by Dilly Court
‘And Mr Norwood is such a nice man,’ Nettie added. ‘You’d think she’d be grateful to have such a good husband.’
‘To be fair, Mrs Norwood can be quite pleasant, when she’s in a good mood.’ Percy leaned back and gazed out of the window. ‘But I imagine that’s the last time I’ll be invited to stay.’
‘I’m sorry, Percy,’ Nettie said slowly. ‘If I hadn’t gone in the water none of this would have happened, and now, because of me, you’ve lost a friend.’
He shook his head. ‘It would have happened anyway. Things were different when we had money, but I can’t compete with the Norwoods’ wealth.’
‘We won’t always be poor,’ Lisette said firmly. ‘I rose from the gutter once, and I can do it again. We’re on our way to London and I intend to prove that the pavements are made of gold. I am the Condesa Talavera, and I will do whatever it takes to restore our fortune.’
‘I’m sure you will,’ Robert said gently. ‘But our first priority is to find somewhere to live, and as much as it pains me to admit it, somewhere that the police won’t think of looking for me.’
Nettie smiled. ‘I think I have the answer to that, Pa.’
He put his head on one side, eyeing her doubtfully. ‘Really? And where is that?’
‘In plain sight, Pa. Somewhere the police, if they are still after you, wouldn’t think of looking.’
It was late afternoon by the time they arrived in Covent Garden. Robert had proved difficult to convince that moving back to their old lodgings, or somewhere in the vicinity, was a good plan, but eventually, and with unexpected backing from Lisette, Nettie had managed to persuade him. They had to live somewhere and Ma Burton would be prepared to overlook minor complications, such as their being on the run from the law, if the price was right.
Robert stood on the cobblestones, gazing up at the top storey where they had previously rented rooms. ‘Someone might be living there already. Have you considered that possibility, Nettie?’
‘Yes, of course, Pa. But I doubt if Pip and Ted will have moved on.’ Nettie turned to Byron. ‘They’ll be at work now, but I know they’d be delighted to see you.’
‘They might have taken in someone to help with the rent,’ Byron said doubtfully. ‘But it’s worth a try, and to be honest it feels good to be home.’
Nettie stood on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. ‘That’s exactly how I feel. I didn’t think I’d miss London so much, but it feels right to be here now.’ She turned to Lisette, and Constance, who was clutching Percy’s arm as if afraid to let him out of her sight. ‘I’ll go and brave Ma in her den.’
‘I should accompany you,’ Lisette said firmly. ‘The old woman will consider herself fortunate to have a countess dwelling in one of her apartments.’
Robert restrained her as she was about to follow Nettie into the building. ‘No, my dear. Allow Nettie to know best this time. You might have met your match in Ma Burton.’
‘I’ll be as quick as I can.’ Nettie turned to Constance, who was obviously unimpressed by her surroundings. ‘I know it’s not what you were accustomed to, but we will be reasonably comfortable here, and I think it might be best if we say that you are the condesa’s daughter.’
‘I don’t see why I can’t use my real name,’ Constance said crossly.
‘Do you want Duke to find you? We don’t know where he is, but I’m certain he’ll return to London eventually.’
Constance shook her head. ‘No. I want to get my marriage to that villain annulled as soon as possible.’
‘Then I’ll tell Ma Burton that you’re related to Lisette, and I’ll throw in her title for good measure. That will impress the old harridan.’ Nettie glanced at Byron, who winked and nodded.
‘Do you want me to come with you, Nettie?’
‘Yes, that’s a good idea, Byron. Ma always had a soft spot for you.’
‘I could charm her,’ Percy said eagerly. ‘My youthful good looks win over most ladies of a certain age.’
‘You haven’t met Ma Burton.’ Nettie opened the front door and was met by the familiar smell of stale food, dry rot and cheap cologne.
‘Well, well!’ Ma Burton looked Nettie up and down, curling her lip. ‘So you’ve returned to the scene of the crime, have you? The cops will be very interested to hear that.’
‘So they came here looking for us, did they?’ Nettie asked innocently.
‘Not for you, missy. They was after your pa. He’s been a bit of a naughty boy, so I’ve heard – passing off his daubs for real paintings.’
‘It’s true,’ Nettie said airily. ‘And there’s good money in it. We haven’t come back asking for favours, Ma.’
‘No, indeed,’ Byron added hastily. ‘We’ve been abroad and made a tidy sum.’
Ma Burton eyed him suspiciously. ‘Not by any honest means, I imagine.’
‘What do you think?’ Nettie winked and tapped the side of her nose. ‘We understand each other, don’t we, Ma? And as Byron said, there’s no need to worry about payment. The question is – have you rooms to let?’
Ma raised herself from her rocking chair by the range, and her plump body sagged like an old mattress as she waddled across the flagstone floor to take a tin box from one of the cupboards. She shook it and coins rattled.
‘I want a month’s rent in advance, plus a bit extra to keep me mouth shut. I’m a businesswoman first and foremost, so pay up or get out and take your chances elsewhere.’
Nettie fingered the leather pouch that Maurice Norwood had given them. ‘We need two rooms for Pa and me, and Byron will be pleased to share with his friends if they’re still living here. Then there’s the countess – she’ll require a room for herself and one for her daughter.’
Ma slammed the tin down on the kitchen table, which was littered with the remains of several meals and empty beer bottles. ‘Countess? You’re pulling me leg.’
‘No, Ma,’ Byron said, grinning. ‘You could, if you so wished, have the Condesa Talavera and her lovely daughter as lodgers.’
‘Is she rich?’
Nettie sent a warning glance to Byron, who seemed to be getting carried away with his inventiveness. ‘Have you ever heard of a poor aristocrat, especially a foreign one?’
‘The nobs don’t come knocking on me door too often, dearie.’ Ma rattled the tin. ‘But, as it happens I have a couple of rooms vacant. That Mr Lorimer and his missis, they moved out a week ago. I think he was sent north by his newspaper, or maybe he wanted to get shot of her, the whimpering cow. She’s gone to her parents in Hertfordshire, and good riddance – always complaining and sending that kid Biddy down here for hot water. I got fed up with them.’
‘I’m sure the condesa would be pleased to rent their rooms.’ Knowing Ma only too well, Nettie tried not to sound too enthusiastic in case the old spider put up the rent. ‘And there’s Pa and me?’
‘I’ve had difficulty getting tenants for the attic rooms. People say the smell of the oil paint lingers on and makes them feel ill. You’re welcome to it, but I’ll have to charge you double, if you want me to keep me trap shut.’
Nettie had been expecting this and she shrugged. ‘That’s fair enough.’
‘And your mates are still in residence,’ Ma said, attempting a smile as she turned to Byron. ‘I dare say they’ll take you back, and you was always the one what came down to pay me. That Pip ain’t half the man you are, Byron, me boy.’
‘Thanks, Ma. I’ll be glad to see my friends again.’ Byron hesitated, eyeing her warily. ‘My brother is recently down from Cambridge. He’ll be staying for a while, if you could provide another bed or just a mattress. He’s not too fussy.’
‘I expect I could make an exception to me rules, seeing as how it’s you, Byron dear.’ Ma’s eyes glittered greedily as she eyed the leather pouch. ‘Let’s see what you got, and then I’ll say yea or nay.’
Nettie tipped coins onto the table, keeping a few back. She knew that she would have to bargain hard, but Ma had the upper hand and would almos
t certainly get the best of the deal.
Ten minutes later they joined the others, who were waiting impatiently in the narrow entrance hall.
‘Well?’ Lisette demanded. ‘Have we somewhere to lay our heads tonight? Or do we sleep in the street?’
Nettie smiled tiredly; dealing with Ma Burton had always been an exhausting battle of wits. ‘You and Constance can have the Lorimers’ old apartment on the ground floor. It’s the best in the house,’ she added hastily.
‘And I will doss down with my friends,’ Byron said, smiling. ‘And we can make room for my young brother.’
Percy pulled a face. ‘Young in years, but old in wisdom.’
‘And we have our old rooms back, Pa,’ Nettie said triumphantly. ‘Apparently the smell of your paints put prospective tenants off.’
‘Excellent.’ Robert picked up his bag of paints and the canvas and headed for the stairs. ‘Give me the key, please, Nettie. I’ll go on ahead.’
‘And I’ll take Percy up to inspect our rooms.’ Byron handed a set of keys to Robert and he and Percy followed him up the narrow staircase.
‘That leaves you to take a look at the Lorimers’ apartment.’ Nettie made an effort to sound cheerful, but she could tell by the looks on their faces that Lisette and Constance were not happy. She went to unlock the door and ushered them inside, silently crossing her fingers.
Lisette and Constance took their time to explore the rooms and Nettie waited for their comments. Not that they had much choice as, even allowing for Ma Burton’s greed, the rent charged was still far cheaper than anything they could get in a more salubrious area. Nettie was beginning to lose patience when her father breezed into the parlour.
He gazed round with a nod of approval. ‘It looks to be quite clean and tidy. Are they satisfied?’
Nettie was about to answer when Constance emerged from the bedroom, followed by Lisette.
‘I suppose it will do,’ Lisette said sulkily. ‘Although it reeks of camphor and carbolic, and some other medicinal substances I can’t put my finger on.’
‘Mrs Lorimer was an invalid.’ Nettie went to the window and opened it, but the gust of air smelled even worse than the room and she closed it again.
‘It’s very dark and dingy,’ Constance said crossly. ‘So different from the castle, or my home in Paris. I’m not sure I like London as I did when I was a child, but of course we had a lovely house and servants.’
A sudden crash coming from the bedroom made them all turn with a start.
‘It might be a thief. Stay here.’ Robert strode into the room and there were sounds of a scuffle. He reappeared dragging a young girl by the arm. ‘I seem to recognise this child. Who is she, Nettie?’
‘It’s Biddy, Pa. The girl who used to work for the Lorimers.’ Nettie moved swiftly to put her arm around the sobbing child. ‘It’s all right. Don’t cry.’
‘What is she doing here?’ Lisette demanded. ‘Were you stealing things, child?’
Biddy wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her shabby cotton blouse. ‘No, missis. I ain’t got nowhere to go. Mr Lorimer was going to put me in the workhouse, but I hid and I been here ever since.’
‘You’ve been here alone for a week?’ Nettie stared at her aghast. ‘Have you had anything to eat since the Lorimers left?’
‘I crept out at night, miss. Sometimes I found some squashed fruit or vegetables in the market hall, but I ain’t had a proper meal since the master took the mistress to the country for her health.’
‘Perhaps you should have gone to the workhouse,’ Constance said casually. ‘It seems to me you made a bad choice by staying here.’ She turned to Nettie, eyebrows raised. ‘What? Why are you looking at me like that? I only speak the truth.’
‘If you knew what life was like in a workhouse you wouldn’t say such things.’
‘Have you ever lived in one?’
‘No, but I’ve spoken to people who have, and I know that it’s a dreadful existence.’
Lisette gave Biddy a searching glance. ‘What did you do for the people who lived here?’
Biddy puffed out her chest. ‘I done everything, ma’am. She were a sick woman what never got up from the sofa unless it was to use the commode or go to lie on the bed. I waited on her hand and foot, so I did.’
‘You might be glad of Biddy’s help,’ Nettie said in a low voice. ‘She’s small, but she’s willing.’
‘I’m blooming starving.’ Biddy slumped down on the nearest chair. ‘If I don’t get food soon I’ll die of hunger.’
‘We all need to eat,’ Robert said firmly. ‘How much did Ma Burton extract from you, Nettie?’
‘Nearly all of it, Pa.’ Nettie handed him the pouch, which was much lighter than previously. ‘She wanted twice the rent from us to buy her silence.’
Robert frowned. ‘Knowing the old girl as I do, I suspect that she has as much to fear from the police as I do. However, I kept some money back for necessities.’
‘We passed a pieman and someone selling baked taters.’ Nettie held her hand out. ‘I’ll get what we need.’
‘You should get Byron to help you. Where is the fellow?’ Robert looked over his shoulder as if expecting Byron to materialise out of thin air. ‘And Percy seems to have gone missing, too.’
‘They went upstairs to see if Pip and Ted were at home.’ Nettie turned to Biddy with an encouraging smile. ‘Would you like to help me fetch the food?’
Biddy was already at the door. ‘I got a big basket in the hall cupboard. I’m strong and I can carry anything you want.’
‘A useful child,’ Robert said, taking a handful of coins from his pocket and passing them to Nettie. ‘Get pies for all of us, potatoes and watercress. Maybe you could fetch a jug of ale from the pub, too?’
‘We need to keep some money, Pa. The summer is over, and soon we’ll need coal and candles as well as food.’
‘We’ll worry about tomorrow when it comes,’ Robert said vaguely. ‘I’m going to our rooms, Nettie. The sooner I finish the portrait of that dreadful woman the better, and then I can begin a new canvas. I’ll sell my work in the streets, if necessary.’
‘And get yourself arrested.’ Lisette threw herself down on the chaise longue. ‘Well, I, for one, am not going to sit around doing nothing. I earned my living on the stage in Paris. Perhaps it’s time for me to make my London debut.’
Nettie was about to leave the room, but she hesitated. ‘If you mean it, Condesa, you might like to speak to Madame Fabron and her husband, who appear regularly at the Adelphi. I used to earn money doing a bit of sewing for Madame and her daughter, Amelie.’ A vision of Amelie flirting boldly with Duke Dexter brought back memories of that fateful evening at the Gaiety Restaurant when Nettie had first met Rufus and Percy. So much had changed since then that it felt as if she were recalling another life. The time they had spent in France and the somewhat surreal interlude in Catalonia had left their mark, but the memory that was indelibly etched on her heart was the brief time she had spent picking hops for the Norwoods. The distinctive smell of the vines, the hot sunshine, the singing of the families as they worked and the companionship they had shared made the recent past seem like the best of times, and now it was over. They had returned to the real world of crowded city streets and the daily struggle to survive.
She caught Biddy by the hand. ‘Come along. Let’s go and get that food. I’m hungry, too.’
That night Nettie slept in her old bed with the light from the streetlamp filtering through the moth-eaten curtains, and the familiar sound of drunks staggering out of the pubs, horses’ hoofs on the cobblestones, and the rumble of carriage wheels. There were scuffles that turned into fights, followed by the thunder of footsteps, police rattles and then a period of quiet until the market opened in the morning.
Nettie rose early, determined to make the best of things. She took a bucket and made the all-too-familiar trip down several flights of stairs to the back yard. The pump was accessible, but only if she climbed over the discarded
boxes, sacks and piles of rubbish that had accumulated over the years. She filled a bucket with water and was on her way upstairs when she met Pip on the second landing.
‘It’s good to see you, Nettie.’ He leaned over to brush her cheek with a kiss. ‘We were up half the night listening to Byron’s tales of your adventures in France and Spain, and hop picking, too!’
‘Yes, we’ve had quite a time of it, but we’re home now, and I hope we can stay, but it might not be possible.’
‘The police came here not long after you’d left, but we didn’t tell them anything. We didn’t know where you’d gone anyway, so they left us alone after that.’
‘Let’s hope they’ve given up looking for Pa,’ Nettie said, sighing. ‘It’s Duke Dexter they really want, and we don’t know what happened to him. He could be anywhere.’
Pip gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. ‘I’ve got to go now or I’ll be late for the office, but we’ll talk tonight over a fish supper. How does that sound to you?’
‘Heavenly,’ Nettie said with feeling. ‘I’ve eaten all manner of strange and exotic dishes abroad, but I longed for something simple like fish and chips or eel pie and mash.’ She stood aside to let Pip pass and he thundered down the stairs, leaping the last few and taking the next flight at a run. She hefted the heavy bucket up to the top floor and set it down in front of the empty grate, but without fuel for the fire there was no means to heat the water and, although it was still relatively warm, the prospect of a cold wash was not encouraging. She would have to persuade her father to spend what little money he had on coal and kindling, and then they would have to have a serious conversation as to how they were going to make ends meet during the coming winter. Perhaps she could find work in a shop or in a sewing room, although she knew her father would insist that he was going to sell more of his work, and no daughter of his was going to soil her hands toiling for someone else. It was an argument they had had many times in the past, and Nettie had always given in, hoping one day to get her book published. But the trials of her heroine were nothing when compared to the ups and downs of recent weeks, and she had not written a word while they were hop picking. She was so near the end of the story that it had been frustrating, but lack of privacy and exhaustion had prevented her from unpacking the manuscript.