Chapter 16 #2
Jenny drew a breath. The chickens of recklessness had come home to roost. ‘No, but I should have.’
They’d reached the lecture theatre, so joined the queue, and that appeared to be the end of the conversation for the time being. Jenny paid for both of them, dismissing Gwen’s offer by pointing out that a gentleman wouldn’t let a woman pay for herself.
‘You’re a remarkable woman,’ Gwen murmured as they took their seats at the end of a bench. Her eyes darted around as Jenny stiffened. ‘Don’t worry, no one heard me. It’s true and I hope you and your artist manage to make up.’
‘So do I,’ Jenny sighed.
The lecture proved to be rather dull, as the man who was reading from Lady Hester’s memoirs broke off frequently to give his opinions and share anecdotes about his own visit to the area.
Gwen had appeared rapt, however. They were making their way back along the road when she stopped abruptly and tugged on Jenny’s arm.
‘Look, isn’t that one of Augusta’s men? The one whose name I don’t know.’
She pointed towards a pub where groups of people were standing outside. Jenny recognised the man in question as the heavy-set, bald man who had been standing at the bar when they’d gone through on the first visit to the chop house.
‘Do you think he’s followed us?’ Gwen asked anxiously.
‘I doubt it,’ Jenny answered soothingly. Gwen sounded genuinely apprehensive. The encounter outside her house must have unnerved her more than she had let on. ‘He looks like he’s been there for a while as his pint glass is half empty. He couldn’t have known we’d walk this way.’
Jenny looked back at him. The bruiser was standing with one arm up against the wall, leaning casually as he spoke to a young lady whose red hair was barely tamed beneath her bonnet.
‘I know that girl,’ Jenny said thoughtfully. ‘She’s the housemaid at my friend’s lodgings.’
The maid who had recently refused Jenny admission with a bit of a sneer in her voice, she recalled with a heavy heart. ‘I thought she was more respectable than to frequent a place like that,’ she said primly.
Gwen frowned. ‘I don’t care whether she’s respectable or not. I’m worried for her. Augusta’s man does not look like the sort I would want my daughter or sister to associate with.’
‘No, you’re right. I don’t really think this is the sort of place she should be alone.
’ Jenny turned and looked back at Sally.
The young woman was shaking her head, though her eyes were up and meeting his, so whatever they were saying, she appeared to be happily in control of her decisions.
The bruiser leant over her in the way that some men do when they believe they are irresistible, and Jenny shuddered.
‘Perhaps I’m being unfair. Just because he looks like a bit of a brute doesn’t mean he isn’t a charming man.’
‘I’m not sure Augusta employs people for their charm,’ Gwen said. ‘But look, he’s leaving now.’
The bruiser had presumably given up trying to talk to Sally and was now strolling down the street towards another pub a few doors away. Sally stared after him for a while, then turned in the opposite direction and walked away with a jaunty step.
Gwen tapped Jenny’s arm. ‘Come on, let’s cross the road. I don’t want him to spot us.’
They crossed and walked in the direction of the underground station, passing quieter side streets where shopfronts were closed for the night and only lights from above in their houses gave any means to see by. The sight of a figure sitting alone on a low wall made Jenny stop.
It was Miriam, dressed in her heavy overcoat and hat with a pencil in her hand.
Jenny’s heart quickened. Their argument was still freshly painted in her mind, and the urgent need to speak to her flickered through Jenny’s frame.
The only thing that prevented her running to Miriam was the need to keep their connection secret from Gwen.
The decision was made for her when she noticed with horror that Augusta’s man had also spotted the lone woman and was now sauntering across to her, hands tucked into his trouser pockets and his coat pulled back to reveal his garish waistcoat and cravat.
It was too dark to see his expression, but Jenny could picture the vulpine smirk as he approached another woman.
She felt Gwen’s hand tighten on her arm.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘He’s found another woman to prey on, and I know her, too.’
She wondered now whether it was a coincidence that Miriam and the maid were in the same area, or whether they had gone together, and a sharp claw of jealousy snagged at her heart.
‘Let’s just hold back a minute. I don’t want either of them to see us.’
They crossed over to the other side of the street to linger near a row of shops.
It was unlikely that Augusta’s man would recognise Jenny, given how she was dressed, but Miriam most certainly would, and the man might recognise Gwen.
They slowed in front of a haberdashery shop window.
Gwen studied the display of linens and rolls of fabric, while Jenny tried to look like a bored young man and leant back in against the door post.
Miriam and Augusta’s man were talking, but unlike the maid who had appeared happy to speak with him, Miriam was giving him short shrift.
At one point she crossed her arms furiously and jutted her chin forward in a manner that made Jenny grin with relief.
Miriam could definitely hold her own against the brute.
The man’s posture changed. He loomed slightly and spoke, causing Miriam to throw her head back and laugh in his face.
Jenny tensed, expecting him to retaliate but he appeared to deflate, rather like a human-shaped balloon that had been blown too big and then let too much air out in one go.
Miriam jabbed her finger sharply at him, then gathered her skirts and her umbrella and swept away, leaving him standing there.
Too late to take diversionary action, Jenny realised that Miriam was heading directly towards her and Gwen. Their eyes met. Miriam paused briefly and Jenny smiled at her, as a sense of longing swept the hurt away, but then Miriam looked straight ahead, resolutely ignoring her.