responsibility, Rose.”

  “Did I say you were?”

  Kitty stood her ground, hands on hips, looking at Rose in that way she had that made her want to scrunch her toes in her shoes.

  “You’re honorable and innocent, Rose Abernethy. Both are dangerous traits to have in the world we live in.”

  “There’s still good out there, Kitty, you just have to look.”

  Kitty just snorted and walked out the door, leaving Rose to follow.

  Of Rupert there was no sign when they reached the entranceway.

  “But you’ll do grand at teaching piano, Rose. It’s the life you should be living.”

  “We are no different, you and I, Kitty.” Rose took her friend’s arm as they crossed the street.

  “Perhaps once, but not now. I’m changed, Rose. This life has yet to touch you.”

  “You’ve changed through necessity, not choice, Kitty Dodds, and you’ll not be bringing it up whenever you wish to win an argument.”

  “It doesn’t change who I am, Rose.”

  “Do you want me to feel sorry for you then?”

  Kitty tugged her around a steaming pile of manure.

  “You’re right nasty when you want to be, Rose Abernethy.”

  “I am, and don’t forget it.”

  “As if I could.”

  As they walked, Kitty nodded and offered flirtatious smiles that were as easy as breathing to her to any man who tipped his hat.

  “Our destination is just here. There are a few steps, but I’m sure you’ll manage.”

  “Manage, will I! Cheeky brat, I’m only the elder by two years.”

  Rose followed her friend, laughing.

  They walked into the old building and took the stairs, Rose was still smiling as she entered the room at the top. It fell from her lips as she saw who was seated inside.

  What was he doing there?

  Chapter 5

  “Miss Abernethy, you came back!”

  Wolf looked from the man who had made that statement, to the doorway, and every muscle in his body clenched. The woman he’d rescued this morning stood there with another woman at her side. Regaining his feet, he watched the men stagger to theirs.

  “I did promise, Mr. Perry,” the woman he now knew as Miss Abernethy said. She shot Wolf a look that told him she was as pleased to see him as he was her.

  “Who is Miss Abernethy?” His eyes stayed on her as she walked to where a group of men stood. He’d not imagined her beauty. Even dressed in a worn gray coat buttoned to the chin and bonnet with faded blue trim, she looked sweet and disturbing. He let his eyes move to the woman accompanying her. Older was his guess, and unlike Miss Abernethy, who seemed nervous, this one’s smile reached her blue eyes. Her bonnet was trimmed with flowers and a faded ribbon, and her dress beneath the cloak she’d just removed was snug over her breasts, a fact the veterans had not missed.

  Wolf let his eyes return to Miss Abernethy, as the other held no interest to him. What was it about her that made his heart thud a little harder inside his chest?

  “She visited with us just yesterday and promised to come back and provide us with some music.”

  Full of wounded soldiers, Ranwich House was a place Wolf often visited. He gave money and ensured they had enough food and blankets, but it was never enough. These men needed so much more than he could offer them. They needed to leave this cold, damp house and move to one with light and fresh air, as did many of the men who fought in the campaigns.

  Wolf dreaded his visits here, as the air was usually thick with surrender. Those who were forced inside its drab walls had nowhere else to live and were there because they were unwanted and unloved. Forgotten by all but those good souls who cared enough to help.

  Wolf’s visits to Ranwich House were never easy, because stepping inside cloaked him in guilt. Guilt that he had people who cared enough about him to ensure he healed. Guilt that he had food and shelter, and, yes, money. But more than anything, he felt guilt over the darkness that still lurked inside him. Darkness he had no right to feel when others were worse off than he.

  “Miss Abernethy, you have brought a friend with you.”

  Wolf pulled his thoughts back to the present as he watched Mrs. Hall, the woman who looked after all these men, greet Miss Abernethy.

  “Indeed I have. This is Miss Dodds, and she is to help me entertain you all today.”

  Her accent seemed to roll up and down Wolf’s spine. The soft burr was so different from what he was used to hearing.

  “How wonderful! We are most eager to hear you both.”

  Miss Abernethy lowered her violin case to the floor. Noting the care she took with it, Wolf realized it meant a great deal to her.

  “Before you start, Miss Abernethy, Miss Dodds, may I introduce you to Captain Sinclair,” Mrs. Hall said.

  She had to look at him now, and those eyes did not lower as he’d thought they would.

  “Captain Sinclair.” She moved closer.

  “Miss Abernethy, I am pleased to see you suffered no ill effects from this morning.” Wolf bowed.

  “Are you the man who saved Rose?” Miss Dodds demanded, coming to her friend’s side.

  “I am.”

  Her name is Rose.

  “You were right.” Miss Dodds looked at Miss Abernethy again, lifting a brow.

  “About what?” Wolf found himself saying as color filled Miss Abernethy’s cheeks.

  “Nothing.” She shot her friend a look he could not interpret.

  “And Mrs. Little’s feline companion is behaving himself also, I hope?”

  “He is, thank you.” She gave him a curt nod.

  “Tell me you did not get out on the roof to save the flea-ridden beast, Rose Abernethy!”

  �
��He’s not a beast, and no, I did not. Captain Sinclair coaxed him down, Kitty.”

  “Lord save me from fools,” the woman snapped, glaring at Miss Abernethy. “You’ll be after breaking your neck if you don’t stop.”

  “I am never in danger, as unlike you I am quite agile.”

  “I’m agile!”

  “If you say so.”

  Wolf felt something move inside him as Rose Abernethy offered her friend a small smile that if he was to label, he’d call cheeky.

  “Now if you’re quite finished, I shall start with the violin, then move to the piano, and we’ll sing.” Throwing her friend and him a final look, she walked away.

  “She’s a mouthy one, our Rose.”

  “You sound proud of that fact, Miss Dodds.”

  He was subjected to a wide smile, and her lashes fluttered. It had no effect on Wolf at all.

  “I am. She is coming along well.”

  “From what?”

  She waved his words away.

  “You’re in for a treat now, Captain. No one plays quite like Rose.”

  He heard the pride in Miss Dodds’s words.

  Wolf watched as Rose, as he now thought of her, lifted her violin and started to play, and he was suddenly transfixed. From the first note she held the room in the palm of her hand. The haunting melody filled every corner and seemed to hang in the air. Her eyes were closed and she was totally absorbed in the music. Exhaling slowly as the song finished, he made himself look at Miss Dodds.

  “How is it you know Miss Abernethy?”

  He’d told himself in the hours since he’d seen her that she hadn’t captured his interest; looking at her now, he knew how wrong he’d been.

  “We share a room, Captain, and I have been blessed with her company for two months now.”

  “Blessed?” Wolf kept his eyes on Miss Abernethy. She was captivating. Every note perfect, and, like the others in the room, he was enthralled. Everything about her seemed real, unlike the women of society he knew, and Wolf thought this may be why she had captured his interest. Her actions did not appear studied, and he doubted she’d looked in the mirror before leaving the lodging house.