Chapter 16

CHAPTER16

Genevra paid her instalments to Garmon religiously, but that meant she had to reduce her repayments to her stepfather and one week she defaulted altogether, unable to pay both. Which brought Mr Neeps down on her, trying to nose out what was happening. Which made her so angry she sent a note round to her mother declining to attend the weekly family dinner. If she tried to sit down at the same table with Hiram she would throw her dinner in his face!

That prompted a visit from Hiram himself the next day. He came into the Tavern when she was out the back with Mrs Bell, and Joe sent one his boys to find her. Informed that Mr Robinson wished to speak with her, she took a few moments to compose herself and then marched into the tap room where she found him propping up the bar talking to Joe and sipping a pot of porter.

“You wished to see me?” she said, her arms crossed under her breasts.

Hiram turned and ran his eyes up and down her form, which made her flush, since her hair was coming out of its bun again and her apron was stained with grape juice from the mishap in the kitchen.

“Genevra. Are you well?” His tone implied she couldn’t be.

“Yes Hiram, I am perfectly well, are Mama and Beth well?”

“I am happy to report that they are. I came to see what was transpiring here, given the events of the last few weeks. Perhaps we can speak somewhere a little more private?”

She bared her teeth and swept behind the bar to the office at the back. He followed and took a seat across the desk from her. She didn’t miss the way he looked around and eyed the pile of papers on the desk. She resisted the urge to sweep them up out of his sight. Mostly bills.

“Genevra, it pains me to have to do this-”

“Then don’t do it.” She smiled. A fixed smile, more grimace than grin.

“It’s really for your own good-”

She slammed her fist onto the desk and leaned over it towards him. “Don’t! Don’t give me that line. You’re here for your own good, not mine!”

His thin mouth pursed in an ugly line. “You have defaulted on your loan Genevra, you know the consequences of that. Mr Neeps will be assuming control of the Tavern from tomorrow morning.”

“Over my dead body! If that man so much as pokes his nose into the building tomorrow Joe’s boys will throw him into the street!”

He sighed. “Genevra if your boys lay a finger on him, they will be charged with assault and appear before the Magistrate.”

Genevra ground her teeth. “I will pay the amount owing to you right now and the next instalment by the end of the week. Will that satisfy you?”

“You have the money?”

“I will find it. Anything to keep Neeps out of here.”

Hiram breathed out audibly through his nose before rising and putting his hat back on his head. “You have until Friday to pay both amounts. But if you fail to pay any future instalments on time I will take over the running of this establishment myself. And I will issue you with a warrant to vacate the premises. A woman alone cannot be allowed to continue to run an establishment like this. It is obscene. Your reputation is in tatters, and it is impacting your sisters’ prospects. Have you thought about that?” He turned and headed for the door.

He was halfway across the taproom before she caught up with him. In a low voice she said, “My reputation is fine! And Beth is in no danger from me. I wouldn’t do anything to harm her, and you know it!”

“I must find a husband for her as soon as possible, before your behaviour makes it impossible to do so.” He nodded to Joe and exited through the front door. Leaving Genevra fuming.

* * *

When Garmon stormedout of the Tavern after his argument with Genevra he maintained his temper tantrum for the better part of a week before he could no longer deny that the ache of missing her was greater than the pain of her rejection. He had to find a way to get her back into his bed. He couldn’t sleep without her.

Her surrender in his arms, was ample proof that she felt the same degree of attraction to him that he felt towards her. He simply had to get her alone and seduce her, again, but this time it would be on his turf, and she couldn’t be allowed to reject him again.

The problem was Genevra wasn’t a recalcitrant debtor that he needed to persuade to pay up. His usual methods of getting his own way wouldn’t work in this instance. He needed another way to get her willing and wholehearted agreement to resuming their liaison. He had to somehow get her to admit that she wanted it as much as he did. And that he represented no threat to her independence. That was the clincher. The stubborn darling was determined to stand on her own feet and arced up at the slightest suggestion of masculine interference or control. How to get her to do what he wanted without her realising it?

He composed a dozen letters and consigned them to the fire unsent. He came up with and discarded a dozen ideas for her surrender and abandoned each one in turn. He was paralysed by a kind of internal conflict he had never experienced before. Normally he was ruthless in the execution of his plans, paying no mind to the impact of his strategy on the victim, beyond the requirement to get their cooperation. But in this case he kept thinking of her and what she would feel or how she would react and every time he found himself dissuaded from going through with his plot. He was discovering he had some scruples after all. It was decidedly uncomfortable.

His boys kept him fully informed of her activities and when she sustained a visit from her stepfather - one which his informant made clear had upset her–he was tempted to stop dithering and just go to see her and find out what was going on, and how he could help. His other instinct was to pay Robinson a visit, but again he was stayed by the notion that Genevra wouldn’t like that. He resolved instead to go and see her himself, he couldn’t bear this separation any longer, he was going mad with frustration.

He was on the verge of leaving to do so when Ben came in grinning.

“Mornin’ Mr Lovell sir!” he said executing an enthusiastic bow. Garmon hid the smile this provoked, it was impossible to be grumpy with Ben around.

“What’s news Ben?”

“Well!” said Ben portentously, clearly enjoying himself. “Word on the street is the Missus–that is Mrs Tate, is lookin’ to set up gamin’ nights at the Tavern to earn a bit more rhino, attract more custom and such. Thought you’d want to know that.”

“I do, thank you, Ben.” He frowned a moment and then waved Ben to a chair. “Sit down a minute, I have a couple of commissions for you.”

He sat down and penned an instruction which he handed to Ben along with a small purse.

“Take this paper and the purse to the printer downstairs, Mr Maybury and then find the mudlarks and get them to spread the word about the Globe Tavern. It’s the best place to go for a great night’s entertainment. Good food, booze and fun. Got it?

“Yes Mr Lovell sir.”

“Good work Ben, tomorrow you and the team will deliver leaflets all over about the good times to be had at the Globe Tavern, understood? We are going to make it the place to go.”

Ben grinned and nodded. “Yes we will, sir.”

Garmon grinned back and the ache in his chest that had been plaguing him since he parted from Genevra eased a bit. He desperately wanted to go and see her, but fear that his reception would not be warm, made him hesitate again. It would be better to wait a little longer, see this plan come to fruition, and visit her when she had cleared her debts. She couldn’t keep him at arm’s length then. And he could make her a present of the debt money once he had her back in his bed where she belonged.

He poured himself a drink as Ben let himself out of the office and contemplated what a reunion with Genevra would be like. He ignored the whisper that said, why don’t you go now? And the reply in his heart that said Because I’m afraid she’ll show me the door again, and I don’t think I can bear it.

* * *

Genevra shoutedin Joe’s ear over the hubbub in the tap room, the whole place was packed, every room they had, pressed into accommodating the surge of customers wanting to come in and join the fun. “Can you send one of the boys to the cellar for another cask? This one is nearly empty!”

Joe nodded and sent his eldest on the errand. Genevra grinned. “This seems like it was a good idea, I wasn’t expecting such a response though. How did the word get out so fast? Poor Mrs Bell is run off her feet in the kitchen.”

At the endof the night Genevra toted up the take and was very pleased. At this rate she would be entirely debt free in under four months! She stashed the money in the safe, locked it and pouring herself a drink put her feet up on the desk and contemplated life without debts. It was a pleasant prospect.

She sipped her whisky and her thoughts inevitably wandered to Garmon. Wondering what he was doing. Was he well? Did he miss her? She had been afraid he would exact some kind of vengeance on her after the way she threw him out, but she had heard nothing from him at all. The silence was almost more unsettling than if he had done something.

She finished her whisky and rose with sigh. Her body ached and she was tired. That was why she felt out of sorts. She washed up her glass, snuffed the candles and lamps and climbed the stairs to bed. She would not think about how nice it would be to sink into Garmon’s arms and sleep.