The Best of Sisters (45 page)

Eliza placed her arm around Tommy’s shoulders, fully expecting Brandon to vent his anger on Daisy. To her astonishment, his grim expression softened and he patted Daisy’s hand. ‘Well,’ he said gruffly, clearing his throat. ‘If you put it that way.’

‘I do, dear.’ Daisy fluttered her eyelashes. ‘I’m just a poor widow, all alone in the world except for me little son. I could be ever so grateful to a
bloke who would be good to us. You’re a man of the world, Brandon, my dear. I think you know what I mean.’

To Eliza’s amazement, Brandon actually smiled. Daisy’s behaviour was so blatant that Eliza could hardly believe he had fallen for that old trick, but his gaze was fixed on Daisy’s generous bosom that had suddenly come into view as her cape slipped, apparently accidentally, from her shoulders. As he went to help her put it back in place, Daisy caught hold of Brandon’s hand and allowed it to graze her breast. ‘Oh, you bad boy,’ she said softly, smiling up into his face. ‘I can see I’m going to have trouble with you.’

Eliza took Tommy by the hand and hurried on to Brandon’s office. There was no need for the boy to see his mother acting the whore, and yet, in her heart, she could not blame Daisy, who was securing her future in the only way she knew. Eliza could almost forgive her for using Freddie, especially now that it was obviously so much in the past that Daisy had probably forgotten his name. She took Tommy into the office and she did not have long to wait until Daisy and Brandon came in arm in arm.

There was a suspicious lip-shaped pink patch on Brandon’s cheek. Eliza had always suspected that Daisy’s cherry lips and pink cheeks were due to the application of rouge, and now she was
certain. She held out her hand to Brandon. ‘The key to the chandlery, if you please.’

He went to his desk and opened a drawer. Taking out a small bunch of keys, he tossed it to Eliza. ‘Don’t think you’ve won, Eliza. Let’s see you stock the shop without any help from me.’

She opened her mouth to reply but a meaningful glance from Daisy made her change her mind. Still clinging to Brandon’s arm, Daisy gave it a squeeze. ‘We won’t fall out over little details like that, Brandon dear. Why don’t we send Eliza and Tommy home in the hackney, and you take me to view the house in Bird Street? I’d feel so much safer on the arm of a strong fellow like you.’

‘I have work to do, Mrs Bragg.’

‘It’s Daisy. And I’m sure you could squeeze me in somewhere. I gets scared in strange houses, especially going up them dark stairs to the bedrooms. I take it that the place is furnished? If you get my meaning.’

Brandon obviously did. He seized another set of keys from the drawer and put them in his pocket. ‘Of course. If you put it that way, Daisy. How can I refuse?’

Arriving back in Dark House Street, Eliza helped Tommy down from the hackney cab. He headed for the gate in the area railings. ‘Where are you going, Tommy?’

He paused at the top of the steps. ‘I’m going to play with Artie and Sam. And Ada gives me cake.’

Eliza smiled. ‘What would we do without Ada? All right, dear. You go and play with the boys. I’m going inside to tell Uncle Freddie the good news.’

Tommy shot her a puzzled glance. ‘About Mama’s new man?’

‘Well, er, not exactly. I meant about your good fortune in finding your new grandpa.’

‘Oh, him.’ Tommy shrugged his small shoulders and ran helter-skelter down the area steps.

Eliza paid the cabby and went indoors to look for Freddie. Attracted by the sound of voices, she went into the drawing room. As usual, Dolly was dozing in her chair by the fire, and Millie and Mary were sitting at the table poring over a rather dog-eared copy of
The Young Ladies’ Journal
. Millie looked up and smiled. ‘Liza, come and look. It says here that crinolines are out of fashion and that a thing called a bustle is going to be the latest craze.’

‘We’ll all have huge bums,’ Mary giggled. ‘Miss Cynthia’s got old Ma Dunne to make her up a gown like this one. She looks just like one of them pouter pigeons in it, but she thinks that she looks just topping, and she’s thrown out all her old gowns, even the one what we went to so
much trouble to get fixed. Ain’t that a laugh, Eliza?’

The thought of Miss Cynthia discarding the gown that had cost her so much grief and expense made Eliza want to go round to the house in Islington and give the young lady a piece of her mind. She managed a weak smile. ‘Did she ever wear that pink gown again?’

‘Not her. She never even took it from the clothes press. Some people have got more money than sense.’ Mary bent her head over the magazine. ‘What do you think of this one, Millie? I should love to wear something like this when I finds a bloke to marry me.’

Millie nodded her head, but she was looking at Eliza and not at the magazine. ‘Have you seen Davy yet?’

‘No. I was looking for Freddie.’

‘I dunno what you said to Davy, but he come indoors looking really grumpy and Freddie took him into the parlour. They’ve been there ever since.’ Millie’s smile faded. ‘Is everything all right, Liza? What happened with old man Miller?’

‘Daisy was amazing. She made the old man admit that Bart was his son and then she turned on the charm with Brandon.’

‘She’s a hussy,’ Mary said, pulling a face.

‘Oh, Mary, don’t be such a prude,’ Millie said, casting Eliza an anxious glance. ‘She don’t mean
it, Liza. Daisy’s not so bad when you gets to know her.’

Mary tossed her head. ‘She’s still a doxy.’

‘Girls! Don’t squabble.’ Torn between irritation and amusement, Eliza wagged her finger at Mary. ‘Didn’t Mr Booth warn you about the dangers of making judgements on others?’

‘I expect so. I do try to act like a Christian, but being good don’t come that easy, Liza,’ Mary said, blushing and hanging her head. ‘Me dad is always preaching at us, but I can still see him as he was when he was boozed up. Now he spends all his time going round pubs and spouting about the evils of drink, while Mum and the nippers lives on Freddie’s charity. I don’t think I knows what’s good and what isn’t.’

Millie placed her arm around Mary’s shoulders, giving her a hug. ‘You are a good girl. Look how hard you work and yet you gives nearly all your wages to your ma. If that ain’t good, then I don’t know what is.’

Leaving them to comfort each other, Eliza slipped out of the room, closing the door behind her. She made her way to the morning parlour at the back of the house. This part of the building was the most dilapidated of all and most of the rooms were unfurnished and swathed in cobwebs. Not for the first time, she wondered what had possessed Freddie to buy such a large and crumbling mansion, especially since he had
given up his plans to become a medical man. It was bitterly cold in the passage and she was glad that she had not discarded her cloak in the relative warmth of the drawing room. The winter dusk had fallen early and it was almost too dark to see her way, but a glimmer of light beneath the parlour door guided her footsteps. She went in without knocking and found Freddie and Davy seated on either side of the fireplace, with only the feeble glow of the embers to light the room.

Freddie got to his feet, smiling and holding out his hand. ‘Liza, my dear. You look perished. Come and sit by the fire.’

Davy gave her a reproachful look and said nothing. Appearing not to notice, Freddie took a spill from the jar on the mantelshelf and held it against the glowing lump of coal. He went round the room lighting candles. ‘There, that’s better. Now we can see each other.’

Eliza huddled in the warm spot where Freddie had just vacated his chair, casting an apprehensive glance at Davy. It hurt her deeply to think that their friendship was in jeopardy. ‘Davy?’

Normally, he would have responded with a smile but his expression was carefully guarded and he stood up, ignoring her and addressing himself to Freddie. ‘I’ll give you my answer when I’ve had time to think about it.’ He left the room without a backward glance. Eliza watched
him go with a lump in her throat and unshed tears stinging her eyes.

Freddie drew up a chair beside her and sat down, taking her hand in his. ‘He’s a good chap, Liza. He loves you and he’s taking your rejection badly, as any man would who had lived off dreams.’

A feeling of lassitude was claiming Eliza as the warmth of the fire soothed her chilled bones. She allowed her cloak to slip from her shoulders. Freddie was so close to her that she could have laid her head against his shoulder, but this was not the time to seek comfort for herself. She had to break the news that Daisy had already found another man. She curled her cold fingers around Freddie’s warm hand and she lifted it to her cheek. The old, familiar feeling of coming home to a safe haven enveloped her like a fur rug. ‘He’ll forget all about me when he goes back to sea.’

‘We had a long talk and he told me that he has no intention of going away again. He intends to stay at home and support his mother and brothers.’

Eliza turned her head to look at him. ‘He only went to sea because he couldn’t find work ashore.’

‘And I think I’ve come up with the ideal solution.’ Freddie kissed her hand, smiling into her eyes. ‘Something that will suit us all.’

Eliza drew away from him. Her senses, which were so attuned to Freddie’s every mood and whim, warned her that he was about to embark on one of his great and glorious schemes. ‘Freddie, what it is? What have you done?’

Freddie clasped both her hands and his eyes were alive with enthusiasm. ‘My dear, I’ve been racking my brains to think of a way to look after you and to keep you safe. I know that young Davy is sound and reliable and I’ve offered him a business partnership. That’s what he went away to consider.’

‘What?’ Eliza stared at him, barely able to believe her ears. ‘What sort of partnership?’

‘I’ve got this huge house so close to the river that you could spit out of the window and hit a barge. What does that suggest to you, Liza?’

‘That you’ve gone mad?’

‘Close, but not quite right,’ Freddie said, chuckling. ‘I’ve decided to turn the top floor into a sail loft.’ He jumped to his feet, pacing the floor and gesticulating with his hands. ‘It’s an enormous space, or it will be if we knock down a few partition walls. I’ve got the capital to set up the venture and young Davy has the expertise. His family are already settled in the basement, quite happily it seems, and dear Ada is a much better cook than Sukey could ever hope to be.’

‘But would it pay? Aaron Miller seems to think that steam will take over and sailing ships will be a thing of the past.’

‘That will happen in time, my pet, but there will be a demand for good sailmakers for a long while yet. And I don’t intend to let it stop there.’

‘No?’ Eliza said faintly, as she watched Freddie pacing the floor as he warmed to his theme.

‘No, indeed. You lost your business to that old scoundrel Miller. We’ll start up our own chandlery here, on the ground floor. It’s big enough, and we couldn’t be in a better position, overlooking the river and close to the wharves and docks.’

‘But, Freddie …’

He came to a halt in front of her. ‘Think about it, Liza. I’m giving you back your independence, my love. You’ve had such a hard time and all I want is your happiness.’

In the grip of a multitude of turbulent emotions, Eliza stared up at him. She didn’t know if she wanted to throw her arms around him or to slap him. He was grinning at her like an excited schoolboy, waiting for her approval. She knew very well that to condemn his scheme out of hand would cut him to the quick. ‘Oh, Freddie, what can I say?’

He seized her hands, pulling her to her feet. ‘Don’t say anything yet. Think about it and you’ll see that it’s a wonderful plan.’

They were so close that Eliza could feel the heat from his body and inhale the achingly familiar scent of him: she had only to stand on tiptoe to kiss his lips. If she slid her arms around his neck, she could hold him close and tell him how clever he had been. She raised her face, half closing her eyes. He must kiss her now. If he did, he would realise that she was no longer a child but a full-grown woman.

‘Well, sweetheart, don’t keep me in suspense,’ Freddie said, smiling cheerfully and seemingly quite unaware of the passion he had aroused in her breast. ‘It’s a good idea, you must see that. And it will give you and Davy time to get to know each other again. If you see him as a man and not just a childhood friend …’

Eliza pushed him away with all her might. ‘You bloody fool, Freddie Prince. You stupid, bloody fool.’ Picking up her skirts, she ran from the room.

‘Liza, I don’t understand. Don’t run away from me.’

Freddie’s voice behind her only made Eliza run faster. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks as all the pent-up emotions of the day converged on her in a storm of weeping. How stupid could Freddie be? How could he try to bring her together with Davy, when the only man she had ever wanted was himself? She could hear his footsteps pounding on the
flagstones behind her. He was not hampered by hoops and petticoats and he was gaining on her. Eliza ran past the downstairs room that she shared with Millie, heading instinctively for the staircase. Freddie was close behind her, begging her to stop but she carried on, desperate to get away from the pain of loving him. Daisy’s room was at the top of the stairs and the door was open. Eliza ran inside and shut the door. Leaning against it, sobbing and gasping for breath, she turned the key in the lock.

‘Liza, let me in.’

The sound of his voice made her knees tremble. Unable to speak, Eliza shook her head.

He hammered on the door. ‘Liza, dear girl, I don’t know what I’ve done to upset you so. Please let me in.’

‘G-go away.’

‘No, not until you tell me what’s wrong.’

‘P-please g-go away. I’m all right, really I am.’

‘Eliza.’ Freddie’s voice deepened as he rattled the handle. ‘Let me in. If you don’t, I’ll break the door down.’

Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, she unlocked the door and moved away. The last thing she wanted was for Freddie’s shout to bring Davy running to her aid. ‘C-come in.’

Freddie burst into the room. ‘What in hell’s name is wrong?’

She shook her head, biting her lip. She must not cry again. She must not.