Chapter 22 #3
‘It won’t.’ Selina looked at them haughtily. ‘What do you need to know?’
‘We need to know who is on the premises, how many girls there are and where they live,’ Jenny said.
‘There are three girls now. Four, if what you say about Bella is true. They live in a room on the ground floor. Madam Annie looks after them. Her husband is Mr Craig, who you might have seen at the chop house.’
‘Are any of the girls called Ruth or Sally?’ Gwen asked.
Selina shook her head. ‘No, but that doesn’t mean they’re using their real names. One of them said she was called Victoriana, which I highly doubt.’
‘We’re looking for a redhead and a Welsh girl,’ Jenny said.
Selina’s expression told her the answer before she confirmed it verbally.
‘The Welsh girl has a beautiful voice. She could have a future,’ she sighed wistfully.
‘On the stage or under your tutelage?’ Gwen snarled.
‘Under whatever spotlight she chooses.’
‘When does Augusta visit?’ Jenny asked quickly, seeing Gwen’s temper beginning to flare.
‘She visits twice or thrice weekly. Never at the same time and always without notice. Give me one last bottle of your tincture for my own use and I will ensure she is safely at the chop house while you do whatever it is you need to do.’
The women conferred briefly.
‘Agreed,’ Gwen said. ‘But only afterwards.’
Selina smiled. ‘Naturally. Now, if that’s all you need, I shall bid you good day. I do hope we won’t meet again, and if I were in your shoes, I would be making plans to leave this area altogether before Augusta realises your involvement. She will realise, you know.’
She picked up her cup and saucer and sipped her tea with an air that suggested that was a final word on the matter.
The three women left the house and walked down the street. It was a respectable area, with a small garden square enclosed by green iron railings. Three children were playing with a nursemaid and an elderly gentleman was walking an arthritic pug.
‘I think we are all agreed that someone needs to go in there and try and rescue the girls,’ Miriam said.
Jenny leant back against the railings wearily. ‘I’d gladly do it, but I don’t think I make a convincing enough man to get in there and search properly, and Annie has already thrown me out once.’
‘Then someone will have to go in as a woman,’ Gwen said.
‘Well, that is clearly going to be me, isn’t it?’ Miriam said firmly.
‘No, it isn’t!’ Jenny pushed herself off from the railings again.
‘Well, it can’t be either of you,’ Miriam said.
‘Mrs Walters, I’m sorry, but you are too old.
Jenny, you’re of the right age, but you are too well-known.
I have been approached by that awful man, Craig, but I turned him down.
I’m sure they would be more than eager for me to offer my services, though. ’
Jenny pressed her lips together tightly. It did seem to be the only sensible option, but the thought of Miriam willingly putting herself into Augusta’s clutches gripped her with fear.
‘You don’t have to go in,’ she said.
‘Why not?’ Miriam folded her arms and lifted her chin up defiantly. ‘You went in.’
‘I had to,’ Jenny said. ‘It was my mess that needed clearing up.’
‘No, it wasn’t,’ Miriam said. ‘You didn’t know that that was how your mixture was being used.’
Her voice was still heavily loaded with dislike at the mention of it.
‘No,’ Jenny said, dropping her head, ‘we didn’t, but it was.’
‘Sally would have gone whether or not you made it. Ruth, too. Augusta would always have been pimping these girls. None of that makes a difference, so you shouldn’t feel responsible for that.
’ Miriam took Jenny by the upper arms and looked into her eyes.
‘My mind is made up, but I want you with me. It will need two of us.’
‘It will need more of us than that,’ Gwen said.
Miriam and Jenny both turned to look at her. She was standing by a bed of roses and truthfully, Jenny had almost forgotten that she was there, being so wrapped up in Miriam.
‘I will come, too,’ said Gwen. ‘But you must get in and out as quickly as you can. We don’t want anyone getting in trouble.
Mr Parry will come with us. I’ll go directly and ask him.
’ She swallowed and that tell-tale glint that signalled her affection for him appeared in her eyes.
‘He isn’t a fighter, at least I don’t think he is, but I’m sure that he will be there for safety, and he’s respectable.
If anyone does need help, the police are sure to listen to him. ’
‘I don’t want the police involved, if I can help it,’ Jenny said. ‘We are too involved in this ourselves.’
Her stomach twisted in fear. Augusta was sure to guess who had been responsible for stealing away her girls and there would be recriminations.
They spoke a little longer, planning a strategy as best as they could, before walking to the main road and parting.
Gwen went in one direction, Miriam the other.
Jenny stood alone for a few moments, watching them go.
She was well aware of the danger that they were putting themselves in and could only hope that they would succeed.