A Tattooed Heart (21 page)

Elsa was the new housemaid. A seventeen-year-old convict transported for stealing a fish from a pond, she was pleasant-natured and pathetically grateful to have been bonded into a decent household, so therefore more than happy to take orders from Daisy, two years younger than her.

‘And Mr Mopey-Britches?'

Daisy giggled. ‘I don't know. Outside, I think.'

Harrie put Charlotte down and she shot outside to look for Anna just as Mr Mopey-Britches himself appeared.

‘There you are,' Harrie said. ‘What have you been up to?'

‘Mucking about.'

‘Well, you can muck about giving madam something to eat. She's just galloped outside. Can you fetch her, please? And a big glass of lemonade. It was very warm standing around in the sun at that auction.'

‘Did Mr Cutler get the house?'

‘He did.'

As Robbie went to find Charlotte, Harrie took the butter from the cool safe and cut a slice of bread, spooned some cold rice pudding into a bowl, and quartered a plum. She sampled a piece and made a face — not exactly sweet. It was a bit early for good plums, but Charlotte might eat it.

She carried the highchair through from the dining room and Robbie wedged Charlotte into it, with considerable difficulty as she'd decided, at the age of two and a half, that she was too grown up to sit in a highchair.

‘Harrie?'

‘Mmm?'

‘Who's Charlotte's father?'

For a hideous few seconds Harrie thought she might faint. Her head down, she rested her palms on the kitchen table until the dizziness passed. When it had she glanced pointedly at Daisy, who lifted the pot of soup she was stirring off the flame and said, ‘I think I'll just go and make sure Elsa's hanging those smalls up right.'

When she'd gone, Harrie asked, ‘Why?'

‘Just wondered.'

Silence for several seconds, broken only by the juicy splat of Charlotte's spoon hitting her rice pudding with some force.

‘Robbie? What's this about?'

He sat on a chair, slouching so that his bum was barely on the seat. ‘I was just wondering why you, you know, adopted her.'

Sitting down herself, Harrie took the spoon off Charlotte, scooped up a little rice pudding and aimed it at her mouth.

‘No! Feed myself!'

‘Oh, suit yourself.' Harrie returned the spoon to Charlotte. Splat! ‘When we started off in Newgate there were four of us: me, Friday, Sarah and Charlotte's mother, Rachel. She was only
fifteen when we first met her, and so very pretty. Really lovely. She was a funny mix of cunning and gulpy and, I think when I look back, maybe a little bit mad. And I should know.' She smiled. ‘You should have seen her play the broads, Robbie. She was so good at it. And all she wanted out of life was nice things, and to see her, er, lover again.'

‘You're going red.'

‘Yes, well, you are only twelve.'

Robbie made a rude noise. ‘I do know about fucking and that! Did she steal something?'

‘No, she didn't. Well, she did,' Harrie said, remembering the landlady's ring, ‘but she wasn't transported for that. According to her, she was falsely accused of pawning bed linen from a boarding house after her lover abandoned her. Well, that's what she told us. We've always wondered if there ever really was a lover. Anyway, we grew very close, the four of us. We made a . . . pact, really, to always look out for one another.' She picked up a cloth and wiped rice pudding off Charlotte's chin. ‘On the ship out, something terrible happened. Rachel was attacked, and the result of that was . . .' Harrie stopped, a hard, burning lump closing her throat.

‘She got knapped?'

Swallowing, Harrie nodded. ‘She got knapped, and badly hurt.'

‘A sailor?'

‘No, a passenger. A swell.'

Robbie spat. ‘What an arsehole.'

‘Don't do that! You're not in Covent Garden now!'

‘Sorry.' Then Robbie frowned. ‘A swell?'

‘Yes. She had Charlotte in the Female Factory, but she died giving birth.' Harrie hesitated, then added, ‘She had a disease in her brain that had been there a long time. The strain was too much for her.'

A piece of plum flew across the table. Robbie collected it and put it back on Charlotte's plate.

‘I think I might have met him, though it sounds like he's changed a bit.'

‘Who?'

‘Charlotte's father.'

‘What?'
Harrie was shocked rigid.

‘Charlotte's father. I met him.'

‘You can't have. He's dead.'

‘No, he isn't.'

‘He is. He was murdered a good two years ago.' I should bloody well know, Harrie thought, her hands starting to shake. ‘Why do you think this man was Charlotte's father?'

‘He said he was.'

‘Did he say his name? Where did you see him?' Harrie could hear her voice rising but couldn't stop it.

‘He didn't tell me his name. He just said he was Charlotte's father and he wants her back. He said he's been trying to get her back for two years but Down— Mr James —'

Suddenly overwhelmed with dread now because she thought she knew who Robbie had been talking to, Harrie snapped, ‘Will you stop calling him Mr James! He's your brother-in-law, Robbie, and a very, very decent man. Stop being such a surly, ungrateful little shite!'

Charlotte started to cry.

Startled, Robbie corrected himself. ‘He said James had been doing everything to stop him and —'

‘What did he look like?'

‘I dunno. A bit above average height, thinnish but fit, dark hair, bit of a nose on him, could've done with a shave.'

‘Oh,
no
!' Harrie's hands crept up towards her ears but she forced them down and clasped them on the table, the knuckles looking like they might burst through the skin.

‘What? What's the matter?'

Lifting Charlotte out of the highchair and settling her on her
knee, Harrie said, ‘His name's Jonah Leary. He isn't Charlotte's father. He thinks I have some information he wants, but I don't. I
don't
. I've had trouble with him before.'

‘What information?'

‘He thinks I know where his brother is, but really, I haven't got a clue. He's already threatened Charlotte. I'm terrified he'll take her and hold her for ransom.'

Robbie's face blanched the colour of the abandoned rice pudding. ‘He offered me twenty quid to hand her over.'

‘Oh my God. Today?'

‘He made the offer today, while you were out at the auction. He said he'll collect her on Sunday at five o'clock. I'm to leave her at the gate.'

‘You won't though, will you?'

Robbie shoved his chair back from the table and stood up. ‘Jesus, Harrie.'

She looked up at his angry, pinched face. ‘Well, I'm not even sure I know you any more, you've turned into such a bloody difficult article. And you don't know Charlotte at all. What do you care about her?'

‘You can be a real bloody cow sometimes, Harrie. She's family, isn't she? You know what I think about family. Anyway, you love her, that's plain to see.' Robbie suddenly couldn't meet her eye. ‘And I love you. You're my big sister. If she's precious to you, she's precious to me. That's all there is to it. And she is kind of sweet.'

‘I'd
die
if anything happened to her,' Harrie said almost to herself, stroking Charlotte's silver-blonde hair. ‘I'd just die. And so would James. And Friday and Sarah. We promised Rachel we'd look after her. She'll be so angry.'

‘Rachel? The one who's dead?'

‘Yes.' Harrie caught Robbie looking at her strangely. ‘What?'

‘Nothing. Will you go to the police?'

‘No. I don't want them involved.'

‘Good. I hate the bastards.' Robbie went to spit again but stopped himself just in time.

‘But I do need to talk to Friday and Sarah.'

Charlotte, happy again, clapped and said, ‘Friday an' Sarah! Hooray!'

‘Can you run over to Sarah's and tell her I need to see her tonight? I'll come to her place at eight. Then go down to the brothel and tell Friday to meet me at Sarah's. I don't think she's working tonight. You'd better check. Oh, and talk to Leo, too. I want him there as well.'

‘I don't think he likes me.'

‘It's not that. He's just looking out for Walter.'

Robbie nodded. ‘What about Mr, er, James?'

‘What about him?'

‘Will he go to Sarah's too? Does he know about this Leary cove?'

‘Of course he knows.'

‘And he didn't have a big conniption about Charlotte being threatened, and want to get the police in and all that?'

‘No, he didn't, smarty-pants, but I'll tell you what he did do. When she was all alone in the orphanage, he married me so we could adopt her, bring her home and make her safe.'

‘Did you want to marry him?'

‘Yes, I did. Very much.'

‘Oh.'

‘That was after he rescued me from the lunatic asylum and nursed me back to health, but before he paid God knows how much to have you and Sophie and Anna brought out from England because he knew it would make me happy.'

Nothing from Robbie this time.

‘He's a good man, Robbie. Give him a chance. He's giving you plenty of them.'

Again, he wouldn't meet her eye. ‘Why do you want to meet at Sarah's and not here?'

‘Because Leary's watching us, isn't he?'

It was quite crowded around Sarah's dining table just after eight o'clock that night. Sarah, Adam, Harrie (with a sleepy, grumbling Charlotte on her knee), James, Friday, Aria and Leo took the chairs, while Walter, Robbie and Clifford sat on the floor. Clifford was delighted to be back in Sarah and Adam's house, if a little confused, and ran around happily sniffing out all her favourite corners.

‘Can you tell us exactly what he said, lad?' Leo asked.

‘Can't remember it word for word,' Robbie said from the floor, ‘but basically he offered me twenty quid to leave Charlotte at the gate on Sunday at five o'clock, and he'd pick her up.'

‘Makes her sound like a bag of dirty washing,' Friday remarked.

‘And you agreed?' Leo asked.

‘I said I'd think about it.'

Sarah asked Harrie, ‘Why do you think he's been watching you?'

‘Well, apparently he knew Robbie's name, didn't he, Robbie? And that he hasn't exactly been getting on with James.'

In the lamplight everyone saw Robbie redden.

Harrie added, ‘So I think he's been watching
and
talking to the neighbours.'

‘Sounds like Leary's style,' Leo said.

‘It
is
kidnap he was hoping to perpetrate, you know,' James said. ‘The kidnap of
my
daughter. That's a hanging offence. Though in my view that would be too good for the . . . swine,' he finished lamely, good manners getting the better of him. ‘Perhaps we really should go to —'

‘No police,' Harrie, Friday and Sarah said in unison.

Friday poured more gin into her tea. ‘What an idiot, but. Did he think none of you'd notice her out by the gate all by herself like
a little tiny hedgewhore touting for business? If he's been watching the house, he'd know she's hardly ever out of your sight.'

‘No,' Robbie said. ‘I think he meant I should play with her in the garden or something, and at five just hand her over when he turned up.'

‘And he'd give you the twenty quid then?' Leo said.

‘I suppose.'

‘That's a hell of a lot of money,' Adam commented. ‘Must have been tempting.'

Robbie gave him a fairly filthy look. ‘Not when it comes to family.'

‘You're a good boy, you know, Robbie,' James said. ‘I can see a lot of Harrie in you.'

Robbie went red again, but for a different reason this time.

Adam banged the palm of his hand on the table, giving Friday such a fright she spilt her tea. ‘So, what are we going to do?' he demanded. ‘Ambush the bastard when he turns up on Sunday?'

‘I'm not leaving her sitting out there like bait!' Harrie exclaimed. ‘To hell with that!'

‘You'll be lucky,' Leo muttered. ‘Jonah Leary's as slippery as a greased pig and canny as a fox. He won't just waltz up. He'll have a good look first and if anything looks awry, he won't show himself. He won't assume Robbie's not talked.'

‘If he thought Robbie might talk, why did he approach him in the first place?' Aria said. ‘Would that not just be showing his hand unnecessarily? He has lost the element of surprise now. We know he is here.'

‘If he
is
that cunning,' James said, ‘perhaps he's gambled on us all getting together somewhere other than our house to discuss the matter, and he's gone there now hoping to find Charlotte.'

They all stared at one another across the table, the lamplight rendering pale faces even more pallid.

‘Oh God,' Harrie breathed, clutching Charlotte so tightly the little girl began to grizzle, ‘I'm so glad I brought her with us.'

‘Who
is
at your place?' Leo asked.

James replied, ‘Sophie and Anna, and Daisy and Elsa, and Matthew, of course. They'll be all right with Matthew.'

‘Unless he's gone out to visit Lucy,' Harrie said. ‘He was dying to tell her about his cottage.'

‘Shit,' Friday swore. ‘We'll go.' She shoved back her chair, half rose, then crashed to the floor.

Clifford burst into excited barking while Walter and Robbie stifled giggles behind their hands. No one else laughed.

‘You're swattled,' Leo remarked.

‘I'm not.' Friday picked herself up. ‘I stood on my hem.'

Leo stood. ‘I'll come with you.'

‘Do you not believe I can look out for her?' Aria asked. ‘Or deal with this Leary worm if we encounter him?'