by Emily Organ
“I don’t like that man,” I replied as we began to walk.
“He’s rather serious, isn’t he?”
“He made me feel as though I had done something wrong! I agreed to answer his questions in the hope that I’d be helping his investigation, but instead he seemed intent on trying to trip me up and somehow making me admit that I had poisoned Mr Taylor. How could he even think such a thing?”
“I’m sure he doesn’t. He will no doubt question everyone in the same manner. I’m sorry he was rude to you.”
“I suppose he has a job to do. I like to think that our professions can work well together, but he doesn’t seem to share the sentiment.”
“Well I do, Penny.”
“Thank you, James.”
We climbed on board the horse tram beside the churchyard in Newington Butts.
“We received some exciting news while you were being interviewed by Inspector Austen,” said James. “Catherine Curran has been arrested.”
“That is excellent news!” I said. “You have finally found her!”
I sank into a seat on the tram with a grin on my face.
“Where was she?” I asked.
“Kent. Chislehurst, I hear… not far from Orpington.”
“Kent? So she made a quick visit to Lambeth yesterday evening to poison her first husband, then swiftly returned?”
“No. She wasn’t in Lambeth at all. She was arrested yesterday evening in Chislehurst.”
I paused for a moment while I considered this. “So while Benjamin Taylor was being poisoned Catherine Curran was being arrested in Chislehurst?”
“Yes. Catherine couldn’t have poisoned him.”
“Then the culprit must be this other person we have discussed. Someone else is doing this and we have no idea who it is!”
“Exactly. And we have very little evidence that Catherine Curran has poisoned anyone at all.”
I closed my eyes and tried to reorganise the jigsaw puzzle in my mind. “It’s no good,” I said, opening them again. “I’m baffled.”
“Only because you have always felt so certain that Catherine Curran is behind all this.”
“We have all been certain, haven’t we? And by running away as she did she appeared to have confirmed her guilt.”
“She was found close to Chislehurst Caves. There is some speculation that she had been planning to hide in there.”
“The ancient mines?” I shuddered. “I shouldn’t like to be down there on my own. But what is she hiding from if she’s innocent?”
“Hopefully we’ll find out now that we’ve got her. She has been arrested on the charge of bigamy.”
“Perhaps that is all she’s guilty of,” I said resignedly.
For so long I had been sure that Catherine was behind the poisoning of all her husbands. Even though Sally Chadwick had confessed I had still believed that Catherine was somehow involved.
“And don’t forget we are making the assumption that Benjamin Taylor was poisoned,” said James. “We cannot be sure until the autopsy and chemical analysis are carried out. It’s possible the cause of death may have been something altogether different.”
“Perhaps the other lodger had something to do with it.”
“L Division are still searching for him. I have no doubt that Austen will question him thoroughly once they find him.”
“Yes, it’s reassuring to know that he will do that conscientiously,” I added with a faint laugh.
“I’m looking forward to meeting Catherine Curran,” said James. “She’ll be brought up to Bermondsey by train.”
After disembarking from the horse tram we walked up Bermondsey Street toward the police station.
“I’ll update Sergeant Richards and check that everyone is feeling prepared for Inspector Martin’s funeral tomorrow,” said James.
“It will be a truly sad day,” I said.
“It will indeed.” His blue eyes dampened.
While James was speaking to Sergeant Richards, I sat in the waiting room and wrote a rough draft of an article about Benjamin Taylor’s murder and Catherine Curran’s arrest in my notebook. I hoped Mr Childers would consider the news important enough to publish in Monday’s edition.
Once James had finished at the police station we walked in the direction of the river, moving past the stinking railway arches, beneath the railway lines and up toward the Tower Subway.
“How is your sister faring?” asked James as our footsteps echoed on the spiral staircase down to the tunnel. “Has she reconciled with her husband?”
“Not yet. She’s struggling to forgive him. I think he made the wrong decision out of stupidity rather than malice; I don’t believe him to be an unpleasant person. But he has been foolish, and I can’t see how she will ever be happy with him again.”
“It may take her some time to forgive.”
“Perhaps she never will. They’re quite different from one another. George is rather stuffy and old-fashioned, as you no doubt recall. Eliza is modern in her thinking; much more so than many other people. She campaigns for rational dress and women’s suffrage. The ideal wife for George would be someone who enjoys being the lady of the house while never questioning anything about her position, and never wanting anything more. Eliza wants more, you see. She wishes to work, but George forbids her from doing so.”
“It’s not something married women usually do.”
“But why shouldn’t they?”
“It’s a fair question.”
“For some reason Eliza has listened to her husband and not sought employment,” I said. “I think she now has the perfect opportunity to take on some form of profession.”
“Presumably there are children to be looked after, are there not?”
“There are, and she has a nanny who costs money, of course. If she were to divorce George she would no doubt have to move out of her home, and she would need to earn enough money to pay for a home and to have someone care for the children. In the past I have found myself envying her lifestyle; however, I have since realised how constrained it is. With George being the sole source of household income she has no independence.”
“Polite society would argue that she doesn’t need independence, since everything is provided for her.”
“And in theory she should be happy. Yet she possesses a spirit which yearns for freedom and choice, much like mine.”
James smiled.
“And I suppose it is difficult to feel sympathy for my sister when she has such a fine home as a result of her husband’s good salary,” I continued. “I have encountered enough poverty and destitution during the course of my work to know that she is well positioned in life. But the reality is that she married the wrong person. The repercussions of that may not always be immediate, but they will manifest sooner or later. I think she pretended to be in love with George because, sadly for my sister, even now at the age of thirty-two, I don’t think she understands what real love feels like.”
There was a long pause as we continued walking.
“That’s a pity,” James said quietly.
The silence grew as we continued walking and I wondered whether James was considering his own situation in the light of my words. His wedding to Charlotte was just a week away and I was trying my hardest not to dwell on it, hoping in vain that ignoring the event might somehow prevent it from happening.
But there was no preventing the image of a smiling, apple-cheeked Charlotte in her wedding dress leaping into my mind. It hung there so clearly that it almost floated before me in that miserable, dingy tunnel.
“Don’t do it!” I exclaimed, stopping and turning to face James. “Don’t marry her!”
Chapter 34
James stopped walking and turned to face me. I held his gaze, hoping beyond hope that my eyes would implore him to do the right thing.
“Don’t you see why Eliza is so unhappy now?” I asked. “She married a fool. I know there are times in many marriages when husbands and wives fall out, but George h
as always been a fool. He was a fool when they courted and a fool the day they married. I don’t believe she was completely blind to it, but she married him because she felt she should.
“If you marry Charlotte, James, you will likely be perfectly happy together during your honeymoon. Perhaps you will be happy for a few months as you set up home together. You may even be happy for a year or two. But will you be happy together for the rest of your lives?”
He opened his mouth to speak, then seemed to think better of it.
“No, you won’t,” I continued. “I know this because of the manner in which you kissed me as we stood in Eliza’s hallway. A man who is happily engaged does not kiss another woman in such a way!”
James stood quite still, his eyes intently searching my face.
“I don’t want you to make a mistake that you will regret for the rest of your life,” I said quietly.
He took a step forward, bent his head toward mine and kissed me gently. I closed my eyes and breathed in his scent, praying that my words had changed his mind.
Then he took a step back again. “I wish I could tell you how much I care about you, Penny, but it wouldn’t be fair.”
“What do you mean?”
“It wouldn’t be fair for you or for me.”
“You still intend to marry her?” I asked, my heart sinking into the pit of my stomach.
He began to walk slowly along the tunnel again. “I have to, as I’ve explained before. I can’t tell you how many people have been invited to this wedding. My parents… particularly my father. He has been suffering with ill health for some time. For a while he doubted whether he would still be alive when the marriage took place. And he is so excited about the wedding, Penny. My parents are overjoyed. If I change my mind about it they will be heartbroken!”
“But this isn’t about your parents,” I said. “It’s about you.”
“It’s partly about me, but marriage is also the union of two families. I think of all the siblings, the aunts and uncles, the cousins and so on. I’d have to do a terrific amount of explaining to them all if I called it off. My brother and his wife are travelling all the way from Scotland to attend.”
There was a thud of anger in my chest. “So you are marrying Charlotte out of obligation to your family?”
“I suppose that’s partly it, especially this close to the event. You can’t just call off a wedding with a week to go.”
“You can if you think you’re making a terrible mistake.”
“She would sue me, Penny.”
“That would be unreasonable of her.”
“Would it? I’m not sure that it would. She has already threatened to sue me for breach of promise once.”
I gave a hollow laugh. “She has already threatened you with it?”
He stopped again and turned to face me. “A lot of conversations have been had about you, Penny. If truth be told, Charlotte suspects that I hold some affection for you. It’s why she prevented us from meeting at the Museum Tavern.”
“Just imagine what she would say if she knew that you had kissed me! Twice!”
James sighed. “I cannot even begin to consider what she would say. She’d be angry, that’s for sure. She has been angry in the past, and that’s when the threat came. Women are perfectly entitled to sue, of course. The law is there to protect them. I simply cannot imagine how my father’s health would cope with the wedding being cancelled or by the ugly scene with my former fiancée in the courts. I couldn’t do that to him, Penny.”
“You’re not saying anything about you or what you want, James.”
“It’s too late for that now. The wheels were set in motion a long time ago. If I change my mind now I’ll be letting down the people who matter most to me.”
“Your parents.”
“Yes, my parents. And Charlotte, in some respects.”
“Do you love her?”
He scratched at his temple. “I have a good deal of affection for her. I’ve known her for a long time, and our families are close.”
“So you love her as if she were a cousin or a friend?”
“I think you have described it very well, Penny.” He smiled.
“That is not sufficient reason to marry someone.”
“I’m sure you’re right, but at this stage I can see no other option. Everything is ready for next Saturday, and my father is in the best spirits I’ve seen him in for a long time. To call it off… I honestly don’t know how I could do it, Penny.”
“I should think it would be quite simple. You inform Charlotte that you no longer wish to marry her and then cover your ears as the world crashes down around you. People will be upset and disappointed, but the uproar won’t last forever. It will probably be quite short-lived, I should think. Anyone who knows you well, and cares about you, will want you to make the right decision. They will forgive you for disappointing them in time.”
“If only it were that simple.”
“But it is!” I snapped. “The problem is that you’re afraid of letting people down. But if I explain to you now that I love you, and wish nothing more than for us to be married, might that cause you to reconsider?”
James stepped toward me, as if he wished to kiss me again. I felt my face grow hot as my declaration of love hung heavily in the air. I had said everything I was capable of saying. It felt as though my heart was in his hands.
I waited, hoping there would be a declaration of love from him in return. If my words hadn’t changed his mind, surely nothing would.
I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see two young men walking toward us. I recalled, to my great horror, how easily voices carried along the tunnel.
James and I stood back from one another and the men grinned at us as they approached.
“Oy, oy,” said one of them as he doffed his hat. “Fair brings a tear to yer eye. Are yer goin’ ter reconsider, mister?”
James glared at him. “I would ask you to mind your own business!” he retorted.
“Aye,” replied the man with a smirk as he placed his hat back on his head and they walked on.
Another couple was approaching from behind them and I felt irritated that we were no longer alone.
James and I walked on.
I didn’t know what else to say. Any words we spoke would be overheard by the other people walking nearby.
I felt embarrassed and ashamed, but I had done all I could.
If James went ahead with his wedding despite my impassioned pleas I would have to do something else with my life. I couldn’t bear to remain in London, continuing with my work and constantly worrying that I might bump into him. How could I ever work with him while he was married to another woman? It would be too upsetting. I would have to leave London and my job and my home to go and make a life for myself elsewhere.
I felt a strong temptation to follow Francis out to Colombia to help him search for my father. I needed to do something, anything, that could make me forget about James’ wedding.
We climbed the stairs at the far end of the tunnel and emerged, blinking, into the bright daylight.
We stood for a moment, taking in the view of the Tower of London.
“I need to give the situation a great deal of thought,” said James. “I have never felt so much conflict in my mind before.”
“Surely my feelings for you do not come as a surprise,” I said.
“To hear you express them as you did is a surprise to me indeed. Until now I had suspected… Well, I suppose I knew. But it was easier to continue as we were and not go upsetting anyone. That’s changed now and… It’s certainly regretful that we are now so close to the wedding day. I keep picturing my parents’ faces if I were to tell them the bad news, and Charlotte’s face as well... not to mention her parents. And then there’s my sister to consider, and my little nephew, who I’m told is extremely excited about attending his first ever wedding. There is so much to consider.”
I gritted my teeth. I had heard enough. “Well, I know where
I shall be a week from today,” I said. “Drowning my sorrows at the Museum Tavern!”
Chapter 35
I woke early the following morning, still turning the exchange with James over in my mind. I realised that he hadn’t said that he loved Charlotte during our conversation.
Had he omitted to do so to avoid offending me? Was a concern for his family the only reason he was continuing with the marriage, or did he feel something deeper for her after all?
I pictured the vicar asking whether anyone knew of any lawful reason why James and Charlotte should not be married. That would be the perfect moment to stand up and declare my love for him.
I knew that it wasn’t a lawful reason for them not to marry, and that James would never forgive me for ruining his wedding. No one would. My actions would be unpopular with everyone present, and doing such a thing would be the act of a truly desperate woman. Although I felt suitably desperate about the situation I was too proud to plead with James at the altar. If his mind was made up there was little more I could do about it.
Inspector Martin’s funeral was held at St Matthew’s Church in Brixton. The church was filled with police officers proudly wearing their blue Metropolitan Police uniforms, though I also noticed the black uniforms of some City of London Police officers among them. I saw James among the mourners, busy comforting his colleagues and Inspector Martin’s widow. My heart ached when I saw the young Martin children dressed in their mourning clothes. The littlest was just a baby.
My conversation with James after the funeral service was brief. He was accompanied by Charlotte, who wore a black veil and sniffed constantly into a black handkerchief. I expressed my commiserations and quickly moved away. Even if Charlotte hadn’t been there I wasn’t sure what I could have said to him after our conversation in the subway. The wedding was just six days away now and I was beginning to wonder what I could possibly do with myself once James was married.
I spoke with William Curran for a while in the churchyard.