by Emily Organ
I opened my eyes again and saw Emma still trying to pull the trigger, which appeared to be jammed.
As I stepped forward and snatched the gun from her she gave me a startled, bewildered look, as though she hadn’t noticed me there.
“Well done, Penny,” James said, swiftly arriving at my side.
I handed both guns over to him.
“You almost got yourself killed!” I cried. “Why try to defend an evil man like him?” I pointed toward the prostrate form of Sheridan, who still lay moaning on the ground.
“I understand why Miss Holland is upset, but she cannot act as judge, jury and executioner,” said James. “I told her this man needs to go to trial, as does Cullen.”
I turned to face Emma. “You were about to kill James after everything he’s done to help!”
“I didn’t mean to… I didn’t want to, but he wouldn’t get out of the way. I’m sorry, I…”
Tears began to pour down her cheeks and I turned away in anger. Both James and Emma had acted foolishly, and for some odd reason I also began to cry.
“Penny,” James said, resting a hand on my arm. “It’s over. Everyone’s still alive.”
“Everyone apart from Emma’s brother,” I said. “And the Forsters. And Mr Mawson.”
“Sheridan will pay for his crimes,” said James, “and so will the gang he hired. We did it! Now let’s find a doctor to tend to these injured men.”
“I don’t think we should be in any great hurry to do so,” I replied.
Chapter 71
“I hope you don’t mind us calling in on you unexpectedly, Penny, but I wanted to thank you personally for all your help,” said Charlotte Jenkins. Her blue eyes were bright and smiling, and she clung to James’ arm as the pair of them stood in Mrs Garnett’s hallway. “Without you I don’t know whether I would have seen James again.”
“I think you’re exaggerating a little, Charlotte. I didn’t exactly rescue him.”
“You encouraged me to see through Cullen, Penny,” said James. “I trusted him and you didn’t. You were right.”
“I’m sure you would soon have realised.”
“You must accept our gratitude,” said Charlotte, “there is no need for modesty. You were of great comfort to me while James was missing and did everything you could to find him again. And here he is!” She looked up at him and beamed.
I forced a smile, knowing I had sought James for my own sake rather than Charlotte’s. However, it seemed that I could no longer do any wrong in her eyes.
“I shan’t let you out of my sight between now and the wedding!” she said to James.
He gave her an awkward smile. “I’ll still have to go to work, Charlotte.”
“Then I shall come too!” she said with a giggle. “Either that, or we’ll have to stop you doing this dangerous police work altogether. Perhaps you could find yourself a nice quiet job.”
“Such as working in a library?” suggested James, giving me a knowing glance.
“Yes, a library. That would be perfect!” said Charlotte. “Penny, would you like to join us for dinner this evening? There are some pleasant supper rooms on Fore Street, if I recall, and my mother will accompany us. She’s waiting outside in the carriage.”
The thought of spending an evening watching James being simpered over by his fiancée left me feeling cold.
“Thank you for the invitation, Charlotte, but I’m rather tired. Perhaps another time.”
“Of course, I understand. We will most likely be married by then!”
The sympathy I had felt for Charlotte during James’ disappearance had evaporated. I found myself disliking her smiling, apple-cheeked face and her dark green satin dress with a renewed intensity.
James and I held each other’s gaze for a brief moment and I wished I could tell him what a grave mistake he was making. I felt angry as he stood in front of me, his arm linked through Charlotte’s as though he were quite devoted to her.
“Enjoy your evening,” I said curtly, “I need to get some rest.” I turned to ascend the stairs.
“Goodbye, Penny,” said James.
I turned around to look at him and saw that his brow was creased with concern. His eyes silently conveyed that there were countless words he wished to say.
You’ve made your choice. Those were the only words I had for him now. I hoped my eyes expressed the sentiment.
“Goodbye, James.”
I turned on my heel and climbed the stairs up to my room.
Chapter 72
“You haven’t told anyone that George is staying with his brother, have you?” whispered Eliza as we strolled beneath our parasols beside the Serpentine in Hyde Park.
“No.”
“His parents must not find out. We just need a short while to fully understand what has happened, as he really didn’t know what he was getting himself mixed up in. He’s terribly upset about the whole affair, but I still don’t know what to make of it. To think that he consorted with a man as evil as Mr Sheridan! It’s terrible, it really is. George has always been such a law-abiding individual, and I’m terribly shocked that he could be associated with a murder case. Do you remember those beautiful Cantonese vases Mrs Lennox admired at our meeting? It transpires they were a gift to George from Mr Sheridan. It’s disgraceful! I’ve asked the housekeeper to remove them, and I cannot bear to have George in the house at the moment. I feel so angry and ashamed.”
“There’s no suggestion that George knew about the murders Mr Sheridan orchestrated,” I said.
“No, but it doesn’t look good, does it? The police are still talking to him. In fact, Inspector Blakely has been talking to him. You will ask James to go easy on him, won’t you? George simply isn’t used to being questioned by the police and I’m worried he’ll say something he’ll regret.”
“I’ll speak to James when I see him next, but I don’t know when that will be. Besides, George is quite capable of looking after himself. He’s a lawyer.”
“You’re right, I suppose he is. But he isn’t at his best when he feels wrong-footed.”
“Perhaps he should be more discerning about the clients he does business with, in that case.”
“Oh Penelope, have some sympathy!”
“I have sympathy for you, Ellie, but none for your husband, I’m afraid. He got himself into this and he’ll need to get himself out of it again. I have every confidence that he’ll manage it. He has friends in all the right places.”
“Oh, he does, yes. Particularly at the Colthurst Club.”
“There you go, then. In the meantime, look after yourself and the children.”
“To think that Mr Sheridan bribed a senior officer at Scotland Yard!” continued Eliza. “I would never have thought that possible, would you?”
“Nothing surprises me about Chief Inspector Cullen,” I said. “I’m looking forward to reporting on his trial even more than Mr Sheridan’s.”
“By the expression on your face, Penny, I’d say that you were gleaning some sort of distorted pleasure from seeing these men punished.”
“Not distorted, Ellie, it’s a natural pleasure. I enjoy seeing people pay for their crimes. I think I finally understand why James risked his life trying to keep Mr Sheridan alive.”
We caught up with Francis at the boathouse.
“All the boats are out at the moment,” he said. “The chap thinks it will be about a ten-minute wait.”
He wore a pale grey suit and a straw boater hat. The summer sunshine had given him a light dusting of freckles across his nose and cheekbones.
“That doesn’t matter,” said Eliza. “We can continue our walk for a little while and return here later. Does that sound all right, Penelope?”
“I’m happy with that, Ellie.”
Francis and I exchanged a smile. This was the first time I had seen him since Chief Inspector Cullen had abducted me from the street close to the British Library. Although it had only been a week since then it seemed far longer. I thought he loo
ked quite handsome and felt pleased to have this opportunity to deepen our acquaintance a little.
He gazed out over the lake and fidgeted with his collar.
“Are you all right, Francis?” asked Eliza. “You seem rather preoccupied.”
“I am a little, if truth be told. I wonder if I may… This slight pause in proceedings gives me an opportunity to…” He turned to face me. “Penny, may I speak with you alone for a moment?”
“I suppose so, yes,” I replied.
I glanced at Eliza, who gave me a hopeful smile.
“Eliza, I do apologise,” said Francis. “I hope you don’t consider me rude wishing to speak to Penny alone, but there is something I should like to say and it will only take a moment.”
“Take all the time you need, Francis,” she said with a grin. “I shall walk another lap of the Serpentine.”
“Oh, we shan’t be that long,” said Francis.
“There’s no hurry!” Eliza called over her shoulder as she strode off.
Francis watched as she walked away, and I noticed him swallowing nervously.
Now mark my words, Eliza’s voice sounded in my head. As soon as Inspector Blakely is married Mr Edwards will surely propose.
I also swallowed nervously, realising the moment had arrived, albeit a few weeks earlier than she had predicted.
“Shall we?” suggested Francis, gesturing toward a path which led away from the lake.
“Of course.” I smiled, my heart thudding in my chest.
“I can’t say that I enjoy such conversations,” said Francis, “but sometimes they’re quite necessary. I’ll try to get to the point as quickly as I can.”
What would my reply be? Would I be making a big mistake if I said yes? Would it be polite to ask him to allow me time to consider his proposal?
Either way, I knew that I couldn’t turn him down with a simple no. He had given me plenty of time to prepare for this moment, yet I felt less prepared than ever.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten our conversation in the hansom cab that evening following our dinner with Mr Fox-Stirling,” continued Francis.
“Of course not.”
“As I look back on it now I feel rather embarrassed that my words were so direct, but I stood by them then and I stand by them now.”
“Thank you, Francis, I’m grateful to you for expressing yourself so honestly that evening. You shouldn’t feel embarrassed, and I should like to say in return that I —”
Francis held up his hand. “Please don’t consider me rude in interrupting you, Penny, only I’m finding this conversation rather difficult, and it’s taken me a little while to ready myself for it. Would you mind hearing what I have to say before you respond?”
“Of course.” I smiled, feeling some sympathy for him. I wanted to make it as easy for him as possible.
Did this mean I was ready to accept his proposal?
He stopped beside a beautifully scented rose bush and took a deep breath.
“I should like to remind you, Penny, how much I care about you. Please remember that.”
“Of course, Francis.”
“Good, because that is very important to me. The strength of my feelings for you has caused me to make a decision.” He scratched his chin. “I must take action, and I hope you will feel pleased about it.”
“I hope so.” I looked into his green eyes and realised I was holding my breath.
“I plan to travel to South America in search of your father, Penny.”
I continued to hold my breath, unsure as to whether I had heard him correctly. “But you can’t!” My voice sounded strained.
“Can’t?”
“You want to look for my father?”
He nodded.
“But it’s dangerous!”
“I don’t care, Penny. I am anxious to find him.”
“You wish to leave London? Leave the country?”
“I will have to if I’m to look for your father.”
“But I never thought you would want to. I thought —”
“Thought what? Did you think I had planned to say something different?”
I nodded, and a rush of embarrassment washed over me.
“For a time I thought I would, but I have come to realise that it wouldn’t be the right thing for me to do. I tried to convince myself that you were blameless when Inspector Blakely kissed you, but in truth I think you wanted it to happen.”
A surge of heat rushed to my face. “So you’re leaving?”
“I wish to do something interesting and rewarding. I have no desire to spend the rest of my days in a library hoping that one day you might agree to marry me.”
“But I haven’t known you for long, Francis. Maybe a little more time —”
“It’s not a question of time, Penny. You’re in love with Inspector Blakely, and I cannot compete with him for your affection. I don’t know what will happen once the chap is married; perhaps your feelings for him will change. But even if they did and you wished to marry me I would always know that I was your second choice.”
“You deserve better,” I said, my voice choked with emotion.
“You’ve told me that before, and I have come to believe that you are right. I wish to marry someone who loves me just as I love her.”
“I hope you find her, Francis.”
“So do I, Penny.”
The End
Historical Note
The opium trade has a long and complicated history and I hope that my attempts to summarise it here aren’t too clumsy.
Opium was a popular medicinal and recreational drug in China for centuries. Britain first became involved in the late 18th century when its East India Company saw an opportunity to make money. By this time, opium had been criminalised in China but this didn’t stop the British who cultivated the drug in their colony, India, and created a complex trade arrangement which saw opium being smuggled into China. The situation escalated into the two Opium Wars in the 1840s and 1850s which concluded with a treaty favourable to the British and other foreign traders.
In the latter half of the 19th century British-controlled India processed opium from the vast poppy fields of Bengal and Malwa and sold the drug to China. This trade was not without its opponents, including the British Prime Minister William Gladstone; critics viewed the trade as an exploitation of opium addicts’ misery. The trade continued because the revenue was so lucrative. On August 6th 1884 the Globe newspaper reported that Britain’s annual revenue from the opium trade that year would be over £9 million – today this equates to just over £1 billion / $1.3 billion (according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator).
Merchant families grew wealthy from the opium trade including the Baring and Rothschild families in the UK and the Astor and Forbes families in the US. President Franklin D Roosevelt’s grandfather, Warren Delano, was another merchant who made his money in the opium trade. Increasing condemnation of the trade led to Britain officially ceasing it in 1917. However, as recently as 1939 it was reported that British-controlled India was still exporting some opium to China ‘to treat animals and to cure malaria.’ Mahatma Gandhi campaigned against the trade in India and the country won its independence from Britain in 1947. By the 1950s Chairman Mao had eradicated much of the opium trade in China, although legal and illegal opiate use remains a problem there as it does around the rest of the globe.
The Ghazipur opium factory in Uttar Pradesh, India, was established in 1820 by the East India Company and is still functioning today processing opium for alkaloid products in the pharmaceutical industry. Rudyard Kipling visited the factory in 1888 and wrote about it in an essay which was a useful resource for me.
In the 19th century, opium dens could be found in large cities where the Chinese community settled outside China and in locations where there was a population keen to use the drug. In London’s Limehouse many frequenters of the opium dens were sailors and travellers passing through the docks close by. Charles Dickens visited an opium den
in Limehouse and used it as a location in his final, unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
The East India Club in St James’s Square was founded in 1849 principally for men who were connected with the East India Company. It still occupies the same building in St James’s Square today, having merged with other clubs over the years. Membership is by nomination and election and women are still not permitted.
The India Office was located in what are now the Foreign Office buildings in Whitehall. Noted for their architecture and spectacular interior, these government buildings were built in the 1860s and still house the Foreign Office today. The buildings are open to the public once a year.
The police station on Commercial Street was once part of Whitechapel H Division. It was this division which investigated four of the five Jack the Ripper murders in 1888 (the other one being in the City of London). The investigating officers were based at Commercial Street police station. The building still stands today and had an extra storey added to it in the early 1900s. A police station no more, it’s now residential and is called Burhan Uddin House.
Euston Arch was an enormous sandstone structure which stood in front of Euston station from 1837 until 1962. It was demolished as part of the station’s redevelopment, to the upset of many. The broken up pieces of the arch were used to line the bottom of a canal in East London and the gates are in the National Railway Museum in York. A number of pieces were raised from the canal in 2009 and plans are being discussed to have the arch rebuilt as part of an upgrade of Euston station in 2026.
Change Alley, sometimes known as Exchange Alley, is a narrow street in the heart of the City of London. In the 17th century it was home to Jonathan’s Coffee House where the prices of stocks and commodities were first published – a forerunner of the stock exchange.
My research for The Penny Green series has come from sources too numerous to list in detail, but the following books have been very useful: A Brief History of Life in Victorian Britain by Michael Patterson, London in the Nineteenth Century by Jerry White, London in 1880 by Herbert Fry, London a Travel Guide through Time by Dr Matthew Green, Women of the Press in Nineteenth-Century Britain by Barbara Onslow, A Very British Murder by Lucy Worsley, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale, Journalism for Women: A Practical Guide by Arnold Bennett and Seventy Years a Showman by Lord George Sanger, Dottings of a Dosser by Howard Goldsmid, Travels and Adventures of an Orchid Hunter by Albert Millican, The Bitter Cry of Outcast London by Andrew Mearns, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Philip Sugden, The Necropolis Railway by Andrew Martin, The Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, Victorian Maidservant edited by Liz Stanley, Mrs Woolf & the Servants by Alison Light, Revelations of a Lady Detective by William Stephens Hayward, A is for Arsenic by Kathryn Harkup, In an Opium Factory by Rudyard Kipling, Drugging a Nation: The Story of China and the Opium Curse by Samuel Merwin and Confessions of an Opium Eater by Thomas de Quincy. The British Newspaper Archive is also an invaluable resource.