Chapter 26 #3
Heavily veiled and wearing a new travelling coat in mourning black, Gwen was a far cry from the timid woman Jenny had first met.
Beside her on a luggage trolley stood a suitcase and a leather travel bag, both ornamented with a pair of initials.
Not the initials she had used for the greater part of her life, but those she would be using from now on: ‘G.L.’ A new name for a new life.
Jenny had ordered a steamer trunk a day earlier and now wished she had added Miriam’s ‘S.’ to her ‘J.R.’
At the end of the platform closest to the ticket barrier, the guard began to move along the carriages, unlocking them and opening the doors.
So slowly. Jenny felt on edge, almost believing that Wolf or Craig, or even Augusta herself would appear to exact vengeance.
It was unlikely, though. Mr Parry had acted swiftly before Sally was banished to the North and while Ruth was seeing sense.
He’d reported Augusta and Madam Annie for running the brothel, mentioning the possible link to the drowned woman.
The Rook and Wren and the chop house were both under scrutiny.
Selina Salisbury had neither stuck by her former associate nor denounced her, but she had vanished from London shortly after receiving Mr Parry’s letter.
The windows to her elegant home were now shuttered.
No doubt she would be setting herself up in another city, possibly even on the Continent.
Jenny could imagine her sitting in the box at the new Palais Garnier in Paris or La Scala in Milan and found it hard not to wish her luck.
‘I think we have been fortunate to get away with it, not that I’m sure we deserve to,’ Jenny said.
‘I think we do deserve to,’ Gwen said. ‘We saw an opportunity and took it. For women that’s even harder to achieve.’
Jenny wasn’t sure. Since arriving at the station to bid farewell to Gwen, she hadn’t allowed herself to question whether they deserved this second chance, but now she hesitated. What right did they have to escape the consequences?
Gwen stared over Jenny’s shoulder to where Mr Parry, Ruth and Bella stood. It was an odd little family, but Jenny had no doubt Gwen would be happy.
‘Will you try to help your son?’
‘Of course. I don’t know how, but Danny will help me. He will use what connections he has. I don’t know if Archie can be released. If he is repentant. If he will want to come home. I have to believe some good will come of trying, though.’
‘I’m sure Mr Parry will be able to help you. I really think he can work miracles. I have already received a handsome cheque from my uncle thanks to the advice he gave me. He’s a good man, Gwen.’
Gwen smiled radiantly. ‘I know. He always was.’
Jenny hugged her and as she pulled away, she caught an odd look in Gwen’s eyes.
‘There’s something else, isn’t there?’
Gwen nodded. ‘I am going to continue making the tincture. I have thought long and hard about it, and I think it can be of use, but I will sell it only to whom I choose. I will also manufacture whatever other treatments women need. Draughts to regulate their monthly cycles and relieve them of unwanted burdens in the womb, for example. My husband always said that half the remedies advertised in the newspapers were quackery, but that doesn’t mean I have to produce quackery. I can help women and I will.’
‘Does Mr Parry know?’ Jenny asked.
‘Not yet. I may tell him, but really, what I do is not his business, at least not at the present time.’ Gwen lifted her chin.
‘We set out to help women, you and I. I don’t think there are many who do and it’s a shame it has to be by secretive methods.
Perhaps one day, women will be able to own and manage their own pharmacies, and will not need to rely on men at all. ’
‘I think I’ll be quite happy not relying on men,’ Jenny said, her mind turning to Miriam, who was waiting at the end of the platform beyond the barrier.
Gwen laughed. ‘You’re going to go with Miriam, aren’t you?’
Jenny’s heart filled with adoration. ‘Yes. We are going to travel as companions, though of course you know we are far more than that. I am considering writing a book about my travels. An English Lady in Egypt. Miriam can illustrate it. I don’t know whether anyone would read it, but we will enjoy working together.
Perhaps, one day, I shall give my own lectures and other women will come and watch me. ’
She gazed into the distance, allowing herself to dream.
‘I’ll read it. Even if you only write the manuscript, I will read it,’ Gwen said.
‘Thank you,’ Jenny said. ‘And should I ever be in the need for a remedy, I will write to you.’
The guard had reached them. Mr Parry stepped forward to guide Ruth and Bella into the second-class carriage they would be sharing. He paused to shake Jenny’s hand before resting his hand lightly on Gwen’s shoulder and ushering the girls ahead.
Gwen and Jenny embraced.
‘We’ve done some good, haven’t we?’ Gwen asked.
‘I think so,’ Jenny said. ‘Goodbye, my friend.’
‘Goodbye, my friend.’
Gwen picked up her bag and indicated the trunk to the porter, then climbed into the carriage to sit beside Mr Parry.
Jenny waited until the train began the slow straining as it prepared to depart amid hisses and steam. Just before the carriage moved past her Jenny saw Mr Parry take hold of Gwen’s hand and look at her with love radiating on his face. Jenny smiled at the sight.
Then, amid the billowing smoke, she turned and walked back along the platform to Miriam, and the future.